Why Am I Anxious?

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:04.840 Church and. 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:05.840 This is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:07.760 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.880 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.600 in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:16.560 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:19.360 We want to shift gears a little bit this week 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:21.400 and teach you a message. 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:22.040 That I taught our staff. 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:25.960 It's a different version of it, but I was sharing 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:28.000 with our staff on the subject of anxiety. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.360 And the reason that I did that's. 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.800 Primarily because our staff is very young. Many of our 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:38.080 staff have never worked in another work environment than Elevation Church. 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:39.520 It's a fast paced. 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:43.680 Environment, growth environment, and a lot of performance pressure, and 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:48.479 I felt like, as the under shepherd that serves to 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.680 oversee our staff, I wanted to share some very practical 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:57.640 principles on the subject of anxiety. Don't judge me for this, 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:01.840 but sometimes I do a YouTube search of myself my 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:02.680 own sermons. 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:03.960 The only reason I do it. 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:07.480 Hang with me for a second is when I want 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.800 to spot check and see, you know how I can 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.120 preach better, So do that. But also I want to 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.880 see what people are looking for what kind of help 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.960 they're looking for, what kind of subjects tend to draw 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:21.679 people in so that we can tell them the good 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.960 news about Jesus Christ. And in order to do that, 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:27.480 sometimes I'll look and see what are the top sermons 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:30.080 that have been watched that have been preached out of 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:32.840 this pulpit. Because we give them all the way for 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:36.520 free in as many different formats as we can, we 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:38.480 kind of embrace the day that we live in. And 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:41.880 so right now people are watching on Facebook Live and 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:48.840 YouTube live and and the Elevation Church app and just 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:52.000 watching you you'd be shocked, you would be so surprised 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:53.960 how many people are up in the middle of the 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:58.520 night in another part of the world and wanting to 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:01.280 tune into your church. And they write me from time 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:07.840 to time they tell me they're coming to church, like 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:08.840 Morgan Freeman, on. 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.240 A bucket list to be here. 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.120 And always thought that was cool because growing up, for me, 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:18.720 church was not a bucket list type thought what made 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:22.240 me want to die, but it didn't make me well, 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.560 I didn't want to do it before I die. So anyway, 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:27.920 what I thought, what I thought I would do today 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.160 for you to share from the top subject that I 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:33.960 preached on because in the top three sermons that I've 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:39.400 preached in terms of views, the subject was anxiety. And 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:42.239 I want to share a message with you today on 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:44.840 the subject of anxiety, and I want to do. 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:46.600 It from Psalm one point thirty nine. 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:49.919 So we're somewhere near the middle of this series looking 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.880 at David's life and looking at the lyrics of the 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:58.040 psalms that he wrote, and we're making comparisons. We're saying 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:02.240 that David is the greatest rapper or MC of all time, 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:03.480 and I stand by that. 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:09.200 I stand by that. I would say that David's. 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:14.680 Words in the songs are are divinely inspired to help 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.919 us search within ourselves. And one song I didn't tell 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.040 them this last night. The reason that I love Somealone 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.079 thirty nine, where I'm going to share with you from today. 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:26.680 The reason I love it is because the first time 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.000 I tried to write a Christian song, I wrote it 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:32.680 based on Someone thirty nine. And Holly's laughing because every 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:34.800 once in a while we'll mention this song. 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:36.160 It's not a very good song. 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:38.320 I'm not going to go into it right now, but 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:42.400 it was based on psalmone thirty nine and it had 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:44.160 this cool little walk down in it. But other than that, 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.720 the song really wasn't very good. But I was only 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.960 sixteen at the time. And so it's a wonderful song 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.520 because it gives us a picture of both God's all 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:59.080 seeing I meaning that he is watching over our lives 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:04.240 in every situation in season, and the intimacy with which 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.680 God sees our lives. And so I want to pick 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:12.120 up in verse seventeen today and bring you into the 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:14.040 flow of the psalm a little bit. David says this 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.960 someone thirty nine verse seventeen. How precious to me are 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:18.760 your thoughts? 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:22.520 God? How vast is the sum of them? 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.760 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:27.360 of sand. 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:30.320 When I awake, I am still with you. 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:35.279 If only you, God, would slay the wicked away from me, 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:39.159 You who are blood thirsty. They speak of you with 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:43.440 evil intent, Your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.160 hate those who hate you Lord? And abhor those who 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:51.000 are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:55.920 for them. I count them my enemies. Here comes the shift, 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:01.359 because David is focusing on external fact, and all of 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.000 a sudden he makes this move that we see him 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:07.480 make over and over again in his life, from dealing 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:08.320 with his. 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.359 Enemies to the inner me. 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.039 And as much as that sounds like a little preacher thing, 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:18.520 let's see what you did there, it's really the most 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:24.400 important life skill because David is about to take responsibility 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.919 for his own anxiety. He's not going to put it 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:28.719 on the economy. 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:30.000 He's not going to. 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:32.039 Put it on King Saul, who's trying to kill him. 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.479 He's not going to put it on his teenagers. 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.080 He didn't have kids, but you know what I'm saying, 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:39.640 not at this point. He did have kids, and we'll 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:40.880 talk about them in a future week. 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:44.400 But he's not putting it on anybody but himself. 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:44.800 Watch it. 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:51.560 In verse twenty three, he says, search me, search me. 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:57.520 Those two words would set you free from ninety percent 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:01.200 of the drama because some of you borrowed trauma trying 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:02.120 to look into. 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.120 Other people's lives. Clap like it's not you. No one 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.400 will know that's good, pastor tell. 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:18.520 Them search me God and know my heart. 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.040 Did you notice the shift? Kill them? 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.440 He's fussing and cussing about the way things are in 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:31.679 the world, these bloodthirsty men and all these selfish politicians 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:36.200 and all this corruption, the systemic corruption. God do something 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:40.440 about it. And then he shifts and says, search me. 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:52.680 Nothing changes until I do know my heart, test me 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:58.920 and know my anxious thoughts. That's where I want to 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:02.359 spend some time today. And I've been asking myself the 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:07.720 question lately. This is my sermon title, Why am I anxious? 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:14.640 Why am I anxious? Apparently, according to my non scientific 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:19.840 YouTube study, all of you are anxious, and so I 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.920 won't ask the question have you experienced anxiety in the 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.000 last week? Because we live in the age of anxiety. 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:28.400 Let's be honest about it. I mean, it is almost 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.360 marketed to us through the stations that are supposed. 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:33.760 To be giving us our information, they actually. 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.960 Engage us using fear tactics so that they can sell 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:40.120 advertising time, often promoting the same drug and pharmaceutical companies 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.800 that are owned by the same conglomerates that push out 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:45.800 the information that is design. 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:49.080 To make us anxious. 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.000 But let's be careful because we sound like David now 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.480 in verse twenty two, kill them God. 0:07:57.840 --> 0:07:59.640 But David came to a place. 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.520 Where he said, you know, it's not what's happening out 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:12.320 there that makes me anxious. It's what I allow in here. 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:17.320 To go undetected and unchecked. It's my thought process. 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:21.360 He uses an actual Hebrew word that means disquieting thoughts. 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:24.240 It's translated as closely as it can be into English 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:28.480 anxious thoughts. So David is saying, now, it is not 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:33.640 what is happening that is creating anxiety. It is the 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:38.000 way I am thinking about it. Look at verse twenty four. 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.880 I know that David didn't know about neural pathways, but 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.000 it sounds like he did, because he said, I want 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:47.480 you to look inside God and see you got twenty four. 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:51.839 If there is any offensive way in me? And now 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.240 we know that when we think something long enough, it 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:58.280 creates a four eighty five in our minds, a seventy 0:08:58.280 --> 0:08:59.160 seven in our minds. 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.600 What's the highway in Toronto, l J the four oh one. 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.240 For our Canadian friends and Drake, there's a there's a 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:11.320 there's a process by which I get stuck in a rut. 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.720 And so David is saying, see if I've been thinking 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:17.240 in a way that has allowed the enemy to traffic 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:21.200 in my mind where I've just been letting him in. 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:22.640 And that's what I want to do today. I want 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:26.920 to take you through a seven point test answering the 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:30.400 question why am I anxious and hopefully help us to 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:34.080 get past this point of answering that question with somebody 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.880 else's name, and hopefully get us past the point of 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:42.240 answering that question by by mentioning something that is happening 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:45.640 that is outside of our control, and hopefully to get 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:47.520 us to the place where we can see that not 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:51.520 only is God watching over my life. That's what David understood, 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.160 is that when Saul is trying to kill me, God 0:09:54.240 --> 0:10:00.240 is watching over me. God has this surveillance system every 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:01.800 situation of my life. 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.160 He will not suffer my foot to be moved. 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:06.920 The Lord which keep a thie, He's got twenty four 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.200 to seven surveillance on me. To somebody say you better 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:13.440 be nice to me. God is watching how you treat me. 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.959 God is watching how you talk to me. And God 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:25.199 likes me. How do you parents like it when somebody 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:29.360 talks about one of your kids. God feels that way 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.000 about you times a thousand, and he's watching out for you. 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:38.000 So why am I anxious? If my father knows my needs? 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:39.840 Why am I anxious? If he's numbered the hairs on 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:45.320 my head? Why am I anxious if he promised to 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:48.600 supply every need and I got to get honest about it. 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:52.280 I'm not necessarily referring to this in a medical sense. 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:54.920 Please don't take this to mean that I'm saying that 0:10:55.000 --> 0:11:01.640 your sin or or behavioral choices are always responsible for anxiety. 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:04.679 But what I want to show you today, regardless of 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.880 where it's coming from. Because I'm not a doctor, you 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:09.640 have to talk to Stacy if you want some help 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:09.959 with that. 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.959 But maybe there are some ways in me. 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:20.760 That are making me vulnerable to the way that things 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:28.160 are and allowing me to remain anxious when the Bible 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:30.280 says do not be anxious. I don't think it means 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:33.160 that we can never feel anxiety. It is when we 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:37.000 stay anxious. It doesn't mean that there won't be moments 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:38.080 and seasons. 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:39.319 In your life where your hands are shaken. 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.040 Dimi Levado couldn't sing the national anthem without her hands shaken. 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:45.120 I don't know if you saw it. She's sanging a 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.080 lot in front of a lot of people. That's not 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:51.280 what I'm talking about. I'm talking about this pervasive sense 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:54.480 of when things are going right, you can't even enjoy 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:56.560 them because it probably won't last long. 0:11:57.360 --> 0:11:59.719 I mean looking around every corner for what's going to 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:00.480 happen next. 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:03.360 And I want to take you through something quickly today. 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:07.440 It's kind of a sermon slash seminar from Psalm one 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:08.120 point nine. 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:14.120 It's a salmonar. I thought you'd like that. 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:17.559 It's a salmonar, and pay attention and write this down. 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:18.959 If you don't write this down, you're not going to 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.280 sleep any this week. And I have horrible stomach pains 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:24.120 while you try to sleep. But write this down, and 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:27.160 got to bless you. Number one. When I am anxious, 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:31.079 ask somebody next to you, why are you anxious? 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:32.160 All right? 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:37.200 The first thing to check is your intake. The first 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:41.600 thing that I consider when I'm anxious is how full 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:47.520 I am of what? Because I found out that anxiety 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:50.040 and cellulite have one thing in common. You can't pray 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:51.920 either one of them away. 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:56.120 They are both about intake. 0:12:57.400 --> 0:12:59.640 They showed me this new feature on my phone the 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:00.000 other day. 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:00.560 Can I show you? 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:03.040 My kids are always showing me stuff, and so they 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:04.920 showed me a feature on my phone the other day. 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:06.000 Oh, I got a text from Holly. 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.600 Okay, she just told me this should be my next 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:13.280 book okay, but let me show you something else. Right now, 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:16.600 you know all these great functions on the iPhone? 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:18.160 This is what is this? A seven? 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:23.079 A seven that the iPhone seven has this function? And 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:24.719 I want to show it to you if you hit 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:29.800 this button and hold it on the side, and then. 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:41.040 You'd be shocked. How many y'all don't want to y'all 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:44.199 don't want to learn nowting today, you would be shocked 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:47.439 because I'm gonna tell you a secret. 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:50.959 There is no way that we can take it to 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:54.880 Somebody says too much. We can't take it all in 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:57.880 and still have room for the piece of God you're 0:13:57.920 --> 0:13:59.400 praying for the peace of God. 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.680 God doesn't have anywhere to put it. Your mind is 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:03.319 too fool. 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:12.440 You were not designed to have the entirety of the 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:17.160 conversation of the whole human race buzzing on your back pocket, 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:21.040 on your butt phone, just walking around like snipers. 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:23.120 What did they say? 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:27.480 Where did they go on vacation? What about that press conference? 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:31.280 It was not supposed to be this way. Of course 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:35.160 we're freaking out. Of course we're zombies. Of Course we're 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:39.720 numbing ourselves and drinking and smoking and popping. Of course 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.560 we can't stop it would the devil's got a shock 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:44.479 collar on our back. 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:46.160 Pocket and we don't even know where. 0:14:56.600 --> 0:15:04.800 Now are messing up my seminar, sithown my salminar. So 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:08.280 you want me to give you inspiration for forty five 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:11.360 minutes every week, and you're gonna lay it over top 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:20.000 of seventeen hours of media that is designed to hardwire 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:27.080 the way you think, Yes, what hope? 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:31.720 Do we have to have peace if we don't make 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:32.440 a place for it. 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:39.000 And they used to teach me in youth camph this 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:43.320 saying called garbage in, garbage out, and it was basically 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:46.200 a way of saying, don't listen to rock and roll 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:48.720 music and watch bad movies. 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.200 And there's some good to that too. I think you 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:53.760 got to be. 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:58.960 In tune with your conscience in terms of what creates 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:00.920 a sense of darkness, and you have to know that, 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.000 and we should make rules for each other. But say, 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:07.560 God search me. I think that's very good. But I 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:12.160 also think that sometimes what we don't take in is 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:13.760 just as fatal to our faith as what we do 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.960 take in. I think some of us are on a 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:19.600 spiritual starvation diet. 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:20.200 And we don't even know. 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:25.800 It, and so we have faith that we don't feed, 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.920 and then we cannot access strength that we actually possess 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:37.120 if we feed it. And so you've got to get 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:38.520 your intake levels up. 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:41.640 You've got to buck. 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:43.440 When he first started trying to get me to work 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.320 out more, he said, the first thing I want you 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.360 to do, Because he was telling me the only way 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:50.480 for me to get the result I wanted, he said, 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:50.920 you got to. 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:51.560 Do two things. 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.760 What was that little cheesy motivational poster you had up 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:56.880 in your gym. You can't out train a bad diet, 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:58.480 is that what it said? And he was like, so 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:02.360 I want you to keep a food law and write 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:04.040 down everything you eat. And I didn't do it, but 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:08.120 I thought it's a good idea because before I can 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:11.240 change what I take in, I need to know track 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:14.440 what I take in. I wonder what it would look 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:18.280 like if you kept a thought log of just what 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:21.879 you let in. So if you let the enemy in 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.439 and then pray for God to drive him out, it 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.520 creates a cycle where you are creating your own state 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:33.840 of mind that you're trying to pray away. So there 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:37.040 has to be a knowledge search me God. You have 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:38.760 to let God show you. You have to let his 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.240 eye see what it is that you're taking in. And 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.560 I even mean this in terms of relationships. Some of 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.320 the people that you are around are draining your faith. 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:50.679 And I know you have to be around them a 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:52.280 little bit, but you might need to put on a 0:17:52.280 --> 0:18:03.800 little protective yeah, like UVS seventy five, seventy five spiritual 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:10.159 protection seventy five, just to get around them. And I 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:13.600 think it would be good sometimes for us to check 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:19.320 our intake levels. Oh well, you know what, I didn't 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.880 read a Bible verse since the last time they put 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:27.560 one on the screen for me at Elevation Church. I 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:33.120 got all these apps on my phone, and ninety seven 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:39.160 percent of them are empty calories A mastered Candy Crush. 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:42.639 I'm not saying don't play Candy Crush because Hollywood leave 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:44.280 me if I put that out there in the universe. 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:49.680 She loves candy Crush. But I'm pretty. 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:55.119 Concerned sometimes that we're filling ourselves with empty calories and 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:56.960 then so we're weak in the battle, and we wonder, 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:04.000 why check your intake. It's good, isn't it. It's good 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:09.000 teaching because your intake, your intake levels have to be balanced. 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:10.879 The second thing I want you to write down is imbalance. 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.240 Check for imbalance. I don't mean chemical imbalance. 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:16.800 That's beyond my purview, but I do mean that when 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:19.359 you don't have a sense of what's important in your life, 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:22.680 when you don't have a sense of priority in your 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:27.840 life and everything feels urgent, it's a sign that you 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:32.320 haven't figured out what's really important. Now you are open 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:35.840 to everybody's demand, and they all take up equal space. 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.160 And so by saying yes to people who don't really matter, 0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:44.680 you say an automatic no to those who do. By 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:49.600 saying yes to people who essentially are using you in 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:52.960 order to achieve their own goals, now you find yourself 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.479 unable to give because you are a limited resource to 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.560 the people that God has entrusted to your care the most. 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:04.360 So I have to have watched this a sense of balance. 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:08.920 I could preach about balance. You know, you've got to 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:11.560 work out and pray and eat and all of that, 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:13.439 but this is not that kind of seminar. What I 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:17.240 mean is you've got to be balanced in what you 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:21.200 give weight to. That's what I mean is that sometimes 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:24.920 we are stressed out because we are giving too much 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:30.119 weight to the wrong words and not enough weight to 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:35.560 the right words. And so we're out of balance because 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:38.840 we have this feed, and everything on our feed is 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:42.159 the same size, and because it's all the same size, 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:44.960 we think it carries the same weight. So we live 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:47.919 in a state of stress because we haven't learned how 0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:50.960 to weigh it out. You've got to weigh it out 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:56.600 when someone doesn't like you. Sometimes it doesn't matter depends 0:20:56.600 --> 0:21:02.560 on who they are. Well are pulling on me. I'm 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:04.600 gonna start telling you things I shouldn't. The other week, 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:07.040 someone was telling me that there was somebody who hated 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:08.880 our church and came and said it wasn't that bad. 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.200 I said, I don't care. I knew it wasn't that bad. 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:16.280 In fact, not only was it not that bad, it's 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:20.120 freaking awesome. Tell him, I said, I didn't need them 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:22.000 to validate something that I. 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:26.480 See every week. Thank you very much. I already know 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:30.199 God is in this place. I already know He is 0:21:30.400 --> 0:21:39.199 glorious in this place. I'm glad you think it's not 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:39.680 that bad. 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:45.440 But I wasn't really waiting for you to hand me 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:50.480 the award for not that bad. It was not that 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:55.600 bad before you decided it was not that bad. And 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:59.280 so I was talking to a guy one time about 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:03.679 something here at the church that was complicated, and I 0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:07.880 gave him a thirty minute speech asking for his advice. 0:22:08.720 --> 0:22:11.800 I got my notebook ready to hear what he would 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:15.080 tell me. After I listed everything that was happening, and 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:18.480 he goes, He goes, Steven. 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:22.520 It doesn't matter. 0:22:24.920 --> 0:22:30.720 So I wrote that down, you know, point one, because 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:33.639 I need you to tell me what to do. And 0:22:33.680 --> 0:22:37.679 do you know he didn't say another word. It just 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:39.119 turned to the person next to you and look at 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:40.520 him and say their name. If you know their name, 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:47.879 say Stephen. Tell them it doesn't matter. 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:50.960 No, you got to tell him with that a little 0:22:51.000 --> 0:22:51.199 bit of. 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:57.040 You gotta do it from your diaphragm ready, tell them 0:22:57.480 --> 0:22:58.800 it doesn't matter. 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:01.840 Now what you just said. 0:23:01.760 --> 0:23:06.000 Is true about ninety nine point nine nine nine nine 0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:10.199 nine nine nine nine nine nine nine seven three percent 0:23:11.080 --> 0:23:16.919 scientific number of what they're staying up worried about. And 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:18.680 one time I was laying in my bed at night 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:22.240 and worrying about something and God spoke to me through 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:26.040 his spirit. You're staying awake worrying about something that I've 0:23:26.080 --> 0:23:33.159 already worked out. Now, when you give weight to that 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:35.920 promise from God, when you give weight to the right things. 0:23:35.960 --> 0:23:38.280 When when I give weight, when I have a clear 0:23:38.320 --> 0:23:41.960 sense of priority in my life, I'm okay if people 0:23:41.960 --> 0:23:46.720 are angry if I say no, because my no is 0:23:46.760 --> 0:23:47.920 a yes to something that. 0:23:47.920 --> 0:23:51.080 I already decided was more important. 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:56.080 Than what any given demand might require of me at 0:23:56.080 --> 0:24:00.560 any given moment. And this is the thing that that 0:24:00.640 --> 0:24:01.359 I'm coming. 0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:05.199 To realize is that Christ is the solid rock. But 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:08.280 if you don't know how to stand on that rock. 0:24:09.880 --> 0:24:13.960 With the right balance, the devil will push you around, 0:24:14.280 --> 0:24:17.520 and you will always steel unsettled, and you will always 0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:20.160 feel tossed in turn. But when you make up your 0:24:20.280 --> 0:24:25.080 mind what does matter and what doesn't matter, let me 0:24:25.119 --> 0:24:27.199 help you out a little bit. What doesn't matter, what 0:24:27.359 --> 0:24:31.960 they think? What does matter? What God knows? Search me, 0:24:32.160 --> 0:24:36.719 God know my mind, tests me, You see you sneak 0:24:36.760 --> 0:24:36.960 to me. 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:42.840 It doesn't matter. 0:24:43.119 --> 0:24:47.879 He was so right what he was talking about didn't matter. 0:24:48.000 --> 0:24:50.240 In fact, I thought about writing a book and calling 0:24:50.280 --> 0:24:54.520 the book it doesn't matter, And I've already got my 0:24:54.600 --> 0:25:00.199 subtitle figured out, really, and my first chapter will be 0:25:00.280 --> 0:25:08.840 called at all. I feel somebody getting their balance back, 0:25:09.000 --> 0:25:10.600 getting your equilibrium back. 0:25:11.680 --> 0:25:14.000 You're seeing it right now. For what it is, This 0:25:14.040 --> 0:25:14.760 doesn't matter. 0:25:15.040 --> 0:25:17.960 This matters that I keep my faith, that I keep 0:25:17.960 --> 0:25:21.800 a grateful attitude, that I don't let my situation contaminate 0:25:22.080 --> 0:25:22.760 my spirit. 0:25:23.119 --> 0:25:28.440 This matters, not that. This matters, not. 0:25:28.560 --> 0:25:33.760 That, because if you don't sort this out, you will 0:25:33.840 --> 0:25:40.720 live in constant imprisonment to your own indecision. Put that 0:25:40.760 --> 0:25:45.520 one down as number three. We're making terrible time. Indecision 0:25:45.640 --> 0:25:51.320 is a prison. So I want you to make three 0:25:51.359 --> 0:25:54.639 decisions before Wednesday. If you're watching this in a MIDWEK 0:25:54.680 --> 0:25:59.320 worship experience, you're running short on time. The clacus counting. 0:25:59.600 --> 0:26:02.199 I want you to set a d day. All you 0:26:02.359 --> 0:26:11.199 procrastinators and you're claiming to be thorough, I want you 0:26:11.280 --> 0:26:15.160 to make I want you to make three decisions this week. 0:26:15.480 --> 0:26:16.760 I want you to do it. I want you to 0:26:16.760 --> 0:26:18.960 set aside a day this week. 0:26:19.080 --> 0:26:21.400 Sit down, have four cups of coffee so you numb 0:26:21.440 --> 0:26:25.919 your rationale, rational thinking processes, and go in. 0:26:25.920 --> 0:26:29.520 And just make them. Just make the decisions. 0:26:29.720 --> 0:26:33.679 And if you make dumb ones, apologize, But. 0:26:33.720 --> 0:26:35.520 Make the decision. 0:26:37.080 --> 0:26:42.359 My god, fifteen minutes to decide chicken or shrimp in 0:26:42.440 --> 0:26:43.159 a restaurant. 0:26:49.680 --> 0:26:50.520 I'm serious. 0:26:50.920 --> 0:26:54.119 You've been dating her seven and a half years and 0:26:54.200 --> 0:26:56.440 you can't decide if she the one. 0:26:56.760 --> 0:26:58.680 Well, if she's not, get. 0:26:58.440 --> 0:27:03.760 Out of the way. Oh I'm prison Now I dis 0:27:03.800 --> 0:27:05.160 got somebody in Diamond. 0:27:05.480 --> 0:27:11.680 You want to name your kids Stephen, do it or 0:27:11.760 --> 0:27:14.399 go do it? Or do. 0:27:20.200 --> 0:27:22.800 Buy the house or dope sell the house or dope 0:27:23.040 --> 0:27:25.320 stay in Raleigh or dope do it or don't. 0:27:26.440 --> 0:27:27.800 You can always move back. 0:27:28.880 --> 0:27:31.360 And now we're making up more stuff to give us 0:27:32.000 --> 0:27:42.480 opportunities for anxiety, and we call it options. I don't 0:27:42.480 --> 0:27:44.560 know if it was just growing up in Monk's Corner, 0:27:44.880 --> 0:27:47.760 you didn't have to decide where to send your kids 0:27:47.760 --> 0:27:48.320 to school. 0:27:48.480 --> 0:27:55.200 There were two. I moved to Charlotte. I never saw 0:27:55.240 --> 0:28:03.000 anything like it. It's crazy. It's killing too many options. 0:28:03.480 --> 0:28:07.719 I just want gash not a surpee, not a car wash, 0:28:08.200 --> 0:28:12.240 not a pack massage, just Gashy's some many OSSes. 0:28:21.800 --> 0:28:22.680 I did it this week. 0:28:22.760 --> 0:28:24.640 I went in I was I was selling that anxiety. 0:28:24.680 --> 0:28:26.840 And I told Jess to send over my notes for 0:28:27.000 --> 0:28:27.960 my Why am I anxious? 0:28:27.960 --> 0:28:29.560 Teaching? Because I felt like I needed my own notes. 0:28:29.560 --> 0:28:30.199 And I don't keep them. 0:28:30.240 --> 0:28:32.760 After I write them, I give them a scratch them 0:28:32.760 --> 0:28:35.080 down and then give them away. But somebody else keeps them, 0:28:35.119 --> 0:28:35.960 and so I said, give me. 0:28:35.960 --> 0:28:38.080 The notes and send them over. I need them. She said, 0:28:38.120 --> 0:28:39.440 are you gonna teach it? I said, no, I need 0:28:39.480 --> 0:28:42.520 to live it. I was feeling all unsettled, and. 0:28:42.480 --> 0:28:44.240 I went through my list and I found this one. 0:28:44.280 --> 0:28:46.120 And the Holy Spirit hit me and said, you're very 0:28:46.120 --> 0:28:47.120 indecisive right now. 0:28:48.040 --> 0:28:50.120 Everything everybody asks you, you're going, hey, when do we get 0:28:50.120 --> 0:28:50.320 back to that. 0:28:50.360 --> 0:28:51.680 I'm gonna go through the roo a few Then you're 0:28:51.720 --> 0:28:53.120 not going through a few things. You're not talking, you're 0:28:53.160 --> 0:28:55.080 not praying anything like that. Just wait until it comes 0:28:55.120 --> 0:29:00.560 around again. And it was because I mean the way 0:29:00.560 --> 0:29:02.480 that I was handling things, and so I just came 0:29:02.480 --> 0:29:03.280 in that day. 0:29:03.360 --> 0:29:07.160 I made three decisions. I felt I felt like. 0:29:08.840 --> 0:29:11.600 I felt like I had spent a day at a 0:29:11.640 --> 0:29:14.120 spa just by making three decisions. 0:29:14.720 --> 0:29:18.280 And they all started with and ended with oh, And 0:29:18.320 --> 0:29:21.880 it felt so good. It felt so good. No, try it, 0:29:22.040 --> 0:29:23.560 try it one, two, three. 0:29:23.560 --> 0:29:32.000 No, Now, this only works. 0:29:32.200 --> 0:29:33.280 This only works if. 0:29:33.200 --> 0:29:39.160 You are living with integrity. This only works if you 0:29:39.200 --> 0:29:43.120 are living with integrity. And sometimes my anxiety as a 0:29:43.120 --> 0:29:48.360 result of a compromise in my integrity, it's kind of 0:29:48.360 --> 0:29:50.680 hard to have a peaceful heart. When you're hiding secrets 0:29:50.680 --> 0:29:54.440 and feel like a hypocrite. It's kind of hard to 0:29:54.600 --> 0:29:57.120 have a peaceful heart when you're having to hope that 0:29:57.520 --> 0:29:59.200 your wife doesn't check your phone. 0:29:58.920 --> 0:30:01.720 To see certain text message. It's kind of hard to 0:30:01.760 --> 0:30:02.880 have a peaceful heart when. 0:30:02.760 --> 0:30:05.240 You have three snapchats and the one that your parents 0:30:05.320 --> 0:30:07.520 think is your snapchat is just a decoy. 0:30:07.920 --> 0:30:09.640 And now you're asking God. 0:30:11.040 --> 0:30:16.400 To give you peace, but your life is so many 0:30:16.440 --> 0:30:17.320 different pieces. 0:30:19.640 --> 0:30:24.040 The word integrity means whole whole. 0:30:26.360 --> 0:30:29.920 Like in math class they taught us about integers, whole numbers, 0:30:31.040 --> 0:30:39.280 whole integrity, everything all one person, all the time. And 0:30:39.320 --> 0:30:41.400 when there are three different means that I have to 0:30:41.440 --> 0:30:46.400 manage for every different situation, it's kind of hard to 0:30:46.520 --> 0:30:49.280 pray to panic away. 0:30:49.920 --> 0:30:52.120 When my own lifestyle is creating it. 0:30:54.440 --> 0:30:56.680 When I'm trying to figure out which mask to wear 0:30:56.960 --> 0:31:02.120 at church and no one will see into my situation 0:31:02.800 --> 0:31:07.680 at home, when there's work me and after work me, 0:31:09.960 --> 0:31:13.800 and Friday night me and nine thirty Sunday morning me, 0:31:15.200 --> 0:31:19.080 it's kind of hard for me to have peace when 0:31:19.080 --> 0:31:22.920 my foundation is cracked. It's kind of hard for me 0:31:22.960 --> 0:31:25.200 to manage all those different means because I might send 0:31:25.200 --> 0:31:26.520 out the wrong one at the wrong time. 0:31:26.880 --> 0:31:27.680 Have you ever done that? 0:31:29.240 --> 0:31:34.040 Oh, I'm at the same preacher me out there right now. 0:31:35.040 --> 0:31:38.400 It's kind of hard for me to ask God to 0:31:38.520 --> 0:31:45.400 bless a life that is divided in so many different directions. Now, 0:31:45.440 --> 0:31:47.960 I don't mean by this that you have to interact 0:31:47.960 --> 0:31:49.080 with everybody. 0:31:48.600 --> 0:31:54.720 On the same level. For instance, if we were to meet. 0:31:54.800 --> 0:31:58.440 At Pizza Hut, I wouldn't talk at this volume. 0:32:00.240 --> 0:32:01.200 Do you know I would modulate. 0:32:01.760 --> 0:32:03.600 People say, well, you should be the same on stage 0:32:03.640 --> 0:32:04.680 that you are out in public. 0:32:05.120 --> 0:32:07.520 Well, that would be obnoxious. 0:32:08.200 --> 0:32:11.520 Can you imagine touch three people at the baseball field? 0:32:13.200 --> 0:32:14.840 Scandalous? Touch? 0:32:14.920 --> 0:32:22.840 What what I am saying is that although you might 0:32:23.560 --> 0:32:26.960 bring a different approach to different situations, that the essential 0:32:27.600 --> 0:32:31.760 nature of who you are remains unchanged in every encounter. 0:32:35.360 --> 0:32:37.440 So it shouldn't be like that for my family to 0:32:37.480 --> 0:32:40.520 watch me preach and go like who was that? It 0:32:40.560 --> 0:32:43.800 shouldn't be like that. It should feel like a continuation. 0:32:45.360 --> 0:32:47.800 Somebody shouldn't see you on the television program and go 0:32:48.040 --> 0:32:57.240 you go to church. I heard you say hallelujah on 0:32:57.400 --> 0:33:01.280 the church service, but I hear you say some others 0:33:02.880 --> 0:33:05.560 and is costing you your peace. I'm not condemning you. 0:33:06.520 --> 0:33:11.080 I'm telling you you might be anxious sometimes because you 0:33:11.160 --> 0:33:15.360 are trying to manage so many different versions of you. 0:33:16.120 --> 0:33:18.640 And if you would bring it all together and just 0:33:18.760 --> 0:33:23.480 be honest before God and just ask God what David 0:33:23.840 --> 0:33:26.640 search me, know my heart and if the way I'm 0:33:26.680 --> 0:33:27.680 doing it is wrong. 0:33:27.920 --> 0:33:29.160 I want to be changed. 0:33:30.240 --> 0:33:34.480 I'm already accepted because of what Jesus Christ has done 0:33:34.560 --> 0:33:38.040 for me. Now, God, help me to align my life 0:33:38.520 --> 0:33:40.760 with what you made me to be so that I 0:33:40.800 --> 0:33:43.800 can be the real me. I want to be the 0:33:43.840 --> 0:33:47.479 real me, the highest version of me, that called me, 0:33:47.960 --> 0:33:52.600 that chosen me, that secure me, that stable me, that 0:33:52.880 --> 0:33:55.920 God loves me. And I don't have to prove anything 0:33:56.000 --> 0:33:56.720 to anyone. 0:33:57.200 --> 0:33:59.600 This is my child with Him, with her. 0:33:59.680 --> 0:34:03.000 I well, please, I don't have to be anybody else. 0:34:07.080 --> 0:34:11.239 And my cortisol levels just dropped just by being the 0:34:11.280 --> 0:34:15.080 real me because all that other layers of stuff. 0:34:14.760 --> 0:34:16.960 And all that anger, that's not the real you, not 0:34:17.040 --> 0:34:21.200 in Christ. That's what David is getting to the bottom of. 0:34:21.440 --> 0:34:23.560 Did you notice that all of my points are starting 0:34:23.560 --> 0:34:27.400 with the same letter, the letter I. 0:34:27.400 --> 0:34:28.200 I figure that's. 0:34:28.080 --> 0:34:33.640 A common denominator in a lot of our anxiety, search 0:34:34.239 --> 0:34:40.840 me God, your eyes can see God's eyes. 0:34:41.360 --> 0:34:46.080 God see beneath the surface of what the situation is. 0:34:47.960 --> 0:34:51.600 Anxious because of my money, and I'm anxious because of 0:34:51.640 --> 0:34:53.600 my help, and I'm anxious because my mom. 0:34:53.680 --> 0:34:55.759 No no, no, no no. That might trigger it. 0:34:56.840 --> 0:34:59.640 But the truth of God's word can enable your heart 0:35:00.080 --> 0:35:03.600 to transcend. This is what the New Testament preaches, is 0:35:03.640 --> 0:35:08.120 that the peace of God will actually pass all understanding 0:35:08.440 --> 0:35:13.799 and guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. So, 0:35:13.880 --> 0:35:19.239 no matter what triggers the anxiety in any situation, David said, search. 0:35:19.040 --> 0:35:20.840 Me and know me. 0:35:22.440 --> 0:35:29.040 And sometimes I have to fix my intention. Sometimes I 0:35:29.080 --> 0:35:35.040 can reduce my anxiety just by shifting my intention, just 0:35:35.080 --> 0:35:38.520 by going from you know, how how are people thinking 0:35:38.520 --> 0:35:38.920 about me? 0:35:39.000 --> 0:35:40.080 To realizing they're not. 0:35:43.080 --> 0:35:46.560 Maybe if I would think about others, you know, why 0:35:46.560 --> 0:35:47.440 didn't she speak to me? 0:35:47.480 --> 0:35:54.040 Why didn't you speak to her? How about that? Why 0:35:54.080 --> 0:35:57.720 didn't you? Why didn't you? When when I'm when I'm. 0:35:57.640 --> 0:36:00.319 Up here, a lot of times I can get locked 0:36:00.320 --> 0:36:02.759 into performance mode real quick, and it makes for a 0:36:02.760 --> 0:36:07.040 thirsty sermon. It's not the best sermon. It's hard to 0:36:07.040 --> 0:36:11.040 give living water when the preacher is thirsty. But when 0:36:11.080 --> 0:36:13.640 I shift my intention and go and I hope this 0:36:13.680 --> 0:36:14.279 doesn't offend you. 0:36:14.280 --> 0:36:15.759 But sometimes I make up stuff about you. 0:36:15.800 --> 0:36:17.439 I just look in your eyes and pretend like you're 0:36:17.800 --> 0:36:18.880 going through something horrible. 0:36:18.920 --> 0:36:20.520 I do. I just picture it like you, just do 0:36:20.600 --> 0:36:21.480 it on the. 0:36:21.520 --> 0:36:26.680 Verge, and just by wanting to help you rather than 0:36:26.719 --> 0:36:27.600 perform for you. 0:36:28.640 --> 0:36:31.479 When I shift my intention, it just. 0:36:32.400 --> 0:36:35.000 I just I feel something fall off when I do. 0:36:36.600 --> 0:36:37.760 You can shift your. 0:36:37.800 --> 0:36:43.640 Intention in any interaction, and immediately when you do, when 0:36:43.680 --> 0:36:46.360 you step out of the center and try to see 0:36:46.520 --> 0:36:49.239 how can I serve? I'll tell you what will go 0:36:49.600 --> 0:36:52.440 when you step out of the ciner. The burden of 0:36:52.480 --> 0:36:56.640 the weight of how you're coming across, the burden of 0:36:56.719 --> 0:37:00.239 the weight of how you're being perceived, the burden of 0:37:00.280 --> 0:37:02.799 the weight of what other people are and are not 0:37:02.960 --> 0:37:05.560 giving you. You have got to get out of the 0:37:05.600 --> 0:37:14.560 middle and see things from God's point of view. Search me, God, 0:37:14.000 --> 0:37:18.120 Am I anxious because it's just the rhythms of life? 0:37:18.160 --> 0:37:19.399 Then fine, I'll get through it. 0:37:19.680 --> 0:37:25.759 Or am I creating more waves than necessary because. 0:37:25.400 --> 0:37:28.840 My eyes are not focused on Jesus? 0:37:30.680 --> 0:37:32.960 I found out a lot of it is not even real. 0:37:34.000 --> 0:37:38.240 Have you noticed that a lot of it is in 0:37:38.280 --> 0:37:40.560 this sacred place that God has given. 0:37:40.400 --> 0:37:43.040 Us by which he shows us who he is. 0:37:43.200 --> 0:37:48.040 It's the sacred space of your imagination. I want you 0:37:48.120 --> 0:37:51.040 to reclaim your imagination. 0:37:52.520 --> 0:37:52.920 You hear me. 0:37:53.080 --> 0:37:57.480 I want you to take back your most valuable asset. 0:37:59.280 --> 0:38:01.879 I want you to tell take back that place in 0:38:01.920 --> 0:38:05.440 you that used to be playful, and now it is 0:38:05.640 --> 0:38:11.760 so it is so stressed and panicked, that that placed 0:38:11.760 --> 0:38:14.359 in you that used to just make up games as 0:38:14.360 --> 0:38:18.279 a little kid, just make up games, just would walk 0:38:18.360 --> 0:38:22.879 up to anybody. I want you to get get back 0:38:22.960 --> 0:38:31.960 that childlike faith. Just play around, just play around. See, 0:38:32.080 --> 0:38:34.759 the devil wants to turn the place that was meant 0:38:34.800 --> 0:38:37.399 to be your playground where you can enjoy God into 0:38:37.440 --> 0:38:39.360 a battleground where you can't even. 0:38:39.160 --> 0:38:40.680 Feel or experience him. 0:38:42.200 --> 0:38:45.760 When the enemy comes after your destiny, his first step 0:38:45.880 --> 0:38:50.279 is to set up a stronghold in your imagination. The 0:38:50.400 --> 0:38:52.640 enemy wants to make it where you can't stand to 0:38:52.719 --> 0:38:56.480 be alone because you've got an internal isis that has 0:38:56.520 --> 0:38:56.960 set up. 0:38:57.000 --> 0:38:57.840 Terror at cells. 0:38:58.160 --> 0:39:00.520 And every time you go to think, you worry so 0:39:00.640 --> 0:39:04.759 much about what might happen that you can't worship God. 0:39:05.239 --> 0:39:08.560 So now you can't worship because you're so worried. But 0:39:08.640 --> 0:39:12.360 God said, today we're gonna get this thing turned around 0:39:13.480 --> 0:39:16.800 and recapture your imagination. 0:39:19.640 --> 0:39:22.839 To where you feel free again, to where you. 0:39:22.800 --> 0:39:26.640 Can dream about something again, to where you can think 0:39:26.640 --> 0:39:29.919 and think, think crazy thoughts, and just write stuff down 0:39:30.000 --> 0:39:34.319 and just walk around seeing your stuff off tune, make 0:39:34.360 --> 0:39:34.640 it up. 0:39:34.719 --> 0:39:38.200 Words. You used to do that, you used to do that, 0:39:38.800 --> 0:39:45.960 you used to walk around with just anything, but now anything. 0:39:48.840 --> 0:39:51.120 I told the devil the other day, get your hands 0:39:51.160 --> 0:39:55.240 off God's property. My imagination is God's house. 0:39:55.680 --> 0:39:59.000 My imagination was purchased with the blood of Christ. 0:39:59.520 --> 0:40:01.000 You can't set up camp here. 0:40:01.400 --> 0:40:06.000 I got dreams to dream, I got visions to see. 0:40:05.840 --> 0:40:12.320 I got a future to imagine. 0:40:12.920 --> 0:40:15.480 The good news is, if you're really good at worrying, 0:40:15.560 --> 0:40:22.200 you're gonna be great at worship because all it is 0:40:22.200 --> 0:40:25.160 is the same imagination serving the opposite purpose. 0:40:28.400 --> 0:40:30.640 So what I'm doing now, y'll help me preach. I'm 0:40:30.640 --> 0:40:32.800 about the close. I'm about the close. 0:40:33.160 --> 0:40:36.960 But before I close, God said, we need to we 0:40:37.000 --> 0:40:42.480 need to reverse the cycle of the way that you're 0:40:42.520 --> 0:40:46.960 thinking about things. We need to reverse the cycle. So 0:40:47.040 --> 0:40:49.680 when you wake up in the morning, stop checking the 0:40:49.719 --> 0:40:56.360 fear casts. Stop waking up in the morning and thinking 0:40:56.400 --> 0:40:59.040 about how every possible meeting could go wrong, and you 0:40:59.080 --> 0:41:02.120 don't have anything clean, and you wore that on Tuesday. 0:41:02.440 --> 0:41:06.000 I promise you nobody has been keeping a spreadsheet. 0:41:05.560 --> 0:41:06.520 Of your shoes. 0:41:06.920 --> 0:41:10.279 Put on those same shoes you wore Tuesday, and walk 0:41:10.320 --> 0:41:15.239 into your Thursday and expect to see the goodness of 0:41:15.440 --> 0:41:20.000 the Lord where you have faith? People, Do I have 0:41:20.120 --> 0:41:25.959 any faith casts in the house, David Saidema, take the wings. 0:41:25.640 --> 0:41:29.040 Of morning, or dwelling the othermost part of the sea. 0:41:29.080 --> 0:41:33.920 Watch this. Even there, your hand will lead me. 0:41:35.400 --> 0:41:35.440 In. 0:41:35.560 --> 0:41:36.879 Your right hand will hold me. 0:41:37.560 --> 0:41:42.800 Fast because God is watching over me, and he's looking 0:41:42.840 --> 0:41:46.800 into me. I didn't check the fear cast this week. 0:41:47.880 --> 0:41:53.040 I checked the faith cast. It's corny, but I bet 0:41:53.040 --> 0:41:56.759 you it'll drive back depression if you check the faith. 0:41:56.560 --> 0:42:06.440 Cast, because God has been too good for me to 0:42:06.480 --> 0:42:15.279 stay anxious. How many did I give you? I heard 0:42:15.280 --> 0:42:19.440 a sermon one time. It said doing stuff on six 0:42:22.920 --> 0:42:26.040 So stand up. I'll tell you. Stand up. I'll tell 0:42:26.040 --> 0:42:26.640 you the last thing. 0:42:26.640 --> 0:42:28.239 When you stand up, it makes me know I'm out 0:42:28.280 --> 0:42:38.040 of time. Because the enemy wants to fight you in isolation. 0:42:39.840 --> 0:42:43.960 Why am I anxious. 0:42:45.440 --> 0:42:47.520 I think the answer to that question can often be 0:42:47.560 --> 0:42:49.600 found right in the middle of the very word itself. 0:42:51.560 --> 0:42:52.400 The word anxious. 0:42:52.480 --> 0:42:57.120 Right in the middle of the word is the letter I. 0:42:57.120 --> 0:42:59.759 I was looking at it a few weeks ago, and 0:42:59.840 --> 0:43:02.880 I was just looking at the word anxious, and I 0:43:02.960 --> 0:43:06.799 was thinking, why should I feel discouraged? 0:43:08.040 --> 0:43:10.520 Why did the shadows come? Why should my heart feel lonely? 0:43:11.560 --> 0:43:14.680 When Jesus is my portion, a constant friend is hee 0:43:15.280 --> 0:43:15.640 when his. 0:43:15.680 --> 0:43:17.120 Eye is watching over my life. 0:43:17.239 --> 0:43:20.200 David said, you were there for my conception, and you 0:43:20.239 --> 0:43:22.240 have been there for every conflict and every. 0:43:22.040 --> 0:43:23.799 Season of my life. 0:43:24.360 --> 0:43:28.480 David wrote this beautiful song, although we cannot pinpoint the occasion. 0:43:28.520 --> 0:43:30.560 Many think it was at the occasion of his coronation 0:43:31.239 --> 0:43:33.880 as the king over both the Southern and the Northern Kingdom. 0:43:34.120 --> 0:43:37.120 It really doesn't matter when he wrote it, because God 0:43:37.200 --> 0:43:39.960 was watching over every stage of his process. 0:43:41.600 --> 0:43:42.600 And David says, God. 0:43:42.480 --> 0:43:45.360 I want you to show me what's really making me anxious, 0:43:45.360 --> 0:43:47.560 so I don't spend the rest of my life waiting 0:43:47.600 --> 0:43:50.720 for my enemies to disappear before I choose to have peace. 0:43:54.160 --> 0:43:57.160 And I was looking at the very word, and I 0:43:57.200 --> 0:43:58.239 saw something. 0:43:59.680 --> 0:44:04.360 That is right in the middle of anxious. But the 0:44:04.400 --> 0:44:09.600 word ends with us, and. 0:44:09.560 --> 0:44:11.680 I was thinking about what we do in coming to church, 0:44:11.760 --> 0:44:17.239 you know, for our weekly reminder that we're not the 0:44:17.280 --> 0:44:26.920 only ones. We are not the only ones. You're not 0:44:27.000 --> 0:44:30.640 even going to be able to leave church today without 0:44:30.680 --> 0:44:33.000 having to make a decision whether to apply this message, 0:44:33.080 --> 0:44:36.319 because many of you don't have the support system that 0:44:36.360 --> 0:44:38.080 you need to walk in the peace. 0:44:37.880 --> 0:44:38.719 That you're praying for. 0:44:40.480 --> 0:44:42.680 When you walk out today, there's going to be balloons 0:44:42.760 --> 0:44:47.160 and grown men in pink T shirts and youth in 0:44:47.880 --> 0:44:51.000 white T shirts to sign you up for whatever age 0:44:51.080 --> 0:44:54.600 or stage of life that you're in for these groups 0:44:54.600 --> 0:44:56.880 that we put together within the church a place for 0:44:56.920 --> 0:45:02.080 you to come and actually take the message water. What 0:45:02.160 --> 0:45:03.799 good is the seed of the Word of God if 0:45:03.800 --> 0:45:09.520 there's no water applied during the week, dying of thirst, 0:45:10.880 --> 0:45:19.919 faith dehydrated. But it ends when I becomes us. Real 0:45:20.000 --> 0:45:22.960 change happens there when you get in and say, you 0:45:23.000 --> 0:45:26.319 know this week, man, I at this moment where I 0:45:26.320 --> 0:45:27.160 almost said. 0:45:26.960 --> 0:45:29.160 It, And then the dude over there in the corner 0:45:29.160 --> 0:45:30.319 who never speaks. 0:45:29.960 --> 0:45:35.160 Speaks up and goes, yeah, me too, And you look 0:45:35.200 --> 0:45:37.640 at him and you're so glad because. 0:45:37.320 --> 0:45:39.239 When you came in, you felt like it was just you. 0:45:39.360 --> 0:45:43.319 But somebody say, it's not just you. It's not just you. 0:45:45.239 --> 0:45:47.680 We came into the presence of God today to be 0:45:47.800 --> 0:45:49.880 surrounded by like minded people. 0:45:50.000 --> 0:45:51.120 But let me tell you something. 0:45:51.320 --> 0:45:56.880 You got to stay surrounded to say a peace. So 0:45:56.960 --> 0:45:59.799 I want to challenge you this week to take my 0:46:00.080 --> 0:46:02.560 ominar and go through it. 0:46:04.320 --> 0:46:05.560 Why do you always. 0:46:05.160 --> 0:46:08.319 Talk about Zaxby's on the way out of church and 0:46:08.400 --> 0:46:12.920 never take a moment and just digest what you heard, 0:46:13.160 --> 0:46:14.040 act on what you. 0:46:14.040 --> 0:46:17.560 Heard, and ask God what David did? In fact? Can 0:46:17.600 --> 0:46:19.080 we do it for a moment? Can we just be 0:46:19.280 --> 0:46:22.160 still for a moment and even. 0:46:22.000 --> 0:46:25.040 Lift our hands If you feel comfortable lifting your hands, 0:46:25.520 --> 0:46:28.440 it puts you in a posture where you're no longer 0:46:28.480 --> 0:46:30.320 self conscious, but you're more God conscious. 0:46:32.640 --> 0:46:34.319 And just pray this Father, show me. 0:46:36.360 --> 0:46:40.640 The ways that I'm thinking that are preventing your peace 0:46:42.120 --> 0:46:46.560 from flooding my life. 0:46:47.480 --> 0:46:48.520 Stay right there for a moment. 0:46:48.560 --> 0:46:50.920 I believe this week God is going to show you 0:46:51.000 --> 0:46:52.080 decisions that need. 0:46:51.880 --> 0:46:54.560 To be made and how to make them. I believe 0:46:54.600 --> 0:46:55.360 that when you will. 0:46:55.200 --> 0:46:58.319 Get in His presence and ingest the. 0:46:58.200 --> 0:47:01.440 Pure milk of the Word of God, the pure air 0:47:01.560 --> 0:47:02.120 of worship. 0:47:03.600 --> 0:47:05.640 Come out of the air of anxiety that the world 0:47:05.680 --> 0:47:09.200 is suffocating with, and come up to an altitude where 0:47:09.200 --> 0:47:13.240 you can breathe the breath and the grace of God, 0:47:14.280 --> 0:47:18.960 that the peace of God that transcends all understanding with 0:47:19.160 --> 0:47:23.560 God your heart and your mind. In Christ Jesus, I 0:47:23.680 --> 0:47:28.440 declare this over you today, regardless of your situation. I 0:47:28.520 --> 0:47:32.520 declare this over you today, regardless of your diagnosis. I 0:47:32.560 --> 0:47:35.759 declare this to you today in the name that is 0:47:35.800 --> 0:47:41.000 above every name, the name at which demons tremble. We 0:47:41.120 --> 0:47:46.800 don't tremble before demons. Demons tremble before the name of Jesus. 0:47:46.960 --> 0:47:49.400 And we speak peace to storms. 0:47:48.960 --> 0:47:54.279 In our soul today in the name of Jesus. Thank 0:47:54.320 --> 0:47:55.200 you for joining us. 0:47:55.480 --> 0:47:57.960 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:47:58.000 --> 0:48:01.520 this ministry. Is because of you, this ministry is possible. 0:48:01.960 --> 0:48:04.160 You can click the link in the description to give 0:48:04.239 --> 0:48:08.560 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast. 0:48:08.080 --> 0:48:11.200 For more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you 0:48:11.200 --> 0:48:13.800 can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:48:14.120 --> 0:48:16.400 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:48:16.440 --> 0:48:18.560 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:48:18.560 --> 0:48:20.440 Elevation Church, Thanks again for listening. 0:48:20.520 --> 0:48:26.160 God bless you.