WEBVTT - 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