WEBVTT - Beth Jones - Oct 10 - 7:30 pm 0:00:00.950 --> 0:00:04.430 Hi guys, I'm Beth Jones, and welcome to The Basics 0:00:04.510 --> 0:00:08.470 with Beth, where learning God's Word is a joy. In 0:00:08.570 --> 0:00:11.710 every message, we will do our best to teach you 0:00:11.750 --> 0:00:15.470 the Bible basics in such a way that it strengthens 0:00:15.870 --> 0:00:20.600 your faith foundation. In addition, I want to empower and 0:00:20.660 --> 0:00:24.740 equip you so that you have confidence to share these 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.960 Bible basics with others. So lean in and listen with 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:32.080 your heart. If you'd like to know more about our ministry, 0:00:32.140 --> 0:00:37.380 just go to thebasicswithbeth.com and get all the scoop. With 0:00:37.620 --> 0:00:41.820 all of that said, now let's jump into today's message. 0:00:43.820 --> 0:00:46.540 We are here starting a brand new series, six week 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:50.000 series called What to Do When You Feel Blue. And 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:52.960 so our goal is to not be a Debbie Downer. 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.300 Our goal is to tap into joy, tap into God's gladness, 0:00:57.340 --> 0:00:59.110 and see how things are for us at the end 0:00:59.130 --> 0:01:01.190 of six weeks. And we're trusting the Lord. We're going 0:01:01.210 --> 0:01:03.670 to come into some good stuff. And we know everybody's 0:01:03.690 --> 0:01:06.010 in a different place, you know, spiritually and in life 0:01:06.050 --> 0:01:09.350 and in your season. And aren't you glad God's word 0:01:09.430 --> 0:01:13.070 covers it all? So let's pray. We're going to jump 0:01:13.110 --> 0:01:14.270 right into it. So let me pray and then we'll 0:01:14.290 --> 0:01:17.310 get into it, okay? Father, thank you for this great 0:01:17.350 --> 0:01:19.880 group of people. Lord, and thank you for your word. 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:23.180 As we get into this series, what to do when 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:26.000 you feel blue. Lord, we're so glad that your word 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.720 tells us what to do. We're so glad that Jesus 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.750 came so that we could have fullness of joy. And Lord, 0:01:31.770 --> 0:01:33.870 I ask you during tonight's message and during all of 0:01:33.910 --> 0:01:36.550 the messages, I ask you Lord to anoint us with 0:01:36.590 --> 0:01:40.390 the oil of gladness. I pray Lord on the inside, 0:01:40.730 --> 0:01:42.830 every single one of us will be anointed with the 0:01:43.030 --> 0:01:45.789 oil of gladness And Lord, then we'll be obedient and 0:01:45.890 --> 0:01:49.070 cooperate with your word to tap into all that you 0:01:49.110 --> 0:01:53.420 have for us. Thank you for what you'll do tonight 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:57.260 and in every session, Lord, in Jesus' name and everybody 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:00.820 that agreed said amen. So we're in week one. Week 0:02:00.940 --> 0:02:03.950 one is this whole series is based on a bite-sized 0:02:03.990 --> 0:02:05.630 Bible study book that I wrote called What to Do 0:02:05.650 --> 0:02:09.430 When You Feel Blue. Imagine that, same title. And so 0:02:09.970 --> 0:02:13.170 chapter 1, the first week, chapter 1, is called When 0:02:13.190 --> 0:02:15.820 the Sky is Not Blue. And we're going to kind 0:02:15.860 --> 0:02:17.640 of talk about that a little bit and just identify 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.359 when the sky is not blue. Why isn't it blue? 0:02:20.580 --> 0:02:23.240 Are there reasons that the sky is not blue? So 0:02:23.260 --> 0:02:24.480 we're going to get into it. We'll look at some 0:02:24.500 --> 0:02:26.200 of those components here in just a minute. But I 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:28.820 want to read you guys a fun little story. This 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.090 is kind of a spoof. This is a bricklayer's accident report. 0:02:32.100 --> 0:02:34.630 And this is a little bit of a spoof on 0:02:34.669 --> 0:02:38.720 his accident. Sent in to an insurance company. Dear sir, 0:02:38.810 --> 0:02:41.360 I am writing in response to your request for additional 0:02:41.419 --> 0:02:45.239 information in block number three of the accident reporting form. 0:02:45.740 --> 0:02:49.540 I put poor planning as the cause of my accident. 0:02:49.940 --> 0:02:52.500 You asked for a more complete explanation and I trust 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.840 the following details will be sufficient. I'm a bricklayer by trade. 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:58.460 On the day of the accident, I was working alone 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.360 on the roof of the new six-story building. When I 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.380 completed my work, I found that I had some bricks 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:06.290 left over. When they were weighed, it was found to 0:03:06.350 --> 0:03:10.530 be 240 pounds worth. Rather than carry the bricks down 0:03:10.570 --> 0:03:12.650 by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel 0:03:12.730 --> 0:03:14.850 by using a pulley attached to the side of the 0:03:14.889 --> 0:03:19.790 building at the sixth floor. Securing the rope at ground level, 0:03:19.810 --> 0:03:21.790 I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, 0:03:21.850 --> 0:03:24.290 and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went down 0:03:24.310 --> 0:03:26.860 and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.260 slow descent of the 240 pounds of brick. You will 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.660 notice on the accident reporting form that my weight is 0:03:33.660 --> 0:03:39.460 135 pounds. Due to my surprise at being jerked off 0:03:39.500 --> 0:03:42.600 the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.280 and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, 0:03:45.300 --> 0:03:47.380 I proceeded up the side of the building at a 0:03:47.420 --> 0:03:50.280 rapid rate of speed. In the vicinity of the third floor, 0:03:50.300 --> 0:03:54.070 I met the barrel, which was now proceeding downward at 0:03:54.110 --> 0:03:58.930 an equally impressive speed. This explains the fractured skull, minor abrasions, 0:03:59.010 --> 0:04:01.730 and broken collarbone as listed in section three of the 0:04:01.810 --> 0:04:07.040 accident reporting form. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, 0:04:07.340 --> 0:04:09.580 not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were 0:04:09.620 --> 0:04:12.540 two knuckles deep into the pulley, which I mentioned in 0:04:12.580 --> 0:04:16.460 paragraph two. Fortunately, by this time I had regained my 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.560 presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.560 the rope in spite of the excruciating pain I was 0:04:22.610 --> 0:04:26.390 now beginning to experience. At approximately the same time, however, 0:04:26.970 --> 0:04:29.250 the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom 0:04:29.410 --> 0:04:32.869 fell out of the barrel. Now devoid of the weight 0:04:33.010 --> 0:04:39.100 of the bricks... The barrel weighed approximately 50 pounds. I 0:04:39.140 --> 0:04:42.400 refer you again to my weight. As you might imagine, 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.880 I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. 0:04:46.430 --> 0:04:48.470 In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the 0:04:48.490 --> 0:04:52.010 barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, 0:04:52.130 --> 0:04:56.590 broken tooth, and severe lacerations to my leg and lower body. Here, 0:04:56.690 --> 0:04:59.690 my luck began to change slightly. The encounter with the 0:04:59.710 --> 0:05:03.250 barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries 0:05:03.330 --> 0:05:06.130 when I fell into the pile of bricks, and fortunately, 0:05:06.710 --> 0:05:10.810 only three vertebrae were cracked. I'm sorry to report, however, 0:05:11.470 --> 0:05:13.480 as I lay there on the pile of bricks in pain, 0:05:14.060 --> 0:05:18.279 unable to move, and watching the empty barrel six stories 0:05:18.580 --> 0:05:22.800 above me, I again lost my composure and presence of 0:05:22.860 --> 0:05:27.310 mind and let go of the rope. Well, how many 0:05:27.330 --> 0:05:30.350 of you know he was having a blue day? He 0:05:30.410 --> 0:05:32.670 was having a downer day. And we're going to talk 0:05:32.710 --> 0:05:34.909 about what to do when your skies are not blue. 0:05:34.970 --> 0:05:36.770 What to do when you feel like the bricklayer. What 0:05:36.810 --> 0:05:38.790 to do when things aren't going your way. And are 0:05:38.810 --> 0:05:40.890 there some specific things that might cause it? Are there 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.060 some specific things we can do and need to do 0:05:43.540 --> 0:05:45.920 to cooperate with God, with his word, to tap into 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:49.370 everything that he's promised? And so, like I said, we'll 0:05:49.390 --> 0:05:51.210 get into it. We'll talk about those details. Let me 0:05:51.230 --> 0:05:52.830 just say this kind of as we begin. How many 0:05:52.850 --> 0:05:54.789 of you know we live in a society that's not, 0:05:55.690 --> 0:06:00.440 that you wouldn't describe as happy? This is a society, 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:02.820 a culture where, you know, there's a lot of folks 0:06:03.380 --> 0:06:10.140 milling around that are depressed, bummed, blue, heavy. A lot 0:06:10.180 --> 0:06:12.779 of folks that are having to take things, take drugs 0:06:12.860 --> 0:06:16.430 and pills and all kinds of things to get a pick-me-up, right? 0:06:16.450 --> 0:06:19.970 A lot of people dealing with depression, right? A lot 0:06:19.990 --> 0:06:22.890 of people dealing with bipolar. They're either really up or 0:06:23.130 --> 0:06:26.110 really down. And so we live in a society, we 0:06:26.130 --> 0:06:29.250 live in a culture where this subject is really important. 0:06:29.730 --> 0:06:31.710 And thankfully, how many of you are glad? I mean, thankfully, 0:06:31.730 --> 0:06:33.870 there's some things that can be done in the natural. 0:06:33.890 --> 0:06:37.370 There's some help, some aid, some medicine, some therapies. There's 0:06:37.390 --> 0:06:39.210 some things that can be done to help people. And 0:06:39.270 --> 0:06:41.370 so praise the Lord for that. But what we're going 0:06:41.390 --> 0:06:44.630 to get into is this. Jesus has the best way. 0:06:45.510 --> 0:06:48.710 This isn't taking God by surprise. right, that we would 0:06:48.730 --> 0:06:50.810 be in a culture, that we would be in a 0:06:50.870 --> 0:06:53.120 season and in a time living on planet Earth where 0:06:53.130 --> 0:06:56.400 people would be tempted to be depressed and blue and bummed. 0:06:56.420 --> 0:06:58.100 And so we're going to get into some things here 0:06:58.140 --> 0:07:00.500 just kind of by way of introduction at the beginning. 0:07:01.540 --> 0:07:03.120 You know, when the skies are not blue, we want 0:07:03.140 --> 0:07:05.790 to get at least established in, okay, what is God's will? 0:07:05.870 --> 0:07:07.350 I mean, you know, is that the deal? Is it 0:07:07.390 --> 0:07:08.909 just going to be, you know, some days you're up 0:07:08.950 --> 0:07:10.650 and some days you're down? Is that just the deal? 0:07:12.410 --> 0:07:14.290 You know, just pray that you have more up days 0:07:14.310 --> 0:07:17.510 than down days. What is God's will for us? Where's 0:07:17.570 --> 0:07:20.090 the bar set, so to speak, according to God's word? 0:07:20.110 --> 0:07:22.070 And so let's look at some verses here and we'll 0:07:22.110 --> 0:07:25.150 see where it's set. If you'll go over to John 15, 11, 0:07:25.150 --> 0:07:28.270 and we'll kind of start by talking about this just 0:07:28.310 --> 0:07:31.450 for a minute and set our sights where God has 0:07:31.470 --> 0:07:36.190 them set. And so John 15, verse 11, Jesus said this, 0:07:36.230 --> 0:07:38.410 all right? So these are his words. He said, these 0:07:38.570 --> 0:07:44.040 things I've spoken to you that my joy that my 0:07:44.100 --> 0:07:47.940 joy may remain in you and that your joy may 0:07:47.980 --> 0:07:50.690 be full. So that's that little last phrase is what 0:07:50.710 --> 0:07:53.230 we want to focus in on. What's God's will? I mean, really, 0:07:53.250 --> 0:07:55.970 what's his highest and best for us? His highest and 0:07:55.990 --> 0:07:58.850 best is that we tap into his joy and that 0:07:59.330 --> 0:08:02.870 our joy, your joy would be full, that our joy 0:08:02.910 --> 0:08:04.790 would be full. And I want to give you some 0:08:04.830 --> 0:08:07.929 definitions about what that means, full and what joy means, because, 0:08:08.330 --> 0:08:09.850 you know, we all kind of want to have a 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:11.960 working knowledge of what exactly is it that God wants 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:15.950 for us. The word joy is also, you know, translated 0:08:15.990 --> 0:08:19.450 in the Bible. Some other words are used to define joy. 0:08:19.470 --> 0:08:21.690 And it's things, you know, once we talk about it, 0:08:21.690 --> 0:08:23.170 you'll kind of go, oh yeah, you know, I've read 0:08:23.190 --> 0:08:25.730 all those verses. I see those phrases all the time. 0:08:25.750 --> 0:08:29.710 And it's such a redundant theme. Joy is such a 0:08:29.770 --> 0:08:33.290 redundant theme in the Bible. And so it's so important 0:08:33.330 --> 0:08:35.230 for us as Christians, it's so important for us to 0:08:35.250 --> 0:08:37.980 tap into this. How many of you know joy is 0:08:38.010 --> 0:08:41.410 the mark of a Christian? You know, sometimes people think 0:08:41.450 --> 0:08:42.930 that the mark of a Christian is to be really 0:08:43.050 --> 0:08:47.229 serious and really intense, you know, and just really ugh. No, 0:08:47.350 --> 0:08:49.329 the mark, the sign of a Christian, I mean, if 0:08:49.370 --> 0:08:51.650 you want to be recognized as a Christian, marked as 0:08:51.710 --> 0:08:54.870 a Christian, the true mark of a Christian is joy. 0:08:56.130 --> 0:08:58.980 You know, the Bible says Jesus was anointed with the 0:08:59.100 --> 0:09:03.199 oil of gladness more than anybody else. So Jesus was 0:09:03.220 --> 0:09:07.860 a very joyful, very happy, very glad person. You know, 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:10.240 sometimes we see these pictures of Jesus as if he wasn't, 0:09:10.540 --> 0:09:13.590 as if he was some somber, serious person. I think 0:09:13.630 --> 0:09:14.770 a lot of times in our heads we think that 0:09:14.790 --> 0:09:18.150 must be how God is. You know, God the judge. 0:09:19.630 --> 0:09:21.710 Sometimes we don't really see God in light of his 0:09:21.750 --> 0:09:23.430 word and we really need to get our minds renewed 0:09:23.470 --> 0:09:26.140 to it. His will is joy and that it's full. 0:09:26.179 --> 0:09:28.140 And other words that the Bible uses are words like this. 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:32.740 The Bible uses the word gladness. Serve the Lord with gladness. 0:09:33.420 --> 0:09:37.250 Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness. The Bible 0:09:37.290 --> 0:09:40.930 uses words like rejoice or rejoicing. You guys know, remember 0:09:40.950 --> 0:09:43.720 the song back in Sunday school? Some of you that 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:45.920 heard this, learned this way back when. Rejoice in the 0:09:45.940 --> 0:09:50.280 Lord always and again I say. Rejoice in the Lord 0:09:50.460 --> 0:09:58.250 always and again I. Rejoice, rejoice. You guys faded on 0:09:58.270 --> 0:10:01.880 me there. how many of y'all sang that in rounds 0:10:01.900 --> 0:10:04.340 remember that okay you all start then you guys come 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:06.500 in and you know we actually should do that one 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:11.060 of these weeks we should do like no take us 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.060 back but but why does the Bible say that why 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:15.540 does the Bible say rejoice in the Lord always and 0:10:16.030 --> 0:10:20.460 There's something about joy, something about gladness, something about rejoicing. 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:23.020 And God wants it full. He wants us to be 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:27.990 full of it. Literally. He wants us to be full 0:10:28.020 --> 0:10:30.490 of it. Another word in the Bible is the word mirth. 0:10:31.370 --> 0:10:34.670 The Bible says make mirth. This is the word in 0:10:34.690 --> 0:10:36.290 the Bible. I think that word is funny. Like that 0:10:36.330 --> 0:10:40.130 word tickles me. Mirth. We're supposed to make mirth. And 0:10:40.170 --> 0:10:43.709 mirth is a picture of joy and rejoicing. And so 0:10:43.770 --> 0:10:45.710 that's where the bar is set. That's what God wants 0:10:45.770 --> 0:10:49.450 for us. It's not his will that anybody's singing the blues. 0:10:49.910 --> 0:10:52.590 It's not his will that anybody's having, you know, days 0:10:52.630 --> 0:10:55.770 that are really cloudy and really stormy. And so we're 0:10:55.790 --> 0:10:58.309 going to talk about when those days are like that, 0:10:58.350 --> 0:11:01.329 when the sky's not blue, what are we supposed to do? 0:11:01.650 --> 0:11:07.439 All right. So with that in mind, here's the five 0:11:07.540 --> 0:11:09.340 clouds that we're going to talk about today. Because when 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.480 the sky is not blue for us, it's because there 0:11:12.500 --> 0:11:15.780 are some clouds. And so what are those clouds? What 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:17.439 are some of the clouds that come into our world 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:19.080 and we need to identify what they are? So here's 0:11:19.140 --> 0:11:21.540 five that we're going to look at. There probably are others, 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:23.950 but this little cotton ball that you received when you 0:11:23.990 --> 0:11:27.010 came in, everybody got their little cotton ball? This is 0:11:27.030 --> 0:11:29.170 a little symbol for you, a little reference point. This 0:11:29.230 --> 0:11:32.170 is going to represent a cloud. And we're talking about 0:11:32.190 --> 0:11:34.390 when the sky is not blue, it's because of a cloud. 0:11:34.510 --> 0:11:36.650 And so as we go through these, locate yourself. Maybe 0:11:36.670 --> 0:11:39.670 you're going to recognize one or two clouds. And as 0:11:39.690 --> 0:11:41.250 we talk about these things and sort of begin to 0:11:41.309 --> 0:11:42.689 see how to get rid of these clouds, how to, 0:11:42.790 --> 0:11:45.630 you know, Get the clouds out. Get the clouds out 0:11:46.490 --> 0:11:50.890 of your scenery. Kind of isolate and locate yourself. Analyze 0:11:50.929 --> 0:11:52.740 maybe if one of these things might fit you. And 0:11:52.750 --> 0:11:54.720 the reason it's important is this, and the reason we're 0:11:55.020 --> 0:11:58.380 tackling this first, it's this. A lot of the stuff 0:11:58.420 --> 0:12:01.840 we're going to get to is fun and we have 0:12:01.860 --> 0:12:05.140 to choose joy. Who knows happiness and joy is a choice. 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:07.910 And there's a lot of really fun things I believe 0:12:07.950 --> 0:12:09.990 that God's going to teach us and have us do. 0:12:10.450 --> 0:12:13.410 But we can't just expect God to touch us with 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:18.479 the Tinkerbell joy dust. You know, like maybe you were hoping, 0:12:19.580 --> 0:12:21.940 oh good, for the next six weeks we'll just go 0:12:21.980 --> 0:12:24.100 and God will just touch us with this Tinkerbell dust 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:26.199 and I'll just be so happy. But we're going to 0:12:26.220 --> 0:12:27.860 find out it doesn't work that way because you know 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:30.920 the saying, if it's not broke, don't fix it? Well, 0:12:30.940 --> 0:12:33.740 the opposite of that is true. If it is broke, 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.140 fix it. And these clouds that we're going to talk about, 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:40.230 sometimes these clouds that we might experience in our life, 0:12:40.260 --> 0:12:42.790 it's an indication that something's broken. And we need to 0:12:42.929 --> 0:12:47.530 fix it so that we can have sustained joy, sustained gladness. 0:12:48.290 --> 0:12:49.750 Maybe some of you have struggled with that. You've thought, 0:12:49.770 --> 0:12:51.550 you know, I'm a Christian. I'm supposed to be full 0:12:51.590 --> 0:12:54.270 of joy. But you kind of fight sometimes up against 0:12:54.290 --> 0:12:57.530 these clouds. So if it's broke, fix it. And if 0:12:57.570 --> 0:12:59.599 you identify that one of these clouds fits you, then 0:13:00.030 --> 0:13:01.130 I believe God will help you to know how to 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:03.780 fix it. All right? So With that said, let me 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:05.530 talk about two different kinds of clouds that come into 0:13:05.570 --> 0:13:07.630 our world that would cause us maybe not to feel 0:13:07.670 --> 0:13:11.309 so much joy, make us feel blue. First kind of 0:13:11.370 --> 0:13:13.770 cloud is sort of like, who knows, there's times in 0:13:13.830 --> 0:13:16.030 our lives or in people's lives. Because we live in 0:13:16.050 --> 0:13:20.160 a fallen world and because of the nature of this 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:21.860 world that we live in, how many of you know 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:25.500 sometimes a storm will burst onto the scene of your life? 0:13:26.610 --> 0:13:28.930 You were just sailing along. It was blue sky days. 0:13:28.970 --> 0:13:31.910 You weren't expecting anything. And suddenly it seems like a cloud, 0:13:32.410 --> 0:13:34.550 a big storm cloud, a big storm just burst onto 0:13:34.570 --> 0:13:38.210 the scene. And so here's the good news in that case. 0:13:38.230 --> 0:13:40.250 We live in a fallen world. Sometimes these things happen. 0:13:40.610 --> 0:13:42.310 The good news for you as a Christian is the 0:13:42.570 --> 0:13:45.330 end of the story for you is still joy. The 0:13:45.429 --> 0:13:48.770 end of the story is still blue skies. Weeping may 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:51.160 remain for the night. There may be a time to 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.400 weep or to mourn. There may be a time for grief. 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:57.980 But joy comes in the morning. And so we don't 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:01.520 want to dismiss that because there may be people here 0:14:01.540 --> 0:14:03.730 that you've lost a loved one. You've been through some 0:14:03.750 --> 0:14:06.230 kind of a tragedy. You've been through something that was 0:14:06.270 --> 0:14:09.510 a pretty big storm. Just burst onto the scene. Maybe 0:14:09.530 --> 0:14:11.670 it was a bad doctor's report that just burst onto 0:14:11.710 --> 0:14:14.530 the scene. And just know this. Just know there's a 0:14:14.570 --> 0:14:17.490 time to weep. There's a time to mourn. There's a 0:14:17.530 --> 0:14:20.570 time to kind of go through some things. But joy 0:14:20.670 --> 0:14:23.489 comes in the morning for you too. Skies are blue 0:14:23.530 --> 0:14:27.990 again for you too. Amen? And then this other category 0:14:28.010 --> 0:14:31.050 of clouds, it's just kind of like day-to-day living. And 0:14:31.110 --> 0:14:32.700 some of this we have to choose. We have to 0:14:32.740 --> 0:14:34.910 choose if we're going to live in partly cloudy or 0:14:34.980 --> 0:14:37.739 partly sunny. And I know for me, I had a 0:14:37.780 --> 0:14:40.540 season in my life back earlier when I was a 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:43.120 Christian a number of years ago, and that was my life. 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.280 My life was kind of like partly cloudy, partly sunny. 0:14:47.050 --> 0:14:48.590 And I've shared this with some of you before, but 0:14:48.870 --> 0:14:51.050 I remember distinctly I was seeking the Lord about that. 0:14:51.070 --> 0:14:52.850 I was like, Lord, you know, I'm supposed to be 0:14:52.970 --> 0:14:54.730 full of joy, and, you know, I see all that 0:14:54.790 --> 0:14:56.970 stuff in the Bible, but I'm just kind of like 0:14:57.030 --> 0:15:00.050 partly cloudy, partly sunny. And I remember I was driving 0:15:00.100 --> 0:15:02.140 to Florida. I was helping a girlfriend move to Florida. 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.400 We're driving through the mountains in Tennessee, and it's real, 0:15:05.420 --> 0:15:06.780 you know, as you guys know, it's mountainous and all. 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:09.680 And this was a partly cloudy, partly sunny day. And 0:15:09.700 --> 0:15:11.120 so the sun would peak out, and then it would 0:15:11.140 --> 0:15:13.040 go behind the clouds, and then it would peak out. 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:15.660 And I just thought, man, does this describe my life 0:15:15.750 --> 0:15:17.910 or what? I'm in the top of the mountain, and 0:15:17.930 --> 0:15:20.119 then I'm in the valley. And the sun's shining, and 0:15:20.140 --> 0:15:21.800 then it goes behind the cloud. And it was such 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:24.040 a picture for me that day. It was such a 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:26.660 picture of my life. And I got a little song. 0:15:26.700 --> 0:15:28.040 I was singing kind of to the Lord. And I 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.080 got this little song, and it kind of went like, 0:15:30.180 --> 0:15:33.260 you know, partly cloudy, partly sunny. Some days are like that. 0:15:33.350 --> 0:15:36.070 Isn't it funny? And the Lord told me in this 0:15:36.090 --> 0:15:37.970 little journey to Florida, he told me that I was 0:15:37.990 --> 0:15:40.470 going to be going down to Florida under the clouds, 0:15:40.770 --> 0:15:42.810 through the mountains and through the valleys, and to help 0:15:42.830 --> 0:15:45.090 my girlfriend move to Florida, but when I flew home, 0:15:45.130 --> 0:15:46.950 I was going to be flying home in an airplane. 0:15:47.610 --> 0:15:49.150 He told me that when I flew home, I was 0:15:49.170 --> 0:15:51.750 going to be flying above the clouds in the blue skies. 0:15:52.670 --> 0:15:54.760 And he let me know before I got to Florida, 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:56.620 he let me know, I'm going to teach you some 0:15:56.660 --> 0:15:58.980 things in Florida that are going to help you in 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:02.560 your life to not live this rollercoaster, partly cloudy, partly 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:04.580 sunny life, but it's going to help you to live 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:08.330 the blue sky life. So not just flying in an airplane, 0:16:08.350 --> 0:16:11.060 but spiritually... There's some things you can do in terms 0:16:11.100 --> 0:16:13.420 of flying in the blue skies. And some of what 0:16:13.450 --> 0:16:15.230 we're going to get into in this series, some of 0:16:15.330 --> 0:16:17.790 what we're going to get into is, in part, lessons 0:16:17.810 --> 0:16:20.810 that I learned in that season. How to fly above 0:16:20.850 --> 0:16:24.130 the weather a lot more than you're flying under the weather. 0:16:24.910 --> 0:16:27.690 And I can say that's been my testimony. I've not 0:16:27.790 --> 0:16:30.090 had every day in the blue skies, but I've had 0:16:30.110 --> 0:16:31.890 a whole lot more days in the blue skies than 0:16:31.930 --> 0:16:33.830 under the weather. I can tell you that from the 0:16:33.890 --> 0:16:36.090 lessons I learned, from some things I learned in that season. 0:16:36.650 --> 0:16:38.610 So that's where we're heading. That's what we're going to 0:16:38.630 --> 0:16:41.530 talk about. And the five clouds we're looking at are these. 0:16:42.910 --> 0:16:46.280 The cloud of disconnection, the cloud of discouragement, the cloud 0:16:46.300 --> 0:16:51.340 of disobedience, the cloud of disappointment, and the cloud of dysfunction. So, 0:16:51.380 --> 0:16:53.000 you know, storms of life come. We live in a 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.100 fallen world. And sometimes those kind of traumatic things happen. 0:16:56.580 --> 0:16:58.540 Most of us here are not going to experience that. 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:01.830 We're going to have to deal with just the day-to-day clouds. 0:17:02.190 --> 0:17:03.490 And that's what we're going to talk about really for 0:17:03.510 --> 0:17:05.669 the rest of the time. Just those day-to-day clouds. How 0:17:05.690 --> 0:17:07.750 do you deal with some of those things? All right, 0:17:07.790 --> 0:17:09.880 so cloud number one. that we're going to talk about 0:17:09.940 --> 0:17:13.530 is this cloud of disconnection. We're answering the question, why 0:17:13.590 --> 0:17:16.310 wouldn't the sky be blue? And one reason is there's 0:17:16.350 --> 0:17:20.570 a cloud of disconnection, and specifically a disconnection between us 0:17:20.630 --> 0:17:24.170 and God. And that's true for a couple different groups 0:17:24.210 --> 0:17:26.429 of people. That's true if you're here and you don't 0:17:26.470 --> 0:17:28.929 know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you don't 0:17:28.950 --> 0:17:32.170 have a relationship, a personal relationship with God, then there's 0:17:32.210 --> 0:17:35.720 a big disconnect. He's just God out there somewhere, you know, 0:17:35.740 --> 0:17:38.600 beyond the solar system. And there's a big disconnect. And 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:41.699 so you feel this void on the inside. And you 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.580 can be the most successful person with the most gorgeous family, 0:17:44.619 --> 0:17:47.740 with all the bells and whistles and toys, and still inside, 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:51.560 you are unhappy. And you can't shake it. And you 0:17:51.580 --> 0:17:53.590 keep saying, I should be happy. I mean, look at 0:17:53.609 --> 0:17:56.710 my life. I should be happy. How come I'm not happy? 0:17:56.970 --> 0:17:58.949 How come there's this internal thing in me that I'm 0:17:59.010 --> 0:18:02.250 not a happy person? Well, it's because there's a disconnect 0:18:02.650 --> 0:18:05.170 and God doesn't allow us to be happy. He doesn't 0:18:05.190 --> 0:18:07.600 allow us to have joy and gladness until we really 0:18:07.619 --> 0:18:10.920 make the connection with him. And then it's also true. 0:18:11.020 --> 0:18:13.859 Sometimes it's also true of us as Christians. You are 0:18:13.900 --> 0:18:17.580 a Christian. Jesus is the Lord of your life. You know, 0:18:17.619 --> 0:18:21.659 technically you prayed the prayer, but sometimes when there's a 0:18:21.700 --> 0:18:25.609 disconnect with our fellowship with God, you know, we're not 0:18:25.650 --> 0:18:28.040 feeling tight with the Lord. then you can feel that 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:31.860 sense of just frustration and discontent and sadness. So let's 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.600 look at a couple of verses, and we'll look at 0:18:34.619 --> 0:18:40.210 the remedy. In 1 John 1, verses 3 and 4, 0:18:40.250 --> 0:18:41.950 John wrote and said, That which we have seen and 0:18:42.650 --> 0:18:46.209 heard declare we unto you, that you also may have 0:18:46.270 --> 0:18:51.710 fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship or friendship, partnership, 0:18:52.369 --> 0:18:54.590 is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 0:18:55.050 --> 0:18:58.430 And these things we write unto you that your joy 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:04.200 may be full. Then another verse, 1 Peter 1, verse 8. 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:07.510 Though you have not seen him, that fits most of us. 0:19:07.540 --> 0:19:09.760 We've never seen him in the flesh. Though you've not 0:19:09.859 --> 0:19:13.000 seen him, you love him. Even though you do not 0:19:13.060 --> 0:19:16.030 see him now, you believe in him. You have a 0:19:16.070 --> 0:19:20.510 relationship with him, and you are filled with inexpressible love 0:19:20.830 --> 0:19:22.450 I mean, this is a really great description of joy. 0:19:22.790 --> 0:19:27.570 You're filled with inexpressible and glorious joy. So I want 0:19:27.590 --> 0:19:29.150 to talk about that just for a minute, this cloud 0:19:29.190 --> 0:19:32.110 of disconnection. Because, you know, whether you know the Lord 0:19:32.150 --> 0:19:34.770 personally or whether you are a Christian, but your fellowship 0:19:34.790 --> 0:19:38.870 with the Lord isn't the greatest, this disconnection can be resolved. 0:19:38.970 --> 0:19:40.929 There can be a connection. And how many of you 0:19:40.990 --> 0:19:43.780 know there's just, you really, it's hard to describe it, 0:19:43.850 --> 0:19:45.909 and you really can't put your finger on it exactly. 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:48.179 But how many of you just know when you and 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:51.200 the Lord are tight, when you have talked to him 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:54.419 and he has talked to you, there is a sense 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:58.030 of internal joy. You might be facing the storm of 0:19:58.070 --> 0:20:02.350