Jesus and Your Mental Health - It Doesn't Make Sense Wk. 1

Amen and amen church if you got your Bibles we're going to we're going to be all over the place about seven or eight different places if you grew up Southern Baptist you get to uh enact your sword drills good luck with that if you're not you just go to Matthew chapter 4 is where we're going to be for the majority of the time and we're starting a brand new series for the next three weeks where it's called it doesn't make sense Like like when between your ears you just it just doesn't make sense like externally

everything should be okay but in here it just ain't okay and it is a 1010 life series about mental and emotional health um as your cus pastors have already mentioned to you last week was commitment weekend thousands of people made commitments or reup or increased their commitments to the 101 life one of the things that we're doing in this 1010 Life is we are fighting against the enemy when it comes to suicide and we are fighting for the mental and emotional health of every single image bearer of Jesus Christ and so if you were not

able to make your commitment last week then I know many of you took this home to pray pray over it and pray with your spouse and make some decisions we'd encourage you that some no matter what campus you're at or if you're online the host will give you Instructions of what you should do but drop this card off on your way out in any of the giving boxes and all of that that commitment goes to this 101 life you know when we came up with the idea to do a a series on Mental Health I

thought wow that's a great idea but it really wasn't until this afternoon that I began to to sense what a big deal this is I just have a sense that the Holy Spirit wants to do something Supernatural Among Us in our Time together this weekend there some chains are going to be broken there's going to be some people that are going to experience some real healing in a way they never have before and for many many people man this is not just a theological idea that we're going to talk about that this is an existential

reality that you have dealt with in a very personal way and I want you to know know that your church is behind you and the spirit of God is For you when it comes to this you see today's sermon is called Jesus and your mental health and the reason I called it that is because my friend Rebecca Maxwell is writing a book right now because Jesus and your mental health it's going to come out next year and part of the reason I'm saying that too is so she'll finish the book and do what God told

her to do so now she has to and there is a little bit of me I mean when The when I when we started into this you know a little bit of me it's probably the Whispers of the enemy thinking what are you doing man stay in your lane you're not a therapist you're a pastor which is true so this is really the foundation for the next two weeks and I'm not going to talk so much from a psychological standpoint as I am a theological standpoint but those two things are not at odds with one

another that God is the one that brings healing And holess and health amen and we have a mental health crisis on our hand hands in our country for the first time in polling history Americans are now more likely to say they're not happy than to say that they're very happy regardless of your background that prepandemic it was about 3 to one when you pulled people whether white or black male female Democrat Republican about three times as many people would say that they're happy than not happy right Now in our current Society for the first time

ever that has flipped youth suicides are on the rise the most prescribed and consumed medication are anti-depressants and heartburn they're up 30% just over the last 3 years anxiety and depression clinically are being diagnosed at higher levels than ever feelings of hopelessness and sadness and Adolescent females are at an all-time high drug overdoses and alcohol induced deaths Have more than doubled since the pandemic you see we've been talking about that there's a thief that wants to steal kill and destroy we're not talking about like your cable goes out you understand what I'm saying that he

actually wants to kill a generation he wants to steal people away from us that we love more than anything he wants to destroy everything that Jesus came to make New and so then the question is what's the church going to do about it let me tell you where this was birth we were doing a a a retreat at the retreat center two years ago and I'm laying out the vision for the 1010 life and I'm talking about how we have been called into this battle to fight for the life of IM every image bearer of

God from womb to tomb and we talked about First Co women Services we talked about senior Adult Ministry we talked about all these Things and there was this precious couple in there these grandparents who had lost a grandchild to suicide and after me laying out everything that I thought we were going to do she came up and said what what are we going to do about suicide and mental health and I thought oh goodness I don't even know I don't know what we're getting into but we're getting all in and so we're going to pray

that the spirit of God will do what he does here's what's here's what Something I need you to think about you see we have a god when it comes to mental health struggles we have a God that not only understands but empathizes where you are because he's been there think about that for a second you're like Pastor how in the world can you say that well here's how I can say it the book of Hebrews chapter 2 2: 18 says this about Jesus Christ for he for because he himself has suffered when tempted he is

able to help those who are Being tempted Hebrews 4:15 says it this way for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin and you may be saying pastor are you saying that Jesus struggled with mental health issues I'm saying that the Bible says that he was tempted in every way and struggled with it like how can you say that have you Ever read about Jesus in The Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew chapter 26 when

Jesus out of his own mouth says my soul is very sorrowful even until the point of death what would you call that you see we have a great high priest who has been tempted in every way and yet he was Victorious and overcame every single time in fact the Shuma which we studied for two years man Deuteronomy 6:4 says that we should love the Lord Our God with all Of our heart soul mind and strength so mental health is a Biblical idea so how do we have Victory when it comes to that area Matthew chapter

4 is where I want to go we're going to look at an episode that Jesus went through Matthew chapter 4 verse one and I got a lot of notes man normally normally it's like four four pages takes me about an hour I got seven so get ready okay we'll see you better listen faster than normal it's not my fault if we're Late it's on you then Jesus was led up by the spirit Into the Wilderness to be tempted by the devil you hear that Jesus was led up by the spirit Into the Wilderness to be

tempted by the devil that's then it starts with then you know what happens before then you know what was right before that there was an event that happened in Jesus's life the event that happened was the baptism of Jesus here's something you better pay very close attention to most often right on The heels of a high holy moment in your life get ready for the enemy to come swooping in and try to take your knees out I mean you think your baptism was awesome imagine God the Father God the son and God the Holy Spirit

showing up at the baptism and speaking out loud it's a high holy moment for Jesus himself and he's thinking doesn't get much better than this and then the very next thing that happens is one of the deepest valleys that he would ever walk Through you see anxiety and depression and sadness they can just come out of nowhere when you least expect it right on the heels of everything being great verse two and after fasting 40 days and 40 nights he was hungry you think but here's what you better pay attention to when you're hungry and

when you're tired and you're isolated you are perfectly positioned to be taken out by the enemy and by the way man listen I Just need to say this as clear as possible I Am pro doctor I Am pro medication when appropriate I Am pro counselor in two weeks we're going to have a stage full of professionals up here to talk about this professionally but if your doctor does not ask you about exercise and sleep and diet and stress and relationships but their first instinct is to prescribe you something you have the wrong doctor my doctor

prays for me and you might go Well what kind of special holy place do you go to brother just works at Mayo and I'm just telling you man he writes out a prayer and just prays so you see we we don't have these bifurcated lives that we are just one human being that God has put together in His image and we are to love him with all of who we are so Jesus is fasting 40 days and 40 nights and he's hungry and the tempter that's who the devil is he's also called the Accuser the

tempter came and said to him look where he starts if you are the son of God you see the only thing he wants to do is lie and steal and kill that's all he wants to do and he's an accuser and often where the enemy is going to start is going to start with identity because before you ever get to activity you got to back this thing up the the reason that you got to believe the words of God is because this man is What we believe begins to shape what we think and what we

think begins to shape the way we feel and what we feel begins to produce actions and so where the enemy goes he wants to get all the way back at the root of who you are and what you believe if you really are the Son of God and he's implying you really aren't you ever wonder why if you're a believer in Jesus you ever wonder why you struggle you ever wonder why mentally you Struggle I mean we read it we read in the in the book of Philippians over and over and over that we should

rejoice in the lord always and I say it again rejoice you ever have a hard time turning the Rejoice button on and a lot of churches won't talk about this right I think this is why there's been a desert when it comes to Christian counseling for so long because a lot of churches has have treated this as if something's wrong with you if you Just can't turn on happy you ever wonder like you love Jesus you got saved you're going to heaven and yet you can still struggle with some of the same identity issues that

the enemy can come and and tempt you with the same things over and over and over and over well I can tell you why in Romans chap 12 Paul gives us the reason why we struggle with the same things over and over and over in Romans 12 Paul says I appeal to You therefore brothers and the therefore is therefore a reason so you got to know that the first eight chapters of Romans God uh God through Paul is just laying out the gospel he's letting us know that he's not ashamed of the gospel because the

gospel is the only Power un salvation for anyone who would believe First to the Jew then the Gentile he's going to let us know that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God he's going to let us know that God Has demonstrated his love for us in this while we're yet still sinners Christ died for us and for whoever would believe we are no longer a son of Adam but we are a son of Christ and we have been clothed in his righteousness and even though we struggle like crazy and there's

things that we don't want to do and we keep on doing and the good we don't we want to do we can't do but because of Christ Jesus he has saved us and therefore now there is no Condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus that's the first eight chapters of Romans just in case you know want to know then chapters 9 10 and 11 are about the role of Israel in God's Redemptive plan for Humanity so and he's not just talking about the dirt in the Middle East that but we should be praying like

crazy for peace in Israel he's also talking about anybody that's the son of Abraham who has faith in the one true God and because of that therefore Brothers by the mercies of God present your bodies as a Living Sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual Worship in other words the logical response to seeing God for who he is is that you would love him with all including your mind then he says this how how I how am I going to do that Paul how am I going to present my body as a

Living Sacrifice holy and acceptable he he says here's how do not be conformed to this world but be Transformed by the renewal of your mind well here's what happened the moment you surrendered your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ you got a brand new heart Ezekiel says that God rips Out Your Heart of Stone and gives you a new heart a heart of Flesh which is his heart he changes your Eternal trajectory however even though you have a new heart and a redeemed Soul guess what you still got the same crappy mind you still

got the same birth order You're still the same inogram number if you're into that kind of stuff like he didn't rip your brain out and give you a new brain you still have grown up the way you grow up and we if we're not paying attention we can be conformed to the pattern of this world and that word conform is a building term if you've ever poured concrete and I know you have it okay I know you have it if you're from Paca explain to the PV crowd how you pour concrete okay so but What

you do if you ever watch somebody pour you some concrete what they do is you build a form and then you pour the concrete into it and it takes the form of whatever you built and he's saying be very very careful because this world has a form to it and if you're not careful your mind will just conform to the patterns of this world but instead of that what you've got to do is be transformed metamorphy is the is the Greek word how by the renewing of your Mind so you've got to bust up that

form and you've got to create a new form and you got to quit believing the lies of the enemy the lies of this world and you've got to renew your mind by believing the truth of the word of God be transformed by the renewing of your mind that by testing you may discern what it what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect well why are you talking about the mind the reason I'm talking about The mind is that we're at War we're in a battle and the Christian battle to walk

with Jesus is primarily a battle of the mind we have an enemy we've been talking about this all year that the thief comes to steal kill and destroy but here's the thing man he can't just take you on face to face there are times where the Devil Himself or one of his demons manifests himself in such a way where head spin and there's pea soup but that's not the normal and the reason that's not the Normative is because the victory has already been won the preeminent text on spiritual warfare is Ephesians chapter 6:10 all you

Pentecostals you probably have it tattooed on your back already okay and I'm not going to go as far as you want me to sorry but here's here's here's how the Bible talks about spiritual warfare he says finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might first and foremost this isn't about you Pulling you up by your boot bootstraps th this is why by the way if and when you go see a counselor if they don't understand the supernatural man you're just playing a game it ain't going to work because your might

will never be enough to walk in the kind of Abundant Life that Christ has for you it's his might so how do we do that here's how we do that put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand that word stand means like take a Stand or stand your ground or stand up it means fight four times it's going to use the word stand or fight that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil the word is methoda where we get the word method that that the

enemy has a set of schemes that he's trying to kill steal and destroy you with for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood you see you think your problem is your boss you think your problem is your Family you think your problem is your wife and the reason you can't be happy is cuz she's crazy and if she'd be uncrazy then you'd be fine that ain't true your battle is not against her your battle is not against your husband your battle is not against flesh and blood for we do not wrestle against flesh and

blood you see but against rulers and against authorities against Cosmic Powers over This present Darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly places and you say well what does this have to do with the mind because the enemy's primary tactic is a battle of the mind you know why because he's already been defeated when we hear when we hear battle when we hear Warfare we think like World War II good guys be bad guys line up see who the biggest is the best is that's not how it works in the Kingdom because the

Battle's already over the enemy's already already been defeated Colossians 2:13 says and you who were dead in your trespasses and uncircumcision of your flesh God Made Alive together with him having forgiven all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against him with its legal demands this he set aside nailing it to the Cross he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open Shame by trium triumphing over them in him the Book of Revelation says that the devil is like a dragon with a head wound and he's just flailing around until

eventually God plucks him into the Lake of Fire forever and ever and ever amen this is like at the end of Georgia games where they get in Victory formation and they're just kneeling it out until the clock goes down because it's already the game's over so I mean think about this if somebody if somebody wanted to attack America right now they can't just line up and go I mean Mexico and Canada could team up together and them goofy guys and their little coats and horses up North and whatever they got down south be like we

going to get you we like that's so funny boom boom America we wi there's no chance so what do you do but we're being attacked all the time all the time and it's a dirty war it's a misinformation campaign the enemy was The originator of fake news to try to get you to be believe something that's not true why because if you believe stuff you'll start thinking stuff and if you think stuff you'll start feeling stuff and your feelings will drive your activities I mean we know this to be true we know that our enemies

use algorithms to drop things into our social media so that we will hate each other and we'll be tribalize instead of Being unified around the cross and they're winning by the way you see that's what the enemy does I mean you can see it over and over and over you can see how he is using ideologies in our current in our current culture to tear people apart you see everything God creates the enemy tries to corrupt my friend Josh Howton who's a pastor in Texas he wrote a little bit of this on this this week

and I was looking At it and it it was it was brilliant some of the things he said you see the Bible says that God would turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and children to their fathers that's what God wants to do and then the enemy wants to get in there and corrupt that and tear families AP the part and so how does he do it artillery sometimes it's happening around the world right now but it's not just artillery he also uses Ideology like think about this critical theory teaches that all institutions

are racist your parents are a part of that institution whether they know it or not therefore kids you should distance yourself from your parents for the sake of Justice see how the enemy could be at work queer Theory I didn't I'm sure you didn't think you'd hear about that at church tonight it teaches that previous generations are Bigoted including my parents therefore I must rebel against them in order to be my true self humanistic therapeutic ideology teaches my parents are the origin of all of my problems therefore I must distance myself from them in order

that I could be happy you see how it's a it's a war of the month now the reality is are there is there racism and is there bigotry and is there traumatic events for sure but the gospel is the answer And the power to change that and bring Unity not division so we're not battling against flesh and blood like if you think the politicians are the answer oh help you Jesus did not come and run for office uh-uh he came and died on a cross in our place amen so we're not fighting against flesh and

blood but against the rulers and against the authority against the cosmic Powers over this present Darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly places see I call these The Whispers you ever get the Whispers you ever ever get these ideas you think man I should probably quit coming in this church people knew the things I struggle with I can't be a disciple group leader I'm like like the worst disciple I know if these people if these well we just did commitments I didn't really Commit that much what am I doing here when you

begin to hear The Whispers that lead you to a place of Despair and condemnation that's the Dirty War campaign of the enemy when you begin to hear voices like you know what this world would be better off without you that is not the voice of the Good Shepherd because the Good Shepherd only only speaks life and whenever we hear and recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd it leads to Abundant Life the voice of the enemy is always going to lead to death and despair this is the kind of thing I'm talking about here the

lies of the enemy again the Bible says therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus so if something in your brain is condemning you it is not the voice of the Good Shepherd therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having Done all to stand firm stand therefore four times that means fight having fast in the belt of Truth Jesus says he is the truth you know how we know about him by reading his word and having put on

the breastplate of righteousness that's about identity do you know who you are you are who God says you are in his word and as shoes for your feet having put on the Readiness given by the gospel of peace the gospel is about the life Death and resurrection of Jesus recorded in his word in all circumstances take up take up the shield of Faith the Bible says faith comes by hearing his word with which you can extinguish all the Flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit

which is the word of God that this is how we fight back even in regards to mental health against the enemy now this is a sword of the spirit this is not a sledgehammer to beat up Kathy in the next cubicle next to you cuz she's dumb it is the sword of the spirit to fight against the enemy and God has given us his word not to defeat the enemy God has given us his word to constantly remind him he's already defeated and we're more than conquerors therefore we should act that way and believe we

are who he says we are they're like well how does that work here's how it works John chapter 8:31 so Jesus said to the Jews this doesn't mean like the whole people group it means like to the religious people in power so Jesus said to the Jewish leaders who had believed him if you abide in my word you were truly my disciples and you know the truth and the truth will set you free you hear politicians use that one right well they want you to believe is their political campaign if somebody quotes that verse and

does not tie it to and the truth Will set you free and the truth is the word of God I'd be a little suspect of what they're selling and then they talk back to Jesus and like what you mean free we're son son of Abraham we've always been free well apparently they didn't do good in Sunday school cuz for 400 years they went free but don't worry about that part and then here's what Jesus says like sons of Abraham verse 44 he goes you were of your father the devil and Your will is to do

the father's desires he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him when he lies he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of Lies that every time the enemy talks to you he only spits lies and it always leads to death now listen man for everybody that thinks Jesus Teaching Ministry was all Meek and Mild you would have not liked His Teaching Ministry I mean these days this whole group would have needed a save space and Jesus

would have been canceled all right but he's telling the truth listen man I'm trying to tell you the truth I know this is a sensitive topic and I'm not a super sensitive person that's a very dangerous combination but what I want you to do is stand firm on the truth because the enemy is lying to you and Me the good news is is the Bible has already outed the enemy and we know the lies that he tells 1 John 2:15 and 16 says this do not love the world or the things in this world if

anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him and you might think well hold on I thought the Bible says in John 3:16 for God so loves the world right God loves the people of this world so he sent Jesus but we are not to love the values and systems of this world and what most Believers do is adopt the values and systems of this world and hate the people of this world instead of loving the people of this world and rejecting the values and systems of this world says the love

of the father is not in him for all that the all that is in the world are the desires of the flesh the desires of the eyes and the pride of life I like the King James calls it lust I like to use word lust there it just seems more appropriate the lust of the Flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life the lust of the flesh is a desire to feel the lust of the eyes is comparison lack of contentment the pride of life is worshiping or obsessing over yourself he says

that's not from the father this is all the enemy has been doing from the very beginning what I'm trying to get you to give you here is handles by which to see the whole scripture and how the enemy comes Against us with a with a misinformation campaign a war in our brains in our minds all the way back in the beginning Genesis chapter 3 now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made and he says to the woman Adam and Eve are chilling man naked and

unashamed the older I get the more miraculous that verse is in my life all the 20-y olds like I don't understand oh bless you you Will they're just hanging out and then unadulterated ated perfect relationship with the heavenly father having everything they need and does the does the enemy come in and try to cut their head off with a flaming sword no he comes in with like a mental health issue that's what he does man guess between their ears start spitting lies did God actually say see everything God creates the enemy Tries to corrupt he's

still doing the same thing you know how many churches look down on this book now and be like God didn't know what he's talking about I mean come on male and female God we know a lot more about this than you do marriage dating God you don't even know about there apps for this now money are you crazy tithing on cumin we don't even know what that is we do what we Want did God actually say the moment you begin to do that you're on a team but it ain't team Jesus team Jesus was always

submitted to the authority of the word of God he said the only thing I do is what the father tells me to do and say this is this is where he goes you see the enemy always wants you to doubt at least three things the word of God the work of God and the worthiness of God and so the enemy says did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the Garden and the woman said to the serpant we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden but God said

You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden and then she made some stuff up classic legalism she's going to say add rules to what God had neither shall you touch it lest you die he didn't say that now I want you to think about this here at this point the rules of God the law of God was there was all Dos and one don't why because God's not in a rules he's in a relationship but when she began to not believe that God was good and

for her she began to think some things because the enemy placed that in her mind and she begins to think this is like the ultimate fomo God is holding out on me which made her feel some things and then she and he act but the serpant said to the woman you will not surely die that's a lie for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil in other words you got this you know better than God he's withholding from you so

when the woman saw that the tree was good for food this is this is the lust of the flesh I deserve to eat this it's going to make me feel good and that it was a delight to the eyes this is the lust of the eyes like I didn't even know I wanted That until I put my eyes on it and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise this is the pride of life who are you to tell me what to do God and she took of its fruit and ate and

she also gave some to her husband who was what's that fellas cool you were just as silent as Adam that's been the problem for since creation sorry to wake you up you can go back to bed now your wife will give you the notes later way to be a Man so it's a dirty war campaign of the M there's only three things the enemy comes at us with right lust of the flesh lust of the eyes pride of life from from the beginning Genesis 3 until today when you were driving here he is throwing fiery

darts at you in the mind fiery Dart was a javelin filled up with with uh flammable fuel so that when it hit and the fuel went everywhere not only did it start a fire On you but started to fire all over the place that sounds like some of my thoughts sometimes now none of that was a sermon all of that was set up so that we can understand what's happening with Jesus in Matthew chapter 4 so you can start my timer now so then Jesus was led up by the spirit Into the Wilderness to be

tempted by the devil and after fasting 40 days and 40 nights he was hungry and the Tempter came and said to him if you are the Son of God these are the Whispers these are the Whispers it's crazy man I've been a pastor for 30 years I know the gospel I preach it all the time and you know how who I have to preach it to more than anybody else me me this Monday I'm in the tree stand I open up my it gets light enough I pray for you for the first like Hour I'm

there cuz it's dark and it's partly for you it's partly because the deer can see my phone so it's a little bit of a double win but anyway and I and and I'm like normally I go straight to my Bible app and I get to work okay I'm talking about Jesus and your mental health and I saw an email and I was like oh don't open it don't open it don't open and I opened it and criticism from last week just Robbed my mental capacity to just dig in to preach on mental health and I'm

the pastor do you understand what I'm saying here it is a constant War a dirty war of the mind I literally had to close it on down and out loud in a hushtone whisper just tell me who the Bible says I am because of the Redemption of Jesus Christ again you understand so Jesus is getting The Whispers except it's actually the devil and if you say To me you actually believe in a devil and if you don't bro you're toast that's why you're getting your butt handed to you you know why you see it's kind

of like hunting I think it's kind of funny they call it a sport because while I'm hunting only half the team know we're playing you understand what I'm saying that's why I win all the time I mean we laugh but some of you like that deer it just thinks it's going to breakfast it doesn't know it's going To the freezer you understand but that's how you treat the devil the Demonic you don't believe in the Demonic you have you not watched the news since October 7th what do you think all these dead people around our

world are because people make bad decisions and have a a thyroid imbalance are you crazy no no no man there are evil for forces and so he says if you are the Son of God command these stones to become loaves of Bread this is the luston of the flesh you hungry Jesus you deserve to feel better the most important thing about you is how you feel and you should do whatever it takes by your own hand to change the way you feel this is self-medicating with things like here's what's crazy it could be drinking it

could be drugs it could be Netflix it could be ice cream do you realize that you realize it's all the same now they could have very different Consequences there's a pretty big gap between cookies and crack okay but if you don't understand that the tactic of the enemy is the same thing to try to get you to think that your feelings are the Lord of your life and you were responsible for changing them by changing your external circumstances or putting something in you instead of trusting the one that said hey you want peace you worn

out you're tired come to me and I will give You rest for your soul that's the difference man amen it's deeper than you think and you know what Jesus does he says the three most important words on Earth the three most important words in eternity or it is finished the three most important words between now and Heaven is it is written he says I'm not going to allow my feelings to be the Lord of me I'm going to allow the truth of the word of God to tell me what the truth is is Jesus is

Saying listen you can't trust your feelings your feelings make a terrible Lord they change all the time do they not the word of God never changes because God never changes and listen man I don't know I've told you this before I don't know how to get you to love a thing I love if you come to this church for any amount of time the thing I want you to do is surrender your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ and to love love love love the word of God I don't Mean memorize a couple of

verses when it's convenient I don't mean come in here and Let Me Entertain You and tell you a couple cute stories and every once in now gets real heavy like right now it'll never be enough to sustain you Jesus said you want to be close to me you better be in a love relationship with my word you better abide in my word and I'm telling you man it's different it's sharper than a double-edged sword It's Supernatural it's God's word it's Theos noos it's God breathed and he wants to put some stuff in you because of

his word and I'm I'm telling you there are there there are levels of freedom and abundant life that God has for you when you begin to submit and surrender to what God says is true and of course there's going to be things you disagree with he's The Sovereign King of the universe you can't lick your own elbow I mean it's True I wouldn't have made it up this way you got to be crucified with Christ and no longer live no way salvation would be chicken wings and cold beer if if I get to make it

up so of course it rubs you the wrong way cuz we're conformed to the pattern of this world man notice what Jesus does it is written he didn't have to look it up he did write it so it's a little bit he's a cheater a little bit but he's memorized The whole thing man and regardless of your feelings God's word is true for the word of God is living in active sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of the Soul and Spirit of joints and Marrow in Discerning the thoughts and intentions of the

heart don't trust your thoughts and intentions don't trust your heart it is deceitful trust the word of God then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the Pinnacle of the Temple and he said to him if you are the Son of God he's just going to wear him out with this one throw yourself down for it is written now check this out the devil's going to quote Bible so be care just cuz somebody's got a Bible verse don't have to believe him you understand he's quoting Psalm 91 which is crazy

the whole context of Psalm 91 is how God takes care of his children and he twists it around and he Quote the devil quotes you to talk about listen man the devil there he makes some bad decisions this is one how you going to try to out Jesus Juke Jesus with the Bible you understand but that's what he does he quotes Psalm 91 he will command his angels concerning you and their hands and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone this is the pride of life he

said make much of yourself and we all know Jesus said he did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many and so again Jesus said again it is written you shall not put the Lord your God to the test you see Jesus rejects the LIE of the enemy between his ears and he stands on the truth of the word of God you see when we try to make the entire world about us at the end of the day all we'll have is us and it leads

to a narcissistic idolatry where we worship at the Throne of our Own esteem and no one has let you down more than you no one has lied to you more than you nobody has breaken broken more promises to you than you so you were not your solution but Jesus even knowing all of that while we were yet still Sinners came on a rescue mission for you so quit putting your trust in you and trying to make it all about you and testing God in that Respect but receive the free gift of Salvation that comes from

God who loved you enough that he would pay full price for you that's what the Bible says again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to him all these I will give you this is lust of the eyes if you'll just fall down and worship me that's it it you see Jesus knew the will of the father is that he would get A crown but it was preceded by a cross and the devil is saying why don't we just

skip a step put you in charge you see this is lust of the eyes this is when we fix our eyes on some temporary things of this world and we think those things are going to finally satisfy us listen all the science is in okay the more time you spend on these things scrolling social media the less content You will be period in dot because the enemy has taken you up on a high hill and he's not offering all these things to you he's telling you you're not worthy because you don't have them and everybody

else does here's the sad thing all the people that you're comparing yourself to they're just as miserable as you are because they're playing the same game do this saying no it's only been happening for all of human history and so Jesus says be Gone man how great would that be like honest to goodness the same power that brought Christ out of the Grave lives in US you realize that and so I'm telling you when you get those Whispers when you get those lies of the enemy about comparison and and depression and anxiety and all those

things now should you go see a doctor for sure man God heals through people pray prayers pills no doubt but you have the authority based on the word of God to be like Satan get out you ain't got no room in here I belong to Jesus now sometimes that'll happen immediately and supernaturally and sometimes it's through a process but he says be gone Satan for it is written you shall Worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve listen worship is war against suicide worship is war against depression worship is war against anxiety

you know why because every time we worship the one true God You know what got Satan kicked out of heaven he wanted to sit on the seat of being worshiped and every time we claim Jesus and worship we're reminding the devil that he's done every single time Worship Is War and so the devil left him and behold the Angels came and were ministering to him you see God has given us his word not to defeat the Devil but but to remind him and us that he's already been defeated you see he doesn't get to tell

You who you are or how to feel that that is already finished here's the point our enemy the devil the father of Lies do not believe the Whispers but stand on the truth of the word of God so do you need to go to counseling probably but but you you should go to a person that believes this word you should go to a person that can understand that you're not fighting against flesh and blood Could there be some physical and physiological things that need need to be addressed yeah man you got to love the Lord

your God with all your heart soul mind and strength we're it's holistic but if you leave out the spiritual then you're toast man you're toast but if we have a foundation of the word of God telling us the truth about who you are then the enemy is going to be in trouble and you know who you Are if you are in Christ remember the whole sermon started out with word then and what happened there was the baptism of Christ that Jesus kind of laying low from 12 to 30 all he did is grow in wisdom

and stature and in favor with God and man which by the way means he lived out the shama he loved the Lord his God with all his heart soul mind and strength and then at 30 years old shows up on the scene and John the baptizer Points to his cousin Jesus and says behold the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the world and then they had this little conversation about who's going to baptize who and then John the baptizer baptizes Jesus and when he does he baptizes Jesus and as he

comes out of the water the spirit of God like a dove descends on the Son of God and God the Father speaks out loud you you see what's happening there the Trinity shows up to the Baptism and God says this out loud how good do you feel when your daddy brags on you I mean think about that I don't care who you are or how jacked up your family situation is man if your dad has a word for you you I'm just we live for it don't we now imagine the perfect Eternal father of whom

the second person of the Trinity of God the son has been separated from physically for 30 years and he's not used to this and now God the Father out loud says this behold my son and whom I'm well pleased now Pop Quiz how much Ministry has Jesus done up to that point how many healings he Ain walked on water had come out the grave and brought nobody back from the dead hasn't preached one sermon in fact the only thing that he has done has been an aggravation to his mom because he got lost in Sunday

school one time okay so If anything it ain't good man it ain't good but what happens his identity even Jesus's identity precedes his activity and the reason that he can every single time overcome Temptation and struggle the reason that he could fulfill the law and every promise of Prophecy is yes and amen in him is traced all the way back that he knows who he is and because he believes that he is his father's belief beloved Son That he has the right thoughts because he's rooted in the word of God which mean he feels the

right feels which means he does the right thing see here's what I'm here to tell you man your worst day in your life does not define you I'm not saying it wasn't terrible man but your trauma your divorce your abortion your addiction your failed career your bankruptcy your eating disorder your Affair your whatever the thing is the loss of a loved One it doesn't get to tell you who you are I'm going to tell you I know it's painful but the Bible says therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the old

has passed away and behold the new has come you get this that Jesus gets to tell you who you are and he is the king he is the king of taking the world's biggest mess and using it to proclaim the gospel message to the very ends of the Earth he just is he does it Over and over and over so again man on the third week we're going to have couns up here talking psychologically about these things and tools that we can put in your hands but if you don't have the Firm Foundation of what

the Bible says you are then you're just going to be blowing around in the wind and if you're in Christ Jesus you know what my Bible says about you the greatest chapter in the whole Bible man Romans 8 and if you disagree With me it's because you're wrong Paul after he's laid out the gospel now for eight chapters seven and a half he asked this question in Romans 8:31 he says what What then shall we say to these things what things Paul the things that lie to us the things in this world that try to

get us to believe that our feelings are the most important the things in this world That lie to us and try to condemn us and say that we are unfit for use that when our past or some feelings when they creep up their ugly head and they try to command our life those things what shall we say to these things Paul says here's what we should say to these things if God is for us then who could be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how

will he not also with him graciously give us all Things like mental and emotional health that falls into the all things categories folks who shall bring any charge against God's elect and the enemy is like me me be like yeah fool but you got a mortal head wound you about to die it's over you have already been defanged and declawed so enemy you got no power in my life so shut up and be gone who shall bring any charge against God's elect it is God who justifies who is to condemn Christ Jesus is the one

Who died more than that who was raised who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us like right now in this moment you know what Jesus is doing as he's awaiting us to sing to him and pray to him he's praying for you right now and who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword and might I add the lies of the enemy trauma in your past jacked up family Systems there's a resounding no all these things

in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate you and me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our lord listen man if you're struggling one sermon ain't going to do It sometimes God heals right in the moment I mean I've seen him do it so many times just a supernatural word and touch from

him and boom chains fall off and sometimes it's a long process of really hard work of not conforming to the lies of this world but being transformed by the renewing of your mind over time but when we begin to believe who God says we are man in first John chapter 4 the primary title that God gives his People is beloved that's that's who you are if you're in Christ Jesus that's who you are God looks at you and he doesn't Define you by your scars and your past and your struggles and your mental and emotional

issue he does he does it he looks at you and he says hey hey kids be loved that's who you are Beloved let us love one another for love is of God and anyone that loves knows God whoever doesn't love doesn't know God cuz God is love and then he says and you want to know what love is I'm about to tell you what love is this is love not that we love God God is not waiting to reflect your love towards him back on you no no no no that's not how it works let

me tell you what love is this is love not that we Love God but God loved us and send his son to die on a cross as the propitiation for our sin as the payment once and for all to declare to you and demonstrate his love pay the sin debt because he loves you the first step towards mental and emotional health is knowing that you because of Christ not because of anything that you have done but because of Christ that you are God's Belov it you were not primarily a tool in his hand to get

work done you were not primarily a soldier in his army to take on the enemy he's already defeated you are primarily a son or daughter in the family of God may you hear the voice of your heavenly father right now in a supernatural way imagine the heavens open up and all of eternity looks towards you that the Angels lean in to hear what God the Father is going to say and if you're in Christ you are wrapped in his righteousness and God the father would look at you and say behold my son my daughter in

whom I am well pleased That's My Hope and prayer for you and that's what Jesus accomplished for you at the cross when he said it is finished would you please stand let me pray for us our good and gracious Heavenly Father Lord I know that we've just scratched the surface and the details of everybody's life are so complicated but Lord I pray that you would just lay a gospel Foundation that we would believe the truth of your word that we are your beloved Lord we pray against the enemy may he be gone he's got no

room in the head or the heart of the believer God every single child of yours Bought and paid for it is the possession of yours so we pray against the oppression of the enemy and God for any room that we have given him access to in our life we say be gone Satan get out of here get out of my head get out of my heart get out of my relationships get out and Lord I pray that you would send angels to minister to us Messengers to minister to us holy spirit I ask that you

would do what Jesus promised that you would do that you would comfort us In a supernatural way that brings the kind of peace that you can't explain the kind of peace that transcends all understanding and that you would guard our hearts and you would guard our minds our mental and emotional health in Christ Jesus God we ask for miracles we ask for demons to be gone we ask for lies to be refuted we ask that you would give us the courage in the faith to stand strong on the Firm Foundation of the inspired word of

God Lord we would pray that we would know we are beloved and so we would act like it we pray it in Jesus name amen so Church we're going to bring first and best we're going to sing unto the Lord and we're going to pray in Mark chapter 9 there's a boy and a demon's trying to kill him and on behalf of the boy the dad comes to Jesus maybe you know somebody maybe you are somebody maybe there's somebody that you love a family member a friend you're one more and they are being tormented by

the enemy I would invite you to come and bring it to Jesus in fact when that Dad brought his boy to Jesus the the disciples couldn't cast out the demon and later they asked Jesus why couldn't we cast it out and Jesus says this one this one only comes out through Prayer prayer you want to go to war against the enemy in your own life and in the lives of the people that you love let's sing let's bring and let's go to war let's pray let's respond