Loneliness - Sunday Service

amen well gather around you can get your if you have millennials they need to really listen to this as well uh but we're gonna get involved into something here this morning that um you know i was praying on thursday and friday and hadn't gotten what to preach yet and i asked the lord i said lord what do you want me to talk about and um i didn't hear anything on thursday then friday i said lord what do you want me to talk about and says i want you to talk about uh loneliness and i'm like loneliness i don't even know if i know any scriptures that have loneliness in it and uh because i knew there's a difference between being alone and loneliness but man when you hear this it's gonna really make a difference in your life so get your pads out let's go on this journey together today and then i'll show you the victory that we have as a result of what jesus has already done father we thank you for this another opportunity to minister to these your precious sheep thank you lord that revelation knowledge will flow freely uninterrupted and unhindered by any satanic or demonic force and father i pray that you will speak through my vocal cords and think through my mind none of me and all of you it's in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen if you have your bibles go with me to the book of deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 6 and uh let's look at it in the nlt first and then the message deuteronomy 31 and verse 6. you know i began to study this out and i realized that this is a crack that satan is using to try to distract people to cause you to lose focus in your life to get you to a place where he can ultimately wipe you out and to destroy you now i know that you may think by me talking about loneliness that well you understand what i'm saying but i was uh amazed as i got deeper and deeper in this thing to understand that my understanding of loneliness was was off and it was as as most people think it would be i thought it was just isolation it does have something to do but it's bigger than that i want to start off and use as a text deuteronomy 31 and 6 and then matthew 28 and then we'll begin deuteronomy 31 and 6 says so be strong and courageous do not be afraid and do not panic before them for the lord your god will personally go ahead of you he will neither fail you nor abandon you now that's a promise that he made he says i'm gonna go ahead i'm gonna personally go ahead of you and i won't fail you and neither will i abandon you that's a promise of god that we've got got to stick with and look at this in the message deuteronomy 31 6 he says be strong take courage don't be intimidated don't give them a second thought because god your god is striding ahead of you he's right there with you he won't leave you he won't let you down now notice this and he won't leave you now go back to uh back up he says here he says first of all that god is striding ahead of you so whatever is ahead of you says god's already there taking care of business secondly he's right there with you so he's not only ahead of you but he's right there with you thirdly he won't let you down that's an assurance there and then the last one he won't leave you now you know when you're talking about loneliness you cannot forget about god's promise obviously god must have understood that loneliness was going to be an issue in your christian life and like he promised he has gone ahead of us he has made provisions for us he has accepted the commitment to take care of us and you read these scriptures and say wow wow why these great promises because god understood that loneliness would be something that the enemy was going to try to use to get victory in and over your life now look at matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20 and you begin to see the promise of jesus here matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20. and jesus came and he spake unto them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth go you therefore because all power has been given unto me go you therefore teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i've commanded you and he says and lo i'm with you even unto the end of the world amen now he talks about all the power he's been given he talks about teaching and and sharing these things but then at the end of all of this he says that he makes this statement remember i am with you even to the end of the world which lets me think this that if if there's any way that satan will try to attack you to stop you from from ministering the word or carrying out the will of god for your life that jesus knew that somehow maybe loneliness would be a distraction and he says at the end of this after he says all this he says now i don't want you to forget i am going to be with you even unto the end of the world so obviously there's some some situations here one of the things that i want to do is just step back a little bit and say all right so what do we have in the world today what's going on in the world today well loneliness may be and i believe it is it may be the number one emotional problem in our world today lonely people are everywhere lonely people are in theaters lonely people are in restaurants and diners lonely people watch this they're in churches lonely people are in cities lonely people listen to this are in big crowds a recent survey of u.s adults was given and the you gov poll found that 30 of millennials said they they always or often feel lonely compared to 20 percent of generation x and just 15 of baby boomers but the survey also identified that of all americans 40 percent of americans deal with and say that they are lonely and then it was interesting that this survey discovered that the loneliest age group ranges between 16 years and 24 years old so that means that young people are the loneliest age group in america according to the survey now that doesn't mean that they own they're the only group but according to the survey that you know they're the the loneliest and and you know for a lot of reasons you may maybe millennials are not participating in in church or or relationship with god as other generations or not that involved in politics or really engaged into the social media age but uh yet and still that's what we have and i believe that it's much larger than that i believe that if you begin to look at it that if you can remove the phoniness from christian people you'll find out that there is a great percentage of loneliness in the church and so while you may be holding on to your idea or your definition of what loneliness is let's go ahead and talk about it what is loneliness well one of the best ways to really dig in on something and understand it is before we define loneliness and talk about what loneliness is and what it means let's talk about what loneliness is not and what it does not mean what it what what what let's let's talk about the other side the opposite what it's not before we talk about what it is so number one loneliness does not mean the same thing as solitude or being alone see i thought that loneliness was just all about being alone i found out you can be alone you can be uh you can be lonely around a whole bunch of people and what we've got to understand is that loneliness does not mean the same as solitude sometimes it's good to be to be alone solitude just simply means being alone and i am saying that loneliness does not mean the same thing as solitude you see we all have to be alone at times and sometimes being alone is good being along with god is good sometimes being alone to rest is good sometimes being alone from the drama is good but it's not the same thing as being lonely you know at this time there's certain times that this is good for us like i said but jesus set the example here in john chapter 6 verse 15 jesus sets this example as as he stepped away from some things to be alone showing us that the problem by stepping away from some things uh to be alone there was there's no problem with that he says when jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king he departed again into a mountain himself alone so he wasn't lonely but he departed in solitude and so loneliness is not the same thing as solitude that's the point i want to make number two loneliness is not being lonesome you heard that phrase before mom lonesome loneliness is not the same thing as being lonesome this is when we miss a loved one who is gone temporarily but we know he or she will return um and so or we know that they'll be back so i'm lonesome because maybe that person's gone for two weeks or i'm lonesome because maybe you know this person's uh you know in the military i'm lonesome but that doesn't mean the same as as as lonely to be lonesome doesn't mean the same is lonely number three loneliness is not iso isolation now this is the this this is the most familiar definition of loneliness loneliness is not isolation we can be lonely like i said in a crowd you're not isolated you know there's a saying that a city is a place where hundreds of people are lonely together lonely people can be found in the crowd they can be found in the pack stadiums they can be found in arenas they can be found in churches and yes they can even be found in pulpits whoa loneliness is not isolation loneliness is not being lonesome loneliness is not solitude let me tell you what else loneliness is not loneliness is not a sin but it's a part of our imperfect humanity it's a part that shows up as a result of being a fallen man are imperfect humanity some of the greatest saints in the bible suffered from a feeling of loneliness and so you know i want to show you three of them at least in in moses's case uh look at numbers chapter 11 verses uh 15 and then we'll go to verse 14. but moses moses desired to kill himself now think about this moses desire to kill himself look at verse 15 and if thou deal thus with me kill me i pray thee out of thy hand out of hand if i have found favor in thy sight and let me not see my wretchedness now you would ask why would moses ask god to kill him he says if i got any favor in your in any favor in your sight kill me why would he ask this well the answer is in verse he says i am not able to bear all this people alone because it is too heavy for me so he felt alone because he's like i can't handle this big responsibility and as a result of it look at what look at what loneliness put the frame of mind that loneliness put moses in kill me kill me and so moses felt as if he were facing life and facing this challenge all along look at elijah you know elijah wanted to die in first kings chapter 19 and four look at first king 19 4 and then verse 10. in first kings 19 and 4 he says but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down on under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now oh lord take away my life for i am not better than my father's why what i mean this is this anointed man of god why was this the request well move on down to verse 10 and he says and he said i have been very zealous for the lord god of hosts for the children of israel have forsaken my covenant thrown down thy altar slain thy prophets with the swords and i even i only am left and they seek my life to take it away elijah uh here reveals that he felt alone but not not only alone but it was more loneliness and i'll show you as we go on and he wanted to kill himself and you know about the apostle paul second timothy chapter 4 and verse 16. think about this loneliness positions a person to want to commit suicide loneliness commissions a person to go through this type of trauma second timothy chapter 4 16 at my first answer no man stood with me but all men forsook me i pray god that it may not be laid to their charge and so here's paul saying there's loneliness taking place with me because there's nobody to stand with me he says there's loneliness that takes place of me because i'm looking around i thought somebody i thought i had somebody that had my back and they forsook me loneliness now notice it's coming loneliness now comes as a result of what paul identifies here being forsaken and feeling like nobody has his back i think it's time now to define it what is loneliness listen to me carefully lonely loneliness is an inward feeling it's an inward emotion that it's a feeling that we are unneeded uncared for unwanted and unnoticed now notice loneliness means that i feel like i'm not needed i feel like i'm not cared for i feel like i'm not wanted i feel like i'm not noticed now that's that's deep that's heavy that's that's heavy it's more than just being alone it's an emotion it's more than being alone it's a feeling and if you've ever gotten yourself uh in a position where you feel like you're not wanted you feel like you're you're not needed you feel like you're not cared for you feel like you're you're not noticed if you don't if you don't understand how to how to focus in on the right thing this will take you down a path that you don't want to go this will take you down the path if you don't deal with that it'll take you down a path where you're thinking about death all the time you're you're you you're becoming all kinds of emotional wreck a feeling an inward feeling that i'm not needed i'm not cared for i'm not wanted i'm not noticed look at this scripture in psalms 102 verse 7 in the new king james version psalms 102 verse 7 in the new king james version and these are all feelings that maybe all of us have had one time or another and i can show you why and how we got out of that psalms 102 and verse 7 the new king james version he says i lie awake and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop now i want you to think about this this scripture is saying i mean look at what the psalmist was thinking here what's more insignificant than a sparrow first of all and then he says this sparrow is unnoticed this sparrow is is isolated this sparrow is unwanted this sparrow is alone on the housetop and that's the way the psalmist felt about his own life wow and then if you go to psalms 38 and 11 in the regular king james and then in the nlt psalms 38 and 11 this inward feeling not being wanted not being needed not being cared for not even being noticed he says my lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore and my kinsmen or my neighbors stand far off look at this in the nlt he says my loved ones and friends stay away fearing my disease so one of the things you're going to see is that if you don't deal with loneliness this can cause you to be dis-ease because it is this easement loneliness is this easement and it can cause disease in your life my loved ones and my friends stay away fearing my disease even my family stands at a distance so understanding that loneliness is much more than feeling lonesome much more than isolation it's not sin but it can open the door for destruction in your life loneliness is a crippling force loneliness is a disabling force it's not something that we should just kind of brush off it is a crippling disabling force now i'll i'll tell you why because god created us as human beings we are all human beings but i'm going to tell you why it can be a crippling disabling force because all humans have three basic needs that every human has to have in other words you know you can go around say i don't need that you do every human needs these three basic needs and without them there's going to be some problems and i'll show it to you in scripture the first basic need and this is according to job chapter 19 and 19 the first basic need that every human needs is a need to love and share that love with others a need to love and to share that love with others job in 1919 he says all my inward friends abhor me and they whom i love are turned against me and so this is a human basic need it is a need to love and it is a need to share that love with other people and so when you don't deal with loneliness you're you're you're avoiding exactly about one of those or all three of those basic needs that i'm about to share with you and they will be crippling in your life now the second basic need a need for someone to understand you job chapter 19 verse 15 and 21 a need for someone to understand you now maybe you not thought about this before but you know if if there are issues going on with your life emotionally these may these may be some of the areas there's a need for someone to understand you and verse job 19 verse 15 and then 21 he says that they dwell in my house and my maids count me for a stranger wow stranger in your house and i'm an alien in their sight in verse 21 have pity upon me have pity upon me oh you my friends for the hand of god has touched me i mean think of this man that you should you feel so misunderstood or there's no one that understands you to the point where you feel like a stranger in your own house and amongst your own friends there's a basic need for someone to understand you there's a basic need for someone for you to have to love and to be able to share that love with someone here's the third basic human need number three according to job 19 14. a need listen to this a need to be needed and wanted that is a human basic need a need to be needed and wanted this is probably one of the number one areas of what men suffer from it is that need to be needed and to be wanted and in job chapter 19 verse 14 he says my kins folks have failed and my familiar friends have forgotten me this is expressing the lack of that basic need the need to be needed and the need to be wanted sometimes if you you know if you if you don't understand loneliness and don't deal with it and you just can't put your finger on it that's why i'm teaching this right right now today it it you'll you'll walk around life and you'll walk around in such frustration such sadness such distress maybe leading to depression because you just don't understand that it's not just well you're selfish it's these are basic needs every human in the on the planet has a need to love and to share that love with others every human on the planet has a need for someone to understand them every human on the planet has a need to be needed and to be wanted and so many people are not having these needs met and what happens when these needs are not met well it produces an overwhelming feeling of loneliness it produces an overwhelming feeling not just loneliness but all of the attachments of loneliness it produces an overwhelming feeling of loneliness of rejection and of isolation loneliness when these three basic needs are not met loneliness rejection and isolation will be the birth of it it'll be the result of it and so one of the things that i want to look at before i get get back into word here is what causes loneliness what what causes loneliness i mean i know that if you don't meet these three basic needs then i know that it will produce an overwhelming feeling of loneliness i know that but but let's look at some causes that you might be able to relate with and i want to use the apostle paul for this because you know i was reading the scripture in ii timothy and realized that you know i had an opportunity to visit this very prison that they're talking about and um i wanted to know how dark it would get and and i sat there in this prison that paul was in and uh visiting it in in rome and it was like you know dirt walls dirt floor there was a little opening in the top to feed him and and and that was it that was it and so in second timothy chapter four and six let let's see what paul discovered here the the first cause of loneliness watch this it comes from transitions any kind of transition in your life any new experience you have found uh will create or has a tendency to create loneliness paul says here for i am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand there's transitioning going on in his life he's growing older and growing older is a is a seri you know has a series of changes and and any change can produce loneliness you know moving schools can produce loneliness moving in a new home a new country having a new job a divorce or separation any kind of transition produces loneliness gradually losing your sight gradually you losing your hearing your mobility any of those things can lead to loneliness the death of a loved one that's a transition it's lonely any new experience we have to deal with is going to create loneliness and paul asks timothy to come and visit him because he knows his time is short and he is lonely number two so the first one the first cause i believe out of this is transition loneliness that comes from transitions any type of transitions that take place in your life you can move in a new neighborhood and feel a sense of loneliness that'll come there the second cause loneliness that comes from separation loneliness that comes from separation second timothy chapter four and nine look at what happened here second timothy four and nine loneliness that comes from separation he says do thy diligence to come shortly unto me so you know being separated paul from his friends you know or family that that caused loneliness and he was really urging timothy to come paul says to uh to timothy do your best to come to me quickly now paul is lonely because he's separated from his friends and if you look in verse 31 excuse me verse 13 saint chapter 2 timothy 4 verse 13 he says the cloak that i left at troas with with corpus when thou cometh bring with thee and the books but especially the parchments or the the parchments were the piece of paper that were were being written on so he was ready to impart and to share some things but man he wanted to resolve he was he was fighting against this loneliness because of separation loneliness from separation separation from your friends or separation from your family can cause loneliness and here's the third cause from opposition now i know about this one loneliness from opposition second timothy chapter 4 and verse 14. look at what he says in verse 14 and we'll talk about this alexander uh the coppersmith did me much evil paul said the lord reward him according to his works now i don't know if alexander was was was was saying some crazy things about him uh i don't know if he was you know putting out some bad words was persecuting him paul in other words says not only am i getting old and sitting here alone in prison he says but i'm also being persecuted i'm also being persecuted you know it's a lonely feeling to be misunderstood it's a lonely feeling to be embarrassed and to be humiliated it was something that i felt every time somebody would put me on the news or they would misunderstand that or get the wrong information about that it's a lonely feeling uh yeah i know what the bible says in matthew chapter 5 11 and 12 i read it to you well brother dolly it shouldn't be a lonely fielding feeling here's what the bible says i'm i'm very aware of matthew 5 11 and 12. he says blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake verse 12 rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you i understand that but it doesn't necessarily take away the loneliness i understand that that you know that what bible says that i'm blessed when i'm persecuted but it doesn't necessarily take away the loneliness and i had to deal with that fact you know i i quoted that scripture when i was going through stuff when i was being persecuted i i quoted that and stood on that okay that probably helped me a whole lot but it still didn't stop the loneliness from coming in number four loneliness that comes from rejection now this is the worst form loneliness that comes from rejection second timothy 4 and 16. i want to read that one more time second timothy chapter 4 and 16. he says at my first answer no man stood with me but all men forsook me i pray god that it may not be laid to their charge notice what he said no man stood with me he said they all forsook me this is the form of loneliness that causes us the most pain the loneliness of rejection what is that it's when you feel as though you've been betrayed or forsaken in your time of need by those closest to you and paul felt forsaken he says of his trial before nero here's what he said at my first defense no one came to my support but everyone deserted me now you can almost hear the pain in paul's voice when he talks about the loneliness that came as a result of rejection rejection is one of the most difficult things for us to handle whether it is as children on the school playground as a teen at a gathering or as a spouse in a marriage and that's why divorce is so painful and why god hates it it's an act of abandoning an act of forsakening and it's very very painful and i know some of you have been or some of you might be there at this very moment but god has created us for communion god has created us for fellowship god has created us for friendship and that's why we need acceptance that's why we need communication that's why we need love and some people try to deal with loneliness by becoming workaholics and that's not going to work that eventually will take its toll and you won't be able to continue with that and also some people try to deal with it through materialism trying to substitute you know materials for some type of way to be healed or to feel better so i wanted you to have those four causes so as we dig deep into this message there are some practical things i i didn't want to get so deep with you today that you missed the practical part i i don't want you to just put a cover over this and not see this because it can be a dreadful downfall and satan can continue to take advantage in an open door that has been opened in your life now look at job 17 and verse 7 in the new living translation as i said before loneliness can and disable a person emotionally and physically job chapter 17 verse 7 in the new living translation he says this job 17 7 my eyes are swollen with weeping and i am but a shadow of my former self look at that in the message translation as well because you know i asked the lord what was why why are his eyes swollen it's because he was crying so much look at what he said in in verse six and seven he says god you've you've made me the talk of the town people spit in my face i can hardly see from crying so much i'm nothing but skin and bones look at the stress look at the the crippling and the disabling effect look at the physical effects that comes on a person because they have no idea how to deal with the the the crippling disabling uh issues of loneliness emotionally and physically first of all emotionally you know few hurts are deeper than loneliness and people don't recognize that it's like i'm gonna be all right no no no few hurts are deeper than loneliness loneliness hurts it can be so devastating it is a leading cause of suicide and people feel alone with nobody to turn to you know that challenges me as a human being to be a little bit more sensitive to people that i come across that challenges me even as a pastor of a church to be sensitive to people that may move in our community in our neighborhood and they may be looking at a first stage of loneliness because of the transition that loneliness comes as a result of that it does something to me as an individual to say i need to be a little bit more aware of what's going on in the lives of people and then physically some say that 50 of heart patients were lonely and depressed before their heart attacks that they were lonely 50 that they were lonely or depressed before their heart attacks and so what are some common effects of loneliness loneliness can lead to immoral relationships you want to know where that comes from and where that starts from people look for acceptance people look for intimacy and a relationship to feel that empty void but now listen to me carefully all of the physical contact in the world cannot feel an empty lonely heart so be careful not to think that an immoral relationship is going to be the answer to an empty lonely heart i understand the desire to want to go and and you're looking for acceptance you're looking for intimacy you're looking for a relationship to feel that empty void but physical contact all the physical contact in the world cannot feel an empty and a lonely heart there is an answer we're not there yet but there is an answer i'll tell you it's jesus amen here's another effect of loneliness it can it can impact our finances what yeah loneliness can impact our finances how by producing materialism now materialism doesn't mean having materials materialism is when instead of you going to god to help you deal with your issue you believe that going shopping or getting materials can help you deal with your issue and now you're putting materials in the place of god you feel that you know i can put materials in in place of god and materials will help me to feel better you see lonely people will sometimes go on a shopping spree thinking that purchasing certain items will give them an emotional lift and many times people who abuse credit cards and end up deep in debt are lonely people and so the effects of loneliness not only will produce immoral relationships but effective loneliness will also produce an impact on your finances taking you to materialism replacing god with materials thinking that those materials can help you to feel better than what god can help you feel number three here's another effect of loneliness it can cause us to question our worth it can cause us to question our worth to god and our worth to others it causes us to question our value and our worth to god and our value and our worth to others we no longer see ourselves through the lens of god's word and who we are in christ you know what happens satan loves to blind us to our exalted position in christ he does not want you to see your identity in christ he does not want you to see your exalted position in christ and so what happens through loneliness causing you to question your value and your worth to god and your value and your worth to other people you see how important this is you know i've even heard stories about well you know when you when older people lose a spouse and you know your your grandfather grieves literally to death after the passing of a loved one the common thread of suicide the common thread of suicide listen to me carefully and this has just been coming up a whole lot the common thread to suicide is this nobody cares nobody cares if you're watching me this morning and that's been a recurring theme in your thinking if you're watching me this morning and that keeps kind of coming up in your thinking i first of all want you to know god cares i care and somebody does care but sometimes what happens is you know nobody really knows what you're going through that i pray that you can get the courage that it takes to let somebody know what you're going through don't allow this echo to reside in your mind nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares because that's not true god cares god cares somebody cares somebody cares but man if you can go along and put on that good show and perfect phoniness and sometimes it's not nobody cares that sometimes nobody knows nobody knows well they ought to know well nobody reads minds nobody reads minds and then you gotta you gotta talk you've got to open up you've got to share you got to say some things i know it's difficult it's difficult because it it's called being vulnerable and and and you know that when you when you choose to become vulnerable you know there's a chance that somebody could could hurt you so bad that vulnerability can also cause a great deal of pain and that's a risk but you got to take that risk someone says i don't feel safe taking that risk i hear you loud and clear but somehow someway you're going to have to deal with that emotion because the enemy will take it and he will let that echo go nobody cares nobody cares nobody cares loneliness here's the good news i'm getting to now somebody feel like oh my god you just keep telling no the first thing i want to say about loneliness is it is a defeated foe loneliness is a defeated foe look at john 15 verses 15 through 17. i i wanted to go that deep so you can see how serious it is so you can see it's not just isolation you're thinking it's just isolation it's so much deeper than that it is something that satan has been using to wreck lives wreck marriages take people out and you know we we we heard about it so we didn't know how to release faith in this area hadn't heard about it so we were defeated in this area it's a conquered foe it is a conquered enemy john 15 verse 15-17 says henceforth i call you not servants for the servants knoweth not what his lord doeth but i have called you what friends for all things that i have heard of my father i have made known unto you you're my friend you have not chosen me check it out but i have chosen you man that's a good thing to rehearse god's chosen me god's chosen me and he's ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever you shall ask of the father in my name he will do it and he will give it you that's powerful verse 17 saying he says these things i command you that you love one another now the enemy will use the emotion of loneliness to disrupt your focus so that you're not paying attention to what what jesus promises he's called me friend he's called me friend and he said you didn't choose me i chose you but somebody thinks well you know that's jesus listen honey sometimes you got that that's the only one you got sometimes when it comes to talking to someone and talking about something that you may be too ashamed or too embarrassed to talk about sometimes jesus is the only one you have but i tell you what he said he chose you he says he said he calls you friend and he's real he is as real as anybody you're sitting next to he sent the holy spirit to have intimate dwelling on the inside of you there's no friend in this physical world that can do you and be the kind of friend that jesus has committed to be in your life there is a seat in your heart that only jesus desires to occupy glory to god so there's some truth from god's word that will help us conquer and overcome loneliness now let's get in the word let's defeat this look at colossians chapter 1 and verse 21. colossians chapter 1 and verse 21 he says and you that were sometimes alienated and and enemies in your mind by wicked works he says yet now have he reconciled so here's the good news we've been reconciled back to god we were enemies to god because of the sin that took place in the garden of eden and god showed up through jesus to restore that friendship so because of jesus my friendship with god has been restored praise god that that that i've been reconciled to god and he is no longer imputing sin and trespasses upon me praise god i have a friend in romans chapter 8 verses 9 through 11 let's take a look at this romans chapter 8 verse 9 and 11 and i'm going to spend the rest of the time just just feeding you scripture man romans 8 9-11 he says but you are not in the flesh but you're in the spirit if so be that the spirit of god dwell in you now if any man have not the spirit of christ he is none of his verse 10 and if christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness verse 11 but if the spirit of him that raised up jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwell in you i'm telling you you have a friend that lives in you he walks with you when you go to bed he's there with you there's nowhere you're going to go without him colossians chapter 1 27 colossians chapter 1 27 yes do you go to the word you go to the word verse 27 to whom god would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles what is the mystery he says which is christ in you the earnest expectation of glory christ in you is the reason why you can expect manifestation in your life christ in you is the reason why you can expect to be delivered from loneliness and to shut down the door that the enemy has been coming in and reaping havoc in your life galatians chapter 2 and 20. galatians chapter 2 and 20. this is strong i am crucified with christ nevertheless i live yet not i but it is christ that liveth in me and the life which i now live in the flesh i live by the faith of the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me i'm telling you the enemy is trying to distract you man he doesn't want you to focus on the vocabulary of the kingdom he wants you more focused on the vocabulary vocabulary of loneliness and we're not doing that jesus dwells within us and he desires to have a personal intimate relationship with us don't turn him down talk to him if you listen if you can't be completely transparent and honest with with a human being you have somebody you can be completely transparent and honest with and that's jesus you can go to him and say lo lord i'm afraid lord i'm scared lord lord i got fear in my heart lord ain't no good lord i'm selfish you can go and be completely honest with him you have a friend in jesus you have a friend in jesus john chapter 15 verse 13 john 15 13 man he says greater love hath no man than this that a man laid down his life for his friend he loves us individually as friends jesus loves us individually as friends i often and i told you about this before it happened it kind of got me almost there it you know it's it's coming into heaven and meeting jesus and and jesus embraces me and i embrace him but it's not a traditional church hug because he has an individual friendship and relationship with me and he knows me by name i see this expression on his face as he intimately hugs me with love and i cannot get it out of my face and every time i think about it it really breaks me up to know that this is not a jesus that loves me because he's supposed to but it's a jesus who has an intimate individual relationship he is my friend so how do we get out of this somebody says all right pastor i'm convinced this has been a little slalo something that's been lurking around in my life and my emotions it comes up every now and then i think i've been doing pretty good what would you recommend for me to overcome loneliness number one recognize god recognize that god let me say like this recognize god's presence in your life recognize that god is there you want to defeat loneliness recognize that god is there look at hebrews chapter 13 and 15. recognize that god is there let's look at this in the king james and then the amplified he said by him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to god continually that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name giving thanks to no that's the wrong scripture hebrews 13 and 5. i apologize hebrews 13 and 5. go there real quick hebrews 13 and 5. he says let your conversation or your lifestyle be without covetousness be content with such things as you have for he has said i will never leave thee nor forsake thee wow now if he promised he'd never leave me more for or forsake me every time i feel like i'm alone every time i feel like i'm by myself every time i feel a sense of not being cared for not being wanted or not being noticed look what he says in the amplified let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money including greed and avarice and lusts and cravings for earthly possessions be satisfied with your present circumstances and with what you have for he god himself has said i will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support i will not i will not i will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down nor relax my hold on you assuredly not he is the answer for loneliness he is the answer for feeling like you're unwanted he's the answer for feeling like you're not needed he is the answer for every human need that you have he is the answer he he he made those basic human needs not so you can go and try to figure out how to fill them but so you so that you could recognize that you can fill them with jesus he says i i'm committed to not forsaking you i got your back i will be there everything that you need you find this commitment in the lord jesus christ i think it's time for you to come to him here's the second way i think you should deal with loneliness you got to maximize god's strength philippians 4 13 maximize god's strength you have access to god's strength he says i can do all things through christ which what strengthens me maximize god's strength i can do all things through christ which strengthens me maximize god's strength maximize it it's available so go ahead and use it number three use your time wisely don't wallow in all of the issues of life use your time wisely find things to keep you busy now i'm not talking about becoming a workaholic but there's so much to do in the kingdom of god there's so much to do that god's called you to do don't sit around and allow the devil to just minister to you all day through your mind use your time wisely number four sympathize with others in need in other words you spend so much time looking at what about me and look at what i'm going through and nobody knows the trouble i've seen you spend all that time and there's so many more people going through so much more than what you can ever think about going through and i think it's something that happens when you take the attention off you and put that attention on somebody else go and be involved in a feeding program go and be involved in ministering to the homeless go and be involved in ministering to somebody that's really going through go to the hospital and pray for somebody amen sympathize with others in need and then finally ii timothy chapter 4 17-18 glorify god's deliverance glorify god's deliverance second timothy chapter 4 17-18 glorify god's deliverance notwithstanding the lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all gentiles might hear and i was delivered out of the mouth of the lion and the lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory for ever and ever amen glorify this deliverance begin to thank god for second second timothy chapter 4 8 17-18 glorify the fact that i am delivered that what you've discovered about loneliness loneliness today spend the day thanking god i am delivered spend the day calling things that be not as though they were i am delivered i am deliberate i am going to stand up against those feelings of being of of unwanted those feelings of being unnoticed those feelings of feeling like i'm not cared about those i'm going to stand up against those things and i am going to realize that i have a savior i have a jesus that can meet all of those needs don't let the enemy steal your focus don't let the enemy rob you this is why it's so important for us to to focus in on god's word to be a part of god's word to be a part of what's going on in church you never will know and i don't know i don't know how many people this message was for but i i don't know i i preached it cause god told me to preach it and uh my intent wasn't to bring up old bad emotions or anything like that but just to expose the devil to shine the light on something that you already have the victory over because jesus is your victory and this is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith and so if if you're here somehow i don't know you ended up at church with us today through through through the social media and i don't know maybe this message spoke directly to you maybe this message spoke to somebody who was getting ready to end it all maybe this message spoke to somebody who has felt misunderstood have felt forsaken that's felt rejected and i am telling you that the answer that i have is a lot different than your therapist the answer that i have is a person his name is jesus discover him find out about him search the scripture understand this power of grace and take full faith and advantage of who he is in your life so if you're here with us today and you've never made jesus the lord of your life you're here today and you've never become born again and you'd like to be a born-again christian would you please pray this prayer after me [Music] heavenly father i believe in jesus i believe that jesus has died for my sins i believe that i am forgiven of my past my present and my future sins heavenly father come into my life be my friend on the inside sit on the throne of my heart save me so by faith i declare right now that i am saved in jesus name amen now if you just prayed that prayer of salvation with me today text the key word i'm saved that's one word to 51555. provide your name and email address and we'll send you a free ebook as a gift to you today go in the comment section let people know i just got saved world changes nation let's just praise god and celebrate with them in jesus name amen praise god praise the lord well it's an opportunity to worship god with our gifts it's an opportunity to complete our worship through gift giving it's an opportunity to remember all that god has done for you and for me that opportunity the bible says that we don't give out of necessity but we give out of a cheerful heart that we don't give grudgingly but we give because we know why we're giving we're giving to worship god we're giving to thank god you know for some of us man we look at our lives and we think man god has been so good to me and god has showed has shown me so much mercy and god has shown me so much grace and god has shown me so much love and he's been a friend uh in a time of trouble he's been a deliverer he's been a healer and all these things that god has been in our life and now at this point in the service we have an opportunity to bring a gift to him and to worship him in the beauty of his holiness and so today if you're if you're giving to the lord and that's what you got to see it as i'm giving to god you can text that gift to to world changers text world changers space and then the amount to 74483 you can call dial that number on the screen eight six six four seven seven seven six eight three to give you can also give online at world changers.org you can give on online couple of dollar ministries you can also use your paypal online and then you can mail in on the address on your screen those are the ways you can give and i tell you what i want you to know that every time you give it's it's saying god thanks it's saying god i remember it's saying god i appreciate you it's saying god i'd have never i've never been who i am today if it were for you so rather than looking at your past and becoming condemned by it look at it and say god man if that hadn't happened wow thank you thank you for using everything in my life to bring me to the place where i am now where i can worship you and give you praise praise the lord i believe that today can be an amazing time a time where you step away the spirit that's behind loneliness it's a time where you can step into jesus christ and allow jesus to be made the lord and personal savior of your life it's a time where you have to just you got to make a decision what am i prepared to do and if you make that decision then i tell you what things will be better in your life amen we got any announcements video announcements okay go ahead and run those video announcements right now and then we'll be back for our our benediction good morning world changers nation we thank god that you're joining us online for service now we know that there is no distance or time in the spirit and your dedication has not gone unnoticed we know that we have the best members in the world but first we have a few announcements to keep you in the know to all the men tuning in yes you when you hear the phrase man up it usually refers to being tough or telling a man not to express his emotions well at this year's mentality men's conference we want to bring a new meaning to that phrase by dealing with the issues that men face with solutions based in on god's word find out what biblical manhood really means from three dynamic speakers that's creflo dollar toray roberts and michael smith we can't wait for this unfiltered raw truth to bring about a revival of manhood this year's conference is entirely virtual so register today to reserve your spot by texting mentality to five one five five five again for those in the back that's mentality to 51 555 we'll see you online [Music] we are looking forward to connecting with ministers and leaders around the world for our 2020 ministers and leaders conference so join us online for an impactful experience from october 6th through the 8th for three days of transformational teachings on making adjustments for the new age this year's dynamic speakers are creflo dollar taffy dollar kenneth fuller and damon davis so register today by texting i lead to 51555 and we'll see you online it's called life is back this unique web series by ministers for ministers is all about the life of leadership now you don't want to miss bishop fuller in this month's episode it's part two of last month's health we're losing our youth to the pandemic joining us as we discuss how this new normal is affecting our young people are john and deborah carr now don't forget to tune in via facebook or youtube on september 24th at 7 pm if you text icl to 51555 we can send you reminders about new it's life episodes right to your inbox calling all parents of teenage girls pretty girls rock better known as pgr is a mentorship organization for teenage girls and we have changed our media times to adjust to students academic schedules pgr will now be held every first and third saturday so simply contact constance adams at c adams worldchanges.org or you can call 770-210-5839 for more information are you a single mother with a teenage son what we want you to know about the lions then an all-male mentorship organization that meets at 7 00 p.m on zoom now young men you can text lion's den to 51 555 and receive the link to join the call mothers if you want guidance simply email see lustboro that's c-l-u-s-b-o-u-r-g-h world changes dot org or you can call 770-210-5839 to schedule a consultation world changers nation it's time to voice your vote your vote matters and we're here to help you prepare for the polls so text wcci vote to 51 555 now to confirm your voter registration status now november will be here before we know it so get registered and make sure that you know your polling location now don't miss this moment to make your vote and your voice count even though we can't be together in person we can continue doing the work that god has for us so don't miss out on any of our events continue to contact the ministry at 770-210-5700 with any of your questions or concerns we want to hear from you so connect with us on facebook instagram or twitter throughout the week well praise god take note of uh all of those announcements and listen have an amazing day today allow the spirit of god to take you to a place of intimacy with him and listen if there are tribulations trials troubles that you run in today is life take what god's given you use it and overcome have a epic day now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the almighty god be glory majesty dominion and power both now and forever and everybody said amen bye-bye everybody have a great day

Channel: Creflo Dollar Ministries

Views: 91,350

Rating: 4.890779 out of 5

Keywords: creflo, creflodollar, worldchangers, taffi, taffidollar, grace, megachurch, collegepark, atlantachurch, sermon, gracelife, tbn, pastors, church, pastordollar, drdollar

Id: BWWEaC11nNg

Length: 68min 4sec (4084 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 30 2020