Pastor Byrd F E A R

[Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] we want to get right in the word of god today we're not going to keep you long but we do have a word and we're going to come to you from the book of ii timothy 2 timothy chapter 1 verse number 7 this is in harmony with what our worship today has been about as we talk about mental health second timothy chapter one verse number seven second timothy chapter one verse seven we're not gonna be long just one simple verse the word of god reads the apostle paul speaking for god hath not given us the spirit of fear but a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind once again for god have not given us a spirit of fear but a power and of love and of a sound mind we're praying lord we thank you we thank you already for visiting this place with the power of your holy ghost now as we go into your word disappoint us not speak oh god we pray right now we ask that you would beat back the enemy beat back satan right now because this word needs to flow and it needs to flow full and free forgive me of my sins in jesus name we pray amen and amen today we want to talk about fear we want to talk about fear false evidence appearing real fear false evidence appearing real for everybody watching everybody listening to this sermon today if there's one thing that we all have in common even the best of us it's the fact that we worry too much tell the truth shame the devil we worry too much and worry in a real sense can have an interesting effect on your everyday life because for many of us the problems of life can worry us so much that we need a counselor now i'm a pastor let me be clear about that i'm not a counselor like other counselors but the old motif in the church was if you had a problem go talk to the pastor are you hearing what i'm saying but if the truth be told today as pastors we've taken some classes in counseling we watched some videos on counseling and we've been somewhat trained as pastoral counselors but let me be clear we're not clinical counselors in other words i'm trained to preach the word of god so when you come to me all i can do is give you a word from the lord some folk don't want to come to me because they don't want to hear what thus saith the lord but i make no apologies about it all i can give you is the word of the lord but then on the flip side there are some folk who want not pastor or cat they want pastoral counseling and not clinical counseling why because clinical counseling is the kind of counseling that brings out the clinical where you can be literally diagnosed as mentally ill and folk don't want to hear that you see if you come to me if you come to the pastoral counselor i'm not going to call you crazy i'm not going to call you mentally insane but the clinical counselor will because what's wrong with you isn't just spiritual you've got some clinical issues that you've got to work through in order to really address them spiritually but we like to go to easy route just lay some hands on me and let me fall out and then when i get up everything's gonna be all right but i'm here to tell somebody today everything is not going to be all right till you deal with it so rather than trying to just spiritualize your issues and cover your issues up let me tell somebody you got to face them in order to fix them are you hearing what i'm saying in the spirit of keeping it real today all of us have issues all of us have problems all of us have hang-ups all of us have difficulties and the fact is all of us need some help in one way or another i get concerned when people look down on other folks talking about look at that family and look at this family everybody got some crazy in their family are you hearing what i'm saying i don't know of anyone who has complete contentment inner peace and security all the time and while god did in the beginning create us that way we're not that way now because mental challenges mental illness and mental health conditions are the products of sin research says that one in three people experience mental illness or have some type of mental episode at least once per year in fact the world health organization who says that five of the ten leading causes of disabilities in the world are mental conditions these five conditions are depression schizophrenia bipolar disorders alcohol and substance abuse and obsessive compulsive disorder and these are not diseases that can be 100 cured yes medication can help some people some of the time but medication only treats the symptoms you're not hearing what i'm saying let me try this way when somebody takes painkillers for a broken leg the medicine doesn't heal the leg the medicine just treats the symptoms of easing the pain in the leg when you take medicine for mental illness it doesn't cure mental illness it just treats some of the symptoms of mental illness don't get it twisted past the bird is not saying that people don't get better when they take medicine for mental illness but neither am i saying that they don't have the bad feelings or mental sickness anymore but what i'm saying is that they have learned strategies to live and think differently despite how they felt the bible teaches that the core emotion that causes all human disorder or human discomfort is fear everybody is afraid of something whether it's heights lizards snakes flying on a plane getting old falling or death we all fear something and because we fear something almost everybody has to struggle against worry which is a form of fear but studies suggest that 92 of what people worry about is either imaginary it never happened or are things that are completely out of our control which then means that 92 percent of our worry is a complete waste of time but we worry we fear and satan seeks to corrupt our minds with lies to get us to worry and fear which is simply false evidence appearing real but our text says for god has not given us a spirit of fear but a power and of love and of a sound mind now quickly let me unpack this text the greek word for fear in this text in this verse is phobos which is where we obtain our english word phobia and a phobia is defined as an irrational persistent fear that interferes in a person's life and so the fear that's being talked about by paul in this text is one that causes someone to react in ways that can disrupt his life or her life in an unhealthy way it's a fear that controls a person's life and can be destructive to personal relationships or even one harms one's emotional mental or spiritual health and when we relate this definition to fear in this text the context of paul's statement is that the normal christian life has been one of intense persecution pain rejection ridicule subjugation and death study the text the early christian church the early church of the first century was scattered far and wide and as an increasingly hostile world fed many of these christians to the lions or burned them at the stake many women men and women in the bible were enslaved exploited and exterminated for the cause of christ and from his own incarceration in his own roman cell paul was able to encourage his fellow brother in christ brother timothy that god has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of love power and a sound mind timothy in this text like all of us needed to be reminded that we have the permanent indwelling of the holy ghost who has gifted us and empowered us with all that we need for life no matter how difficult or how dangerous life in this world might become jesus told us in the word that in this world we will have trouble that we will suffer trial and tribulation but he also told us to remember that we have overcome the world because greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world so through the words of this text paul is admonishing timothy to reignite the flickering flame of his faltering faith because although he was saved by grace through jesus christ timothy was timid he was afraid timothy even felt pressured by the increasingly hostile world in which he lived and that's a word for somebody today that's all i've come to tell somebody today fear is not from the lord don't forget who you are in christ don't you forget that you have not been given a spirit of fear but a spirit of power a spirit of love a spirit of a sound mind timothy was fearful of his unknown future timothy was fearful of losing paul his father in the faith timothy was afraid of ending up in a prison similar to paul and afraid of receiving the same sentence of death as paul for preaching faith in jesus christ timothy felt like he had much to fear paul writes him and paul tells him that the fear he's experiencing is not from god and he must resist it paul tells timothy god has not given you a spirit of fear but god has given you the holy spirit and the holy spirit paul says to timothy brings you three things number one the holy spirit brings power power to walk right power to talk rights power to fuel rights power to think right the holy ghost brings us power but not only does the holy ghost bring us power number two the holy ghost brings love and the bible says perfect love casteth out all fear and perfect love is only available through jesus christ poor mental health is too much fear and not enough love so the holy ghost brings power the holy ghost brings love but number three the holy ghost brings a sound mind and that's where i want to end on today the holy ghost brings a sound mind how do i get a sound mind i'm so glad you asked the apostle paul in philippians chapter four tells us how to get a sound mind he says be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto god and the peace of god which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through christ jesus verse 8 i love it finally brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good reports if there be any virtue if there be any praise think on these things i know many church folk and i know many christians and notice i said church folk and christians because just because you're a church member doesn't mean you're a christian i wish i had time but i know many church folks and i know many christians who always seem to be talking about the problems and the faults of the world the faults of the church the faults of other people but we've got to learn how to think on the positive and not dwell on the negative too many people dwell on the negative here we go it's a nice sunny day but it's gonna rain yeah uh that vegetarian meatloaf sure looks good oh but it has a lot of salt church was sure good today yeah but it was too long just negative but a positive person sees things differently than a negative person when they see the sour we see the sweets when they see the glass half empty we see the glass half full and not only should we think better things but we also express to express these thoughts and better things to other people to help encourage them you see we live friends of mine in a culture that's constantly feeding us mess chaos and confusion it's on the news it's on the internet it's on social media it's in newspapers if you still read them but the bible says whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just and pure lovely and of good report think on these things so somebody says pastor bird how do i keep a sound mind i'm so glad you asked proverbs 23 7 says for as a man thinketh in his heart so is he which means our emotions are controlled by our thoughts and our thoughts influence our behavior fear worry anger anxiety they start in the mind and they end in our behavior so we've got to change the way we think if we're going to change the way we act how do i think positively in my mind think about his love think about his goodness think about his grace that brought you through when you think about jesus your mind thinks positivity where people turn for help is some indication of their character and their faith you see some people turn to the bar at happy hour to drink themselves into some solution some people turn to drugs prescription and non-prescription to try and quiet the noise of themselves some people have gone to palm readers tarot card readers soothsayers and one 900 psychic friends others have taken the path of clinical help psychologists psychiatrists psychoanalysts which is not by the way a bad thing but somebody needs to be reminded today to take it to jesus oh what peace we often forfeit oh what needless pain we bear oh because we do not carry everything to god in prayer somebody knows he healed the brokenhearted he set the captive free he made the lame to walk again and he calls the blind to see you've got to think jesus and take it to jesus there are some things that i've learned in life you can have all the experience for you can read all the books you want you can have all the human voices telling you one thing but there are some things you can't get out of unless god himself gets you out of it now don't don't get it twisted and misunderstand me i'm not saying don't go to the doctor because god can use the doctor to help you in your problem i'm not saying don't go to a counselor god can use the counselor to help you get rid of your problem i'm not saying don't get medication because god can use the medication to help you with your problem but you've also got to go to jesus because the doctor the counselor the medication are just conduits to help you but i read somewhere that all of my help comes from the lord i will lift up mine eyes and to the hills from which cometh my help my help comes from the lord i've talked to men and women who battled with the addiction of crack cocaine and i have asked them those who've had a tenure or period of cleanliness with god i tell them talk to me about this thing i've never been there so talk to me about it and they often say to me pastor byrd every now and then i battle and i crave an appetite for it years later i ask well how did you get out of it was it a 12-step program was it a counselor was it a support group they say pastor yes all that's good and i needed it and it has its place but everyone in the group that's been stained knows that if it had not been for the lord on their side if it worked for the grace of god if it worked for jesus now you can take that experience into any habits any addiction any problem and the only thing that has kept you if you're real today is the goodness the grace and the guidance of god and for the believer who's listening me to me today there's no other way out of the sin problem but for the grace of god you're not smart enough to think your way out you're not articulate enough to talk your way out you're not rich enough to buy your way out if you could you would have gotten yourself out already but somebody knows that you need jesus to bring you out pastor byrd how else do i keep a sound mind i'm so glad you asked first peter 5 7 says casting your cares upon him for he careth for you that's casting all your anxieties casting all your worries casting all your fears on him because he cares for you somebody's not getting this let me try it this way when christian my wife and i our oldest daughter was two years old and kaylee our middle daughter was just a baby christian would try to pick up kaylee and i would say wait a minute christian give me the baby don't drop the baby kristen was trying her best and she would try her best to pick up her little sister kaylee but when i would look at them i knew that they both were about to fall in my mind i would say christian that's good effort but give me the baby because you can't carry the baby the baby's too big for you christian and that's what i'm trying to tell somebody today your daddy your heavenly father hates to see when you're trying to carry something that's too big for you learn how to cast your cares on your father because he's there to comfort you he's there to encourage you he's there to strengthen you he's there to carry you but you know why we don't give it to jesus my friends we don't give it to jesus because we don't think it's too big for us and we think we can handle it but the only way you're going to release it is when you own up to the fact that i can't handle it lord i can't do this a lot of times we don't call on the lord because the devil starts messing with our minds and we feel like we're a failure if we can't handle certain things but when you start getting hurt enough when you get broken enough when you're talked about enough you'll start saying lord i can't handle this by myself as a matter of fact if you're like me you get to the point in your experience where you say lord this is your mail god this is your email god this came in my mailbox but this is really for you because you'll learn that if it's his will it's his bill if it's his choice it's his invoice you've got to learn in life how to let some stuff go i've learned in my life that every hill is not calvary some things we have got to learn how to let go i heard somebody say pray say that when we pray we ought to pray to be stronger men and women in other words don't ask and don't pray for tasks equal to your power pray for power equal to your tasks many of us when we pray we say lord give me a task equal to where i am in your walk with me but if you pray that prayer you'll never grow but when you pray you should say lord this task is bigger than me so i'm not gonna ask you to reduce my task to my level of power but give me power that's equal to the task and that's where the holy ghost comes in when you pray to god you've got to learn how to say lord i can't handle it anymore it's too big for me but what do you want me to do i want to bless your name i want to come to you with thanksgiving rather than sit up and add my problems i need to start counting my blessings rather than sit up and talk and tell the lord about all the things that are going wrong in your life i need you to start saying lord i want to thank you for the times you brought me out lord i want to thank you for the things you've already done and i'm turning this thing over to you i'm not worrying about it another day lord i want to thank you for my healing lord i want to thank you for my deliverance lord i want to thank you for my financial breakthrough lord i want to thank you for turning my child around lord i want to thank you for restoring my marriage lord i want to thank you for healing my body lord i want to thank you for healing my relationship god i've got to thank you for food on my table clothes on my back and making a way out of nowhere god i got to thank you for being my bridge over troubled waters quit worrying yourself to death and release and let it go i dare somebody i double dare somebody today to start thinking god for what god has already done the lord is my light he's my salvation whom shall i fear the lord is the strength of my life of whom shall i be afraid when my enemies and my foes came to eat of my flesh they stumbled and they fell so in the name of jesus you better tell somebody i'm not scared i said you better tell somebody i'm not scared if god be for us who can be against us i'm not scared no weapon formed against me is going to prosper i'm not scared i can do all things through christ which strengtheneth me i'm not scared the lord will prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies so all i got to do is sit down and eat because i'm not scared the lord will bless my going out the lord will bless my coming in i'm not scared my god shall supply all of my needs according to his riches in glory i'm not scared the thing that god has begun in me he will continue it until the day of his appearing i'm not scared there's no need to worry for what the night is going to bring it'll be over in the morning i'm not scared weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning time i'm not scared god has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power a spirit of love a spirit of a sound mind i'm not scared thank you very much for tuning in to this week's breath of life broadcast we hope and pray that you've been blessed by dr byrd's inspirational message if you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv or call us at 256-929-6460

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Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Sun May 23 2021