You Are Not Alone - Week 1 | Vani Marshall

for tuning in this morning we're excited about today we've got a great service planned today we have a baptism at least one baptism taking place already uh this morning that we're excited about one of our production team members getting baptized today hunter so excited about that we do want to open up with prayer and just ask god to move and minister there are so many requests so many needs and so would ask that you just join together and pray right now father in jesus name we come before you realize and you're a great healer you're a great deliverer you're a waymaker lord and we thank you for that we know that there's no sickness no problem no difficulty that you cannot handle so our trust is in you our hope is in you we believe you for healing we believe you for miracle working power we believe you in jesus name to loose deliverance god and healing among us right now i pray lord that you would strengthen our bodies strengthen our spirit today and i pray that you administer through the singing through the ministering of the word through the speaking that takes place today i pray lord in jesus name that people could find hope and healing in this place this morning we give you thanks we give you praise and we give you glory in jesus name amen praise god so the month of may is mental health awareness month and so the pentecostals of the twin cities we're celebrating that here and we're excited to be a part of that and we're thankful for what god is doing it's one of those subjects that over the years has for for whatever reason in many churches has been a taboo subject we don't feel that way here at the pentecostals of the twin cities we believe that it's important for us to talk about these things to address these things and to help people get hope and to bring healing into their lives and so we're thankful that we're a part of a church that is celebrating this and has helped and bring healing to our hearts and minds and we're thankful for that we're excited this morning to have a special guest with us that will be speaking in just a few moments after the worship service sister bonnie marshall is our special guest today and we're so delighted she and brother marshall are amazing ministers of god and and just have an amazing ministry that god has blessed them with she's a professional counselor she's also an adjunct professor or an assistant professor of psychology at clc in california we're excited to have her honored to have her with us today would you just give a welcome to sister bonnie marshall she'll be coming in just a few moments but we're so glad to have you to pentecostals this morning how many likes free things raise your hand you got anybody like something free this morning what if i told you we had a free gift for you this morning would you want it would you want to just throw your hands up real quick if you want something our dream team's coming right now they're going to hand something out to you as as though as we're getting kicked off right now the music's going to get going the dream team's coming we're so glad that you're here this morning [Music] oh [Music] to sunday morning are you happy to be in the presence of the lord why don't you put your hands together and let's worship him in this place [Music] is [Music] [Music] you believe that this morning sing that verse again god is on outside [Music] [Applause] carrying [Music] we will not be [Music] alive in me and i am free in jesus name [Music] stay caring caring [Music] jesus you are [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] god is fighting for us pushing back the darkness lighting up the kingdom that cannot be shaken in the name of jesus [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] we worship you in this place tonight hallelujah [Music] thank you jesus there is no doubt cause i have seen your faithfulness my fortress over and over [Music] your faithfulness my fortress over and over make way through [Music] what you are famous for what you are famous for [Music] you see [Music] us [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] is [Music] all things are possible [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] oh [Music] there is i have seen your faithfulness my fortress over and over [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] then i have this confidence because i've seen the faithfulness of god [Music] still inside the storm the promise of the shore and i trust the power of your world enough to seek your kingdom first beyond the barren place beyond the ocean waves when i walk through the water i won't be overcome when i go through the river i will not be drowned by god will make a way so i am not afraid [Music] you keep the [Music] there promises one that is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] when i am in the fire i will not feel the place [Music] no i am [Applause] where you won't find me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] away [Music] [Applause] [Music] my i [Music] you am tell me jesus [Music] god i believe your word to be true [Music] [Music] but you can stand here with confidence knowing that you have a god that is willing and unable to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think if you believe it if you receive it just raise your hands right now and say god i stand here confidently god and i know that you are before me you're behind you're always right beside me jesus [Music] beside me behind me [Applause] [Music] may bring me [Music] i will not be drowned my god declaring victory [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's lift up our hands everywhere around the house when i walk through the waters i will not be overwhelmed the fire will not burn me and the river waters will not overwhelm me i will not drown i am here i'm alive i'm well god is with me god is with me oh come on we can do better than that really god he's with me in a big way what a song what a wish did sing it again because i was like really getting into it praise the lord thank you thank you pastor and sister ramsey for having me come what an honor to be here at the pentecostals twin cities it's wonderful you have a beautiful city don't tell anybody in alexandria but it's nicer than that like well i love my church but you know i don't know i think we have five restaurants and a shipley's donut no that's not true we have six restaurants in a ship oh my goodness anybody from alec here i love you ah you know it is incredible and i shared this with your pastor when a church emphasizes emotional health because it's connected to spiritual health i don't know why we separated you know teaching psychology at i was i am i've been teaching psychology in california for the last few years usually through zoom but recently i was there in person and and there's such a chasm between emotional health and spirituality you know there's such a stigma uh because you think that you know everything can be done on of course a lot of things can be done on a spiritual level but we've got to understand how the brain works we've got to understand how we work and god is the one who created our emotions and and our brains and everything about us we don't have to be feel afraid of anything of that and it's wonderful uh to encounter a church that's bold enough and wise enough brave enough to say this is where we need to go this is where we need to be let's let's confront things without being afraid to confront you know it's amen okay well that's my opening i guess praise the lord i love that song girl seriously when i walk through the water second corinthians chapter 10 verse 3 to 5 i know that media has got it so it'll there you go wow i want to talk to you about disconnecting disconnect you know in order to connect with something you've got to disconnect from something else you got to pull out the plug so to speak from some things in order to reconnect or to connect with god so i'm going to talk to you about disconnecting from the wrong focus and how that is connected to anxiety and fear and all of that stuff second corinthians 10 3 and 5 i'm pretty sure pastor has preached from this scripture before for though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal in the amplified it says uh what the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly or worldly or humanistic but almighty through god divinely powerful that's what it means mighty through god divinely powerful for the pulling down of strongholds what are strongholds our fortress is things we build in our mind bringing down every high thing lofty idea speculation bringing down human reasoning bringing down vain imagining these are examples of every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of god and taking every thought and that is the secret to battle fear and anxiety that's the secret taking every thought it didn't say taking every feeling every thought captive to the obedience of christ the next scripture or the next verse that i'd like to take you to is isaiah 26 and 3. and you know this this isn't it's actually an old song thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee it's difficult it's difficult to concentrate on anything more than 10 minutes these days but that will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in the o lord you may be seated thank you for standing so long whatever you sorry but that that that keyboards that was creating such an ambiance i don't want that to stop either i mean all of a sudden that stopped and i'm feeling like alone here you know whatever whatever you and i place our security in could be job it could be the marriage it could be the relationship with the children uh you know this is not very popular what i'm gonna say it could be the the money that you make the salary the ministry if that is your security and if that security source is not eternal i'm gonna set myself up for anxiety that's how i set myself off anxiety that's one of the main reasons for anxiety i was i was doing exam review for um you know the university back at uh stockton and we talked about anxiety i mean there's one of the courses i teach is principles of counseling in um and we talked about anxiety in them and and and again and again i was uh and telling the class you know it is very important for for us to understand that if something that you have that you've placed your safety and security in if it's not eternal and tell me what is eternal except god nothing is eternal i mean not my house i wish it was it's pretty i wish it would last forever sister ramsay i wish my car would never give up the ghost i don't care if it's a 2020. but one day it's going to be old homes get old cars get old i don't care how many swimming pools we have one call one more i don't know um you know when life is going as planned oh what a wonderful place to be and we feel safe in our life's routines then our worries temporarily subside because life's going it's planned you know we've got enough money in the bank and nobody's leaving us yet and um you know and the house is lovely and the children are still worshiping in the same church we are or you know they're still worshiping somewhere and likewise anxiety or fear will increase when we feel threatened but we set ourselves up to be threatened if i am going to place my security in my relationship and i love my husband he's a great guy but you know what if i place all of my security in any one person first of all that's not fair on that person because they're going to have to carry the burden of trying to keep me afloat if if i'm going to place my complete confidence in something that could end may end some of it will end then that's a setup my friends that's a major setup likewise as i said anxiety increases when we feel threatened insecure or we are overly focused on and committed to a specific result if i'm overly focused on a specific result i'm going to pour everything into this one person hoping that one day they will be you know everything that god intended them to be it's okay to pour into people of course it's okay it's more than okay it's necessary to disciple people to invest in people invest in your marriage it is in fact a requirement to invest in your marriage if you want to see any kind of success and it's in it is important to invest in your children in your business in your home in in your walk with god but if you are overly committed to a specific result and the result doesn't happen then the rug will be pulled out from under you because you have given it your all to something that is not eternal but temporal i'm sorry but our relationships on this planet i hate that pastor it's temporal my husband told me that you know i don't know what it was several months ago he said you know that no matter how much we care about it's it's temporary and i told him if you are in heaven and you call me sister you're in trouble you better not be calling me sister in heaven he said well there but jesus said there's no marriage i'll talk to jesus you leave jesus to me i am not your sister and he just shakes his head he's a poor man he just shakes he said he said you're nuts and then i understand what he means of course it's temporary and that's why and that's why jesus said in i think it was first peter 5 he says cast your cares upon him he cares for you let your mind be stayed remember isaiah we just put that up on them on the on the screen let your mind be stayed on him if you want peace you have got to commit to the one thing that you can commit and get away with the one thing that you can commit the one eternal thing that you can put all your eggs in that one basket is the jesus basket that's it i don't know anyone or anything else that's more eternal than that i'd like some things to be eternal but it's not going to be fear that that's what really i'm talking about fear is the root of worry and fear is a very powerful factor in keeping us anxious and depressed now a lot of people think that anxiety and depression are two different things actually in in in research uh we have found they have found uh and i have found that that anxiety and depression are actually connected that if you are extremely anxious there will be some depression because your motivation is taken away who's gonna enjoy stuff if you're worried all the time i'm not have i been worried sometimes sure have i had anxiety yes yes have i been depressed yes well now you know it's on facebook probably they're like really i'm going to get a lot of funny calls today he said when have you been depressed well when my father died when my dad died he was my best friend and when he died i thought okay i'm never gonna be happy again you know and so depression and anxiety but let me tell you something this is not something you fear to talk about or to get help with you don't fear that you don't oh i've got anxiety if i tell somebody people think i'm gonna you know there's something wrong with me well no actually 95 of my clients pastor that i see in my office in counseling are normal people normal go define that yourself but normal meaning that they're not you know running around wanting to you know hurt people or hurt themselves even they're just but they the stress of life has gotten to them to the point where they don't know how to cope anymore they need somebody to talk to that's it so don't be afraid to get help and reach out for help whether pastorally or from your pastor or from a from a professional christian counselor that believes in god don't don't be afraid to say you know what i'm normal but i'm anxious about stuff i'm depressed i don't have motivation anymore the things that used to make me happy doesn't make me happy anymore i've been there and because of the stigma i thought oh well you know i'm the ministry i better not tell anybody and that was the biggest mistake i made because it was pride basically god was like you know it's fear fear that you will not uh be able to uh you know face your friends if you admit the fact that you are depressed vani i said well i can't be depressed i cannot afford the luxury i have to continue to just work and do stuff and be involved in ministry and make sure that you know i am strong or look strong or seem strong it is pastor it's a real thing and and the lord said no no i i know everything about you so as far as i'm concerned you're pretty much exposed who cares about everybody else and i'm like well actually you have a point there he said yeah i know everything about you you're miserable you can't sleep and when you do it's very little you don't want to wake up so what are you doing and i'm like well i don't you're on automatic pilot you're an autopilot you're just going going going going this is so good for me today i'm actually venting this is your wonderful therapist all of you i'm just memorial day weekend and i'm getting it all out this is so good i should have been here a few months ago but it really helped well done hebrews 2 says for as much as the children are partakers i'm just going to read it you have to go there for as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil and deliver them who through fear of death will all their lifetime subject to bondage wow when i read i had to read about four times i said what are you saying and he said we said you know do you know how people get into bondage and i'm like well there's several ways he said yes well one of the major ways is they fear death they fear not just death of somebody biological death but the death of a loss of a job that's death a loss of a marriage that's death the loss of children that's death the loss of your ministry that's death the loss of your health your looks the tight skin that's death i feel very comfortable here pastors obviously because i'm just thank you thank you fear of death or or the fear of the unknown is the root of all all not some all anxiety and worry that means if i have an emotional connection with my job my relationship and i said this before my material objects kids you're like well how can we not have an emotional relationship with our spouse and kids no i'm not asking you not to have an emotional relationship it is an emotional relationship if you have children that relationship that connection is emotional if you have a spouse that relationship is emotional some of us have an emotional relationship with with our car i'm breaking up with mine i'm telling you it's an old model i'm listening it's terrible if i have an emotional connection with my job material object children relationship husband parents uh whoever siblings anything over and above that is what i'm going to tell you something right now there's a secret over and above my connection with jesus christ that will cause anxiety and fear so you've got to decide this morning at at the twin city church you you you have got to decide this morning whether your connection with your spouse yes i said that and children yes i said that and your home your job your ministry your bank account your siblings your mom your dad your uncle your aunt whoever if it is more so than your connection with jesus christ you have just dug yourself a hole that you will fall in and you will not be able to get out of the hole unless you begin to have a paradigm shift in your mind that the eternal always will eclipse and will last longer and will take you a far and further than anything else in your life it was a hard thing pastor i was at an altar call it was actually at poa in pentecostals alexandria and i was at an altar call and um i was praying for somebody else you know sometimes when we have issues we tend to kind of mask it by praying for some other people sorry maybe not you i do it um i was praying for somebody else and the lord was trying to deal with me about an issue that i had and i'm like what i don't have issues you know i'm vm i'm sorry sorry no and he's like i don't care who you are i want you to because you know everything that my i mean my husband and i do everything i mean seriously minister together travel to get everything he's my best friend and he said he just he said i'm gonna ask you a question are you willing to give him up what does that mean is he sick and you're not telling me is he going to die he's no no nothing no just are you willing to release him to me completely should i whatever i want to do i'm like no no no no no tell me is he sick i want to know he said you know what you are i said what he said you're a control freak no i'm not i'm a nice person no you're a control freak you're a nice control freak i'm like what do you mean yeah because you want to have all the facts so that you could control the situation you want to have all the facts that you know it's just in case you know he's sick or whatever and i told you about it so you you'll start you know getting right down to it and try to control it medically scientifically emotionally you'll try to control you'll try to manipulate your life so that you come out winning see that's what i'm sorry sunday morning memorial day you really want to have a happy clappy message and here i am i'm probably never going to be invited again but um i just want to be honest you know how many here you just want real you know enough of all the other stuff that just always makes us feel happy clappy but i want real i want somebody to tell me the truth and say hey this is the way walkie in it this is the way do do this don't do that do this because this works that doesn't so so god's like you know you're not willing to release him i said i will do what do you want me to do he said i want you to just say god you do whatever you want you can take him today i'm like i can't i can't because i don't want him to go anywhere i i just i i need him i love him i need him i this is he has to be in my life i won't that's it he said that's it right there you're you're going to say you i will not be able to function without that i will not be able to survive without them without him without this and i'm like so i just ended the altar call right there my i was now in a very bad mood when i started off church i was in a good mood god ruined my mood i went back in the car and i went home and i was just not i didn't i'm i was not even i didn't even want to at that moment i should have prayed but i didn't even want to pray that day that night before i go because i was so afraid he was going to bring that up again so i avoided it see this is a total open confession it's all on facebook i don't believe this but anyway and um and so that night and my husband was like what's the matter with you i said no nothing i didn't want to tell him so i didn't it's all right and it was i mean weeks of this god was relentlessly pursuing me to give it up to let it go to let things go to have a loose hold on life so that he can knock it out of my hands anytime can god knock things out of your hands or does he have to rest it from you does he have to have a big fight a tug of war with you like you know give that to me no i want well okay i'm giving it to you no no really give it let go well i'm letting it go i'm letting it you're not really letting it go i'm letting it come trying to let it go but you're coming with it so how is it with with you and the lord i mean i mean that's not a rhetorical question you have to answer it out loud but think about it does he have to fight you on everything i mean does he have to like you know give me the ministry no give me the ministry no you're not going to sing solo anymore you want to be it give me your children what do you mean by that well give me your children i love your children i love them more than you do there's nobody love them more than me i'm their mother no i love them more than you give me your children okay sure go ahead take my children no can you stand back okay give me your children let go oh i'm trying let go and that ladies and gentlemen use the root of anxiety or unwinningless to let go to release it's it's scary because we have built our entire lives and our needs and our personality and our our whole little kingdom on certain people and certain things going this way and certain individuals there's nothing wrong in loving them and being with them and even wanting them in your lives but at a moment's notice if you are not willing to release so weeks and weeks sister ramsey the lord dealt with me about releasing my husband i really thought there was something wrong with him so i even told my husband hey you know what i think you need to go to get a medical checkup he's like why do i look sick no you look fine i'm just thinking see the the the the control freaking me was was was set it was you know yeah just because you know he said what is wrong i said nothing is wrong just get a checkup what's wrong with that so both of us went and and we had our you know whole medical exams or what and the results were great and there was nothing wrong and i was like okay okay god what is going on and he said you know i'm just checking your attitude towards me you don't trust me i said of course i trust you i am in ministry people put microphones in my hand at different places all over the country i trust you he said are you serious you're trying to wave your resume under my nose i don't care who you are i don't care what people think about you or where you come from or how much you do you don't trust me and as long as you don't trust me as completely as i and i'm i can help you with trusting me that's what he was saying if you don't trust me that much i can even help you you're not even willing to release the most basic things you are building your life on this earth as if i am still dead wrapped up in a shroud in a cave so you've got to decide whether you that's what he told me he said bonnie you got to decide whether you serve a living god or a dead object you see if if we have an emotional connection without job or relationships or anything over and above our connection with or loyalty or trust of jesus christ and the possible demise the possible death or the end the possible demise or ending of that connection will cause you great anxiety that will lead to depression the understanding of anxiety and depression is not rocket science it's very easy and for christians you know why we have an edge compared to everyone else who's not who does not have a relationship with christ you have an edge you know why because you have god you have his spirit that can lead you to a place where you can release things in your life and be free from every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of god fear of losing the job fear of losing the house will drain your peace and this kind of fear that produces anxiety is the most ferocious soul-draining stronghold ever it drains your soul from joy you know i've met christian's pastor in my office i'm talking about holy ghost-filled individuals who have lived for god i'm they're not novices they've lived for god sister ramsey and they've come to my office for counseling and i've met them and and they have anxiety and they can't understand why they're like i wake up my heart is palpitating it's beating in the middle of the day or late at night and for no reason whatsoever i'll always have a sense of dread some something bad is going to happen something there's this anxiety that is attacking my mind and i don't know what i'm going to do it and and i usually you know i just don't jump to conclusions when i'm counseling i'm i'm like okay well let's talk about what's going on in your life and are you married you have children and the further i dig i go up i usually end up with a conclusion that there is something that they refuse to give up and they're in control of certain areas in their life that they don't want god to be in total control over i mean there are a bunch of areas that they'll say well god's in charge of that and that's true god's in charge of this and god's injury but but this one this one thing i you know i'm getting there you know i'm they've not let it go the the reason why we focus and invest and please pastor tell me when i'm when it's 11 52. when do i land this little cessna the reason why we focus and invest all of our energy on the wrong thing is because we have embraced a lie and and and this is the lie we've embraced maybe not you i did when daddy died i had you know why because i embraced a lie when i didn't want to release my husband by the way the story of that is actually a good one because at the end there was a service i was at it was not even at poa with somebody said another service and god came after me again release your husband and i'm like oh not that again i am the special speaker today and the lord's like oh okay no he didn't do that he's like big deal release the husband okay and that day i was at the altar people were and the pastor of that church was praying for everybody and then he came towards me and his wife and he prayed for me and that day i said you can take him i cried so much i was so scared i was so scared if i released him i was gonna lose him that's why we don't release because we're so afraid if we release our children if we don't have any control even a little bit over a situation or family members or people or finances we're going to lose them that somehow god is not wise enough or good enough or loving enough to take care of what that of what we feel really belongs to us but none of it does none of it i was set free that night from worrying about what's going to happen to him you know he's alive and well he called me this morning i'm praying for you the dogs are driving me crazy he's it we've embraced a lie and the reason why we focus and invest all of our energy on the wrong thing is because of this lie that we've embraced we have embraced a definition of success that is contradictory to god's word what is your definition of success we've embraced a definition of success that's totally false see some of us i myself have at one time embraced a definition of success that was anti-god sister ramsey you know what my definition of success was as many uh ministry open doors that that means i'm successful and as many churches would open for me to come and speak or then i'll be then i'm successful or or if i have lots of money or if i have a new car or a nice big house my definition or or a great marriage that other people admired there's nothing wrong with having a great marriage i think that's a good thing that's a good goal to strive for but my definition of success was tied to the temporal but jesus said you know what real success is if you are more forgiving today than you are yesterday if you're a little bit more loving and kind this morning than you were last week if you have produced fruit of kindness and gentleness and love and forgiveness and you are able to show mercy to someone that you could not be merciful to a few months ago you are successful [Music] if you are more kinder today to your fellow man than you were then you then you were last week or two months ago you're successful your definition of success does not depend on how many grades or what kind of grades your children have get out of that because there will be times when they will not make the score they will not you know come up to that benchmark that you've set above other people your definition of success is not how much he makes and how much he brings home or how great he looks compared to other people or how wonderful she looks compared to other women that's not the definition of success the definition of success is is christ birthed in you if you if that is your definition of success your anxiety will leave it will come off of you like a dark dark shroud and we have believed the lie that god is not enough i don't care if we sing that song my god is more than no he's not more than enough if you have embraced this false definition of success the problem with believing in this lie is that you will be driven to compete with your peers on the grades your children make on where you have lunch to the clothes you wear or whether you're a member of the club we trap ourselves in the vicious cycle of spending all of our time and energy in obtaining the kind of life we think we deserve or be happy with and when we face obstacles or the current economic right now the current economic and social climate my goodness if that doesn't scare anybody scares me it does not allow us to get there but then then the worry starts and the fear of failure what if my kids don't make it compared to my sister's kids or compared to so-and-so's children what if they don't get those grades that i can't brag on them i'm not talking about i know you're thinking we're not that shallow i'm glad but i do know people that that live in those shallow waters the fear of failure begins to torment you let me tell you fear has three elements and i'm gonna go through real quickly i'm going to come to an end fear has three main elements number one insecurity you know what that element is in security something bad is going to happen to me that's element number one in fear something bad is going to happen to me in security number two the second element in fear is helplessness helplessness the first element is something bad is going to happen to me the second element is there's nothing i can do about it helplessness there's nothing i can do about it and the third element is isolation there is no one to help me something bad's gonna happen to me there's nothing i can do about it and there's no one to help me those are the three elements of fear if we can conquer something bad is going to happen to me with we can conquer it with hey i don't care what happens to me god's got me in the palm of his hands god loves me he adores me he'll come after me even if something bad does happen he's going to get me out of it he's going to get me unstuck he's going to pull me out of the hole that's how you conquer insecurity number two there is nothing i can do about it well i'm sorry but if you believe anything about scripture believe this i can do all things through christ who strengthens me that lie that i can't do anything about it that lie i can't do anything about my kids who are addicted to drugs i can't do anything about my husband who's addicted to porn i can't do anything about my wife that's addicted to shopping i can't no i'm sorry i can do all things through christ so that's how you deal with the second element the third element there is no one to help me really you come up with the cure for that i think you know there's no one to help you well if there's no human to help you there is someone that is way beyond humanity that is ready to help you but you see that is the core of anxiety that's why isaiah said this and jesus actually repeated and paraphrased it if your mind is stayed on him you will have perfect peace not just any peace not temporal peace not peace that is there on a sunday with everybody else's clapping and enjoying themselves and the songs can't get any better but peace on a tuesday night when there is nobody there and there's nobody to call but you are way you know let me tell you i believe in i believe in calling a whole group of people to pray for me pastor but there must come a time when you are ready and able to stand on your own feet alone in your living room in your bedroom in your car in your office and deal with the devil deal with the liar insecurity helplessness isolation that those are the elements of fear and the cure security in jesus trust in him confidence that i can do all things through christ who strengthens me and i'm not isolated i belong i belong i'm not isolated i'm not alone you're not alone it feels like you are but you're not you know where you're alone in here you've chosen to come away and draw away from the family or from god or from anything that can heal you and your and the enemy has used that opportunity to lie to you that you are on an island no you are not you are in the midst of the kingdom of god with a lot of people and a lot of people just like you who are struggling through life who have anxiety depression they have hurt they have grieved they've buried fathers they've buried babies and they've buried marriages but they're making it because they are determined that they are not going to just go for contingent happiness but courageous joy contingent contingent happiness is where you know you're pursuing the happy feeling you're pursuing the feeling of just being happy you know if i've got money i'm gonna be happy of course if i had money i'd be happy too if i have a new car i'd be happy if i have a new boyfriend if i have a new relationship a husband children anything i will be happy that's contention because it's contingent upon a set of circumstances you know what courageous joy is the circumstances are not good there is no perfect kids and there's probably sickness and death and burial and funerals and all kinds of trials but courageous joy is not dependent on an emoji face god is not interested in plastering an emoji face on your face or mine he's not interested he's not interested in us having this fake smile everything is fine you know he wants you know what courageous joy is courageous joys the kids are not doing good pastor the marriage is it's on the rocks you know i'm not sure whether she's going to stay or she's going to leave you know the money is really running out there's sickness and death everywhere i don't even feel god courageous joy is you know what i don't care about the circumstance the circumstance is not dictating what i feel but the fact that i am determined to pursue god no matter what so if your circumstance is bad this morning but you're here you're lifting up hands you're worshiping god then you have courageous joy you've not sold out your soul to contingent happiness but you're pursuing courageous joy over here that says everything can go to pot everything can be dead in the water it can just go through the sinkhole but i'm determined to worship god i'm determined to believe in god it i i don't have a smile on my face every day i there are days when i don't feel like smiling or jumping up and down and lifting up my hands but i'm determined to say that jesus is the lord he does love me i love him i'm gonna go after him that is joy that's real joy real joy is not a smiley face real joy is a made up mind real joy is a made up mind that you will not give up on what is true and what is good for whatever that will not last if you believe that why don't you just shout to god with a voice of triumph a voice of victory let's stand very quickly i want to say this to you because i would like us to come forward if we could have an altar call of sorts you've got a huge space in front number one this is what you need to do disconnect from stress whatever your focus is right now your health your job your marriage your relationship your business spouse kids if you're focusing on any one of these more than you're on god you will worry and the only way is to disconnect from the power source of your stress if your stress is caused by the marriage the kids the money disconnect and say god i release it i'm human so i'm gonna worry about it once in a while but i release it i'm gonna disconnect from that and reconnect with god i'm gonna pull out the plug from the source of my stress even if it's the kids even if it's even if it's the relationship and then reconnect with god whatever you are worriedly focusing on because worries increase when we become focused on the things of this world jesus said that the treasures of this world are subject to decay are you focused on god or are you focused on something else more so than god number two stop being a fixer don't be a fixer you know what that means fixing other people's lives you can't unless they want it fixed you cannot fix it you cannot we will try we will manipulate we will we will gather all the resources we will read every article on google we will read every book on google so that somehow and it's nothing wrong with reading good books good inspired books that are based on truth hey great i read books i'm a reader but you know what i i've tried to fix it i've tried to fix people i've tried to fix my a brother of mine that was a drug addict i tried to fix him by you know always making sure there was about 20 pastors all around him all the time until he just called me out on it pastor and said would you just stop surrounding me with christians and i'm trying to i'm just trying to help and you're thinking is there anything wrong with that let me tell you if you're losing your peace of mind every night if you're losing your sleep because you're trying to come up with ideas how to fix the kids and how to fix the husband it is going to rob your joy and it's going to bring anxiety to your life stop trying to be a rescuer and a fixer just worship god and say lord i don't know how it's going to turn out but i'm just not gonna let that ruin my worship i'm not gonna let that relationship or the lack of it or the kids or the husband or the business or the money or the ministry or the job or even my health i'm not gonna let that rob you from me because you're too special you're too great you're too sweet you're too kind for me to lose out on you because i'm busy fixing other people's lives ladies we love deep i can i'm i'm why is it because i'm a woman men love deep tube women we love deep because of that we hurt deep okay you love deep you hurt deep but you know what women not just really it's across the board but more so my gender we want to fix it because we're nurturous we we naturally want to grow things and feed plants you know one time i over watered a cactus my husband is like what are you trying to do make it grow mangoes i'm like i don't know it looked dry i said it's he said it's a cactus it's supposed to be dry and i'm like i can't stand it it looks too dry it looks thirsty so i poured and until he died i killed a cactus very difficult to kill attack cactus but i did we we want to rescue we want to fix it we want to manipulate so that we so that we feel that oh if i if i don't get involved if i don't fix it then nobody else is going to help my baby nobody else is going to help my husband nobody else is going to help the situation so i've got to do as much no what you've got to do is lift up your hands and say god i am yours you love them more than i ever can you love the children and the husband and the spouse and the ministry and my finances you're more concerned about my life even more than i am so i'm releasing it to you i'm not going to fix it i'm not going to try to rescue people i don't have to be in control of everything or everyone in my life i don't have to fix everything in everyone's life peace of mind does not depend on every problem being solved peace of mind depends on my relationship and my praise of the one that can give me ultimate peace that's what peace of mind depends on and there are problems that have no solutions not on this earth maybe another kingdom another time but there are some problems that you will never have a solution to and if you are solution-minded and not god-minded that anxiety will prevail and you will never be free you will never be free let's not be solution minded anymore let's be jesus and be honest with him and say i don't have the answer would you come with your families up in front please everybody as as many of you can if you're with your husband your spouse can you come together if you're with your children gather them together as well if you're not with your family will you just come come as you are please i want everyone up in front because i want god i want pastor to pray with you i want to pray with you and i want god to remove that anxiety that worry that comes with trying to be a fixer a rescuer trying to just i want god to remove that fear that leads to torment i want to be able to trust god can we come as close as possible to the front please as close as possible please thank you thank you so much anxiety worry and tension are some of the most destructive forces that we can face they sap our strength and slowly undermine our faith we don't even know when it's happening it happens slowly and then all of a sudden we wake up and all we feel is fear and no faith i want us to stop stepping into the place of self-reliance and instead step into the place of god reliance there is hope there is hope and freedom complete freedom for anyone caught in the snare can we lift up our hands [Music] you know what i want us to do all over thank you so much for coming thank you for just trusting in god this morning and walking up in front i'd like us to repent repentance is saying god if i've been worried if i've been fearful and and if you might feel well i've not been i don't have to repent i'm gonna repent because i know i've been worried and fearful about some things even till now [Music] father in the name of jesus everyone all over the house let's lift up our voice as well let me not be the only one praying all of us pray together in unison father in the name of jesus i pray right now that i repent of every fear every anxiety i repent of every worry every time i've tried to fix things in my life every time i've tried to fix my my marriage or i try to fix the kids i try to manipulate people and manipulate situations and i've tried to just just drive myself crazy with worry every time i've not been able to sleep because i'm i'm planning on how to rescue people how to fix this and how to fix that and how to fix the money and the situation instead of praising you instead of trusting in you i have not been able to trust in you i have been swallowed up and overwhelmed with fear fear of the unknown torment but father today there is hope there is freedom today i want to do just one thing jesus i want to let it go i want to just let it go today today i want to let it go so can we lift up our hands right now in the name of jesus i want you to talk to god right now i want you to say god i'm not alone i'm not alone lord you are with me i'm not alone because you are going to help me i'm not alone because you are going to carry me you are going to release me i'm going to come to some of you i want to pray for some of you

Channel: POTC Online.Church

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Id: 0lBwkbLa5Yo

Length: 74min 56sec (4496 seconds)

Published: Sun May 30 2021