July 18, 2025 • 48 mins
To take back your mind, you have to humble your heart.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
And I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hope it gives your perspective to see God has moving
in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Enjoy the message. You may be seated.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome to week one of a brand new sermons series
called Triggered, and we're going to be discussing some things,
some different teachings to help you take your mind back
and not just give territory over to the devil in
the area of your imagination and so that he fills
you with all of these hypothetical scenarios that may or
(00:40):
may not ever happen, keeping you from enjoying the life
God has given you, more importantly, stewarding the life that
God has.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Given you for His glory.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And we're so excited to get it started today, and
I want to make the best use of our time possible.
I know here at Valentine they were saying it was
kind of difficult to get in, probably not at all
the campuses, but there was more traffic than usual, and
so you should thank God for that because Not only
is that more people hearing the message of Jesus Christ,
(01:08):
but it's also a good preparation for a sermon about anxiety.
And so we're just looking out for you and helping
you get in the right mind frame. But let's go
to the word of God now. And obviously I'm no psychologists.
I'm just a Bible preacher from Monks Corner, South Carolina,
And with a little bit of knowledge that I have
(01:30):
about the scriptures and life experience, I want to show
you something today that I think will be so helpful
from on Peter chapter five, verses five through nine. And
I'm going to go and tell you there's only one
verse in this whole passage that I actually like. I
believe all of it, and I know that I'm supposed
to do all of it. But from the natural standpoint
(01:51):
of my mind, there's only one verse that appeals to me.
And you'll see what I'm saying when I read it.
Of course, we can't talk about triggered without paying a
visit to Peter. Easily the most triggered disciple that Jesus
called cussing and cutting off people's ears and stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
But he's calmed down by the time.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
He writes this letter to the gentiles who are assimilating
into the Greco Roman world, and he has some great
advice for us concerning our anxiety and our cares. Not
that you have any, but someone on your row worries
too much. Not that you do, but they think about stuff.
(02:31):
They make little movies in their minds, and they edit
together things that didn't actually happen, and then they tell
themselves that that's how it really is.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So that's what I'm helping today.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I'm sorry you had to come here a sermon design
for someone else, But Peter was actually talking to a
church that was undergoing a great deal of persecution, and
he has some experience from wisdom, and I want to
share his words with you today and pray that God
will speak to you personally.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
He says, first Peter ter five, verse five, I humble yourselves?
What did I say? Verse five?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
In the same way, you who are younger submit yourselves
to your elders. Almost skip that verse, but it's great
verse that I like as a parent. All of you
clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Because God opposes the prow.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
But shows favor to the humble, humble, yourselves, therefore, under
God's mighty hand.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I like how he says that.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
He says God lines up on the other side of
human pride. So if you want to be on the
same side of the ball as God, you got to
make sure that you come in at the right level
and realize that you are not him, that you are
the creation, not the Creator. Humble yourselves therefore under God's
(03:49):
mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
If ever there was a verse to cross stitch and
to put on a coffee mug, it's one Peter five seven.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
That's the one I like, in case you're wondering.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Really enjoy that verse feels good? Be alert. Verse eight
I don't like so much. And of sober mind.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Your enemy, the devil brows around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in
the faith because you know that the family of believers
throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And I want to stop right there and talk to
(04:41):
you for a few moments today in this opening foundational
session in our study called Triggered on this subject, I
want to talk about lions and lizards and lies. Lions
and lizards and lies. And before you say, oh my,
let me put you in the frame of mind of
(05:03):
me five or six years ago when I called a
pastor who.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Is older and wiser than me.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And I wasn't having like a nervous breakdown from a
clinical standpoint, or a panic attack as I understand a
panic attack.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
But just feeling overwhelmed.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Not in the clinical sense was I experiencing anxiety, but
in the everyday sense of adulthood. And I think sometimes
we say we're suffering anxiety when we're really just suffering adulthood.
And I called him in my driveway in the house
we lived in at the time in mint Hill, and
(05:43):
I was doing this thing that I was doing a
lot during that period where I would sit in the
driveway between work and home because my kids were really small,
and I couldn't figure out which one was more work
or home because at work I'm the boss, and at
home my kids weren't calling me pastor at that stage.
(06:04):
And so I was sitting in the driveway and I thought,
you know, I'm just gonna call him and I'm gonna
ask him, and I don't care what he thinks, because
you get to a certain point of being overwhelmed, it.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Just all spills out.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And when I started talking to him, I started, you
know how when you're trying to tell somebody you're struggling.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And you share with them in little slivers.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
And you try to see if anything you say shocks them,
and if it feels like it shocks them, you back
up and you go, well, I'm not struggling with that,
but I'm saying like some people do.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
And you kind of feel your way into a conversation,
at least I do.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And it's like I was telling him I'm kind of overwhelmed,
and he didn't judge me, and I said, and this
is how I feel, and he didn't judge me. And
so every time he didn't judge me and I didn't
feel like he was surprised, I would share a little more,
and share a little more, and share a little more.
And by the end of it, I'm in my driveway
crying on the phone to him, telling him how overwhelmed
(06:58):
I feel being you know, just in my early thirties
past during a church that was larger than the town
I grew up in. Imagine that and then with kids,
and he actually laughed in the middle of me crying
to him. He laughed, and I can't explain why, but
(07:18):
it was the most comforting thing he could have done
in that moment. And what he said next is just
what I needed to hear, and I know God put
it in his mouth so I could hear it. And
he said, I'm not surprised that you called me and
said this. I'm not surprised that you're melting down. I'm
surprised you didn't call me sooner. And partially he was
(07:43):
saying that because, you know, as our church grew, obviously
the pressure's mount with it. And he was also saying
it from a stage of life standpoint that look, every
father feels relatively worthless at some point in the early
stages of their children's visit to planet Earth, and it
takes time to learn how to interact with aliens. And
(08:08):
by the end of the call, I just felt better,
just because he.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Said it's supposed to be this way.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
You're supposed to struggle. And when he said I was
supposed to struggle, the struggle didn't go away, but the
fact that I was no longer surprised by it made.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Me more able to deal with it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And God has been speaking to me recently that I
am too surprised by my struggles, and part of the
reason that I struggle so much is because I'm surprised
when I do. It's as if we've set an expectation
of salvation that if we come to Jesus and lay
all our burdens at the foot of the cross, that
(08:53):
none of them will climb back in the car.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
With us and go home.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
But how many have ever laid your burdens down in
church and found out that they followed you home.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
With the few friends you never met before.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And it's like I came to Jesus to get rid
of my struggles, But.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
My struggle didn't even start.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Until I came to Jesus, Because before I came to Jesus,
if I wanted to cuss you out, I just cussed
you out and I felt better. Didn't care how you
felt or what God thought. I felt better and that's
all that mattered. But now I got this Holy ghost
on the inside of me, and when I cuss he
makes me feel bad about it. Now I can't sleep
(09:32):
till I apologize to you. And it got harder, So
Peter says. Peter says, everybody's struggling. Everybody around the world
is suffering. You have to take the two together. You
(09:53):
can't come to a cross for salvation where the Savior
suffered for you and never expect to suffer in your
desire to follow him and be like him. Tell the
person next to you, You're supposed to suffer some.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
That's what Jesus said, That's that's that's what the.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
CEO said, CEO of the Galaxies, the Sea, the Man
said that.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
The Master of the Milky Way said that. He said,
if they hated me, what makes you think you're always.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Going to be popular and liked and accepted. So I
pray that's inspirational for you to know that you are
supposed to suffer.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
But it helps us. It helps us because.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
The enemy often operates in our lives in the secrecy,
and and you know it's very sneaky.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
The enemy's sneaky, and so he wants to sneak up
on you.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
And you think life is supposed to be easy because
life looks easy for everyone else, but.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
You don't know, you have no idea. It is easy
for you. It's easy for you, preacher, when you get
up here and preach.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
You know, you don't know, and I don't know your struggle,
but I know I know that there are some struggles
and some sufferings that come with the package. And so
the call to follow Christ comes with a cross. We
get that, and especially in this time, Peter is like, look,
(11:47):
you want to be a part of this movement, The
only way to really see the glory of God revealed
is to suffer, sometimes, to suffer, to sit with your
suffering and even with your sadness. Now we're setting the
wrong expected. We're teaching people they can get swollen without
getting sore. Supposed to hurt, sometimes, supposed to strain. Sometimes
(12:20):
that's the spiritual muscle fibers breaking down so they can
grow back together stronger, or something like that.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
And so what surprises me is that knowing that we
must suffer sometimes because our saviors suffered. And let's be honest,
some of our suffering is not because of our Christian faith.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
It's because of our You said it, he said, because
we're stupid. I didn't say that. I wasn't going to
talk to the guests like that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
There's a lot of first timers here today.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I was going to say, sometimes we suffer.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Because of poor decisions and we were ill equipped to fit,
but you said stupid.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
I'll go with it. Sometimes we suffer because we're stupid.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And it surprises me that with all the suffering that
we already have to deal with, that we somehow as
a species will invent new ways for ourselves to suffer
and experience pain and call it progress.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
As if it's not enough to.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Worry about in the world, we invent, you know, torture device.
I mean communication devices that keep us constantly connected to
everyone's opinion, everyone's offenses, and we feed on stuff. The
(13:44):
enemy is looking for someone to devour. We feed on stuff,
and we feed our minds with things that eat our
peace alive.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
And then we pray for.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
God to give us peace after we open the front
door and let the enemy show his fangs and stood
right there.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
So I'm really praying.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I'm really praying that God would show us a strategy
for this, because it seems to me that some suffering
is inevitable, but certain suffering, like the suffering of our
shame and the suffering of our sin that Jesus already
paid for is dealt with, And so wouldn't it be
(14:31):
unthinkable for us, as God's children to suffer under pressure
that He never intended for us. We live in a
culture of performance. The interesting thing about First Peter five
point seven is that it preaches so well as a
singular verse. Even when I was a little boy, my
(14:53):
mom used to play me this tape of salty the
Singing Songbook, Salty like psalms, ps salt see, not like
your teenagers salty, but like salt. Yeah, not like that
girl work, but salty the Singing song Book. And he
had one song on there, and I used to fall
asleep to this song. If I can remember, I will
cast it was on this verse all my cares upon you.
(15:17):
I ley all of my burdens down at your feet.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
And any time I don't know what to do, salty
falsetto uh, I will.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Cast all my cares upon you.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Boom boom, walk down.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I will cast all my cares upon you.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Could you play it?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet.
In any time I don't know what to do, I
(16:06):
will cast oh my cares.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So I start saying that it's so sweet.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I like verse seven. I like verse seven. I wish
I didn't have to be bothered with six and eight.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
You know, these Bible.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Verses were not in there when Peter wrote the letter.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
It was just a letter. It was one thing.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
In fact, let me show you something, and I showed
this a few years ago to the church, but you
weren't here yet when I was teaching this, and we
need to catch up because this is one of the craziest,
most mind blowing things God ever showed me.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
And I actually I brought two Bibles to church today. Yeah,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I'm gonna preach twice as long. No, I'm gonna get
you out on time. But this is a double barrel
revelation that God gave me. And one translation of it,
it breaks it up the one that we read from.
Put that one up there again from the new International version.
He says, cast all your anxiety on him because He
cares for you. And it's a capital C, and it's
(16:58):
a new sentence and a new thought, and it's a
promise that we can claim, or rather it's a command
that we can obey.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
And I like it.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
I like casting all this stuff I like casting all
these cares, like Salty said in the King James version,
I like casting all of that on him.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
All the stuff that I don't want to deal with,
and all the stuff that I can't control anyway.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
I like to just give that over to the Lord.
I like to just lay it all at his feet.
But in the.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Original language of the Bible, and this is what God
showed me a few years ago, is that verse seven
was not a new sentence. It was a continuation of
verse six. And when you read it as a continuation,
it helps you to understand why sometimes we're trying to
cast our anxiety on God and they keep coming back
(17:51):
like a boomerang with extra velocity, because we are trying
to skip to seven, which we want, without six, which
we resist.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Now, Verse six.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Starts by saying, humble yourselves. See, I don't like that.
I want to be the star of the production. I
want to be the MVP of the game. I want
everybody to accommodate my preferences. I want people to read
my mind. I want to be the center of other
people's affection. I don't want to humble myself. I'm not
(18:25):
even sure I really know what it means, because all
I ever see humble is a hashtag where people are
bragging about something and then hashtagging it humbled, like that
makes it humble when you follow your bragging with a hashtag.
But for Peter, humble was not a hashtag. Peter said,
humble is a way of seeing the hand of God
in history that knows, I'm just a small part of this.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
I'm just a little dot, I'm just a little I'm
a little tiny, I'm a little.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Bitty, little bitty, little bitty, little bitty child of God
in his Stronghand so humble yourselves therefore under the mighty
hand of God, so that at the proper time He
may exalt you.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
What a relevant verse.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
I feel like Peter must have been able to see
into the year twenty eighteen and see that we would
be living in an age of self promotion, See that
we'd be living in an age where, rather than praying
for opportunities, we would post before we prayed, Rather than
(19:37):
sitting back and listening and learning from people who have
something to teach us, we would be so intoxicated on
our own opinions and our own point of view, and
we would be so sucked into algorithms and echo chambers
of people who think just like us and speak just
like us, and before long we would be inebriated our
(20:00):
own vantage point, inebriated by images. He says, humble yourself
under the mighty hand of God, so that at the
proper time he may exalt you. And then if you're
willing to go through six, you get to seven. And
they're not separated by a period, just a comma lowercase.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
See, if you will humble yourself, this is the foundational
message for this series. To take back your mind. You
got to humble your heart.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And when you do that, when you humble yourself under
the mighty hand of God.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
What kind of image is Peter trying to vote well
for a Jewish person? The hand of God recalls the
sovereign act of God when he rescued his children from
Egyptian slavery.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
And there when God spoke.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
To Moses, he said, you know, Pharaoh is not going
to let the people go unless a mighty hand compels him.
This is Exodus chapter three, unless a mighty hand, there's
the phrase, compels him. And so the hand of God
for us is mostly a comforting image sentimental, but symbolically
(21:29):
for the people reading this who had a little bit
of background, they would know that the hand of God
is confrontational, that God opposes the proud but gives grace
to the humble, and they come from the same hand. See,
God will use the same hand to oppose the proud
that he will use to distribute grace to the humble.
(21:51):
And my question is what do you want to be
on the receiving end of the posture of your heart
determines that. And yet there's a little bit of confusion
because you know, it seems like we want God's hand
to do certain things for us. Like I like the
(22:12):
hand of God when it is filled with his provision,
you know, like I want what is in God's hand
that I can't give myself. Just a show of hands
while we're ting my hands. How many have seen God
provide for you in a special way and you were
(22:34):
suspecting this had to be God, This could not be me,
This could not be people. Wave your hand if you've
ever seen God provide for you, and I don't just
mean money to make a car payment or to you know,
make the deposit on the apartment. When you first got married,
It could be God gave you energy when you were
so exhausted and you didn't even know how you were
still going and people would ask you how, and you
(22:56):
would make something up. But deep down you knew if
I really told him how, they wouldn't understand it, because
there's an invisible hand of God that is making things
happen that I can't even explain.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
So I like the provision. You know how he broke
the bread in his hands, and Peter was there when
Jesus broke the bread and with his hands, So he
might have been flashing back to that incident when he said,
the mighty hand of God that can provide for you,
or maybe he was thinking about the hand of God
in terms of God's protection. How God drove back the.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Sea with his hand so as people could cross through
till they got safely through. Now, if you've ever had
God protect you from you.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
You're grateful for the hand of God.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
If you've ever had God protect you from people that
were in your life. In fact, sometimes the way that
God will protect you is to.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Reach down and remove you from situation that you like.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
That you are actually praying for God to leave you in,
and God will sometimes reach down and say.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I know more than you.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I'm big, you're little, I'm wise, you're limited, I'm infinite,
your finite. So come with me.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
I'm gonna put.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
You over here because I know if you stay with them,
I know where.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
It's gonna lead. And Peter says, you.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Can either fight that or you can go with it
because it's the hand of God.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
It's the hand how many have ever had God protect you?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
And I want him to provide for me, and I
want him to protect, protection and provision. But there's a
third dimension of God's hand and that is his plan.
And that's the.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Part that I have a harder time with because I
like my plan.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Why are you looking at me like you totally trust
God that his way is better than yours. You know,
half of our prayer life is trying to convince God
to get on the same page we're on so he
can do what we want him to do that he
should have already done, and he's running a little behind schedule.
But we'll forgive you for that. Lord, if you just
come on and do it right now, it's okay. You
(25:29):
got a lots you're taken care of. I get confused, honestly,
I get confused because sometimes I don't know what part
is God's job and what part.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Is my job.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
And it's not always so simple humble yourself under the
mighty hand of God. But then you know, God told Moses,
I'm going to bring you out with a mighty hand.
It's going to be my hand that brings you out.
And then he asks him, what's that in your hand?
And so it seems to be like two hands at
work here. And the issue is the issue is always
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who is in control. A lot of my anxiety comes
because I get confused about who is in control, and
I get responsibility confused with sovereignty. So I start thinking
that because God has given me responsibility, that God has
also given me control.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And that's where I get stressed out.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
And a lot of my anxiety comes from making it
about me when it's not about me, making it about
my strength, when it's not about my strength. It's not
by Mike nor by power, but by his spirit. But
I know God's given me a job, like I know
that when I stand before you like this and people
in the room are suicidal, and people in the room
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are addicted not only to illegal drugs, but some are
dependent on.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
On drugs that at first they were.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Taking the recommended dosage, but now it's gone far beyond that.
And when I know that there are some of you
who have not slept in three nights except for a
few minutes here and they're hearing this message, I know
that I can't say the words that you need. I
need God to speak through me to you.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
And I always pray for.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
That because I know how disappointing it's going to be
if I speak.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I know that I need to move my mouth, and.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
I know that I need my vocal cords need to
rub together, and I know that I need to produce
a sound. But I know that I need the substance
of God behind the sound that I make. I need
God to speak. I know you did not load up
those demons. I mean, precious children, blessings, quiver full of
arrows from the Lord, and get to this house of
worship today in Gaston or you see, or Lake Norman.
(27:54):
You did not log on to hear me speak. You
need God to speak, and I believe that God will.
I believe he is speaking. I believe he wants to speak.
I believe he still speaks. I don't believe he spoke
one time in the past, and now we got this
dusty book full of principles that applied at one time
but don't make sense in a modern age. I don't
(28:15):
believe God is outdated or irrelevant. I don't believe I
need busfeed to tell me what's.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Going on in the world.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
I got my Bible, and it's living and it's active,
and it can penetrate.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Through all the noise.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
So I know we need God to speak in his
word doesn't return boy, and God will speak, but God
won't study.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
I gotta study.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
God won't show me whether the sentence was one sentence
or two sentences.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
He gave me books for that.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
He inspired me, So I cant figure out sometimes and
sometimes I feel like I'm a control free and sometimes
I feel it gets in a way I really do. I
feel gets in a way. I feel like I want to
control things. I want to control people. I'm manipulative and
I see it and I hate it, but I do.
It is a habit. And I know that God's hand
is the hand that has is really moving things around.
But you know, I want to put my hand on
God's hand and just kind of nuts.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I so holy.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Sometimes you know sometimes God needs a little help because
he's just.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Peter is writing from experience. He didn't come by humility easy.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
That's why I like to listen to him, because he
didn't always think this way.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Like when Jesus was getting ready to go to the cross.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
He told his disciples, He's like, hey, come here, this
is Matthew sixteen twenty one.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Give it to us on the screen.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Jesus said, I have to go to Jerusalem and suffer
many things at the hands of the elders. At this point,
Peter didn't think that the Savior was supposed to suffer.
It did not Jesus mission did not that his mindset.
(30:02):
He was still confused about whose hand was writing the schedule,
and so Peter, in a younger version of himself, did
not know how to humble himself under the hand of
God or the plan of God.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
He liked the provision. Hey, Jesus, don't go die, Let's
go feed some more people. That was awesome when you
did it.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
That little boy, he was so happy, Jesus, it was amazing,
and we got his stare.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Everybody got it in the bag of leftover. So it's crazy.
You don't have to die. Watch what Peter did. Jesus said,
I gotta go. I gotta suffer. It's a part of
the plan. I gotta fulfill the plan. I can't get
caught up in my preferences.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
I can't get caught up in my ideas, my expectations,
or the expectations of others.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
I didn't come to be an earthly king.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
I came to inaugurate a reign and a rule that
is not the result.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Of human hands.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
And Peter verse twenty two took Jesus aside, put Jesus
in time out. The same dude that was saying, you know,
humble yourself. This is like you telling your kids not
to do exactly what you did when you were their age.
(31:18):
Peter said to Jesus, younger Peter, first half of life.
Peter says, Lord, never, this shall never happen to you.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I won't let it if they try. I got a sword,
and they got an ear, and watch what I can do.
I got a plan. Let's go work my plan.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
And verse twenty three says Jesus turned and said to Peter,
get behind me.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Satan. Oh that's a downgrade. He went from Simon to Peter.
That was his first name. Simon is kind of like shifty,
and Peter is the row.
Speaker 5 (32:00):
So he goes from Duayanne Johnson in one verse to
Satan in the next verse, and he says, you are
a stumbling block.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
To me.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
You do not have in mind in mind the concerns
of God, but merely human concerns. You still think you're
in control, and that's why your mind is a mess,
because you are still trying to control things that are
beyond your pay grade.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Peter, You're confused. We get confused. Sometimes I don't know
when to let go. I don't when Sometimes I don't
do this very much.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Because I've seen some really, really really horrific things happen
on church stages.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
But sometimes I'll call somebody.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Up on stage and have them share, and I don't
know them, and I feelind of like my responsibility is
to control whatever happens on the stage as the pastor.
And so when they come up, uh, usually I'll call
them up and I'll ask them to share something. And
I do this even with our staff. I'll call them
and ask them to share. But one thing I learned
(33:16):
to do, I always keep keep the mic in my hands.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
When they come up.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
They think they're gonna take the mic, and but they're not.
I'm the MIC's fan, and I'm gonna hold this mic.
In case you decide that now would be a good
time to say something weird, I can snatch a bat
and I just like the feeling that it gives me
(33:43):
of being in control. In case you decide, you know,
I might ask you something. You say, well, when I
was three, we don't have time for when you were three,
and ask you all that, And I got the mic,
give it back now. So gives me a good feeling.
But thing is because there's crazy Christians and sometimes when
I call them up, I can't see their eyes. And
(34:05):
when they get closer, I'm like, oh God, I picked
one of those and you don't see it from a distance.
So I like to keep the mic and hold I
like to hold the mic. And but now the interesting
thing is I'm holding the mic.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
But there's a guy that you.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Don't see named Neil, and Neil this week, among many
others that are different locations, happens to be in the
back of the room, sitting behind a console. And you
know what's interesting, I'm up here talking and I'm I'm
I'm holding the mic. But at any moment, Neil can decide.
(34:50):
At any moment, he can decide, you know, maybe I
fuss at him or something like that, and he doesn't
like it any.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Moment. Here's the principle.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
I'm holding it, but I'm not controlling it.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
They got it last night.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
That's what I know about in my life. That's what
I know about my time. That's what I'm learning about
my money, That's what I'm learning about my children, my responsibility.
I'm holding it, but somebody I can't see is controlling it.
(35:39):
He's in control. He speaks in Win's obeyed, he speaks
in waves side down, he speaks in sea split because
what I can see is controlled by that hand that
I can't see. And now I want to humble myself
(35:59):
under that mighty hand. And I'm coming to the place
in my life where I say, God, I don't even
know what I need anymore. So I trust you and
your timing, and I trust you and your heart, and
I trust you and your wisdom.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
And I humble myself.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
And as I humble myself, my anxiety goes out the
door with my pride and my arrogance and my plan,
and I become what Peter says is the goal of
the Christian life in verse eight, which I don't like
(36:38):
any more than I like verse six. But it's on
the other side of seven, and I want the result
of seven because I don't want to live with the
weight of the world on my scrawny shoulders. So I
got to be what Peter says strange phrase. He says,
be alert and of ober mind. I didn't even know
(37:03):
I was drunk.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
But I am.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Peter didn't know he was stumbling telling Jesus what Jesus
needed to do.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
He was drunk on his own.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
You see how we get intoxicated in the age we
live in.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Is so much information coming at us.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
We're drunk and we don't even know it, and we
can't defend ourselves, and we're getting eaten alive. God gives
us peace, and the enemy eats right through it. Because
he's a lion. At least that's what I always thought.
I thought I thought he was a lion. And this
(37:43):
week I slowed down and read the verse, and I
realized that the Bible never says the devil is a lion.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
He's a liar. I know he's a liar.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah, you can know when the devil's lion when he's talking,
he's a liar, but he's.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Not a liar. Give me the verse. Peter says watch out.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
One translation says pay attention, wake up, or be alert
and of sober mind. Here's why your enemy, the devil
your enemy. God's enemy is pride. Your enemy is the
devil who wants to fill your mind, as if we
(38:26):
don't already suffer enough, as if we don't already have
enough to deal with today. He wants to put you
in a hypothetical tomorrow where things may or may not happen,
or put you in a past replaying what you wish
you would have said to the person who offended you,
(38:48):
and how many come up with great comebacks about three
weeks too late.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
God, let me see them again.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Please let me see them again, and let them say
it just like they said it.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
I'm ready now. Ah. The devil's a lion, but he.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Does not say watch out for the lion. The devil
is not a lion. Was to say, your enemy prows
around like he's not a lion. He's loud like a lion,
but he's not as powerful as a lion unless you
let him be And This is what I'm gonna teach
(39:26):
you in the series. Are you coming back after this week?
Because I really want to get into this and I
want to look at some of the lies that we
have believed. In the realm of our mind. That's where
the attack happens. We've been looking for a lion, but
it's not a lion coming to attack us.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
It's our minds.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
It's in our minds, and we've been calling the wrong
stuff the devil.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
I got a flat tire as the devil. It was
a nail.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
It was a construction site. They're building houses across the street.
Hate a donut it was the devil. No, it was delicious.
It's a temple. It's the Devil's a devil. I'm under attack,
a spiritual warfare. I need some devil's attacking me. I mean,
devil's attacking you. My mother in law is coming to visit.
(40:14):
That's not the devil. That's your prayer request. Remember when
you asked those women to pray that you would have
more patience.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Well, God wrap patience in a package that.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Looked like your mother in law and she's about to
get FedEx.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
To your dorsetewn. God delivers that's not the devil. So
now he's loud, but he's not a lion. What is he?
(40:50):
I remember hearing years ago about the part of our brain.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Again, bear with me. I know there's like neurologists in
the crowd. You don't make me feel bad about that.
I won't make you feel bad about the Bible. We
just agree together that everybody's say in their own lane.
But I did hear something about in the phrase got
my attention, called the lizard brain.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
And I wrote a book.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
One time about the chatterbox, and I think I was
trying to talk about what they call the lizard brain.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
And I just.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Remembered it the other day because Abby wanted to show
her brothers. She's our youngest child and our only daughter,
our smartest child. I'm just getting my sons in here.
But she does have a little advantage over the boys
(41:44):
because she's always had to stuff it up to keep up,
you know, And she's superior by virtue of being female.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
So she work in my pulpit when in some points.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
She wanted to go all the way across the pool
and hold her breath, which your brothers couldn't do till
they were ten.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
She's seven, so she's like, I could do it, I
could do it. I can do it. All right, let's
do it. And she wanted everybody to see her. And
I said, you could do it.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
But just know that the lizard, the lizard brain, is
going to be telling you that you can't do it.
But the lizard is lying. She said, there's a lizard
in my brain. I said, no, baby, and I you
know she's seven. So I just pretended to be an expert.
I said, the human brain, the human brain, and I
(42:36):
gave her some outdated theory on the tryune brain that
probably isn't even accepted anymore. But I was talking about
that thing that is real in our brain that doesn't
process at the level of wisdom, and doesn't process at
the level even of emotion, but processes at the level
of fear. And they call it lizard brain, or they
(42:56):
called it lizard brain because it's no different than a reptile,
a snake, or a lizard. And so when I told her,
don't listen to the lizard, I was explaining, you're gonna
go down, and you're gonna think that you're gonna die,
but you're not gonna die. Just don't listen to the lizard,
(43:18):
and she went down under that water and she swam
clear to the other end.
Speaker 1 (43:24):
And she came up.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
She took the biggest gasp, the biggest gulp of air,
and she was so proud, and she said, man, that
lizard is loud.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
I said, well, what did you say back to him?
Speaker 2 (43:46):
She said, I told him, shut up, lizard.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
I'm doing this now. Hold on. I know the enemy
has been telling you some stuff. I know he has because.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
That lizard has been talking to me too.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
But I came to tell.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
You today that lizard.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Has no power over you. He might gru sore.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Heel, but you're gonna crush his head. In the name
of Jesus, I am gonna make it hot sall living,
not time.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
I'm gonna raise my kids.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
I'm gonna make a difference in the world.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
Taking my mind back and over.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
Over the next seven weeks, we're gonna learn how to
do what Abby did, what Peter said, be of a
sober mind. Tell that lizard. You can talk, you can scream,
but I'm swimming to the other side. Now, everything in
(44:53):
you has been telling you you're drowning, you're going down.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
But the lizard is a liar. Your own mind is
lying to you.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
And that's why God put it on my heart to
do a whole series on triggered the things to the
trauma that you went through that transports you back to
a lesser version of yourself, and then you start reacting
and responding out of anger because of rejection at the
hands of people who aren't.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Even in your life anymore. I want to talk about that, and.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
I respectfully request your presence and as many of these
sessions as possible, But right now I want you to
stand and no one leaving, because I just want to
pray for open and humble hearts. We can't receive what
God has in his hands when we're holding too tightly
to what's.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
In our hands.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
And when you're drunk on your own opinions and inebriated
on your own ideas and ways of seeing the world,
you are not open to the wisdom of God.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
And you're stumbling. Jesus said, get that behind me. You're stumbling.
You're tripping.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Be of a sober mind because your enemy is trying
to steal your attention.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
That's where the fight is, that's where the attack is.
This is not out here.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
The attacks in our life are actually used by God.
The trials are used to make us stronger. That's here,
and that's what we want to pray over. And for
too long the people of God have been equipped with
a few cliches to make it until about Sunday at four,
and we're being eaten alive in our minds.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
And now we can't focus anymore.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
We live in the age of what one psychologist called
constant partial attention, and we can't give ourselves holy to anything.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
But God has a word for us.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
And through this series we will meet several Bible characters
who struggled with the same things we struggle with today
and suffered in many ways like us.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
And I know this is no substitute for doctors and counseling.
That's not my goal in this series.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
But I think it would be good for us to
begin this journey together just in a posture of surrender.
And I want to ask you to do something that
Christians have done historically, worshippers have done through the millennia,
and just lift your hands to God in his presence
because it's too much for you to carry, it really is,
(47:37):
and you humble yourself under His hand and release what
you're holding too tightly to and he is able to
release his peace.
Speaker 1 (47:44):
And so we just speak peace over your life today.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
More than speaking it, Father, I pray that we would
position ourselves so that we can receive your peace. And
we repent of all the ways that we think things
are supposed to be and exhausting ourselves endlessly trying to
align our agendas with.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
The reality of our lives rather than submitting to yours.
Speaker 2 (48:14):
So we stand here before you today, as humble as
we know how.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
We resk you to fill our hearts with your peace.
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give now,
or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information
and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (48:46):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (48:51):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you
Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
And I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hope it gives your perspective to see God has moving
in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Enjoy the message. You may be seated.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome to week one of a brand new sermons series
called Triggered, and we're going to be discussing some things,
some different teachings to help you take your mind back
and not just give territory over to the devil in
the area of your imagination and so that he fills
you with all of these hypothetical scenarios that may or
(00:40):
may not ever happen, keeping you from enjoying the life
God has given you, more importantly, stewarding the life that
God has.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Given you for His glory.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And we're so excited to get it started today, and
I want to make the best use of our time possible.
I know here at Valentine they were saying it was
kind of difficult to get in, probably not at all
the campuses, but there was more traffic than usual, and
so you should thank God for that because Not only
is that more people hearing the message of Jesus Christ,
(01:08):
but it's also a good preparation for a sermon about anxiety.
And so we're just looking out for you and helping
you get in the right mind frame. But let's go
to the word of God now. And obviously I'm no psychologists.
I'm just a Bible preacher from Monks Corner, South Carolina,
And with a little bit of knowledge that I have
(01:30):
about the scriptures and life experience, I want to show
you something today that I think will be so helpful
from on Peter chapter five, verses five through nine. And
I'm going to go and tell you there's only one
verse in this whole passage that I actually like. I
believe all of it, and I know that I'm supposed
to do all of it. But from the natural standpoint
(01:51):
of my mind, there's only one verse that appeals to me.
And you'll see what I'm saying when I read it.
Of course, we can't talk about triggered without paying a
visit to Peter. Easily the most triggered disciple that Jesus
called cussing and cutting off people's ears and stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
But he's calmed down by the time.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
He writes this letter to the gentiles who are assimilating
into the Greco Roman world, and he has some great
advice for us concerning our anxiety and our cares. Not
that you have any, but someone on your row worries
too much. Not that you do, but they think about stuff.
(02:31):
They make little movies in their minds, and they edit
together things that didn't actually happen, and then they tell
themselves that that's how it really is.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So that's what I'm helping today.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I'm sorry you had to come here a sermon design
for someone else, But Peter was actually talking to a
church that was undergoing a great deal of persecution, and
he has some experience from wisdom, and I want to
share his words with you today and pray that God
will speak to you personally.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
He says, first Peter ter five, verse five, I humble yourselves?
What did I say? Verse five?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
In the same way, you who are younger submit yourselves
to your elders. Almost skip that verse, but it's great
verse that I like as a parent. All of you
clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Because God opposes the prow.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
But shows favor to the humble, humble, yourselves, therefore, under
God's mighty hand.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I like how he says that.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
He says God lines up on the other side of
human pride. So if you want to be on the
same side of the ball as God, you got to
make sure that you come in at the right level
and realize that you are not him, that you are
the creation, not the Creator. Humble yourselves therefore under God's
(03:49):
mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
If ever there was a verse to cross stitch and
to put on a coffee mug, it's one Peter five seven.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
That's the one I like, in case you're wondering.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Really enjoy that verse feels good? Be alert. Verse eight
I don't like so much. And of sober mind.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Your enemy, the devil brows around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in
the faith because you know that the family of believers
throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And I want to stop right there and talk to
(04:41):
you for a few moments today in this opening foundational
session in our study called Triggered on this subject, I
want to talk about lions and lizards and lies. Lions
and lizards and lies. And before you say, oh my,
let me put you in the frame of mind of
(05:03):
me five or six years ago when I called a
pastor who.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Is older and wiser than me.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And I wasn't having like a nervous breakdown from a
clinical standpoint, or a panic attack as I understand a
panic attack.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
But just feeling overwhelmed.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Not in the clinical sense was I experiencing anxiety, but
in the everyday sense of adulthood. And I think sometimes
we say we're suffering anxiety when we're really just suffering adulthood.
And I called him in my driveway in the house
we lived in at the time in mint Hill, and
(05:43):
I was doing this thing that I was doing a
lot during that period where I would sit in the
driveway between work and home because my kids were really small,
and I couldn't figure out which one was more work
or home because at work I'm the boss, and at
home my kids weren't calling me pastor at that stage.
(06:04):
And so I was sitting in the driveway and I thought,
you know, I'm just gonna call him and I'm gonna
ask him, and I don't care what he thinks, because
you get to a certain point of being overwhelmed, it.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Just all spills out.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And when I started talking to him, I started, you
know how when you're trying to tell somebody you're struggling.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And you share with them in little slivers.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
And you try to see if anything you say shocks them,
and if it feels like it shocks them, you back
up and you go, well, I'm not struggling with that,
but I'm saying like some people do.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
And you kind of feel your way into a conversation,
at least I do.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And it's like I was telling him I'm kind of overwhelmed,
and he didn't judge me, and I said, and this
is how I feel, and he didn't judge me. And
so every time he didn't judge me and I didn't
feel like he was surprised, I would share a little more,
and share a little more, and share a little more.
And by the end of it, I'm in my driveway
crying on the phone to him, telling him how overwhelmed
(06:58):
I feel being you know, just in my early thirties
past during a church that was larger than the town
I grew up in. Imagine that and then with kids,
and he actually laughed in the middle of me crying
to him. He laughed, and I can't explain why, but
(07:18):
it was the most comforting thing he could have done
in that moment. And what he said next is just
what I needed to hear, and I know God put
it in his mouth so I could hear it. And
he said, I'm not surprised that you called me and
said this. I'm not surprised that you're melting down. I'm
surprised you didn't call me sooner. And partially he was
(07:43):
saying that because, you know, as our church grew, obviously
the pressure's mount with it. And he was also saying
it from a stage of life standpoint that look, every
father feels relatively worthless at some point in the early
stages of their children's visit to planet Earth, and it
takes time to learn how to interact with aliens. And
(08:08):
by the end of the call, I just felt better,
just because he.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Said it's supposed to be this way.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
You're supposed to struggle. And when he said I was
supposed to struggle, the struggle didn't go away, but the
fact that I was no longer surprised by it made.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Me more able to deal with it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And God has been speaking to me recently that I
am too surprised by my struggles, and part of the
reason that I struggle so much is because I'm surprised
when I do. It's as if we've set an expectation
of salvation that if we come to Jesus and lay
all our burdens at the foot of the cross, that
(08:53):
none of them will climb back in the car.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
With us and go home.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
But how many have ever laid your burdens down in
church and found out that they followed you home.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
With the few friends you never met before.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And it's like I came to Jesus to get rid
of my struggles, But.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
My struggle didn't even start.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Until I came to Jesus, Because before I came to Jesus,
if I wanted to cuss you out, I just cussed
you out and I felt better. Didn't care how you
felt or what God thought. I felt better and that's
all that mattered. But now I got this Holy ghost
on the inside of me, and when I cuss he
makes me feel bad about it. Now I can't sleep
(09:32):
till I apologize to you. And it got harder, So
Peter says. Peter says, everybody's struggling. Everybody around the world
is suffering. You have to take the two together. You
(09:53):
can't come to a cross for salvation where the Savior
suffered for you and never expect to suffer in your
desire to follow him and be like him. Tell the
person next to you, You're supposed to suffer some.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
That's what Jesus said, That's that's that's what the.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
CEO said, CEO of the Galaxies, the Sea, the Man
said that.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
The Master of the Milky Way said that. He said,
if they hated me, what makes you think you're always.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Going to be popular and liked and accepted. So I
pray that's inspirational for you to know that you are
supposed to suffer.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
But it helps us. It helps us because.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
The enemy often operates in our lives in the secrecy,
and and you know it's very sneaky.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
The enemy's sneaky, and so he wants to sneak up
on you.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
And you think life is supposed to be easy because
life looks easy for everyone else, but.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
You don't know, you have no idea. It is easy
for you. It's easy for you, preacher, when you get
up here and preach.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
You know, you don't know, and I don't know your struggle,
but I know I know that there are some struggles
and some sufferings that come with the package. And so
the call to follow Christ comes with a cross. We
get that, and especially in this time, Peter is like, look,
(11:47):
you want to be a part of this movement, The
only way to really see the glory of God revealed
is to suffer, sometimes, to suffer, to sit with your
suffering and even with your sadness. Now we're setting the
wrong expected. We're teaching people they can get swollen without
getting sore. Supposed to hurt, sometimes, supposed to strain. Sometimes
(12:20):
that's the spiritual muscle fibers breaking down so they can
grow back together stronger, or something like that.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
And so what surprises me is that knowing that we
must suffer sometimes because our saviors suffered. And let's be honest,
some of our suffering is not because of our Christian faith.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
It's because of our You said it, he said, because
we're stupid. I didn't say that. I wasn't going to
talk to the guests like that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
There's a lot of first timers here today.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I was going to say, sometimes we suffer.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Because of poor decisions and we were ill equipped to fit,
but you said stupid.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
I'll go with it. Sometimes we suffer because we're stupid.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And it surprises me that with all the suffering that
we already have to deal with, that we somehow as
a species will invent new ways for ourselves to suffer
and experience pain and call it progress.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
As if it's not enough to.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Worry about in the world, we invent, you know, torture device.
I mean communication devices that keep us constantly connected to
everyone's opinion, everyone's offenses, and we feed on stuff. The
(13:44):
enemy is looking for someone to devour. We feed on stuff,
and we feed our minds with things that eat our
peace alive.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
And then we pray for.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
God to give us peace after we open the front
door and let the enemy show his fangs and stood
right there.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
So I'm really praying.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I'm really praying that God would show us a strategy
for this, because it seems to me that some suffering
is inevitable, but certain suffering, like the suffering of our
shame and the suffering of our sin that Jesus already
paid for is dealt with, And so wouldn't it be
(14:31):
unthinkable for us, as God's children to suffer under pressure
that He never intended for us. We live in a
culture of performance. The interesting thing about First Peter five
point seven is that it preaches so well as a
singular verse. Even when I was a little boy, my
(14:53):
mom used to play me this tape of salty the
Singing Songbook, Salty like psalms, ps salt see, not like
your teenagers salty, but like salt. Yeah, not like that
girl work, but salty the Singing song Book. And he
had one song on there, and I used to fall
asleep to this song. If I can remember, I will
cast it was on this verse all my cares upon you.
(15:17):
I ley all of my burdens down at your feet.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
And any time I don't know what to do, salty
falsetto uh, I will.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Cast all my cares upon you.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Boom boom, walk down.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I will cast all my cares upon you.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Could you play it?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet.
In any time I don't know what to do, I
(16:06):
will cast oh my cares.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So I start saying that it's so sweet.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I like verse seven. I like verse seven. I wish
I didn't have to be bothered with six and eight.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
You know, these Bible.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Verses were not in there when Peter wrote the letter.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
It was just a letter. It was one thing.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
In fact, let me show you something, and I showed
this a few years ago to the church, but you
weren't here yet when I was teaching this, and we
need to catch up because this is one of the craziest,
most mind blowing things God ever showed me.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
And I actually I brought two Bibles to church today. Yeah,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I'm gonna preach twice as long. No, I'm gonna get
you out on time. But this is a double barrel
revelation that God gave me. And one translation of it,
it breaks it up the one that we read from.
Put that one up there again from the new International version.
He says, cast all your anxiety on him because He
cares for you. And it's a capital C, and it's
(16:58):
a new sentence and a new thought, and it's a
promise that we can claim, or rather it's a command
that we can obey.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
And I like it.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
I like casting all this stuff I like casting all
these cares, like Salty said in the King James version,
I like casting all of that on him.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
All the stuff that I don't want to deal with,
and all the stuff that I can't control anyway.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
I like to just give that over to the Lord.
I like to just lay it all at his feet.
But in the.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Original language of the Bible, and this is what God
showed me a few years ago, is that verse seven
was not a new sentence. It was a continuation of
verse six. And when you read it as a continuation,
it helps you to understand why sometimes we're trying to
cast our anxiety on God and they keep coming back
(17:51):
like a boomerang with extra velocity, because we are trying
to skip to seven, which we want, without six, which
we resist.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Now, Verse six.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Starts by saying, humble yourselves. See, I don't like that.
I want to be the star of the production. I
want to be the MVP of the game. I want
everybody to accommodate my preferences. I want people to read
my mind. I want to be the center of other
people's affection. I don't want to humble myself. I'm not
(18:25):
even sure I really know what it means, because all
I ever see humble is a hashtag where people are
bragging about something and then hashtagging it humbled, like that
makes it humble when you follow your bragging with a hashtag.
But for Peter, humble was not a hashtag. Peter said,
humble is a way of seeing the hand of God
in history that knows, I'm just a small part of this.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
I'm just a little dot, I'm just a little I'm
a little tiny, I'm a little.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Bitty, little bitty, little bitty, little bitty child of God
in his Stronghand so humble yourselves therefore under the mighty
hand of God, so that at the proper time He
may exalt you.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
What a relevant verse.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
I feel like Peter must have been able to see
into the year twenty eighteen and see that we would
be living in an age of self promotion, See that
we'd be living in an age where, rather than praying
for opportunities, we would post before we prayed, Rather than
(19:37):
sitting back and listening and learning from people who have
something to teach us, we would be so intoxicated on
our own opinions and our own point of view, and
we would be so sucked into algorithms and echo chambers
of people who think just like us and speak just
like us, and before long we would be inebriated our
(20:00):
own vantage point, inebriated by images. He says, humble yourself
under the mighty hand of God, so that at the
proper time he may exalt you. And then if you're
willing to go through six, you get to seven. And
they're not separated by a period, just a comma lowercase.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
See, if you will humble yourself, this is the foundational
message for this series. To take back your mind. You
got to humble your heart.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And when you do that, when you humble yourself under
the mighty hand of God.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
What kind of image is Peter trying to vote well
for a Jewish person? The hand of God recalls the
sovereign act of God when he rescued his children from
Egyptian slavery.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
And there when God spoke.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
To Moses, he said, you know, Pharaoh is not going
to let the people go unless a mighty hand compels him.
This is Exodus chapter three, unless a mighty hand, there's
the phrase, compels him. And so the hand of God
for us is mostly a comforting image sentimental, but symbolically
(21:29):
for the people reading this who had a little bit
of background, they would know that the hand of God
is confrontational, that God opposes the proud but gives grace
to the humble, and they come from the same hand. See,
God will use the same hand to oppose the proud
that he will use to distribute grace to the humble.
(21:51):
And my question is what do you want to be
on the receiving end of the posture of your heart
determines that. And yet there's a little bit of confusion
because you know, it seems like we want God's hand
to do certain things for us. Like I like the
(22:12):
hand of God when it is filled with his provision,
you know, like I want what is in God's hand
that I can't give myself. Just a show of hands
while we're ting my hands. How many have seen God
provide for you in a special way and you were
(22:34):
suspecting this had to be God, This could not be me,
This could not be people. Wave your hand if you've
ever seen God provide for you, and I don't just
mean money to make a car payment or to you know,
make the deposit on the apartment. When you first got married,
It could be God gave you energy when you were
so exhausted and you didn't even know how you were
still going and people would ask you how, and you
(22:56):
would make something up. But deep down you knew if
I really told him how, they wouldn't understand it, because
there's an invisible hand of God that is making things
happen that I can't even explain.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
So I like the provision. You know how he broke
the bread in his hands, and Peter was there when
Jesus broke the bread and with his hands, So he
might have been flashing back to that incident when he said,
the mighty hand of God that can provide for you,
or maybe he was thinking about the hand of God
in terms of God's protection. How God drove back the.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Sea with his hand so as people could cross through
till they got safely through. Now, if you've ever had
God protect you from you.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
You're grateful for the hand of God.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
If you've ever had God protect you from people that
were in your life. In fact, sometimes the way that
God will protect you is to.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Reach down and remove you from situation that you like.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
That you are actually praying for God to leave you in,
and God will sometimes reach down and say.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I know more than you.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I'm big, you're little, I'm wise, you're limited, I'm infinite,
your finite. So come with me.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
I'm gonna put.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
You over here because I know if you stay with them,
I know where.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
It's gonna lead. And Peter says, you.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Can either fight that or you can go with it
because it's the hand of God.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
It's the hand how many have ever had God protect you?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
And I want him to provide for me, and I
want him to protect, protection and provision. But there's a
third dimension of God's hand and that is his plan.
And that's the.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Part that I have a harder time with because I
like my plan.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Why are you looking at me like you totally trust
God that his way is better than yours. You know,
half of our prayer life is trying to convince God
to get on the same page we're on so he
can do what we want him to do that he
should have already done, and he's running a little behind schedule.
But we'll forgive you for that. Lord, if you just
come on and do it right now, it's okay. You
(25:29):
got a lots you're taken care of. I get confused, honestly,
I get confused because sometimes I don't know what part
is God's job and what part.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Is my job.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
And it's not always so simple humble yourself under the
mighty hand of God. But then you know, God told Moses,
I'm going to bring you out with a mighty hand.
It's going to be my hand that brings you out.
And then he asks him, what's that in your hand?
And so it seems to be like two hands at
work here. And the issue is the issue is always
(26:07):
who is in control. A lot of my anxiety comes
because I get confused about who is in control, and
I get responsibility confused with sovereignty. So I start thinking
that because God has given me responsibility, that God has
also given me control.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And that's where I get stressed out.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
And a lot of my anxiety comes from making it
about me when it's not about me, making it about
my strength, when it's not about my strength. It's not
by Mike nor by power, but by his spirit. But
I know God's given me a job, like I know
that when I stand before you like this and people
in the room are suicidal, and people in the room
(26:53):
are addicted not only to illegal drugs, but some are
dependent on.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
On drugs that at first they were.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Taking the recommended dosage, but now it's gone far beyond that.
And when I know that there are some of you
who have not slept in three nights except for a
few minutes here and they're hearing this message, I know
that I can't say the words that you need. I
need God to speak through me to you.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
And I always pray for.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
That because I know how disappointing it's going to be
if I speak.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I know that I need to move my mouth, and.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
I know that I need my vocal cords need to
rub together, and I know that I need to produce
a sound. But I know that I need the substance
of God behind the sound that I make. I need
God to speak. I know you did not load up
those demons. I mean, precious children, blessings, quiver full of
arrows from the Lord, and get to this house of
worship today in Gaston or you see, or Lake Norman.
(27:54):
You did not log on to hear me speak. You
need God to speak, and I believe that God will.
I believe he is speaking. I believe he wants to speak.
I believe he still speaks. I don't believe he spoke
one time in the past, and now we got this
dusty book full of principles that applied at one time
but don't make sense in a modern age. I don't
(28:15):
believe God is outdated or irrelevant. I don't believe I
need busfeed to tell me what's.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Going on in the world.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
I got my Bible, and it's living and it's active,
and it can penetrate.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Through all the noise.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
So I know we need God to speak in his
word doesn't return boy, and God will speak, but God
won't study.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
I gotta study.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
God won't show me whether the sentence was one sentence
or two sentences.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
He gave me books for that.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
He inspired me, So I cant figure out sometimes and
sometimes I feel like I'm a control free and sometimes
I feel it gets in a way I really do. I
feel gets in a way. I feel like I want to
control things. I want to control people. I'm manipulative and
I see it and I hate it, but I do.
It is a habit. And I know that God's hand
is the hand that has is really moving things around.
But you know, I want to put my hand on
God's hand and just kind of nuts.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I so holy.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Sometimes you know sometimes God needs a little help because
he's just.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Peter is writing from experience. He didn't come by humility easy.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
That's why I like to listen to him, because he
didn't always think this way.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Like when Jesus was getting ready to go to the cross.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
He told his disciples, He's like, hey, come here, this
is Matthew sixteen twenty one.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Give it to us on the screen.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Jesus said, I have to go to Jerusalem and suffer
many things at the hands of the elders. At this point,
Peter didn't think that the Savior was supposed to suffer.
It did not Jesus mission did not that his mindset.
(30:02):
He was still confused about whose hand was writing the schedule,
and so Peter, in a younger version of himself, did
not know how to humble himself under the hand of
God or the plan of God.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
He liked the provision. Hey, Jesus, don't go die, Let's
go feed some more people. That was awesome when you
did it.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
That little boy, he was so happy, Jesus, it was amazing,
and we got his stare.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Everybody got it in the bag of leftover. So it's crazy.
You don't have to die. Watch what Peter did. Jesus said,
I gotta go. I gotta suffer. It's a part of
the plan. I gotta fulfill the plan. I can't get
caught up in my preferences.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
I can't get caught up in my ideas, my expectations,
or the expectations of others.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
I didn't come to be an earthly king.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
I came to inaugurate a reign and a rule that
is not the result.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Of human hands.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
And Peter verse twenty two took Jesus aside, put Jesus
in time out. The same dude that was saying, you know,
humble yourself. This is like you telling your kids not
to do exactly what you did when you were their age.
(31:18):
Peter said to Jesus, younger Peter, first half of life.
Peter says, Lord, never, this shall never happen to you.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I won't let it if they try. I got a sword,
and they got an ear, and watch what I can do.
I got a plan. Let's go work my plan.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
And verse twenty three says Jesus turned and said to Peter,
get behind me.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Satan. Oh that's a downgrade. He went from Simon to Peter.
That was his first name. Simon is kind of like shifty,
and Peter is the row.
Speaker 5 (32:00):
So he goes from Duayanne Johnson in one verse to
Satan in the next verse, and he says, you are
a stumbling block.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
To me.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
You do not have in mind in mind the concerns
of God, but merely human concerns. You still think you're
in control, and that's why your mind is a mess,
because you are still trying to control things that are
beyond your pay grade.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Peter, You're confused. We get confused. Sometimes I don't know
when to let go. I don't when Sometimes I don't
do this very much.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
Because I've seen some really, really really horrific things happen
on church stages.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
But sometimes I'll call somebody.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Up on stage and have them share, and I don't
know them, and I feelind of like my responsibility is
to control whatever happens on the stage as the pastor.
And so when they come up, uh, usually I'll call
them up and I'll ask them to share something. And
I do this even with our staff. I'll call them
and ask them to share. But one thing I learned
(33:16):
to do, I always keep keep the mic in my hands.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
When they come up.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
They think they're gonna take the mic, and but they're not.
I'm the MIC's fan, and I'm gonna hold this mic.
In case you decide that now would be a good
time to say something weird, I can snatch a bat
and I just like the feeling that it gives me
(33:43):
of being in control. In case you decide, you know,
I might ask you something. You say, well, when I
was three, we don't have time for when you were three,
and ask you all that, And I got the mic,
give it back now. So gives me a good feeling.
But thing is because there's crazy Christians and sometimes when
I call them up, I can't see their eyes. And
(34:05):
when they get closer, I'm like, oh God, I picked
one of those and you don't see it from a distance.
So I like to keep the mic and hold I
like to hold the mic. And but now the interesting
thing is I'm holding the mic.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
But there's a guy that you.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Don't see named Neil, and Neil this week, among many
others that are different locations, happens to be in the
back of the room, sitting behind a console. And you
know what's interesting, I'm up here talking and I'm I'm
I'm holding the mic. But at any moment, Neil can decide.
(34:50):
At any moment, he can decide, you know, maybe I
fuss at him or something like that, and he doesn't
like it any.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Moment. Here's the principle.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
I'm holding it, but I'm not controlling it.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
They got it last night.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
That's what I know about in my life. That's what
I know about my time. That's what I'm learning about
my money, That's what I'm learning about my children, my responsibility.
I'm holding it, but somebody I can't see is controlling it.
(35:39):
He's in control. He speaks in Win's obeyed, he speaks
in waves side down, he speaks in sea split because
what I can see is controlled by that hand that
I can't see. And now I want to humble myself
(35:59):
under that mighty hand. And I'm coming to the place
in my life where I say, God, I don't even
know what I need anymore. So I trust you and
your timing, and I trust you and your heart, and
I trust you and your wisdom.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
And I humble myself.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
And as I humble myself, my anxiety goes out the
door with my pride and my arrogance and my plan,
and I become what Peter says is the goal of
the Christian life in verse eight, which I don't like
(36:38):
any more than I like verse six. But it's on
the other side of seven, and I want the result
of seven because I don't want to live with the
weight of the world on my scrawny shoulders. So I
got to be what Peter says strange phrase. He says,
be alert and of ober mind. I didn't even know
(37:03):
I was drunk.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
But I am.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Peter didn't know he was stumbling telling Jesus what Jesus
needed to do.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
He was drunk on his own.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
You see how we get intoxicated in the age we
live in.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Is so much information coming at us.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
We're drunk and we don't even know it, and we
can't defend ourselves, and we're getting eaten alive. God gives
us peace, and the enemy eats right through it. Because
he's a lion. At least that's what I always thought.
I thought I thought he was a lion. And this
(37:43):
week I slowed down and read the verse, and I
realized that the Bible never says the devil is a lion.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
He's a liar. I know he's a liar.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah, you can know when the devil's lion when he's talking,
he's a liar, but he's.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Not a liar. Give me the verse. Peter says watch out.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
One translation says pay attention, wake up, or be alert
and of sober mind. Here's why your enemy, the devil
your enemy. God's enemy is pride. Your enemy is the
devil who wants to fill your mind, as if we
(38:26):
don't already suffer enough, as if we don't already have
enough to deal with today. He wants to put you
in a hypothetical tomorrow where things may or may not happen,
or put you in a past replaying what you wish
you would have said to the person who offended you,
(38:48):
and how many come up with great comebacks about three
weeks too late.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
God, let me see them again.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Please let me see them again, and let them say
it just like they said it.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
I'm ready now. Ah. The devil's a lion, but he.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Does not say watch out for the lion. The devil
is not a lion. Was to say, your enemy prows
around like he's not a lion. He's loud like a lion,
but he's not as powerful as a lion unless you
let him be And This is what I'm gonna teach
(39:26):
you in the series. Are you coming back after this week?
Because I really want to get into this and I
want to look at some of the lies that we
have believed. In the realm of our mind. That's where
the attack happens. We've been looking for a lion, but
it's not a lion coming to attack us.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
It's our minds.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
It's in our minds, and we've been calling the wrong
stuff the devil.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
I got a flat tire as the devil. It was
a nail.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
It was a construction site. They're building houses across the street.
Hate a donut it was the devil. No, it was delicious.
It's a temple. It's the Devil's a devil. I'm under attack,
a spiritual warfare. I need some devil's attacking me. I mean,
devil's attacking you. My mother in law is coming to visit.
(40:14):
That's not the devil. That's your prayer request. Remember when
you asked those women to pray that you would have
more patience.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Well, God wrap patience in a package that.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Looked like your mother in law and she's about to
get FedEx.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
To your dorsetewn. God delivers that's not the devil. So
now he's loud, but he's not a lion. What is he?
(40:50):
I remember hearing years ago about the part of our brain.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Again, bear with me. I know there's like neurologists in
the crowd. You don't make me feel bad about that.
I won't make you feel bad about the Bible. We
just agree together that everybody's say in their own lane.
But I did hear something about in the phrase got
my attention, called the lizard brain.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
And I wrote a book.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
One time about the chatterbox, and I think I was
trying to talk about what they call the lizard brain.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
And I just.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Remembered it the other day because Abby wanted to show
her brothers. She's our youngest child and our only daughter,
our smartest child. I'm just getting my sons in here.
But she does have a little advantage over the boys
(41:44):
because she's always had to stuff it up to keep up,
you know, And she's superior by virtue of being female.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
So she work in my pulpit when in some points.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
She wanted to go all the way across the pool
and hold her breath, which your brothers couldn't do till
they were ten.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
She's seven, so she's like, I could do it, I
could do it. I can do it. All right, let's
do it. And she wanted everybody to see her. And
I said, you could do it.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
But just know that the lizard, the lizard brain, is
going to be telling you that you can't do it.
But the lizard is lying. She said, there's a lizard
in my brain. I said, no, baby, and I you
know she's seven. So I just pretended to be an expert.
I said, the human brain, the human brain, and I
(42:36):
gave her some outdated theory on the tryune brain that
probably isn't even accepted anymore. But I was talking about
that thing that is real in our brain that doesn't
process at the level of wisdom, and doesn't process at
the level even of emotion, but processes at the level
of fear. And they call it lizard brain, or they
(42:56):
called it lizard brain because it's no different than a reptile,
a snake, or a lizard. And so when I told her,
don't listen to the lizard, I was explaining, you're gonna
go down, and you're gonna think that you're gonna die,
but you're not gonna die. Just don't listen to the lizard,
(43:18):
and she went down under that water and she swam
clear to the other end.
Speaker 1 (43:24):
And she came up.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
She took the biggest gasp, the biggest gulp of air,
and she was so proud, and she said, man, that
lizard is loud.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
I said, well, what did you say back to him?
Speaker 2 (43:46):
She said, I told him, shut up, lizard.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
I'm doing this now. Hold on. I know the enemy
has been telling you some stuff. I know he has because.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
That lizard has been talking to me too.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
But I came to tell.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
You today that lizard.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Has no power over you. He might gru sore.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Heel, but you're gonna crush his head. In the name
of Jesus, I am gonna make it hot sall living,
not time.
Speaker 1 (44:17):
I'm gonna raise my kids.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
I'm gonna make a difference in the world.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
Taking my mind back and over.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
Over the next seven weeks, we're gonna learn how to
do what Abby did, what Peter said, be of a
sober mind. Tell that lizard. You can talk, you can scream,
but I'm swimming to the other side. Now, everything in
(44:53):
you has been telling you you're drowning, you're going down.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
But the lizard is a liar. Your own mind is
lying to you.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
And that's why God put it on my heart to
do a whole series on triggered the things to the
trauma that you went through that transports you back to
a lesser version of yourself, and then you start reacting
and responding out of anger because of rejection at the
hands of people who aren't.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Even in your life anymore. I want to talk about that, and.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
I respectfully request your presence and as many of these
sessions as possible, But right now I want you to
stand and no one leaving, because I just want to
pray for open and humble hearts. We can't receive what
God has in his hands when we're holding too tightly
to what's.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
In our hands.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
And when you're drunk on your own opinions and inebriated
on your own ideas and ways of seeing the world,
you are not open to the wisdom of God.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
And you're stumbling. Jesus said, get that behind me. You're stumbling.
You're tripping.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Be of a sober mind because your enemy is trying
to steal your attention.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
That's where the fight is, that's where the attack is.
This is not out here.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
The attacks in our life are actually used by God.
The trials are used to make us stronger. That's here,
and that's what we want to pray over. And for
too long the people of God have been equipped with
a few cliches to make it until about Sunday at four,
and we're being eaten alive in our minds.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
And now we can't focus anymore.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
We live in the age of what one psychologist called
constant partial attention, and we can't give ourselves holy to anything.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
But God has a word for us.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
And through this series we will meet several Bible characters
who struggled with the same things we struggle with today
and suffered in many ways like us.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
And I know this is no substitute for doctors and counseling.
That's not my goal in this series.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
But I think it would be good for us to
begin this journey together just in a posture of surrender.
And I want to ask you to do something that
Christians have done historically, worshippers have done through the millennia,
and just lift your hands to God in his presence
because it's too much for you to carry, it really is,
(47:37):
and you humble yourself under His hand and release what
you're holding too tightly to and he is able to
release his peace.
Speaker 1 (47:44):
And so we just speak peace over your life today.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
More than speaking it, Father, I pray that we would
position ourselves so that we can receive your peace. And
we repent of all the ways that we think things
are supposed to be and exhausting ourselves endlessly trying to
align our agendas with.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
The reality of our lives rather than submitting to yours.
Speaker 2 (48:14):
So we stand here before you today, as humble as
we know how.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
We resk you to fill our hearts with your peace.
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
You can click the link in the description to give now,
or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information
and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1 (48:44):
You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2 (48:46):
You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
share it on your social stories and tag us at
Elevation Church.
Speaker 1 (48:51):
Thanks again for listening. God bless you
Host
Steven Furtick
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