Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We don't know the cause of mental illness. It doesn't
mean that we cannot cure the disease. It doesn't mean
that we are totally clueless about where to go from here.
In fact, here we are again the most read book
in human existence, in human history. The Bible gives us
a lot more information about this than we could ever imagine.
So I'm in John fourteen. Let's read one of the
stories that Jesus tells, and in verse seven we're told
(00:22):
that when a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus
said to her, everyone who drinks this water will be
thirsty again that is the water from the well. But
whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst Today.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Today, Today, Today with Jeff Fines, pasta apologist and Bible teaching.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Anxiety and depression are more common now than ever. If
we don't struggle with mental health personally, we probably know
someone that does. Thanks for joining me on this episode
of Today with Jeff Fine. My name's Aaron, and today
we're going to continue a message looking at anxiety depression
in Jesus. Now scripture offers us peace with mental health
(01:09):
and shows us that anxiety and depression do not have
to define us in this message. Pastor Jeff finishes his
message from John chapter four. And if you want to
catch up on this entire series or listen to the
first part of this message, don't worry. You can catch
up wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search for Today
with Jeff Fines. Let's see what else it has to
(01:29):
say and how to thrive with anxiety, depression and Jesus,
here's Pastor Jeff.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
You know, as we've said before, you are more than
your body. This is the outer tent, the outer shell,
the essential you, the real you, the spiritual the soul
also needs spiritual water. So the essential you, the soul
needs nourishment in order to endure what life is going
to throw out every single one of us. Remember creation, Fall, redemption,
where in the Fall it's gonna make serious efforts to
(02:04):
destroy us. So Jesus tells the woman at the well
that he offers the kind of spiritual healing. And the
original language is beautiful here that will well up. Hallo
manu is the Greek word, and it means to start
way down deep and to flow outward. The etymology refers
to the gut. Here we are again, So that what
(02:24):
happens in the gut will ultimately and time spread to
the outer regions. The Old Testament prophets look forward to
a time when living waters would flow from Jerusalem Ezekiel
forty seven to nine. Swarms of living creatures will live
wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of
fish because this water flows there and makes the salt
water fresh.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
So where the river flows, everything will live.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
But there's something else, living waters and the Old Testament
is also a metaphor for the relationship between spirit, God's
Spirit in us and God's Truth and how they respond
and react together to bring healing. The Spirit God in
us truth God's Word in us a good example again
(03:08):
as it is equal only this time Verse thirty six.
I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit in you. I will remove from you your
heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
And I will put my spirit in.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
You and move you to follow my decrees the word,
and be careful to keep my laws. So there is
a relationship between spirit, Christ's power and the truth Christ's Word.
There's this inseparable relation between these two.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Look at it like this. The spirit without the truth.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Or the word is unpredictable, untrustworthy, and unproductive. The word, however,
without the spirit, is passionless, legalistic, and oppressive. But together
the word and the spirit brings life that begins way
down deep and begins to flow outward to.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
All of its parts.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
In fact, when we are experiencing joy on a soul
level in our bellies or intestines, deep down inside, there
is a naturally perfectly balanced productivity of serotonin. Now I
want to say that again, So we're combining what is
spiritual and scientific at the same time.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
When we are experiencing.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Joy in a soul level, in our bellies or intestines,
deep down inside, there is a naturally perfectly balanced productivity
of serotonin. Jesus has been teaching this for centuries.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Did you know that.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
He's been teaching that until you change your gut, the
essential you, until the waters of the Holy Spirit spring
up new life in you, all of us, not just me,
are ticking time bombs waiting to explode. And make no mistake,
you can press things down a long time, but sooner
(04:59):
or later the volcano is going to erupt. You need
a gut change, You need soul nourishment that sustains. You
need a spring of living water that goes down deep
and cleanses you, and then flows that cleansing out to
the other parts of your being.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
So asked the question, how is it then that we
appropriate this living water in us?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
As Christ's followers. We've been told that we have the
spirit of God in us, So how do we break
the dam that is holding the water back so that
it can flow into every aspect of our lives? Now,
for years I thought this part of the story of
the Woman at the Well was somewhat irrelevant to the
wider point.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Man was I wrong?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Verse twenty two, Jesus says, you Samaritans worship what you
do not know. We worship what we do know. For
salvation is from the Jews. Now, there's a lot to
be said here. We can do a whole sermon on
this one verse. Because when the original people of Samaria
were exiled and transported to Medea, people from five other
places came in and brought five other false idols into
(06:00):
the Jewish context, and the Samaritans, as they influenced the Jews,
began worshiping these five gods. Now, what I find interesting
is in the story of the woman at the well.
She had five husbands, remember, and the one she's with
now is not her husband. It's almost like there is
this play on the reality that she has been pursuing
(06:23):
or trying to meet her needs through five separate idols,
men of different forms and fashions. And now Jesus says
to her, you're worshiping what you.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Do not know.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
You are trying to fill the void in your life
by pursuing false idols. And then he says in verse
twenty three, Yet a time is coming, and now has
come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For they are the kind of worshipers
the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must
worship in the spirit and in truth. Now the question is,
(06:59):
how does one worship in spirit and truth? And how
is this related to mental illness, to anxiety depression in Jesus,
And how is it related to this overwhelming living waters
that can that has the potential to flow out and beyond.
And the answer is, according to scripture, the Holy Spirit
is in you.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
The waters are there. That's proof of your conversion.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
It is then the word of God, the voice of God,
as it saturates your deepest parts. That will begin to
bring life and vitality and break the dam where the
waters began to flow. In Jeremiah fifteen sixteen, the writer says,
when your words came, I ate them.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Now if you eat them, where do they go down? Deep?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And he says they were my joy and my heart's delight.
For I bear your name, Lord, God Almighty. Can I
tell you I'm not a doctor? You say, I know that,
But can I tell you how to cure most mental illness?
Not all most mental illness? Step one, balance the serotonin levels.
(08:04):
You got to get to the point where you can
think clearly. Again, do not be anti medicine. Now, if
you do some prevention in the early stages of your life,
you won't get to this point. But the reality is
most of us haven't, and because of that, the best
thing the first thing you can do is balance the
serotonin levels. Nothing wrong with that. We are made up
(08:25):
of chemicals, we are flesh and blood and spirit. But
that will enable you to begin to think clearly and
to experience the complete healing. You're gonna have to think
clearly again. Step two, submit to the work God is
doing in your life. Remember when I told you what
Dan Johnson said to me, Jeff, when you pray this prayer, God,
do not rescue me from this illness until you have
(08:45):
accomplished in me what it is that you want to accomplish.
When you pray that and you mean it, that's when
the healing comes. God is not abandoning you. He's pressing you.
He's squeezing you so the good stuff can come out
and so the bad stuff can be discarded. Ask God,
this know you what He's trying to expose and to
give you the courage to stay in the battle until
the war is won. Can I say again, he is
(09:07):
revealing something deep in you. This is not just theory
to me, This is personal experience. There's something that needs
to be dealt with in your life that only His
truth can give you the spirit of Shalom health and
well being.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Step three.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
This is a big one and this is how we're
going to end. But it's going to take us a moment.
Renew your mind. This is the key change your diet.
Some of you think that when I tell you to
be careful what you watch and read and listen to,
that I'm being legalistic, or that you're invincible. But there's
(09:46):
an old adage, garbage in, garbage out. It matters what
you're putting in, you know. I've been listening to this
debate and battle about artificial intelligence and how it's becoming dangerous,
and now they're telling us that it's being programmed to
lie to us, to manipulate us, in order to achieve
its end, not ours. And I started thinking, most of
(10:10):
the time, if you don't know something, the first thing
you're attempting to do is pull up Google and google
something so that you can find out in the right information.
But what if Google is programmed to lie to you
and everybody around the world is googling topics, but those
topics and the information given to you are to manipulate
you into conforming to something somebody else wants. When you
(10:33):
go to the movies, read books, social media without discretion,
who is the mind behind culture? My goodness, you're a
Christ follow where you're supposed to know this? It's not
Jesus one John five nineteen. We are children of God,
but the whole world lies under the sway of the
evil one.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
That there is a prince of the power of the air.
Ifhesian six.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood right, but
against what rulers porities, against the powers of the dark world,
against spiritual forces of evil.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
And then what is the first.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Piece of advice Paul gives in Ephesian six To win
this battle verse fourteen, Stand firmed inn with the bolt
of truth buckled around your waist. There are lies you've
been told all your life. As a result, down deep
in your gut, sorrow is central, and it's building up
(11:30):
over time. You have to allow the truth of the
Word of God to expose these lies so that you'll
begin to believe the truth, and as a result, the
truth will begin to rule over your emotions and balance
the serotonin levels in your body. Again, this is not
(11:51):
just theory to me. I've shared a few times where
when I had anxiety, I started to run more than
I had been running. I would just go for a
three mile and that seemed to do something.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
But at the.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Furthest point away from my house, I would always get
a pre attack, the feeling of the attack coming, and
my mind would start churning and saying, Man, if you
have an anxiety attack here, who's going to rescue you?
You're three miles from home. You don't have your phone
with you. What's gonna happen? And over time I was
able because my serotonin levels had been balanced.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
I could think properly.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And I'm began to speak the word of God to myself,
and I'm begin to run, and the bitter pattern of
my feet to the rhythm of God determines who lives
or dies. God determines who lives or dies. God determines
who lives or dies. And immediately that shut my brain down,
gave me a peace, way down deep inside, and I
can finish the run.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
When the Word of God so saturates your emotional and
spiritual constitution, that when the lie of the world comes
in that causes death and devastation. If the spirit of
God is able to activate the word of God, I'm
telling you you will be balanced and you will overcome.
That's why Paul says in Romans twelve, do not conform
(13:07):
to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and improve what God's will is, His good,
pleasing and perfect will. Can I tell you why mental
illness is at an all time high in America because
belief in God is at an all time low. When
you lose God, you lose so many other things. You
(13:30):
lose objective hope. You have no objective source of hope.
You're just guessing that there's something next. You have no
objective meaning. You might have tiny little meanings in your life,
but there's no ultimate meaning about what your life is about.
There's no objective morality, so everything goes and there's no
objective truth. The soul knows what the brain is thinking
(13:52):
and when that's the totality of your life. When you
are on a boat in a store without a compass,
which is what life is like when there's no true north.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Do you know what that does to the inner man
or the inner woman?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
What is it new to an entire generation of youth
who grow up in that atmosphere. Well, let me tell
you epidemic, pandemic, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, skepticism, and ultimately narcissism,
because you're fighting for the survival of your life. When
we kill God, something has to take its place. Man
cannot live for nothing. He must have something to grab
(14:31):
onto that will fill his heart, his mind and soul
and we are reaching for things that were never meant
to deliver, and our soul knows very well. There's a
movie out. It's called Jesus Revolution. Based in the sixties
and early seventies. There was a great movement, a revolution
towards Christ and away from secularism. Perhaps the passion of
(14:52):
a preacher to reach those who are far from God.
Maybe that's why there was a Jesus Revolution. Perhaps the
willingness of Christ followers to embrace and invite hippies into
their midst other people saw as offensive but ultimately primarily social.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Theorists will tell you that sex, drugs.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And alcohol were not working, that the idols were not
delivering like they thought, that free sex or free love
had left them empty, that fighting injustice was a good thing,
but when it became the ultimate thing, it left us
wanting something more. And so life is cyclical. And here
we are again in twenty twenty three, and our culture
(15:31):
tells us sex is paramount to existence. Promiscuity did not work,
so let's break some other barriers down and pursue other gods.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
But in reality, these.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Are all forms of cultural wounds that are real. Were dissatisfied,
our hearts are broken. Something going on. It's being pressed
down deep inside. We're masking it, and we're trying to
satisfy or solve the issue by pursuing, pursuing things that
(16:01):
were never meant to deliver. And there comes a time
when a pastor must say, I love you, but this
is not the way. Things that we should be ashamed
of in our culture, like hero parades and pride parades
and drag shows to our children at public libraries, are
instead viewed as saviors of the culture. And the Bible
(16:23):
clearly warns us that the world is not moving the
flow of God.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Neither will you if.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
You're not renewing your mind daily. And as a result,
if you're not saturating your mind with a word of God,
and you're saturating it with conformity to the world in
the world's thinking, your soul eventually will begin to disintegrate
and you will lash out. Life is either welling up
(16:48):
within us or death is welling up within us. And
that's why Paul says, you want to be a rebel, great,
I'm giving you permission to be a rebel, but don't
rebel against the thing that will save you. Rebell against
the thing that is killing you. So he says, do
not conform. The Greek word is systematidzo. Interesting word, just quickly.
Systematidzo means assuming an outward expression that does not reflect
(17:11):
what is inside. So if you're conforming to the world
because of the word that he's used here, Paul is
assuming you're a Christ follower and that Christ is in you.
But you're assuming an outward expression of something that does
not reflect who you really are on the inside. So
he says, instead, be transformed.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
The word is a.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Metamorphosis or metamorphile make a change. Metamorphole means make a
change in the outward appearance that truly reflects what's on
the inside.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
How do you do that?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
And he tells us by retraining the mind. I looked
up metaphorphosis in the dictionary and it says the process
of transformation from an immature form to an adult form.
I'm trying to tell you it's time to grow up
and to morph into spiritual adulthood and to put the
Word of God into your life. Saturate your life with
(18:08):
the Word of God so the spirit can activate it
at the right time and the right place to give
you the victories of your life.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
All right, here's the end. Quickly.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Step one, balance the serotonin levels. Step two, submit to
the work God is doing in your life.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Step three renew.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Your mind morph truth and spirit, truth and spirit, truth
and spirit. I don't know what lies underneath your small intestines.
I don't know what you've pressed down. I don't know
how life has kicked you around. I don't know what
trauma you have faced. I know that you're not the
only one who's faced trauma. You're not alone in this.
(18:46):
But Christian life or living is about renewing the mind,
retraining the mind. J. T. Fisher, a world renowned psychiatrist,
said this, for nearly two thousand years, the world has
been holding in its hands the complete answer to it's restless.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
And fruitless learnings.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Here rest the blueprint for successful human life with optimism,
mental health, and contentment. Hear what he's saying, your internal health.
The secret to your mental health is found in the
words of Christ. I also know this that when you
(19:23):
begin to saturate your mind, renew your mind with the word.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Of God, a chemical reaction happens. Did you know that.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
A chemical reaction Serotonin levels change not only when you
respond poorly to the circumstances or trauma of life. But
they also change and transform when you respond well to
the traumas of your life. And the only way that
(19:50):
you're going to respond well is if the Word of
God and the Spirit of God combined together to give
you this well of living water welling up in you that.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
Will flow to the outermost parts.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
You don't need a firewall against trauma. What we need
is to allow the trauma in and to saturate it
with the Word of God, so that we take something
that was meant for evil and it is used for good.
Let me finish. Here's the formula. How do you renew
your mind? If it's so key in all of this,
how do you renew your mind?
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Then?
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Number one, these are the four things that brought healing
into my life.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
I'm not saying that this is a.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Quick fix or it's a guaranteed formula, but I promise you,
according to the Word of God, this is where you begin.
Number one, Read and study the Sermon on the Mount.
Go to Matthew chap chapter five through seven and read
it and read it. Don't just read it, but eat it.
Take it in, take it in, study and ponder over
and over again. I would advise you to get a
(20:53):
book by Oswald Chambers call Studies in the Sermon on
the Mount. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount Oswald Chains.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Get the book.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Read Matthew five through seven, again and again and again.
Read Oswald Chambers book let. The Words of Jesus penetrate
your heart, your mind, and your soul until it starts
to transform you. And I pray that God will grant
you insight into who you really are and what you've
pressed down.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Two.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Attend the community group that takes the word of God seriously.
Attend the community group that takes the word of God
seriously and discusses application passionately. Spirit and truth. Spirit and truth.
Three make weakend worship a non negotiable. This is the
house of the Lord. This is where the spirit moves Traditionally, Historically,
(21:42):
God moves best and the congregation.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
Of his people.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
God does his best work when his people are gathered
together in prayer and worship, spirit and truth. The Church
of Jesus Christ began when people gather together for worship.
In Acts Chapter two, great revivals have begd when people
of God aml together to pray and worship. The Reformation
began when a group of believers began to seek spirit
and truth. Spirit and truth, and four, if you're really serious,
(22:11):
ask somebody to disciple you. The way the New Testament
Church was established is the old women disciple to the
young women, and the old man disciple to the young men.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
If I were a young man today, I would beg.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
An older man that I respected and trusted. Would you
please me with me and disciple me and help me
understand the Word of God and how it impacts my life.
If you do those things, if you balance the serotonin levels,
if you submit to the work God is doing in
your life, if you renew your mind with these four things,
I promise you God will complete his good work in you.
(22:46):
But I pray this has been a very pragmatic sermon
because I think when you're dealing with mental illness, you
need practical advice. You don't need somebody to give you platitudes.
You need somebody to give you a way forward. This
is the way forward, Spirit and truth, Spirit and truth
to change the inner core that living water may flow
throughout your body, soul and mind.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Father, thank you for today.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
I pray for my brothers and sisters who are struggling
with mental illness. I hope that nothing I said would
belittle their pain, and if it came across like that,
I repent right now in Christ's name. I pray they
would feel my love for them and a lack of judgment. Nevertheless,
I feel they would be motivated that there's a lot
(23:30):
at the end of the tunnel. I pray for anybody
who's contemplating suicide that they would realize that is not
from you, that's from the evil one who's trying to
circumvent what you're doing in their lives. That you're creating
something precious and good, that the Potter and the Clay
are at work. And I pray that you'd give them
insight and passion to listen to this sermon again and
again until it makes its way deep into their minds
(23:55):
and emotions and put these things into practice that will
lead shalom piece life and vitality through Christ and his name.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Amen, you've been listening to Today with Jeff Finds. Next
time we'll bring you a new message from pastor Jeff.
You can listen to more messages like this. Just search
for Today with Jeff Finds Wherever you listen to podcasts you.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
Make with every single friend
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Today, Today, Today, Today with Jeff Findes,
We don't know the cause of mental illness. It doesn't
mean that we cannot cure the disease. It doesn't mean
that we are totally clueless about where to go from here.
In fact, here we are again the most read book
in human existence, in human history. The Bible gives us
a lot more information about this than we could ever imagine.
So I'm in John fourteen. Let's read one of the
stories that Jesus tells, and in verse seven we're told
(00:22):
that when a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus
said to her, everyone who drinks this water will be
thirsty again that is the water from the well. But
whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst Today.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Today, Today, Today with Jeff Fines, pasta apologist and Bible teaching.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Anxiety and depression are more common now than ever. If
we don't struggle with mental health personally, we probably know
someone that does. Thanks for joining me on this episode
of Today with Jeff Fine. My name's Aaron, and today
we're going to continue a message looking at anxiety depression
in Jesus. Now scripture offers us peace with mental health
(01:09):
and shows us that anxiety and depression do not have
to define us in this message. Pastor Jeff finishes his
message from John chapter four. And if you want to
catch up on this entire series or listen to the
first part of this message, don't worry. You can catch
up wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search for Today
with Jeff Fines. Let's see what else it has to
(01:29):
say and how to thrive with anxiety, depression and Jesus,
here's Pastor Jeff.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
You know, as we've said before, you are more than
your body. This is the outer tent, the outer shell,
the essential you, the real you, the spiritual the soul
also needs spiritual water. So the essential you, the soul
needs nourishment in order to endure what life is going
to throw out every single one of us. Remember creation, Fall, redemption,
where in the Fall it's gonna make serious efforts to
(02:04):
destroy us. So Jesus tells the woman at the well
that he offers the kind of spiritual healing. And the
original language is beautiful here that will well up. Hallo
manu is the Greek word, and it means to start
way down deep and to flow outward. The etymology refers
to the gut. Here we are again, So that what
(02:24):
happens in the gut will ultimately and time spread to
the outer regions. The Old Testament prophets look forward to
a time when living waters would flow from Jerusalem Ezekiel
forty seven to nine. Swarms of living creatures will live
wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of
fish because this water flows there and makes the salt
water fresh.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
So where the river flows, everything will live.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
But there's something else, living waters and the Old Testament
is also a metaphor for the relationship between spirit, God's
Spirit in us and God's Truth and how they respond
and react together to bring healing. The Spirit God in
us truth God's Word in us a good example again
(03:08):
as it is equal only this time Verse thirty six.
I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit in you. I will remove from you your
heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
And I will put my spirit in.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
You and move you to follow my decrees the word,
and be careful to keep my laws. So there is
a relationship between spirit, Christ's power and the truth Christ's Word.
There's this inseparable relation between these two.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Look at it like this. The spirit without the truth.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Or the word is unpredictable, untrustworthy, and unproductive. The word, however,
without the spirit, is passionless, legalistic, and oppressive. But together
the word and the spirit brings life that begins way
down deep and begins to flow outward to.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
All of its parts.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
In fact, when we are experiencing joy on a soul
level in our bellies or intestines, deep down inside, there
is a naturally perfectly balanced productivity of serotonin. Now I
want to say that again, So we're combining what is
spiritual and scientific at the same time.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
When we are experiencing.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Joy in a soul level, in our bellies or intestines,
deep down inside, there is a naturally perfectly balanced productivity
of serotonin. Jesus has been teaching this for centuries.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Did you know that.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
He's been teaching that until you change your gut, the
essential you, until the waters of the Holy Spirit spring
up new life in you, all of us, not just me,
are ticking time bombs waiting to explode. And make no mistake,
you can press things down a long time, but sooner
(04:59):
or later the volcano is going to erupt. You need
a gut change, You need soul nourishment that sustains. You
need a spring of living water that goes down deep
and cleanses you, and then flows that cleansing out to
the other parts of your being.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
So asked the question, how is it then that we
appropriate this living water in us?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
As Christ's followers. We've been told that we have the
spirit of God in us, So how do we break
the dam that is holding the water back so that
it can flow into every aspect of our lives? Now,
for years I thought this part of the story of
the Woman at the Well was somewhat irrelevant to the
wider point.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Man was I wrong?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Verse twenty two, Jesus says, you Samaritans worship what you
do not know. We worship what we do know. For
salvation is from the Jews. Now, there's a lot to
be said here. We can do a whole sermon on
this one verse. Because when the original people of Samaria
were exiled and transported to Medea, people from five other
places came in and brought five other false idols into
(06:00):
the Jewish context, and the Samaritans, as they influenced the Jews,
began worshiping these five gods. Now, what I find interesting
is in the story of the woman at the well.
She had five husbands, remember, and the one she's with
now is not her husband. It's almost like there is
this play on the reality that she has been pursuing
(06:23):
or trying to meet her needs through five separate idols,
men of different forms and fashions. And now Jesus says
to her, you're worshiping what you.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Do not know.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
You are trying to fill the void in your life
by pursuing false idols. And then he says in verse
twenty three, Yet a time is coming, and now has
come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For they are the kind of worshipers
the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must
worship in the spirit and in truth. Now the question is,
(06:59):
how does one worship in spirit and truth? And how
is this related to mental illness, to anxiety depression in Jesus,
And how is it related to this overwhelming living waters
that can that has the potential to flow out and beyond.
And the answer is, according to scripture, the Holy Spirit
is in you.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
The waters are there. That's proof of your conversion.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
It is then the word of God, the voice of God,
as it saturates your deepest parts. That will begin to
bring life and vitality and break the dam where the
waters began to flow. In Jeremiah fifteen sixteen, the writer says,
when your words came, I ate them.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Now if you eat them, where do they go down? Deep?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And he says they were my joy and my heart's delight.
For I bear your name, Lord, God Almighty. Can I
tell you I'm not a doctor? You say, I know that,
But can I tell you how to cure most mental illness?
Not all most mental illness? Step one, balance the serotonin levels.
(08:04):
You got to get to the point where you can
think clearly. Again, do not be anti medicine. Now, if
you do some prevention in the early stages of your life,
you won't get to this point. But the reality is
most of us haven't, and because of that, the best
thing the first thing you can do is balance the
serotonin levels. Nothing wrong with that. We are made up
(08:25):
of chemicals, we are flesh and blood and spirit. But
that will enable you to begin to think clearly and
to experience the complete healing. You're gonna have to think
clearly again. Step two, submit to the work God is
doing in your life. Remember when I told you what
Dan Johnson said to me, Jeff, when you pray this prayer, God,
do not rescue me from this illness until you have
(08:45):
accomplished in me what it is that you want to accomplish.
When you pray that and you mean it, that's when
the healing comes. God is not abandoning you. He's pressing you.
He's squeezing you so the good stuff can come out
and so the bad stuff can be discarded. Ask God,
this know you what He's trying to expose and to
give you the courage to stay in the battle until
the war is won. Can I say again, he is
(09:07):
revealing something deep in you. This is not just theory
to me, This is personal experience. There's something that needs
to be dealt with in your life that only His
truth can give you the spirit of Shalom health and
well being.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Step three.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
This is a big one and this is how we're
going to end. But it's going to take us a moment.
Renew your mind. This is the key change your diet.
Some of you think that when I tell you to
be careful what you watch and read and listen to,
that I'm being legalistic, or that you're invincible. But there's
(09:46):
an old adage, garbage in, garbage out. It matters what
you're putting in, you know. I've been listening to this
debate and battle about artificial intelligence and how it's becoming dangerous,
and now they're telling us that it's being programmed to
lie to us, to manipulate us, in order to achieve
its end, not ours. And I started thinking, most of
(10:10):
the time, if you don't know something, the first thing
you're attempting to do is pull up Google and google
something so that you can find out in the right information.
But what if Google is programmed to lie to you
and everybody around the world is googling topics, but those
topics and the information given to you are to manipulate
you into conforming to something somebody else wants. When you
(10:33):
go to the movies, read books, social media without discretion,
who is the mind behind culture? My goodness, you're a
Christ follow where you're supposed to know this? It's not
Jesus one John five nineteen. We are children of God,
but the whole world lies under the sway of the
evil one.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
That there is a prince of the power of the air.
Ifhesian six.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood right, but
against what rulers porities, against the powers of the dark world,
against spiritual forces of evil.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
And then what is the first.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Piece of advice Paul gives in Ephesian six To win
this battle verse fourteen, Stand firmed inn with the bolt
of truth buckled around your waist. There are lies you've
been told all your life. As a result, down deep
in your gut, sorrow is central, and it's building up
(11:30):
over time. You have to allow the truth of the
Word of God to expose these lies so that you'll
begin to believe the truth, and as a result, the
truth will begin to rule over your emotions and balance
the serotonin levels in your body. Again, this is not
(11:51):
just theory to me. I've shared a few times where
when I had anxiety, I started to run more than
I had been running. I would just go for a
three mile and that seemed to do something.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
But at the.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Furthest point away from my house, I would always get
a pre attack, the feeling of the attack coming, and
my mind would start churning and saying, Man, if you
have an anxiety attack here, who's going to rescue you?
You're three miles from home. You don't have your phone
with you. What's gonna happen? And over time I was
able because my serotonin levels had been balanced.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
I could think properly.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And I'm began to speak the word of God to myself,
and I'm begin to run, and the bitter pattern of
my feet to the rhythm of God determines who lives
or dies. God determines who lives or dies. God determines
who lives or dies. And immediately that shut my brain down,
gave me a peace, way down deep inside, and I
can finish the run.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
When the Word of God so saturates your emotional and
spiritual constitution, that when the lie of the world comes
in that causes death and devastation. If the spirit of
God is able to activate the word of God, I'm
telling you you will be balanced and you will overcome.
That's why Paul says in Romans twelve, do not conform
(13:07):
to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and improve what God's will is, His good,
pleasing and perfect will. Can I tell you why mental
illness is at an all time high in America because
belief in God is at an all time low. When
you lose God, you lose so many other things. You
(13:30):
lose objective hope. You have no objective source of hope.
You're just guessing that there's something next. You have no
objective meaning. You might have tiny little meanings in your life,
but there's no ultimate meaning about what your life is about.
There's no objective morality, so everything goes and there's no
objective truth. The soul knows what the brain is thinking
(13:52):
and when that's the totality of your life. When you
are on a boat in a store without a compass,
which is what life is like when there's no true north.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Do you know what that does to the inner man
or the inner woman?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
What is it new to an entire generation of youth
who grow up in that atmosphere. Well, let me tell
you epidemic, pandemic, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, skepticism, and ultimately narcissism,
because you're fighting for the survival of your life. When
we kill God, something has to take its place. Man
cannot live for nothing. He must have something to grab
(14:31):
onto that will fill his heart, his mind and soul
and we are reaching for things that were never meant
to deliver, and our soul knows very well. There's a
movie out. It's called Jesus Revolution. Based in the sixties
and early seventies. There was a great movement, a revolution
towards Christ and away from secularism. Perhaps the passion of
(14:52):
a preacher to reach those who are far from God.
Maybe that's why there was a Jesus Revolution. Perhaps the
willingness of Christ followers to embrace and invite hippies into
their midst other people saw as offensive but ultimately primarily social.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Theorists will tell you that sex, drugs.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And alcohol were not working, that the idols were not
delivering like they thought, that free sex or free love
had left them empty, that fighting injustice was a good thing,
but when it became the ultimate thing, it left us
wanting something more. And so life is cyclical. And here
we are again in twenty twenty three, and our culture
(15:31):
tells us sex is paramount to existence. Promiscuity did not work,
so let's break some other barriers down and pursue other gods.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
But in reality, these.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Are all forms of cultural wounds that are real. Were dissatisfied,
our hearts are broken. Something going on. It's being pressed
down deep inside. We're masking it, and we're trying to
satisfy or solve the issue by pursuing, pursuing things that
(16:01):
were never meant to deliver. And there comes a time
when a pastor must say, I love you, but this
is not the way. Things that we should be ashamed
of in our culture, like hero parades and pride parades
and drag shows to our children at public libraries, are
instead viewed as saviors of the culture. And the Bible
(16:23):
clearly warns us that the world is not moving the
flow of God.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Neither will you if.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
You're not renewing your mind daily. And as a result,
if you're not saturating your mind with a word of God,
and you're saturating it with conformity to the world in
the world's thinking, your soul eventually will begin to disintegrate
and you will lash out. Life is either welling up
(16:48):
within us or death is welling up within us. And
that's why Paul says, you want to be a rebel, great,
I'm giving you permission to be a rebel, but don't
rebel against the thing that will save you. Rebell against
the thing that is killing you. So he says, do
not conform. The Greek word is systematidzo. Interesting word, just quickly.
Systematidzo means assuming an outward expression that does not reflect
(17:11):
what is inside. So if you're conforming to the world
because of the word that he's used here, Paul is
assuming you're a Christ follower and that Christ is in you.
But you're assuming an outward expression of something that does
not reflect who you really are on the inside. So
he says, instead, be transformed.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
The word is a.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Metamorphosis or metamorphile make a change. Metamorphole means make a
change in the outward appearance that truly reflects what's on
the inside.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
How do you do that?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
And he tells us by retraining the mind. I looked
up metaphorphosis in the dictionary and it says the process
of transformation from an immature form to an adult form.
I'm trying to tell you it's time to grow up
and to morph into spiritual adulthood and to put the
Word of God into your life. Saturate your life with
(18:08):
the Word of God so the spirit can activate it
at the right time and the right place to give
you the victories of your life.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
All right, here's the end. Quickly.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Step one, balance the serotonin levels. Step two, submit to
the work God is doing in your life.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Step three renew.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Your mind morph truth and spirit, truth and spirit, truth
and spirit. I don't know what lies underneath your small intestines.
I don't know what you've pressed down. I don't know
how life has kicked you around. I don't know what
trauma you have faced. I know that you're not the
only one who's faced trauma. You're not alone in this.
(18:46):
But Christian life or living is about renewing the mind,
retraining the mind. J. T. Fisher, a world renowned psychiatrist,
said this, for nearly two thousand years, the world has
been holding in its hands the complete answer to it's restless.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
And fruitless learnings.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Here rest the blueprint for successful human life with optimism,
mental health, and contentment. Hear what he's saying, your internal health.
The secret to your mental health is found in the
words of Christ. I also know this that when you
(19:23):
begin to saturate your mind, renew your mind with the word.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Of God, a chemical reaction happens. Did you know that.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
A chemical reaction Serotonin levels change not only when you
respond poorly to the circumstances or trauma of life. But
they also change and transform when you respond well to
the traumas of your life. And the only way that
(19:50):
you're going to respond well is if the Word of
God and the Spirit of God combined together to give
you this well of living water welling up in you that.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
Will flow to the outermost parts.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
You don't need a firewall against trauma. What we need
is to allow the trauma in and to saturate it
with the Word of God, so that we take something
that was meant for evil and it is used for good.
Let me finish. Here's the formula. How do you renew
your mind? If it's so key in all of this,
how do you renew your mind?
Speaker 4 (20:24):
Then?
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Number one, these are the four things that brought healing
into my life.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
I'm not saying that this is a.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Quick fix or it's a guaranteed formula, but I promise you,
according to the Word of God, this is where you begin.
Number one, Read and study the Sermon on the Mount.
Go to Matthew chap chapter five through seven and read
it and read it. Don't just read it, but eat it.
Take it in, take it in, study and ponder over
and over again. I would advise you to get a
(20:53):
book by Oswald Chambers call Studies in the Sermon on
the Mount. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount Oswald Chains.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Get the book.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Read Matthew five through seven, again and again and again.
Read Oswald Chambers book let. The Words of Jesus penetrate
your heart, your mind, and your soul until it starts
to transform you. And I pray that God will grant
you insight into who you really are and what you've
pressed down.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Two.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Attend the community group that takes the word of God seriously.
Attend the community group that takes the word of God
seriously and discusses application passionately. Spirit and truth. Spirit and truth.
Three make weakend worship a non negotiable. This is the
house of the Lord. This is where the spirit moves Traditionally, Historically,
(21:42):
God moves best and the congregation.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
Of his people.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
God does his best work when his people are gathered
together in prayer and worship, spirit and truth. The Church
of Jesus Christ began when people gather together for worship.
In Acts Chapter two, great revivals have begd when people
of God aml together to pray and worship. The Reformation
began when a group of believers began to seek spirit
and truth. Spirit and truth, and four, if you're really serious,
(22:11):
ask somebody to disciple you. The way the New Testament
Church was established is the old women disciple to the
young women, and the old man disciple to the young men.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
If I were a young man today, I would beg.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
An older man that I respected and trusted. Would you
please me with me and disciple me and help me
understand the Word of God and how it impacts my life.
If you do those things, if you balance the serotonin levels,
if you submit to the work God is doing in
your life, if you renew your mind with these four things,
I promise you God will complete his good work in you.
(22:46):
But I pray this has been a very pragmatic sermon
because I think when you're dealing with mental illness, you
need practical advice. You don't need somebody to give you platitudes.
You need somebody to give you a way forward. This
is the way forward, Spirit and truth, Spirit and truth
to change the inner core that living water may flow
throughout your body, soul and mind.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Father, thank you for today.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
I pray for my brothers and sisters who are struggling
with mental illness. I hope that nothing I said would
belittle their pain, and if it came across like that,
I repent right now in Christ's name. I pray they
would feel my love for them and a lack of judgment. Nevertheless,
I feel they would be motivated that there's a lot
(23:30):
at the end of the tunnel. I pray for anybody
who's contemplating suicide that they would realize that is not
from you, that's from the evil one who's trying to
circumvent what you're doing in their lives. That you're creating
something precious and good, that the Potter and the Clay
are at work. And I pray that you'd give them
insight and passion to listen to this sermon again and
again until it makes its way deep into their minds
(23:55):
and emotions and put these things into practice that will
lead shalom piece life and vitality through Christ and his name.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Amen, you've been listening to Today with Jeff Finds. Next
time we'll bring you a new message from pastor Jeff.
You can listen to more messages like this. Just search
for Today with Jeff Finds Wherever you listen to podcasts you.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
Make with every single friend
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Today, Today, Today, Today with Jeff Findes,
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