Upside Down

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Lord, I pray for people today that feel like their
life is upside down. I pray for those that feel
like they have lost everything and there's no hope. So Lord,
as we go into this program, I pray that you
would bring peace and strength to those that feel hopeless

(00:40):
as we talk about the subject upside down and losing everything.
In the name of Jesus Amen. Now I have a
few notes in front of me, not a lot, but
you know, a lot of times I hear people who
claim to be very spiritually mature. Then when their life

(01:01):
is dumped, upside down and shaken, you really find out
where they're at. And so I have a friend that
goes through things, and I've had many friends who go
through things, that are going through tough situations. But what
happens is you realize how mature you are when you're

(01:26):
going through tough situations, when you've lost all your peace
and you can't shut your mind down. That shows that
there's room to grow. And I know it's hard. I
know that it takes time to learn how to do this,
but there's only one way when you are turned upside down,

(01:50):
to walk in peace and to have a quiet mind.
As we have to say, God, I trust you you
going to see me through. I know you're gonna get
me through to the other side. So it's very difficult
when you can't shut your mind off. Maybe that's why

(02:11):
you're up at one am in the morning listening to me.
That's the very thing that happens to you. Your mind
gets so busy. You just lay in bed and you
look at the ceiling, or you look at the four walls,
and everybody else is asleep, but you, well, you and
me are together tonight or this morning. You and me
are together this morning, and I'm talking straight to you.

(02:33):
I'm going to try to bring some hope and some
help to these type of situations. Now, there was a
man in the Bible. I encourage you guys to read
your Bible. You know he always grew up with that
song the b I b l E. Assess the book
for me. I stand alone on the word of God,
the b I b l E. If you want to

(02:56):
read about someone who went through a lot in the Bible,
that would be the book of Job. A man called Job.
He was very prosperous. He had everything. In overnight he
lost everything he had, including his kids who died. And
I can't think of any more tragedy than that. When

(03:17):
you lose a son, or you lose a daughter, or
you lose everything you have, you lose your business, you
lose your house. And I don't know how Job did it.
I got to be honest, He had to have somehow
the supernatural strength of the Lord. Even his wife told
him to curse God and die. That's pretty bad when
your wife tells you that. But Job, he wouldn't do it,

(03:41):
he said, though he slay me. Yet, Well, I trust him.
Job kept his trust in God even though his life
was upside down. And because Job trusted God and had
faith in God, it honored God. And in the end
God restored to him. Think it was like one hundredfold

(04:01):
everything that he had lost. Now, if you're going through
a rough situation, you might be thinking God hasn't restored
anything to me. You might be dealing with a lot
of anger because you're angry at God because of what
you've been through. That's normal. That's absolutely normal to feel

(04:22):
that way. So when I have people around me that say, hey,
I can't shut my mind off, I can't get this
off my mind, this and that, I say, you have
to learn to put your hope in your trust in God.
Even though you don't know how you're going to make
it through, You're gonna believe God how that no matter

(04:43):
how you're gonna make it, you're going to make it
to the other side. You're going to be all right.
And sometimes we go through things that we say, I
don't know how I could ever recover from this, But
with time and with God's help, you can make it
to the other side. And you know, Joel two twenty

(05:04):
five says, I will repay you for all the years
the locus have eaten, and God can make your misery
your ministry. That's hard to see when you're in the
middle of something that's really hard to deal with, all
the emotions, all the feelings that you're going through. That's
absolutely normal. That is absolutely normal to be going through that.

(05:29):
So I want to encourage you this morning to be
able to tap into some resources that are out there.
If you need counseling, go for counseling. Call Spiritual Care
at two sixt' nine nine nine two nine oh one
to set up a healing appointment. Go to our podcast channel.

(05:51):
It's called Healing Begins Spiritual Care. Find it anywhere you
get your podcasts. I have one hundred and thirty nine
podcasts right now. We're going into our third season, and
it's all based on encouragement and keeping good mental health.
And so maybe some of the things that I've spoken
on and ministered on would be of great help to you.

(06:15):
There's just so many things that I could talk about
right now. I remember when in the Book of axwhen
Paul when he was on a ship and they were
going through his storm. I think it was twelve days.
They didn't see the day, they didn't see the moon
or stars or sunlight. The storm was driving them across
the sea till they shipwrecked on Malta. But he finally

(06:39):
made it to the other side. Then when he got
on Malta, as you know, he was making a fire.
Then he got bit by a viper, but he shaked
it off into the fire and the poison of the
viper had no effect on him. So the midst of
all the storms, God has a plan. He is a
plan not only to get you through, but he has

(07:00):
a plan to help you fulfill your destiny. Maybe that
you might feel like your destiny is absolutely lost, but
it's not. I want to read a scripture. Now, when
you're going through a hard time, sometimes the last thing
you want is someone to read a scripture to you.
But I'm going to read a very familiar scripture that

(07:22):
we all quote, that we all read, that we all know.
So if you get your Bible out, go right now,
get your Bible out. Turn to the Book of Proverbs,
the Book of Wisdom, chapter three, verses five and six.
Trust in the Lord. That's how he starts out. Right now,
he says, trust in the Lord. How with all your heart,

(07:47):
lean not on your own understanding in all your ways,
submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
You know, that's one of the things I try to
do when I'm going through a hard time. I trust you.
I don't understand why I'm going through what I'm going through,
but I trust that you're gonna get me to the
other side. I acknowledge that you're in my situation, that

(08:12):
you know what's going on, and I submit my plans
to you so you can make my path straight. You
know the thing this is easier said than done, because
many times I get impatient. I want God to answer
me now, and God tends to wait. Another scripture that

(08:32):
came to my mind was Jeremiah six sixteen. This is
what the Lord says. Stand at the crossroads and look.
Stand still for a minute, don't move, look, ask for
the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and

(08:53):
walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Now,
you know, it says in the Bible that we are
to be still and know that I am God. God
says that. You know, sometimes the hardest thing for me
to do when I'm in a trial is to be still,
is to wait, It's to look. Why am I looking?

(09:17):
I want to see what God might show me. I
want to hear what God might say to me, and
I want to walk in the path that would bring
peace to my soul. Two Timothy one twelve. That is
why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is
no cause for shame, because I know whom I have

(09:40):
believed and inconvinced that He is able to guard what
I have entrusted to him until that day. You know,
my grandma did that all the time. They used to
bug me, you know, when she was going through a
hard time. She would say, I know whom I have believed.
I am persuaded that he is able to keep that

(10:00):
which I've committed on to him against that day. Grandma
had a trust in God all the way through her life.
She raised thirteen children. She lost one, but she had
a total of thirteen kids raised mostly all preachers, had
a great, big family, and lived to be almost ninety

(10:21):
two years old. And I saw her go through one
situation after another situation after another situation in her life,
and she never lost her trust in God. Even when
her life was upside down. She was right side up.
I want you to think about that for a minute.
Even though everything around her was upside down, yet she

(10:45):
was right side up. Wow. Incredible. And that's how I
want to be even if things around me are upside down.
I want to be right side up. I want to
have my vision, my hope, my trust in God. I
don't want what I'm going through to stop me from

(11:06):
achieving what God has called me to do. And you
know I'm gonna say this, You will really find out
how mature you are in God when you go through
a bad time or a hard time, or a trial.
You will find out how well you are dealing with fear, anger,
and all those emotions which are absolutely normal when you

(11:28):
go through a hard time. I'm going to say, we
have to ask God for help. Lord, help me, help
me stay right side up when everything is upside down.
Help me not to be tossed to and fro, but
help my eyes to be fixed on you Lord. You
know it says in James chapter one. It says, blessed

(11:50):
are you, and you go through trials of many kinds
because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance,
and perseverance must finish its work so that you can
be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Well, it's all
about maturity. It's all about getting to the end of
the race. And even though the world is upside down

(12:13):
and everything is upside down around you, you are right
side up because you have your eyes on Jesus. You
haven't capsized, you haven't gone under, you haven't drowned, you
haven't shipped wrecked. Because you're right side up, and you're
walking with the Lord in the midst of the situations
of life. That is what Gods calling us all to do.

(12:34):
And we need each other. Did you know we need
each other? It says in Hebrews ten twenty five. Don't
forsake the settling of yourselves together. As some would be
in the habit of doing all the more as we
see the day approaching, what day, the coming of the Lord.
You know, the more we go further into the end times,

(12:55):
into the last days, the more the world will be
upside down, not right side up, but upside out, and
the world will be going to hell in a handbasket.
But we can have peace in the midst of the storm.
We can be right side up. We don't have to
be upside down. You know, Paul, Paul knew the secret

(13:17):
about suffering, and I'm going to share that with you.
In two Corinthians forth seven through ten, it says, but
we have this treasure in jars of play to show
that this saucurpassing power is from God and not from us.
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed,
perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned, struck

(13:38):
down but not destroyed. We always carry around in our
body the death of Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus may also be revealed in our body. How could
he say that, you know the word perplexed, and the
Greek is like on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
How could Paul go through everything he went through, whip wrecks,

(14:00):
the beatings, the being stone. How could he go through
all of that and not be destroyed? Well, it goes
back to the seventh verse. He knew his treasure, that's
the secret purposes and plans for your life before you're born.
Paul knew what his purpose was, and his purpose got

(14:21):
him through everything that he went through. It was all
about his purpose. It was all about God's calling his life,
and he was going to press through in his purpose.
But yet he says something and really revealing and Tewo
Corinthians for sixteen through eighteen. Therefore we do not lose heart.

(14:42):
Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. Then he goes on to
say in verse seventeen, and by the way, this always
challenges me for our light and momentary troubles. Excuse me, Paul,
I don't feel that the troubles in my life life
for light and momentary. Then he says, our achieving for

(15:04):
us an eternal weight and glory that fire outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but what is unseen. For what is seen as temporary,
what is unseen is eternal. Paul knew how to trust
the Lord. He knew how to stay right side up
in an upside down world. How First of all, he

(15:27):
kept his eyes on the Lord. He kept his eyes
on Jesus, He kept his eyes on his purpose. Secondly,
it was all about perspective. He kept his eyes in heaven.
He knew. Paul said, for me to live is Christ,
but to die is gain. And so Paul knew all that.
He understood all that, and that just carried with him

(15:50):
through the end of his life, so that when he
was going down and they were gonna kill him and
martyr him, he said, I fought a good fight. I've
run a good race. I finished the course. And let
me add something to it. I've stayed right side up
in an upside down world. Wow. You know when people
see us and we're right side up, when everything is

(16:13):
upside down, they wonder how in the world we're doing it.
How in the world can you have peace? How in
the world can you walk the way you do? You
never seem to be shaken, you never seem to be
thrown upside down, but you just keep going and that's
the testimony of the Lord.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
You know.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
It says in Philippians that we are to think on
the things that are pure, lovely and of good report.
And it says in Philippians that the Lord can give
us such a peace, and that peace will guard our minds.
In Christ Jesus. That peace will be a peace that

(16:56):
transcends all under standing. You know, you can have a
peace that transcends all understanding, but it can only be
found in Christ Jesus. As you give the Lord your troubles,
and then you put your mind on him, and you

(17:19):
keep your mind on him, and you trust him to
get you through. You know, that's how it works, right,
You know, one Peter five seven to nine. Cast all
your anxiety upon him because he cares for you, for
your adversary. The devil prowls around like a roar and lying,

(17:39):
seeking someone who he may devour. You also have to
give God your cares, your stress, and your anxieties. You
got to bring those things to the cross and leave
them there. The trouble is, we're so used to picking
him up. We're he used to worrying about things because
we're used to handling things, and so we have to

(18:02):
leave the cares, the stress and the anxieties at the cross.
We've just got to leave them there and lay them down,
otherwise they will devour you. You know, when fear is
in your face, you say, to fear, fear. God has
not given me a spirit of fear, but power love

(18:26):
in a sound mind. And so get the word out.
Battle with the word, Stand on the word, speak the word,
Speak your purpose out, you know, keep your eyes on
what God has called you to do. See the thing
the enemy does. He throws our past into our present

(18:49):
to keep us from our future. That's his whole reason.
And it's like this too. If you go in the
Bible and you read the parable of the soul and
the Seed, it'll tell you exactly how the enemy works.
So the sore is the Lord and the seed is
the word of God. And as the seed is thrown

(19:11):
out onto the ground, the soil represents the hearts of man,
and the seed represents what God wants to do for us.
And then when the seed lands in our hearts, immediately
the bird comes, who represents the enemy. And the birds
want to snatch from you the very thing that God

(19:33):
gave you, that God said to you, that God wanted
to do for you. Now, look, don't let the cares
of this world make you walk away from the Lord.
Don't allow another bad example as a Christian to cause
you to throw church out the window. But keep your

(19:55):
eyes on Jesus and realize Church is made up of
human and humans are humans. Humans make mistakes, and there
will be always someone who will offend you in church.
But you know what, I don't go to church for
other people. I go to church to hear from the Lord.
I go to church praying that God would speak to

(20:17):
me and give me something to help me through my week.
And we know the day is approaching one day. The
day is the coming of the Lord, and we need
to be connected to the body of Christ so that
when we are going through things, we are not alone.
We got people to walk with, We got people to
pray with, you know, because there's power in prayer. The

(20:38):
Bible says if one can put a thousand to flight,
two can put ten thousands. So when everything is upside down,
you want to be right side up, and sometimes we
need help to say right side up. I just hope
this message on upside down or living right side up

(20:58):
in an upside down world been helpful for you, and
I want to pray for you, that God would touch
you and that God would help you. Heavenly. Father, I
pray for all those that are listening today. I pray
that you give them peace. I pray that you give
them hope, and I pray that you would help them

(21:18):
to stay right side up in an upside down world. Lord,
you are so good. You love us so much. You
knew what it was like to suffer. You knew what
it was like to hurt. You were crucified on a
cross and your body was whipped and bleeding. You were
falsely accused, cursed at, spit at, mocked, You went through

(21:45):
difficult things, and that you loved us and forgave us.
So Jesus, we just put everything in your hands this morning,
and I asked that you would help those that feel
like they're upside down to become right sight up as
they put their eyes on you. Jesus, you are so good.
We love you, And if you've not put your hope

(22:09):
and trust in Jesus, just say Lord, help me, Lord,
help me. Call on the name of Jesus this morning,
Say come into my heart, forgive me of my sins
and be my savior. Well, I'd love to hear from you.
My email is share at Healing Begins radio dot com.

(22:29):
That share at Healing Begins Radio dot com. I'd love
to hear from you and know what you're going through.
May the Lord bless you, May he keep you, May
he cause his face to shine upon you. May he
be gracious to you and give you peace. Remember you

(22:52):
can be right side up when everything is upside down.
The Lord is with you and he is the master.
I'll the winds and the waves they obey him and
he will help you in every situation to get where
you are going. So don't lose heart.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
He loves you and he's with you.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
We live in a world of worries, stress and fear,
and many times people don't have a very good support system.
I would like to hear from you. I would like
to know how you like the program, any prairie question
might have, or any future subjects that you would like
me to address on future programs. My email is share

(23:46):
at Healing Begins radio dot com. Again that share at
Healing Begins Radio dot com. Healing Begins is brought to
you by spiritual care consultants located in Hastings, Michigan. At

(24:06):
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We do virtual and in person sessions. We invite you
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Spiritualcareconsultants dot com. We also value your feedback and would
like to hear from you. You can email me at
Gail G. A. L. E. At Spiritualcareconsultants dot com. We

(24:31):
would like to invite you and your family and friends
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so much for being a faithful supporter. May God bless you,
keep you, cause us face to shine upon you and

(24:54):
give you peace. Thank you for listening.