Building Health God's Way

has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. (upbeat music) Welcome to All In With Pastor Jordan Easley. Today's message is about to begin and we invite you to prepare your heart and mind to hear an inspiring message from God's word. We hope and pray for God to speak to you today as you seek to live your life. All In For Jesus Christ. And now from First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, here's Pastor Jordan Easley. (congregation applauding) Well, let me begin today by asking you a simple question. How many of you by a show of hands would say, I want to live a long life. Anybody just raise your hand today. Some of you are like, I've already lived one of those. All right, but a lot of us say, we want to live a long life. But let me take it to another level and ask you even a deeper question today. How many of you would rather live a life that's lived well instead of just a life that's lived long? I think most of us would say, man, I don't want to just live a long time. I want to live well. And there's a big difference between the two. You can add years to your life without adding life to your years.

You can exist on the planet for a long time without ever really living. And I don't believe that's what God wants for us. I don't believe God wants you to just live your life surviving. I believe God wants every single one of us to live our life thriving. Amen, would you say amen to that? Listen, I think God wants his very best for your life. And I believe he wants you to prosper. Say that word with me, prosper. Say it one more time, prosper. A lot of times we hear that word in this context and we kind of cringe. We're like, I don't know about this whole prosperity thing. Does God really want prosperity in my life? And the reason we cringe is because culture has kind of changed our definition of what that word really means. You see, prosperity isn't just big houses and fast cars and a lot of money and wealth and possessions. I know a lot of people talk about the prosperity gospel. But when you read this book, that's not how God defines prosperity in the Bible. See, the Bible, when it's talking about prosperity, talks just as much about your health as it does your wealth. Did you know that? Talks just as much about our health and our body and our mind than it does about what we possess. In fact, when you read John's words in 3rd, John,

he's writing this letter to his friend Gaius. And this is what he says in verse two. He said, "Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering "in every way and are in good health "just as your whole life is going well." So when John thinks about prosperity, he's like, he doesn't write his friend and say, "Man, I hope your investments are doing well right now. "I hope your 401(k) is growing "and God is just blessing you with a wad of cash." He doesn't talk about that at all. He connects prosperity to good health. He talks about him living in prosperity in his whole life, which ought to tell us right off the jump that God isn't only concerned with what's in your wallet. He cares about what's going on in your body. He cares about what's going on in your mind and in your soul. In fact, most of the time when scripture talks about this topic, that's what God is referring to. In Proverbs three, verse seven, he says, "Don't be wise in your own eyes. "Fear the Lord and turn away from evil." This will bring what? Healing for your body and strength for your bones. So right here Solomon's talking about obeying the Lord. He's talking about living for the Lord. And he tells us the way that you walk with God will affect the way that you live in your body. And if you live well, if you live according to God's word and God's principles, look at the prosperity

he connects that to it's healing for your body and strength for your bones. So right away, when God talks about prosperity, understand he's not just talking about adding zeros to your bank account. He's talking about adding wholeness to your life. True prosperity means walking in step with God, with wisdom and joy and strength and purpose and then living out God's very best as a result of that faithfulness. That's what this series is all about. That's why we're calling it live long and prosper. I didn't call it that just because I wanted to talk about Captain Spock last week. I talked about it because that's what God wants for us. He wants you to live long, but he also wants you to prosper. Last week, if you remember, we talked about building wealth God's way. You remember that message? Building wealth God's way. In that message, we learned that prosperity isn't about how much we keep. It's about how well we steward what God has blessed us with. So think about what God has placed in your hands. Prosperity is understanding how you take what God has blessed you with and you steward in a way that pleases the Lord. That's what we're saying. that he cares about how we steward our resources. God cares about how you steward your money.

Believe it or not, he's paying attention to how you're stewarding whatever it is that he's blessed you with. And that doesn't just talk about your wealth, that also talks about your health. That's why we're calling today's message, building health God's way. Because in God's eyes, prosperity isn't just about what you earn. It's about how you live. And it's about how you live your life according to God's plan. And we're gonna see that God has a plan for stewarding our health today. And the question is, where do we begin this study? Let's just start at the very beginning. If you have your Bible, go all the way to the left and start in Genesis chapter two. That's where we're gonna begin and launch this message today as we walk through these different principles in God's word that are gonna teach us how to live this life well. The first thing we're gonna see in Genesis chapter two is that we've got to rest regularly. You know, most people think that health begins with diet and exercise and those things do matter. But scripture takes us somewhere else. He takes us to rest in the very beginning. And that's kind of where he launches this idea

of living your life well, building health God's way. Notice before God ever told Adam to work or to multiply. Before God ever gave Adam a to-do list of this is what your job is. Before all of that, he built a rhythm into creation. And he doesn't say we need to work harder. In fact, it's quite the opposite. He said, we've got to learn when to stop working. We've got to learn what that looks like in our own life. Before God ever said move, he said rest. And that's why we've got to see right off the bat that God tells us we've got to rest regularly. From the very beginning, God not only said it, he gave us an example for it. And in Genesis two verse two, this is what we read. It says on the seventh day, God had completed his work that he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. Now let me ask you a theological question as we jump into this text. Did God rest in Genesis chapter two because God was tired? What would you say to that? No, of course not. He doesn't grow weary and we've read that in scripture. He doesn't run out of strength. So the question is, if God didn't rest because he was tired, then why did God rest in Genesis chapter two? Great question.

I'm glad that you asked because here's what we know. God didn't rest because he was tired. God rested to show us something. He was showing us and modeling us the rhythm in which he designed us to operate. He was giving us a rhythm for our life. You see, you and I need to hear this message today because you and I live in a culture that gets this way wrong. Would you agree with that today? We have a hard time resting. In fact, most of us live in a culture where we encounter people every single week that brag about things quite the opposite. We brag about how little sleep we get. Do you know that person? Right, man, I just don't require a lot of sleep. I only sleep three or four hours a day but that's okay 'cause I go, go, go. And I'm getting it done and I'm working hard. I'm doing this. And you're like, okay, you sleep three or four hours a week and you're bragging about that. They brag about how busy they are. Man, I'm just so busy. I'm like, I got this and I've got that. I'm just, I'm so busy these days. Or we talk about how many activities we're juggling at the same time. Man, I'm working and I'm playing

but then I've got my kids and they're in travel ball and I'm taking care of my parents and I'm doing this. And man, I've just got so many things going on at the same time. Well, we brag about how many hours we work. Good, honest, great, godly people. You have a conversation like, how are you doing? The first thing you hear is what? Man, I'm just worn out. I work 70 hours a week. I work 80 hours a week and that's our go-to because for us that is kind of what defines us. Here's what you've got to understand about our culture today. We wear exhaustion like it's a badge of honor. Have you ever picked up on that? We wear exhaustion like it's a badge of honor but here's the thing, busy-ness isn't blessing according to God's word. Busy-ness is actually a form of disobedience. God didn't create us to run on fumes. He created us to operate in a rhythm of work and rest. Work and rest. But how many people do you know that brag about resting? When's the last time you said, man, how are you doing? And they said, man, I'm doing great. Let me tell you why. 'Cause I've been resting the last 24 hours and it's been fantastic. I've never had that conversation with anybody.

If I'm talking to a dude, it's always I'm worn out or I'm tired or I'm busy or I'm exhausted. No one ever says, bro, I am a master at resting. I'm killing this rest thing. You need rest. In fact, look at Jesus' words in Matthew 11. What does he say? "Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." He said, "Come to me when you're worn out, and I'll give you what you need. I will give you the rest that you lack." So that tells us that rest isn't laziness. Rest is obedience. It's not weakness, it's worship. When you close your eyes at night and you trust that God can run this universe without your help, you know what you're doing? You're demonstrating faith. When you stop striving and you stop sprinting and you choose to Sabbath, you know what you're declaring? You're saying, "God, I know that you're in control, and I'm not." You know what that is? That's biblical rest. It's not checking out. It's not having this overabundance of me time. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying it's when you get to the place where you say, "Lord, I'm going to stop,

and I'm going to trust you to start." I'm backing up because I know that you're going before me. Now, I want to point this out before we get too far ahead of ourselves. There is a difference between biblical rest and worldly rest. Those are two different categories. Worldly rest says, "I've earned this. I'm going to kick back, and I'm going to relax." Biblical rest says, "I need him." Do you see the difference? "I've earned this, or I need him." Worldly rest seeks escape. Biblical rest seeks renewal. Remember our example back in the book of Genesis? God worked for six days, and then He rested for one. We see that rhythm. It wasn't about indulgence. It was about dependence. God hardwired a reminder into creation, and that reminder was, "We can't run on empty forever. We need the Lord if we're going to live this life well." So rest is the thing that forces us to remember who our provider really is. I mean, think about your smartphone today. This is a great example that all of us are carrying with us. If you run this thing nonstop and you never plug it in, it's going to die, right? I mean, that's a no-brainer.

It's going to die. It doesn't matter how strong the signal is. It doesn't matter how great the apps are that you've downloaded on your phone. Without a charge, it's going to shut down. And in the same way, you and I were created to do what? To plug into God. And if you're not plugging into God, you're missing out. Because the Bible says, when we pause, when we stop striving, when we realign our hearts, he's going to recharge us for the race that he's called us to run. And here's the paradox. You ready? When we do that, when we rest God's way, we don't fall behind. We get ahead. And it doesn't really make sense. You're like, you're telling me you can accomplish more in six days than a person who works in seven days? Yeah, that's what the Bible teaches. Because rest multiplies fruitfulness. It roots you in him. And when you trust him with tomorrow, you make wiser, healthier choices today. So don't just run harder. The Bible says from the very beginning, Genesis chapter two, we've got to rest regularly. But not only rest regularly, look at number two here today. We've also got to eat wisely, eat wisely. Some of you said amen, some of you slouch down in your chair

and said, does he really have to talk about this today? But the Bible talks about it, and so let's hit it. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19. Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own for you are bought at a price, so glorify God with your body. Hey, that's a verse where a lot of times we pass over pretty quickly, but there's a powerful truth that many of us need to hear today. I want you to just do this real quick. I want you to make sure that you're here. I want you to touch the body that God's giving you and make sure that everything's good, all right? A lot of times we say, man, this is my body. I can do what I want with my body. This verse says the opposite. This verse just told us that your body is not your own. It says your body belongs to the Lord. It says you were bought at a price and you belong to God. That means your body isn't a trash can to dump whatever you want into, right? The Bible says your body's not a trash can. Your body is a what? It's a temple. It's a temple where God himself chose to dwell. And that tells me what I put inside my body matters. Not only to me, it should matter. It does matter to God.

It should matter to me, but it does matter to God because that's his house. That's where he chose to dwell. You know, in the Old Testament, God gave Israel dietary laws. these laws seem pretty strange to us, but God had a purpose behind every single one of them. See, these weren't just random rules, these were boundaries that God set in place to set as people apart from the rest of the world. He also put these boundaries in place to protect them physically from things they didn't even understand yet. Now, we're not under those same Old Testament food laws today, like they were back then. Jesus came and he fulfilled every single one of those things, but the principle behind them still remains, and you know what they teach us? Wise choices lead to strength, foolish choices lead to weakness, and God didn't call you to be weak. And that's true in every single one of our lives. It's true in every area of our life, including what we eat, what we drink, and what we put into the temple that God's given us. Here's the truth. Food is fuel. Would you agree with that? Food is fuel. And if you fill your body with things that tear it down, you can't expect to run strong for the mission that God has called you to run. But when you begin to see your body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, things change in your mind, and I think that's why God tells us, when you realize this body is the place where God himself chose to live, he chose to live within you. I think that ought to change how we view what we put into our bodies. You're saying, Jordan, does that mean I can't have ice cream this afternoon, after lunch?

That's not what I'm saying. Can I not have anything bad for me ever again? That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, when you change your perspective based off of what God's word tells you, it reminds you that this doesn't belong to me. This belongs to him. Then all of a sudden, every meal becomes more than just a moment of eating. It becomes an act of stewardship. You see that? It becomes an act of worship. You are saying, Lord, I want to glorify you in every part of my life, even in the way that I care for my body, and steward this resource that you've blessed me with. You look at Proverbs 23, it gives us another powerful reminder about this same thing. It says, "Don't associate with those who drink too much wine, or with those who gorge themselves on meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags." Now, notice the warning here, Solomon isn't just talking about drunkenness, he's also talking about gluttony. Baptist love to stop at drunkenness. We like to just talk about drinking, and we're like, yeah, drunk people are this. And that and all the things we don't want to talk about sitting down at that buffet too many times. All right, so we avoid that pretty well, but the truth is both of these things are in the same sentence in God's Word. Both of these things also come from the same root problem. They describe a person that's ruled by their appetites instead of being led by discipline. And here's a single principle that Solomon is teaching in this text. He's showing us that your input determines your output. What you put in determines what's going to come out. When you allow in your life will always show up through your life.

Now think about what that says regarding alcohol, because that's where he does start. What do we know about alcohol? Well, we know a lot of things, but I can just summarize it in this statement. Alcohol isn't an adder of things, alcohol is a remover of things. It's a remover. That's why when you scrape your arm, you pour alcohol on the wound, because alcohol removes the germs. It kills what doesn't belong. And Solomon right here is saying in the same way, when you fill your life with things that pollute your body, they are going to start removing the good things from your life. When alcohol controls you in drunkenness, it's going to remove some things automatically. It's going to remove the clarity of your mind. It's going to remove the peace from your heart. It will remove friendships, and it will destroy your life relationally. But it will also remove the prosperity from your life, the Bible says. That's what Solomon just said. If you're a drunk, you're going to become poor, and grogginess will clothe you in rags. Did you see that text? See, that word "poor" is the word I really want to encourage you to think about, because it doesn't just refer to the money in your bank account. It's not saying if you're drunk, you're going to lose out on money. It actually talks about something far greater than that. That word "poor" in the original language refers to loss of many kinds. And it paints a picture of a person that lives in this drunken state of mind, but they experience a slow erosion of everything good in their life. says if you want to choose this but the Bible says, here's what's coming. You're going to become poor. That doesn't mean that you're gonna be broke. It means that all the good things in your life

are going to slowly begin eroding and disappearing. But I want you to notice that Solomon doesn't stop there. He says the exact same thing about gluttony. The Bible puts gluttony and drunkenness on the same line, and it says it will lead to the same results. You say, let me just show you why this is such a big deal to God. 'Cause many of us wonder, why does God care what I eat? Why does he care what I drink at the end of the day? Why does God really care? Well, it's because when you live to satisfy your cravings instead of living to glorify your creator, then you have then let your stomach become your master. And your stomach cannot be your master. Your stomach cannot give you good things. Your stomach cannot lead you down the right path, but God can. And that's why the Bible calls us into discipline. Because when we eat wisely, when we exercise self-control, when we honor God with what we consume, we're not just feeding our bodies. We're fueling our calling. And we're putting ourselves in a position to move forward and make a greater impact for the kingdom of God. That's why our input is so important. Think about it like this. Think about a high performance car. If you spent $100,000 on a high performance luxury vehicle, you wouldn't go to the gas station and pump it full of the cheapest, dirtiest gas in this town.

No one would do that. Because we know in the back of our mind that the quality of the fuel affects the performance of the vehicle, right? Well, in the same way, you can't expect to pour junk into your body and then have the energy and the clarity and the strength to live out your God-given mission. That's why the Bible warns us about being controlled by our appetites, because what controls your stomach will ultimately control your strength. And if your stomach is controlling you, guess what? The Savior's gonna have a hard time controlling you. The Spirit of God's gonna have a hard time controlling you. I once heard someone put it this way. They said eat to live, don't live to eat. And really, those are two different kinds of people. Are we eating to live so that we can be the person that God called us to be? Are we living to eat? I think that's good advice. Because when you choose to eat wisely, fueling your body instead of feeding every craving, you position yourself to run longer and harder and stronger for the Lord. So here's what scripture says so far. If we're going to manage this well, steward this resource well, we've got to rest regularly. We've got to eat wisely. And the third thing we see is this. We must exercise faithfully. Exercise, faithfully.

First Timothy 4a puts it this way. It says for the training of the body has limited benefit. But godliness is beneficial in every way since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Now, don't miss what Paul is saying here. Some people are like, man, that right there just said I ain't gotta work out. Praise the Lord for that verse in scripture. 'Cause I am not going to the gym, I am not gonna do. That is not what he's saying here. In fact, he's not saying that physical training doesn't matter, he says what? It has limited benefit. So that word limited, it's not saying that it's not, it doesn't really matter, it's down here. No, he's saying that the limitations, there's limitations to the benefits of physical training. What he means is it's beneficial for here and now. It's beneficial for this life on planet earth. But then he parlays that with spiritual training and he said that's better because it helps us here and forever, you get that? So notice Paul doesn't dismiss exercise, he actually acknowledges its value and he's saying yes, training your body is good but training your soul, that's even better. Here's the big idea that we need to walk away from in this verse. He's saying we need to have balance.

We need to have balance between the two. We need to care for our souls, yes, without neglecting our bodies. Think of it once again like this, your body, think about it as a vehicle that God gave you. God gave you this vehicle to fulfill his mission. And if the vehicle breaks down, the mission's gonna slow down. You wouldn't ignore the check engine light in your car for two or three years, would you? Some of your life, mine's been on for five years and I don't know how I got here today, all right? I get that. There's a lot of you who are like that but if you are a normal person, you're not going to neglect maintenance in your vehicle because, you know, if I neglect maintenance, that car's eventually gonna give out on me. And the same is true for your body. Listen, God only gave you one body. He gave you one and he expects you to take care of it. That's not vanity, that stewardship. Well, here's what we've seen so far. You've got to rest regularly. You must eat wisely. You must exercise faithfully. When I say exercise, man, the motivation behind that's very important. I'm not saying you should exercise biblically because you're trying to fit into smaller clothes or look better

in skinny jeans. That's not what we're talking about. I'm talking about having energy and clarity and stamina to do what God has specifically called you to do. Because here's the truth. When you feel better, you're going to serve better. Would you agree with that? When you feel better and you feel stronger, you're going to be in a position to be used by God in a greater way. When your mind is clear, you can hear God's voice more clearly. When your body is strong, your ministry will be stronger. I think God's called us to be strong. I don't think He's called a single person in here to be a weakling. In fact, let me just go ahead and let you in on something that you may not know about Jesus. In fact, this is just from me, OK? This isn't in the Bible, but I'm going to tell you what I believe about Jesus. I personally believe that Jesus had abs. Does anybody else believe that? Am I the only one in the room who believes Jesus had abs? I think He had a six-pack, maybe an eight-pack. I think Jesus had abs. Take it to the bank and you can disagree if you want. But here's the thing. When I read about Jesus, I just see Him. I see Him. He is chiseled.

He is strong. He is not weak. Jesus is not soft. He wasn't out of shape. There's no way that He was out of shape. Because He wasn't in a pickup truck. No, He walked everywhere He went. I mean, I've read a lot about Jesus. I know He was a carpenter by trade. I know He worked with His hands. He lifted heavy wood. He shaped stone. He was sweating under the sun. Every single day required physical strength and endurance and grit. Have you ever noticed how far Jesus walked? I've made those trips. You hear about Him reading and going from Galilee to Jerusalem. Let me tell you something. That's a long trip in an air-conditioned, chartered bus. And yet Jesus is walking. He's like, from Galilee to Jerusalem, like it sounds real easy. But He's on foot. And His disciples are on foot, right behind Him. Which just tells me that His disciples were probably also very jacked, all right? They were also chiseled. They were also strong. I mean, think about it.

Their ability to keep pace with Jesus required physical stamina. And if they couldn't endure the journey, they would have missed out on the ministry. I'll say the same thing for us, y'all. If we can't endure the journey, we'll miss the ministry. I think that's one of the key reasons the Bible so often compares faith to running a race. Because faith isn't a sprint. Faith is a marathon. Do we have any marathon runners in the room today? Any crazy people want to raise their hand? Y'all are insane. All right, all of you are crazy. But you know what, you get this point. You get the fact that you can't wait until the last mile to start training for the race. I think about an Olympic runner. They don't show up on the day of the Olympics, expecting to win without months and even years of training. I mean, think about it. Their rest and their diet and their discipline, all of those things. They work to prepare them for that one defining moment. And when the pressure hits, it's their training that carries them through. In the same way, listen to me, believer, your spiritual race and your physical health go hand in hand. The way you treat your body today is preparing you for the opportunities God has for you tomorrow.

So if you want to finish your race strong, you've got to begin training for the race now. Rest regularly. Eat wisely. Exercise faithfully. But let me give you one more. You ready for it, say amen? The last one we want to see is we've got to guard spiritually. You must guard spiritually. You know, not every health problem comes from what you eat or how much you exercise. Some of the deepest issues we face come from what we allow in our hearts and what we allow in our minds. Proverbs 4.23 says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life." I want you to think about that verse. It says, "Your heart is the control tower of your life." Everything that flies in, everything that flies out it, it goes through your heart, it goes through your mind. And if you fill your life with bitterness, we know this from example, from experience. If we fill our life with bitterness, bitterness is eventually going to fly out, am I right? If you fill your life with anger, what's going to happen? Anger will overflow from your life. If you feed your life with fear, fear will guide your steps as you move forward. But Scripture also says, if you fill your life with things like faith, and joy, and hope, and love,

Let me tell you, a life. I'm talking about real life begins to flow out of you. Because what's in you will always come out of you. You know what's amazing how modern day medicine has finally caught up with what scripture's been teaching for thousands of years. Now if you look it up, modern day medicine will tell you that bitterness will poison your body. Did you know that? Medicine will tell you that stress weakens the immune system and anxiety robs you of rest and anger raises your blood pressure and unforgiveness, unforgiveness will eat away at you from the inside out. And you know about worry? You know what worry does? Worry is like carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength. It'll crush you every single time. But here's the good news. Anybody need some good news today? The good news is God has given us a better way to live. God has given us a better way to live. You read the word in Philippians 4. Paul says, don't worry about anything, but in everything. Through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I want you to see that word today. What does he do? He guards us.

He guards your heart. He guards your mind. The Bible says, when you pray, when you take your burdens and you lay them before the Lord, God doesn't just give you a moment of calm or a moment of peace. No, the Bible says, he sends a guard to stand watch. He sends a guard. He sets this soldier named peace at the gate of your heart and that peace doesn't check out when the storm hits. No, he stands there on duty, protecting your mind from fear and protecting your heart from despair. That's what the presence of God will do in your life. The presence of God will guard you. You see, peace is medicine. Joy is strength. Hope is healing. And you know what? You can't buy those things at the pharmacy. Go to your pharmacy and be like, all right, here's the thing, I need joy, I need peace. There'll be a get out of here. Walgreens doesn't do that. But you know who does? Listen, God does. The presence of God will provide that for you. And let me say it this way. That's the reason you can't afford to let your guard down spiritually. You can't let your guard down spiritually

because if the enemy can't destroy you from the outside, he's gonna try to infiltrate you from the inside. And he's gonna work and sneak in through your thoughts. He's gonna sneak in through your attitudes. He's gonna sneak in through your emotions. He's gonna do everything he can to infiltrate you from the inside. But the Bible shows us when you fill your mind with God's word, when you fill your heart with God's spirit, you know what happens? You slam the door on the devil's lies. You slam the door, which tells me a healthy soul leads to a healthy life. A healthy soul leads to healthy life. And here's the thing, when your soul is healthy, you're no longer just surviving in this world. That's when you step into thriving. That's when you start living with direction and peace and purpose and a life. When your soul is guarded, your life is grounded. And when your heart is healthy, everything else begins to fall into place. You know, there's an old story I heard many years ago about a guy walking down a dusty dirt road. And this guy wasn't just walking the road alone. He had a pack on his back that weighed well over 100 pounds. So imagine this man with a heavy pack on his back every step is a challenge. His arms are shaking. I mean, he's quivering.

Everything about him is hurting. About that time a farmer came by with a wagon and he offered him a ride. The man looked him in the eyes and gladly accepted. He climbed on board and he began to ride on the back with this man. But a few minutes later, the farmer looks over his shoulder and he noticed something strange about this guy. He's on the back of this wagon and he's riding along but he noticed that he's still carrying that massive pack on his back. And even while he's sitting there, I mean, his arms are shaking and his arms are flexing and he's doing everything he can to hold that pack in place. The farmer thought that was strange. So he looked back and he said, "Sir, why don't you take that load off of your back and just rest for a while?" And here's how the man replied. He said, "Oh no, sir, I could never do that. You've been so kind to pick me up. I couldn't ask for you to pick up my burdens too." Man, when I heard that story, I thought, you know, that sounds a whole lot like the way many of us think about the Lord. How many of us are doing business with the Lord? We trust him with our soul. We believe he can save us eternally, but we can't believe that he can sustain us daily. And so we just sit there and we hold on to everything.

We're putting all of our strength and all of our effort and all of our might into carrying something that we have no business carrying. You see, we go through life carrying the weight of worry and the weight of fear and the weight of guilt while our Savior who carried the cross, mind you, is saying, hey, why don't you lay that down and let me carry it for you. That's why I came. Listen, that's what it means to guard your heart. It means you stop letting the world dictate your peace. It means you stop letting fear right the story of your life. You stop letting anxiety be the loudest voice that you're listening to in your mind. It means you stop carrying the things that Jesus said, hand it to me and I will give you rest. See, that's what it means to let Jesus guard your heart. It's when you let his peace stand watch. It's when you let his spirit strengthen your soul. It's when you let his presence heal what's been hurting for far too long. You know, there's some people today I believe who can identify with that. You said, man, I've given my life to Christ. But man, when I think about what I'm holding in my hands, it's everything that I should be releasing to him. And if that's you, before you walk out of these doors, I just want to challenge you to lay your burdens down. Don't just hear this message and go back to life as usual. If you need rest today, here's your assignment.

Go rest. Go rest. If you need to change your habits, don't wait until tomorrow start today. If you need to surrender something to the Lord, hey, there's no better time to surrender than this moment that God's given you. But above all else, the Bible says, you got to guard your heart because everything in your life flows from there. When you let God guard your heart, he will guide your steps. When you let him guard your heart, he will renew your strength. He'll also fill your days with peace and purpose and power. That's how you live long. And prosper. And that's how you experience God's very best in your life. In the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, a cup of water can be the difference between life and death. Well, this month, I got to walk where the need for water is greatest. While we were there, we were preaching and we were worshiping. And we were praying with thousands of believers at the Pefakimbo Church. We held children in an orphanage that we support who have almost nothing. We sat with widows who walk miles a day just to find water that isn't clean. But on this trip, we also celebrated something a little bit different. A brand new water well in the Kibera Slum.

Commissioned with our partners at Together We Church, First Baptist Cleveland, and Swahiba Networks. And together, we joined forces to bring this clean water to families who have literally never had clean water in their lives. You know, in John 4, Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again." That's the water that saves souls. But he also calls us as believers to give a cup of water in his name. And that's the water that saves lives. To every all-in partner who gave, so that this well could exist. Let me just say thank you. Today, people are drinking fresh water, clean water, because you said yes. But there's more wells to dig, more villages that are waiting, more lives to save. And so my question to you is, will you continue to go all-in with us? If so, follow the prompts on the screen right now to partner with All-In today. Hey, we never want to end our broadcast without giving you the opportunity to know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. If you'd like to make the decision to trust Jesus and want to know more about what it looks like to follow Jesus, get in touch with me right now. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen so that we can pray for you and also put information in your hands right away. Today, we celebrate your decision and look forward to being a part of your personal journey of going all-in with Jesus Christ. This episode of All-In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you.

We hope today's message encourages you as you strive to live your life fully committed to Jesus Christ. [MUSIC]