The Struggle Is Real | Part 3: Breaking The Spirit Of Fear

I heard about an elderly lady who was asleep in her bed one night when she was awakened by a strange noise from the living room. Cautiously, she walked in and discovered a burglar in the process of stealing several things. When the intruder saw her standing there in the dark, he turned and started towards her. Overcome with fear and not really knowing what else to do, she instinctively threw up her hand and shouted her favorite Bible verse. Axe 238, axe 238. The intruder immediately froze, never moved again. The lady quickly dialed 911 and within minutes, the police arrived and took him into custody. Later at the station, one of the officers, curious, inquired of the burglar and said, I just gotta know, out of curiosity, why in the world didn't you run when you knew that she was calling the police? He said, bro, I wasn't about to move knowing that lady was packing an axe in 238. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Two lessons here. The word of God works and fear has paralyzing power. Fear has paralyzing power. Well, welcome to Canvas Church and the third part of our series. The struggle is real and what we're doing in this series is learning what the Bible has to say about our emotional health because we have learned

that if we do not know and learn how to master our emotions, we can rest assured that they will indeed master us. Last week, we tackled a heavy but important topic about depression and I wanna encourage you to go listen to that if you did not hear that one and the first week as well. This week, we're gonna look at what the Bible has to say about anxiety and fear. Now, I know a lot about this. My own wife, several years ago, actually many years ago, when we were pastoring in Lake City, dealt for about six months with anxiety and panic attacks. We would be in the grocery store and there would be a cart full of groceries. We were going to the checkout counter and when it hit her, she would just have to walk out of the store. It got so bad to where she didn't wanna leave the house for a long period of time, didn't even wanna leave our bedroom for a long period of time and there was no reason for it. There was no reason for it. I remember when I asked her one time, I said, when did this start and when do you remember the first moment that this came into your life? And she said, I remember we were going into town and we would pass by where they were doing construction on a brand new funeral home called Cheryl Gary in Lake City and she said, we were going down the road and I looked over and saw the construction

and she said, I heard a voice in my head that said, you're gonna be their first customer. And I said, bro, that's nothing but a demonic spirit. That's what it is and I'm gonna talk about it today and we're gonna get into it today because it's a serious issue. The late Ann Landers, for those of you that remember Ann Landers, she had a nationally syndicated column and was somewhat of an institution in this country for 56 years. She received over 10,000 letters a month and she said that the greatest common denominator in all of the letters that she received for advice was fear, people were simply afraid. They were afraid of losing loved ones, they were afraid of losing their life, they were afraid of losing relationships, they were afraid of losing financial security, they were afraid of losing their position in life and many other things. And I am convinced that many of the problems we struggle with in life are fear motivated and driven. Now the first thing that I wanna do is say to you that we need to balance this out because not all fear is bad. There is, for example, a protective or a productive fear. If you remember this, one of our famous presidents, Franklin Roosevelt, was famous for this line, we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

That sounds really good in a speech, not even close to true. You need to fear rattlesnakes, bro. You don't need to pick up rattlesnakes and be playing with rattlesnakes, okay? You need to fear moving buses when you cross the street, that's good for you. You need to fear walking up and handling live electrical wires. That kind of fear will save your life. So there is a productive and there is a protective fear. Then the Bible actually tells us that there is a wise fear, there's a wise fear. Look at Proverbs 1 and 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. I get asked about this scripture all the time. People ask me, what does that actually mean? He isn't describing an emotion that cringes at the thought of God or a panic at the idea of God's presence. What he is describing is what it means to have a deep-seated, healthy respect for the divine authority of God. The writer is simply saying that the only way to understand how life truly works on any level is to first acknowledge the creator of life, that you didn't get here by yourself. You are not a self-made man or woman, that you were the product of a creation of a creator that thought about you and fearfully and wonderfully

made you. Only then does life ever begin to make sense. Wisdom flows out of a healthy respect for God. I heard one pastor say it like this, I thought it was so beautiful. He said, the fear of the Lord is love on its knees. It is not a fear of God, not a terror of God. It is this deep-seated respect that you hold God in in your life. It is the beginning of understanding what life is really all about. But when the Bible describes the type of fear we're gonna tackle today, the type of fear that cripples, the type of fear that oppresses, that paralyzes, that robs a life of joy and breeds discouragement, the Bible describes it this way. It calls it the spirit of fear. This type of fear that plagued my wife and that plagues many is a spirit. It is a demonic spirit on a mission to oppress and paralyze its victims. Now, we commonly refer to fears today in our society as phobias. I don't know if you know this or not. There's over 700 types of phobias listed in the dictionary. There's things like acrophobia. Many people have this one. It's a fear of high places. Some people have claustrophobia.

That's a fear of closed-in places. There's one I learned I didn't know a lot about, agoraphobia. It's a fear of open places. Some people can't stand to be in an open field. It wigs them out. Here's one I know a lot of people got, ergophobia. That's a fear of work. Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha. I heard a guy say one time, I'm not afraid of hard work. I can lay right down next to it and sleep like a baby, man. It don't bother me at all. Just having a little fun. Before we dive into what I think is some of the most liberating scriptures in all the Bible on fear, let me do what I always do. I never assume in a church like ours that you know the Bible or that you grew up in church or you grew up studying the scripture. And I never just wanna jump into the Bible thinking that everybody in the room understands where we're going. So I love to give you a little bit of background and context so that you understand where we're about to read in 2 Timothy chapter one. In the Apostle Paul's missionary journeys, he had met a young man named Timothy. And Timothy had a Jewish mother and a Greek father. It appears through historical research

that somewhere in Timothy's life, his father had passed away early, leaving him to be raised solely by his mother and his grandmother who both were devout Christians and loved the Lord. Timothy grew to become a committed follower of Christ and was one of the strongest and finest young men in his local church that was located in a city called Lystra. Paul grew to have a deep connection, an unusual connection and bond with Timothy. And he invited him even along to accompany him on his missionary journeys and some of his church planning expeditions. Eventually, the bond became so strong that Paul actually begins to refer to Timothy as his spiritual son. He calls him his spiritual son. As time passes, Paul realizes that Timothy's zeal and commitment would be best served and the call of God was on his life to be a local pastor at a fellowship that Paul himself had planted in a place called Ephesus to whom he wrote the letter Ephesians. Now, you need to know something about Ephesus. Ephesus was what we would consider today modern day Vegas. It was sin city on steroids and that's why Paul planted a church there. He knew it was a dark, dark, dark place and it was the best place for the light of the gospel

and the light of Christ. He plants this church in the middle of sin city and then he appoints Timothy to be the pastor over this church. While young Timothy is doing his best to serve in a very difficult environment, Paul is traveling again and once again, as he is many times, in prison for the gospel. This time though, Paul senses that he might not be released and he very well may be executed and in light of this, he sits down and pens a letter to his spiritual son Timothy. In fact, two letters. We know them as 1st and 2nd Timothy in the New Testament and in this letter, he instructs his young protege and the reason that we're gonna look at these scriptures is because Paul directly addresses this issue of fear, this demonic spirit of fear that Timothy was facing as he led this church and in this letter, he outlines to Timothy three things that fear does in your life and then he tells them three. things that God has given every believer to combat the spirit of fear, and we're gonna look at it today, but let me just read it to you, okay? Here we go. Timothy, I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice,

and I see that same faith strong in you. That is why I want you to remember the gift that God gave you, the gift that God gave you. God gave you that gift when I laid my hands on you and prayed for you. Now you must use that gift and let it grow more and more like a small flame grows into a raging fire, because God, here it is, does not give us a spirit of fear. It is not from the Lord. It is not from God. Instead, what God gives us is his spirit fills us with three things, power, love, and a sound mind. So never be ashamed to tell people about Jesus, and don't be ashamed of me, even though I am in prison for the Lord, but strive with me for the sake of the good news. God will give us the strength to do that. Now, I'm just gonna pull this apart. We're gonna camp out right here in 2 Timothy 1 in these verses, and I wanna just pull it apart and exegete this and show you, again, the three things that Paul tells Timothy fear has the potential to do in our lives, and then the three things God gives us to overcome and conquer the spirit of fear.

Let me give you the first one. The first thing Paul said is that fear can cause us to forget. It can cause you and me to forget. Look at verse number six. It is important for you, Timothy, to remember. Remember the gift that God gave you. Once again, he was pastoring in Ephesus. It was incredibly pagan and resistant to the gospel. I'll give you an example about how Ephesus was. At the heart of Ephesus was the Temple of Diana. The Temple of Diana was a massive shrine, listen to this, that could hold 30,000 people dedicated to the worship of Diana, and that worship included ceremonial prostitution and all sorts of debaucherous, violent, and lascivious acts. It was popular, and everybody was into it, and right in the middle of this pagan culture is this young, young pastor and this young church and ministry, and because of it, Timothy became intimidated and fear began to fill his heart. This can happen to all of us at some point. It is possible to get so scope-locked on our circumstances, on what's going on in our life, or what's not going on in our life that we wish was going on, and our surroundings that before long we are so focused on what's wrong or what could go wrong that we forget what's right and what could be right.

So when Paul senses Timothy's trepidation, he immediately says, you can't forget Timothy. It is so important for you to remember the gift that God has given you. It is not that you're so great, but don't forget who God is and who you are in God. You are up to the challenge, not because you are awesome, but because God is so awesome, and he has placed that awesomeness by his Spirit inside of you. I'm gonna date myself, but I don't care. I'm gonna do it as an illustration anyway. How many of you are old enough in this room to remember a Rolodex, a Rolodex? All right, about half of you. For those of you 30 and under, I'm gonna enlighten you a little bit, all right? I know you got it all in your phone now, but before smartphones, there was this thing called a Rolodex. Here's what it was. It was a desktop card index used to record things like addresses and telephone numbers in the form of a rotating spindle, and there would be the alphabet on top so that you could quickly go to wherever you had placed that information alphabetically. I know that's old school, but I bring it up because here's what I'm telling you. Every single follower of Christ needs a faith Rolodex.

You need a faith Rolodex in your life. You need to have a way to hold onto and record every time God has moved in your life. You need a way to remember every time God has shown up in your life because you are gonna need to go back at some point and rehearse it again and again and remind yourself when life takes a tough turn and the odds are stacked against you that if he spared you before, he can do it again, that if he protected you before, he can do it again, that if he healed you before, he can do it again, that if he provided for you before, he can do it again. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever because there will be moments that you will be facing a situation that will cause you to get trepidatious because you have forgotten the power and the goodness of God. We don't do it on purpose. It's because the enormity of the moment causes us to forget. So you gotta go back and remind yourself. Yeah, I shouldn't be here now, but I am. I shouldn't be in my right mind now, but I am. My marriage shouldn't be here now, but because of God, it is. And remind yourself that if he did it once, he will do it again. In the Old Testament, you'll see this word over and over. God would tell the people of Israel,

I want you to rehearse the mighty acts of God to your children. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. I want you to tell them about it. I want you to remind your children, I split the Red Sea. We walked across the Jordan in flood stage on dry ground. We overcame giants, and I gave you a promised land. Why? Because the more you rehearse and remember how good God has been, it will fill you with the boldness and faith for the future and how good God will continue to be. You've gotta remind yourself of who you're dealing with and how he has already shown up in your life in great ways because fear can make us forget. Number two, fear can cause us to fail. Look at verse eight. So never be ashamed to tell people about Jesus, Timothy. And don't be ashamed of me even though I'm in prison for the Lord. I read a commentary last week as I was preparing for this message, and two of the three commentaries I read suggested that this was not an abstract admonishment. In other words, it wasn't just Paul randomly saying, hey man, don't forget to not be afraid to tell people about Jesus. Don't be afraid to acknowledge that I am your spiritual father and that we are connected. What these commentaries suggested is that there was evidence that Timothy had been flying under the radar

and laying low, and when the opportunity arose, had failed to stand up and defend the cause of Christ. He had failed to stand up and preach the gospel when it counted because he was intimidated. Being surrounded by such paganism and hatred for the gospel had caused him and made him fearful, caused him to cower and not stand up for Christ even though this was his primary purpose for being there. It had paralyzed him and stopped him from doing what God had called him to do. It has that effect and can happen to any of us easily. Don't forget in Matthew 25, you remember this? There's a parable that Jesus tells about a master that's going away on a trip, and he's got three servants. And he gives each one of the servants, while he's gone, something of his that is valuable to invest. And he gives the one guy five talents, and he says, invest it and make me more money. He gives another guy two talents, and then he gives the one guy a one talent. And when he comes back, he finds out that the first one had invested five, turned it into 10, and is rewarded. The second guy took the two, invested it, turns it into four, and is rewarded. But remember the third? The third buries it and does nothing with what the master had given him. And when he is rebuked by his master and asked why, he says in verse 25, I knew you were a shrewd businessman, and I was afraid.

I was afraid of losing. I was afraid of losing your money, so I hid it in the earth. He is reprimanded and sent away. He did nothing because fear had paralyzed him from moving forward. Don't ever buy into the lie that great people or people who do great things have no fear. They do, they do. They have the same fear that you do. The difference is is they don't let fear have them. Let me show you this. I've learned that fear is not a sign you're doing something bad. It's a sign you're doing something bold. You're doing something that matters, and that's why it causes fear and trepidation. You're doing something that's making a difference. God has called you to do something that actually matters, and because it actually matters, it's what can create fear in your life. Fear can make you forget. Fear can make us fail. Watch this. Fear can actually make you frail. I know this firsthand. I'll tell it to you in a minute. Timothy's anxiety and stress had actually made him sick. Watch this. First Timothy five.

Don't just drink water, but you need to drink a little wine as well for the sake of your stomach, seeing that you are sick so often. According to this, here is a young man in the prime of his life that should be in perfect health, and he is sick all the time. Why? I am convinced it was fear that played a larger role in his poor health. Fear is the father of stress, and stress is the cause of many sicknesses and experience. Bro, fear and anxiety and stress can jack you up. I know it. You are sitting in a room, in a building, that we spent 18 months in construction and renovation, and of all my 32 years, years of ministry. This project was the greatest hell I have ever lived through. I'm not, I'm not trying to be funny. It was terrible. Me and Jason Mallard spent 12 to 14 hours a day at this building for 18 months and what happened was it had it had crushed my immune system and I remember it was during hunting season so I thought I had gotten into poison ivy and so but I couldn't figure out for the life of me how poison ivy gotten in the middle of my back but I woke up one night and I walked into the bathroom and I turned I seen this big rash on my back and I said dude I've gotten into poison ivy somewhere but it hurt different on a different level and I went to the doctor and the doctor said cat you got shingles I said shit old people get shingles okay and he looks at my wife and he says I swear I promise to God he looks at my wife and says has your husband been under any unusual stress lately and she dies laughing she said stress this cat ain't slept for six months bro it had broken my immune

system down to nothing I was sick all the time got shingles I'm telling you I know what that hey let me tell you it's not just in the American Medical Journal has a name for it they've actually categorized it it's called EI eyes emotionally induced illnesses they have categorized a level of anxiety and stress how it affects the immune system it is well documented you can actually fear your way into deep sickness and die from it you could if you're not careful if we think of our body like a machine then fear in our life is like sand in the machinery but if you want to think about it like a machine faith in our life is like oil it is the lubricant of life so fear is very real it can cause you to forget it can cause you to fail it can make you frail it's a serious serious thing but here's what Paul said God has given us as followers of Christ to combat this in our life it's so simple but powerful it's not small God doesn't give us a spirit of fear is what he told Timothy he said Timothy you better grab this you better understand this you better hold on to this what God gives us as his followers of Christ and children is power love sound mind he gives us power he gives us his love and he gives us a sound mind let me show you what he meant by it he's saying fear begins to lose its grip when we realize that God's power has given us true authority anxiety comes into our lives when we are fearful that what's in front of us is bigger and stronger than what's in us but when you know and are convinced that what's in you and what's behind you is bigger than anything that's in front of you it changes how you act and live our problem is we don't really understand the difference between power and authority last year I gave you this illustration I'm gonna give it to you again but I want to go back to Luke's gospel and I want to show you the difference between power and authority and why that you can win and I can win Luke 10 Jesus had sent 70 out to preach the gospel into many cities and the Bible says that he sent them out I hate this line but he did it as lambs among wolves he sent them out vulnerable he sent them out exposed because he wanted them to see something in particular and the 70 returned again with joy here's what they said Lord we have determined that even the demons are subject unto us

through your name and he said to them I saw Satan fall like light and from heaven behold watch this I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means harm you it is easy to read this verse and just skip over that there are two powers but when you go to the Greek these are not the same thing there are two different Greek words in the New Testament one is exousia it means delegated authority one is dunamis it means residual power he said I have given you delegated authority on behalf of heaven all the power of heaven is behind you to overcome the dunamis or residual power of the enemy let me let me do it this way so that you understand it we were on the precipice of the two greatest moments in the calendar year hunting season and NFL football glory to God whoo now I like SEC football too but I love NFL football a lot now what you're gonna see if you if you watch SEC football or NFL football there will be inevitable a moment of conflict on the field and a little 55 year old 160 pound dude in a striped shirts gonna make a call and some 21 year old 320 pound defensive lineman ain't gonna like it We're gonna come to a moment where they face each other off. And the guy's gonna get loud, he's gonna get crazy, and the little gray-headed guy is gonna say, take the bench, cat. And the guy who could, if it was just residual power against residual power, if it was just dunamis against dunamis, could wring his neck with no problem whatsoever. But he is going to do exactly what that referee tells him to do, because the referee does not operate in dunamis, he represents and operates in exousia. Oh, you ain't with me, see? He operates in exousia. One guy has power and muscles and biceps and strength.

One guy has all of the National Football League behind him, and if this guy wants to continue making money playing football, he's gonna do exactly what the little 55-year-old guy tells him to do. When you come against the enemy, it is not dunamis against dunamis. He's not afraid of you, you're not bigger than him, he's stronger than you, but when you stand against him and say, you're not gonna touch my family, you're not gonna touch my life, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. All of heaven and the trinity is behind you, and he's not afraid of you, he's afraid of what you represent. You don't have dunamis, you have exousia. And when you begin to understand that exousia is in you, you pray with a different boldness. You speak with a different boldness. You talk with a different boldness. It ain't you, it ain't never been you. But the 70 returned again and said, we have noticed that the demons are subject to us, but they're not subject to us because of dunamis, they are subject to us through your name. When we say the name of Jesus, they recognize you. When we say the name of Jesus, they stop what they're doing. When we speak the name of Jesus, something shifts in the atmosphere. You need to learn this phrase, in the name of Jesus. And you need to settle it in your heart

and you need to use it every chance you get. In the name of Jesus, my marriage will be healed. In the name of Jesus, my children will come home. In the name of Jesus, I will not be run by fear and anxiety the rest of my life. In the name of Jesus, I will be whole. In the name of Jesus, I will be healed. In the name of Jesus, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You need to learn what this actually is. Let me give you one more scripture and then we'll move on. First John four, but you belong to God, my children, and you have already won the victory. See, it's not a fair fight, y'all. It's not even a fair fight because the spirit who is in you is more powerful than the spirit that is in the world. Now, we have to believe that. You can't just read it and go, man, it's a good verse. No, dude, you gotta learn how to live on that. Explore that, use that to your advantage to be whole. Number two, remember power, love, and a sound mind? Here we is, love. Fear begins to lose its grip when we truly understand how much God actually loves us. When I fully understand and realize that God truly loves me completely, not just on my good days, you know, not just on the days when I go, man, you know what? I'm a pretty stinking good Christian today, man. I mean, you know, I didn't say anything bad.

I didn't do anything bad. I didn't lose my cool today. I actually crushed it today. You gotta be careful about that because tomorrow you could fail miserably and you think God loves me yesterday, but man, today God's kinda disappointed in me. It doesn't work like that. It doesn't work like that. When I fully understand and realize that God loves me completely, then I find an assurance in knowing that he is never going to abandon me, leave me, or allow me to go under. I know that he will fight for me and protect me at all costs. Fear comes when we're uncertain, when we're uncertain of whether or not we're gonna be all right. Let me show you this, 1 John 4, 18. So simple, but so powerful. There is no fear in love. Why? Because perfect love. What's he talking about? Who is the only being in the universe that is capable of loving perfectly? Not you. You don't love perfectly and I don't love perfectly either.

The truth is is that many of us in this room, if not all of us, actually love conditionally. We love if somebody loves us and treats us good. If somebody doesn't love us or treat us good, we don't actually reciprocate that love back to them. It's part of the fallen, broken world we live in and the sinful nature that still plagues us. The only being in the world that is capable of perfect love is God. He's talking about God. Perfect love drives out all fear. When you understand that he loves you perfectly. Let me do it like this. What would you tell your child? I know how you feel about. your children the same way I feel about mine. What would you tell your child if you knew that they were living in this constant fear and they couldn't sleep at night? And you asked them, what's wrong? And they were terribly, terribly afraid that someone was going to break in the house and harm them or abduct them. What would you say to your child if you knew they hadn't slept in weeks because they were afraid of it? Let me tell you what I'd tell them. Let me tell you something, son. I'm bigger than you. I'm badder than you.

There ain't nobody in this world gonna come in here and touch you. And if I had to go down swinging and die for you, I want you to know that I'm gonna protect you to my last breath. Everything is gonna be all right. Now, you rest. You get some sleep. You don't worry about this. There's nothing to fear. Now, the Bible says in Luke 11, if we love our children, how much more, he says, does our Heavenly Father love us? He's saying that the greatest love that you have for your child cannot be fathomed even compared to the love God has for you. Well, what do you think God says to us when we live our lives out of fear and anxiety and trepidation? What he's saying to us is perfect love casts out all fear. He's saying, listen, I got you. I got you. I love you. I'll never leave you nor forsake you, but I'll go with you all the way to the end of the world. I will never abandon you. You rest. I'm bigger than you. I'm stronger than you. And I got this.

Everything is gonna be all right. Fear begins to lose its grip when we understand just how much God loves us. Power, love, watch this, a sound mind. Fear begins to lose its grip when we realize that God has given us, this is the truth now, the ability to choose our thoughts. The ability to choose our thoughts. Sound mind, the Greek word here literally means self-control or a discerning spirit. So listen to how it reads in the Greek. For God does not give us the spirit of fear, but power, love, and a self-controlled and discerning spirit. God has given us the ability to control our own soul and have a discerning spirit. We can actually control and choose what we are gonna dwell on and think about. And the reason that this is a game changer is because our lives will always move in the direction of the strongest thoughts of our hearts. Our lives will always move in the direction of the strongest thoughts of our hearts. So if you constantly think negative, destructive, worst case scenario, Murphy's Law stuff, then that's the way your life is gonna go. But if you begin to choose differently and focus on the good and go through your faith Rolodex often, daily, and constantly think constructive, healthy, God-centered thoughts,

that's the way your life is gonna go. Periodically, I love to come back and remind you of this just because I don't have a better illustration for it. But it is the difference between living your life like a buzzard or a hummingbird. You're either gonna live your life like a buzzard or a hummingbird. Say, Pastor, what in the world are you talking about? A buzzard flies around all day and you know what he's doing? All day, every day, he's only looking for dead things. That's what he wants. It's what he craves. It's what he desires. So he gets up every day, takes flight, and then his mind and his focus is on dead things. And because it is the scope of his focus only, it is exactly what a buzzard finds. He finds dead things. But on the other side of the street, when a buzzard takes flight, a hummingbird takes flight. And a hummingbird gets up and flies around all day looking for sweet nectar. He visits up to 1,000 flowers a day, according to research, looking for nectar. He is strategic about what his search is for. He's looking for what is sweet, what is good, what is pure. And because it's what he's looking for, he don't find dead things like the buzzard. He finds sweet nectar everywhere he goes. Ladies and gentlemen, every day, all around us,

I'm telling you now in this world, there are dead things to be found and there are sweet things to be found. There are dead things to be found and there are good things to be found. The only question is, what do you get up every day looking for? You gotta set your mind. Did you know the Bible tells us that you can? Watch, Philippians 4 and 8. I didn't make this stuff up. Now, my brothers and sisters, one final thing. You see this word fix? It's a Greek word. It means set. He's talking about a thermostat. You don't, not a thermometer where you reflect whatever happens in your life. He's saying set your heart, set your mind, be a hummingbird, give up the buzzard mentality, quit looking for dead things, and as a follower of Christ, fix it. and set your thoughts on what is true, what is honorable, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely, what is admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. You have the ability to choose, and I have the ability to choose what we are gonna dwell upon, think about, and see. If you've ever been around negative

and demeaning, critical people, you know the vexing of the soul that that brings to you. Have you ever known a human who could brighten up a room by leaving it? Lord, have mercy. I've seen them my whole life. And then there are these people that no matter what happens in life, and you listen to them talk, and they're still worshiping, and they're still praising the Lord, and they're still thankful for the good things in their life. Listen, brother, that is not a random roll of the dice. Bro, that's a choice. That's a choice you make, to see the good and see God, and see what he's doing in your life. There's always gonna be something to complain about. There's always dead things to be found, but there's always good things to be found, sweet things to be found, pure things to be found, and that's what the scripture instructs us to do. This is not a suggestion. This is an instruction. He said, if you're a follower of Christ, you need to set your mind on the things that are good, and praiseworthy, and virtuous, because not only will be the light and the salt of the earth,

but your life will be a reflection. Fear will lose its grip on your life, and the joy of the Lord will become your strength.