How To Stop Worrying And Live Joyfully

Are you tired of feeling frustrated, irritated, worried, angry, sad, depressed, confused? It's amazing to me how many people are imprisoned by their emotions and how many people are held hostage by worry and anxiety. I am going to share with you today the biblical formula for eliminating anxiety from your life, stepping into a place of joyfulness. So I decided I'm going to call this video Don't Worry, Be Happy. All right? And no, it's not the song. A little song I wrote. Sing it note for note. No, it's not that. It's actually a very, very interesting passage of Scripture. In Philippians, chapter 4.

It says in verse 4, Rejoice in the Lord alway. And again I say, rejoice. Wrap your mind around that. Okay, so it says, rejoice in the Lord alway. So rejoice then always. And again I say, rejoice. Okay, now the prefix re means to do again. So when it says, rejoice in the Lord, it's saying, again.

Have joy in the Lord. When Always. Again I say again, have joy. Now, I don't know about you, but that's a lot of joy.

I don't even know if that much joy can fit in this room. That's a lot of joy. He said, again. I say, he said, again, have joy in the Lord always. And again I say, again, have joy. Now, here's what I take from that. I'm not sure what you take from that, but what I take from that is this. As a follower of Christ, one who has placed their trust in Christ as the restorer of their relationship with God, we should live in a state of perpetual joyfulness.

But I submit to you that most.

Believers, followers of Christ, Christians, churchgoing people, God fearing people, whatever you want to call yourself.

Don'T live like that. Most people walk around with enough anxiety, their soul to sell it by the pound and become a millionaire.

They're so weighed down worrying about what's going to happen next, it robs them of all their present perpetual joy.

But if I'm supposed to live in a state of perpetual joyfulness, one of the things I know about God is that he never tells me to do something that I do not have the ability or the capacity to gain the ability to do.

Here's what it says in Genesis chapter one. And God blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion. I want you to notice it says, and God blessed them before he gave them the command to be fruitful and multiply. He blessed them with the ability before he gave them the assignment. He blessed them with the capacity before he gave them the command. So if God is telling me to do something, that means it is within the realm of reality and possibility for me to do it. So when it says, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. That has to be something that I can do, but it's not something I can do by conjuring it up. It's not something I can do just by pretending to be happy. I'm so happy.

Like a room without a roof. No, that's not. I'm not pretending to be happy. I'm not acting like I'm happy. I'm not trying to conjure up happiness.

The joy that this is talking about is a joyfulness not based on happenings. It's really interesting, happiness. I heard somebody say this one time. I really liked it. Happiness is based on happenings. So if you want to be happy, then something has to happen in order for you to be happy.

Wow. That was all tongue twister. And Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Okay? But something has to happen. So happiness is based on external circumstance. Think about that word. Circumstance, right? Comes from two words, circle and stance. What is a circumstance? A circumstance are those things that surround me while I'm standing still. But when I start moving in a direction, I break through the obstacle, the boundary of circumstance. But most people, when they find themselves in a circumstance, what they do, they sit there, they stand there, they stay there so they can wallow in their circumstance, which is why it is a circumstance. But if you start moving, it is no longer a circumstance. Which is interesting because there are two types of animals. And I'm chasing rabbits right now. That's one type of animal. Okay, there are two types of animals, right? There are predator. There are predators and there are prey. You know how you can look at an animal and tell whether it's predominantly a predator or predominantly prey, where their eyes are positioned?

A predator has its eyes in front of its head so it can see what it's pursuing. Prey have their eyes on the side of their head so they can see what's pursuing them.

So, and you. You like. If you take your fingers like this and you go like, my fingers, I can still see both fingers. Even though I'm looking straight ahead, I can see both fingers. That's called peripheral vision. My peripheral vision is probably about 175 degrees, right? Well, imagine if I had my eyes on the side of my head. I might have 175 degrees this way and 175 degrees that way. I got 350, which ain't quite 360, but I can see something sneaking up on me.

And see human beings. Here's what the scripture says. A wise man's eyes are where? In his head. In his head. What does that mean? That means a wise person doesn't just see with their eyes. See what you can see with your eyes, that sight. But what you can see with your mind. That's vision. Are y' all tracking? And so the scripture says, a wise man's eyes are in his head. And what happens with us as human beings, we can determine on any given day whether we're going to be predators and passionately pursue our purpose or whether we're going to be prey and be pounced on by all the circumstances that surround us. Anyway, little sidetrack.

So.

Happiness is based on happenings. Joyfulness is an interior. It's an inside job. Joyfulness is based on awareness.

Are y' all tracking? Joyfulness is based on awareness. People mistakenly. People mistakenly think that I'm positive. Marin, you're a really positive guy. Have you always been this positive? I'm not positive, bro. I'm just aware.

What does that mean? That means when I woke up this morning, I know how to get up, but I don't know how to make myself wake up.

God did that. And there are people who went to bed last night who did not wake up this morning. And I am aware of that. And so I've opened a gift when I open my eyes.

And then I can open my eyes, and I can see. I know how to make myself look, but I don't know how to make myself see. God did that. And I'm aware my sight is a gift. And I can hear the birds outside. And I know how to make myself listen, but I don't know how to make myself hear. That's a gift. Do you know, by the time I get to my car in the morning, I've opened so many gifts. How can I get step out into the world with anything but joyfulness? I'm just aware. See? And here's by the way, you're aware, too. You're just not aware of your gifts. You're more aware of the things that oppose you than you are of the things that are for you. What's the difference between David and Saul? Saul was more aware of Goliath. David was more aware of God. That was bigger than Goliath.

All the soldiers in Saul's army were more aware of Goliath than they were of the God who cannot lie, who said, I'm going to bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you. But as soon as David heard Goliath cursing the armies of Israel, he said, oh, I got this one. My great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great granddaddy Abraham, God told him, I'm gonna bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you. As soon as I heard him cursing, I knew this uncircumcised Philistine couldn't fight me. I got. He gonna. You gonna die today, bruh. He said, I'm. Goliath starts talking trash. David starts talking trash back to him. Go, I'm gonna rip you limb from limbs. David said, I'm gonna. I'm gonna kill you. And after I'm done killing you, I'm gonna cut your head off, and then I'm gonna feed your car. And the beast of Come. Come here. Let me rip your head off your shoulders. Why? That wasn't David being arrogant. That was David being aware.

Here's what the scripture tell me. It tells. The scriptures tell me that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Mind you, gold medal. No, I'm more than gold medal. You number one. No, I'm more than number one. Super bowl champ. More than super bowl champ. I am more than a conqueror. I'm better than victorious. I'm bigger than just the winner. By the way, it's not something I'm gonna have. It's something I already have. It's not something I'm gonna. It's not. I'm not aware of the fact. One of these days, I'm gonna win. Right now I'm gonna keep on losing. But one of these days, I. No, no, no, no. I'm winning right now. Right, right, right, right now. By the way, I was winning right now. When I was broke, I was winning right now. When I was sick, I was winning right now. When I was tired, I was already winning. Why? Because what's a moving picture to me is a snapshot to God.

In eternity, what's going to be already has been, and it already is. And it's all the same thing. Because in the realm of time, there's no such thing as the present. There's only the past and the future. As soon as I say now, it becomes then. Are y' all tracking now? You can't hold now in your hand. You can't put now in a bottle.

It's evaporating. But guess what? In the realm of eternity. There's no such thing as the past or the future. There's only the present. That's why God is the I am that I am and not the I was that I was or the I will be that I will be is the I am that I am. Why? Because there's no difference. God knows the end from the beginning because the end is the beginning and the beginning is the end. It's all the same thing.

And that's why we have to be hyper intentional with every word that follows. The two most powerful words in the world, which are I am.

Why? Because if I say I am stupid, I'm infusing my limitation with the power of eternity. I can't afford to do that. If I say I'm such a loser, I am broke. I am. When I say that I'm infusing my limitations with the power of the name of God. Is it possible? That's what it means to take God's name in vain? I'm taking God's name and emptying it of the power by infusing my limitation with it.

When you understand who you are based on whose you are, you will stop acting as if every obstacle is bigger than you.

Am I being too intense?

Hey, here's what it says. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Okay, that sounds good. So here's what I want to know. How do I do that?

Aren't you glad that God, when He tells us to do something, he doesn't just tell us to do it, but he tells us how to do it. Because the very next verse tells me how to do it. Here's what it says. Let your moderation, your self control be known unto all men. So first he said, be joyful. Then he said, let your moderation be known unto all men, for the Lord is at hand. I'm telling you, if there was a verse in the Bible that confused me in context in my life as a child, that was it. What does self control have to do with being joyful? Oh, only everything.

All that right there. Here's what it said. Let your moderation be known unto all men, for the Lord is at hand. You don't use your willpower to be joyful. You use your willpower to be willfully aware of the fact that the Lord is at hand.

You use your mental discipline to remind yourself that in the presence of the enemy, the Lord is at hand. In the presence of sickness, the Lord is at hand. When you're standing by the bedside of a Loved one who's dying, the Lord is at hand. When you're standing over the grave of someone that you love that you're burying, the Lord is at hand. When you are standing at the bank and you're. Or you open up your bank app. And there's nothing in it, the Lord is at hand.

And he's more powerful than any circumstance you will ever face. And when we learn how to make ourselves more aware of the presence of the Lord than we are the presence of difficulties, we can live in a state of perpetual joyfulness. How do I know that? Because the Scripture tells me in his presence is fullness of joy. Oh, okay. So my real problem, the real reason I'm sad is because I'm unaware of his presence. The real reason I'm mad is because I'm unaware of his presence. The real reason I'm depressed is because I'm unaware of his presence. The real reason I've got all this anxiety and I'm worried about tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and, oh, not the day after that. Oh, my goodness. And the first. And because I'm more aware of all of that stuff than I am the presence of the Lord.

If you will maintain a willful awareness of God's presence. My daughter used to say, dad, she'd come to me and say. I'd say, didi, you gotta practice the presence. What does that mean, practice the presence? She wouldn't say it like that. But that's how she wanted to say it, right? She's like, I don't know what that means. What do you mean, practice the presence? Become more aware of the presence of the Lord than you are the presence of all the stuff that in your mind is going wrong. If you asked Joseph when his brothers threw him in a pit, if that was going wrong, he probably would have said yes. And maybe even if he wouldn't have, if your brothers threw you in a pit, you'd say, well, this is not a good day.

Right? When the Midianites came and took him out of the pit and sold him into slavery into Egypt, he probably thought, well, you know, this is not getting better. This is getting more worse.

Right?

And then he's working for Potiphar, and he's doing like Potiphar's never had an employee like Joseph. Potiphar knew his wife was lying.

Why? Because if he thought she was telling the truth, he wouldn't have put Joseph in prison. He would have killed him.

He knew his wife was lying. He knew she was.

He knew she was scandalous.

He knew.

He said, my mama told me not to marry her. I should have listened to my mama. Anyway. Anyway, I'm gonna just put you. Joseph, I love you, bro, but I got to do something. Otherwise I'm gonna look crazy in front of everybody else. So I'm gonna put you in jail. Anyway. Joseph spends time in prison for a crime he didn't commit. And then the butcher and the baker and the candlestick maker forgot about him. I'm just kidding. I just wanted to see if y' all were paying attention. Then you got the butler and the baker and the butler. They both had a dream. And Joseph told them their dreams. And Joseph said, don't forget me when you get restored to your position. That's what he told the butler. Butler said, I'll never forget you. Yeah, okay. He forgot him right away.

Is this ever going to end? No, it's not going to end. The difficulty that you are in is not going to end until it is done working on you. The work that was created to make you the person who can do the work that was created for you.

Let it finish the job. Isn't that what it says in James, chapter one? Isn't that what it says? It says. It says, my brother encountered all joy. When you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this is the trying of your faith work and patience. What does it say next? But let patience have her perfect work. As soon as trouble comes, dear God, get me out of this trouble. I just put you in that trouble.

Get me out of this trouble. The trouble ain't done yet. The trouble has a job to do.

Learn the lesson. Receive the blessing. Don't learn the lesson. You get to keep on testing.

Am I telling you all the truth? And so be willfully aware of the presence of the Lord.

Let your moderation be known unto all men. You know what that means? That means when people, believers and non believers, watch you go through difficulty.

And they see you going through the difficulty and experiencing the difficulty and the grief and the heartache. But you're doing it with joyfulness. When the pain is real, but the peace is greater than the pain.

When the heartache is real, but the joy is more real than the heartache. It's greater than the heartache. That's when we show people who our God is. Remember Nebuchadnezzar, Ash, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I'm gonna kill you seven times deader than anybody's ever been killed. I'm gonna heat this furnace seven times hotter than it needs to be heated. It was so hot that it killed the people who threw them in. And the scripture says they fell down, bound in the midst of the fire. Then Nebuchadnezzar rose up in haste and said to his counselors, did not we throw three men into the fire? Lo, I see four men loose in the fire.

The form of the fourth. Did not we throw three men bound into the fire? Lo, I see four men loose in the fire. And the form of the fourth is like unto the son of God. That's interesting. Isn't that interesting? They see.

The world has enough people telling them what our God looks like.

God's looking for some folk who are willing to show this world what our God looks like.

Who are willing to go through the difficulties of life with joy in your soul and a song in your heart, even when your heart is breaking. That ain't easy to do, but it's. But it's doable if you're more aware of the presence of the Lord than you are the presence of the difficulty that you're going through.

I wasn't going to go here. I'm going to go here really quickly because I can't stay here too long.

When my oldest son was in a car accident when he was 20 years old, this was.

16 years ago, he died four days later.

And I said, I'm going to do my son's funeral. The reason I wanted to speak at my son's funeral is because I didn't want somebody else to mess up what this means. Because my wife and my other son and my daughter, like, we're gonna live with the absence of my oldest son for the rest of our existence on this earth.

If heaven is not real.

And God's word is not truth, and the blood of Jesus is not really the remission of sins, let's quit playing church.

Let's act like we believe heaven is more real than earth.

Especially when it's hard.

I would never choose to go through that. I would never choose that for anybody that I love or anybody that I don't even like. That's how painful it is. That's how surreal. It is. So unbelievable. It is. It's like it takes years for that, for that time of the year to come up where it just doesn't suck all the oxygen out of your lungs.

It takes years to not be just overwhelmed with the presence of his absence.

Years never goes away. Doesn't go away. But you know what? In the presence of the pain, if you're more aware of the Lord, because even if you live to be 700 on this earth, that's a short period of time. The awareness of the presence of the Lord. And to be awareness of the truth. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

And to be aware of the truth that if in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable. And to be aware of the fact that heaven is more real than earth. And he can't come back to me, but I can go to him. And either I'm going to take this opportunity and remind my family, my wife, my children, my brothers, all of it, myself, cousins, and all of my nieces and nephews and my parents and all of the people who are there dealing with this.

I don't want to have to be the one to show them what this looks like. I wouldn't pick this for an assignment.

But since it's my assignment, I don't want to mess up what it looks like and what it means. Either this stuff is real or we need to quit playing.

We gotta. Like in those moments, we have to be more aware of the presence of the Lord.

When you are helpless and hopeless and there's nothing you can do, you have to be aware of the presence of the Lord.

You have to have a peace that's greater than the pain and a joy that's greater than the heartache. And the only one that can give you that is Yeshua Hamashiach. Jesus, the Christ himself. Nobody else.

Nothing else.

No amount of money, no amount of vacation, no amount of stuff you can buy. No car, no house, no nothing. Only Christ.

That's all. In that moment, here's what the scripture says. The rich and the poor meet together. The Lord is the maker of them all. Where do they meet together? The graveyard. The funeral home, the cemetery? Hospital. At the bedside.

You better be aware of the presence of the Lord. I'd hate to have to go through this life without him. I don't even know. I don't even. Like I would have without Christ. I would have already lost my mind. Real talk.

So rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. When people watch you go through things, that's when you show them who your God really is.

For the Lord is the hand. And then it says, and be careful for nothing. You know what that word, be careful means? It means don't worry about anything. Don't have anxiety about anything. Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. Be careful for nothing. But in everything, by Prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. First thing he said was, be joyful. Second thing he said was, be willful. Willfully what? Willfully aware of the presence of the Lord. Next thing he said was, don't be careful, be prayerful.

Our motto should be, why worry when I can pray? And by the way, prayer. And I know some people are going to say prayer is about asking and receiving. Prayer is about. Basically, prayer is about getting God to do your thing. That's not what prayer is about. Prayer is about getting us to do God's thing. Prayer is like a guitar tuner. And it's not to get God in tune with me. It's to get me in tune with him. That's what prayer is. Prayer is not thy will, but mine. Not my will, but thine be done. Most people think it's not thy will, but mine be done, but it's not. It's not my will, but thine be done on earth as it is in heaven. See, don't be worried about it. Worry is waste. The greater the worry, the greater the waste.

Jesus said, be careful for not. No. Jesus said, take no thought for tomorrow. Do you know that word when it says, take no thought for tomorrow? It's the exact same Greek word that says, be careful for nothing. Don't worry about anything. Here's what Jesus said. Don't worry about tomorrow. What's that mean? Don't waste today's energy worrying about tomorrow's problems.

Wow. That's pretty practical, right? Okay, I gotta keep it moving because I got somewhere I want. When I show you the end of this. When I get to the end of this and I show you this concept of thought replacement, like, your whole face is going to melt. It's going to be great.

Be careful for nothing. Don't be careful. Be prayerful. With prayer and supplication, be prayerful. Supplicate with thanksgiving. Be thankful. Do you understand that Gratitude is the ultimate attitude?

Like, we can always be grateful. But you don't understand. When I went through Myron.

I lost a limb. Well, you got three left. Be grateful. I'm not making light of the fact. I'm just saying we can always have something to be grateful for. If we choose to focus on that.

Can I get a witness? Thanksgiving. Be grateful for the people in your life. Show them gratitude. Express the gratitude. Don't just feel it and not say it. Be grateful to God for all the bountiful gifts he unloads on us every day. He daily this is what the scripture says. He daily loadeth us with benefits. What you doing, man? I'm going. I'm back in my truck. I'm about to go get my load of. My load of what? My load of benefits.

Backing up the truck today. Benefits.

So be careful. With nothing but everything. By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. Oh, this is so good. And the peace of God which passeth under all understanding shall keep or guard your hearts and minds by Christ Jesus here, He said, be joyful, be willful, don't be careful, be prayerful, be thankful, and you will be peaceful. You will have peace about things that you do not understand.

One of the things I hear people say when they're frustrated, but I just don't understand. I don't understand why this happened to me. I don't understand why I had to go through this. I don't understand. I don't understand. I don't understand. Watch this. Even when you don't understand, you can have peace.

The peace that passeth understanding, it'll keep your heart. It'll guard your heart, your mind, by Christ Jesus. There's that presence of the Lord again. Okay.

It'S about to get juicy. Y' all don't even know like I know, because I know. I know what I'm fixing to read. It's about to get juicy. As soon as I find my glasses, I'm fixing to read this. I'm fixing to read this.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Then he says, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true. Whatsoever things are what true? Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just. Whatsoever things are pure. Whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue, any goodness, if there be any praise there, think on these things. He's telling us to be mindful.

Do you know why? He's telling us to think on the things that are true and the things that are honest, the things that are just, the things that are pure, the things that are good, the things that are lovely, by the way. First of all, let's notice the order. Let's start there. Let's start with the order. He said, whatsoever things are true. He didn't start with pure and lovely. He started with true. Why? Because.

Being true to truth more important than capitulating for the purpose of being nice. The Apostle Paul said, am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? King Solomon said, faithful are the wounds of a friend. But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. See, somebody who really loves you, sometimes they'll hurt you to help you. But somebody who doesn't, they will help you to harm you.

I can't believe that just happened.

See, somebody who really loves you, sometimes they will help you. They will hurt you to help you. Isn't that what we sometimes do as parents? Right? We bring pain to show them. Look, this is the road that leads to pain, Right? But somebody who doesn't love you, they will help you to harm you. They'll help you do something that's not in your own best interest, that will harm you long term.

They don't love you. They'll tell you anything you want to hear to make you feel good.

Well, he said finally, brother, so notice the order. I love the fact that it says that. It says the wisdom that is from above. James, chapter three. The wisdom that's from above is first pure, then it's peaceable. It's not peaceable first. See, we think God's. Just God's love. God's love. I said this a while ago. I'll say it again. The reason God's.

The reason God's love is so magnificent is because his hate is so strong.

No, God doesn't hate. Whether he be no hate. You don't love. Can't hate if you don't love.

Can't love flowers if you don't hate weeds.

That's too real, ain't it? But God's love. God ain't just love. His hate is what makes his love so valuable.

People don't like when I say the fact that. When I state the fact that God doesn't love everybody. No, God loves everybody. No, that's the God of your imagination.

No, God loves everybody. That's not what the Bible says. I'm just going by that.

God loves everybody. His love has zero value. Zero.

How strong, ain't it? See, we live in a world that is made this imaginary fairy tale. God that just loves everybody. Despite just love. Just love. You confused, that's what you are.

Ask your wife. Baby, do you love me? Honey, you know I love men. That ain't what you're trying to hear.

That ain't it. My wife asked, do you love me? Women. Oh, man, I'm just crazy about. No, that ain't what she wants to hear.

It's the fact that it's not for everybody that makes it special.

The Bible says, him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. I didn't put that in the Bible. It's in the Bible.

Anyway, I digressed.

Mindful. We have to take control of our mind. This is where the whole battle takes place. He said, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are.

Pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. You know what we do? We wake up in the morning, we turn on constantly negative news. CNN or SLY of Fox News. Oh, I ain't leaving none of them out. I'm going to leave, right. They're all terrible. Like, read the news. Let's stop calling it the news. Let's just call it what it is, the bad news. Let's just call it the bad news. They watch the bad news on the tv, then they read the bad news in the paper. And then they wonder why they walk around feeling bad because they fill their mind with problems they have no ability to solve.

But, Myron, how will I know what's going on in the world? If you can't fix what's going on in your world, you sure can't fix what's going on in the world.

Fix that.

Got a little attitude there, Jontown. Got a little attitude. Okay. Then it says, I love this in verse 9, 9 and 12. Those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do. And the God of peace be with you. Paul said, hey, you saw me live this sermon before you ever heard it come out of my mouth. You saw me live these principles before you ever heard it come out of my mouth. So don't just do like I don't. Don't, don't, don't. This is not one of those do what I say, not what I do. No, this is do what I say and what I do.

Not that I. And then he said, but I rejoice greatly that now at the last your care hath flourished again when you were careful, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want. I've learned whatsoever state I'm in therewith to be content. Now, watch. What? Now, people love to say this, but, Myron, why do you talk about money? The apostle Paul said, I've learned whatever state I'm in there with to be content. Well, did you keep reading or did you stop right there? That ain't the end of it. He kept on saying, look what he said. This is Paul. He said in verse 12, I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. See, you've only been in One state.

If you've only been in one state, lived in the land of lack your whole life, you don't know if you know how to abound and be content in a state of abundance or not.

Is that too tough?

People in one state their whole life and talking about I've learned what's over state I'm in there with to be commanded. You've just been in the same one your whole life. You've not experienced enough states to know. Okay, anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there. I know how to be a base and I know how to abound.

Everywhere and in all things. I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Then he said, I can do all things through Christ with strength of me. Hey, if you are unwilling to practice verses 4 through 12, stop claiming 13.

Is that too tough? Well, I can do all things through Christ. Who's dreaming? Not if you're not rejoicing. The Lord always and again I say rejoicing. You can't. Not if you're not being willfully aware of the presence of the Lord. You can't. Not if you're worrying about everything and praying about nothing. You can't. Not if you're not intentional in your mind. You can't. Now.

Be careful for nothing. What do I do? Here's the. Here's the concept that's gonna melt your face.

We have control over what we pay attention to. God knows this about us. The enemy knows this about us. Satan knows this about us. Because the first thing Satan did, the very first temptation in the history of the world, was a temptation to focus on lack. Satan got Eve, the serpent got Eve's attention off of the abundance of the garden, of every tree, of the garden that may as freely eat. And got her attention the one thing she lacked. Why did he get her attention on the one thing she lacked? Because he knew that where attention goes, intention follows.

So.

Here'S what happens. We can decide. Everybody say decide. We can decide what we pay attention to.

Now, decide does not mean choose. Choose means pick. 1. Decide means day over from side to cut. I cut myself off from every other possibility. So these thoughts that are trying to infiltrate my mind, that are making me have anxiety, I'm going to cut them off. I'm going to think about the fact that whatever I'm going through, I'm going through it with the Lord. He ain't shocked. He ain't scared. He ain't worried. I ain't worried. So when I find myself in a ship in the midst of the storm, and the boat is full of water. I. I'm going to find Jesus in the back of the boat, asleep on a pillow. I love the fact that it didn't just say he was asleep, but it said he was asleep on a pillow. He was asleep because he's calm in the storm. He was on a pillow because he's comfortable in the storm. And I'm going to get somewhere with Christ and be calm and comfortable in the midst of my storm. Can I get a witness up in hell?

And so it tells us exactly how to do this in Hebrews chapter 12. If y' all can stand it. I mean, if y'. All. I mean, I won't give it to you if you can't handle it. Okay. I just wanted to make sure I'm in the right room.

Hebrews chapter 12. Now, you gotta understand, the Bible is not separated into chapters. When it was written, that was done later. Okay, so Hebrews chapter 12 is a continuation of Hebrews chapter 11, and Hebrews chapter 11 is the great what faith chapter. Right. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And then it goes on to tell all the people who lived in faith and died in faith, some having received the promise, some having not received the promises. Then we get to Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1. Here's what it says. It says, wherefore. Now, when we're reading in the Bible, we come across a wherefore and a. Therefore, that means there must be a what? A before. When he says wherefore, he's referring to what came before. Okay, here's what he said because of the things we just talked about in Hebrews chapter 11, wherefore. Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. By the way, that's not talking about people who've gone on to heaven, who are up in heaven cheering us on. They're not witnesses witnessing us. They're witnessing witnesses witnessing to us the benefits of having the faith they had that was demonstrated in chapter 11. Are y' all tracking? Okay? We're comfortable with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight. That word weight means every burden. Put down your burdens. And the sin that does so easily beset or stop us. What is the sin that stops us? The sin of doubt. Let us lay aside every burden. And the sin of doubt that easily stops us in our tracks. You understand? If I get ready to sit in this chair and it looks like one of the legs are wobbly. My doubt that it can hold me will stop me from sitting in it. Doubt stops us. Are y' all tracking okay? Y' all track? It's like. It's like people who get on the plane and they. They don't think it should be flying, so they. They lock in my arms, right? They're holding on for dear life, but they forgot that seat is also on that plane. Okay?

So make sure you remind them next time you see somebody doing it. You know that sees on this plane, too, don't you, baby? Okay. All right. Okay. Just making sure y' all understand how this whole thing works. Like the plane ain't gonna go down and the sea stay up an hour. Okay? I just want y' all to understand how it works. Okay? All right. So anyway, the sin that does so easily beset us or stop us and let us run with patience. The word patience means persistent, consistent endurance. We need persistence because the race is hard. We need consistency because the race is long. We have a long, hard race. This is a marathon. This is not a sprint. So let us run our race with persistent, consistent endurance, okay? Y' all track it.

The race that is set before us. Which means my race ain't your race and your race ain't my race. I'm not racing against you, and you're not racing against me. I'm racing against the race. You're racing against the race. You're just racing towards your purpose. I'm racing towards my purpose. I'm racing in my purpose. I have no competition. Nobody else can be Myron, Freddy, golden, but me. I'm the only one. The only one in the history of the world that is me. You are the only one in the history of the world is you. Stop worrying about what other people are doing and how other people are doing and just be you and do your assignment. Run it with patience. Are y' all tracking okay? Then it says, okay, how do I do that? This is how you do it. This is where it gets juicy looking. Unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our what faith?

It didn't say. He is the author and he's going to be the finisher.

He is the author and he is the finisher. Which means he started it and he also finished it. Why? Because it's not my faith, it's his faith. He installed his faith into me. What does it say? Ephesians 2, 8, 9. For by grace. Grace is a gift. Are you saved through faith? And that faith, that. That faith is not of yourselves even. It is the Gift of God, not of works. Lest any man should be boast. God gave you the faith to receive the grace that is salvation. What?

Talk about daily loading me with benefits. But watch this. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Who. Here's. Here's how it's done. This is the practical application. Y' all ready? Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and it sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. What does that mean? We look at Jesus as our example. Doesn't mean I'm going outside. I'm looking up at the sky. What are you doing? I'm looking unto Jesus. That's not looking unto Jesus. Looking under Jesus means look at Christ's example. Look how he fulfilled his assignment. Look how he ran his race. How did he do it for the joy that was set before him. Oh, there's that word again. Joy. For the joy that was set before him. Here's what this is showing us. We need to learn how to do in the moment. In the what? Everybody in the what? In the moment. In. In the moment when we're tempted to be worried, here's what we do. We replace our focus on the anxious apprehension of the outcome we don't desire.

With the joyful anticipation of the outcome we do desire. We replace the anxious apprehension on the promise of the enemy with the joyful anticipation of the promise of the Father. In real time. I can choose what to focus on now. I can't choose what happens to me, but I can choose what I do next.

And I can decide that instead of worrying about the thing I'm working on not working, I'm going to celebrate the fact that it's going to work while I'm working on it. And that will give me the energy to keep on working on it. Can I get a witness up in here?

I'm gonna stop worrying about the book I'm writing. What if nobody. The writer, he's got writer's block. You don't have writer's block. You just think the book ain't gonna sell. That's what writer's block looks like. I'm writing this book, and ain't nobody gonna want to buy it, so I might as well go do something else. That's too tough, ain't it?

See, we need to learn in the moment when we are feeling the anxiety. We need to learn in the moment how to replace our anxious thinking. But what we're asking. Disempowering anxiety, creating questions. What if it doesn't work. What if it doesn't work? What if it doesn't work? What if it doesn't? Well, if you ask, if you ask, what if it doesn't work? You're not going to get the answer. As a recipe for a chocolate cake, you're going to get the answer to, what if it doesn't work? Well, if it doesn't work and this doesn't work, and then I don't get paid and I don't get this client, and then this doesn't work, and that doesn't work, and I won't have enough money to pay my employees, to pay my bills, and they'll repossess my car. And. And here's the problem. You can see in vivid, full HD 4K resolution, 3D, how terrible life is going to be when the thing you're working on doesn't work.

And the stuff you desire, you're watching that like you're watching one of those 1923 silent movies on a projector with all the scratchy lines on the screen. You don't have any idea what it looks like and what the scripture says. I need to learn how to replace my thinking. Okay, y' all ain't tracking. I love the fact that God repeats things and he says it different ways. So in case I missed it the last time, I might pick it up the next time.

I beseech you, I beg you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and that ye be not conformed to this world. Don't be made like the world. The word conform means to be made like something with pressure from the outside. Like a cookie cutter. You take the cookie cutter, you just keep pressing down. You can make everything the same shape and the same size. And if you bite one in California, it tastes just like it did in New York City. Why? Pressure from the outside.

Don't be made like that, but be transformed, metamorphosized, turn into something new, a new creation. How? By the renewing of your mind. That word, renew is the exact same word that we use when we say renovate. This room looks great now, but it was a disaster. When they were renovating, they tore stuff out. They had ceiling tile out of the ceiling, insulation all over the place, dust everywhere. See, here's what you got to do. You got to renovate your mind. You got to tear out all of the anxious thoughts. You got to rip out all of the worried thoughts. You got to rip out all the what? If it doesn't work? You have to replace it with the joyful anticipation of the outcome you desire. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. Do you understand? No human being who has ever lived has ever endured anything more difficult than Christ, the God of the universe, becoming a man, taking on sinful, like being made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and. And then becoming sin and being separated from himself, from God. For us, nobody's ever gone through anything more difficult than that. How did he do it? He set the joy before him. What was the joy? He endured the cross, despised the shame. Now he's sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. That was the joy to be reseated on the right hand of the throne of God. Watch this with us in him, in heavenly places. Oh, my goodness, this is so good.

Because now I know what I need to do. I just look at Jesus example. So when I'm working on something and my assignment is not his assignment.

So while I'm doing what I'm doing and I'm teaching people about kingdom living, which is what I do, I'm teaching people how to build kingdom businesses. And haters are like, you are the Antichrist. You are a false prophet. You're a prosperity gospel. Thank you for sharing. And I keep on going. I don't even.

I'm like, I'm on a mission, bro. I can't even hear you. I ain't coming down off this wall to have a conversation with you. Sand ballot to buy it. I'm gonna. You want me to talk to you? You confused. I know my assignment. You don't even qualify for my time.

Because you don't understand your assignment. You got all your doctrine from your topical sermon preacher.

The reader verse and holler in three points in a poem. And they've not studied and you've not studied. And I know. And the reason I'm so bold about what I say, I've already studied it, and I'm still studying it. I don't need some man's approval.

Because the Bible is the best commentary on the Bible anyway.

Like, just, like, yield your life to God as the sovereign king of your life. Rule over your assignment with sovereign authority. Men become the king of your thing. Ladies become the queen of your scene. And then use the assignment that God put you here for to serve every human being you come across for the rest of your natural life. And watch how your life is blessed by the way people love to quote the first part of Matthew 6:33, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Okay, what's the next part? Give me the next part. And all these things shall be added unto you. What things? The things other people worry about. The things the Gentiles worry about. What you're going to eat, what you're going to wear, what you going to put on, where you're going to sleep. I don't have to worry about those things. You know why? Because I'm going to do two things. I'm going to yield my life to God as the sovereign king of my life. Three things. I'm going to rule over my assignment with sovereign authority. I'm going to run this kingdom that God gave me. This kingdom assignment that God gave me, like the king that he told me to be the king. I'm going to operate in the power of my anointing and my appointing. And then every time I find a human, I'm going to serve him some joy and I'm going to serve him some peace. And I'm going to serve him some word, and I'm going to serve him some encouragement and I a smile and some friendship. And if I do business with somebody, I'm gonna serve them some money. All that right there. And guess what happens? Because I'm focused on my assignment, which is yielding to God, ruling over my assignment and serving people. All those things are added unto me. I don't have to worry about them. Not now, not never. I'm telling you, if you'll get this, you'll be able to. Don't worry. Be happy. God bless you. We'll see you in the next video.