Living Unbothered

You're tuned into Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Justin Lester is an average guy who refuses to let Mondays control him. Justin is a husband, dad, pastor, student, and Jesus follower. He's done a lot, he's learned a lot, and he wants to see you at your best. Let's win Mondays. Hey, Justin. What's up today?

Well, hey, everyone. Welcome to Made for Mondays. We're glad to have you guys in here. Hopefully this will encourage you to live into your Mondays and be all that you possibly can be. So let's just jump right into it. Today I want to talk about what it means to live unbothered. Have you ever had a mosquito bite and it just bit you at the wrong time? I mean, for example, think about the mosquito bite you had between two fingers or two toes. It just itches. You never really can get to it. It's annoying, it's bothersome, it takes away your focus, and then two days later, you forget it even happened to me. That's how the Devil works. Remember, God only allows Satan in because there's a maturity and dimension that God is trying to bring you up to. Don't get it twisted. Season of maturity lasts to bring you up and teach you insight and never get that twisted. The season lasts as long as you're willing to learn the lesson. The devil really never has the authority to take your life because remember, it can affect your health. Be mindful, it's only temporary. But everything that happens is God ordained and authorized. So how do you deal with this? You don't remove the phrase deal with from your vocabulary. You have more authority than just dealing with. You have so much authority to win. So how do you get over people? How do you get over situations? God commanded us to love every person. He never told me I have to like you. Whenever you enter into a disagreement with a person, it's never the person, it's the spirit. Never dumb down the gospel or Satan to a person. They have been vulnerable in their hearts and spirits to be afflicted by something that's against them. So you're wrestling with spirits. So since we're wrestling with spirits and spiritual growth and authority, then we go to Romans 8 and realize we fight differently. You put down your weapons, you log off social media, you block phone numbers, and let me let you in on the secret that I've learned. If it doesn't bother God, it shouldn't bother you either. Worry yourself about the things that worries that God worries about. And spoiler alert, God doesn't worry about anything. Now I realize this seems elementary and basic and everything going on in our world and so many things that are consuming us. But I want us to remember one simple thing. Jesus is not coming back just for America. He's coming back for the entire world. And we'll begin to see God's vision for everything. We get over how small our visions are. The reason, even at times, we get so comfortable to dishonor the office of president, the office of Governors, is because we're so busy worried about people and not the office. That applies to work and relationships and even your local church. I want you to get to a place where you're just unbothered. I mean, seriously, your enemies are worshiping your response. They live into your response. The sin is not your anger. It's the retaliation with your anger. And I want to help you live unbothered. So how do I do that? Here's one piece of advice. If God sees your time as an investment, you see your time as an investment. Too often I believe our time is overlooked. Even in scripture. God took six days of work and then he rested for one. Noah was drifting on the sea for ages. The children of Israel, Israel wandered for ages. The people in the biblical text and on journeys took journeys that were days and weeks long. There's something about an investment with our time. God invests in you. God's time. Your time is an investment. So if God sees you as an investment, you've got to see your own time as an investment. How are you spending time? Personally, I look at my time as like, five minutes every 15. $5 for every 15 minutes, that is. I ask myself the question, is this conversation really worth $5? If not, I literally don't waste my time. Where can you spend your time wisely? With whom can you spend your time wisely? How do the conversations you engage and the people you surround yourself with qualify as an investment? People treat you the way you treat yourself. And if you believe you're a waste of time, your conversations and your engagements will be as well. My sleep is a time to connect with God and not to worry about uninvested people. That's our second principle today, that my sleep is a time to connect with God, not a time to worry about uninvested people. One of the hardest battlegrounds we have is our time of rest. And that's one of the reasons it's so hard to come by. The battleground of our minds is the place where God can intervene, where our negative thoughts can fester. What you sow into your mind while it's working will be revealed while it's resting. What are you reading before you go to bed? What do you read before you go to work? What are you sowing into your mind? What books and wise counsel have access to? What you think about? What books and wise counsel have access to, how you pray? What blogs and podcasts are pouring into your conscious that affects your subconscious? My wife and I earnestly pray that our dreams are not just dreams, but they're visions. And side note, if your dreams are constantly about people, you're wasting your time to dream. Lastly, I'm making the choice to worship because of who God is, not because of who's looking. One of the statements I've ever heard is I'm worshiping in spite of situations. Simply put, never worship in spite of something. Worship because of something. God is worthy of praise and honor, and for you to waste your energy in spite of someone is a waste of your time. So worship because of something. Seasons of frustration and seasons of pain are going to happen is simply going to come and test your foundation, your infrastructure. So whatever happens, let it happen. You stand tall and live unbothered. Listen, make this Monday worth it. Make this week worth it. Make your time worth it. Let's say our affirmation together. Repeat after me. Say I am me. I can be me. No one will ever stop me from being me. You are the best thing that's ever happened and this will be your best week. You have a wonderful, blessed week.

This has been made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Be sure to follow Justin online at MrJlester and online at www.jlester.com. see you next week. Go win. You were made for this.