Paul
Everlasting God
You Never Let Go
God of Peletah, segue to Your Love Never Fails
Peletah – deliverance in Hebrew
New song
He walks through the fire with us
More Than A Friend
Hosanna
Jon
Philippians 4:4-9
22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Need to lower expectations
CS Lewis – expectations are everything, how we walk through life, hotel, honeymoon suite, described as pretty good, not very opulent, same room described as jail cell, pretty good
Always shifting and changing
As we learn to walk the road of faith with the fruits
We are constantly under attack by forces that want to destroy our peace and joy; steal our love from us
Definition of peace: confidence and trust of God’s wise control of your life
Believe that He’s a God that’s for us, not against us
Philippians 4:4-9 – 4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 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, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
All requests have to be made with thanksgiving
Not asking us to conjure up fake smile kind of joy/thanksgiving
When you choose to come to God with an attitude of thanksgiving
My perception of God isn’t perfect – need to adjust it every day
Learn how to thank Him before you even make your request
Shift – roadblocks to peace
Anxiety and worry
Greek translation of the word for anxiety and worry – to be in pieces
Athletes/musicians discipline themselves to practice
They take the things they’re learning and apply them to their life
Whatever is worthy of your praise/adoration – think of these things
Worship – I give worth/adoration to Him because He is worthy
We’re always giving worship to something, every day
Worship to the one true God
Opposite of love is fear
Opposite of joy is hopelessness
Opposite of peace is anxiety and worry
You have to talk to your heart
Psalm 42 – why are you so downcast
Sink your heart into the fruits of the Spirit – into Jesus
As a Christian…
Before you’re a Christian, you have one enemy – God; all He wants is to get a hold of your heart
After conversion, you have 3 enemies: the world, the flesh & the Devil
Joy and peace are going to fluxuate wildly
1. The world = mindset of secularism, now-ism (what matters now)
Visit a well-off friend and instead of giving praise and adoration to God for the greatness of their house/lifestyle, you envy it
Your heart gets ripped apart by someone of the opposite sex and you believe that that is all that matters
2. Flesh – selfish part that wants to be in control, desires
I know what’s best for my life God
3. Satan – you cannot make sense of the Bible unless the devil is real
Want nothing more than to destroy your peace and your joy
Try to reduce problems to one of the three enemies
Sometimes depression is so much more complex than you give it credit for
Bombarded by commercialism and what beauty is
World sends message of what beauty is, flesh takes that message and turns it into a desire for control, then Satan (word actually means accuser/prosecuter) and he says “You call yourself a Christian”; he goes after your security
Doctrinal problems, legalistic problems, superstitious problems
Emphasis on one or the other are the problems – all three play off of each other and are equally important – can’t focus on one aspect
All comes down to accusation
5 year old sin comes out in 3-D and you’re reminded of the “good old days” when you read the Bible and worshipped God constantly
The reason you’re sad is because the Spirit of God is working in you
You can’t be holy without Me
Remind those enemies that even on the best/worst days, those accusations don’t affect God’s love for me
Doesn’t make me any less desireable toward the heart of Jesus Christ
Remind yourself who you are in Jesus Christ
Have to keep preaching the love of Jesus Christ to your heart
The enemies will never give up
Think about the noble and the pure and the peace of God will be with you
Paul
It Is Well With My Soul
