Well, we appreciate all of you coming out this evening because we're going to hear something tonight that is life-changing. And so I want to encourage you to pay close attention to this. I know it changed my life, and it has changed thousands of people's lives around the world. And I do want to, though, first of all, mentioned in some of the booklets, and I know a lot of you are looking at the book table. We sure appreciate that and appreciate you taking advantage of that. And so I want to mention to you that one of the subjects that we deal with quite a bit is how to deal with worry, anxiety, and fear. It's a big deal and just almost everybody that we deal with has some of this in their life and so it's an excellent booklet to be able to help with that. And then we have, this is a newer booklet called What About Those Who Go Back to Their Old Ways? Now there's only one reason that they go back to their old ways and this booklet identifies it and helps you to be aware of it so that you won't be focusing in the wrong direction with it. So we encourage you with that. has gotten a lot of traffic and I think it's very apropos for the church today because the churches all across the US and Canada are filled with this. Gossip, those who hear it and those who repeat it. See the two ladies there? Now, don't take that that I'm just picking on ladies, okay? But, you know, men are just as guilty of this. So, but it gives some very good biblical points of how we understand that, you know, this is a wicked sin. And we need to make sure that we understand the difference in how we handle that. So, I also wanna encourage you that We have a newer message on our YouTube channel called, let's see now, it's, yeah, okay. I'll come back to that. How's that, okay? It's the second one down, Kim. Tell me what that is, okay? Or if you can open it from there. I don't know if you can open it or not. But it's, oh I know, it's do you have real peace in your life? Okay? One of the things that we need in our life is peace and do you have real peace in your life? Now that's a question you have to ask yourself. You know, people fake peace. Do you have real peace in your life? And we would encourage you to listen to that. Of course, you can subscribe to the YouTube channel. And if you hit the subscribe button and then hit the notification bell, you'll get a notification every time a new video comes up on the site. We also would encourage you to think about signing up for the sermon audio section of the website under sermons. You do have to create an account for that because it's used for our counseling folks and that type of thing. But we would encourage you to, there's 332 messages up there. So we encourage you to take a look at those. And if you haven't signed up to get the article, we have a signup sheet out on the book table. Tonight, I can tell you that when God brought this to my attention, it changed me and it's changed Kim and it's changed a lot of people in the churches that we pastored and a lot of people around the world. So I would like for you tonight to take your Bibles. I would like for you to turn to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. And remember, we tell all of our counselees they have to learn the fours. Philippians 4, Ephesians 4, and James 4. Now we've covered Ephesians 4 last night, and now we want to go over to Philippians 4. And I'd like for you to stand together with me as we read out of respect to God and His Word. I want to speak to you tonight about the thought life of the Christian, one of the major keys to stability in your life. The thought life of the Christian, one of the major keys to stability in your life. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 4. The Bible says, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 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. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you tonight for the opportunity that we have to present your word. I need your help, and I ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit right now, and I submit myself to the Holy Spirit. I pray that he will be our teacher tonight. I pray, God, if there is a person in this room tonight that has never truly been born again, that they might come to a saving knowledge of you tonight. I pray, God, if there is a person here tonight who's out of fellowship with you, that they would be willing to respond and have their fellowship restored I pray, God, if there's a person here tonight who is bitter that, Lord, you will work in their heart and help them. I pray now that as we talk about the thought life, that you'll guide my thoughts and that you'll help me to be able to make this plain and it'll be an encouragement to everybody in this room tonight. I pray for the power of the Holy Spirit and I need your help now. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, you may be seated. The thought life of the Christian, one of the major keys to stability in your life. Now, I want you to understand that you can be out of fellowship with God by what you think. And Satan is constantly wanting to get into your head. so that he can get you to think about things that you shouldn't be thinking about. And these thoughts sometimes come randomly. And by the way, I tell everybody in our counseling program that especially is struggling with thoughts that, and sometimes we encourage them to keep a notebook in their pocket or in their purse And what was it that triggered you? What happened just before you thought about that? Everybody has triggers, okay? Everyone has triggers. And there's things, in essence, you could be walking down a mall somewhere, and there would be music playing overhead. And it might come from your past, you know, before you got saved. And all of a sudden, it's triggering you. I've had people who had, as an example, different colors that trigger them. Okay? So there's all kinds of different things that can trigger you. So what we want to do is find out what your triggers are. Okay? So we want you to write that down so that you understand that. However, one of the things that's very important for us to realize is that God has given us tools. Okay? God has given us tools. Now just, you know, the moment we get saved, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us. And then we are also given tools to use. Now, again, it's all about choices. Whether I'm going to make a choice to use the tools that God has given me, or I'm not going to use the tools that God has given me. And if I don't use the tools that God has given me, I'm going to be out of fellowship with God, and a whole lot of bad things can take place in my life. Now, I do want you to understand this. Now, you know, there's a good group of people here tonight. I want you to hear me clearly. Maybe you're here tonight and you have never truly been born again. Now I'm not naive. There could be people in this room tonight that aren't saved. Okay? That you have never truly come to a place where you have turned from yourself and turned from your sins and turned to Jesus Christ who alone can save you. There has to be a moment in time that you realize that you're lost. You're lost apart from the Savior. And Jesus Christ came and He died upon the cross so that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly, John 10.10 says. Jesus Christ died on the cross for you that you might have an abundant life. Now you may be here tonight, And, you know, you come to church, but you're not really sure if you died tonight you'd go to heaven. 25% of all the people who come into our counseling program have never been born again. They all attend independent Baptist churches, 99.9% of them. Okay? So, I want you to understand the importance of that decision. It's an eternal decision. Do you hear me? It's an eternal decision. You know, if you die tonight apart from Jesus Christ, you're going to go to hell for all eternity. This is not a place you visit for a weekend and get out. Okay? I don't go there and decide I don't like it and so I'm going to go. No, this is an eternal decision. So it is the most important decision you'll ever make in your life. So if there's a question in your mind about that, let us help you tonight so that you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if you died today, that you would go to heaven. Now that's important. Most important decision you're ever gonna make. But once you get saved, you're gonna have to make some more important decisions. And one of those is to be a spirit-controlled person. And the Bible is extremely plain about this, and we've talked about it so far. But I want you to understand with me that what you think is going to be extremely important, and what you think on every single moment of every single day is going to be important. So I'd like for you to look with me at Philippians 4, and I want to read verse 4 for you. It says, Rejoice in the Lord when? Always. And again I say what? Rejoice. Now I want to ask you a question. I always ask questions. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice. Is that your life? What did it say? Rejoice in the Lord what? Always. So, my question is, is that your life? Or are you up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, or you know, one day, one moment it's, you know, oh, Boy, that was great today. Praise the Lord. And the next, you know, next hour or two, you know, you're lower, you know, you're down where you could just stick your nose right into the ground. Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down. Now it says rejoice in the Lord always. So the big question is, how am I going to do that? Right? Yes? How am I going to do it? You know? You know, and I, you know, I have four degrees and I listen to a lot of people teach and preach, you know, down through the years. And one of the things that always bothered me was they never told me how to do it. You know, get right with God, but, you know, okay. You know, and one of the things I heard which is an error is, you know, if they don't get it from the pulpit, they're not going to get it. I can guarantee you that's a falsehood. Because there are many people that are in church all their life and they don't get it. Amen? There are many people in church all their life and they don't get it. Now, notice in verse 5 it says, what's the first word in verse 5, folks? Let. That means somebody's got to do what? Make a decision. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Now, notice it says, let your, moderation here means self-control or spirit control, be known unto all men. So how is it going to be that people are going to see that the Lord is in my life? How are they going to know that God, the Holy Spirit, is in my life? So let your moderation or your self-control or being spirit-controlled person be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Now we know that the Lord could be coming soon. I think it's amazing what we're seeing happening right now. Israel is a focus at this moment. But I also want you to know this. We had a young man in our church. First church, coal miner. His name was David. And David came and went to visit Israel. David could barely read. And he took a trip with an evangelist and went to Israel. And he came back and he told me, he said, God, I believe God has called me to be a missionary to Israel. And I told him, I said, David, Israel is a closed country. They take it seriously. I mean, if you mention the name of Jesus Christ, they take it as an attack on their nation. So they take it really seriously. And so, you know, I told him, I said, you know, I don't think it happened. But, you know, and he couldn't, he could barely read, let alone go preach. And so I tried to, I tried to, didn't try to discourage him, but I tried to let him know that this is probably not something that is going to be easily done. And if at all could be done. And about a month later, he came back to me and he said, Pastor, I really believe that God has called me to be a missionary to Israel, and will you help me?" I said, David, I will do the best job that I possibly can. So I called Dr. Robertson at Tennessee Temple University, and I said, the pastor of the church there, Holland Park, and so I said, I have a young man here who can barely read. He's a coal miner. He says that he believes that he's called to be a missionary in Israel. What do you think? He said, send him on down, we'll teach him to read. Okay, that's number one, gonna teach him to read, right? And I will call Dr. Jacob Gardenhouse, the director of the International Board of Jewish Missions, and tell him, Then I called Dr. Gardenhouse and said, Dr. Gardenhouse, I have a man here that can barely read, says he believes he's been called to be a missionary to Israel, to start a church in Israel. What do you think? And he said, come on down and we'll meet. So we came on down and I thought, again, when I called Dr. Robertson, I thought he's going to tell me there's no way, no how. And when I called and talked with Dr. Gardenhouse, I thought he was going to tell me, no way, no how. And then we get there and we walk into the International Board of Jewish Missions and Dr. Gardenhouse, we walk in and Dr. Gardenhouse sees David and he begins to cry. And he says, we've been waiting for you for a long time. We have land in Tel Aviv, Israel, and we want to start a church. Now again, there's a lot of impossibilities with this, okay? And so, David went to school. Took him seven years to get through the four-year program. But he did it, and they taught him how to read. The mission board helped him. And so David went to Israel, but they had a scenario that was very interesting. They started a ministry called the Nehemiah Project. And the Nehemiah Project is that, so they rented a warehouse and they encouraged everyone from America and Canada and some other countries to give to that. And so they could get blankets and clothing and all kinds of things for the immigrants, the Jewish immigrants that were coming back into the nation at 150 people a week. Ten years ago, The population of Israel was about three, a little over three million. 1.5 million of them being Arabs. 1.5 million Jews. Today, the population of Israel is around 10 million, and it's still 1.5 million Arabs. In the last 10 years, there have been millions of Jews that have come back to Israel. Right before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says that the Jews will come back to the land. They won't even know why they're coming back. And they won't even believe in the God of their fathers, let alone the Lord Jesus Christ, but they will come. And they're coming. And where's the focus now? It's on Israel. I want to tell you this, that nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible with God. So we were recently back, and I spoke at the 45th anniversary, something like that, and back at the first church, and David and his wife were there, and they set up that we could have a lunch with some of the people that we had. When we were there, there was 12 of them. Most of the elderly folks have already went to heaven. And David sat beside me and he said, I want to tell you again. I want to thank you for what you did for me. He said, I asked you to help me and you helped me. And he said, I'll always be grateful. David pastored that church for 19 years, the Messiah Baptist Tabernacle in Tel Aviv, Israel. I'm here tonight to tell you that nothing is impossible with God. Nothing. And the church is still in existence. Praise God. Amen? So now, is it possible for you to make biblical long-term change in your life? The answer is yes. So, it says here in verse 6, be careful, and the word careful here means anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." The word supplication means to ask for something humbly. And I want you to know, now here is God's first big tool for you in verse 6. See the word thanksgiving? See it? Okay, that is God's first big tool for you and me. Thanksgiving. Now, notice what it says. Be careful or anxious for what? Nothing. Now, how many of you have been anxious in the last week? Yeah, okay. If you didn't raise your hand, you're lying. Okay. Now, here's the deal. It says here, be careful or anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, that means you ask for something humbly. And here's God's first big tool. With what? Thanksgiving. And I'll explain it here in a minute. Let your requests be made known unto God. Now, you know, it's interesting here. Thanksgiving. Now, I want you to move down to verse 8, and I want you to notice in the last two phrases in verse 8, it says, and if there be any, and your second big tool is praise, think on these things. So, Thanksgiving and praise. So how many of you go through your, and don't raise your hand for this, but how many of you go through your days, you know, upset about this, upset about that? You know, why is this happening? Why is that happening? I don't know why this is going on. You know, and your mind is running off to the junkyard and running all over everywhere, and you don't understand. You know, I'm really upset a lot of the time. I'm not focused. I'm not stable. Now, so the two tools are thanksgiving and praise. You with me? Okay, thanksgiving and praise. These are God's two big tools. So you're going to have impact moments every single day. Satan is the prince in power of the air. He's the god of this world. He's going to try to upset your apple cart. Now, if your Apple Cart's going along okay and it's not getting knocked over, you're fine, but when your Apple Cart gets upset, you're like, oh, you know, oh, why did this have to happen today? Why, you know, why did she say that to me? Why did they do that? Why, why, why, why, why, why? How come this? How come that? How come I feel so bad all the time? How come I can't have peace in my life? How come? Get it? Always asking the question but not using the tools. Let me say it again. Always asking the questions but not using the tools that God has given you. You with me? Okay, so at the point of impact, and you're going to have impact moments here. You're going to have impact moments here. Satan is going to work upon your mind. Man is a trichotomy, body, soul, spirit. God works from the inside out. His spirit works from the inside out. Satan works from the outside in. He's going to create chaos so that you can, you know, okay, here it is. The dog threw up on the floor for the fifth time today. You know, the car won't start. The cat tore down my curtains. You know, I mean, we could go on and on and on and on and on with silliness that takes place. Satan is the prince in power of the air. He's the god of this world. He's wanting to upset your apple cart. He wants you to be defeated. He wants you to be discouraged. And most of all, he wants you to react so that you can be out of fellowship with God. Now, he wants you to react in the moment. You know, we got a booklet out there called, Why Do I React All the Time? He wants you to react in the moment. Now, I want to turn back, and I'll come back here, but I want to turn back to 1 Peter 5. And I want you to notice with me, it says this, verse 8. First Peter 5.8, now this is talking contextually to Christians. Okay, so it says, be sober, that means to be serious. Okay, to be watchful, that's what it's talking about, be watchful. Be vigilant because your adversary, who? The devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Now, I ask people in every church and in every school I go to to preach at, who is Satan devouring then here? Christians who are out of fellowship with God. He and his minions are going around all the time looking for people that are out of fellowship with God and not spirit-controlled people. They are easy prey. Now, Satan is not omniscient, meaning all-knowing. He's not omnipresent, present everywhere all the time like God is. So he's not omniscient, he's not omnipresent, but he is a good, he and his minions are good judges of character and they observe. And so they observe how people are, how they're responding so that they will focus on that and they will give you things to get you upset. There will be things that will happen that will make you upset. So the reality is, when these things take place, how are you going to respond? Are you going to be reacting all over the countryside? Because man is a trichotomy, body, soul, and spirit. Now, Satan is always trying to take gets you to react, he works on your soul and he uses outside pressure to do that. And so he works upon your soul to get you to react. And so what he can do then is that if you're out of fellowship with God, he gets direct access to your soul then when you're out of fellowship with God. And he can control how you react, what you say, what you do, how you do it. And that's what he wants to do. So he can control your will and control your emotions. Do you understand me? He can control your will. He wants to get control of your will so He can control your emotions, so He can control your decisions. You say, I thought if I was saved, Satan would have... No, if you're saved and you're out of fellowship with God, you don't have a defense. So think about it like this. Have you ever seen those pictures of ships that have those little round portal windows in them? You ever see that? Yes? Okay, if the portal window is open, that means that water can get into the ship. So when water gets into the ship, that's a bad thing, right? Okay, so when the portal window's closed, water can't get into the ship. So the reality of it is, is when you're out of fellowship with God, your portal window's open. And Satan has direct access to your soul. So now you're going to have to take your fellowship with God real seriously, and you're going to have to take real seriously what I'm going to tell you next. Now watch what it says. Look at verse 6. What's the first word in verse 6, folks? Humble. Humble who? Yourselves. Whenever you see the word humble, most generally it means submit. Submit yourselves therefore to God, therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your what? Care upon him, for he careth for you. Now look at verse 9, talking about Satan here. Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. So a lost person, you know what? They just go from one thing to another, and the reason why they're not living for this lust today is because they're distracted by this one. But if you're out of fellowship with God, you're living just like a lost person does, and you're being distracted all over the countryside by your lusts. So now every day, I'm gonna ask God those questions. Number one, is there any sin that stands between you to me today? I want you to show it to me, make it real to me. Then I'm gonna confess that and ask God to forgive me for it. Turn from it, repent. That's what it means. Secondly, I want to ask God, is there any hurt that I'm allowing to control me right now? And so, show it to me, and He does. We've already seen that. And then, Kim spoke to the ladies about that, because a lot of times, ladies will get hurt. When a lady has something happen, it goes directly to their heart. And so, if I have any hurt in my life, I want to ask God to show it to me so I can confess that, so I won't be out of fellowship with God and living an anxiety-focused life. Okay? Third one is bitterness, of course, and it's a big deal. Do I have any bitterness in my heart? And if I do, I want you to show it to me, but then I want to ask you to forgive me for it, and I want you to ask me to take it out of my heart. want you to take it out of my heart, God. Now, that way I can be sure that I'm starting my day being in fellowship with God. Then I can open my Bible. And you know, I can ask God to show me His message for me today, make it real to me, rather than just reading my Bible and never ever getting anything out of it. So now I can ask Him to God's message for me today, give it to me. I remember the first time I did that, and God showed me something really marvelous from His Word. And I'm like, thank you, Lord, show me more. I want to learn, show me more, show me more, show me more, show me more. God's message to me today. Now, I tell you what, when the Holy Spirit speaks to you and shows you in the Word, this is His message for you today that ought to float your boat. Okay? And that makes you want to go and learn more, rather than just sit back and say, oh, gosh, I've got to read my Bible today. Boy, I'm not getting nothing out of that, I don't know. but then you're up and down like a yo-yo, always upset about something, always unfocused. Now I'm going to focus in on what God has to say to me today through His Word. I'm going to write it down, God's message for me today. You know, five lines down, a promise from God. Show me a promise that you have for me today, God. And now I'm going to write that down. A command to keep, I'm going to write that down. Then any additional comments, anything else God shows me, I'm going to write that down. And then I'm going to write down, how am I going to apply that to my life, my application? How am I going to apply that to my life today? God showed that to me, and I'm going to apply it to my life. You know, as a young Christian, and I started focusing on that, and I can tell you that there were times that God just showed this to me. I'm like, I started to cry. Thank you, Lord, for showing that to me. Thank you for making it real to me. Thank you for making your word real to me. And it changed me. And it made me want to go after this book a whole lot stronger. It made me want to learn. And I wanted to see what God had for me. I wanted to make it real. When God shows it to you, it's like, wow. All right, here I want to go. What's the next thing? Show me the next one. Show me the next one. I want to learn. Make it real to me now. But every single day, You know, and so now I can focus myself in walking with God, but now what I want to be aware of is that the enemy of my soul, he's an observer. He and his minions are observers, and they observe your strengths and your weaknesses. Know exactly where to go. And so they're going to put things in your path. And how you respond, then, is this. Listen carefully to me. Remember Philippians 4? Let's turn back there now, all right? Now, 1 Peter 5, 7 says, Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. Humble yourselves unto the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Now, Philippians 4. And I want you to look again now. What did it say in verse 4? What's that first word? Rejoice in the Lord when... Can I do that? Yes. I sorrowfully have heard this. Kim and I counsel many pastors and their wives. who are looking to quit the ministry because they are defeated and they're discouraged and they are focused on not being spirit-controlled people but they're being flesh-controlled people. and they're allowing their hurts to control them. They're allowing all the different things that have taken place to be a defeating thing to them to the point that they no longer want to be in the ministry. It messes up their marriage, it messes up their children, and they're ready to get out. So here's what we're going to do. You're going to have to take control of your mind by the power of the Holy Spirit. Got it? So how am I going to do that? At the point of impact, you know, at the point of impact, I'm going to stop. Now, you ladies heard Kim say that she doesn't, you tell them you don't put your head down the hole, right? Yeah. So she's always telling women, I'm not going to put my head down that hole because there's nothing but darkness down there. Okay, so now what I'm going to do is I'm going to stop and I'm going to think, I cannot go here. I am not going to be defeated today. I want to submit myself to the Holy Spirit right now. The moment you say, I want to submit myself to the Holy Spirit, you have His power. Because 1 John 4 says that greater is He The Holy Spirit that's in you, if you're saved, then He, Satan, that's in the world. Amen? So now I want the Holy Spirit's power in my life, and I've got to understand that He is here to help me, and there's at least 70 things He wants to do in my life. We're not talking about the charismatic movement. We're talking about having a real relationship with God. A real, intimate, personal, and passionate relationship with God. And so now I'm going to, you know, all right, I want to stop, think, submit. I want to submit myself right now. I'm not going here. What do you want me to praise you for? And what do you want me to thank you for? Remember those tools? Praise and thanksgiving? I challenge you to go through your Bible and see how many times praise and thanksgiving is mentioned in regard to your walk with God. It is, for lack of better words, buku. Many times. So I have to use it. Praise and thanksgiving. You know, a general junk that comes your way. Stop, think, submit. Now, you know, I used to play baseball, you all know that. And I would have coaches hit me 300 balls every practice, because when I played third base and I wasn't pitching. And so that when the real game came, it was just like practice. So how do you get better at an instrument? You practice. How do you get better at your job? You practice. How do you get better at cooking? You practice. Right? Amen? Okay? So now you're going to have to practice this using the tools that God has given you. At the point of impact, stop, think, submit, turn it over. Now, let's move over to James chapter 4 for a second. Now I want you to look with me at verse 6. It says, In James 4, verse 6, and verse 7 is an underliner in your Bible. James 4, verse 6, but he giveth more grace. And the word grace means divine help. But he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth who? The proud. So if you're not going to use God's tools, and you think that you can do it your own way, what's the problem? Pride. I believe that I can live independently from God. And so therefore when I'm downtrodden and discouraged and upset and all these different things, it's because I'm allowing pride to cause me to live independently from God. You all with me? Yes? Pride. The definition of pride is that I believe I can live independently from God. I got news for you. If you're saved, you're a child of God. So you're not going to be able to live independently from God. If you do that, you're going to live a miserable life. You're always going to be defeated. You're always going to be discouraged. You're always going to be downtrodden. Got my tongue moving too fast there. You know, always going to be downtrodden, always going to be unfocused, always going to be upset about something. So, the Bible says, where we were at in 1 Peter, it said, "...casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." Amen? So I'm going to use his tools that he's given me. Stop, think, submit, turn it over. What do you want me to praise you for? What do you want me to thank you for? Now look at verse 7 so that you can see it biblically. Now notice in verse 6 he says, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace, divine help, unto the humble. And the word humble here means submitted. Verse 6. Now look at verse 7. What's the first word in verse 7? Submit yourselves therefore to who? To God, the Holy Spirit. Resist the devil. And by submitting to the Holy Spirit, you're resisting the devil, and he will what? Flee from you. So you've got to use the tools. Stop, think, submit. Turn it over. What do you want me to praise you for? What do you want me to thank you for? And immediately it's going to pop into your mind. I have a cute dog. He is almost four now. Raised him from a pup. We did. But in the first two years were hard work. But you know what? He gives me joy. We play ball together. We walk together. Kim walks him too. You know, we have, you know, he loves to play. He loves to be with us. He likes to hug you. You know, he'll put his head right here. His name's Rocky. So, God's always interested in something that gives me joy. So what do you want me to praise you for? What do you want me to thank you for today? Rocky. Gives me joy. Brings a smile to my face. Rocky. Kim, she's not number two behind Rocky, okay? I just want you to understand that. But the point is, you know, we've been married 50 years. We've served God together for over 50 years now. And you know what? I'll say, who do you want me to thank you for today? What do you want me to praise you for today? Many times she comes up. There are multiple things that we can praise and thank God for at the point of impact. And it breaks that thinking, that negative thinking, that ungodly thinking, that satanic thinking. Okay? Now, you know, the Bible says over and over again that God wants you and me to have peace. You know? And so, like I said at the start, we have this YouTube video up now that's getting good hits on, do you have real peace in your life? Do you really have peace in your life? Do you know that? Now, if you don't have peace in your life today, why not? It's because you're not following what God has told you to do. You're not using the tools God has given you. If you're a saved person, you've got to learn to be a submitted, spirit-controlled person at the point of impact. It says here, Submit yourselves, therefore, to who? To God, immediately, at the point of impact. Submit yourselves, therefore, God, and resist the devil, and he'll what? Flee from you. Now, notice verse 8, just so you see it. Draw nigh to God, and he'll what? draw an eye to you, cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. A double-minded man, verse James 1.8 says, is unstable in all of his ways. You never know what he's going to do, he or she is going to do, because they are living their life just mundanely going through the motions rather than using the tools that God has given them to live a life that is honoring and pleasing to God and giving them peace in their life. Now, do you believe that Jesus Christ wants you to have peace in your life? Yes or no? So now I'm telling you how to do it. Now we have people who are really struggling with issues. And they're practicing this. And this is what I'm telling you now about Thanksgiving and praise. It's just for everyday stuff that comes your way. But there may be a very difficult situation that comes your way. So I want you to turn back to John chapter 14. Let's turn back to 2 Corinthians 10 first. I think you've got to see this first before we go to John 14. 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 3, notice what it says. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 3 says this, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. Means if you think that you can live your Christian life in your own power, in the power of the flesh, it's not going to work. You're always going to be defeated. You're always going to be up and down. You're always going to be discouraged. You're always going to be unstable. You all with me? We're not going to win a war. We're not going to win this spiritual war by living our life in the power of the flesh. Now, somebody says, you know, wouldn't it have been great, Pastor, if God had taken away our old nature when we got saved? Yeah, it would have been, but He didn't. But He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us and He gave us tools. So we got to use them. You know, when I got married, Kim did this horrible thing. She went out and bought me a toolbox. And I'm telling you, me and a hammer are not even close to being friends. Okay, I mean, I get close to one and I get hurt. She's mechanically inclined. So the way we figured it out at our house is this. We get something to put together, I read the instructions, and she puts it together. Amen? Hey, just, we don't have to then be saying, you know, Lord forgive me for this and forgive, you know, and I'm just not there. Okay, now there's, I have some good gifts here, but I'm not there. And, you know, boy, it's this nice craftsman toolbox with all these nice tools, and they're still nice tools, amen? Because they haven't been used a whole lot, all right? Now, so for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. Now notice what verse 4 says. Pay close attention. For the weapons, see it? Weapons of our warfare are not what, ladies and gentlemen? Carnal. That means selfish. They're not of the power of the flesh. But mighty through God. So what I want to tell you, you, if you're saved tonight, you've got mighty weapons. And you need to learn to use them. Amen? You've got mighty weapons, you've got great tools, you need to learn how to use them. So you've got mighty weapons. And notice what it says, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they're not fleshly oriented, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. Now we move into an area where strongholds are in your mind. And I'm going to give you a definition. In verse 4, strongholds means figuratively. A heavily fortified containment and is used of a false argument in which a person seeks shelter or a safe place to escape reality. I'm going to say it again. That's a long definition. The definition of strongholds here is, figuratively, a highly fortified containment and is used of a false argument in which a person seeks shelter or a safe place to escape reality, thus imaginations, in verse 5. We have people today who will spend time, you know, on the computer or on the Phone, looking at things that are ungodly. Easily accessed now because we got this powerful computer right in our hands. Wicked. Now on our On our paperwork that people fill out to come into our program, we ask this question. Do you find yourself wishing that you were living with a different man or a different woman? fantasizing about that? Imaginations. And it becomes a stronghold in their mind. We had a lady and a man and a woman that were in counseling several years back. We were invited to their home for dinner. In fact, they told us that they had a spare bedroom that we could move into so that we could be there to counsel them all the time. And but we go and they had this large, large home, big tall ceilings. And on the back wall of the dining room, there was a bookcase that went all the way to the top and all the way across this large back wall. And so when I walked in there, I thought, Maybe I just need to see what we're reading here because they're in counseling, right? And I said, I walked back and I looked at a few of these and so I said, who reads the books here in the back wall? And the woman of the house says, oh, I do. What do you think she was reading? And there were hundreds of them. Christian romance novels. And she was living her life in a fantasy world when she would walk to work every day and she walked about, oh, seven, eight blocks to work. She was always fantasizing about living with a different person. Living with a different person. You got it? Y'all with me? That's what strongholds are. that you are thinking about things that you don't need to be thinking about, and you don't know how to control that. And so when you let your mind run off to the junkyard on this stuff, and then you wonder why that you're upset, why that you're up and down all the time, why that you're not living a life honoring and pleasing to God, and you're discouraged with yourself, and you're discouraged with your marriage, or you're discouraged with your children, you're discouraged with your job, you're discouraged with all kinds of different things. Now, look down at verse 5. Notice what it says. Casting down imaginations, fantasies, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. How many thoughts? Every thought. So at the point of impact, I'm going to, rather than go there, I'm going to stop, think, I'm going to submit to the Holy Spirit right now. What do you want me to praise you for? What do you want me to thank you for? Breaks the moment. Got it? Because if you let your mind run off and you start thinking about all these things that you shouldn't be thinking about, you're out of fellowship with God. And now Satan has direct access to your soul. Now, saying all that, let's turn back to John 14, okay? Jesus Christ is getting ready to go back to heaven, and the Holy Spirit is about to enter. And the Holy Spirit is here now. I am very thankful for the Holy Spirit. I'm thankful that the Holy Spirit indwells me. I'm thankful that I can submit to Him immediately and resist the devil and he will flee from me. Got it? Very thankful for that. Now, I've got to practice. And notice what verse 26 says. I'm going to read the first phrase for you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, You see that capital C there on Comforter? It means it's the Holy Spirit. So one of the 70 ministries of the Holy Spirit is to comfort you. Now on the back of the gossip booklet, we have the 70 things that the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life with the scripture references. So when we have our, or the critical spirit book, when we have our counselees read through that, I tell them, I don't want you to read the 70 things right now. I want you to do the booklet first. The next week, I'm gonna have you come back and read the 70 things. And I want you to write down 10 things that you would like the Holy Spirit to do in your life. Ask God to show you those things. And they're amazed. They are literally amazed that the Holy Spirit could do these things in my life, and I want Him to. And now they're moving forward to having a real, intimate, personal, passionate relationship with God. Amen? Yes? Yes. They're starting to make biblical long-term change in their life. before they were thinking about stuff they shouldn't have been thinking about. They were focused on all their worries and anxieties and fears, and they were focused on, you know, why I can't do this and why I can't do that, and worry, anxiety, fear, and all kinds of silly thinking going on. And then they wonder why they're upset all the time, why they're reacting all the time, when I can be a spirit-controlled person. Now I want you to notice Then look at the last sentence in verse 27. This is our Lord speaking to us, and I want you to notice what He says to every person in this room. If I were you, I'd underline this in my Bible. It says, "...let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." So do you see the word let there at the start of that sentence? Let not your heart be what? Neither let it be afraid. Are you living in fear tonight? Are you afraid of certain things? He's making it very plain to you that this is your choice. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. It's your choice. Now, how's that going to work? Okay. Not only he tells us to let not your heart be troubled, but he says now, look, I want you to have peace. Jesus Christ went and died upon the cross of Calvary for you and me so that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly. And He died on the cross of Calvary so that we could have peace. Do you have peace in your life tonight? Think about that for a minute and that's going to tell you where you are. Now notice what it says here in verse 27. Notice the first word in verse 27. What is it, folks? Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. So the goal, Jesus Christ's goal for your life is that you would have peace. He wants you to have it. So Matthew 7, 7 says, asking it shall be given you, seeking you shall find, knocking it shall be opened unto you. Now, also here, and so I want you to think about that for a minute, and I want you to understand this. We tell all our counselees this. If you find yourself really, really struggling, what you're going to do is say, I want to submit myself to the Holy Spirit right now. I want to ask you to forgive me. I would like to have your peace, please. And I want you to calm my soul. I want you to calm my mind. You know what our counselees are saying, Pastor? Peace. It's like the peace in Philippians 4-7. The peace that passeth all understanding. But whose choice is this? It's yours. You got to make it. I can't do it for you. Pastor can't do it for you. Pastor's wife can't do it for you. Kim can't do it for you. We can tell you how, but you're going to have to practice it. Peace. Jesus Christ wants you to have peace. So if you're not living in peace, you're not living in obedience to Jesus Christ. Now notice what else this passage says in verse 26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, and I don't want you to miss this, He shall teach you what? All things. And bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I've said unto you. So the Holy Spirit, one of His ministries is to teach you. So you're going to have to ask Him to teach you. You know, so when I open my Bible every day, I'm going to ask those questions and I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit to teach me today. Make His Word real to me. Show me your message for me today. Make it real to my life. You know what's going to happen? Life is going to change. You're going to have peace. Turn back to Philippians 4, 7. Going to do two more things here, real quick. Philippians 4, look at verse 7. Philippians 4, verse 7. Just so you see it again. Alright, Philippians 4, 7. Now watch. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through who? Christ Jesus. So, Jesus wants you to have what? Peace. He left it here for you. All you got to do is ask for it. Want to have peace? Want your peace? The peace that passeth all understanding And it's real peace. It's not put on peace. Now, so just so you see the terms, turn back to Hebrews chapter 13. And I want you to look at verse 15. Just so you see the terms, okay? It's a wonderful passage here. Watch what it says. I'd underline it in my Bible. Alright, everybody up here with me right now. So when is this supposed to be done? What's it say? What's it say, ladies and gentlemen? Continually. So I'm going to stop, think, submit, turn it over to God. What do you want me to praise you for? What do you want me to thank you for? It has to be done when? At the point of impact and it's going to be done continually so that you can have what? Peace. The peace that passeth all understanding. So you're not letting your mind run off where it shouldn't go and not letting your mind fill your life with lack of joy and with lack of assurance and lack of, you know, that you're focused. Now these are your decisions, just like it's your decision to get saved. God gave us a free will. I had a counselee here recently who was mad because God gave him free will. I said, what are you, nuts? I'm glad God gave me a free will. I can make decisions. And God is saying, you make these decisions and you'll have peace. Even if there's a storm going on around you, you know now you're in fellowship with God. You're focused on walking with God. You have peace. And even in the midst of the storm you have peace. Praise God, amen? Jesus Christ wants you to have peace. My peace I give unto you. Do you have peace tonight? Do you have peace? I'm going to ask you to stand now with your heads bowed and your eyes closed and I want you to listen to me carefully. I want you to stand up, I want you to bow your heads, I want you to close your eyes, and I want you to listen to me carefully. Now the pastor has made it plain to me that it's okay if anybody wants to walk forward in this room tonight, you can. And it may very well be tonight that there is somebody here, your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed, nobody's looking around. There may be people here tonight that you've never truly been born again. Now, as this pianist plays tonight, why don't you step out of your seat, come on up. Somebody will take the Bible and show you how you can know before you leave here to your child of God. But maybe tonight you've heard something that is earth shattering in your life if you'll apply it. And maybe you need to say tonight, Dr. Coomer, I'm gonna come because I am going to Apply this to my life. I want to make change in my life Anybody like that tonight? Don't be afraid Now let me ask you this Is there anybody in here tonight that would say, Dr. Coomer, God spoke to my heart tonight. I would like for you to pray for me. Would you raise your hand? Yes. Thank you. A lot of you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. Anybody else? Yes. Thank you. God spoke to my heart tonight, showed me something. I'd like for you to pray for me. Anyone else? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. God bless you. I see you. All right now, folks. This is a real spiritual moment. God wants to work in your life. God wants to change your life for his honor and for his glory. That's your choice. I can't do it for you, but I can sure pray for you. Penis going to play one more verse. Anybody else say, Dr. Coomer, God spoke to me, please pray for me. Anyone else? Thank you. God bless you. Thank you. God bless you. Anyone else? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. I see you. Thank you. Anyone else? I see you. Thank you. And we're going to go to God in prayer here in just a minute. This may be a moment in your life that's going to change you for the rest of your life. We're here for biblical long-term change. We want you to have peace. Pastor wants you to have peace. God wants you to have peace. Our kind and gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for meeting with us tonight. We're thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit in this room tonight. I pray that you would now, those that have raised their hand, and there's many in this room that have raised their hand tonight, Lord, I pray that you'll make this a moment where they will really understand what they have been taught this evening, and that they will apply it to their lives. God, I pray you'll make it real to them. I pray you'll encourage them. There may be the person here tonight, Lord, who is really been hurt and they need to focus now on having real peace in their life. The folks that have raised their hand, Lord, I pray that you'll make this real to them. Don't let them walk out of here and forget this. Help them to apply it to their life. God, bring it to their attention. Work in their heart. And I pray that you'll make it real. Thank you for meeting with us now. And thank you for showing this truth tonight. And we ask for your help for each person in this room, that you'll encourage them and help them use the tools that you've given to us. And we ask it in Jesus name and for his sake, amen.