Hello again and welcome to the program. We're here with a little encouragement and a little strength for today. We're talking about discouragement and how to get to victory. We're going to look at that today. Stay tuned. The Bible gives us pictures of people who were discouraged in the Bible. For instance, in Psalm 77, 4, the psalmist said, I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Moses said, I'm tired of all these people criticizing me. I asked God to kill them. Elijah, same thing, hiding in a cave. He said, God, I would like you to kill me. Well, one thing for sure, if those people could get that discouraged, you and I can too. How can we have the victory? In the book of Genesis, we read that God said, let us make man in our image. God is a trinity, and he also made us a trinity. It's referred to in 1 Thessalonians 5, 23, where we read, the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now victory over discouragement begins when we allow the Holy Spirit to bear witness with our spirit. Romans 8 and 16 says the Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit. The Bible says a lot about our spirit. In the Proverbs we have the faithful spirit, the hasty spirit, the humble spirit, the broken spirit, the wounded spirit, and an excellent spirit. In Psalms it refers to an overwhelmed spirit, the spirit that is not steadfast, the provoked spirit, the failing spirit, and the spirit in which there is no guile. The soul of a person is the mind, the will, and the emotions, and the spirit is that part that communicates with God. Victory over discouragement is simply the byproduct of my spirit dictating to my soul, my mind, my will, and the emotions concerning everything the Holy Spirit is directing me to do. In Psalm 62 5 we read, my soul, that's the mind, the will, and the emotions, Wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. Wait. Strong's definition says that word means to be silent. It is saying to the soul, the mind, the will, and the emotions, be silent. Wait thou only upon God. Again, Romans 8 and 16 says the Spirit himself, the Holy Spirit, beareth witness with our spirit. It is very possible to get discouraged because we're looking for satisfaction in the wrong place. The hymn writer has said the world will try to satisfy that longing in your soul. You may search the whole world over, but you'll be just as before. You'll never find true satisfaction until you found the Lord, for only Jesus can satisfy your soul, your mind, your will, and your emotions. Only Jesus can satisfy the soul, and only He can change the heart and make you whole. He'll give you peace you never knew, love and joy and heaven too. Only Jesus can satisfy your soul. We could add another chorus, the church will try to satisfy that longing in your soul, but you can search that whole church over and you'll be just as before. Only Jesus can satisfy your soul. The church is not there to satisfy our soul. The church is a hospital to help Christians grow up. If you have been involved in church ministry for very long, You are already understanding that that ministry can bring a lot of discouragement. Things happen that you wish wouldn't, and that can be discouraging. Remember, only Jesus can satisfy your soul. Sometimes ministries are discouraging because we do it the wrong way. First of all, we determine a goal, and then we adopt a method. That method becomes tradition. That tradition becomes doctrine, and that traditional doctrine is accepted as true. Well, the right way to do it is exactly backwards to that. Begin with the Word of God. The Word of God determines our doctrines. Bible-based traditions are developed, and then we should determine Bible methods to reach scriptural goals. Actually, as Christians, we should not look at the situations that come along as problems, but rather projects. Actually, the things that come along that lead us to discouragement should not be considered problems, but they should be considered projects. I came across the formula for handling problems some years ago and it's been very helpful. Number one, we need to ask ourselves, what is the problem? Write it down. Sometimes we get all emotional about what the problem is doing rather than understanding what the problem really is. Write it down. What is the problem? Number two, what is the cause of the problem? Number three, what are the possible solutions to this problem? Number four, what is the best solution? And finally, what action do I need to take to solve this problem?