Over the next couple weeks, I'm going to be sharing some things. I don't know if I've ever preached a series. That has the potential to change your life practically. more than what I'm about to share with you over the next couple weeks. And I know that personally.
Because when I practice these things, It's changed my life. I mean, I look, you may not want to know all this about me. This may be too much TMI or whatever they call it. I. I've had blood pressure issues all my life, just very, very high blood pressure.
And um I know what some of y'all are thinking. Which maybe if you'd stop drinking all those energy drinks, your blood pressure would go down. And to you I say. Mind your own business. When I do what I share with you, It's amazing my blood pressure goes back to normal levels.
I'm just telling you, on every level, emotionally, spiritually, physically, what I share with you has the potential to absolutely change your life. And you listen to me. I'm not Tony Robbins. I'm not here to give you a motivational rah-rah rah seminar, okay? What I'm going to be sharing with you over the next three weeks, it only works if you're a born-again believer.
I'm going to tell you how to have a good life. A life that you love. Living. A life you enjoy living. If you're not a follower of Jesus, this ain't gonna work for you.
You'll have to find a secular way to try to figure out how to have a good life that you enjoy living. This only works if you're a follower of Jesus Christ. What do I mean by follower of Jesus Christ? That means that I realize I'm a sinner.
Somebody's got to pay for my sin. And that man hanging on a cross 2,000 years ago, he took my hell, my punishment, my debt. He paid the price at the cross. He was buried and came back to life. And when I turn from my sins and turn my life over to Jesus Christ, he comes to live inside of me.
That's what I mean by. If you've done that, this will work for you. If you've not, it won't work. Why is that?
Well, several reasons. I'm going to talk about peace. We're going to hit that hard next week and the week after. We need so much peace in our culture right now. But the reason this works is when you come to Jesus, here's what Jesus says: Hey, y'all, my peace I now give to you.
See, y'all are praying for peace. And Jesus said, Well, I've already told you. I've already given you my peace. It belongs to you. You just got to figure out how to use what I've already given you.
Okay? Another reason this only works if you're a born-again believer is so much of this peace that I'm going to be talking about practically, its fountainhead is your peace with God. If you don't have peace with God, you can't have practical peace. And the only way you can have peace with God is through His Son, Jesus Christ.
So, y'all understand what I mean when I say this only works if you're a born-again believer.
Okay. I'm going to tell you how to have the good life. of life that you enjoy living.
Now when I say I'm gonna hope you have a good life. That does not mean two things. Number one, that does not mean a problem-free life. You are going to still have problems. You can have a good life.
And she'll have a lot of problems. How do you know that?
Well, because 1 Peter, that we're going to be studying, 1 Peter 3, it's Peter writing to a church in about 64 AD, and they're about to experience problems. The Roman government is about to come down hard on them.
Some of them will lose their jobs because they're followers of Jesus.
Some of them will be put in prison. Because they follow Jesus.
Some of them will lose their family because they follow Jesus.
Some of them will be killed. Because they'll follow Jesus. And yet, Peter's still telling them in the middle of these problems: here's how you can have the peace that passes all understanding.
So, number one, when I say I'm going to tell you how to have the good life, I'm not telling you how to have the problem-free life. You're still going to have problems. Secondly, when I tell you how to live the good life. The life you want to live. The kind of lies that makes you wake up in the morning excited about living.
That also does not mean I'm going to tell you how to have a lot of money. Because, see, a lot of y'all equate good with money. Good life. It means having a lot of money.
Now, we have people in this church. God has blessed you financially. You are loaded financially. God has blessed you. There's nothing wrong with that.
See, we got it.
Sometimes we go to the other extreme.
Well, if somebody's rich, obviously they're going to go to hell because God doesn't like rich people. That's not biblical. You can still have money and have God's blessings on your life. I'm not speaking against people having money. Here's what I am speaking against.
I'm speaking against this mistaken idea that some of y'all have that says the good life means the financially stable life. If I have money. Then I have the good life. Again, I know that's not what Peter's talking about because about half or third of his crowd that he's talking to in 1 Peter 3 are slaves. They don't have any money.
And yet Peter's still telling them how to have the good life. I remember reading Billy Graham's autobiography, Just As I Am. Billy Graham said, My wife and I went and visited a multi-billionaire. On a Caribbean island one time. He had this big estate on a Caribbean island.
I don't think it was Epstein Island. It's a different billionaire, different island, okay? And we go to this man's estate, he's in his 70s. And he looks like he's about to cry the whole time. He is a billionaire.
And he's depressed. And he said, Right out there is my private jet. Right over there is my personal helicopter. We're in this beautiful estate, and here's what he said to Billy Graham. I quote: I'm as miserable as hell.
Three. Money doesn't bring the good life.
Okay, so get that out of your mind. In fact, have you ever studied lottery winners? Do you know how many lottery winners were living a normal life until they won the lottery? And you study them, a lot of their lives went down after they got the money.
So when I say the good life, I'm not necessarily talking about A problem free life. I'm not talking about Necessarily, a life of money.
So, what do you mean by a good life? It's a good life when you say, I don't care what I have, how much or how little I have, I am just so thankful to be alive. I thank God for His goodness. He is a good God. And as long as I have God, that's all I need.
Now I don't like social media. But every now and then something good comes across social media. And last week, my wife found this video. This is kind of exhibit A of what I'm talking about: somebody who's living the good life. I want you to watch this.
I look out the window all the time and stand there and thank God, and I wonder how heaven could be any better than here. You know, walk back and forth in my room all the time to keep my legs going. And when I stop at the window and look out, That's just in my brain. How could heaven be any better? That's it.
We got the beautiful yard, front and back. It's perfect and we got a creep.
So what else would you want? Not me, I don't that Well I'll have it. Isn't that great? I don't know this lady. I can guarantee you she doesn't have three condos at Myrtle Beach and four luxury cars.
Here's what she has. I got a front yard that's beautiful, backyard that's beautiful, I got a creek, I got birds outside. Heaven couldn't get any better than this. That's the good life. How do you live with that kind of peace and contentment?
Well, Peter answers that in 1 Peter chapter 3. He said, turn there if you would. 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 8. Peter says. Finally.
All of you. Be of one mind. Having compassion for one another. Love As brothers. Be tender-hearted, be courteous, and a better translation would be humble, not returning evil.
For evil. Or reviling for reviling. But on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you might inherit a blessing.
Now, stop right here. I would just really just say. God wants to bless you. There's nothing wrong with God blessing you with a good life.
Okay, but he what's right before that? He said, But if you are one of these divisive Christians, you're always causing trouble, you're always causing conflicts, you're always causing a fight. Have you ever been around somebody like that? Everywhere they go, conflict seems to follow them. What he's saying is, you're not going to experience this blessing.
I want you to be loving toward each other, kind to each other, courteous to each other, that you can inherit this blessing. And then here's what he does. Then Peter says, Now I'm going to tell you how to have the good life, the life that you love living. He reaches back to Psalm 34. He goes about a thousand years back to Psalm 34 that David wrote.
David wrote a manual on how to have a good life, and Peter reaches back and talks about that.
Now, here's the interesting thing. Let me give you the circumstances under which Psalm 34 was written. David has just been kicked out of his country. Because Saul wants him dead. That might not mean a lot to you.
There's something psychologically stressful about knowing there's another human being on planet Earth that wants you dead. We got a death threat one time during the whole COVID thing, and that messed with our mind, knowing there's somebody out there that wanted to kill us.
So he's dealing with death threats, so he leaves Israel. He goes to Philistia to the enemy.
Now the enemies are looking at him saying, wait a second. What's this Israelite doing in our country? They're going to kill him. And so, David, this is the lowest, most degrading point in his life. He says, What do I do?
They're going to try to kill me. I'll act like I'm a crazy man. And so he starts drooling all over his beard. He starts acting like a crazy man. Hoping that they'll leave him alone.
And it works for a little while. And then They're going to kill them. His home country wants to kill him. This new country wants to kill him.
So he has to flee his country and he goes and lives in a cave. Wants to be killed by his home country. Acts like a madman, acts like a lunatic, gets kicked out of this country, now he's living in a cave. You ever had one of those days when nothing goes right?
Okay, that's what David is dealing with. And yet, David, in the middle of all this, has the audacity to tell you how to live the good life. Which again goes back to what I just said. You can have all kinds of problems. and still be living a good life.
How do you live the good life? Look at verse 10. For he who would Love life. Love living. And see good days.
Let him, number one, refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Number two, let him turn away from evil and do good. And then number three, let him seek peace and pursue it. Do you see that? If you're going to live the good life.
The lives that you want to live. Number one, watch the words you speak. Number two, we'll hit this real quickly for a few minutes next week. Turn away from evil and do good. And number three, seek peace and pursue it.
And that's where we'll be parked for the next couple weeks. Look, this is our 12-step program right now, okay?
So, I'm doing what they're doing: Alcoholics and Omines or whatever. Hi, everybody. My name is Chad, and I'm an addict. Can I tell you right now, I am an addict. I am a peace.
Addict. I have become addicted to the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to live in that peace and walk in that peace and enjoy that peace. And here's what Peter says: if you're going to have a good life, Become a peace. Add it.
So let's start with the first thing. Today, number one, he says: if you want to live a good life, watch what you say. Verse 10, for he who would love life. And see good days. Let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
Let me tell you something. This is an interesting pattern in the Bible. I don't know if you've seen this before. Have you noticed in the Bible? Before God does something new in a man or woman's life, He changes the way they talk.
Have you noticed that? In Isaiah chapter 6, God says. Isaiah, before I use you, I gotta change the way you talk. Let me get the coals off this fire and burn your lips because we gotta change the way you talk. In Exodus 4 and in Exodus 6, God says, Moses, I want to use you.
And Moses says, Yeah, but I'm a man of uncircumcised lips. Before you use me, we've got to figure out how to do these things. talking thing. Jeremiah chapter 1, God says, Jeremiah, I'm going to use you, but I've got to touch your lips first. Daniel chapter 10.
God touches Daniel's lips. Acts chapter 2, God gets a bunch of. Blue collar, normal, ordinary people. And he says, With this group of people, I'm going to change the world. But first of all, I got to anoint you with my Holy Spirit, and the way you talk is going to be different.
You're going to speak in tongues. Before I use you to change the world, let's change the way you talk. And so you see this pattern over and over again in scripture. And David is saying. And Peter is saying, and Jesus is saying through Peter and David, if you want to live a good life, you've got to change the way you talk.
In fact, I was reading something, I've shared this with you before. David Yongi Cho. You ever heard of him? One time pastor of the largest church in the world in South Korea. Dr.
Cho met with um with one of the leading neurosurgeons in the whole world. He said that we had breakfast together and this neurosurgeon said to me, quote, Dr. Cho, Did you know? that the speech center in your brain rules over all the other nerves. Here's what he said.
You pastors really have power because our recent findings in neurology show us that the speech center in the brain rules over all the other nerves.
So if someone keeps saying, I'm weak. Then all the other nerves in the body said, Well, the nerve center, the speech center, has said we're weak, so we need to start acting weak. If we say I'm old. All the other nerves in your bodies will follow the command. Isn't that interesting?
Isn't that amazing how the Bible and science overlaps? And so. Peter's saying, I want you to live A good life. I want you to enjoy living. How do we do this?
Well, you change the way we talk. What does that mean? Very simple. Look, stop complicating Christianity. It's very simple.
Stop saying the wrong things. and start saying the right things. That ain't complicated, is it? Stop saying the wrong things and start saying the right things. That's what I mean by changing the way we talk.
So let's talk about saying the wrong things. Julie, 80%. Of self-talk, according to the experts. 80% of self-talk is negative. Did you know that?
80%. I read this study years ago from a man named Dr. James Lynch. I think it was at the University of Maryland. In fact, I emailed him and told him this is amazing.
He said, I did this study. He said, I'll bring in a bunch of Holocaust survivors and Vietnam War survivors. And here's what I told him. Think about. Just think about.
The very Worst thing you experience in the Holocaust. The most horrific thing you saw. The worst thing you experienced in Vietnam. Think about it. And as they're thinking about it, he's checking their blood pressure.
And their stress hormones, blood pressure stays the same. Stress hormones don't go up. He said, Okay, good.
Now here's what I want you to do. I want you to talk about the worst thing you experienced in Vietnam. I want you to talk about the worst thing you saw in the Holocaust. He said, these same people, when they begin to talk about it, Their stress hormones went through the roof. Their blood pressure.
Went through the roof. It's interesting as well. He has found that the faster you talk, the higher your blood pressure goes. Which that and the energy drinks are probably my two problems. And so, all right, so.
This is very, because we live in a culture that says, hey, we need to talk it out, talk, talk, talk, talk it out. We need to talk out all of our problems. I believe in good Christian counselors, and there is a season to talk it out. But at some point, it's time to stop talking about it. Ma'am, got it.
Your husband is a dog 10 years ago. He ran out on you with a secretary. I get it. That was 10 years ago. It's time to stop talking about it, and it's time to move on in the name of Jesus.
Hey, I'm sorry that happened to you five years ago. That was horrible, it was bad, it shouldn't happen, but you can't keep rehashing this thing over and over and over. It's time to move on. Even in Judaism, you know, in Judaism, they would have a prescribed time of mourning.
So, something bad happens, let's talk about it during this time. But once that time is over, we stop talking about it. Amen. We had a man in our church. He was a wounded Vietnam veteran.
And they told him a part of getting healed up is you got to go to the Vietnam Veteran support group. He said, that's fine. Hey, he said, man, I went to the Vietnam Veterans Support Group, and all I heard was the government's bad. We shouldn't be in Vietnam. They didn't respect us.
The country didn't honor us. Blah, blah, blah. And he said, I sat there a time or two, a session or two, and then I realized a lot of these guys had been in the same group for the last five years, saying the same things for the last five years. Government bad. America didn't hate us.
Well, we weren't respected. He said, I'm not going to be part of that. At some point, you got to move on. Are y'all with me on this thing? See, when I say you're going to have to change the way you live, that means stop talking about this thing.
Have your season of mourning, talk it through it with a counselor, but at some point you've got to move on. Yeah. Church, at some point, you're going to have to change the way you talk. That's one thing I have learned from my African-American brothers and sisters. I don't know if this is just in the African-American church or if a lot of churches do it, but I have African-American friends who are pastors.
In fact, one just a couple months ago. I thought about it to this African-American pastor friend of mine. And I said, man, how you doing? You already said? Blessed and highly favored, my brother.
Blessed and highly favored. No matter what, and I knew there's some things going on in his life. I knew there's some challenges in his life and some people coming against him. He didn't talk about that. He says, You want to know how I'm doing?
I'm blessed and highly favored. Ain't that a lot better than, hey, how are things going?
Well, I'm hanging in there like a bat on the side of the cave. I just hope Jesus comes back soon because I don't know if I'm going to make it. How are you doing?
Well, ask me at the end of the day because so far this day has turned out to be a pretty cruddy day. How you doing? Blessed and highly favored. There are some things you're going to have to stop saying. In fact, look at this.
Proverbs 21, 23 says this, he who guards his mouth and his tongue. Guards his soul from troubles. That word for soul in Hebrew is nephesh. In Greek, it's suké. It means mind, emotions, and wills.
You see that word troubles right there? Troubles in Hebrew is like sarah. It means to squeeze something so much till juice comes out. Probably implying tears. I want you to listen to this.
That verse is saying: if you guard what you say, it will guard your mind and your emotion and your wills from troubles, from depression. Maybe some of your depression will be destroyed overnight if you stop talking about the same miserable stuff you've been talking about for the last 10 years. He who guards his mouth guards his soul from troubles. Let me give you another one. Exodus 14, 14.
Here's a problem. God's people has they have an ocean in front of them A mountain here, a mountain here, and an army behind them that wants to slaughter every last one of them. And you know what Moses says to God's people? Exodus 14, 14. The Lord will fight for you.
Why you keep your mouth shut? Stop whining, stop griping, stop complaining. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent. I wonder if the converse is true. I wonder if Moses would also say, but if you keep whining and bellyaching about how unfair God is and why is this happening and life is so bad, God's told him, say, you're on your own.
I ain't going to fight for you as long as you're griping and complaining like this. The Lord will fight for you. Why you keep silent? Let me give you another one. I've read this verse.
Charged literally a thousand times in my life, and I've never seen this before. Matthew 6:31. Don't raise your hand. We got some warriors in this church. Not warriors.
I wish I had a bunch of warriors. We got a bunch of warriors. You worry about everything. You got a worry problem. Here's what Jesus says in Matthew 6, 31.
Hey y'all. Don't worry. Look at the next word. Saying. What shall we eat?
What shall we drink? What shall we wear? Not don't worry thinking. He says, don't worry. Saying.
I wonder if some of our problems is, yeah, problems are going to come. Internally, we're going to have a battle. But I wonder if Jesus is saying, but when that internal battle with worry and stress becomes an external battle that you articulate with your mouth, you run around saying. Am I going to get another job? How am I going to pay all my bills?
How am I going to make my ends meet? I wonder if when we say it, Jesus says that's when the worry starts to come in. Very interesting. And some of y'all are doing a great job guarding your mouth. Look, James 3 says this.
I'm going to. I'm going to paraphrase James 3 right now. It's easier to stop a crack addiction than it is to stop talking negatively. It's easy to stop your meth addiction than it is to stop negatively. It's very hard to stop, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, you can do it, okay?
I I I wonder Church. If some of y'all are doing a good job. Guarding this But here's your critical error. You're hanging around negative people that only speak negativity. And you're wondering now why you're so negative.
I'm not saying be mean, I'm not saying be nasty, but some of y'all have some soul ties with some very negative people, and you probably need to break those soul ties. Are y'all with me on this? Hey, in Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. A little girl dies.
They lay her out on the bed. Jesus walks in. Peter, James, John, mom, dad, and whole crowd is in the bedroom. And Jesus is like, good news. Everybody, she's just asleep.
I'm about to wake her up. Isn't that good news? The little girl's about to be raised. You know, everybody does. You're an idiot.
You don't want to talk about Jesus. You can't do that. The girl's dead. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And Jesus lets that go on for just a second.
And then here's what Jesus says. Hey. Everybody Get out of the room. Mama, Daddy, Peter, James, John, y'all can say the rest of y'all. Out of the room.
Because I'm not going to operate in an atmosphere with a bunch of naysayers, a bunch of negative talking people who tell me what I can't do. I don't want to surround, look, I don't want to surround myself with a bunch of people who will tolerate me. I want to surround myself with people who will celebrate me.
So the rest of y'all, get out of the room, and then I'll heal this girl. I think Jesus may be saying to somebody, don't be mean, don't be nasty. But it's time to get some people out of your room right now. They're here to tell you how bad life is, how bad you are, how messed up you are. And it might be wise for you to say, I love you, but get out of the room.
I don't, before God does something in my life, you got to get out. I had a friend This is when I first started out in the ministry.
So I'm in my 20s. He was the most affirming, supportive guy in the world. Just a great friend. Very supportive, we're both pastoring churches until my church started getting larger than his church. And then he was critical.
He'd call me up and criticize me and chew me out. I'm like, man, what in the world is going on? And one day, my wife overheard the phone call. Where a guy's just tearing me up and criticizing me, making fun of me. And I hung up the phone, and she asked me.
So why why do you even talk to that guy? And I said, because he's my friend. She said, You got a different definition of friend than I do. A friend doesn't call you up and chew you out and tell you how stupid you are. Your definition of friend is a little different than my definition of friend.
And I thought, you know what? She's right. Why am I sitting there? Listen, I'd like to put up with this. And I had to say to this friend, I love you.
God bless you. But man, you got to go on your own separate way because you are dragging me down. And I don't need people dragging me down in the name of Jesus. I need people who will build me up and encourage me. And so, some of y'all, hey, some of y'all have to order some people out of the room, okay?
Chucked. What I was do a big picture again. Peter says, I'm going to tell y'all how to live a good life.
Okay, Peter, how do we do that? Number one. Watch the word you speak. What does that mean? There are some things that you need to stop saying.
Stop saying the wrong things. But then, number two, Start saying The right things. The Mayo Clinic reports that those who speak positively have an increased lifespan, lower rates of depression, greater resistance to the common cold, better psychological and physical well-being, reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Even the secular society understands there's something powerful about speaking the right words.
So Psalm 91, 2. I love this. I will. Say of the Lord. He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.
Not. I will think of the Lord. He is my refuge and my fortress. I will meditate on the fact that he is my refuge. Doesn't say that, does it?
It says I will say. of the Lord. He is my refuge and my fortress. You want to know why singing, praise, and worship music in your house is so powerful? It's because you are now articulating, you are now speaking through song these spiritual realities, and there's something about speaking it out.
See, David could have said, I will meditate on the fact that God is my rich and fortune. He doesn't say that. He's interrupted. Forget about meditating on it. I'm going to shout it out.
He is my refuge. He is my fortress. He's my God, whom I trust. Because there's something powerful about speaking this into the heavenly realms. Y'all with me on that?
Hey, let me give you another example. You go over to the book of Joel chapter 3, verse 10. Let the weak Shay! I am strong. Not Dear God, it's a cancer diagnosis.
What are you going to do? I've always tithed. Why did you let this happen to me? Oh, my family is falling apart. No, no, no.
Let the weak say I am strong. Let the weak say, no matter what's happening in the physical realm, in the spiritual realm, God is my refuge. He is my fortress. He will never leave me. He will never forsake me.
He's made me the head, not the tail. My God will supply all my needs according to my riches in Christ Jesus. Let the weak say. I am strong. And I could go on and on and on.
Proverbs chapter 12, verse 14. A man will be satisfied. You know what that means in Hebrew? He'll be filled up by the good fruit out of his mouth. You start speaking the right things, good fruit comes out of your mouth.
You don't need a new car to make you satisfied. You don't need a new house to make you satisfied. You don't need a younger wife to make you satisfied. You start speaking the good fruit out of your mouth. And you filled up.
You you're satisfied. I'm just telling you, church. You want to live a good life? It all starts right here.
Well, Jen, is that? Are you a Kenneth Copen, Kenneth Hagen? Crystal Dollar a preacher? No? I'm a Bible preacher.
And this word over and over and over again talks about death and life being in the power of this tongue right here. Let me give you one more verse. Ephesians 4.29. Let No corrupt talk. No corrupt word.
Proceed. out of your mouth. But what is good for necessary, look at this word, edification. Do you know what that word means? Edification.
It means to build somebody up. Ma'am, you are not your husband's personal Holy Spirit. You can lay off of him and stop telling all the things he's doing wrong. Oops, did you say that? Sir, you can stop comparing your wife to other women, and you wish she looked like this and looked like that.
Y'all can stop talking to your kids about what a disappointment they are because this word right there says, No, my words are to build people up, not tear people down. Let no corrupt word come out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification. Look at this. That it may impart what? Grace To the hearers, what is grace?
Grace, now look. Grace can be something that I extend to you as a human being, okay? But more often than not, when the Bible talks about grace, It is a divine resource. Overwhelmingly, when the Bible talks about grace, it begins with God. Here's what I think that verse might be saying.
When I begin to speak spirit-filled life as a spirit-filled believer into people's lives. A channel, a reservoir from grace, from God's throne, a reservoir of grace flows from God's throne into the lives of those people. It's not that my words have power. It's that my words Activates something in the heavenly realms, and God's grace begins to flow into that situation when I speak into that situation. Are y'all comfortable with that?
Does that, I mean, that's kind of what I think that word is saying. When you speak edification as a spirit-filled believer, you speak life into somebody's situation, God's grace begins to flow. And you can change your life. We're Spearfield agents of Transformation. One of the quickest, easiest ways you can transform somebody's life is right there.
Speak words of edification into their life. I was reading a story about a man named Fred Craddock. He was a professor at Emory University. And he went on vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. years ago.
And he said, well, I was in Gatlinburg. Trying to get away from people. Hey, we're in a little country cooking restaurant, me and my wife, and there's an old guy going from table to table, a real talkative guy, just talking to people. And he said, I could be honest with you. I was like, oh man, I've come here to the mountains to get away from people.
He's going to come and talk to us. And sure enough, the guy came and sat down at our table. And the old guy said, Where y'all from? He said, well, we're from Atlanta.
Well what do you do in Atlanta? I'm a professor at Emory University. Professor of what? He said, Well, I'm a professor of homiletics. He said, you're a preaching professor?
He said, yeah. He said, let me give you a good old preacher story. Fred Craddock's like, I've probably heard this story before. And the old man said, He said, I was born, the old guy said. as as an illegitimate Didn't know who my dad was.
And he said, that might not mean a lot to you, but in this small town, In that time, When you're illegitimate, you're an outcast. Life was hill for me. People would laugh at me, talk about me behind my back, didn't have any friends. I walked down the street, people crossed the other side of the road to get away from me. He said, it was a rough upbringing.
And he said, as a little kid. He said, I still like going to church. He says I would slip in to the old country church. and sit on the back row. And he said, I'd listen to the preacher preach, and he said, I didn't like him.
He had big bushy eyebrows. He'd yell at a lot, point his finger at a lot. But he said, I love going to church. And he said, but I made sure once the service was over, I'd slip out before anybody could talk to me. And he said, one Sunday Preacher preached.
He's winding the sermon down. And he said, I try to slip out and the preacher beats me to the door. And the preacher stops and puts his arm, his hand on my shoulder. And first question he asked me is: Hey, who's your dad? Right.
Okay, now even the preacher is making fun of me? And he said, I turned beet red and I'm shuffling my feet. I don't know what to say. He said, the preacher grabs my face and looks at me. And turns to me and he says, uh.
Yep. The image is unmistakable. I know who your daddy is. He said, Young man, you're a child of the Most High God. That's your daddy.
And then he said, um He's that preacher kind of swaddoming's in a goo. claim your inheritance. And that old man said to the people at that table, he said, What that preacher did. It changed my life. I was never the same after that.
And he got up and went to another table and started talking. Fred Kranik said, we asked the waitress who said, Who's that old guy that came to our table? She said, him? Oh, she said, his name is Ben Hooper. Said he was elected governor of Tennessee.
twice. An illegitimate young boy with no future had his entire trajectory changed because a man spoke a word of edification in his life, and grace went down from the throne of God and changed that young man's life.
So, church. Peter says I'm going to help you all live the good life, not the problem-free life, the good life. Starts with what you say. And then run away from evil and chase good. And then Seek peace.
and pursue it. And that's where we're headed for the next couple weeks. Hmm. I uh Stand with me. I I was I looked Because I'm type A and I like all the hooping and hollering.
I like altar times where people are shouting and falling out and all that. I love ending with a big high note. Holy Ghost won't let me do that today. Uh I prayed about this yesterday in the Spirit of God.
Now, when I say God spoke to me, you understand, wasn't it? Audible, look up, whatever. But God spoke to my heart yesterday. And I prayed about this this morning, spoke to my heart again. Prayed about coming to church, spoke to my heart again.
Lord showed me there's a lot of depression. A lot of depression, a lot of anxiety in the church. A lot of depression. anxiety and fear. And over the next three weeks, God wants to do supernatural work and just break that once and for all.
He wants to break the yoke of the enemy and just pull all this depression. and all this anxiety and all this fear. He wants to just pull it out of this church.
Now in this in the physical realm just like the spirit realm Nature abhors a vacuum.
So once fear leaves, something has got to feel fear. Once anxiety leaves, something's got to fill that empty spot. Y'all with me on that? And I sense very strongly over the next several weeks an anointing of the peace of Jesus Christ. is going to saturate this church.
And when Jesus pours out anxiety, he's going to fill. That spot with peace. When he pulls out depression from your life. He's gonna feel it. with peace.
I am praying. for an anointing. of peace. over this place. in your life.
Sir, you've walked a depression way too long. It's gotta end soon. Ma'am, you've been dealing with anxiety for 50 years. God wants to break that over the next few weeks and God wants to put in its place The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Does that Does that bear witness in your spirit?
You can lift your hands and lift your voice. And let's call on the name of the Lord right now. where that peace that passes all understanding singness right now. Peace. Is wonderful.
Mm. Peace coming down. From the Father. Uh Sweet boy. Over my spirit forever.
Uh I pray in Bye. Yes. Blue So And I am rested. Today In this wonder. Fuck.
Resting sweetly and Jesus control. For I'm kept from all danger. By night and Bye. Yeah. And his glory is free.
Flying. My soul. We sing peace. Peace peace one. Dirk could be doubt.
From the father of love. People. Over my spirit forever. Whatever I pray in. Hmm.
Heaven is We speak. We pray. We adore the peace speaker right now, Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray. I pray that that same Jesus who stood up In a boat, in a storm 2,000 years ago, and said, Peace be still.
And the wind and the waves ceased. Lord, over the next few weeks, will you begin speaking peace over this congregation? May the wind and the waves cease. May the peace that passes all understanding. Guard this congregation's heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
Anoint us with a fresh anointing of peace. The Father says to you right now, The menu is not a very important thing. The menu is not a very important thing. Is saw Adonai Penave Lecha by Sem Lecha Shalom, which means the Lord bless you, the Lord keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and meet you.
Be gracious to you. And the Lord turned his countenance to you. and give you shalom. Peace that passes all understanding. In the name of the Father.
and the sun. In the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen and amen. God bless you. Go change this world for Jesus Christ.
God bless you, church. Mm-hmm.
