How Gratitude Conquers Worry [Part 2]

Pastor, author and Bible teacher Alan Wright. He said when he announced of the kingdom is at hand. And he told his disciples. This is the message to go tell people he said tell them in the word repent and Greek is to change your mind, change your God's glory and goodness and grace is here Alan Wright welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light on deliberate excited for you teaching today. In the series new wordings as presented at Ronald church in North Carolina are not able to stay with us throughout the entire program to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now you can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer. You can learn more about it contact us at pastoralan.org that's Pastor Alan.org or call 877-544-4860 877-544-4860 world. All of this later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan writing there is a connection between giving thanks to God and a peace that passes understanding, and always have thought of my Christian life that you get the joy of the Holy Spirit and then your mind can start thinking about peaceful thing and that happens.

What Paul is saying here is that you can choose to set your mind on the things you're thankful for and it will welcome in the peace of the Lord that something you can think about will lead to something you can think about this something that you can think about will lead to that which surpasses understanding talk about heart and mind and spirit and soul and the mysteries of God's grace I got lost in reading some this week about what scientists call neuro- plasticity. The brain is not so hardwired after all that it changes is to be scientists all the brain is hardwired after a few years of life and that's kinda what you got good stuff some more information in there but what were realizing is that the brain can adapt the sea gypsies or the mocha and people are seafaring people who spend a great deal of their time in boats under an underwater off the coast of Thailand and they have scientists have found exceptional underwater vision twice is good as normal people and so they're able to gather shellfish to great depths without the aid of scuba gear. How do the mocha and do this is because they constrict their pupils 22% which they say how can they do that in the science has confirmed their brains have changed. Interesting. Some years ago. A famous study about London taxi drivers who through images of their brains were compared to bus drivers in London and I suppose before they had the GPS and all that this is a little bit older study may be, but they require the taxi drivers to memorize the street maps of London and they would constantly every day having to be. Think about how to get to this place, displaying the best route where's bus drivers describe the same round and what they found was that a cabdrivers hippocampus the part of the brain that deals something with spatial representation is measurably larger in the taxi drivers bring that it is in the bus drivers brain.

Your brain gets better at what it does a lot. If you seek to play a musical instrument, and you wonder why how is it you get better at it. Your brain is getting better at it. Study show if you would take up a musical instrument, then your brain to grow. It means that very real sense, your brain doesn't have to stay the way it is. It can get better at something and so this means that if you are one who worries a lot.

Your brain will become very good at worrying. But if you're someone who gives thanks a lot, your brain will get good at giving thanks thing is so diabolical is that to him was much more given in this is God's principal. But as you diabolically when we are in the negative.

Because when you have negative thoughts. You just get more negative thoughts ask is why discouraged people and depressed people often do a psychologist: dampening a positive experience. I to do some of this something positive happen, but if you're really discouraged, your mind starts going well. I'm sure this won't last very long.

She's going to drop my good fortune is going to change, but the people who regularly are thinking about what they're grateful for and looking in that direction don't dampen the positive thing but it is magnified is very fascinating. The brain science. Dr. Dennis Charney is a Dean of the Mount Sinai school of medicine study brain changes in POWs who experience solitary confinement. Hard to imagine being confined for long. Time alone were all they could do is think, but the ones who survived emotionally and mentally he discovered were ones who actively use their brains all day throughout. Maybe years in solitary confinement reference. For example, one man who was a builder and what he did was every day in his mind he built a house room by room stick by stick by brick, and when he came home he built that house without any drawings. Another person that he had interviewed discovered that this man had just started multiplying numbers and is mine all the time and he developed the capacity to multiply triple digit numbers by triple digit numbers.

Another man started accessing parts of his memory that he long forgotten. And so, for example, began remembering advocate as you remember all of the names of the people in his kindergarten class. The brain were realizing is is is able to be rewired and it adapts and not just that by it grow so back to my juggling.

I read an ABC news article that referenced a study that said that they took two groups of people in one group, they gave some instructions on learning to juggling game three months to learn how to juggle and the group didn't learn to juggle and what they discovered at the end of was that those who learn to juggle over a three-month period demonstrated and read a quote from the study and increasing gray matter into areas of the brain involved in visual and motor activity. The mid temporal area in the posterior intra-parietal sulcus. I didn't even know I hadn't intraparietal sulcus but when I juggle his right now my brain is that Snellen will have more teaching moment from today's important series when it would be like to be accepted perfectly envision being free to be yourself with no fear of injection don't roll their eyes make fun of you and what he lacks.

No more anxious feeling that you feel like a pressure is always on the railing and ask what you longing for life with no shame in paradise before sinking into the world. The Bible tells us in this relationship found no shipping since the fall of the human heart has been riddled racing around it says you can't be truly except about some condescending so I try to be perfect in order to meet others to decide. Since I'm not a measure at them as well. Right now the road ahead is pleasing pricing and there is only one the grace of God in Jesus Christ and his highly acclaimed book for yourself yourself not only exposes the lies of shame. He leads you into a revolution of God's love that heals your cell discovered freedom, joy, and destiny as you shall performance-based living. Shame and fear for good life-changing full-length book from Alan Wright for yourself.

The gospel is shared when you get Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today. We will send you a special offer now these are the final days. This offer is being made available to you this month. We are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor at.like these teaching now continues once again is it might be that prophetically calls Saul into things that science had discovered yet.

Of course, but maybe Romans 12 one and two is more literal than we realize. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship to say God I am so grateful to you my whole life is shaped by an awareness of your benevolence and so I surrender every part of my being to you. This is my worship I give thanks to I praise you I worship you and this is linked to verse two where Paul says do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that your mind is being changed.

He might be saying without realizing how prophetic it is that when you give God thanks your brain is changing that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. He is saying that the more you worship and you give God thanks the more your mind takes on the capacity to see everything else that is good and lovely and wonderful that if you think what's truly noble and right and pure and lovely and humble and excellent praiseworthy your brains going to get better and better thinking on those things you're not stuck with where you are now in the way you think.

Isn't this what Jesus said. He said when he announced to the kingdom is at hand. And he told his disciples. This is the message to go tell people he said tell them repent and the word repent and Greek is to change your mind, change your mind God's glory and goodness and grace is here flash struggles with this because would like to have a piece with understanding. We all know what that means that I like to get all of my life circumstances that just drives well have to worry about it and you get little moments like this you know everybody you love is healthy got enough money in the bank account got food on the table job is secure. Life seems good. Weather is doing well.

It is, that's not much of life.

It was know if you love a lot of people some nice trouble with you if you if you if you're a human being.

Your go walk through some storms and and it is just what we not have much peace if were looking for peace with understanding and the fact that matters.

Even when you have that kind of circumstantial peace. You also worried about when is that going change so the story the scriptures about people that God will have peace with surpasses understandably strong labor Mizer. They struggled like they promised us on this on the income so they got Hagar to come in and be a surrogate maidservant from his arm and they went with Ishmael and it messed up the lies who try to help things along the spies to go into Canaan and they smiled plans to come out with a negative report that week we kept no peace about this by our own understanding.

When we look at the giants in the land and all I want you to have a peace that transcends what you can see with your eyes Jesus came and he said directly in John 14 peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you, something that transcends the world was at peace with understanding is I'm give you a peace that surpasses your understanding. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid the way that you use your understanding to give thanks and lead you into a piece that is beyond your understanding. What this means is not just for the believer's life that there is no worry, but where there is no worry.

You know what is close at hand. Joy joy Renée Brown who's done such excellent research on shame and vulnerability and she also this Houston researcher has researched gratitude. She writes the relationship between joy and gratitude for the most important things I found in my research, I wasn't expecting my 12 years of research, 11,000 pieces of data I did not interview I did not interview one person who described themselves as joyful, who also did not actively practice gratitude actively practice gratitude for me she writes was very counterintuitive because I went to the research, thinking that the relationship between joy and gratitude was if your joyful, then you should be grateful, but she said that's not what I found. All instead practicing gratitude invites joy into our lives. See the most beautiful word I think maybe the New Testament is Congress. Congress's grace, it means literally gift Congress is the unmerited favor of God. Congress is the notion that though we deserve nothing but God's displeasure that we deserve nothing but banishment for our sin that we deserve nothing but punishment.

Instead, God has come benevolently to us in the person of Jesus Christ, so that the gospel says clearly that when you accept by simple childlike faith that Jesus died for you that what you're saying is that all the punishment that was due me has been taken by Jesus and you're saying that God loves you so much that he has defined justice and executed justice through the cross and therefore left himself propitious towards you. Where in he gives you the reward that only Jesus should've merit as grace, amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me Congress. What I want to see is that the Greek word for give thanks that Paul uses in Philippians 4 we see throughout the New Testament is a word that has grace in the middle of it.

Congress is in the middle of the word forgiving thanks you, Congress, Congress is essential if you're going to be thankful is I've been saying he if you are entitled to something you may be gratified or satisfied.

If you get it but you're not thankful, only if you get grace we ever be thankful. So the way to be thankful is a think much of the grace of God and you give him thanks for his grace for all the things that you could've ever done for yourself, including giving birth to your own life or your spiritual birth and the word for joy is a derivative from the same root of Congress. The word is Colorado and Kara the joy of the Lord comes when you are grateful. So grace and gratitude and joy are inextricably linked. All this is to say you know who the happiest people are in the world, the most grateful you know the most grateful people in the world are the ones who understand grace as it that simple. Years ago my brother and playing around and often we linked up with 1/3 who was a stranger to Sunman who was playing around with us and we just met and he was maybe the happiest person I'd ever seen, which was very interesting because he was at the same time. Maybe the worst golfer I never played with. I had a few struggles on the golf course. They had a few bad shots and I felt frustrated but y'all he was shaking into every forest, you could fly if there was even a small creek. He topped the ball into the water he had in every lake, every Creek past every out-of-town state.

He looks for laws, lost balls, quit looking for him.

We are tired looking for golf balls and the whole time he's whistling and happy. You thought the man was shooting five underpar that my brother finally found a way to discreetly say to him you know, you sure are happy in his might not be your best round of golf at all or some like that. I don't think he said you be happy is horrible. It offers you. But it was the intent of the question and the man said happy. He said you see I just came from the doctor's office is that they thought it was malignant and maybe even late stage but the biopsy came back and it's all benign sounding beauty treatment and he decides the ball in the woods and was evil in the world are not the ones that are the best shots. They're the ones that are most grateful in the most grateful people are the ones that know that I was dead, but now I've been made alive, when you think much of the goodness of God and give him thanks you will change your mind and become really good gratitude and the people that are really good. Gratitude is an NASA gospel placing the conclusion here to our series. No worries. The final moments. Your of this teaching how gratitude conquers Paris Allen is back for one final thought of this here in the studio joining us in just a moment, stick with this margin when it would be like to be accepted perfectly free to be yourself with no fear of rejection that you don't roll their eyes make fun of you. I love you last. Highly kind book for yourself yourself not only exposes the house. If so, he leads you into a revolution of God's love that heals your soul, discover freedom, joy, and destiny as you shall performance-based living shame a few from good life-changing full-length book from Alan Wright for yourself. Gospel is shared when you get Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you get today. We will send you a special offer.

We are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. These are the final days. This offer is being made available to you this month, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website past Rowan.like Alan earlier in this series we talked about how it's probably the most simplistic message but yet the most comprehensive thing different understand is just a worry is don't worry and scripture pretty clear on that. But a lot of practicality throughout the series, which are closing thought as we finalize this well is so difficult to come to the end of a series like this Daniel and not want to just keep going and going, because it's so important to our culture is an anxious culture and it seems that our lives are more more anxious and we learned so many things we've learned that shame is at the heart of a lot of our anxiety. We have learned that we can have our imagination sanctified by God, so that instead of saying what if and fill it in with negative things we say what if and fill it in with positive possibilities.

We have discovered that the world is not getting worse. As people always say so many things are actually getting better and gods on his throne. We have seen over and over great hope, but there's no more fitting way to end than this. The joy of the and the word for gratitude in Greek is directly related to the work grace and that word is directly related to actual grace. God's done for us is the root of our gratitude and that gratitude causes joy so we just leave the listener with this thought celebrate the gospel think much of what Jesus has done for you, give him thanks and worship him and as you do, let the joy come in your heart that displaces the worry would want to choke us out. You can live a life of no worries. Today's good news message is listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries