This broadcaster has 1222 podcast archives available on-demand.
Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.
February 24, 2022 2:00 am
Fear, stress, and anxiety ravage our world. In the message "Overcoming an Anxious Mind" from the series Technicolor Joy, Skip offers encouragement from the apostle Paul that will give your soul some rest.
This teaching is from the series Pastor Skip's Top 40.
Links:Website: https://connectwithskip.com
Donate: https://connnectwithskip.com/donate
This week's DevoMail: https://connnectwithskip.com/devomail
If you don't live with an anchor of faith adrift in a sea of anxiety and most people in the world they don't have anything to anchor no real grand scheme or purpose.
So if you just think dangling some inexplicable universe with no rhyme, no reason, no design, no plan, no God, so all we are fortuitous occurrences of accidental circuit breaker by chance very lonely place to be is very isolated, very lonely and that's a scary place to be. Don't know why you're here or where you're going that scare stress are a hallmark of our modern culture that you don't have to let anxiety overcome continue our countdown of Skip's top 40 message on the connect with Skip Heitzig YouTube channel in the number two spot is his message coming on anxious mind for Skip explores the problem of anxiety and shares how you can find peace for your soul through the truths of Scripture. Now we want to tell you about a resource that will deepen your knowledge of God's word even more. There's a top 10 list for just about everything. What about a top 10 list they can actually impact your faith by six top 10 messages will really make a mark as a symbol from what most people don't know about have somebody once said their garden to be at least three surprises in heaven first of all, who's there that you thought would never make it.
Second, who's not fair that you are sure would make it in the number three. The fact that you yourself are there by God's grace. You Skip teach on heaven and hell. In the end times and topics like the Holy Spirit. True happiness you give $35 or more today will also send you reload love Lenny height six book about the founding of the ministry that's been helping children by Terry for nearly 2 decades visit connectwithskip.com to give today to get Skip's top 10 messages on Sunday. Plus your copy of reload. Love Lenny height hundred 92 1880 okay Philippians chapter 4 starts today's talk you today about one of our greatest struggles.
That is anxiety. Anxiety is a fee. It steals your thoughts. It steals your peace steals your confidence. It steals your joy and in this theme of the book that is overwritten with joy that Paul expresses at some point were going to have to deal with the topic and the issue of worry and anxiety which Paul does in these two verses that for many years a woman couldn't sleep because she worried that her home would be broken into by a burglar was just a thought that plagued her thinking for a long time day after day in week after week and month after month for a number of years, she had this plaguing thought well one evening she and her husband both heard a noise downstairs. Her husband got up went downstairs to find out what the noise was and it was.
Can you guess the burglar husband saw the burglar and said to him, could you come upstairs and meet my wife.
She's been waiting 10 years to meet you. The point is simple. A burglar can steal from you once the burglar of anxiety can steal from you for decades now. It sort of humorous to me what we as Americans worry so much about what concerns us what stresses us out. We put filters are faucets we put air ionizers in our home. We lather ourselves with antibacterial soap we get worried about avian flu. We get worried about getting E. coli bacteria. At the same time, 20% of adults smoke 20% of drivers don't wear their seatbelts and it's estimated that 75% of those who own mobile devices text while they drive what that tells me is that we worry about perceived dangers while we ignore real ones. Now this is the holiday season is the Christmas season and this is the time when all of those anxieties and worries go away. This is the time when we don't experience anxiousness and stress.
All this is the time of peace on earth and goodwill toward men right but wouldn't that be nice but you know that that is not the truth.
What you know is what we found out that 64% of Americans say during this season their anxiety level goes up and not down. And there's reasons for that. There are contributing factors are one of the things that psychologists say is a reality is called seasonal affective disorder are given the initials SAD sad, seasonal affective disorder is brought on by shortened days, less sunlight, more darkness that does something to sort of a generalized gloominess that we experience another factor is during the holiday season. Americans travel 72% of Americans will travel from Thanksgiving through New Year's right in between there a lot of people are mobile, while going to airports missing flights whether snowing people, and etc. all about raises, not lowers the stress level and will be traveling to all we want, together with family, which brings another level of stress getting together with family members, some of which we don't really want to get together with perhaps is always that weird uncle that shows up or something like that.
We worry over buying the right gifts life and that my bottom this size.
I hope that fits was that enough money that I spent Cedric that I spent too much all of those things contribute so what were you to do is look at two of the most significant verses in the New Testament that deal with your mental health.
They are familiar versus I would dare say some of you even memorize these verses you know them. We know them by heart. In Philippians chapter 4 verse six and seven.
It's part of a lineup of exhortation's that we began to explore last time just to refresh your memory if you look back at verse one. He begins with the style stand fast. He commands them. Verse one. That's verse one, verse two, I implore the two ladies that he mentions verse three. I urge verse four rejoice in the Lord always. I'll say it again rejoice in our that same start sort of approach and style.
He writes the next two verses and that's all the verse will look at today. Verse six says be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Perhaps, I can't prove it, but perhaps some of you read that you go let's nice simplistic it's naïve, unsophisticated, but that's nice what I want you to know it is not simplistic, though it is simple and one of the things I love about God is he's not complicated. Most truth, you will discover is simple truth, not simplistic truth simple truth is simple, but it is also needful. I say it's needful because some of us are stuck in verse six we live in the world of worry and anxiety, anxious thoughts, stress. We never get out of so it's simple truth. It's needful truth, but I also believe it's radical truth. If you can somehow get out of the first part of verse six into the second part of verse six into verse seven it could revolutionize your life. It could give you a whole new lease on life Cemetery. The story about George. George was a busy executive in Pittsburgh. George worked about 75 hours a week.
George had a heart attack. His doctor after the heart of Texas, George, I'm giving you a year to live.
You probably won't last longer than a year. If you keep this pace up in your style of living and so all about stress and all of that busy schedule and all that high blood pressure and George's life finally caught up with so now he's listening very carefully is listening differently to his doctor than he was before. After the heart attack he goes home to recuperate and so while he's recuperating. He goes to his back porch with a pad of paper and he writes a letter to God. That said, dear God, I hereby resign as general manager of the universe sign George and he always tells his friends. Wonder of wonders God accepted my resignation, suggested before the end of this message God might be tapping you on the heart saying I want to resignation. I want you to resign from trying to control everything were trying to worry about everything and be controlled and consumed by anxious thoughts. So what am I give you what I want to do today is and I'm confining it to these two verses I want to unpack these verses on the grill down.
I want to sort of dismantled these two verses in the parts look at each part and put it back together again and see how it all fits what I want to do is give you a fourfold approach to understanding anxiety and overcoming anxiety. So let's begin with the problem. The problem is shown in the second word of the first verse, we are considering it's the word anxious. That's the problem. Anxiety is the problem it's a problem all human beings. At some point have to deal with, but I want to tell you about the word that is used it's translated into English English anxious the. The original word in Greek is the word Marinol and Marinol appears 19 times in 17 New Testament versus it is translated into three English words primarily worry anxious care worry anxious care. Marinol so when Jesus said do not worry about your life. That's the word he chose when Jesus speaks to Martha who was so distracted and busy when Jesus came over while Mary was sitting at Jesus feet. Jesus said to Markham, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. That's the word Jesus chose, and it's the same word Paul used in first Corinthians 7 when he wrote to them and said I want you to be without care. That's the word Marinol concerned worry anxious care but given that I now want you to know where that word came from the word Marinol comes from two Greek words stuck together and when I tell you what they are you going to get a full understanding of what worry in the Bible describes two words put together, Marin zero which means to tear or separate to tear or to divide and the second word now lists which means the mind so you put those two together, Marin zero and noticing you have merit now, which means literally to divide the mind with an apt description of anxiety. Anxiety is when your mind is divided between legitimate thoughts and destructive thought. Anxiety takes your mind into different directions. It tears your mind. James put it this way, a double minded man is unstable in all his way now. I believe that of all the times in history. This is the time when these verses are more appropriate than a day. Any other time in this culture. It speaks to this culture in our country more than any other unexplained. We are told that anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem in America and they will say they estimate that 40,000,004 zero million Americans suffer some form of anxiety disorder that is 18% of all American adults in 2015, Boston University reported that anxiety has now surpassed depression and all other disorders in our country and I found something terribly interesting.
They took 14 different countries around the world and study them. The world mental health survey stated Americans were the most anxious people in the 14 countries that were studied with more clinically significant levels of anxiety than people in Nigeria, Lebanon, and Ukraine. If you know much about those countries. You know those are troubled spots what that tells us than is the United States of America is the undisputed champion of anxiety and worry, we win the Olympics when it comes to anxiety and worry.
Recently, the New York Times put out an article with a stated in America, we have developed an ethos of relentless worrying and agitation. And did you know over the last three decades. Anxiety disorders have jumped more than 1200% amazing one psychologist Robert Lahey said the average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as an average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s. That's our country. Now I hope by now you're wondering what are we so worried about in America. What are we so anxious about what I want to get it all the factors limits just sum it up, I tell you what the Gallup organization found out top things that concern us the most number one personal income will have enough money to survive whatever happens in the future.
Second, Social Security system, which further ties into the first will the Social Security system be able to provide for me when I get all of you know that it's had a lot of problems over the last couple decades. Third possible terrorist attacks, will I become the victim of some hostile act of terrorism on healthcare availability in the future and finally race relations. All of those are top concerns of Americans one hand I want to say I understand from the perspective of a believer. Looking at the unbelieving world. I get it.
I understand whether anxiety is so high I understand why their panic. Whether anxious if you don't live with an anchor of faith, you can adrift in a sea of anxiety and most people in the world they don't have anything to anchor them. There is no real grand scheme or purpose in life. So if you just think that short dangling in some inexplicable universe with no rhyme, no reason, no design, no plan, no God, so all we are fortuitous occurrences of accidental circumstance were here by chance. Well, that's a very lonely place to be isn't it and feel very isolated, very lonely and that's a scary place to be if you don't know why you're here or where you're going that scary so one website and I found several of these. I always like to go to dig around to get some statistics and background but ends in studying for this this week I found several websites that said this, but one to sort of articulated quickly.
It said this is a psychiatric website.
Our goal then shouldn't be to dismiss anxiety entirely, but just to make it a healthy manageable part of our lives. I want you to hear what they just said you the very best the world can do for you is to just manage your anxiety and are you good with that because the Bible offers you a chance to eliminate it.
Keep reading.
So the problem is anxiety anxious the prescription is this verse six be anxious for nothing that stop right there for just a moment if you didn't pick up on that the commandment is put in the present active imperative. In other words, her stall writing is lotteries writing from a Roman prison to agree a church in Philippi and he writes this in a very strong manner.
I command you. Stop worrying. Which sounds absurd if you're a worrier. It sounds unreasonable. It sounds naïve. It sounds idealistic to tell a worrier.
Hey, stop it, quit your worrying because Reagan is a what planet are you from, how unrealistic can you be to make matters a bit worse.
If you're worrier in the Greek language.
This is stated in a very emphatic way so that it could be best translated stop worrying about even one thing before you get mad at Paul for saying that magic question did Jesus Christ's say something like that. He didn't. In fact, almost exactly the same thing but with Jesus, though we said the same thing. He gives us reasons not to allow anxiety to rule over us. Listen to his work is the sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 6 he says do not worry about your life say more, do not worry about your life what you eat what you drink about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air, they neither read nor gather into barns, but your heavenly father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they. Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature.
Don't misunderstand what Jesus is saying he's not saying kick back and be lazy go outside and open up your little beak and expect the worm the plop and bird started up. By the way, because it doesn't rain worms.
Last I checked, they got ago be very busy and diligent about finding is not saying the lazy when he says don't worry he saying don't have an anxious over concern about life that divides your mind is racing. By the way he uses the example of birds master something. Have you ever seen a worried bird think back now correct all the times you let the birds commute. Have you ever seen one with the blue Jay in our backyard.
We just spotted it.
I spotted of the last week it's beautiful for I can zap between these two little areas I was looking at him the other day because Jesus said, go look at the birds. Behold, the birds of the air, so I get and it wasn't like he did have its little head in its beak and its claws going all man, how are we gonna pay for the rent on this and asked if there was no stress at all. It looks carefree for Jesus is behold the birds now in Jesus words that I just read to you. He gives us three reasons we should not worry. First, because it's unhealthy. Second, because it's unbecoming.
And third, because it's unproductive me explain those first of all, it's unhealthy. He said, is not life more than food. You know the worry and stress and anxiety can actually harm your life, your physical life can hurt you can ruin your body and your mind a few biblical examples.
King Darius signed a decree and he was so stressed over what he signed that it says his sleep went from him, neither did he eat that's Daniel chapter 6 if you keep that up not sleeping and not eating ~so it's not healthy. King David in Psalm six it says that he turned to God and said, I am wary with my groaning all night.
I make my bed swim. I drench my couch with tears. That's depression and anxiety.
Then there's Moses numbers Chapter 11 so stressed out about Israel that he complain I listen to Moses prayer, my burden is too heavy for me. Please kill me. Hearing now that's anxiety when you're playing like that so it's unhealthy. Harvard Medical School says those who are gripped by anxiety have a greater risk for developing a number of chronic radical conditions will affect her G.I. system, respiratory system and has been linked to heart disease. So it's unhealthy second reason Jesus gives it's unbecoming. It's unbecoming of a child of God. It is not fitting for a child of God for a child of God to be always anxious and always worried is in effect saying I don't trust you, God, you said some pretty cool things that make me feel good for a little while and I read them but then I go. I live my real life and I don't expect you really can make good on any of these.
So to be consumed with worry and anxiety betrays a lack of trust in God caring for you that Skip Heitzigs as number two message on her top 40 messages counter is from the series Technicolor joy wonderful message and more Scripture teaches, including his latest sermons and current teachings. YouTube.com/Calvary ABQ here.
Skip to tell you about how you can keep encouraging messages like this coming your way as you help connect others to the good news of Jesus. Even though were believers in Christ, we still have to wrestle with the sin nature inside us, but God's word equips us in the fight. That's why our goal is to get more clear Bible teachings to as many people as possible into your generous gift today. You can help connect more people to God's word so you can give today. Call 800-922-1888 to give today 800-922-1888 or visit connect with split.com/donate. That's connectwithskip.com/donate your generosity helps keep this biblical encouragement coming to you and many others to change lives around the globe.
Now before we go. Did you know you can watch Skip's messages from the comfort of your home with your Roku device for Apple TV. Just search for his channel and watch thousands of powerful Bible teachings and live services.
Find more information on the broadcast page connectwithskip.com. Come back tomorrow as scriptures and other top 40 message exploring the moment when Jesus returns for his church.
A major event in which you can purchase castle with Skip presentation of connection communications to God's never changing truth