Part 1: PURPOSE AND ALIGNMENT

Posted on July 8, 2020 by growintheword

LIFE PLAN

Synopsis of Bible Study July 1, 2020

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established.

How does my life fall into purpose in alignment with the will of God? God has something in store for you. You were not created by accident. It is not God’s will for you to live a life of drudgery. There is a certain joy that comes with being in a place of purpose.

It doesn’t mean you won’t have temporary setbacks, but what it does mean is there is nothing that will rob you of the joy that motivates you to walk in purpose.

If you are not in alignment with the will of God, then your purpose can fail. Psalm 63.7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. –  How can we get to this place of purpose? The answer is, we have to first know what is hindering us.

I.            SIX SIGNS THAT YOU MAY NOT BE LIVING IN GOD’S PURPOSE

  1. Blatantly Living in Sin
    1. This is doing your own thing or basically, living outside the will of God.
  2. Lack of Joy and Excitement
    1. You wake up every day bored and unhappy. You realize that you are not where you need to be.
    1. Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  – It doesn’t mean that it will be sunny every day you wake up, but it does mean that we should have a sense of joy in our life all the time.
  3. Not Feeling Much Fulfillment in Life
    1. Doing meaningful and purposeful things is fulfillment. You are doing what you want to do, but you notice that it doesn’t contribute to anything.
  4. You Work So That You Don’t Have to Work
    1. You work at the office and come home and collapse in front of tv. You are working to retire.
  5. Feeling Stuck
    1. You project your frustration on others. You find yourself stuck in the same rut year after year.
  6. No Direction
    1. Wandering from one thing to the next, without any forward progress. You don’t even set goals.

II.            FOUR QUESTIONS TO REGAIN YOUR PURPOSE

  1. What Are My Strengths?
    1. God has given you specific strengths. Maybe its math or maybe you are good with electronics.
    1. Gods purpose is often aligned with something you are already good at.
    1. Sometimes you can go to school and connect with other people and this can help you discover you purpose.
  2. What Is My Passion?
    1. You have to narrow down what your passion is. Don’t be so broad in your description. Passion is disciplined. For example, “I want to help people”. This is too broad.
  3. Do I Bring Others into My Life?
    1. God used Abraham as the seed for the Nation of Israel.
      1. Genesis 12:1-3 1Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” – The focus her is God’s assignment for Abraham. It is about what God wants to do in Abraham’s life.
        1. We have to ask God, what is His will for our life in this situation.
      1. Ephesians 4:16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love – God knows where everything fits. Every purpose has a plan.
        1. Anything in your body that is not in position, throws the whole body off, so when you are not in purpose or alignment, the body of Christ feels the same way.
  4. Do You Trust God?
    1. God created us to function in harmony with him. If our lives are out of control, it indicates we are not in sync with the purposes of God.
    1. Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.-  If I stay on this path, I am in sync with where God wants me to be.

III.            GOD-CENTERED LIVING VS. SELF-CENTERED LIVING

  1. Self-Centered Traits – These are people are self-confident. They are always needing to prove to people how good they did. Always asking, “How did I do?”. Looking at themselves selfishly.
    1. This is a subtle trap. If it all about you, then you start moving God out of the equation. Don’t allow yourself to lose sight of giving God credit for all that He does.
  2. God-Centered Traits – This means I depend on God. My life is humble. I deny myself and pick up my cross. I don’t have to be center stage to do something. I am comfortable if I have to work in the background. Its not about you, it’s about God.
    1. If you seek God first, you will know you are centered with God.
    1. Are you more focused on yourself than God?
    1. If people aren’t talking about you, then you probably ought to be nervous. Those who live godly will suffer persecution.

IV.            BIBLICAL EXAMPLES

  1. Adam And Eve (Self-Centered)
  2. Genesis 2:16-17 16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”-
  3. Genesis 3:1-7 1Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. – When you hear a scripture like this, you know exactly what God wants you to do, but we go back and decide to do what we want to do. You know clearly what God’s will is for your life, but you get consumed with desires of flesh and this is when Satan comes in does what he wants to do in your life.
  4. Anyone self-centered finds himself out of alignment with God and as a result, walks around covering themselves up. When Adam a Eve ate of the tree, they came out of alignment with God and as a result, had to cover themselves with fig leaves. Never trust anyone that is not in alignment with God.
  5. Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (God-Centered)
    1. Genesis 39:7-9 7Now it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9“There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” – When your life is God centered, then it doesn’t matter what comes at you. You are not willing to sacrifice your relationship with God for personal gain.
    1. Thank God that Joseph saw the bigger picture. If Joseph had failed here, Egypt and Joseph’s people would have missed their blessings. Sometimes Satan will attack you in this season because he knows what God is about to do in the next season.
    1. Do the things you do edify God? 1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. – There are some things that you can do, but they don’t edify. For example, you can post what you want to post and drink what you want to drink, but does it edify God?
    1. Do things in this season that bring glory to God. Ask yourself is what you are doing bringing glory to God?
    1. When God wants to do something in the world new, he talks to somebody so that they can relay what He wants to do.

V.            LIVING A GOD-CENTERED LIFE

  1. To live a God-centered life, we must focus our lives on God’s purposes and not our own plans.
  2. You can think you have it all together and suddenly, God can bring something to disrupt it.
  3. When God wants to do something new in the earth, he takes the initiative to talk to someone and he give divine reason for doing it. He begins to explain his purpose in the earth.
  4. What was God about to do when came to Noah and asked him to build an ark? He was about to destroy the world with a flood.
    1. Genesis 6:13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.
  5. What was God about to do at Sodom and Gomorrah when he came to Abraham? He was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
    1.  Genesis 19:13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.
  6. What was God about to do when He came to Gideon? He was about to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Midianites. Judges 6:14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
  7. What was God about to do when he came to Saul on Damascus road? Acts 9:6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
  • God always gives instructions when He’s getting ready to do something. He’s always telling His people to start making preparations. This is a Life Plan!!
    • 2 Timothy 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, – Why are you here, because before time begin, God called you. God is calling you and preparing you for a season that you have never seen before.
  • This season of your life is going to set you on a projection that you have never imagined, but you have to be aligned and in purpose. Discover what He has for your life.
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Head Health Part 4

Posted on June 12, 2020 by growintheword

Head Health Part 4

THE ART OF MAKING UP YOUR MIND

Synopsis of Bible Study June 10, 2020

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.

Matthew 5:37 NKJV But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

I.            INTRODUCTION

  1. Sometimes, life can be as simple as making a decision. If it’s that simple, why do so people struggle with it? Why the contemplation. Why do people struggle on making a decision on what they want to do?
  2. Double mindedness can be devastating. The word is translated as “confused”. Double mindedness simply means confused.
  3. The most miserable person in the world is that person who is habitually indecisive.  They can’t even decide on something as simple as, what do you want to eat.
    1. “We make our decisions and then our decisions make us.” – Frank Boreham

II.            THREE WAYS INDECISION MAKES YOU UNSTABLE

  1. Emotionally Indecisive –  You’re worried and confused and you’re not fulfilling the thing that God has for your life. You are filling yourself with stuff that is not timeless truths. You can’t focus beyond changing emotions. There are those who are emotionally unstable.
    1. When your emotions are out of control, it has a result of a lack of devotion which causes commotion which results in a lack of motion.
    2. In the book, “Restored at the Root”, we see a young boy in the cemetery cutting himself and crying out, because he is emotionally unstable. This story can also be found in the bible.
      1. The devil can cause a traffic jam on the avenue of your mind and cause your thoughts to be all over the place.
      1. There is a true diagnosis for indecisiveness, but the other side of the coin is you’re just a person that is not able to make up their mind on what they want to do.
  2. Relationally Indecisive– Lack of commitment. At some point you’re going to have to make a decision about what you are going to do concerning your relationship. For example, some of you have been asking where your relationship has been going for a while now.
    1. Indecisive people are like a bad tooth, because it’s relational indecisiveness. Proverbs 25:19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint. – It takes more energy deciding what to do than it does deciding what not to do.

  3. Spiritually Indecisive – One day you read the word, one day you don’t. One day you’re in the race and one day you are’nt. You just can’t make up your mind what you want to do.
    1. The bible even tells us that we need to be hot or cold. There is this moment where you have to decide spiritually, if you are going to be in or if you are going to be out.
    1. Are you going to be in the Kingdom or in the world?
      1.  We have met people who are less than 30yrs old and they have had more than 5 different Pastors. At some point, the problem has to be you. All 5 Pastors and all 5 Churches can’t be wrong.
      1. The real problem is, you can’t make up your mind where you want to be.

III.            WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

  1. Double-Minded
    James 1:8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.- A person that lives with a double mind also lives with double standards.
    1. When your life is unstable, the mind is unsettled. It lacks convictions.
    1. The devil will make you so double minded, that you lose your stability.
    1. Where there is no stability, there is vulnerability. Where there is vulnerability, there is gullibility.
    1. If you are stable, stuff don’t phase you.
  2. Cold or Hot
    Revelations 3:15-17 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked – When you are unstable, you can’t even realize where you are in your current situation. You hear people say, “I don’t know where I am in my life right now”
  3. Choose for Yourselves
    Joshua 24:15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”- You’ve got to make your own mind up.
    1. Many can’t choose for themselves, because they are waiting for other people. Our lives are connected to others and how our decisions will affect them. When you’re a child, you don’t make decisions for yourself. You wait for others to do it for you.
      1. When you grow up, you make your own decisions. That is what maturity is.
    1. Your spiritual decisions have to be based on what’s good for you and your family not worrying about what others may think.
      1. Some people have died spiritually, sitting up, worrying about what others think about it. Do what you have to do and go where you need to go, to make your spiritual fitness where it needs to be. Make a decision.
  4. Obey the Voice of God
    Deuteronomy 28:1-4 Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: 3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. 4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.- When you make up your mind to obey God, there are consequences.
  5. Everyday you wake up there are choices, decisions, and then there are consequences. Every choice leads to a decision. It has to come from a moral place. If it does, the consequences will bless you and bring you into greatness. If you make the decisions based on the wrong moral compass, then the consequences will not bless you. The consequences may be rough.

IV.            HOW TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND

A.     Admit Your Need

  1. Pride blocks wisdom. (fill in the blank) – You can’t learn anything, if you think you know it all. Come to a place where you can say, “Lord I need you”
    1. James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. – When I ask God for wisdom, I have to realize that it is His wisdom by which I make it.
    1. God knows, he cares, and he will provide.
  2. Ask for Wisdom
    1. Wisdom is knowledge, put into practice.
    1. The world is impressed with knowledge, but God is impressed with wisdom.
      1. Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.
      1. James 4:2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
    1. Question: How many times in the New Testament does the Bible say, “ask and it shall be given”? The is 29.
      1. In the Greek this literally means, “Just keep on asking, to be consistent, to be continual”
  3. Anticipate It  
    1. Expect an answer in faith.
    1. If you want something first, you have to ask the right question.
    1. You have to ask the right way and that is asking believing and not doubting.
      1. For example, when you ask for wisdom, the key is prayer and the condition is faith.
    1. Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. – We believe He rewards us according to our faith.

Case Study: Peter

Matthew 14:29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” – Peter is out of the boat and he is walking on the water and looks down and says to himself, “I’m not supposed to be able to do this”. This caused him to sink instantly.

  1. Peter’s mind is on Jesus. If keeps his mind on Jesus, it doesn’t matter what happens. When he focuses on the waves, he starts sinking. You have to make up your mind and decide what you are going to focus on.
  2. You can walk though this season, but you have to make up your mind if you are going to follow Covid or follow Jesus.

V.            HOW TO GET YOUR ACTIONS TO FALL INTO ALIGNMENT WITH YOUR MIND

  1. Live Like Your Decisions Affect Your Destiny
    1. The quality of your life will be determined by the wisdom of foolishness in your decision.
      1. How many of you remember the show “Seinfeld”? Many of people loved watching the show “Seinfeld. A study was done by some college students about why so many people liked this show. The study showed that it was because of its plotless filming. People living plotless lives, like Plotless TV.
      1. What would you look like if we would  live our lives walking into our destiny?
  2. Stop Living Life in The Middle
    1. No decision is a decision.– For those of you that said you wasn’t going to vote, know that you did vote, whether you know it or not. To fail to make a decision is to make a decision. Living life on autopilot is dangerous.
    1. You can’t live this life without making a choice.
    1. Jesus asked the disciples to follow Him and He would make them Fishers of Men. They made a decision to follow Jesus.
    1. In the bible, a man sat by a pool waiting for the water to be troubled for 38yrs. After 38 yrs, Jesus asks if the man wanted to be made whole. Though He asked, Jesus already knew the answer. The revelation to this is, you’ve got to make a decision.
  3. There Is Power in The Prize
    Case Study: Paul
    1 Corinthians 9:24-27 24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. – In a race, all runners run. They are running for a prize. Only one will obtain it.
  4. As Christians we have a point. We run this life for a purpose.
  5. When you are saved. You live a life towards gaining the imperishable prize as described in Phil 3:8: Philippians 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ…
  6. Philippians 3:12-16 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. – This about making up your mind.
  7. You can’t live between two extremes. God is doing a new thing and it shall spring forth. You can’t spring and cling. You got to make up your mind if you’re going to go to what God has or are you hanging on to the past.
  8. You’re equipped for this. You fear the choice of God, because you feel the pressure. It’s time to make up your mind. You got this.
  9. Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. All you have is right now. At some point you have to make up your mind and our prayer is that you do it today.  
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THE PLACE OF PEACE , Bible Study 06/03/20

Posted on June 5, 2020 by growintheword

Head Health: Part 3

Synopsis of Bible Study June 3, 2020

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.

Isaiah 54:10 NKJV
For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

I.            WHAT IS PEACE?

  • Peace is the state of being free from disturbance. It’s a state of tranquility. It involves a sense of wholeness and well-being.
  • Peace is not the absence of tension and stress, but instead the revelation of God’s word in the midst of your situation.
  • When you experience God’s peace, remembering God’s word, you have the strength to make it through.
    • The devil is always trying to attack your peace, because when you’re in a place of crisis and you don’t have peace, you end up in panic.
    • Panic is rooted in fear.

A.     Peace Is A Relational Term

  1. You must have peace both vertically and horizontally. You can’t have peace with Christ if you don’t have it with everyone else. You can tell people that are at peace with God, because they at peace with others.

B.     Peace Is A Communal Term

  1. Peace encompasses the entire body of Christ. Peace is available for everybody, not just a few people.

C.     Peace Is A Redemptive Term

  1. Sin is the ultimate disrupter of peace. Show me where there is no peace and we can show you sin in that situation.

Romans 5:1-5 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.- When I am justified with God and have peace, my entire existence shows piece.

  • How do you walk through life, through circumstances you can’t control, in a spirit of peace?

D.     What Peace Is Not

  1. Because there is work involved, it doesn’t mean peace isn’t present. You can be in the midst of the most extreme situations and still have peace.

II.            WHY IS PEACE NECESSARY?

A.     Staying close to God is the only way you will have strong peace.

  1. Living a peaceful relationship with others can be challenging. Christians should be known and recognized by the fruit of peace.

B.     We ought to seek peace.

Peter 3:11 Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.- When children are on the playground and a fight breaks out, they all run to the fight. When you get older, you run from the fight. You don’t want to be involved with the chaos.

  1. The more you mature in God, the less you run to drama. As you mature in God, you look for peace.
  2. The bible says in Job that a man born of a woman is but of few days and full of trouble. Why then should we add to the trouble that we are already guaranteed?

C.      How do we find peace in this world the way it is?

  1. You have to know that there is a place called peace. In the Old Testament, God promised to mend that which had been lost in the Fall by reinstituting peace on earth.
    1. Through the Prophet Ezekiel, God made a covenant which promises peace.  Ezekiel 37:26-27 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.- God says his covenant of peace is not void of his presence.
    1. You can’t have peace without God’s presence. No God, no peace. Know God, Know Peace.

III.            HOW DO YOU COME TO A PLACE OF PEACE IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS?

  1. Pause and Pray
  2. Take some time mentally, to remove yourself from the noise of life, family, friends, and work. “Prayer does not bind us to the world, but it transforms our vision of the world.” -Thomas Merton
    1. In times of high anxiety, take time to pause, before speaking to others.
    1. This pause is not a matter of seconds, but instead a matter of hours.
  3. The more anxious we are, the more time you should set aside to pray.
    1. For some, they find that early in the morning is the best time to pray. This is a time when they can get away from the family and pray in quiet. You have to take the time to pause and pray.
  4. Know that your prayer doesn’t have to be a long and drawn out prayer. It may just be a simple prayer that says “Thank you Lord” or “Lord, speak to my heart”
  • Be the Light
  • You can overcome chaos by simply being the light. Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
    • “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • Be the light both online and in life. Use your social media platform to spread light. Share messages that God has given you. People need to hear good news these days.
  • Make inner peace your highest priority.
    • In the bible, there is a dispute among the Gentiles on whether they should be circumcised or not to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. James stands up and responds to this.
    • Case Study – James
      Acts 15: 6-15 6 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. 7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” 12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. 13 And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: 14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
      • James said stop the madness. It’s not worth it! James handled this disagreement in a way that there was peace in the midst of chaos.
    • Do you add fuel to the fire or are you part of the solution?
  • Get to The Source
  • You need to allow God to bandage the wounds caused by chaos.
  • Luke 10:34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.- Man is attacked on Jericho Rd and left for dead. A good Samaritan comes and bandages up his wounds, takes him to an inn, and pays for him to stay. It’s a wonderful revelation how God saw us on the side of the road, bandaged us up, and healed us in a place where we were in crisis. God brought us to a place of healing.
  • When we are in a place of healing, we find time for silence.
  • Find Time for Silence
  • Silence is an important part of communication.
  • The same letters in silence are some of the same letters in listen.
  • Silence puts you into a position to hear from God.
  • We often miss God, because we have too much noise going on.
    • Matthew 5:9-12 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.- You have to come to the place where you need to be silent.
    • When you are under persecution, know that people can’t quote silence. Old people used to say, hold your peace and let the Lord fight your battles.

IV.            HOW TO MAINTAIN PEACE

  1. Depend Exclusively on God
  2. Your identity should be based on your relationship with Christ. Some people invest too much into people. You can’t let our peace hinge upon how someone treats you. If you do this, you are bound to fail.
  3. Never let anyone be your peace. No person knows everything that you need.
    1. Numbers 6:24-26 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace. – Only the Lord can truly give you peace. Stop putting people into a position to be other than what God ordained them be.
  4. Walk in Love
  5. Walking in love means that I forgive freely, expecting nothing back.
  6. God will not require you to do anything that He hasn’t empowered you to do.
  7. Unforgiveness will always rob you of peace. This is why you have to walk in love.
    1. Psalm 85:10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. – We don’t have to like you to love you. This helps me with my peace.
  8. Renew Your Mind

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. – God will keep me in perfect peace. This is not absence of tension and trouble.

  1. If tension, trouble, and stress are there, then how does my mind have peace, if my mind is stayed on Thee?
  2. If my mind is elevated above the chaos, stress, and drama in my current situation, its elevating my mind. It’s a place of mental elevation.
  3. If we keep our mind stayed on Him, we won’t be stressed out by all the other stuff we have to confront.
  4. Surrender
  5. You have to kill sin or sin will kill you.
    1. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – God will cleanse you and bring you to peace.


V.            PEACE IN THE WORLD VS. PEACE IN CHRIST

  1. Peace in The World
  2. This is peace that comes instantaneously. When you use something else for peace, you have to keep refreshing it when it wears off.
  3. The peace of the world works from the outside in. The peace of God works from the inside out.
  4. You can live in the biggest of houses, but still have no peace.
  5. Peace in Christ

Leviticus 26:6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land.

  1. God says, I am the giver of peace. God says he has you, no matter what is going on around you.
  2. When you have the peace of God, you can lie down.
  3. It is important that you understand what the peace of God looks like.
  4. Settle yourself, peace Is not in stuff, or things that money can buy. It is instead in the things money can’t buy.

I speak peace over your life and your family, over your career. We submit that you are able to walk in peace. I pray that you have peace which is not the absence of tension, but the revelation of God in the midst of it.

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Head Health Part 2

Posted on June 1, 2020 by growintheword

HOW TO PREVENT MENTAL EXHAUSTION AND BURNOUT

Synopsis of Bible Study May 27, 2020

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.

Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”*

I.            INTRODUCTION

  1. Lots of people fill up their day with a lot of stuff and at the end of the day, they are not good for anything. They are worn out.
    1. Having said this, many people are working harder during this Pandemic, than they ever have before.
  2. What is burnout? It’s the loss of meaning in one’s work, coupled with mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion as the result of long-term unresolved stress.
    1. Can you keep going on and on and it end up with it not having any meaning? The answer is “yes”! When stress and problems mount up, you can end up in a state of burnout.
  3. Stress and burnout have been discussed a lot over the last decade. Stress varies from person to person. It depends on a variety of factors. Some of these is work, money, and health.
  4. This Pandemic is a season that we have never been in before. As a result, it brings about a lot of stress for people. This means we need to find out how to relieve this stress.
  5. Recently, 7500 employees were surveyed about burnout. 235 of those workers said they felt burnout more often than not. 44% felt like they had experienced burnout at one time or another.
    1. People are walking around like the Walking Dead, because they are operating in burnout.

II.            FIVE STAGES OF BURNOUT

  1. Honeymoon Phase – When you undertake a new task, you start out with a lot of zeal, commitment, and creativity. It is wonderful at first. In this stage, you readily try to prove yourself and you readily accept responsibility, you’re looking for job satisfaction, you have sustained energy levels, and have unbridled optimism.When you realize things are not what you seem or you hit a brick wall, you crash.
  2. Onset of Stress – Some days are more difficult than others. You experience anxiety, lack of sleep, or low productive. You are sinking. Nothing makes you feel better.
  3. Chronic Stress – You move from motivation to depletion. Your stress level increases. You start socially withdrawing from family and friends and you engage in activities that don’t involve people.
  4. Burnout – Feeling of emptiness inside. You start just going through the motions. You start neglecting your personal needs. You want to drop out.
  5. Habitual Burnout – You experience physical and emotional instability. It’s more than occasional stress. You’re just out there. Chronic mental fatigue and sadness begin to overtake you.  What can we do about all of this?

III.            SIX WAYS TO STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN’T CONTROL

  1. Determine What You Cannot Control – Don’t worry about what you can’t control.

Matthew 6:34 – “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”- You can’t prevent a storm, but you can prepare for it.

  1. You have to live in the now. You got to get to a point where you don’t worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow, you’re going to live in the now. Don’t miss today’s blessing worrying about tomorrow.
  2. Focus on Your Influence – You can influence people and circumstances, but you can’t make things go your way.
    1. For example, you can influence a child to study, but you can’t make them have a good GPA.
      1. When you have concern about other people’s choices, this can stress you out.
  3. Identify Your Fears – What are you afraid of? Are you predicting a catastrophic outcome?
    1. There are people that will see this Pandemic as an Apocalyptic Event. This kind of stuff will burn you out.
  4. Differentiate Between Ruminating and Problem Solving – Replaying conversations in your head isn’t helpful.
    1. Is your thinking productive? Are you moving towards a solution to your situation or are you just replaying problems?
  5. Create A Plan to Manage Your Stress – You have to take time to manage your stress.
    1. Jesus would go to a solitary place just to pray. You can’t continue to let things close in on you.
    1. Eliminate unhealthy coping skills.
      1. While you are in quarantine, you can pick up some bad coping skills and the next thing you know, these can become your defaults.
  6. Develop Healthy Affirmations – Change the phrase, “I hope to do ok” to “I going to make it happen”. Change, “I hope ____ doesn’t happen” to “I can handle it”.
    1. The power of life and death is in your tongue. Walk in the affirmation of God’s Word.

IV.            BURNOUT RECOVERY AND PREVENTION (Harvard Business Review)

Burnout can feel insurmountable. Just because you experience it, doesn’t mean it’s a life sentence.

4 Strategies to Prevention

  1. Prioritize Self-Care – It is essential to replenish your physical and emotional self, access how you are spending your time, limit your presence with nonessential people, increase your investment in those that boost your energy, and make time to get away from your ever day task.
    1. Do things that fill you up. Align your yourself with things that edify you and don’t deplete you. Align with things that build you up in this season.
    1. You can’t take care of your family, if you aren’t taking care of yourself.
  2. Shift Your Perspective – You have to get at the root cause.
    1. Colossians 3:1-3 – 1If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
    1. Go to another realm in the spirit so you won’t be pulled down to negativity.
    1. You have to want to be a spiritual person that operates at a different altitude.
  3. Reduce Exposure to Stressors – Reset your expectations. You can’t be everything to everyone. You can’t solve everyone’s problems.
    1. Solving everyone’s problems can lead to stress.
      1. You can’t stress yourself out, carrying burdens that God didn’t intend for you to carry.
  4. Seek Out Connections – When you seek rich interpersonal interactions or hang around people that offer mutual support, you start realizing that you don’t have to live your life stressed out. Iron sharpens iron
    1. Stress is a result of isolation. You’ve been micromanaging everything and not micromanaging your life.

V.            THE CHRISTIAN’S SECRET WEAPON TO PREVENT BURNOUT

  1. Live by God’s Desire
  2. You have to slowdown. Hurrying is the recipe to burnout. It’s not sustainable. God’s desire for you, should be your metric for success!
  3. We have to learn what’s important and when to say no. Know that when you say yes to something, you are saying no to something else.
  4. Reprioritize your life. Stop trying to please people that don’t care anything about you.
  5. Be concerned about one primary purpose. That purpose is to glorify God.
    1. Know that God can get this done without you.
  6. Colossians 3:23 – “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,” – Do it for the glory of God. Whatever you do, make sure the Lord is glorified.
  7. Live by God’s Design
  8. At any moment, you can go from waiting on it, to walking in it.
    1. Psalm 40:4 – “Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”
    1. 2 John 13:7 – “Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”” – You have to get to a point that you want to join in what God is doing, not he join into what you doing.
  9. Stock the Pond
  10. Stock the pond by consistently reading the scripture and prayer. This will make you have enough in the reservoir to go and find peace when you need it. You have to fill yourself up, constantly.
  11. Build yourself up in the word. Stock the pond. Make sure you are filling your life up, so you can go to this place and meditate on God’s word.
  12. God calls Moses out of a bush that is on fire. The fire doesn’t consume it. God says, “Go tell Pharaoh to let my people go”.
    1. Why did God do it this way? Why did he use the burning bush? There must be a revelation.
    1. The revelation is, whatever you do for God, have a burning for it, but never let it burn you out.
    1. The moment you let it burn you out, then you have stepped outside the original assignment that God has for your life.
  13. Stop taking on stuff that is not in your assignment. Stop saying yes to everything. No is an answer. Your children need you and your kingdom needs you. We can’t let you burnout.
  14. Maybe we need to interpret this season as, “He made me lie down in green pastures by the still waters and He restored my soul”. Maybe God is restoring you, so you will never burn out again.
    1. We need you. Don’t contribute to your own demise by allowing stress. Take care of yourself.
  15. I can have a burning without it burning me out when I am in the will of God.
  16. You will never prevent burnout, until you are in proper alignment with God. If a car is not aligned, you run the risk of something else going wrong it.
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