Watch out for the story you tell yourself. We are all guilty of telling ourselves horror stories and making up what-if scenarios. Many of us could give Stephen King a run for his money with the scripts we write in our heads. But here’s a helpful insight, I choose the story I tell myself. And when I constantly take in information from media sources that inspire fear and anxiety, I am much more likely to tell myself that scary story. This is a big reason why we should check the news, not watch it. We should check social media, we shouldn’t live on it.
and when you don’t know what’s next in
your life or you can’t make sense out of
what’s happening I mean some of y’all
are going through that with your job and
some of you are going through that with
school and then you thought it was gonna
be one thing and now it’s the complete
opposite thing and somebody you counted
on they turned out to be an absolute
snake and now you’re trying to figure
out what to do about that and the crazy
thing about this is in the stories that
we tell ourselves a lot of times we will
we will substitute in the place where we
don’t understand we will substitute
fiction for facts be careful about
selective stories you know what I mean
selective stories leaving out certain
things and then putting in certain
things you know when you start thinking
about worst-case scenarios you know you
start going in in your mind and what if
this I mean it can just come in a flash
cannon I don’t even watch the news
anymore I check it once a day I don’t
watch it I check it I don’t watch it I
check it I don’t watch it
I checked it I don’t watch it I check it
I don’t watch it I check it cuz I found
out the same people who are giving me
the news or selling me the pills that I
have to take after watching them this is
a grown-up sermon once I found that out
I found out they are controlling the
narrative and then so we we take the
pill in the panic all on the same
channel the same screen same feed so I
don’t watch it but I what I do in my
life is sometimes I make up stories to
fill in the space about what I don’t
know okay well the reason they did that
was because Donna got a book and I will
make up things that might not and here’s
what I call it I call it I’m just being
prepared
I’m just being responsible that’s why I
have a closet full of batteries and
socks that’s why I have kerosene in
every room of my house I’m just being
responsible so a lot of us we write
stories about our future that we haven’t
experienced yet but we fill them up with
fear
not faith a lot of us we write stories
about what’s gonna happen in our life
but we write in the we write in the
genre of horror we write horror stories
in our hand oh no I got a flat tire
oh no I’m gonna be late for work oh
they’re gonna fire me oh I’m gonna end
up on baby I’m gonna hold on Gavin job
I like I pay the bills I’m gonna be on
the street I may end up on drugs I’m end
up in rehab oh my the kids are gonna be
there
the kids are gonna hate me I guess
they’re gonna speak to me again oh my
god you just have a flat tire there’s a
spare calm down stop the story stop the
story stop the story stop the story stop
spinning it stop if you’re gonna spin it
spin it by faith goddess for me not
against me it might be a flat tire
to keep me from an accident God is good
to me the Lord is good to me
some of us we make up such scary stories
about our future we could give Stephen
King a run for his money and yet
somebody somebody else will tell a
completely different story about the
same situation oh I want to bridge this
so bad
I wish we had I wish we had a little bit
longer because I would tell you how when
Peter thought the story started is not
when it started look at acts 10 verse 1
I didn’t show this to any other service
y’all are so spiritual you were drawing
the Word of God out of me at
unimaginable depths all the way back to
verse 1 Sean real quick at Caesarea
there was a man named Cornelius watch
this
Peters story started in Acts chapter 10
verse 18 the story started in Caesarea
Peters story started in Joppa
the story really started in Caesarea God
is doing stuff right now in places you
know nothing about God is putting you on
the mind of people right now who are not
even in this zip code
God is Allah he is directing your paths
right now there’s a hole in your story
you don’t know what goes there but God
does shout if you know that the story
started before you got here God said I
know the plans I have for you plans to
prosper you and not to harm you so I
just want to talk to you about your
story I want to talk to you and talking
about selective stories because you
don’t get to choose every situation in
your life but you get to choose the
story no I don’t I didn’t choose for my
dad to walk out I didn’t choose for them
to break my heart I didn’t choose to
that’s the situation I’m talking about a
story
[Music]
Jesus Jesus one of our good friends in
ministry lost their ministry last year
he made some horrible decisions they had
to move across the country they had to
leave everything of course his wife
didn’t do anything wrong and she lost
everything too right at the same time
this was happening she was diagnosed
with cancer it made me mad at God that
this was happening I’m not supposed to
be mad at God he’s a big boy he can
handle it
bunch of fake Saints talking about what
you’re supposed to tell God how you
really feel about it just tell him I
don’t like this this makes no sense
that’s why people don’t pray cuz they
don’t have permission to pray what’s
really on their heart you’re gonna talk
to somebody about it you might as well
talk to God you might as well talk to
God you might as well get it out and
detox so it doesn’t destroy you you can
tell it tell him about your troubles
tell him about your tears tell him about
those those things that you don’t
understand give him space to explain it
give him time and so while I was getting
mad and kind of wondering like this
doesn’t make sense she didn’t do
anything wrong she doesn’t deserve this
I don’t get it she’s being stripped of
everything this is not slow Wi-Fi the
stuff we complain about cold Starbucks
the stuff we complain about this is like
she’s losing she’s lost her community
she’s lost her ministry she’s lost her
familiarity the the town she grew up in
and gets cancer moving to the other side
of the country by the time that we
talked to them about it what annoyed me
was she wasn’t mad
you know I had my face on she was
smiling I’m like why are you smiling
she said insurance
I said who she said if we had it lost
the ministry wouldn’t moved across the
country and if we hadn’t moved across
the country I wouldn’t have got on this
other insurance plan and our old
insurance didn’t cover it and the best
doctors were in the town that we moved
to and if I wouldn’t have been in that
place the best doctors will hold on hold
on all that stuff the stuff don’t clap
I’m not done with this yet
while she’s saying this I’m shaking my
head I’m not doing it like where she can
see it I’m just like I still don’t I
still don’t like this mm-hmm and make
any sense if God can move you across the
country he can keep the cancer from
coming y’all aren’t gonna be real with
me today if God can get you across the
country for better insurance why can’t
he keep you from from having cancer to
begin with I thought about that thing
for months and I thought about how it’s
still not fair
if God can part a Red Sea but the best
he can do is get you a better benefits
package I didn’t like it I was working
on this Erma called them yesterday I
said I’m still mad about this insurance
thing tell me again
now every time I call them every time I
call them they and I called them to
encourage them they make they make me
mad because they start encouraging me
stop it
this is my deposit into your
encouragement piggy bank
stop it you know like when you’re trying
to unlock the door and somebody else is
pulling on your stop it stop it
canceling each other out stop it I said
I just don’t get it if God could get you
across the country why you have to lose
everything just I don’t get it she said
you don’t have to it’s not your story
[Music]
LJ I do some finger stretches real quick
because I think somebody needs to shout
until the devil is not your story it is
not your story
it is not your story you don’t have to
understand my praise because you don’t
know my story you don’t know what he did
for me
you don’t know how he kept me you don’t
know what he kept from hitting my life
you don’t know what he rescued me from
you don’t know how many ways he made
when nobody else was looking with nobody
else care you don’t know my scoring and
I feel the Spirit of the Lord saying
tell the devil I want my pen back this
is God’s story this is a redemption
story this is a great story this is a
blessing story this is a gospel story
this story does not end in defeat
I got a resurrection pistol
you don’t have to shout it’s not your
story but if God carried you through
some dark nights and dry places give
them a shout right now hey thank you for
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watching