Baggage Claim - Fear, Anxiety & Depression

Well, let me ask you this question. In those moments where you're having fearful, anxious thoughts, would it change anything if Jesus in the flesh was sitting on the couch with you during those times? Would you process things differently? Would you have a little more faith, a little more hope? Because here's the reality, he is with you. He is with you. The problem is we fix our gaze so many times off of him, and we fix them on to the problems and the worries of this life. [00:53:20] (34 seconds)  #JesusIsWithYou

See, Jesus offers you a peace that the world can't give you. The world's peace says, when everything externally is good, when your marriage is good, when your home is in order, when your job is going well, when all these things are in order, then you can have internal peace. See, the world's peace always has an expiration date. Because I don't know about you, this world is full of trials. Jesus said we're gonna face them. But the peace that God offers us is different. [01:05:09] (30 seconds)  #PeaceBeyondCircumstances

That means the same spirit that rose Christ from the dead lives in you, and God is with you everywhere that you go. In the bible, there's about a 103 times where the scripture tells us to fear not. Now wouldn't they be so easy if someone looked at you and said, well, just stop it. Stop being afraid, and it would just happen? But here's the thing that's cool about those verses. Most of those verses connect fearing not to the idea that God is near. [00:52:19] (29 seconds)  #FearNotGodIsNear

It's it's actually an inside out peace. You everything in your life can be going wrong. And because of God's presence, because of the Holy Spirit living in you, you can actually still have a peace that passes understanding. That's why it says it, a peace that transcends understanding. The question is, are you fixing your gaze on him? Are you bringing your request to him? Are you bringing your thankfulness to him? Or are you looking at the wind and the waves? God is near, and we have to bring our request. We have to bring our anxious thoughts to him. [01:05:39] (38 seconds)  #BringAnxietiesToGod

There's a root to our fear and we have to let God's word renew our minds and take those thoughts captive. What I did in in seasons where I was really struggling with this is I would actually write those thoughts out. I would write out those anxious thoughts that I was having, and then I would say, okay, God, I know this is a lie from the enemy. It's what I'm really feeling though. And I said, God, what does your word say? I would write down the the truth of scripture right next to it. And then when those anxious thoughts would come, I'd say, hold on a second. Let's go back to the truth. Let's go back to the truth. And slowly over time, your mind gets renewed. Your mind gets renewed and you begin you begin to experience the peace that only can come from Jesus. [01:18:58] (43 seconds)  #ScriptureOverAnxiety

See, I believe that God is still calming the wind and the waves today. The question is, are we running around frantically in a boat thinking that we're gonna drown, or are we going at the feet of Jesus saying, Jesus, here's my anxious thoughts. Here's my worries. I need your presence to be with me. I need your truth to be with me. The next point today is this, fear and faith are opposite reactions to the same situation. [00:54:57] (28 seconds)  #CalmInTheStorm

But Peter responds in faith. He gets out, and he walks, and he's doing something miraculous. He's walking on the water in the middle of a storm. His eyes, where are they? They're on Jesus. Jesus is with him. God is near. His eyes are on him, and he's walking step after step, doing something that was impossible. And then it tells us that when he begins to look at the wind and the waves, what happens? He sinks. [00:56:27] (33 seconds)  #WalkByFaithNotFear

Our our our spirit shifts. We begin to look at the problems. We begin to worry about all the possible things that could happen, and we begin to sink in fear and anxiety. Listen to your next point today. Peter's situation didn't change. His focus did. Peter's situation didn't change. His focus did. And if you find yourself sinking and in fear, sinking in anxiety, sinking in worry, sinking in depression, I wanna challenge you to ask yourself this question, where am I fixing my eyes? Where am I fixing my gaze? Am I fixing them on Jesus, his unchanging character, his unchanging faithfulness, his unchanging word? Or am I fixing my eyes on all of the worries and the potential problems that could happen? [00:57:32] (51 seconds)  #FixYourGazeOnJesus