Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
Be Of A Good Cheer
Standing in life’s storms takes more than positivity—it requires a supernatural strategy. In John 16:33, when Jesus said “be of good cheer,” He wasn’t offering a suggestion but issuing a spiritual command that anchors us in courage and comfort. Like King David, who sought fresh instructions from God before each battle (1 Chronicles 14), we too must seek current revelation for current challenges. Recycled strategies won’t win today’s wars. Many believers stay stuck because they rely on past insights rather than tuning into God’s fresh guidance. Whatever battle you’re facing—be it anxiety, illness, or setbacks—your breakthrough starts with asking God for His specific strategy today. Victory isn’t just possible; it’s promised when you follow His lead.
Hallelujah, reach down and just grab your Bible. Let's just go ahead and make a confession together. Thank you, praise and Worship team. It's an honor to serve with you guys. Let's just say this together Say, heavenly Father, I'm at the right place at the right time, with the right people, ready to receive directly from you things that will change my life. Supply, increase, lord. You're about multiplication. So I open up my mind, I open up my ears, I open up my spirit and I turn my heart towards you to receive tonight exactly what I need for you to put me over every circumstance. It's under my feet, in Jesus name, amen, hallelujah. I just thought I'd share the word first. There's a little bit of a ring, but I know you're working on it, thank you, there's a little bit of a ring, but I know you're working on it. Sheree Ray, thank you.
Speaker 1:Let's just turn together to John, chapter 16, and starting in verse 33, the last verse of John 16. And Jesus is talking, talking. He said these things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace in the world. You will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. And I just wanted to preach a message entitled Be of Good Cheer. Be of Good Cheer.
Speaker 1:And I didn't realize I started this message and I wanted to really preach on the realities of heaven and that kind of turned into a funeral. So I was telling my dad like I better not preach a funeral and so but just, I've been kind of meditating on the realities of heaven and how, you know, looking forward to we're going to get a crown, amen. I'm kind of skipping ahead of myself because that's my last point, but you know you better get a crown. You know you better get a prize. You know, and you know James talks about that in the book of James that we'll receive a crown after we've gone through some things. You know we've seen, we know a few things because we've seen a few things right. And so how do we face trials, how do we face situations and be of good cheer? You know God didn't say that we're going to have a trouble free life.
Speaker 1:And then when we read what Jesus went through in the Bible, what we read, when we read what Peter went through, when we read what Paul went through, what Jonah went through just disobedience, right, being swallowed by the great fish and we look at all these storms that happened, and Paul's shipwreck and other storms, and and, uh, I'm telling you, uh, god wants to put us over. He said be of good cheer, we can be happy, we can be full of joy, we can be full of peace. Have peace. These things have I spoken to you that in me you may have peace, that may like like dad was preaching this morning, is on our side, you know it's. It's up to us to grab a hold of that peace, to live our lives in christ amen. And so, uh, he didn't promise us that life would be trouble free, but be of good cheer, it's a command, don't you see it? It's a command, command. He's not saying it's optional, he's telling us be of good cheer. And so that's something that we have to do, that's something that we have to stir up. And so in the Greek, that word cheer or good cheer means good comfort and good courage. And so, while I'm preaching tonight, I just wanted you to receive, fresh from the Holy Spirit, an infilling of cheer, of joy, of peace, of comfort and of courage and of strategy. You know, some of you have lacked spiritual strategy, and tonight there's an impartation of a fresh infilling of spiritual strategy. And so, ephesians 6.10,. Be strong in the Lord and the power of his might that you might be able to stand against all the wiles, the strategies of the enemy. You know God's strategy is better, it's going to put you over every single time.
Speaker 1:But I think some of us, when we go through storms, you know storms in real life. I'm talking about natural storms. You can see them coming, they're off on the horizon. You know, we spent some time in Florida and one year we were staying at this condominium years and years ago, and it was right in the middle of Houston having this huge drought, and so I just loved being out on the balcony every afternoon and watching these storms develop in Florida and every afternoon they would just hit Like. Several times we've been to Florida, even at summer camp, when camp was in Florida, about five years in a row there and every you know, every afternoon that storm would develop and just wash everything and it didn't last, didn't last long. But you know you ever play in the rain. I think we forgot how. You know in kids, you know I used to beg my parents, my mom especially, let me go out and play. You know it's different than a thunderstorm, right, playing in the rain is kind of fun.
Speaker 1:We had sand dunes in Corpus, but I wanted to tell this story of Selena and the kids and I in Florida. One of those trips we were out on the beach and there was these two dark storms and they were coming and but there was this light in the middle of it and I was like you know what? I'm looking at the radar. I'm thinking, hey, this, this is just going to blow right by us. Let's stay on the beach, everybody else is packing up, we're the only ones. And let's just say that I was wrong. And instead of them splitting apart and blowing right by, they came together for a really huge storm. And so we start running, literally running off the beach down to, like, our little townhouse that we were staying in. This was like 20 years ago, so the kids were pretty small and lightning struck right like directly across the street. I've never been that close that I know of to lightning strike just right there and I just I stopped, I was in awe and then, you know, just continued running into safety.
Speaker 1:And sometimes when we go through storms, we really can't see where they're developing. All we see are the results, right, all you see are the effects of that storm and you feel like all hell is breaking loose and that you just can't seem to wrap your. You want to figure it out with your brain and you want it to make sense, and you, you know. And so sometimes we do that on our own and we forget that the strategy that we need comes from our Heavenly Father. Right, and so you know.
Speaker 1:I kind of quoted this maybe. But 1 Timothy, 1, 6, and 7, it says Paul is telling Timothy. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of hands, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. Everybody knows that. Everybody can quote that, but realize there are some things that he hadn't given us. He hadn't given us a spirit of fear, but there are a lot of things that he has given us. Amen. He's given us power. We've, we have all of the power of God living on the inside of us, and if we would just walk in that authority, I feel like God's just waiting on us sometimes to to get up and speak to the storms in our life.
Speaker 1:You know, uh, people miss that, that point of Jesus being asleep in the bottom of the boat and then saying to the disciple rebuking them. When they wake him up, you know, hey, we're about to die. What are you just down here sleeping and we're about to die? And he's like where's your faith? And then you know he rebukes the wind and the waves, and we all know that story. But you know they were like who is this man that even the wind and the waves obey him? You know the winds and the waves, they can obey you too. That's the whole point of the story. We have the same spirit of faith, we have the same authority that Jesus walked in. We walk in, we are his hands and his feet, and he's waiting on us to step up and step into our authority. You know, and so you know.
Speaker 1:But would you run into a battle without any weapons? No, you're going to be fully equipped. God has already given you, like I said earlier, every spiritual blessing, but we have to grab a hold of it. We got to know that it's ours. We got to know what we have in order to fight the devil and win in life. And so I thought we would turn back to the Old Testament. So if you'll turn back with me to 1 Chronicles 14, and let's talk about David.
Speaker 1:David in the Old Testament. And so David was a man after God's own heart. That's what they say, that's what David's reputation was known for. And he had already gone against Goliath, who was the biggest, meanest Philistine there ever was, and he took five smooth stones and slayed the giant with just one of those stones. Amen, we know that story.
Speaker 1:And then in verse eight, first Chronicles 14, chapter 14, verse eight, it says this is later on now when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed King over all of Israel, all of the Philistines went up to search for David. Everybody say all. Can you imagine? All of the Philistines, not just you know? Did Goliath have some brothers? I don't know, but all of these Philistines are coming up and going after David. But why? Because of his reputation.
Speaker 1:They wanted to take him out early. As soon as they found out he was in charge, as soon as they found out he was king, they're like oh no, we can't stand for this. We got to, we got to wipe him out early. And so all of them went against him. Let's see. And so, and they and David. And when David heard of it. He went out against them. And so you know what is what did he have? What weapons did he have? Did he have, like I said, did you? He was like, where's my sling at? I have some, you know four smooth stones left over. Let me dig through the closet and get those out. No, he had a whole different way of going about it and it says in verse nine the Philistines went and made a raid in the valley of Rephaim. And David verse 10, here's the important part David asked, or inquired of the Lord, saying Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand? And so he didn't just go, he had a plan and he stopped and he asked the Lord hey, is this a good idea? Stopped and he asked the Lord hey, is this a good idea?
Speaker 1:I think so many of us. We see we're facing something at work, we're facing something in our personal lives and it's hitting us dead in the face and we're like we can just keep going at it our own way and we don't really stop and think. And you know what? Let's ask the Lord what is the strategy? There is a fresh strategy for whatever you're facing tonight. Amen. And you're receiving that right now, as I'm speaking Supernaturally. I believe in supernatural hearing, we all believe that around here, and so I say that by faith that you're receiving a supernatural strategy to deal with that situation that you're facing.
Speaker 1:To deal with that situation that you're facing, similar to David, david prayed and he inquired of the Lord will you deliver them into my hand? And what did God say? He said go up, for I will deliver them into your hand. And so they went up to Baal-perism and David defeated them there. And then David said God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water. Therefore, they called the name of that place Baal-perism. And so well, let me go ahead and finish this one battle. And when they left their gods there, the Philistines had left all their gods behind there. David gave a commandment and they were burned with fire, so all of those gods were burned up. So it really was a war of which God is going to win. And our God won, amen. But he won through the hand of David, through the courage of David, through the obedience of David, and David wasn't courage of David through the obedience of David, and David wasn't didn't rise up in pride and say I got this. This is no big deal. I killed Goliath. I'm you know I'm going to go out there. No, he stopped and he prayed and he made sure.
Speaker 1:And then verse 13,. We don't know, I didn't really study this out. There's maybe in the. It might tell us how long it was before they tried it again. They come back. They didn't learn the first time, right, or the second time? This is really the third time.
Speaker 1:And then the Philistines once again made a raid on the valley. Therefore, david, what did he do? He's like, oh no, I got that. We went straight ahead. We just do that again. No, what did he do? You already know he inquired again of the Lord.
Speaker 1:How many of you realize? One time's not enough, man, when you prayed and you're working off of 1988's revelation. It's not enough. There's fresh revelation for today. There's a fresh strategy from heaven. Today, that's what it keeps saying, right. And God said unto him you shall not go up after them. And God said unto him you shall not go up after them. Instead, circle around them and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, very specific, right and supernatural. See, the strategy wasn't natural, it was supernatural right. You see that Then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines. And so David did as God commanded him, and they drove back the army of the Philistines from Gibeon as far as Gezer. And then, so so God used that strategy and and Israel won again. And so our God won again through the hands of David, but it was through his obedience and through his prayer. And I want you to see that it was a fresh, completely new strategy. That was supernatural.
Speaker 1:And so that's what we need to do, is we need to hold up in our lives and wait for that supernatural strategy. He's speaking to us on a daily basis. All we have to do is listen. All we have to do is plug in and you say, oh Jay, you don't understand that there's so much pressure at work, there's this is going on or that in my business or whatever it is, and this is going on and that's going on, and I just don't have time to plug in and listen and I just all I can do is pray for five minutes in the car. No, rearrange your schedule, wake up earlier, do whatever it takes. Your whole life depends on it and your legacy of faith depends on it. Your kids depend on you hearing from God. Your lack of obedience and your lack of plugging in to what he has for you today is costing you and your future. And so make a change, amen.
Speaker 1:And so it's easy to talk about and it's harder to do, but it requires faith. God requires faith. He responds to faith, and so he doesn't respond to laziness. He doesn't respond to sleeping in and getting up late and just starting your day and just going on. You know all of us have done that, myself included. You know I wake up, I start thinking about everything that I've got to accomplish that day and it makes me want to get up and go, move faster and harder at that goal. And you know I'm kind of more goal-oriented. All of us have different personality traits and I'm preaching to myself goal-oriented. All of us have different personality traits and I'm preaching to myself tonight to hold up, wait a second. God has a whole new, fresh strategy. There's an easier way. He's going ahead of me and greasing the skids and there's an ease. If I would just jump in that ease, I don't have to stress out about it, I don't have to call 15 other people and gripe and complain about how hard this is, and no, there's an ease in his spirit, in his presence, if you would just take time to receive that fresh strategy and be more like David.
Speaker 1:So David had courage, he had strength and and he was used to to dealing, uh, with Goliaths he was, you know, in order to fight Goliath he had to fight those, you know, the lions and the tigers and the bears, oh my, you know protecting his father's sheep. And so he had seen some things, he had been through some things He'd killed with his bare hands before. And you know, I just I didn't write this down in my notes, but I think it's later on in Chronicles, you know, you hear the story of David and Bathsheba, and that really started, because I think it's verse one of whatever chapter it is. It is In the time of war, when kings should be out at war. He sent his servant ahead and he stayed back. He stayed back in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1:So he was in the wrong place, he was in the wrong position and so, yes, he did terrible things and lustful things, but it all started from being out of position, and the Bible doesn't say why it doesn't. Maybe he had good intentions, maybe he wanted his servant to be glorified that day and be able to handle a situation and win a battle without him. Maybe you know, but the bottom line was he was in the wrong position and it led to terrible, a terrible act that affected generations after generations and ultimately we all kind of assume that we know that story. But he ended up getting Bathsheba pregnant. Then he arranged a whole thing where he tried to pull her husband back off the battlefield so he would sleep with his wife, so he could hide this whole thing and it would go away. But he refused, right, and then so he sent her husband into battle under the you know, and, and so that he was killed. And so then he had murder on his hands and that, uh, that you know. God forgave him, but but it cost him being able to build the temple because he had murdered.
Speaker 1:And so there was consequences to that sin. There always is. Walking in the flesh leads to consequences, right, and so when we can apply the blood of Jesus, we can nullify those consequences, though some of those consequences, by having a repentant heart. You know so many people like my dad said this morning. He was talking about a man that was in having an affair I don't know if everybody was here this morning, but how he was just more, he was sorry for getting caught. He wasn't really, didn't really have a true repentant of a heart. He was I don't know why I'm going through this again but he just had a heart that was sorry for getting caught and so not being genuine with the Lord. And so David was genuine, though, and you find that and then he was in. He made it through to the hall of fame of faith in Hebrews, chapter 11, and so the Bible says that David was a man after God's own heart, and so he had this reputation. Let's go ahead and finish this story verse 17.
Speaker 1:Then, after he won that second battle, then the fame of David went out into all lands and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations. Everybody say all. There's that word all again. I won't get all pastrosian on you and say say all five times. No, I'm just kidding, I would yell out all five times. I had a little attitude anyways. Uh, then the fame of of david not god, but david god made david's fame spread. Did you catch that.
Speaker 1:So his obedience in his heart was so pure towards the lord that David was trying to shout the fame of God. But God was exalting the fame of David, and so that's what obedience will do. God knows how to exalt your position. He knows how to bring promotion to you. And all of a sudden, to you, and all of a sudden, you find yourself in a whole different position, in a whole different place, being exalted wherever it is. It could be at your job, it could be in your business, it could be with the amount of clients that you have, it could be a variety of different ways that God brings promotion, but promotion comes from God. Ways that God brings promotion, but promotion comes from God, and promotion comes through obedience and humility.
Speaker 1:Again, david, he could have risen up in pride. He had the army, he had the power and he had the men that he had poured into, his mighty men, and they all knew how to kill and they all knew how to win in a war right. But instead he leaned on the Lord, he asked for a fresh strategy and he refused to move until God spoke, until God gave him the plan. And so today, again, as I'm speaking, let's receive a fresh infilling of courage and encouragement to do the right thing. And no matter how big the storm looks, no matter how big the issue, the problem, the circumstance, no matter how, you know the devil, he doesn't fight fair. But at the same time, people like to give him a lot of credit, and I don't. I just, you know, uh, uh. Dad preached that, looking at the year of milestones, you know about not being in awe of what the devil is doing. Let's be in awe of what God's doing. You know we get people get so focused on the devil.
Speaker 1:I was going to tell, tell this story real quick and then I'll move on. But but uh, uh. You know I struggled when I was little. I had, I had a pretty traumatic event happened to me when I was 15. I was a freshman in high school. I hadn't told this story in a long time, and me and two of my football buddies, we went over to this other girl's house and we were just hanging out good, clean, fun. We rode our motor scooters over there because we didn't have cars yet. I had an Elite 80 Honda. That's what started all this motorcycle stuff, but it was a much smaller, you know, and my friend had one.
Speaker 1:So we rode over to her house. She had a C, a senior that she had just started dating and his parents were divorced, and so his dad had loaned him his brand new blazer too I don't know if you know that the the smaller of the blazers. So five of us get in the car and we're going to go rent a movie and pick up some ice cream, and none of us are really prepared for any of this. We stopped at the randalls, at kirkandall and luetta first and got ice cream and I don't know why we didn't rent the movie there at randalls, but we got ice cream first. And then we all pile back up into the blazer and he uh, he exits out of the the east, exit the left, but we're supposed to turn right. So he starts to make the left turn and we're like, wait, no, we're going to go rent the movie, you got to turn right. So he turns right, and when he did, for whatever reason, he just accelerated at a very high rate of speed. So we get going now westbound on Luetta. We're probably going 45 or 50, but we're really only supposed to go across the street. And so what did we do? Turn, turn, you're missing the turn. And so what does he do? He just turns, and so the vehicle starts flipping and one of the like.
Speaker 1:On the first revolution, the window that where I was next to busted out. And so I just I didn't have a seatbelt on, none of us had seatbelts on, you know, this was the nineties man. And so, uh, uh, I just grabbed a hold of the outside of the vehicle with my left arm and and, like, pinched myself against the whatever the side of the vehicle and it just kept rolling and rolling and rolling and when it came to a stop it was facing the window that I was next to is facing the sky. So I just pulled my body up with my left arm and so I had like a bunch of glass embedded in my arm. I had been burned really bad a year before that, so I had like sensitive skin anyways. And the motor was still on, it was still in gear and the tire was right there and it was still spinning, and somehow, when I got up, I caught my leg in the tire and so I have a scar on this leg.
Speaker 1:To begin with, so I shouldn't have my leg, I shouldn't have my arm. I jumped down to the ground and I run to the payphone and you thought I could rescue everybody, call 911. No, I called dad. I just needed somebody to say you know what, son, it's going to be okay. And so they beat the ambulance.
Speaker 1:There I'm like I was in a terrible car accident just right down the road Luetta and Kirkendall, and so they rushed down there but my football coach, my junior high football coach, coach Crosby, was getting some ice cream with his family, with his wife, and had ice cream in his hand, walked out and witnessed the whole thing and he said later on he said every time that the car got to your side of the, you know, I should not have my arm or I should have been killed or crushed, but every time on the left side of the vehicle it bounced so it would roll and bounce, roll and bounce, and so it never hit where I had my arm holding on and so God protected me. And so that's a miracle, right, and somehow, I don't know centrifugal force. But on one of those rolls the ice cream came out and we smooshed it like a. You know, it was like completely smooshed, like a pancake, right. So everybody lived, everybody was okay. My friend in the middle, like he hit his head really hard several times and so he had a big concussion and, kind of honestly, was never the same after that and but it was just.
Speaker 1:That was the. That was probably the worst injury of all of that accident. But, god right, we all lived, we all survived, and instead of being a hero and helping people out, I had to just run to the payphone, had change in my pocket. That was just funny to me. You have no idea how you're going to react in a situation, but I kind of, as a 15-year-old, I got kind of stuck on the why. Why did this happen, god, why did you allow this to happen? And I think people get stuck sometimes, especially like the immature, like you're tempted to blame God, you're tempted to just be stuck in a moment and I kept like replaying all the things that I could have done or should have done and should have said.
Speaker 1:But basically, what caused that accident? Yeah, I was at the wrong place with the wrong people, but really it wasn't some demonic force necessarily trying to take me out Although that was some percentage of it but really it was just an inexperienced driver and an immature. You know, he hadn't been driving very long and he just wasn't used to having all these people in the car and we're yelling directions to him. That's really what caused this accident, not some, you know, the devil, you know, made him do it and engineered this whole thing. No, like people, people do dumb things, people make mistakes. That's what an accident is. It's not always the devil trying to, you know, we just give way too much credit.
Speaker 1:You know, coming home from the beach last week, we had a flat and I really realized real quick that with all my big tires and everything that whatever came with the truck, I just I wasn't going to be able to change the tire. And I was trying to count it all joy, but I was a little frustrated, wasn't I? And uh, and the Holy Spirit interrupted. That whole thing is like call a mobile tire company, so I Googled one. That's what I had to do. In the. We used to have a big bus and we've had a couple of flats in the bus and the and the big trucks come and change the tire and sell you a tire right there anyways. Um, but I did and it was the best thing. And then my dad, today he had a blowout and he calls me. He's like I know you're about to preach and it's really hot outside, but you know it was like no, I'm, you know I'm not going to come change your tire, I'm going to call somebody. And so I called that same person and they showed up in 20 minutes and got him on his way. And so I didn't know if I had a flat, because God knew that he was going to have a flat and I could help him out.
Speaker 1:I don't know how this works, but it wasn't the devil. So don't be quick to give. Be in awe of all the devil's strategies. And no, god has a strategy of rescuing you. No matter how small of a problem that you have, he wants to pluck you out. Like my offering scripture this morning, he wants to protect you from that. And yes, we're going to have tribulations, we're going to have trials, we're going to have bad things are going to happen to good people. But don't ever blame God. Don't ever allow yourself, allow the enemy to deceive you into thinking that this is God's fault, that God sent this storm or God sent this. Whatever issue that you're facing, be quick to realize the mercy of God. Be quick to walk and to look for his mercy, to look for his favor, to be grateful for his goodness, to be grateful for his glory, which is his goodness. And so that's what God is all about. Amen. And so James, chapter one.
Speaker 1:I quoted this scripture earlier a little bit, but verse 2, james 1, verse 2. My brethren, count it all. Joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let or allow patience to have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. And so tonight we are. We lack nothing, we are allowing patience to have its perfect work. Amen.
Speaker 1:And so we remain in faith, expecting the best, but we're prepared for the worst. That's what I realized when I had that flat in the truck. I'm totally lost, I don't have any of the right tools, and so, before we leave for summer camp here in a couple of weeks, I got a couple of weeks to get the right parts. So I am prepared, amen. And so Proverbs 21, 31 says the horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. So we're prepared, but we know that victory belongs to the Lord, and so we're expecting. Our expectation for victory is in the Lord, amen and so.
Speaker 1:2 Timothy 2, verses 1 and 3 say Be strong in the grace Paul's talking to Timothy be strong in the grace, that is, in Christ Jesus, and endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. And then, so you know, my point number two is to keep the end goal in mind. And so we're keeping the end goal in mind by being a good soldier, mind by being a good soldier, enduring hardship as a good soldier. And in Acts 14, 22, paul, it says Paul, along with Barnabas, went about strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, saying we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. And so Paul and Barnabas were constantly strengthening the souls that's your mind, your will and intellect right of the disciples, telling them hey, you know, quitting is not an option. Right Through many trials and tribulations, we are going to obtain the prize. Keep the goal, the end goal, in mind. We're going to receive a crown. Right James 1.12,.
Speaker 1:Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. So we're going to receive that crown. Have your mind on the goal. You run your race with patience and endurance, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. That's Hebrews 12. But have the goal in mind. So you're running your own race. It's not a race where you're in competition with one another, so you're not comparing yourself to the person running next to you. You're running your race and you're at the pace that God wants you to run, and you're because you're looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher, the starter and the finisher of our faith. And so if he's, you know, if he responds to faith, it's good that he's the starter and the finisher of our faith.
Speaker 1:And how do we receive faith? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So we remain in faith, but we never forget the crown or the goal that's ahead of us. And so we are heavenly minded, but we're not so heavenly minded that we're no earthly good, right? Pastor Osteen would say that all the time. And so we are. We're heavenly minded, but we have, we know, how to function right here in the nasty now and now. You know, pastor Osteen would say that all the time, the nasty now and now. And so I just want to leave you with three things, three statements how we can remain in having good cheer. So, number one, remember God's presence. Having good cheer, so number one, remember God's presence. He is with us in every storm of life. God, you know, look to God first. He said he'd never leave us nor forsake us.
Speaker 1:You know, I was listening to that brand, that new Brandon Lake song. Maybe it's called Hard Fought Hallelujah, is that it? But you know and I'm not knocking the song, it's a great song. But I got stuck on it afterwards and I was singing that line over and over again about my been through hell. Hallelujah, and the Holy Spirit's like Jesus went through hell, so you didn't have to. And so my hallelujah did go through hell with Jesus. You know his praise. The Lord went through hell, but I don't have to go through hell, and so nothing that you're facing is anything like hell. And so I went through a situation a couple years ago.
Speaker 1:I think I have some time if I wanted to tell that story. I've never really told it. The Holy Spirit's kind of on me right now to tell it. I'm, I don't the Holy Spirit's kind of on me right now to tell it so, but I kept comparing it to hell. I used to. You know it's, this is hell, but it really. Nothing you've ever been through is hell it's. It can be hellish, it can be. I'm not cussing, I'm just I'm talking about the hell over here. Okay, I never said hell of anything, it's hell, but you know.
Speaker 1:So it was January of a few years ago, two or three years ago, and I was, I had this growth in my mouth and I'd gone to the doctor. I was already at my regular doctor and so, like I have him take a look at it, which was my first mistake, and he's like, ooh, and he was all concerned I've never seen anything like this at all. You need to go see the ENT. And so that was my mistake. Number two, I went to your nose and throat for something that was mouth related, which if you have anything wrong with your mouth, you go see your dentist. You mention it to your dentist and then you go see an oral surgeon anything mouth related, because an ENT is ears, nose, throat, not mouth, not dental. But they ran a biopsy. They like ripped part of my mouth apart and so and send it off for a biopsy and he was all concerned oh my god, I've never seen anything like this. What is this? I don't know and I'm like it couldn't be that bad.
Speaker 1:But then fear sets in and then I preached a funeral the next day and I remember that was a little bit of pressure. I try for weddings and funerals to not be pressure, but it was just like a little bit of you know, you feel like as a minister, you feel like you only have one opportunity to honor someone at their funeral, so you want to knock it out of the park. And so I, literally I was up all night thinking about two things this growth in my mouth and then doing a good job at this funeral. So, preach the funeral. Everybody said I did so good and it was anointed, and I felt the anointing and I was so relieved. Hey, I'm going to go home and I'm going to sleep and this is going to be fine. And I go home and day, you know, night number two no sleep. And night number two no sleep. And night number three no sleep. And night number four no sleep.
Speaker 1:And on night three I broke something in my brain. All of that pressure, it wasn't a psychological break, it was a physical break. I broke my ability to stay asleep. So I could fall asleep, but I would immediately wake up in this fear and this terror, and that would happen over and over and over again. And then I went enough nights without sleep where I just had lots of illogical decisions. I wasn't thinking clearly, obviously and I began to have a mental breakdown of some kind. I don't know what to call this. I started having panic attacks. I started having these major. So we've prayed for people with panic attacks. I didn't really understand what a panic attack was and I thought I was going to die. I thought I was having a heart attack. It was very similar like your chest.
Speaker 1:You have zero control, like I'm praying in tongues, I'm shouting at the devil, I'm using all the faith that I know, I'm doing everything I know to do and I'm losing this battle, and so I can't breathe. You know the whole shortness of breath thing and all it was was a physical problem, a chemical problem in my brain. So it was not. I was not going crazy, you didn't have to send me to the loony bin, it was a chemical problem and so. But I ended up having to go went back to that same doctor, by the way, somewhere in the middle of this I went to an oral surgeon and it wasn't cancer and he gave me a medicine and cleared up in like moments, like a day. So no big deal. So all that was like for nothing, right? So I had, I didn't have a problem. I just thought I had a problem.
Speaker 1:And so you Google, like cancer and oral cancer and really like oral cancer people that have that. It will. It can tear your mouth completely apart and affect your tongue and your ability to talk and swallow and all of those things. But but God right. So like just coming against fear. So anyways, but after about 30 days of no sleep, I really was a crazy person.
Speaker 1:I was fighting for sanity and everybody rallied around me and Selena especially would walk me through. I just had lots of irrational fears. I got to be where I couldn't. I'd never been that depressed in my life, like I remember the sun going down and just panicking, like what am I going to do? Another night of no sleep, how am I going to? Um, how am I going to deal with this? And Selena was just amazing and that's that was one positive thing out of this story. Let me make this faster. So, just, she would spend a lot of time with me, she would drive me, she would watch after me. I would have to, like, sit outside and try to sleep outside. It was January and she would just, she would grab like a sleeping bag and all the covers off the bed and come out there and and spend time with me so that I wasn't alone and just pray over me and got me through.
Speaker 1:So I ended up having to go see a psychiatrist and I got on these huge major drugs about three, three to four, and a couple of those were really high doses in order to sleep. And so as soon as I got on those drugs, man, sleep, and sleep was good, but they're downers right. So I'm still depressed and so I've never been depressed, never had to fight depression, never had to speak depression. But the psychiatrist, she said, look, because of insurance or whatever, you've got to go see somebody. You've got to go see a psychiatrist. You know like she could recommend one. Or some kind of counselor you have to sit down, you know and we don't or some kind of counselor. You have to sit down, you know and we don't. We didn't believe in counseling, we didn't ever, you know.
Speaker 1:And so I'm like talking to my dad, but through prayer we got hooked up with this spirit-filled counselor in Conroe, and so Selena and I got to sit down with her and she found out who we were and what I was facing, and she was just so gentle and so full of faith and so different than anything that I could ever, and that was God. So I don't know where all this was, but leading me, leading us to her. So she would ask me general questions, like questions about my day, questions about what I did not, you know what was growing up like. I guess there was a few of those questions, but not, she's not trying to pry open anything and she would draw pictures of the words that I was saying, and then sometimes she would like bubble letter out one word that I said and I don't know.
Speaker 1:I was telling a story and I was like, well, details matter, let me get. And I went back and I started the story over, and so she wrote out details matter. And I didn't even realize I said that, and so she pegged me, my whole personality and all like detail oriented, and I'll bottom line it for you. It just pointed out my confession and how important words are, and all she did was show a picture of the negative words that I was using to describe my situation and my lack of faith and all it was like. So she was preaching the message back to me with my own words, and so, hey, I don't care how long I've been preaching, how long I've been saved, words matter. And I wasn't doing the word, that was the simplest definition.
Speaker 1:And so in the end she was having some trouble with her son and so I think he was in his late teens and dating the wrong girl, and Selina, and I got to pray with her and give her some good, practical advice. So it was like a two-way. It was just, and I needed that at that moment. I needed that. I needed that to be able to pour out and not just receive. And so the bottom line is it only took a few months and I realized, man, I cannot stay on these drugs and be me. This is not God.
Speaker 1:But I enjoyed the sleep, but I knew at some point I won't get into the chemical part. The chemical part was the lack of iron, and that's a whole nother story. But I was taking, I was on prescription iron pill and eventually my iron level came back up and I and I knew when it did I didn't need these pills anymore but you're locked in just in case you ever have to face relatives or something that go to a psychiatrist. There is no way out. I was just reading I think it was, maybe so there was an article. There was an article that was sent to me here recently I forgot what doctor it was that was saying the same thing You're locked in. There is no getting out of that. You want to, like, recover. They don't want you to recover. They want to sell you drugs the rest of your life. And so, on my own, with prayer and faith, don't do as I do to. You know, um, I weaned myself off over time and I remember, um, you know, and then, and then I was up for an appointment and I I sent the psychiatrist an email hey, thank you so much, you can cancel my appointment.
Speaker 1:I began weaning myself off of this medication on this date and I'm free and I'm sleeping and everything's fine and my, my outlook is good and I'm not depressed, and you know, and I was completely healed. But it took about four, four months or so, roughly, from January, like April, may, something like that I was completely free. Maybe it was a little later than that, but I had to make a change. I had to stop speaking doubt and fear and giving a voice to all of the mess that I had gone through, and give God the glory and begin to speak faith and to live this and not just say there were parts that God was connecting the dots through this whole thing and he didn't send it, but he used it and he used the relationships that I gained through that.
Speaker 1:Our marriage was stronger after that from just walking through something like that In sickness and in health. We have different faith ways to say that in marriage vows now, but really it's in sickness and in health. I learned real quick that my wife's not going anywhere, that she's going to stand with me through anything and so. But it took faith and so we really do. We have to rest in God's promises and know that he's right here, no matter what we face.
Speaker 1:I remember Darcy, you know, in the middle of that, I remember Darcy, pastor Mark's assistant. She's like, oh, you just need to get a hold of you. Know, god takes care of us in grand style. And so that was her way of encouraging me that that, you know, the Holy Spirit is strong, jesus is strong, but God, the father, and that I, I have to say that that helped me as well. And uh, and like, when I first got on, I was talking to pastor Mark, cause I was I guess he was here right as I started all that medication and I had so much shame. It was just I can't describe like having to do that, like where how little your faith has to be for you to have to take to go see a psychiatrist and so and feel like a crazy person. But you know, like he was just able to love me through that, my dad too, of course. But just love me through that.
Speaker 1:And let me know that people face real things. What I, you know, what I was facing, was not really real. I mean, it was a chemical problem, but that I but it was my own fault the doctor had told me for like five years hey, your iron's really low, you need to do something about it, and I ignored it and I ignored it and anyways. So, yeah, god is real, god is right here, he's a right now God, he's a very present help in trouble, and so don't forget him, don't forget that he has a strategy to win. I needed a way of escape and it was the way. It wasn't any-mini-mini-mo way. It wasn't a way, it was the way.
Speaker 1:I think it's the Amplified Bible that says that God provides the way of escape, and so remember his presence. He's with us in the storms of life. Rest in his promises. His words provide direction and peace. And then, number three encourage others. Share the hope you've received, because other people are going through storms too. Don't think that you're the only one going through stuff. You know there's somebody that's right next to your best friend could be going through the same thing and you're able to encourage them and raise their faith.
Speaker 1:And so I'm always shocked at our society, especially social media and online, how quick we are to just to rip each other apart and call each other names online and say things you'd never say to somebody's face and criticize. Don't be that person. Be the encourager. You have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you. Don't become the voice of the accuser. Don't agree with the devil, don't? You know they already have a little demon on their shoulder speaking to them. Don't agree with that demon. Be the one that just flicks that little thing off and off of their shoulder and gives them hope and gives them courage and speak encouragement back in. You're full of the Holy Spirit. Don't ignore Him and other people's need and other people's hour of need. Amen.