Magnify

Over the years, Jeffrey and I have learned that

the greatest battles we face are usually fought

in our minds, but won with our mouths. When we've

chosen to speak God's promises in the face of

our fears, failures, and problems, we've seen

God do what only He can do. This truth has changed

our lives, and it's why we wrote Talk to Your

Giants, to show you how to fight the good fight

of faith, speak in agreement with God's Word,

and discover the victory that comes when you

stop talking Today's message is entitled Magnify.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 21:10–13

21, verses 10 through 13. We'll be reading here,

reading out of the New King James Version. It

says this, It went to Achish, I think, maybe.

We're going to go with that. Achish, the king

of Gath. King of Gath. Now David, right, he was

known throughout history as the greatest king

for God's people, right? A man after God's own

heart. He defeated Goliath as a young boy. He

was anointed to be king at a very early age.

But yet, there was a lot of time passed. between

when he was anointed to when he was throned,

right? To when he became the king. It was a lot

of time. A lot of things happened in his life.

And this is a part of his story, right? Often

there's time for the promises of God to be fulfilled,

right? There's a time of giving where you hear

the word spoken. Then there's a time of waiting.

Just like a seed that you plant in the ground,

you don't immediately plant it and then expect

there to be a lemon tree in the backyard the

very next day, right? That's not natural. If

it did, that would be really nice. But just like

that, when you receive the word, often there's

time before there's harvest, right? Harvest before

it produces fruit, for his promises are fulfilled

in your life. And often that's where the enemy

likes to come. Often that season of waiting is

the most difficult part. That's why we have to

stand on the promise and have hope and have faith,

right? That God is able. He's able. Somebody

say God is able. More than able. To perform his

word. to bring his word to pass, to accomplish

what it set forth to do in fulfilling the promises

that he makes. And David is at this place here,

but he's on the run from Saul. Though he was

anointed to be king, we know he served and under

Saul, and Saul became very angry towards David

as all of his successes after he defeated Goliath.

It was like everyone loved David more than they

loved Saul, right? Saul was supposed to be the

big, mighty protector, and then all of a sudden

David comes in and saves the day, you could say.

And he takes out Goliath, runs the Philistines

out. He does all kinds of conquest, and then

all of a sudden Saul gets very jealous. Starts

trying to kill David. Had several attempts on

his life, we know from the Word. And here he

is, he's running. As far as he can away from

Saul, because Saul just tried to kill him, he's

out in the wilderness. And, you know, it must

be pretty bad for you to return to Gath, right?

This is one of the five main Philistine territories.

And also, this is where you say, Goliath, he

was from the hometown. Like, this is his hometown.

And I want to point out too, earlier in this

passage, he had just received Goliath's sword.

So David is walking into the enemy camp. This

is how bad of circumstance David is in. He's

decided to flee, go into the enemy camp with

the sword that he defeated their prize giant.

Mind you, this is the same sword that he chopped

the giant's head off with. It's a big sword.

Right? He's carrying it into this village. Everybody

say, no hope. And for some reason, he was convinced

that he wasn't going to be noticed. But as we'll

find out, let's keep reading verse 11. And the

servants of Achish said to him, is this not David,

the king of the land? They're recognizing him

as the king. Right? Is this not David, the king

of the land? Did they not sing of him to one

another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his

thousands, and David his ten thousands? Get into

David's shoes a little bit, what all of a sudden

that happened. And as we read, we see what in

verse 12, Now David, listen, took these words

to heart. It says that he... Took them, he held

them, and what happened? He was very much afraid.

Very much afraid of the king of Gath. All of

a sudden, fear gripped his heart. Now, he was

already running away from Saul. He was already

feeling that pressure, that anxiety of what's

happening. Now, all of a sudden, they've spotted

him. He's caught. He's in a foreign city in the

enemy camp, and he's caught, and fear just comes

all over him. And how many of you know when you

get really scared, you start acting irrationally,

right? Sense kind of gets thrown out the window,

and you just kind of grab for like whatever.

We keep reading, so he changed David. He changed

his behavior before them, pretended madness in

their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate,

and let his saliva fall down on his beard. Everybody

say pretty bad. Pretty bad. So David, he's running

for his life from Saul. He's hiding out in enemy

territory. He's alone now. He's desperate. He's

afraid. And we find out as we read the story

that he just barely escapes. The king looked

at him and almost had pity for him and was just

like, get this man out of here. Like, he's no

threat to us. Just let him leave, right? I just

feel bad about this. So they closed him outside

the gate, and he escaped. But listen, escape,

though, is not always deliverance. He escaped

his problem, this present problem, but still

there was something internally that needed to

be dealt with. He was running for his life still.

Saul was still chasing him. Yes, he had escaped,

but escape is not always deliverance. Because

listen, making it through does not mean you have

made it out. You can, you know, life happens

and you go through some things, right? We all

face trouble. We live in a fallen world. Amen?

Yeah? We live in a fallen world. We're all going

to face things. And sometimes, like, we get through

the storm, but the storm's still inside of us.

It still weighs heavy on us. The fear, the anxiety

is still on our hearts. And that's something

that we have to deal with. That's something that

the Word tells us that we have to deal with and

we have to address. Because when it's not addressed,

guess what? It'll just keep growing and growing

and growing. And it becomes more and more of

a problem in your life. David could have easily,

listen, he could have easily continued to let

this anxiety and this fear torment him. Could

have easily let all these things keep him from

continuing on. But, you know, he could have also

interpreted the circumstance as a sign that God

had abandoned him. I don't know about you, but

sometimes the way you see what you went through

is different than the way God sees it. And often

we look at our circumstance and we allow it to

define our view of what God did or what he hasn't

done or all those kind of things. We look at

our circumstance as an indication. We interpret

it as, man, God has abandoned me. I mean, just

think about David. Think about what's going on.

Supposedly supposed to be the king. God has already

given him this promise, this great promise in

his life, and now he's running for his life.

No one's with him. He's just abandoned. Just

seems helpless and hopeless. And he could have

sat back and almost been justified going, God,

where are you? When is this promise going to

come to pass? Like, you said all these things,

and here I am. Abandoned. Come on, let's be real.

Take off your Sunday school cap. I think we've

all been there a time or two. And if you haven't,

you will be at some point. Because it's interesting.

David, he could have interpreted his circumstance

that way. David could have easily been angry

at God. Because sometimes when you feel abandoned,

you just immediately, you know, the next thing

is just, I get angry. God, why? Could have complained

about his problem. He could have rehearsed all

his troubles and all the whys and why did this

happen? Oh, why, why, why? But Psalms 34 gives

us David's response. And that's what we're going

to be looking at today. So turn in your Bibles

if you have Psalms 34, but we're going to read

it all together. And it's interesting, the beginning

of Psalms tells us when David wrote this psalm.

It lays it out, a psalm of David when he pretended

madness before Abimelech, who drove him away

and he departed. Now, I had to look this up because

I was like, Achish and Abimelech, like, is that

the same thing? But Abimelech is a royal title,

a name used for kings. And then the name Akish

here is the name of Gath's king, right? So it's

referring to this time. And David's response

is very profound. Let's read it together. He

says this, I will bless the Lord at all times.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul. Shall make its boast in the Lord. The

humble shall hear of it. And be glad. Oh magnify

the Lord with me. And let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord. And he heard me. And delivered

me. From all my fears. Amen. If that don't get

you happy, your wood's wet. It's good stuff.

The word is good. Amen. David, that's his response

in this situation. A lot of times we read that

passage of Scripture in Psalms, right? And we

just kind of read it as like, oh, everything's

good. David, you know, this is where David is.

All life is good, and now he's saying this. But

he's writing this at the end and in the middle

of... He didn't get, you know, he escaped Gath,

but he's still on the run from Saul. The promise

is still not fulfilled, and he's riding this

on. He had every right to magnify the problem,

the fear, and the circumstances, or he could

magnify his God. And instead of magnifying what

was against him, he magnified the one who was

for him. I had that visual of a magnifying glass,

and when you think about it, a magnifying glass

does not change the size of something, the size

of the object. It just changes how large the

object appears to you, right? So listen, say

it again, okay. A magnifying glass, listen, a

magnifying glass does not change the actual size

of the object. Like if you hold it up on an ant,

the ant does not all of a sudden get as big as

your shoe, right? If you hold it up, it doesn't

change the size of the object. It changes how

large the object appears to you. Right? How does

this apply to us? That if you and I, if we stare

at, if we replay, if we discuss and research,

imagine every possible outcome. of a diagnosis,

of that bill, of the work problem, of the problems

with your marriage or with your kids, right?

Or if you sit there and stare at and rehearse

and keep replaying over and over again that uncertain

future about what's next, guess what? Those things

begin to fill your field of vision. They begin

to consume everything in your life, what you

see, how you see the world around you. They talk

about rose -colored glasses. This would be like

your problems -colored glasses. And it becomes

this massive thing in your eyes. But I want us

to look now at each one of these things. Listen

to what David said. Listen to his response and

what David did, because I believe if we really

see this, It'll help you. If we really act on

this word from God, it'll transform your circumstance.

It'll transform your life. Say, I'm a hearer.

I'm a doer. I'm a hearer. I'm a doer. Amen? David

says, I will. Think about this, though. He's

not, you know, he's saying in the middle of the

circumstance, I just imagine him just shouting,

you know, he's getting beat up in his mind. It's

like he's going nine round in his mind. And it's

just like, it's getting tough. It's getting close.

And all of a sudden he remembers, he thinks about

who God is. Something rises up. He says, I will.

I will bless the Lord. Not I feel. Not I want

to. Not the situation change. Nothing's changed.

He goes, I will bless the Lord. Think of it this

way. He's choosing to tell his mind, his will,

his emotions. He's saying, look, you do not control

how I feel. You do not control what this situation,

how it's interpreted. You will not control me.

Because who I am, listen, I am so much more than

just a mind and my flesh and my body. The spirit

of the living God is in me. That's who I am.

I am in Christ. And so I will say, I will tell,

I will bless the Lord. Amen. He's telling these

things what to do. He's telling his soul the

direction that it needs to go. And he says, I

will bless the Lord. When? On Sunday? After the

promise is fulfilled, after he's delivered, I

will bless the Lord at all times, not occasionally.

His praise, someone say praise. If you want to

know what it means to bless the Lord, he's saying

it again. That word bless means praise, and he's

saying praise again. He says it twice, it must

be important. Saying I will. Praise the Lord

at all times. His praise shall continually be

in my mind. Is somebody here? Someone listening?

His praise, I'll just think about it until something

changes. Come on now. His praise. shall continually

be in my mouth. Is this what Scripture says?

Am I making this up? You mean in my mouth all

the time? Not my problems, not my struggles,

not my difficulty, not the pain, not the diagnosis,

not the lack? Not the concerns, not my insecurities,

not the job or myself. You mean I shouldn't talk

about myself all the time? Well, I just don't

know about that. Come on now. See, David made

a decision. He chose what would occupy his mouth.

He chose. It probably didn't feel good when he

did it the first time. You know, it was probably

tough. It's not easy that in the middle of the

worst thing, right, to all of a sudden open up

your mouth and praise a God that you, you know,

everything in you just won't be mad at, right?

Or just say, God doesn't even care about me and

just give up and walk, you know. But David made

a decision. He said, He's like, I will bless

the Lord. His praise shall continually be in

my mouth. Listen, the hardest time to praise

is the exact moment. The exact time. You must

praise. Because not praising in that moment.

The enemy will take you out. The hardest time

to praise is the exact moment you must praise.

You must make the decision. You must choose.

I will, I can, I must praise the Lord. Let's

continue. My soul. Shall make its boast in the

Lord. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord.

This word here is to praise again. Boast. He's

praising God. It means to boast. It means to

shine. It means to celebrate. It means to glory.

My soul shall make its boast. Hear this. decision

again. He's saying, soul, boast in the Lord.

Praise the Lord. Mouth, praise the Lord. Who

I am, praise the Lord. Come on. My soul shall

make its boast in the Lord. David is deliberately

redirecting himself by saying, my mind, will,

and emotions will praise, will boast, will radiate.

Imagine that, that your emotions just radiate

the Lord. That your mind, your thoughts just

shine bright, shine the light of God in our minds.

Help us to have your mind, Christ. Help us to

glorify you at all times. I want you to see the

progression here. See, the world wants to tell

you that your soul, which we define as your mind,

your will, and emotions, right? That you can

redirect your thoughts, for instance, by thinking

better thoughts. Okay? A lot of people are like,

well, just do a change, change in the way you

think. And then you can, you know, reframe things

and make things a little better. But the Word

says, listen, the Word places the mouth in front

of the soul. Because just, you know, think about

it. Just when you think about something, you

have no control over what you think about. Right?

Any thought can just fly into your head. It can

be a good thought. It can be a bad thought. It

can be a thought from the devil. It can be a

thought from the Holy Spirit on the inside of

you. Now, we can choose what we meditate on,

the thoughts that we rehearse, or the thoughts

that Scripture encourages us to cast down vain

imaginations. Right? So, we have control. And

how do we control? How do we control our soul?

How do we control our flesh? Can you control

the soul just internally? Or is there something

external? Something greater? Listen, to change

what you're thinking, to take captive that bad

thought, you've got to open up your mouth. What

does Scripture say? Who has control over your

mouth? You do. And what you say determines the

course of your life. How does that apply, right?

How does that take place? It's because what you

say determines what your mind thinks, where you

stay at. It determines your will and your desires,

like I want this, I want to move my life in this

direction, this is my future, this is my plans,

this is my understanding about the way the world

works. And then it's your mind, your will, and

then your emotions, right? What you say impacts

how you feel. That's why people can just talk

about, like I've been in all this like, you know.

labor stuff, you know, birthing stuff because

we're having a baby. And there was this thing

like the midwife said, she's like, you just need

to say like, well, I'm excited to have this baby.

Like, I'm excited to experience this. I'm excited

about what's ahead. Because just saying it, just

smiling, just like trying to even in the worst,

you know, situation and pain and all that kind

of stuff, if you can smile, she said. She was

telling me to make her laugh. I'm like, I don't

want to be punched. You know, like, I don't know.

But she was like, if you can just make her laugh,

it'll make the pain easier. It'll increase the

oxytocin level, and it'll make the pain, all

those other hormones that are like, okay, and

the nerves and all that, it's going to make it

a little bit. lighter, a little more bearable

by just changing your face, by just saying something

a little different. Science is just now catching

up to what we know in Scripture. It's nice when

the world proves Scripture's been right all along.

How great is that? But your mouth determines

what? Determines what you think, determines what

you desire, what you will. What moves you and

it determines how you feel. It changes how you

feel. So you have to open up your mouth. And

then what your mouth says and how you feel all

of a sudden changes your focus. Changes your

focus. And what you focused on, what your attention

is on, what you magnify in life. Your life moves

into the direction of your focus. Your greatest

focus, your greatest attention, the thing that

you think about all the time, the thing that

you feel all the time. Listen, your life's going

to move towards, move you in that direction towards

your feeling. How many of you, like you hear

something and it kind of upsets you? Right? And

all of a sudden you get mad about it and you

rehearse it. You start focusing on what that

person said and what that person did. Come on.

And what happens? It moves the direction of your

life towards, I'm going to get you. I hope something

bad happens. You know what I'm saying? Like that's

our flesh. Right? So if there's no gate, if there's

no hold back, if there's no control, listen.

Who are we supposed to yield our control to?

The Holy Spirit. As we learned in Galatians,

right? We're supposed to be Spirit -led people

of God. We're supposed to yield to Him. Yield

our minds. Yield our mouths to Him. That's how

He will lead us. Is He gives us the words to

say. Let's continue reading. My soul shall make

its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear

of it and be glad. The humble shall hear of it

and be glad. I'll give you a little side note

here. If you start, if you go to work this week

and you start praising God and blessing the Lord,

you know, at all times, you're just talking about

how good God is. There's going to be some people

that get mad. But the people that get glad, listen,

those are the people you need to be around. Those

are the people who join in with you and say,

yes, God is good. He is so good. And you start

talking about and feeding off of his goodness

instead of each other's problems. Because fear

works the same way, right? It's like, you know,

you start talking about, hey, this is going on,

this happened, whatever. And they're like, yeah,

I did too. And you join in and it just builds

and builds and builds, right? But the humble

shall hear of it, the praise, the boast of the

Lord. Someone who is doing this, they shall hear

of it and be glad. And listen, others should

hear you talking about how great the Lord is.

This is our witness and our testimony. And we

defeat... The evil in this world, why? By the

blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

You have to open up your mouth. People don't

know what's going on. People might see how you're

dealing with something. But look, that's not

going to transform somebody. That's not going

to defeat the enemy. The enemy would love for

you to be silent. The enemy loves to, when God

does something great in your life and you experience

something, to just keep your mouth shut. Well,

God is so good, but I'm just going to keep my

mouth shut. You know, I'm just going to, that

was great. Thank you, God. You know, you pray

it. Thank you, God. But listen, your family,

your spouse, your children, your co -workers,

your friends, They need, they need you to testify

about the goodness of God, even in the small

things. You know, when we see the goodness of

God on display, when we see it, even if it just

seems so insignificant, we need to open up our

mouth. Because listen, the people around you

are watching. People around you are listening.

They need to hear you praising God. They need

to hear it. Because guess what? They'll start

joining in. It'll bless them and it'll encourage

them to walk in this truth. And then notice this,

verse 3. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let

us exalt his name together. This word magnify

means to grow, to become great, to magnify or

to promote. Listen, as we've said before, magnifying

God does not make Him bigger. We don't make God

bigger. He's already as big, right? We don't

make Him bigger by magnifying Him. It means,

though, to declare His greatness. When you boast

in the Lord, it means to lift Him high in our

estimation. When you boast in the Lord instead

of yourself, listen, Who are you exalting? Who

are you boasting about? Because who you're talking

about the most, the problem, yourself, whatever,

that's who you're lifting up. That's who you're

giving priority to. Are you lifting yourself

up? Who are you lifting up? But to boast means

to lift him high in our estimation, to cause

his greatness to be recognized in the earth.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his

name together. Notice the shift in the words

here. He goes from telling himself, hey, I will

bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall

continue. Then he's going, come, magnify the

Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together.

Who is he talking to? Who is He talking to? Or

was this a prophetic word for generations, for

everyone who would hear this song? Anyone who

would hear this, it was an invitation. Listen,

it was an invitation to say, come on, this has

done something in my life. You need to do this

too. Come magnify the Lord with me. Exalt His

name. Right? And then he says this, listen, I

sought the Lord and he heard me and he delivered

me from all my fears. Say, I sought the Lord.

He sought the Lord. This is so important, church.

He didn't seek the internet. He didn't seek AI.

As soon as he faced the problem, he's like, I'm

not going to run. I know he didn't have that.

Don't give me, don't look at me that way. Don't

look at me that way. But what do you do? You

get a little tickle in your throat, something

starts happening, what am I going to do? I'm

going to look on the internet? The first article

says I'm dead, I'm limp, I'm deaf, I'm, you know,

I'm never going to make it out. Might as well

just start, you know, burying me now. Chop off

my leg, you know. I mean, literally though, I

mean, it just goes, it spirals big time. And

that's why it's so important that who you turn

your attention to. Because that's what has power

over you. If you turn to the internet, listen,

you're exalting the internet. If that's your

first response, what? Seek his kingdom first.

Church, we got to learn the principle of first.

We need to turn to him first. Don't turn to Him

as your last resort. When all else fails, don't

turn to the Lord. Seek Him. Seek His kingdom

first. Say, God, what do You want me to do? He

knows how you feel. He knows what you ask before

you pray. Seek Him. I sought the Lord. Why? Because

He... He hears those who seek him. He hears you.

When you seek him, he hears you. When you knock,

he opens the door. When you seek Him, you find

Him. You experience Him. When you turn your attention,

and the greatest thing, if you're a believer

and the Holy Spirit lives within you, listen,

He is near. He is in you. He is so close. You

don't have to travel to the other side of the

world to go to some sort of place to experience

who God is. Come on. You can just, wherever you

are, in your car, in your plane, I don't care.

In a boat. In a submarine. You can turn your

attention. Listen, all you have to do is turn

your attention away from your problem, away from

your circumstance, away from the thing that's

held you down and keeping you captive, keeping

you up at night. As soon as you turn, he is there

and he hears you. Woo! And what does he do? He

delivers you. Amen? Delivered David. Notice that

David here, he does not attribute the deliverance,

though, to his plan, his understanding of acting

insane. Think about it. He doesn't say, well,

I'm glad I acted like a madman. I'm glad that

saliva ran down my beard and I was like... you

know, at the doorpost. Man, if I wouldn't have

done that, I would have just, would have never

made it, would have died. I mean, that's what

he was facing. But that's not what David says

delivered him. That's not what David said brought

him out. He sought the Lord. The Lord heard him

and delivered him. Listen. delivered him from

this. See, did David get delivered out of all

his trouble? Did his night just immediately turn

into day? He was still on the run. Still in the

same predicament that he was before he went to

Gath. On the outside, yeah. What did he get delivered

of? What does the scripture say? Delivered me

from all my fears. This word fear is unique.

It's dread. It's dread. Think of it as like the

anxiety of what bad thing will come. And you're

dreading it. You're dreading the outcome of something.

And he was delivered this. He was delivered from

this. How? He's saying, as I sought the Lord.

Look at this. It doesn't just say fear. It says

my fears, right? As I sought him, my fear lost

its power. My dread lost all power, all affliction,

all torment in my mind, all torment in my heart.

As I sought the Lord, as I turned, as I quit

looking at my problem, When I turned to Him,

when I turned back, He was faithful. He was just,

right? And He delivered me from my fears. And

get this, listen. For you not to turn to the

Lord, for you to just say, well, I'm just going

to try. Better to like get out of this. I'm going

to try as hard as I can. You know what you're

doing? You're turning to legalism. You're turning

to legalism. It's not just innocent anymore.

You're saying that I can do something to get

rid of this that I'm feeling. You're again trying

to use your soul. Listen, you're trying to use

your soul to change your soul. You're trying

to use your mind to change your mind. And that's

not going to work for you. And that's why many

have trouble and have difficulty because, listen,

it's not effective. It might last for a season.

It might change. But as soon as something bad

happens again, something will be triggered in

your mind and you'll go back to the same place,

if not deeper than you were before. You must

seek the Lord. Because that's really when fear

loses its power. Because talking about your troubles

keeps you living in them. It's so sad, but so

true. Talking about them, listen, rehearsing

them keeps you living in that place. It's like

regurgitating. And you're just saying the same

thing, saying the trouble, the same thing. It

just keeps coming up, keeps coming up. And you

will live in that same place. And not only it's

just coming up, each time you tell it, it'll

grow. Each time you tell it, your heart will

feel something. Your mind will feel a little

different. It keeps you living in there. Because

listen, numbness to something. Some people think,

well, if I just talk about it and talk about

it and talk about it, yeah, you'll grow a little

more insensitive to it. You'll get a little more

numb to it, maybe. It might not have affected

you as it once did. But listen, numbness to something

is not the same as deliverance from something,

as deliverance out of something. God has called

to set the captives free. Who the Son sets free

is free indeed. Jesus wasn't on earth walking

around breaking people out of jail. He wasn't

cutting locks and like, come on, what is he talking

about? What is he talking about? Because you

know what? The greatest bondage, listen, the

greatest bondage someone can have is not locked

up in a prison cell. Paul and Silas proved that

was, you know, that doesn't matter. The greatest

freedom you can have is God setting you free

in your mind, in your will, in your emotions.

And it doesn't matter where your flesh is at.

Listen, you're free. God has set you free. You

don't return to it. You don't pick it back up.

This reminds us of what it says in 1 Peter 5,

6 through 7. Listen, it says, Therefore, humble

yourselves under the mighty hand of God that

he may exalt you in due time. Man, I wish we

could go back and read this to David. He'd be

really happy about it. Therefore, humble yourselves

under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt

you in due time, casting all your care upon him,

for he cares for you. Listen, this word care,

casting all your care, is actually directly translated,

you can look in your interlinear Bible, it's

translated anxiety. That's the first immediate

thing. It's anxiety. And upon, for he cares.

This is actually a different word. It's just

a bad translation error. But if you look at the

original Greek language, it's a different care.

It means he has thoughts towards you. Because

his mind is on you. He cares for you in that

sense. Not like a grandmother saying, well, I

just care so much about him. And it's really

just concern. And it's really just fearful of

what's happening. Right, we want to make it sound

differently, but this is two different words.

He's casting all your anxiety on him, upon him,

for he cares for you. But listen, I want to flip

this around. What is, if, you know, if casting

your care is humbling yourself, what is carrying

your care? It's pride. Because in some way for

you to carry it, is placing the responsibility

for you to dig yourself out. Humble yourselves.

Yield. Submit. This is so hard. I don't know

why it's so hard. The Word challenges us sometimes,

right? But it's so hard for us to just yield

to Him. Yield to the Spirit. Because we're so

patterned and conditioned to just live for our

flesh and for the world. Whatever we feel, whatever

we experience becomes our identity. The devil

wants to lie to us and tell us that, but really,

your identity in Christ has changed. You are

no longer yourself. You are no longer your flesh.

In Christ, you are a new creation. Old things

have passed away. All things have become new.

You no longer exist, for your sins were nailed

to the cross at Calvary. Because who you are

is a spirit being in Christ. Amen. And that's

why you have the right and the ability to do

what the Word of God says. Because you don't

do this on your own. This is not... Listen. You

don't do this on your own. You know how you're

able to cast your care on the Lord? You know

how that's possible? Because the Word of God

says you can. This Word says cast. He's telling

you to cast your care on Him. So what does that

mean? If God said it, I can do it. Don't let

the enemy, don't let anyone tell you that you

can't. Because he'll love to convince you against,

contrary to what the word of God says. But when

Peter, listen, when Peter was in the boat and

God said, come, it didn't matter what obstacle,

it didn't matter what natural law was in place.

When God said, come, listen, he stepped out,

not on the water, he stepped out on the word.

That's how he came. Defied all logic, defied

all possibility. Because the word of God allows

you to travel towards something that seems impossible

in your mind. God laughs at impossibility. He

says to cast your care. That means you have the

ability to cast your care on him. But what does

that mean? We bring our cares to God to release

them, not rehearse them. I don't know about you,

but like when I've prayed before, I've just used

it as an opportunity to be like, well, OK, casting

my care upon him means that I go to the Lord

in prayer and I say, God, this is my problem.

This is the you know, the situation I find myself

in. This person said this and it's you know,

and I'm really trying to get over. I need to

forgive him. I need to do this. I need to move

past this. God, help me. Right. All these things.

And you you're just. word vomiting, right, to

God. You're just throwing all your problems towards

him, but you're still holding on to them. And

then the next time you come back in prayer, you're

going to go, well, nothing changed. So I'm just

going to keep doing it, and I'm going to keep

doing it, and I'm going to keep, let me say the

same thing again, because I guess he didn't hear

me this time, you know? So let me tell him all

my problems again because I guess he didn't really

know. I guess he really doesn't care. Come on.

Prayer is not an opportunity to magnify the problem

in God's presence. It is an opportunity to release

the problem. and magnify the one who cares for

you. You have to turn from the problem. You have

to get that problem out of your mouth. You've

got to get that circumstance out of your mouth.

And you've got to turn your problem into praise.

You have the power to do that. God has given

you control over your mouth. It's up to you.

He's made it available. His words here offering

it to you, that's His promise. Right? It's yours

in Christ. You don't have to work for it. You

don't have to earn it. You don't have to deserve

it. All you have to do is cooperate with the

promise by faith and take hold of it. And you

do that by saying, I will bless the Lord. I'm

not going to bless the problem. I will bless

the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually

be in my mouth. My soul boasts in Him. You know,

everything that could cause David to worry, fear,

and have anxiety, it was all still present. But

the miracle was not an external rescue. It was

an internal freedom. And that's what God wants

for you. He wants you to be free. Just because

you pray, it doesn't mean your whole problem

just magically disappears. It doesn't mean that

he manipulates the hearts of men and forces them

to say the right thing at Thanksgiving this year

so you can have a good, loving thing. You know

what I'm saying? Like, there's no matter how

much you can pray to just all, you know, that

family vacation or that thing. You know what

I'm saying? He's not going to intervene in that

affair. But what can happen is, though, you can

walk into the storm with a better perspective

on life and determine to magnify God. Listen,

you can determine to magnify who He is and what

He's done. And listen, some things will change.

Some internal things will be different, even

if those around you don't join in. Fear, listen,

fear magnifies your threat. Anxiety magnifies

your uncertainty. But pride magnifies yourself.

But humility magnifies the Lord. Faith does not

pretend. The problem isn't real. Some people

just want to act like, oh, okay, so I'm just

now because of Christ, I'm just supposed to act

like it didn't affect me, act like I didn't feel.

You just say something different. That's not,

no, it's not what we're talking about. Faith

is not pretending. It's not make -believe. It's

grounded in the truth of God's Word, and you're

determined. Faith is determination that God's

Word is true, and it will be true, and you believe

it so much that you can act on it. You can take

it to the bank. Faith refuses to make the problem

greater than God and realizes that whatever you

rehearse, You reinforce. That's why the next

time you face something, maybe this morning you

carried something in with you, right? It's time

to change the subject. It's time to step into

the freedom of God. It's time to step into the

deliverance because God wants you free. Not because

your problem isn't real. Not because you are

pretending. But because you have already given

the problem enough attention. At some point,

you just got to say enough is enough. Enough

is enough. This thing, this outside thing, I

no longer, because God has given me control and

the ability, His Word says it. So I agree with

the word and I say, I'm not going to let that

control me. I'm not going to let that determine

my future and what I want to do and my desires.

I'm not going to let it affect my emotions. You

turn from it. You say, we're going to change

the subject here. I'm not going to look at that

anymore. I'm not going to talk about that anymore.

I'm not going to deal with it anymore. Not because

it didn't happen, but because there's something

more important my focus has to be on. How many

of you have had this problem? I call it the 3

a .m. dilemma. You know, the problem. How many

of you experience this? It's interesting that

we all experience kind of the same things. But

how many of you have like... Something's happened

in the course of a day or the week or whatever,

and you're just kind of like, man, it's hard

to go to sleep, but I'm just going to force myself

to go to sleep, not think about it. And then

at 3 a .m., for some reason, it's always 3, or

at least for me, it's always like some crazy

time. You know, you wake up at 3 a .m., and your

mind, there's no filter on it, right? It's just

all these things are just like, boom, boom. What

if, what if, what if, what if? It's like an alarm

goes off in your heart, and all of a sudden your

body follows suit, right? You start thinking

about something, all of a sudden your heart rate

starts going up. You're sweating. You wake up.

You're like, man, it's cold in here, but I'm

just pouring sweat. I'm like in a puddle. I feel

like a bear just attacked me, you know? I feel

like I've been running from a bear, right? Your

mind starts, like, what if this happens? What

if that thing that, like, has to happen doesn't

work? How are we going to afford this? This,

like, bill, this thing? Like, how are we going

to afford this next step? This thing that has

to happen? What did that person mean? What did

my spouse mean when they said this? Did they

mean more than they said, right? Did they, like...

You try to get into their thoughts and try to,

like, analyze, like, what actually was going

on here? Is this a cause of a bigger problem

in our home or in our marriage? Oh, you know.

Your kid says something to you, and you're just

like, is that the way they really feel? You know,

like, and you're up at night going, like, really?

Something manageable, you know, at dinner can

become very catastrophic. at 3 a .m., if it's

not reined in, if it's not protected. And the

problem didn't get any bigger from when you put

your head down on your pillow. I can promise

you that. The problem didn't get any bigger while

you were asleep, right? It's just you magnified

it. You focused on it. You let your mind control

what it wants to do instead of telling your mind

what it has to do. I don't care if it wakes someone

up or not, but sometimes you just got to tell

your mind to stop. Sometimes you got to look

in the mirror and just say, you got to quit.

Whatever's going on here, it's done now. Whatever

I'm feeling, it's done now. Like, I got to, wait,

I got to straighten up, you know? Like, I got

to sort this out. But you know, if you're just

doing that on your own, it's just pride. It's

just legalism. It's not the will of God. What

God wants you to do instead of saying like, okay,

now you need to stop. I'm going to do something

better. I'm going to pull myself up by my bootstraps

and get in there and act like it didn't bother

me. No, what God wants is for you to turn to

him and say, I will bless the Lord. Not for the

problem, not for the situation, not for whatever's

going on. No, you just, you've got to praise

the Lord because he's worthy of all praise and

all honor and all glory. You just say, God, I

praise you. I thank you. I love you. And if it

doesn't, just keep saying, God, I praise you.

I thank you. You know this situation. You know

this hurt. You know what's bothering me right

now. And I thank you for caring about me. I thank

you for knowing me. You knew me in my mother's

womb. You know me now. You know me now. You will

deliver me. In Christ, I am free. This addiction,

this thing that's keeping holding me down, listen,

in Christ, I am free. This is not who I am. It

might be what I did today. It might be what I

did last week. It might be what I've done for

four years. Listen, but in Christ, listen, I

am free. I will no longer carry the guilt, the

shame, the condemnation. Why? Because Christ

has crucified it on the cross. He did that so

you and I don't have to live in it. And you say

with your mouth, in Christ I am free. Amen? In

Christ I am free. You need to change what you're

magnifying. Instead of rehearsing what if, begin

to say, God is faithful. God is faithful. God,

you're so faithful. God, you're with me. You're

here. God cares for me. He knows all the hair

on my head and how many went down the sink when

I took my last bath. He cares for me. His thoughts

toward me outnumber the grains of sand. I am

his masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus.

I'm his treasure. I am his. God leads me. He

leads me into the truth. He leads me into the

light. God is my source. That job, oh, that job's

not my source. If God is for me, who can be against

me? What can man do to me? Hmm. If God's your

source, what do you have to worry about? Hmm.

I bless you, Lord. You're the master, the boss,

the one in charge. I praise you, God. I thank

you. Go ahead and get happy about what's coming.

Go ahead and get happy about the promise before

it's even fulfilled. I love you, God. That's

what casting your care is. That's what David

did. That's what David's making his decision

in Psalms 34. He's saying, You know, I will bless

the Lord at all times. I will. I'm going to do

it. I'm doing it right now. It's with his mouth.

Don't let the enemy defeat you and keep your

mouth shut. I don't care where you are, who's

around you. The humble will hear it and be glad.

And David... I think he's prophetically inviting

us today to just magnify the Lord. Exalt his

name. Lift him up. Somebody in the house just

begin to praise God. Thank you, God. Thank you,

God. Hallelujah. You've brought me out. You are

faithful, God. You are my deliverer. You are

my help. God, you're so good. Bigger than my

problem. Bigger than this pressure. Bigger than

this circumstance. God, bigger than anything.

Bigger than this, than all. You are so worthy.

You are so holy. Why'd you stop? What's continually

coming out of your mouth? Don't stop when you

leave here. Don't stop when the pressure comes.

Just keep praying through it. Because listen,

if you do this now, if you start doing this now,

it'll be really easy when something comes up.

You know what's hard is when the thing has already

came up, then you got to jump on it. It's like,

I got to catch up. Come on. Because listen, When

we praise him, when we turn to him, our problem,

our situation is not going to just immediately

turn around. But the promise in the word is that

our affliction will be light and momentary. It'll

be light and momentary. Because you can extend

the length of your affliction. You can extend

it. It'll go on as long as you give it. Magnification.

As long as you focus on it, you'll live in it.

And that's not God's will for you. He wants you

to be free. This online worship experience was

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