The Thief of Joy

John chapter 10, verse 10, in the Amplified Classic, we're going to read it today.

John 10:10

And it says, the thief comes only in order, watch this, to steal and kill and destroy.

Jesus says, I came that they may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance

to the full till it overflows.

And so we see the purpose of Jesus,

what is to come, to give us life and life more abundantly so that we can enjoy

life to the full until life overflows.

And this word life is the Zoe life. The Greek word is Zoe, which is the God

kind of life. And when God came on the earth through Christ Jesus,

he showed us the life that we could live on the earth as well.

All of our needs met, all of our desires met, operating in power,

being generous, laying hands on the sick, seeing them recover,

seeing miracles take place.

This is the life that God has intended for you and I to have.

And we're supposed to enjoy the life. Now, there is a thief who's coming to

steal, kill, and destroy.

And how many of you know a thief cannot steal, kill, or destroy something that

you don't already possess?

You and I already possess life and life more abundant.

We're not trying to get it. We're not trying to acquire it.

We're not trying to work hard for it. We already possess it when we gave our

life to Jesus and made him Lord and Savior of our life.

We receive abundant life.

To the full till it overflows and the thief is trying to steal it.

I say this all the time. The thief cannot steal my Lamborghini.

You know why? Because I don't have a Lamborghini. All right.

And so a thief cannot steal something I don't possess.

That's why the devil is so crafty is because he is trying to convince you that

you don't possess these things.

And as he's convincing you of that, he's stealing from you.

He's taken from you and he's destroying your dreams, hopes, vision, etc.

Because he's trying to let you know you don't have this, but you have it and

our job is to resist somebody say resist and because we're supposed to enjoy this life.

Let me say it one more time. As believers, we're supposed to enjoy life.

I didn't say things weren't going to be hard. I said we're supposed to enjoy life.

I didn't say things wouldn't be difficult. I said we're supposed to enjoy life.

I didn't say you may not have some needs at the time. I said you're supposed to enjoy life.

In everything, we can find a way to give thanks. In everything,

we can pause and celebrate, stop, and enjoy the moment.

We can find something in our present situation that will allow us to celebrate

and give God praise and thanksgiving.

This is what enjoying life is all about. Our theme is enjoy the journey.

It's about taking moments throughout your journey and enjoying it.

Laughing, celebrating, taking time to pause, to meditate, to reflect,

and to really give God praise for the life that he's given you.

I don't like comparing our lives to anyone else because when we do compare, we belittle.

But if you just take a look around, you are doing a whole lot better than a whole lot of people.

And I don't care what you're going through, somebody's got it worse than you.

Amen? And so it's important that we take time to pause and enjoy life.

That's why in Psalms 118.24, to being on the screen, I wake up every morning with this verse.

This is my new verse of the year, and it says.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

This is the day. This is the moment. This is the opportunity.

Now is the time for me to rejoice and be glad.

Not when I get something else. Not when the future provides me something.

Not when I'm wanting something to take place. No, at this very moment,

I'm going to rejoice and be glad.

I'm not going to be sad. I'm not going to be upset or disappointed or depressed.

At this moment, I can find something to rejoice in and be glad.

Most of the time, our hearts are not where our feet are.

We always, if you notice, we always want to be somewhere else.

We want to be further alone. We want to possess something else.

We want this dream or vision to come to pass.

And we're sad about where we are right now.

And I believe the Lord's trying to tell us in this season, enjoy the journey.

I'm going to get you to where you need to be, but I need for you to enjoy the journey.

I need for you to appreciate what I'm doing in you through the seasons of life.

To everything, Ecclesiastes 3.1 says, there is a season, there's a time,

there's a moment, there's times for things to transition and change and stop and start over.

To everything, there is a season, and you and I are going to have to learn to enjoy the transitions.

I didn't say they would be easy. I said we got to learn to enjoy them.

We have to learn to find opportunities to stop, celebrate, and praise the Lord.

Earlier, like I said, I was talking to Sterling, and I was telling him about

when we left our last building. I would have never thought that we would have

to transition into a temporary location, meet at a different time.

I thought we were going from point A to point B, right? But we have gone through

a wilderness season, but we're going to enjoy this season. Amen.

Because the Israelites complained during their wilderness season and an 11 day trip took them 40 years.

Because of complaining and grumbling. No, we're going to enjoy it.

We're going to smile. We're going to laugh. We're going to show up at 3 o'clock.

We're going to come ready to serve and give and praise God.

We're going to enjoy this season because this is the journey that we're on.

And God is doing something in us.

As I was thinking about the time of talking to Pastor Luke here,

and we bless Joy Church. Come on.

Let's just bless. Father, in Jesus' name, bless Joy Church. in the name of Jesus.

Amen. We bless them for allowing us to worship here.

And so as I was thinking about that and in the transition, and I was like,

man, I really wanted to go from point A to point B.

And the Lord said, but the people are with you.

I said, man, I thank God for the people. Amen.

He said, I'm with you. I said, well, amen. I thank God.

We can find something in the seasons to enjoy.

I like what it says in the Passion Translation. Psalms 118 24 in the Passion

Translation, it says, This is the very day of the Lord that brings gladness

and joy, filling our hearts with glee.

This is the very day of the Lord that brings gladness and joy,

filling our hearts with glee.

Now, I have a question for you. Have you ever had so much on you that you just

couldn't stop thinking about it?

Be real with me. Be honest. Have

you ever had so much on you that you just couldn't stop thinking about it?

And I want to talk a little bit about that today.

Turn with me to Matthew chapter six and meet me at verse 24.

Matthew chapter six, verse 24.

Today, I want to talk about the thief of joy, the thief of joy.

Verse 24, the Lord Jesus Christ is preaching a sermon here.

You know, if you ever, I've heard people say, I wish I was there when Jesus preached his sermons.

I wish I was physically present. And there, we actually have the opportunity

today to be physically present and hear Jesus',

words coming through my mouth in his Bible.

You can be with Jesus right now. And here's what he said in verse 24.

No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other

or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon.

Now, mammon is the spirit that rests on money.

Mammon is the voice of money. If money has ever talked to you,

mammon is the one talking to you.

It's the spirit that rests on money and money will talk to you.

Money tells me you're about to run out of me.

I mean, you ain't got enough of me.

What you going to do? You better not give that or I'm going to leave you.

Money will talk to you. And Jesus is saying here, you can't serve that voice

that's talking to you. Now you can serve God with money, but you cannot serve God and money.

Let me say it again. You can serve God with money, but you can't serve God and

money. And then in verse 25, he says something very critical.

He says, therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Have you ever had

so much on you that you couldn't just stop thinking about it?

And Jesus's response to that is, do not worry about your life.

This is the most ignored words of Jesus, I believe, for the believer.

For the saint in Christ Jesus, do not worry about your life.

Too often, myself included, we spend way too much time worrying about our life.

And I want you to become so in tune with yourself that you'll begin to notice when you are worrying.

Full disclosure, if my neck starts hurting back here, I know I'm worried about something.

I'm stressed. I'm anxious.

I'm carrying something. Start being very in tune with yourself.

If I'm tight right here, I'm worried about something. I start asking myself,

what is it that you're worried about?

Be honest with yourself. Talk to yourself. If I start breaking out in pimples,

I'm worried about something. I'm anxious.

I'm carrying something. It's heavy on me.

Start recognizing these things. If my lower back hurts a whole lot,

I'm carrying something I shouldn't be carrying.

I'm concerned and I'm worried about something. And Jesus didn't give us a suggestion here, family.

This is a command.

Do not worry about your life.

One of the greatest thieves, thieves of, well, is that right? Yeah, thieves.

One of the greatest thieves is, of joy, is worry.

If you want to zap all of the joy out of your life, start worrying because that's what worrying does.

It zaps you of joy, which zaps you of strength.

And so worry is a sin.

Say this after me. Worry is a sin.

Say it one more time. Worry is a sin. It's not a suggestion.

It's not a good thing that Jesus said, you know, this is what you might want to do.

No, worry is a sin. He's saying do not worry about your life because worry means

and is designed to torment you with negative thoughts, with negative outcomes,

with negative consequences.

It is designed to divide your mind.

It is a major distraction. And Jesus is saying to you and I today,

do not worry about your life.

Now, we're supposed to enjoy our life.

But the enemy somehow has convinced us that worrying is responsible.

And who's going to worry? I've heard people say, if you don't worry about it,

who's going to worry about it?

Nobody should be worried about it. But somebody wants to take on the responsibility

of carrying the worry of that burden or that situation.

And Jesus is saying that's wrong. It's a sin. I want you to enjoy life.

I want you to celebrate. I want you to be full of passion.

I want you to be full of purpose. I want you to hear and obey me.

I don't want you worried about your life. I love, if you have children,

I love, especially when they're younger, especially when they're like infants, right?

They ain't concerned about who's going to pay the rent. And,

you know, they just want that bottle.

And it needs to be heated up. It needs to be warm, right?

That's all they're concerned about. Get that bottle. Get that. We stick the bottle.

They're completely fine. They're not concerned about the rent.

They're not concerned about what time somebody get off work.

They're not concerned about politics. They're not concerned about pain.

They're just concerned about that bottle. And they know mom and dad are going

to stick it in their mouth as quickly. Because we're going to get all that noise.

Amen. Now, Jesus is telling you and I, I believe we're supposed to operate the

same way that we're not even supposed to be worried about what happens next.

Now, I didn't say don't be responsible. I said, I said, don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it. I asked a friend of mine one time, I said,

what do you think is going on in an infant's brain?

Because if I asked one of you what's going on in your brain right now,

all type of things is going on in your brain right now.

But in an infant, I said, what do you think is going on in an infant's brain?

He said, that's a good question. He said, this is what I think is happening.

Nothing at all. Just air sound going on in the brain. They're not thinking about anything.

They're not worried at all.

And Jesus says here, don't worry about your life.

Don't worry about what you will eat or drink or about what you will put on.

All these things pertain to life. And Jesus says, don't worry about it.

And then he says here in verse 26, look at the birds of the air,

For they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

Well, one particular day, and I want

you to do this soon because as spring approaches, the birds will be out.

I saw them out the other day. They're coming out, right?

Matter of fact, my car had all type of bird marks on it. I'm upset by that,

by the way. So they've been out.

But one particular spring day, I sat on my porch and I took this verse literally.

And I believe Jesus is telling us to really stop, behold, and consider the birds.

So I sat on my porch and the birds were flying around, chirping,

talking, flying, chirping, talking and flying. Not one of them looked worried.

Not one of them looked like they had a care in their world. They were just back and forth flying.

I saw one of them trying to build a little nest in the tree over there. Wasn't worried at all.

Wasn't full of care. Just doing what they're doing. And Jesus is telling us, consider the birds.

They're doing what they're purposed to do with no worry or concern.

And can I go deeper with this voice, this verse?

He said, here, watch this. He said, they don't sow, they don't reap,

and they don't gather into barns.

I want to talk to somebody that's in a bad financial situation.

You are in a terribly bad situation that you cannot get out of in the natural.

You don't know Jesus saying here, the birds don't even give.

The birds don't even give or receive or save money.

But God still feeds them. Hallelujah.

Glory to God. That's how good he is, that it's not about your effort and your

works and all of the things that you got to put together. And I got to get this to working together.

And if I can rub these two pennies together, I can make a dollar. That's man stuff.

Jesus is saying here, the birds don't do any of that and I still take care of them.

Now, I didn't say be stupid. I just said, don't worry about it.

God's going to take care of you.

Answer this question. Are you more valuable than a bird? Yes or no?

Do you believe that you're more valuable than a bird? There's only half of you believe that.

Do you believe you're more valuable than a bird? Yes.

You are more valuable than a bird. And Jesus says, I will take care of the birds.

So if I will use that as an example, he's saying, then I will take care of you too.

He says here in this very next verse, which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

How many have grown taller by worrying about it? I like to say it this way.

Which of you by worrying can add one positive moment to your life?

Has worry brought you one positive moment.

Not at all.

Let me just say this to you. We all have the same amount of time.

We can either worry about it or we can pray about it.

It's the same amount of time. It's just a matter of what are you going to do with it?

You're going to spend your time worrying about it. Oh, Lord, what if it don't happen?

What? Oh, my gosh, it's not going to happen. What if this doesn't?

Oh, what, what, what? Oh, my goodness.

Or you can say, Father, I give it to you.

I thank you for you're a good God. You're a good father. You always take care

of me. You are Jehovah Jireh, my provider.

You're El Shaddai. And you're Jehovah Rapha.

And you begin to go through the names of God like we spoke about late last year.

And you begin to identify with him and you begin to trust him.

And that same time frame that you've been worrying about it,

you can get into joy about it and transfer all of that care and desire and anxiety

and give it to him and let him care for you. Somebody say amen to that.

Verse 28, he said, so why do you worry?

About clothing. Now he's telling us consider the lilies of the field.

Now I've never done this, but maybe I should. Just go outside and watch the flowers.

They're just sitting there growing. No care, concern in the world.

They neither toil nor spin. They're not working hard and grinding and trying to make ends meet.

And verse 29, he said, and yet I say to you that even Solomon and all his glory

was not arrayed like one of the flowers.

He's considered one of the richest human beings ever to live.

And he wasn't as beautiful as one of the flowers. Glory to God. Look at this in verse 30.

Now, if God so closed the grass of the field, which today is,

and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you?

Oh, you of little faith.

Wow, if he will take care of the birds, he'll take care of you.

And he's literally saying to you that if you don't believe it, you have little faith.

Little faith.

A lot of things are out of our control. Is that true?

I mean, a lot of things are completely out of our control. I can either worry

about it or I can have faith in God about it and keep my joy and enjoy the journey.

Now, yes, it's good to prepare and it's good to consider your family and it's

good to have your ducks in a row.

And it's it's good to know how to work your money and save money.

And those things are fine and good.

But don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it.

One time the Lord spoke to me. actually we had a prayer line up here and the

Lord said something for me to tell this particular couple and what he told me

to tell the couple was do not be afraid to let the bank account go to zero,

and they were like oh my goodness our bank account is like two dollars and it's

at zero and that's what we've been afraid of and when I said that to the couple

the Lord said to me that's for you too talking to me. I was like, oh.

I said, well, that's what I am afraid of.

He said, that's why I tell them that this is for you too. Don't be afraid to

let the bank account go to zero.

What's the Lord saying there? He's saying, don't worry about your life.

I got you. I'm going to take care of you.

I'm going to provide for you. That balance can get into the negative and God

will still take care of you. Amen.

Amen. He loves you.

He's thinking about you. He you are valuable to him.

You are significant you have

a purpose you're here on purpose and he

wants to provide for you he doesn't

want you and I trying to provide for ourselves that's how we stop enjoying life

when we're trying to do it by ourselves we aren't really and completely and

literally and entirely supposed to be depending upon him,

in every area of our life.

It's good to have resources and good to have some things set aside,

but our trust is solely supposed to be in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He says here in verse 31, therefore, do not worry. Now, how are we going to worry this time?

Saying, saying, saying, what shall we eat?

What shall we drink what shall we wear now these things were very important

at this time and today is how am I going to pay that bill how am I going to

buy that car how am I going to get that new church building.

Come on. These are these are evidence of being worried about things.

What what are we going to do? What are we going to do?

What are we going to do? He says, don't be worried saying these things. Watch this. Verse 32.

For after all these things, the Gentiles seek.

The Gentiles are people that don't have a loving father.

They don't have a covenant with a great God. They're seeking the same things.

Jesus is telling us we're not to be worried about these things.

Why? The very next sentence, for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things.

So he says, don't worry about it. I already know that you need it.

Concerning our church building, I was reading this verse. Do you remember Abraham

was getting ready to go sacrifice Isaac?

And Isaac, you know, teenage boy at the time. And Isaac looks around and said,

I see the fire. I see the wood.

But where is the sacrifice?

And Abraham, you remember what Abraham said to him?

He said, God will provide for himself.

Man, that's a powerful statement. God will provide for himself a sacrifice.

The Lord told me where our church building is concerned. He said,

don't be worried about church building.

I'm going to provide for myself a place for true life to worship and be a part of. Amen.

So listen, I ain't even thought about that church building.

God going to provide it. Amen. Amen.

The Lord told me this. He said, I got it written down. Y'all want to hear what

the Lord told me about it?

OK, only three of you want to hear it. But I'm going to tell you anyway.

I'm going to tell you anyway. Where is it right here? I'm going to tell it,

tell it to you because I want to get it right.

I'm going to say it to you. Help me out, Kurt. Give me a little buffer music there while I find it.

Oh glory to god all right here it is how is it when you know if i wasn't talking

in front of y'all i would get this pretty quickly all right.

Okay i can't find it but this is what it was,

This is what he said to me. He said, you are not going to find the building.

The building is going to find you. I said, oh, glory to God. That's it right there.

He said. So I said, I told Sam, I said, listen, she came in the other day.

Look, look, I found you better talk to God about that. I said,

it's going to find us. Amen.

I said, see, that building you showing me, that's what you found.

It's going to find us. Come on, somebody. The story ain't going to be,

Pastor was up all night on the internet,

searching and searching and searching, and he finally found something at 3.37 a.m.

He ain't slept in 72 hours because he'd been looking all night,

and he finally found something.

That ain't going to be the story. Amen?

God's going to bring it to pass. Amen? And it's going to happen.

Somebody say, swiftly. in. Say, I ain't worried about it.

No, I ain't worried about it either. Praise the Lord. Verse 32, let me read it again.

For after all these things, the Gentiles seek for your heavenly father knows,

does God know we need to do church building?

He knows, he knows it already. He knows that you need all these things,

but look at verse 33, but seek first.

The kingdom, the kingdom is God's way of doing things.

In some ways, the kingdom can be also inferred to as the church of the living God.

Seek first the kingdom or the house of God and his righteousness or his right way in doing things.

And all these things shall be added unto you. So God gave us a order structure

that if we will seek him first, he will add.

So you don't have to be worried because you are following his structure.

I'm going to seek God first. I'm going to seek his face. I'm going to seek to hear his voice.

I'm going to make sure my finances are seeking the house of God first.

I'm going to seek him first. And that's our part. Our part's to seek him first.

His part is to add.

See, this is why you don't have to be worried and you can enjoy life and you

don't have to have worry as a thief is because you're seeking him first.

I can already tell y'all here on a Saturday at four o'clock, you seek in the Lord.

And if you seek the Lord, he will add.

This is what he's always promised his children. Just seek me first and I'll do all the adding.

Notice he didn't say, Ron, he going to subtract. He said he going to add.

We're so used to God taking something away. God said, I'm trying to get some

addition into your life.

I'm trying to put some increase, some overflow into your life.

I want to add some things unto you. I want you to be a blessing,

but you got to seek me first.

Somebody say, seek God first. You don't have to worry about your life if you just seek him first.

There's a priority structure. He's not second. He's first.

You know, one of the first things I do when I wake up is normally is,

well, this year I've been reading Psalms 118 24.

I pull it up on my phone. It's the first thing I do. This is the day the Lord

has made. I will rejoice. I choose to rejoice and be glad. And then the next

thing I do is brush my teeth.

That's my structure. I get up and I brush my teeth. Praise God.

First, what are you doing? First, this is this is so cruel.

I don't want you to get legalistic, but I do want you to consider this.

Back in the day when we used to write checks, I still write checks.

But when we all used to write checks, I made sure that my tithe check was the first check I wrote.

I'm not trying to be legalistic. I'm trying to make sure that God's a priority in my life. He's first.

So this goes there first.

Amen.

It's an indicator of your priorities. He says here, if you seek me first,

I will do all of the adding unto you.

All we have to do is seek him first.

Worry does not pay bills, but God does. He sees every need and supplies in ways

that's beyond our imagination.

Now, look at verse 34.

I've been meditating this verse as well.

And when I say meditate, that means I read the verse over and over and over.

I read it in different translations. I think about it.

I make sure it's a priority in my thought process. That's what I mean by meditating.

It's like I chew on it. I've been meditating verse 34.

He tells us, therefore, do not worry about tomorrow.

A lot of our worries regards tomorrow.

Do not worry about tomorrow. You know what the word tomorrow means? The coming day.

Don't worry about the coming day. Do not worry about tomorrow.

Why? For tomorrow will worry about its own things.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. What Jesus is telling us here is

don't live tomorrow before God gives you the grace.

Your grace is for today. Your mercies are new every morning, right?

There are mercies for today. There's grace for today.

Don't bring in tomorrow's troubles until today.

Don't be so anxious about tomorrow that you bring it into the day and God didn't

give you the grace for it.

Tomorrow he'll give you more grace to cover the problems that happen tomorrow

but what worry does is it brings in all of the negative things and consequences

tomorrow it brings it in today and

you don't have the ability to overcome it because God didn't grace you for tomorrow's

problems you know there are some things that are going to happen tomorrow that

you're not ready for yet?

This is why we have to enjoy the journey today.

God's getting us equipped for the problems that may occur tomorrow.

There are things now that I deal with today that, my goodness,

if God didn't get me ready for it 10, 12, 15 years ago, that would have knocked me out back then.

But he had to build me through the journey and the process and had to learn

some things and trust him more and be confident in him more.

And now when somebody tells me something like that, I'm ready for it.

So you can't bring tomorrow's troubles into the day.

I know I'm telling you all about as we gather for and believe God for our next

location, but I can't bring in, well, what if we don't find one? I can't bring that in.

I can't bring that in today.

Why? I can't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow's going to take care of itself.

I got to trust that God's going to take care of it. Where my kids are concerned,

oh, man, they're getting older and they're moving out the house and I pray for them.

Amen, I pray for them. But I'm trusting God that what I instilled into them,

they're going to make the right decisions. Come on, somebody. I can't worry about it.

I cannot worry about it. And they might make a wrong decision. You did.

You did. They might, too. You can't worry about it.

Well, come on, come on, come talk to me about that. Come on,

let's talk about that. Let's help you out. Amen.

Stop worrying. It's stealing joy from you. You can't enjoy your journey because

you're worried all the time.

You're so concerned about what ifs, what ifs, what ifs, what ifs,

and none of those what ifs will probably even manifest.

But the devil's got you going around and around and around with all the what

ifs. You can't sleep at night and you got, what's that word when you can't sleep?

Yeah, insomnia. and because you're so concerned and worried and all of these

things that might happen and a lot of them don't even happen.

But you get so concerned. I believe the Lord Jesus wants us to do something

about all of these worries and concerns.

I mean, what do I do with all of the worries and anxieties that come upon me

and all these burdens and concerns?

What do I do, Pastor? You sound good, but it ain't easy. What do I do with it?

That's a great question. Go to 1 Peter chapter 5. Let's look at verse 6.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

Right? First Peter chapter five.

Is it verse six? There we go.

Verse five. Likewise. Watch this. Likewise, you younger people submit yourselves to your elders.

Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with,

say that word, humility.

For God resists the proud, but gives Grace, grace to the what?

Humble. Look at the next verse.

Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt

you in due time. Look at verse 7.

Casting all of your care upon him for he cares for you.

Now notice, what do I do with all these cares and anxieties and concerns?

I cast them, Borel, all on him.

Every care, every concern, I throw them on him. Why? Why do I do that?

Because he cares for me.

He wants to take care of me. He wants to carry it for me. He cares for me.

Now notice in this verse,

Peter is differentiating between pride and humility.

And so he says, if you will humble yourself, and then he explains what humbling ourselves looks like.

It looks like casting our care upon him.

So really it's humility that will cause you to throw your cares on him.

So if it's humility that will cause you to cast your care on him,

what would be the word that will cause you to hold on to your cares? Pride.

Pride then says, I'm going to carry it myself.

I'm going to worry about it. I'm going to hold on to it.

I'm not going to cast it on the Lord because that would be humble.

No, I'm going to carry it.

I'm going to do it. And God says that he resists the proud.

One translation says that he arrays himself in battle against the proud.

Wow. But he gives grace, more grace, more grace. We all need more grace.

He gives more grace to the humble. Let's look at that in the Amplified Classic.

1 Peter 5, 7, Amplified Classic. casting the whole of your care,

all your anxieties, all your worries,

all your concerns once and for all on him for he cares for you and affectionately

cares about you watchfully.

Notice this. How many of your cares should you be casting on the Lord?

Oh, 75%?

82%? All of it.

100%. We're supposed to cast it on him. Watch this. I love this.

Your anxieties, your worries, and your concerns on him.

And when you cast, it's almost like if you ever go on fishing and you cast that line out into the water.

And now in fishing, you kind of roll it back. Well, if you roll it back,

Sometimes that happens you roll it back.

I got to cast it again Sometimes it's a cycle.

I threw it on the Lord. Somehow I went and I grabbed it back and the Lord said

no No, give it back to me Let me just tell you something straight.

Y'all want to hear it very clear and straight.

God will not take care take away your cares You have to give them to him.

Let me say it again. He's not going to take them away. I wish he would just

take it away. No, no, no, no. You have to give them to him.

And when you give them to him, then he will carry it for you. This is my cell phone.

Cell phone. I am going to give it to Josh.

Now you ask me, do you have your cell phone?

No, I don't. I don't have it anymore. Or why? Josh is carrying it for me.

Where's your cell phone? Josh got it.

What are you going to do about that? God's got it. How are you going to handle

that? Well, God's going to have to take care of that.

What the doctor said is, well, God's got it.

God's got it. Yeah, I'm going to drink water. I'm going to do some exercise,

but God's got it. The results belong to him. Amen.

You got to give it to him. And when you give him your cares,

you will begin to enjoy life

and one of the reasons we're not

enjoying life is because we're so

worried about everything we're just

concerned and worried and god wants you and i to give him all of our cares let

him care for you let him care for you You just celebrate.

Enjoy life.

Do what he's asking you to do. Give what he's asking you to give.

Go where he's asking you to go.

Raise your family. Do the best that you can and leave all of the results to

him because he cares for you.

This is how you experience true life.