Let's Talk About It

As Pastor Ed said last Sunday this is the season of Advent. It’s the holiday season when families would typically spend time celebrating together, but COVID has limited gatherings. We sing songs that talk of Joy to the World, songs that tell us this is the season to be jolly, songs that speak of angels singing and peace on earth good will toward men, but for many, this time is anything but holly and jolly. For some it’s a time of sadness, a time when loved ones who are no longer living are missed, it’s a time of extreme loneliness, destitution and even desperation, magnified by all of the holiday cheer being spread about.

There are some issues rarely talked about and even less so in the church. There is the misconception that if you believe in God, if you’re truly a Christian

you won’t get sick

you won’t get depressed

you don’t need medication

you won’t have to deal with mental health issues

We even go so far as to use Scripture to support those views

- For sickness we quote Isa 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his strips we are healed.

- For depression we consider Acts: 16 which tells the story of Paul and Silas who while they were locked in the inner part of the jail for no valid reason, chained to the guard and verse 32 says, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God: and the prisoners heard them.” We say if they could sing and praise God in that situation then surely you can in yours.

- When it comes to medication - we look at Matt 8:16-17 “That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

- And when the subject of mental health arises we turn to 2 Tim 1:7 - “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind.”

First let me say absolutely all of those Scriptures are true, but there is also a reality we must face, because there is sickness and depression, our bodies do need medication sometimes and there are people in the world who are dealing with mental health issues. The title of my message today is, “Let’s talk about it”.

Turn with me in your Bibles to the beginning, the book of Genesis

Gen 3:6-7 NLT - 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.

If all of the Scriptures I talked about are true, why then are we dealing with the things we’re dealing with? In the format of one of our favorite shows, “This brought sickness, disease, destruction and death into the perfect world God created.” What is sin?

At the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God, everything changed. They immediately saw they were naked, they tried to hide from God, they experienced fear, they began to cast blame refusing to accept their own short comings and their bodies began to die.

This is not to say that every bad thing that happens to someone is a result of them sinning, but it is to say it’s a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. Theirs’s is an outstanding example of how everything can be perfect in your life and because you want more, you blow up what you have.

Adam and Eve were in a perfect place, they didn’t have to work, there was no rain, the ground was perfectly watered from underneath, they lived in harmony with all the animals, it was literally paradise. Yet they wanted more. How do you know that pastor? Well let me show you, it’s in verse 6, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.”

God had provided all the food they could eat, they literally had a smorgasbord, the Garden of Eden was beautiful, they walked with God face to face, yet because of the words of the serpent, words have power, Eve desired to be wise, she had everything but she wanted more, not only that, then she turned and gave it to her husband, who was with her, so that means he was standing there listening to this conversation and did nothing to stop it, she turned and gave it to her husband and he ate too. Obviously, he thought he was missing something too, he wanted more also.

Our minds are powerful, they can control many things in our bodies and when they’re broken life becomes a struggle. Just like an arm or a leg, the mind can also break. This flesh and blood body we have can and will break, it ages and with age comes aches and pains and deterioration. While it can be delayed or slowed down, the only way to avoid it is to die. A healthy diet and exercise can give us a better quality of life as we age, but age we will, and unless Jesus returns first, we all have an appointment with death. Have you prepared your soul for its final destination?

The National Alliance on Mental Illness, reports that 1 out of 5 adults in the United States are plagued by mental illnesses every year, and 1 out of 25 adults suffer from serious mental illnesses. This means some may be able to work through with meditation, others may require medication and still others may require hospitalization.

Another staggering fact reported by the National Alliance on Mental Illness is that mental health disorders are a factor in over 90% of all deaths by suicide. It goes on to say a shocking 8 million deaths each year are linked to mental health conditions. Eight million people, eight million deaths every year involve some type of mental health condition. Mental health, it’s something we should be talking about, it’s something the church should be talking about.

But it’s the holidays why should we be talking about this now? Because here at Love Christian Center we talk about what’s happening, we talk about what’s relevant and we talk about what’s real. So while some are decking the halls with bows of holly, thousands of others are or have recently said goodbye to loved ones through an online or electronic medium as they die from COVID separated from their families in hospital beds, these deaths sometimes include the caregivers who have contracted the virus from their patients. Healthcare workers are separated from their families in an effort to keep them safe. Still others are dying at home from other acute illnesses because they’re afraid that if they go to the hospital they will contract COVID or the hospitals are so overwhelmed dealing with the COVID crisis there are no beds for other illnesses.

It’s enough to drive you crazy. Mental illness can present in a number of forms which include:

Anxiety disorders

Depression

Bipolar disorder

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Mood disorders

Schizophrenia and Psychotic disorders

Feeding and Eating Disorders

Personality disorders

Obsessive-compulsive disorder and

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A person can be born with a condition, it can be brought on by a traumatic event either experienced personally or witnessed happening to someone else, it can be a side effect of certain medications used to treat other conditions, it can lay dormant for years only to manifest at a certain age and just when you think you have your issue under control, something happens or someone comes to snatch you back to that unhealthy place.

Mental health is an ongoing process, not a one and done solution.

it takes assurance

it takes belief

it takes dedication

it takes determination

it takes grit

it takes love

it takes patience

it takes perseverance

it takes persistence

it takes stead-fastness

it takes tenacity

It takes time

it takes understanding

It takes Jesus

It takes prayer

Jesse Duplantis said this, “Don’t cancel out your prayer—fill your atmosphere with words that speak the answer. Don’t speak gloom & doom expecting to see good or better—don’t speak lack & expect abundance—charge your atmosphere with faith in God. Pray for what you want and then speak what you want.”

Now I have a question for you, what are you speaking into your atmosphere? Is it filled with words that lift up or words that tear down? Is it filled with words that exalt or words that exhaust? Are you speaking life or death to your situation? Right now

I declare success in your situation

I speak life to your circumstance

You shall live and not die

You are the head and not the tail

You are above and not beneath

You were fearfully and wonderfully made.

Now walk in your anointing, walk in your freedom. God made you free, don’t allow anyone or anything to enslave you. Take back your power.

Oh I know it’s not always as simple as speaking a few words, but it’s a start. What you need to know is words have power and except for God, the words you speak to yourself should be the loudest voice you hear. The words you speak to yourself should take second place only to God. So let’s see what God says about us… from Germaine Copeland’s Prayers That Avail Much

I am blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3).

I am chosen by You, my Father (Eph. 1:4).

I am holy and without blame (Eph. 1:4).

I am Your child according to the good pleasure of Your will (Eph. 1:5).

I am accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6).

I am redeemed through the blood of Jesus (Eph. 1:7).

I am a person of wisdom and prudence (Eph. 1:8).

I am an heir (Eph. 1:11).

I have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ (Eph. 1:17).

I am saved by Your grace (Eph. 2:5).

I am seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6).

I am Your workmanship (Eph. 2:10).

I am near to You by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13).

I am a new creation (Eph. 2:15).

I am of Your household (Eph. 2:19).

I am a citizen of heaven (Eph. 2:19).

I am a partaker of Your promises in Christ (2 Pet. 1:4).

I am strengthened with might by Your Spirit (Eph. 3:16).

I allow Christ to dwell in my heart by faith (Eph. 3:17).

I am rooted and grounded in love (Eph. 3:17).

I speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).

I am renewed in the spirit of my mind (Eph. 4:23).

I am Your follower (Eph. 5:1).

I walk in love (Eph. 5:2).

I am light in You (Eph. 5:8).

I walk circumspectly (Eph. 5:15).

I am filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

I am more than a conqueror (Rom. 8:37).

I am an overcomer (Rev. 12:11).

I am Your righteousness in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:30).

I am healed (1 Pet. 2:24).

I am free ( John 8:36).

I am salt (Matt. 5:13).

I am consecrated (1 Cor. 6:11 AMP).

I am sanctified (1 Cor. 6:11).

I am victorious (1 John 5:4).

Everything You say about me is true, Lord.

Oh my God, that is so much to take in, it is so much to accept. If you haven’t experienced someone speaking positivity into your life, to hear that list can be overwhelming…so here’s what you do, take two or three at a time, speak those to yourself. Write them down on a sticky note and put them somewhere you can see them every day, then you speak that into your spirit until your spirit receives it. Then you take some more and speak those until you know it in your soul then you take some more and speak those until you begin to believe it in your mind and soon you’ll be walking in it, you’ll be confident in it and others will see a change in you.

Now don’t be upset if they can’t deal with the new you. Not everyone can go on the journey you’re about to take. Your journey will take you to wholeness; it’s going to take you to victory; it’s going to take you to places you never dreamed of and allow you to experience things you never thought possible.

Wholeness is achievable, wellness is possible, perhaps not by the world’s standard but by God’s standard. You see, it’s God who determines who we are. The world makes boxes, then attempts to place everyone into a box and judges them by the box they’re put in. The world decides what people can do based on the box they’re put in, it decides what they can have based on the box they’re put in, it decides what they can achieve based on the box they’re put in.

Male — female. This box often determines what leadership positions you can fill and how much you’ll get paid for the work you do. Even if it is the same work.

Rich — poor. This box often determines where you live, what you eat and what you wear.

Democrat — Republican. Lately, this box has determined whether your concern and efforts work for all people or just yourself and a select few.

Good — bad. This box determines how much grace you’re given if you make a mistake.

Worthy — not worthy. This box determines what you can receive.

Guilty — innocent. Many times you get put in this box based on your race, and this box can determine your civil liberties and even where you can work and live.

Boxes, boxes that deny certain rights and privileges and benefits and opportunities and yes even love.

We have all of these things to deal with and it’s no wonder we have mental health disorders. No wonder we doubt ourselves and have fear about certain things. But we have a God who is bigger than anything this world may throw at us or subject us to.

People may let you down, your parents may disappoint you sometimes, your children may deny you sometimes, you may experience heartbreak and failure and frustration and disenchantment and disillusionment and dissatisfaction, but there is a God of the universe, a God who created all things, a God who loves you so much that he sent his only begotten Son to save your soul. He sent his perfect Son to give us the opportunity to experience eternal life in heaven.

I say he gave us the opportunity, because it is a choice you must make, a choice to receive the gift he’s offering or not. When God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, he gave them freewill to choose to obey or not, unfortunately for us, they chose not. But praise be to God there was a second Adam in the form of Jesus who was perfect, who was obedient even unto death on the cross and while sin still remains we have a way out and a way in, we have a Savior who will never let us down, who will never leave us nor forsake us. I’m so excited that I have an advocate who will be my mediator, my protector, my health, and my strength.

And we can find comfort in the words of Paul found in Romans 8 beginning at the 18th verse, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

Can you wait patiently on the Lord? Consider how long he waited for you.

By the one man’s disobedience, Adam, the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience, Jesus, the many will be made righteous. Your righteousness awaits, will you accept it?

If you’ve never made the decision to make Jesus the Lord of your life, he’s waiting now with arms wide open for you to say here I am Lord, the sinner that I am, take my heart, renew my mind, restore my spirit that I may be of use for the Kingdom. I repent of my sin, I believe Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for my sin, rose again, and now sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on my behalf. Thank you Lord for becoming sin for me that I might inherit eternal life.

If that is your desire and you speak it with your lips you shall be saved. These bodies will have isms and schisms, but our spirits and souls can be made perfect and whole by God.

And once you give your life to God, you need a place to work out your soul salvation and have fellowship even in a pandemic. If you’d like to connect with Love Christian Center you can go to our website at www.lovechristianctr.org and go to the contact us tab or comment directly on this platform and we will contact you.