The Sound Mind - Introduction - Pastor Brad DeLong

Thankful for our time of worship praise. It's good to be back with one another and you can be seated tonight. I want to say I am more and more thankful for the body of Christ for our times together. And didn't we learn a great deal last month from Dr.

Norris in our sessions? That was awesome, wasn't it? It's amazing. Grateful for the teaching of the word of God. And I hate to be the the one to follow a man like that, but we're going to give it our best shot tonight. So, last year as we planned this series or these series for 2026, we felt like it would be helpful to take some time and talk about the health of the mind and uh our mental well-being. We do address spiritual health regularly. Uh we've touched on physical health.

I've had dozens of conversations about both of those. And and we also know that our minds are critical in our walk with God and our pursuit of uh that thriving word and our vision in of course our pursuit of holiness and our pursuit of him. Uh we're one whole person each of us one whole person and our minds and emotions are in many ways at the core of that person. And as such, we need, as Paul conveyed to Timothy, a sound mind. I want to give a special thanks to our props department, our one-man props department.

Brother Aaron Wright, thank you for Oh, and and Kim, Sister Kim, thank you for uh they always just bring these our our visions to life. I was looking for a giant brain and they're like $2,000 and I just uh we just couldn't do that. And uh we thought, you know what? Would he be even better than that? One like that. And they they brought it to life. So, we're going to be discussing this over the next couple months in biblical, practical, spiritual ways. And we believe our our teaching and our implementation of these truths are going to help us to be healthy and growing and full of love.

Let me just ask you, okay, just somewhat rhetorical, but I want your involvement. How many of you want a sound mind? We're going to discuss the definition of that, but how many of you would like that? That'd be great, right? How many of you want everyone around you to have a sound mind? Maybe it's not your mind that you're concerned about. Maybe it's everyone else. Like when I'm driving in snow, I know I can drive. It's everyone else around me. No one look around. Yeah. We want to be healthy and growing and full of love.

Paul seemed to think this was achievable in some ways, even our birthright, so to speak, as Christians. And he he writes this to Timothy. Timothy's troubled. He's in battle at the time. And he reminds Timothy of this in 2 Timothy chapter 1:3. He says, "I thank God whom I've served with a pure conscience as my forefathers did." As without ceasing, I remember you, Timothy, and my prayers night and day. I'm greatly desiring to see you, and I I'm mindful of your tears. Timothy is going through some distress at this time.

And he says, "I want to be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that's in you." Timothy had genuine faith, but he's still distressed. He said it dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, your mother Ununice. And I am persuaded you also have faith. Because of this, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Everyone say a sound mind. >> We're going to discuss what that looks like, what it means in a moment. I wonder though before we go any further if you would just pray that the Lord would give you some understanding, insight, wisdom, help, strength, whatever it needs for your mind to be healthier when you leave tonight than when we came and your mind to be healthier by the end of this series than when we started. Can we do that together? Let's lift our voices and pray. Oh God, we're thankful, Lord, that it is entirely possible for us to have a sound mind.

And and we know that you knit these minds together and you you wo them together intricately and and that your uh your creation, Lord, and every mind in this room and every seed of emotion, every brain in this room, Lord, that you designed it. And we believe that you're able to help and you're able to strengthen, give us wisdom, insight, and I pray that you'd help us all to be and to have the mind of Christ. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. As I said earlier, for the next couple months, we're going to be talking about this declaration of Paul's to an embattled young man, Timothy, what it means and takes to truly have a sound mind.

I want to start by giving just a brief overview of the next eight weeks in our subject matter. I'll do that in just a moment. But I also say from the outset something that you will hear multiple times, something that we're going to see uh reflected in scripture as we go. And that is that a sound mind is entirely achievable and possible. A sound mind is possible. It is. And I know that we have uh a lot of defeists in our culture that say that that every mind and every every person is just messed up.

Every single one of them. And there's no way that any mind can truly be no. If it's in scripture, it's possible. It is possible to have a sound and sensible mind. It's even promised to us in some ways that we can have a mind that is healthy. One that is not chronically plagued by the enemy, by our past, and by our former selves or even our flesh. We can have a mind that's transformed and renewed by the spirit of Christ and his help in our day-to-day lives.

And it it's just that it's God's help and his aid combined with our resolve, our discipline, and our pursuit that can lend themselves to as healthy a mind as is possible in this life. Over the next two months, we're going to talk about that. We're going to discuss some of the the practical, the even clinical coping skills considerations. We'll talk about sleep and media and thought life. We're going to talk in in part about uh or our part rather about in all of these things. and some of the practices, some of the disciplines that are involved on our end.

But you'll also see us begin with the work of both the spirit and the work of the word and shaping a sound mind. You'll see that both of these are needed. We need the spirit of God. Amen. >> And we also need some discipline. >> We need some practical application. Both are needed and necessary for us to truly have a healthy mind. A mind that is like that of Christ. of mind that stayed on him. Again, you'll see this reflected in scripture and in the subsequent lessons uh that there's always been a partnership between a determined and disciplined Christian and the work of the spirit and of the word to see a mind truly healthy and growing and full of love.

I believe you've got to have both. Often times we can choose an eitheror approach in life. Even in this area, we can fall in the ditch that says, well, only the practical, only the clinical, only the medical side can truly help or can truly get you to a sound mind. Or we can say that uh that the spirit alone must do all the work that there can be no practical steps or help or or intervention involved. And again, I believe from scripture and in some ways from experience that we could make room for both.

You'll see that reflected in the lessons to come. We'll start next week with the work of the spirit in the mind. Then we'll discuss the word and meditation on the word and then we'll get into some practical uh steps things like you know thought life sleep media and then some even some question and answers that's the plan moving forward before that time I want to start by outline the problem that we fa face in our our current context the ones we see even reflected in scripture.

So what are we actually talking about here? What are the threats, the hurdles, a uh to a sound mind in our modern setting, even in our past? The truth is that mental health crises uh we've given it that term, but these crises, troubled minds, they're nothing new. They're nothing new. See evidence of them in scripture from the some of the first pages in Genesis. If you think Cain wasn't battling some mental ailments and struggles as he struck down his own brother, I'm not sure what you could call that.

Instead, the Bible has addressed this subject thoroughly and from the beginning, as we'll discuss two weeks from today, you see evidence of mental health struggles and crises all throughout the Psalms. You see it when Elijah's on the the run from Jezebel and he wants his life to end. You see it in in Lamentations as the writer's recording about his tremendous trauma after seeing Jerusalem destroyed. You see it in in what many believe was the first book written chronologically in Job when his mental anguish is recorded throughout 42 chapters for everyone to read.

This is not a new problem. It's not a new phenomena. It's one the Bible has an answer for, an antidote for. That said, I also say somewhat, I guess, tongue and cheek, but it does seem to be a growing problem, or at least one that's more known, one that's more expressed in our world and culture that the mind is seemingly under attack now more than it's ever been. Now, make no mistake, whether that's true or not, whether we have more prevalence of it uh or not, the mind is a battleground.

It is. I don't think we'd need a helmet of salvation if it wasn't. We could probably cover everything else and just leave the helmet somewhere else. But looking back at Genesis and Cain, you see that Cain's mind was under attack all the way back in Genesis 4. Listen to this. Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell or he uh was downcast.

He was dejected in his spirit. So the Lord speaks to Cain. He recognizes, "Uh-oh, we got a problem here. Why are you so angry? Why has your countenance fallen?" The Lord recognized his mental state or well-being or the lack thereof. He says, "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door and its desire is for you." Uh or uh yeah, its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. Has a similar tone to 2 Corinthians 10.

It says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we don't war according to the flesh." Cain decided to war against the flesh. Should have taken care of the sin that was crouching at the door. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down strongholds. It's talking about strongholds. If you read the context, verse 5, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

It's talking about different philosophies, teachings, other things. But again, the battle right here, you see a continual mental battle or battle of the mind from Genesis and it goes into the New Testament. And then later in Ephesians, Paul calls attention to this war again and to those weapons. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Now, you put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the ws of the devil. For we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness and heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, the whole armor, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore, how how do we do that? Guard your waist with truth. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. Uh sher your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Take the shield of faith with with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the the saints. This is still the the state of things as they stand. Ever since sin entered into the world, some might be able to argue before that time when Satan was in the in the garden trying to tempt and using logic to do so. The mind has been a place of contention and conflict both with the enemy and with our daily thoughts and even mental ailments.

Now, I need to say this before I get too far. Not every thought can be laid at the feet of the enemy. Well, the devil's just forcing me to think all these thoughts. Well, I I don't know. He doesn't have control over your mind unless you seed it to him, I guess. Now, does he come against you? I Yeah, I would say so. Not every thought though can be laid at his feet. We give him a little too much credit and power. I'll say combined with the fallen state of humanity, what Paul calls the futility of our minds, it results in poor health and unsound thinking, even without the influence of of what they'd call a true neurotransmitter disorder.

And on the note of disorders, I'm I'm not a counselor, not a clinician, but we do know that some of the struggles we face are laid in that category as well. So, I want to be clear on that front from the beginning. Not everything is the enemy and not everything is just well that person has an undisiplined mind. Some have those struggles through no fault of their own. Right? But we see in scripture that there's a combination of of all the above. Our fallenness as well as some of the the disorder and chaos that's resulted from our fall from grace and the work of the enemy.

These have attributed to where we are now. A place in time that the Bible spells out clearly. Sin and its effects have brought us to the place Paul described when he said to Timothy in the same letter we read earlier. But know this, in the last days, perilous times are coming. Men will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money. Boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanders, without self-control, which we'll talk about in a moment, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, they're headstrong, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

They have a form of godliness, but deny its power. From such people turn away. Romans 1, he describes a similar situation talking about the unbelieving world. He says they have feudal minds. Verse 28, "And even as they they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do things which are not fitting." And he lists all those things that result from a debased mind, from a sinful mind. Wickedness, covetousness, malice, fool of envy, you can the list goes on and on.

sin, its effect in the garden and on humanity and the one who tries to initiate it, the the devil himself have they've coalesed in many ways resulted in this kind of mind, a a feudal, debased, unsound, unspiritual, unbiblical, and in some ways even an anti-God mind. Again, I want to say that's not to say that all humanity uh that are unbelieving are the epitome of the antichrist and his agents. Not saying that. I don't think it's fair to say, for example, uh that of of young and even innocent children with a mental effect that they're just reaping the consequences of their sin.

I don't think anyone else would uh would say that. What I am saying is that many who are facing these things are reaping the consequences of someone's sin. maybe even Adam's. Sin's influence on our flesh and mind has brought us very far from God's intended order and desire for a sound mind. When he created mankind, he created us with the intention that we would have a sound mind. At the very least, Paul says this in Romans 8, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually mind is life and peace.

Because the carnal mind, the one that's not spiritual, the carnal mind is at odds. It's enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of God. Nor indeed can it be so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. A natural mind, one governed by the flesh and by a nature of sin is one that is at odds with God. That being the case, it stands to reason that it is naturally unsound or unhealthy, the opposite of what God intended for it to be.

This is the effect of sin on the world. and and the statistics in recent times and the onslaught in recent times shows us the true extent of the combination of things that war against a sound mind. Again, not to suggest that every person with a a mental ailment is steeped in sin. I think we've established that this point. But it is to say that when sin entered into the world, the mind became one of its first battlegrounds, one of its first targets. You see the results.

You probably read the statistics. One in five US adults live with a mental health condition. 60 million people in 2024 battled with that. Young adults are most prevalent. Anxiety and depression are most common conditions. 50% of lifetime cases start at age 14. This one is tough to grapple with, but suicide remains a top cause of death for ages 10 to 24 in the US. Over 23% of adults, as I said, struggle with this. 6% live with serious conditions. Uh, and youth, the the the rates are even higher.

I want to say again, I don't want to generalize these ailments. All right? I know I've got one lesson tonight to to talk about this. This is not to say that those 60 million or even the ones in the room right now that are battling these are that you're battling them because of the prevalence of sin. So, if you're battling anxiety, let me just say this. It does not equate to or necessarily mean that you you sin and the Lord's punishing you. I was studying this today and just felt like I need to stop and refute that lie.

>> Well, I must have made some catastrophic mistake. So, the Lord's just allowing anxiety to overrun my life. No, that's not our God. That's not our God and that is not his intention for your life. You're not plagued purposely because of sin. I don't believe that the Lord is causing that in your life. Now, I don't have time to go into some of the but instead I believe it is a direct and indirect result of sin in general and even sin in the garden. It was never God's intention for one in five in the US to face this.

I don't believe it's his intention now, especially when I read his word, but you can just see how far sin and darkness take this and you can see the battle against the mind. We've got to be aware of this battle, everybody. If you think that, oh, it's just, well, it was just a rough day yesterday. And and yes, there are natural things. I I don't want to split hairs necessarily, but you need to know that if if your mind is just left alone, that it's going to come under attack.

And if you're undisiplined in your mind, that's that's going to be a place that uh would feel a little comfortable for an enemy to settle in. Again, I don't put everything at his feet, but we need to know there's a battle going on. I think you get the point at this point. sin and our adversary have done a number on our minds among other things. We need to help the remedy and the antidote included in the word of God and by the power of the spirit of God to overcome what is now a worldwide epidemic.

It's costing over a trillion dollars in the world just to address the mind. And that's probably that's probably an understatement especially in a world in a context that's fraught with mental struggles and ailments and battles and disorders. We've got to have both the help of the spirit and practical disciplines and coping skills and habits that lend themsel to a sound mind. I'm just going to say this. We need to throw everything we got at this. >> Everything. Every healthy godly option we have at this fight, including godly counsel and Christian counselors.

We've got several here at APC and I'm so thankful for the work that they do with the mind. We need the sound mind that Paul declared to Timothy. Even in the middle of the struggle Timothy was facing in Ephesus. And I'll say this, just because you have a struggle, that does not mean that your mind must be embattled and unsound. It doesn't. You get a sense of this as you read through Second Timothy. It's a letter that Paul wrote from what I can tell mostly because he's concerned about a young pastor named Timothy and the battles he's facing on the home front.

Paul literally names Timothy's antagonist and struggles in letter. He names six different men that were opposing the two of them. And you can see Timothy would have been in battle in his heart and his mind here. Especially in a city like Ephesus that was the seat of uh or hub for the goddess Diana, a pagan shrine, a pagan culture. Uh he's inundated in the fight. And Timothy has as many if not more mental battles than than the rest of us. It's to this setting. It's to this context.

Paul writes in second Timothy. He says, "I know you've got genuine faith, Timothy." But that doesn't mean you're exempt. Right? You've got genuine faith. It's been passed down from generations, but you're still in the fight. Still battling. Doesn't mean that you don't have faith. >> Timothy, a pastor in Ephesus, has the battles. You're going to have them, too. It does not mean that your faith isn't genuine. He says this, "Therefore, I remind you, stir up the gift of God." This is verse six, "Which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind." Paul's trying to lift Timothy up on his feet again by reminding him he does not have to walk in timidity and cowardness or in fear in light of his present circumstances. Anxiety and discouragement do not have to rule the day. They do not. Yes, they do not have to rule the day. No matter what day it is. But the spirit of God coupled with a disciplined mind can overcome and walk through anything.

>> Anything. Paul reminds Timothy that part of his birthright is a sound mind. And what does that mean exactly? The the Greek phrase used there, it's used about 15 or 16 times in the New Testament. It's got a variance of meaning, but some would concur the usage here of a sound mind. This passage means to be reasonable, sensible, to have a healthy and whole mind, or even to have self-control and self-discipline. The use of the word elsewhere helps to round out the definition that's used 10 different times in the pastoral letters alone.

They're often used when contrasted with words for madness or words for inmperance. The opposite of those things. For example, Paul Fesus says, "Paul, you're mad. You're out of your mind. You're much learning." And he says, "No, I'm of a sound mind. I I I my reasoning and wisdom are healthy." Mark five, same phrase. They came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demonpossessed and and had the the legion and he was sitting in clothed and he's in his right mind and they were afraid.

That just brought me some peace thinking about that. Someone with a legion of demons could be set free and be in his right mind in a matter of moments. Our God is able to do it. Our God is able to do it. Someone just needs to get a hold of that. It's a phrase which had a lot of weight connotation for my best guess represented a mind that was holistically well and healthy. A mind that was sensible, reasonable, temperate, wellbalanced, sober, shored up by the power of the spirit of God.

And in second Timothy in his passage, it seems that uh sensibility, reasonleness, and temperance are the most inferred. Some translations uh say you have a spirit of power, love, and of self-control, which implies the discipline of the individual. Again, that the Lord will help you have self-control. You can add other adjectives and from the whole of scripture, but again, with the context in mind, it seems to be that Paul's telling Timothy, you don't have to live in timidity, fear, and anxiety in light of all that you face.

Instead, you have power and love and a mind that is reasonable, sensible, self-controlled, disciplined, healthy, growing, and full of love. And I added those last three, but you know, I love what one author had to say about this, about Timothy struggle. I'll just read this to you. He says, "Timothy, many interpreters summize, was a man of quiet disposition, a retiring timid individual, and this is their opinion, who had been thrust into a leadership role for which he had no uh predeliction. The battle against the false teachers was strenuous.

It left Timothy weary, perhaps even questioning what he's doing. And he's and Paul, his mentor is in prison, and he's likely Paul says, "Don't be ashamed of me, Timothy. There's just a lot going on. It's possible he's overwhelmed by these circumstances. But Paul countered our natural tendencies. Again, the natural way is just that we would spiral and our excuses by directing us to consider this great gift which we all possess, the spirit of God. Our natural abilities can only supplement what God calls us to do ourselves.

The important consideration all of life's challenges and duties is to remember that God's spirit resides with us. He is the giver of power, love, and self-discipline. He continues, "Self-discipline denotes careful, sensible thinking. It's the ability to think clearly with the wisdom and understanding that God imparts." Fear is a driving force in society today. Fear spawns confused thinking, irrationalities, misunderstandings. Thoughts and speculation swirl in our mind when fear enters. This is why Christ calls us to healthy orderly thought processes. Paul encourages us in Timothy when we stir up the gift of God, the power of God that's in us.

When we intentionally walk in and we activate the spirit of God, when we walk in the spirit and not in the flesh, you get the theme. When we exercise the mind of Christ, which is closely connected to the spirit of Christ, it is possible. And I don't know why I feel like I just got to nail this. It is possible for us to have mastery over our own minds through his word, spirit, and then those practical steps and disciplines, including ones that counselors recommend. I had a great counselor one time was telling me some advice and they said, you know, I just tell people they just need to thank the Lord.

I thought, my lord, Thanksgiving, go figure. Yeah, it's right here. Excellent. Paid them their $100. No, I'm just messing up. >> That was for free. I I need to say this for someone to hear it. It is possible for you, yes, you, to have a sound mind. It's possible for you to have mastery and discipline over your thoughts and mind. It's part of the will of God for your life. And even in the face of the worst imbalances and instabilities, the Lord can set things right in your mind like he did for that demoniac.

It can be in battle for years and he can do it. He can do it in a moment like he did in Mark 5. He can also walk you through a process with the help of the spirit, the help of others, the help of wise counsel to see your mind healthy, growing, and full of love. Now, we see from scripture and experience it that a sound mind is not a naturally occurring thing. Okay. You ever just let your mind wander? Anybody? Well, there's two of you.

All right. Yeah. Don't do that. What in the world is that? I just created that in my mind. That's weird. You know, it it tends to chaos. This does not happen automatically. If left unattended or undisiplined, the mind will descend into chaos even in a spiritfilled believer, which is kind of an oxymoron because spiritfilled believers don't let their minds usually tend to that. Your mind may not naturally gravitate towards health. It may not be entirely natural, but supernaturally combined with and involved with human discipline and cooperation with the spirit, you can have a sound mind.

It's also important to note that the spirit alone cannot force you to have a sound mind. God cannot force you to think healthy thoughts and to discipline yourself. Paul told Timothy, Timothy, he had the spirit of God already. said, "Hey, you got to stir up that gift." In other words, Timothy, you have to fan into flame that the spirit's power. It was a present tense verb. It might be translated keep fanning the flame of the spirit. That doesn't mean that the spirit had died off. It uh or needed to be alive by human effort.

Uh but that the the spirit works in cooperation with those who enable the spirit. We keep fan the flame by disciplining ourselves in godliness to produce fruit which is of the spirit. With the spirit enabled to work in you, you can have a sound mind. Without him though and his help, that hill's a whole lot steeper and I don't know, probably impossible to climb. Truth is there's no one and nothing that can transform and equip a mind like the power of the spirit of God. We'll discuss this thoroughly next week.

We see evidence of mental transformation with the Lord's help. It's all throughout scripture. Transformation that the Lord enables and empowers. I also need you to know just historical grammatical stuff. Think about the oppression. Think about the wars. Think about the trauma some of them faced. And the Lord transformed their minds. Ephesians 4:17 talks about the difference a dichotomy between if we just leave it to chance or we walk in the flesh or we let the Lord have a say. Paul just after one of our theme verses verse 16 healthy growing full of love says this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk.

They walk in the futility of their minds. This is this is what you could have. Their understanding is darkened. and they're alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that's in them, the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lwdness to work all uncleanness with greediness. That doesn't sound good at all. And I love this verse. But you have not so learned Christ. I love that words of one writer said this, "The truth of God and of his purpose has come to dominate your thoughts.

I wonder when there's that tipping point in us when the truth of the word of God and the amount of thoughts we have on the things of God. Colossians, set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. I wonder when Well, that's just that's just no one can get there, pastor. Well, scripture, I think, would say otherwise. When our minds are so set and focused on things that are above and on the Lord himself that the things of the world, what's the song say, grow strangely dim.

Is it possible? Oh, that's just your head in the clouds. Well, I'll take my head in the clouds, then. I feel the Holy Ghost in this room. I'm jumping all over the map. But Philippians 4, I love this verse. It's one of my favorite. You hear me quote it pretty often. I quote it when I pray it for people who have experienced loss and grief. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, that your requests be made known unto God, and I love this promise, in the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will be a guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Now, I claim that and I quote it regularly and it should be claiming it. I should quote it. That's the work of the spirit. But I I think I've gained a new understanding and appreciation for this verse when I look at the next one because sometimes we just well the well I've got the Holy Ghost and I'll just leave it to the Lord and uh and that'll automatically fix everything and uh no would you go to verse eight finally brethren and sometimes we take that word finally it could also mean in connection with or as a result.

Here's your part. Sometimes I look at this though I'm just being how can we do that? It's possible by the help of the spirit of God in our discipline. Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, if they're lovely, of good report, there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. He says, "And also the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do those things, and the God of peace will be with you." The Lord broke my box with this couple months ago because I claimed those promises without claiming my own responsibility.

You have a part to play. And I know Lord, when are you going to take all these things from me? And when are you going to remove when are you going to lift my mind out of my head and and make me have no more thoughts? Well, he might be waiting on our discipline and our prayer life. You know when that's possible for me most is when I'm reading the word of God and I'm praying. I feel the Holy Ghost in this room. God's trying to help somebody because your your mind has been troubled and you've just kind of left it to Well, whatever God wants to do, God does want to work with you.

With you. I was praying one day, asking the Lord for his help, asking for a lot of things, and I felt him speak to me. He asked me, "Do you give your kids everything all at once?" Or, "Do you make them work for some things?" He's always talking to me as a dad, you know. Well, Lord, I give them everything at once, you know. No, I didn't. I didn't. Like, I'm going to trick them. There are some things that the Lord wants to work with us on.

Come unto me all you who are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. When you're yolked with him, he's doing most of the pulling, but you're also working with him. I don't know exactly all the reason the Lord just had me walk away from the rest, but I do believe he's trying to help somebody. One to know that it's possible. You can do this. You can do this through the power of the word of God, through the power of the spirit of God, through practical help, discipline.

We I'm telling you, we've got tremendous counselors. Tre we've got people who've been through it all. You can do this. If they can do this, you can do this. But the Lord's also calling some people. Say, "All right, you need to quit thinking on those things that are contrary to the word of God and quit dwelling on those things that the enemy is feeding you and quit dwelling on those things that the world is feeding you." And I again, I just I think you all feel it, but I just feel like I'm in the vein of the Holy Ghost.

you God cannot and will not come in and just supplant remove all those things. But there is a level and there is a responsibility with us that has to by the power of the spirit take those things captive. Anything that's contrary to the word of God and the will of God take them captive. And you can do it. You've not been given a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear. You've been given a spirit that allows you to cry out, "Aba, Father." You've been given a spirit, Romans 8 says, "Leads to life and peace." But you've got to walk in it.

I feel the Holy Ghost in this room. I wonder if you'd stand right now. I I felt to do something very specific at the end of this and I didn't know exactly how the Lord wanted to end. But I need you to know every person in this room, you're going to face some struggles, some battles. This was earlier in the year last year was home. I think it was on a Tuesday night and I felt a a a definite and deliberate attack come on my mind.

I recognized it, but I also remember in the moment thinking, I don't know. I'm so tired. I don't know if I feel like fighting this right now. Anybody? Timothy was there. He's weary. But I went into my room. I said, Mariah, would you lay your hand on my head? Would you pray over my mind? And I had gone to prayer even before that. I was in the living room talking to the Lord and I failed to do that. You got to stir up the gift of God that's in you.

Don't leave it to chance. If you're under attack and your your mind is at stake, don't leave it to chance. Call on the name of the Lord. Stir up the encourage yourself in the Lord and then call a brother, call a sister, call somebody. Mariah laid her hand on my head and she prayed and I felt that attack subside immediately and I had rest and sleep that night because of the power of the Lord. And the next day I woke up and I never had another bad thought again.

It was automatic. This some of you are living right here right now. The next day I got up and I got my coffee and I asked the Lord, "What do I think, oh God? You teach me how to think and you let this word be a filter for my mind." And he did. And the Holy Ghost came in the room and the Lord began to deal with me all over again. We can do this. It's going to take work. And while the rest of the world might be losing their minds, we're going to gain a sound mind.

Here's what I want us to do. If you feel comfortable asking someone nearby to lay their hand on your mind and to pray, you do that. But if you just feel comfortable laying your hand on your own mind and praying that the Lord would give you a sound mind and help you to take the necessary steps to achieve that mind. I wonder if you just follow the spirit of God who's in this room right now. Would you? If you feel comfortable again, ask somebody nearby or you just lay your hand on your own mind and we're going to begin to pray right now.

And I believe that the Lord is going to help and the Lord is going to strengthen us. Uh I'm going to join you. I'm going to turn this mic off. Let's just take a season of prayer together in the name of Jesus. >> >> I encourage you if you need the Lord's help. Would you just reach out to him in prayer and press on in prayer right now? Maybe you really need someone to pray for you, but you were uh maybe intimidated, but if you need that, this is an opportunity.

The power of the spirit of God is in this room. Uh let's take a season here. Yesterday in our Tuesday morning prayer group gathered together and there was a powerful move of the Holy Ghost. I walked in the room and it was like I hit a wall of the glory of God. The theme was a victory. And I feel to tell someone, "The Lord has victory for your mind. The Lord has victory." Those men tried everything they could for that demoniac to the point where they just decided, "We can't even get near this guy.

They had tried every known thing." Jesus steps on the shore and the end result is a man sitting at his feet with sound mind who some say was one of the first preachers of the gospel from living in caves and cutting himself to preaching the word of God. That's the power of our God. He can do it. He can do it. Would you thank the Lord? Uh if you've got a sound mind, you ought to thank the Lord. If you've got any measure of peace in your mind, you ought to thank the Lord.

Oh Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for the victory we feel in this room, the assurance. And I thank you for every mind that's in this room that's healthy. And I thank you for the minds in this room that are on their way to health, oh God. I thank you, Jesus, for sound minds, Lord, and what we're going to learn and hear and your presence and from your word in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. We're going to walk through this together and the Lord's going to help us and already is and I thank the Lord.

Thank you for being sensitive to his power and spirit.