SPEAKER_02 0:23

Welcome to the Faith Builders Broadcast. I am Pastor Phillip Steele. I am so glad that you have joined us for today's edition of the Faith Builders Broadcast. We're so blessed to be able to bring the Word of God to you and to help you in your walk with Christ. We have some wonderful things to get into today. And this entire month, we are going to be uh dealing with some of the subject matter from my newest book entitled Winning Over Worry. I believe this is probably one of the most important books that I've ever written because it deals with the subject of worry and how to win in every situation, uh, over worry, over care, over anxiety, and how to be victorious in your walk with Christ. The information will be there on your screen how you can obtain your copy of Winning Over Worry, and where we believe that it'll be a great help to you in your walk with God. Also, before we get directly into the message, I want to invite you out to Life of Faith Church. We were formerly faith builders. We had been uh faith builders for nearly 30 years, and the Lord began to deal with us that our name should reflect more accurately the totality of our vision. And so we are now Life of Faith Church because the Lord added to our vision that we are a church that builds faith and frames worlds by the word of God, and we produce life, city, state, nation, and world. And so we are located at 11620 uh Rainwood Road, right here in the great city of Little Rock, Arkansas. And our service times are 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings and 6 p.m. on Sunday evenings. And uh we would love to have you come uh and fellowship with us and see if this might be where God would have you to plant your family so that you can learn how to live a life of faith, learn how to please God, and learn how to work the word in the everyday situations of your life. So come and see us. I promise you we'll treat you so many ways. You'll have to like one of them. God is so good to us. Let's jump right into this. Luke chapter 21 and verse 34. You know, when we're dealing with the issue of winning over worry or refusing care, that is part of overall spiritual fitness. And overall spiritual fitness, just like overall physical fitness, is important for your vitality. If I'm gonna be uh vitally uh strong in my spiritual walk, I have to have overall spiritual fitness. And this issue of worry and care and anxiety is something that affects negatively as much as anything our overall spiritual fitness. All right, the carrying of care, the carrying of worry. You know, I read a statistic one time that said uh one of the major causes of sickness and disease in the United States was anxiety, was worry. People worry themselves sick. And, you know, I understand that, you know, in some circles uh the mindset is just, well, keep a good thought and uh, you know, just don't think about it and everything will be all right. That's not necessarily true because I've known a lot of good people that were trying to keep good thoughts, but they were carrying care, they were carrying worry, and it weighs on you, it grinds on you, it brings you to a place of helplessness. If you keep carrying the care and carrying worry, you're gonna eventually get to the place where you say, I give up, what's the use? There's no hope. All right. In this teaching, we're gonna do everything within our power to help you see that God has an antidote for that and that you can live every day winning over worry. In Luke chapter 21 and verse 34, Jesus said, Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your heart should be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. One translation, the Wees translation says, the anxieties pertaining to this life, the anxieties pertaining to this life. So if I focus on the anxieties of this life, there's something that I'll miss. All right, and there's something that can come upon me. Jesus said, notice, he said, take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life, so that that day come upon you. All right? That day, that day of the coming of the Son of Man, that day, he said that there's something that you will miss because you're focused, notice, on the cares of this life, on the cares of this life. The Lord said to me one time, a number of years ago, he said, the entering in of cares requires the letting go of faith. The entering in of cares, of worry, requires the letting go of faith. And he said, the holding on to faith requires the refusal to allow the entering in of cares. Now Jesus said, take heed to yourselves. So that means that I have something to say about this. I have an ability as a believer to refuse to worry. All right, to win over worry. Anything Jesus said, pay attention, I have the ability to stop it. All right? So to allow worry is to let go of faith. Faith is this conviction that what God said is true. Now, in its simplest terms, faith is looking at what God said and saying, that's what I believe, that's what I believe is true, I'm convinced of that, I'm not going to worry about the circumstance because I believe God. All right? Now that's real Bible faith. That's not mental assent, that's not denial. You're not looking at the situation and saying it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist. You're saying, according to the word of God, I believe I have received, and I refuse to worry. Now, here's the key. In order to worry now, I've got to let go of faith. I've got to allow the entering in of worry, the entering in of care. To walk in faith, care has to be refused. You have to refuse it. As a matter of fact, right there where you're sitting today, you might you might as well say, I refuse to worry in Jesus' name. All right, no matter what comes up, I refuse to worry about it. I may have to deal with it. I may have things that I have to do where it's concerned, but here's one thing I will not do. I will not worry. I refuse to worry. I refuse to lose sleep. I refuse to be in a constant state of anxiety. I will not worry about this because I have faith in God. Amen. In Romans 15, 13, it's a familiar verse, but notice what it says. It says basically this that there is joy and peace in believing. Joy and peace in believing. The word peace is defined as tranquility. Tranquility. So faith, notice, is accompanied by peace and tranquility. So in the midst of the situation that I'm facing, I can have peace and tranquility if I refuse the worry. If I refuse the care. Hallelujah. Now see, this is not Shangri-La. This is not some metaphysical thing where I'm just denying what is. It's not Christian science, it's not mind over matter. Charles Caps used to say, it's as far as mind over matter is, it's as far away from mind over matter as I am from the moon. All right? It's God's word over the situation that you're dealing with. It's the word of God. And what happens? Peace and tranquility begin to rule your life, and the situation may still be there, but the situation has now been robbed of its ability because you are refusing to worry. You're winning over worry. Hallelujah. In Isaiah 26 and 3, it says, You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you. Now there's so much that we could look at in those verses. First of all, he says, you will keep him in perfect peace. And years ago I was looking at that, and it literally I say literally, I don't know the literal Hebrew. I know what the meaning is, and I know it comes from the literal Hebrew, so let me say it that way. The meaning is this perfect peace is this, peace, peace. In the Hebrew, it's shalom, shalom. It's perfect peace, it's full peace, it's complete peace. How do I achieve that? By keeping my mind stayed on God and his word. Now notice it says, you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you. So that means that I have something to do here. I have to myself keep my mind stayed on God and his word. Focused on God and His Word. Centered up on God and His Word. And what will be the result? Perfect peace. Complete peace. Full peace. I like to say it this way: the God kind of peace. All right? It is a perfect peace. The Lord said to me, cares and anxieties are one of the primary doors the enemy uses to weasel his way into people's lives. Hallelujah. He went on and said, care and anxieties are like a doorstop in the spirit. They prop the door open for the enemy. Cares and anxiety are like a doorstop in the spirit. They prop the door open for the enemy. Hallelujah. He went on and said, to receive and allow cares and anxieties is to hold the door open for the enemy. To receive cares and anxiety is to hold the door open for the enemy. So if he can get you over into cares, you're holding the door open for him by entering into worry and entering into care. The main effect the enemy is involved in is trying to get you over into worry. The Lord said that to me. The main thing that he's involved in is trying to get you over into worry. And once that is accomplished, the door is open to whatever else he wants to bring into your life. Oh my. My brother, sister, that impacted me when he said that worry is like a doorstop in the spirit and it props the door open for what the enemy wants to bring in your life. And that his main, the main thing that he's involved in is trying to get you over into worry. That's the main thing that he's involved in. And once he gets you over there, understand the holding on to worry is letting go of faith. Holding on to faith is letting go of worry. And so when a person begins to worry and to enter into care, the door's propped open. Now this is an account that if you're a believer, you've probably heard numerous times. If you're not a believer, it may be your first time hearing it. But you know, in Job chapter 1, the Bible starts out by telling us that Job, all the good things about Job, that he loved God, that he was a righteous man. And then it tells us something that Job did. It said that his sons and his daughters, that, you know, on their birthdays and on special occasions, that they would have get-togethers at each other's homes. And it says this that after each of these get-togeth, that Job would go and offer sacrifices to God, because he said, My children may have displeased God. And it said, This is what Job did continually. Both of those things. He sacrificed to God because he was worried that his children had displeased God. Are you following that? So he was doing a right thing with worry. Well, the Lord said to me, Worry props the door open for the enemy. So the Bible goes on. It says in Job chapter 2, it says there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and it says that Satan was there among them. It didn't say God called for him, didn't say that God commanded him to appear. It says he was there. And it uses the word Satan, I believe, because that's the word that means adversary. And God asked him, Where have you come from? He said, walking to and fro throughout all the earth. And God began to talk to him about Job. And and the enemy said, if you touch him, he'll curse you to your face. And God, watch, here's what God said. Everything he has is in your hand. Now wait a minute. He didn't say, go ahead, I give your permission. He said, All that he has is in your hand. You following me? What was he saying every day? Continually. I need to sacrifice because my children may have cursed God. He's in, he's in, people say Job was in fear. Fear is just worry. That's all it is. If you're worried about it, you're afraid of it. If you're carrying the care of it, it's a fear. And so the story goes on, and they presented themselves a second time. But in between, the second time, remember what Job said? He was looking at all that had happened, and he said, The thing I greatly feared has come upon me. Well, what had happened? His children had died. Now, over the years, now I'm gonna say something and hear me when I say this. People have blamed God for that. People have blamed the devil for that, and people have blamed Job for that. God didn't do it. God had nothing to do with it. We know the devil did it. But how could the devil do it? Job propped the door open for him. Through what? Through his fear. God protects the righteous. God protects the seed of the righteous. But if the righteous are constantly propping the door open through worry and care and anxiety, all that God wants to do for them is hindered because we are the free moral agent. We are the establishing witness. We get what we say. You don't get what God said. You get what you said. And if you're saying God's word, you get what God said because you said it, because you believe it. And if you read all the way through Job, you find out that Job said to God, He said, Look, I said things that I didn't understand and I didn't know. He said, I have found something out about you. All right? Here's what I want you to see. It all began with maybe my children have sinned. I'm worried about it. I need to offer these sacrifices because maybe they've sinned. Hallelujah. You don't worry a little bit and then try to stop. You stop it when it shows up. Don't entertain it. Don't entertain it. Well, you know, Pastor Still, I'm not worried, I'm just concerned. That's just another name for worry. Well, you know, I'm not worried, it's just bothering me. That's just another phrase for worry. See, don't lessen it. It's like anything. If you're worrying, call it what it is. I'm worried and stop it. Because that's how you have to deal with it. So if the enemy can get you over into care, he can bring whatever else he wants to bring into your life. Well, Pastor, my my kids aren't living right. Okay, I understand that. Don't worry about them. Surround them with what? With faith and love. Surround them with the word of God, but refuse to worry. In Mark chapter 4, I want you to see this. Mark chapter 4. Verse 18. You know, I've had people before say, you are very adamant about worry. Worry is a killer. Worry is a destroyer. I have watched people worry themselves into destruction in their lives. You cannot play with it. Worry is like a venomous snake. All right? It can be sitting there in a container or you can come upon it in a field or around your house. Here's what you do. You deal with it. And you might deal with it by running away from it. All right? Or you might deal with it by picking up a hoe and cutting its head off. But you you listen, you've got to stay out of those situations where worry is trying to overcome you, and you have to deal with it. You have to stop it. All right? Because it keeps progressing. There's a worry creep in people's lives. You know, you've heard of weight creep, you've heard of debt creep, you know, it just creeps up on you. There's a worry creep. Once you start saying, Oh man, I wonder what that is. I wonder, well, you know, I hope this doesn't happen. That's worry creep. It's just gonna get better until it's rest robbing anxiety. It's gonna get to the place where it wants to consume your thinking. All right, and the Bible says the way that you have perfect peace is by keeping your mind stayed on Him. In Mark chapter 4, verse 18, it says, and these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word. Notice verse 19, and the cares of this World and the deceitfulness of riches and the lust the strong desire for other things entering in choke the word and it the word becomes unfruitful. Now here's something to see. The phrase entering in it means to come to, to visit, or to be put in. To come to, to visit, or to be put in. What does that mean? Worry is going to come to everybody. It's going to show up. Care, worry, is going to try to visit everyone. The enemy will try to put worry in everybody. Okay? When we allow worry to enter in, it jokes the word. And the Bible says right here, the word becomes unfruitful. Matthew 13, 22 says, he, the man, became unfruitful. Why did the man become unfruitful? Because the word became unfruitful. He chokes the word, the word becomes unfruitful, the life becomes unfruitful. And notice, here's what this means. Worry will knock on everybody's door. Listen, you might have an opportunity to worry about something today. You might have an opportunity to worry about something tomorrow, or in the next five hours, or the next two hours. Alright? It's up to me whether or not I answer the door and allow it in. I have to understand, he said it's the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things that enter in, they're allowed in, they're allowed in, and they choke the word. But isn't it good news? And we'll probably pick up this, pick up here on our next broadcast, that 2 Peter 5, 7 and 8, it says, be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion roameth about seeking whom he may devour, whom resists steadfastly in the faith, casting all of your care upon him because he cares for you. What does that mean? The enemy is roaming about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, trying to put care, trying to put worry in your life. We resist him steadfast in faith. How do we do that? By casting all of our care upon him because he cares for us. The good news is I don't have to worry. The good news is I don't have to carry care. The good news is I do not have to be anxious in Jesus' name. Father, I pray for my brother and my sister. I pray for every individual watching in the name of Jesus. I pray, Father, that the care that they may be carrying, the worry that they may be dealing with, that they would roll that over onto you, that they would cast it over onto you, and that they would be free from the anxiety that's trying to rob their rest and rob their peace and rob their joy. Father, in the name of Jesus, I speak your strength into their life and your strength into their spirit. They are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony in Jesus' name. I'm so glad you joined us for this edition of the Faith Builders Broadcast. We love you. We pray for you. We thank you for the opportunity to minister to you and your family and to help you grow in the things of God. Be sure to join us on our next broadcast as we're going to continue ministering along these lines of winning over worry. You can get your copy there at the information on the screen, and I know that it'll be a blessing to you. Until we see you again, please remember to build your faith and frame your world by the Word of God. God bless you.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

You can win over work. While the world says a life filled with stress and anxiety is normal, the word of God says, let not your heart be troubled. Be anxious for nothing. Jesus Christ gave you access to his victory and peace. He's equipped you to resist worry and cast your cares on God. In the book Winning Over Worry, a guide to continual peace, Pastor Philip Steele teaches you how to live carefree by putting God's word to work. This book will show you how to overcome anxiety and enforce God's peace in every area of your life. It's time for you to win over worry. Get your copy today by calling 501-400-8797 or visit lifeoffaith.net. Winning Over Worry is also available on Kindle and Apple iBooks. Visit lifeoffaith.net or call 501-48797 for more information.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

You are invited to Life of Faith Church in Little Rock, where we are building people's faith, producing life, city, state, nation, and world. Our address is 11620 Rainwood Road, just one block off Rodney Park, near Green Mountain Drive. Our Sunday service begins at 10 a.m. and offers classes for children and youth, in addition to the adult service in the main sanctuary. On Wednesdays, we have an hour of power as we dive into Bible study. We have a place reserved for you and your family at Life of Faith Church. For more information, visit lifeoffaith.net