Abolishing Anxiety, Part 6

It's a great day to have you with us as we worship the Lord today, to be able to sing praises to his name, to be able to spend time in prayer, to be able to receive instruction from the word of the Lord My prayer for you and for me today is that our hearts would really be cleansed by the spirit of God and that we'd be receptive to all that God has for us So much to pray about, so much to seek the Lord about So if you're able, I'd ask you to gather your family around and join me on your knees as we approach the throne of grace

You know, we do this in our church every Sunday, because we think it's important to bow in submission to the authority of Christ Sometimes we can't do that. I know physically, but you know, in our hearts we bow But if we're able to bow before the Lord, I think it signifies our desire to truly humble ourselves before him And that's what we want to do today And so if you're able, I'd ask you to join me on your knees as we approach the throne of grace Our most gracious heavenly Father, we're grateful for today What a great day to worship the King The Lord's day is a special day

First day of the week that sets the tone for everything else to follow And I pray, Lord, for those with us today that are able to bow on bended knee before your presence. I pray for their families. I pray for the fathers that they would leave their homes. I pray for parents that they would be models, examples to their children of purity and holiness and integrity Pray for children that they would be obedient to their parents and follow the word of the Lord. I pray that our families, our church families, would really look to you every single day of their lives

They do a special work in all of them. I pray too, Lord, for those who are home alone and they are kneeling by themselves They are watching by themselves We pray for them We pray, Lord, that you would fill their hearts with the joy of the Lord And that as they gather with us in this way, in which we are looking and praying and preaching and singing by way of Instagram and by way of Facebook, it's just a different setting But, Lord, as we engage in our worship today, may you be honored and glorified We pray that you do a mighty work in all of our hearts

For those who might be listening who do not know you, we do pray for their salvation We do pray that they would embrace Christ as Lord and Savior And really repent of their sins and realize their need to throw themselves on the mercy of the living God We pray, Lord, continually for our country, for our president, our senators, our governors, our mayors, all those, Lord, that are in authority that you've placed there You have put Governor Newsom into office You put President Trump into office

They're there because of you. I know they're elected officials, Lord, but they are there because you are sovereign and you rule over all And this is who you want to be in office at this time But we pray for them We pray primarily for their salvation Always asking you to intervene in their heart and soul Cause them to recognize their sin and cry out to you We pray, Lord, that your hand would govern their hearts and turn it in the way that you see fit

And that as they make decisions for this state and for this country, that, Lord, they would make decisions consistent with your grand and glorious will We pray, Lord, for the many people who have lost loved ones We pray for them That you'd intervene in some way, in some supernatural way, and save their souls And those who do know you, that they would be reminded of the fact that they would see their loved ones once again, one day Because of the great reunion we will have in Jesus Christ, our Lord And so, Lord, on this day, we want to thank you that we can worship you

We know, Lord, it's different than what it's ever been before And maybe ever will be again But, Lord, it's special because you've designed it this way And we are grateful We just ask you to go before us May our praises be sung to your glory May what we hear today instruct us and teach us in the way that we should go That when this is all said and done, we would be different than when we first began We pray this in Jesus' name Amen We are involved in a great study on what it means to abolish anxiety If you're a believer, you're listening because, to some degree, it's going to edify your soul

It's going to build you up, that you might be strong in the Lord If you're an unbeliever, we want you to be able to understand your need for a Savior That you might experience the joy that comes through the saving grace of our Lord But anxiety is something that every one of us deals with In fact, anxiety is sort of like a fire in the soul And the more that anxious thoughts come, the more I begin to worry It's like it just fuels the fire

And it begins to grow with ever-increasing intensity that sometimes even leads to panic attacks. I don't know what you know about anxiety, but I'm not a statistician. I'm not a scientist. I'm not a psychologist. I'm not a historian. I'm just a preacher But scientists tell us something very unique about anxiety They tell us that in America, those who are over the age of 18, that 18.1% of our country suffers from some kind of anxiety disorder On top of that, those between the ages of 13 and 18, our junior high and high school age students, 25.1% struggle with some kind of anxiety disorder

In fact, it is the most common and the primary mental illness of our country The World Health Organization, who's been in the news quite frequently lately, not necessarily the good part of the news, but anyway, the World Health Organization tells us that one out of every 13 people around the globe are people filled with anxiety So although I don't know a lot about anxiety, I can just go by the numbers they give us, I do know one thing, that anxiety is an equal opportunity offender

In other words, anxiety hits you whether you're old or whether you're young, whether you are rich or whether you are poor, whether you work or whether you don't work, whether you're male or female, believer or unbeliever Anxiety is an equal opportunity offender And we need to know how to deal with anxiety Anxiety We need to know how and why the Bible says, be anxious for nothing Why our Lord says, do not worry, do not be anxious, do not fear

Our God repeats that over and over again. I know this, that if we don't deal with anxiety properly, it can lead to physical ailments, psychological ailments, and even spiritual ailments The unfortunate thing about anxiety is that so many times we realize that we're anxious all the time anyway, we almost get used to it It becomes the normal part of living And even though I've tried to rid myself of anxious thoughts, I just kind of just give up because what's the use? I'm always going to worry And yet it can be abolished We know that because we have a text and that's Proverbs 12, verse number 25

Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down It burdens the heart It is a heavy weight upon your heart and mind We understand that because that's what the Bible says And yet the Bible is also very clear that although anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, a good word makes it glad The good word is the gospel, which is the good news And the good news, we know, brings great joy because a savior has been born who is Christ the Lord And those who embrace him have the peace that he offers The apostle Paul says, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and all peace in believing

Romans 15, verse number 13 So we know that there is a good word that makes us glad We're trying to give you that good word to help you understand what the gospel does say, that you might embrace the truth of Jesus Christ our Lord If you are listening today and you've been with us, you know that in order to abolish anxiety, three things must happen Three things we've covered so far One is you rest in God's sovereignty Two, you remember your responsibility Three, you realize your dependency Now we've covered all those over the last several weeks

If you haven't been with us, you can go back and listen and understand more about what it is we've already said But those three things must be happening if I'm going to abolish anxiety But there's a fourth thing, and I'll give you the rest of them as we go, but there's at least a fourth thing And it might cause you to scratch your head for a moment, but we'll explain it to you so you understand it

So not only do I rest in God's sovereignty and remember my responsibility and realize my dependency upon the true and living God, but I also regard my testimony. I pay very close attention to my testimony. I am concerned about my testimony You say, well, how does that abolish my anxiety? Oh, that's why you're here That's what you're going to understand today You see, my testimony is the picture that I am constantly painting of Christ to the world My testimony is that which causes others to see the effectual work of Christ in my life My testimony is that portrait of everything I say I believe

That's my testimony And therefore, I must realize that my testimony never takes a vacation. I can't be having a testimony one day and then not another day My testimony is always on display, whether I'm at work or at home, whether I'm at church or at play No matter if I'm in one store or another, my testimony is always on display And so therefore, there's always somebody watching There's always someone looking There's always someone who's observing And if it's not somebody physically, it's the Lord himself That's very important. I love what we talked about on this past Wednesday night about Job

If you were with us, you understood Job chapter 1 and Job 1.1 and Job 1.8 Because the writer of Job gives us this testimony about him, that he was a blameless man, that he was an upright man, that he was a God-fearing man, and that he avoided sin That was a testimony of Job in the community And then when Satan came to present himself before the Lord, the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? So now the Lord is going to give a testimony, Job's testimony to Satan He uses exact same words that the writer of Job used to describe Job in the community

So the Lord said that Job was a man who was blameless He was upright God-fearing And one who avoids and abstains from evil Wow Our God says the exact same thing to Satan that the writer of Job, maybe Moses, maybe Solomon, we don't know, says about Job's testimony in the community That's just a marvelous testimony to a man's consistency and a man's integrity

And so I ask you this question, what would the Lord's testimony be to Satan about you? What would he say to Satan concerning your testimony? Would he say that you, Susan, or you, David, or you, Lisa, or you, Lance, that this man, this woman, they're God-fearing, they're upright, they're blameless, and they turn away from evil Your testimony is absolutely powerful And so when you regard your testimony, you are in essence beginning to abolish all anxiety Why is that? Well, let me explain it to you You know, when you become a believer, you're a new creation

Old things will pass away, be old, all things become new. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 You've been transformed You've been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear son, which is the kingdom of light And Paul would say in Ephesians 5, verse number 8, you were formerly darkness, but now you are light Therefore, walk as children of light Once we were in darkness, once we were enslaved to Satan, we had no light But when you've been transferred into the kingdom of God's dear son, now you're in the kingdom of light Excuse me

And because you're in the kingdom of light, you are to walk brightly so others will see the beauty of Christ. I would trust that that's the way you are You know, the Bible says in Proverbs 24, verse number 10, if you are slack in the day of distress, your strength is limited The day of distress, the day of anxiety, the day of pressure, the day of tragedy, all those things reveal the character They don't develop the character In the time of crisis, you actually reveal who you are You show everybody the true you in crisis

So when our world is in crisis mode, when our world is in pandemic mode, when our world is in fear mode, what do you show? How are you seen? What is your testimony? Are you slack in the day of distress? Are you strong in the day of distress? God said this to Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 12 Jeremiah 12, verse number 5

Jeremiah, if you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? If this is wearing you out, Jeremiah, the very fact that wicked men are against you and you're having a hard time with that, if you can't run with or walk with footmen, how will you ever run with horses? And then he rephrases it this way If you fall down in the land of peace, how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? Because in the thicket of the Jordan is where all the wild animals roam and live

If in the land of peace you're falling down, how will you ever be able to stand in the thicket of the Jordan? In other words, Jeremiah, listen, your name means God is exalted Therefore, Jeremiah, I need to be exalted in your life People need to see me in your life And if you can't handle the little things, how are you ever going to handle the big things? If you're slack in the day of distress, your strength is small, your strength is limited Ah, Jeremiah, you got to be able to run with horses

But if you fall down in the land of peace, how will you ever make it in the thicket of the Jordan? He goes on to say these words He says, for even your brothers and the household of your fathers, even they have dealt treacherously with you Even your own family is going to turn against you, Jeremiah You need to exalt me all the time In other words, that's what your name means Just go ahead and do it Live for me My challenge for you and for me today is that your testimony and my testimony would shine for the glory of God

That we would regard our testimony in such a way that all the world, when they look at us, what do they see? They see fear, anxiety They see and sense that we are worried Or do they see strength? Do they see security? Do they see someone who is immovable and unshakable? That they might come to you and say, why are you this way? And why am I that way? Regard your testimony because your testimony is the portrait of what it is you truly believe about the living God

So for a moment over the next few minutes, well, 30 minutes to be exact, I want you to take the word testimony and just write it down the left-hand margin of your notes If you're taking notes, if not, hopefully you got a good memory But just write the word testimony down because I want to tell you about your testimony and my testimony and help you understand what exactly God wants you to do You see, we're in a time, in a situation where we are completely out of control And you need to remember something very significant because your testimony is a picture of the Christ

And if we are consumed with that which we cannot control, it's going to drive you crazy But if you're consumed with the Christ who is in control, then you'll be content Did you get that? If you are consumed with those things you cannot control, it's going to drive you absolutely out of your mind It's going to drive you crazy Because you can't control them But if you're consumed with the Christ who is in control of everything, then you'll be content And that's what our testimony needs to be We need to be able to be the content person when everything around us is falling apart

My testimony, number one, testifies to the mercy of Christ My testimony, number one, testifies to the mercy of Christ Listen to the Apostle Paul, 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse number 12. I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has strengthened me because he considered me faithful, putting me into service Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor, yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief And the grace of our Lord was more than abundant with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate his perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life. I found mercy so that Christ would be able to demonstrate through me how others can find that same kind of mercy in Christ Paul says, I recognize that my life is that living portrait of the mercy of God And so my testimony testifies to the mercy of Christ

That's what Paul says Over in the book of Titus, the third chapter, Paul says, We once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another That's Titus 3, verse number 3 And he says this, But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy

By the washing of a generation and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Christ Jesus our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life Wow, how great is that? We're saved according to his mercy Not according to our deeds, not the things that we have done It's the washing of regeneration It's the renewing of the spirit that comes because God decided to bestow mercy upon us Mercy relieves your misery Grace rewards those who are guilty Mercy says no hell That's our relief Grace says heaven

Both are unmerited We don't deserve either one of them But God has shown us mercy Therefore, we are those who testify to the mercy of God Remember what Peter said? 1 Peter 2, verse number 9, he said these words Oh, first of all, 1 Peter chapter 2, verse number 3, chapter 1, verse number 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy, he caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

That we might obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, which is undefiled and will not fade away, which is reserved in heaven for you And then he says in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse number 9, these words But you are chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy

Ah, because you have received mercy, now you testify to all of the mercies of Christ That's what a testimony is It testifies to the mercies of Christ And then number two, it explains my identity in Christ It explains my identity in Christ That's what a testimony does Paul says in Romans chapter 12, verse number one. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you now present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your logical form of worship. I want you now to present your bodies a living sacrifice Why? Because of God's mercies

And Romans 1 to 11 is all about God's mercy And Romans 12 begins with, because of that Just present your bodies a living sacrifice You see, my testimony explains my identity in Christ You see, I am now in Christ Christ lives in me The reason I'm a new creation is because Christ lives in me In the Old Testament, it was about the fact that God was going to come He's going to be with us And so he came and he was with us But the mystery was, and Paul speaks about that mystery in Ephesians chapter three

The mystery is this, that Christ not only came, Christ is now not only with you, Christ wants to be in you Christ in you, the hope of glory That's the mystery that was concealed in the old, now revealed in the new, that Christ is actually going to live in me My identity is based on who Christ is My identity is based on what Christ has done for me And so my testimony now is going to explain my identity in Christ This is now who I am. I'm a child of the living God. I'm no longer a child of Satan. I'm a child of the living God It is a unique life

Remember, not this past Wednesday, but the previous Wednesday, we talked about this in the book of Galatians Remember, this is your testimony This is how you explain your identity in Christ Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ My life is what we call the extinguished life. I've died. I've died to self. I've died to my ambitions. I've been crucified with Christ And it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. I'm no longer living, but now Christ lives in me That's the extinguished life Once I've extinguished my life, now I relinquish my life

See that? I've relinquished my life to him He now lives in me And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me Wow, that's the distinguished life And the only way you can live a distinguished life is if you have relinquished your life to the lordship of Christ and extinguished your life by being crucified with Christ, by taking up your cross and following him daily That is your testimony And that is your identity Christ lives in you. I am now dependent upon him. I walk by faith, right? I don't walk by sight. I walk by faith

And I am devoted to him because he gave himself up for me. I now love him. I'm devoted to him My identity has changed because everything about my identity is wrapped up in who Christ is and what he's done Oh, your testimony Your testimony is that which testifies to the mercies of Christ, which explains my identity in Christ And number three, substantiates my security in Christ My testimony substantiates my security in Christ In other words, it truly proves by way of evidence that I am absolutely secure in Christ As Peter says, I am kept by the power of God

As Paul would say in the book of Romans, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who in Christ Jesus He goes on to say in verse number 29, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son He's predestined us to be conformed to the image of his son, to be turned into a replica of his son that we might portray him And these whom he predestined, he also called And these whom he called, he also justified And these whom he justified, he also glorified Listen, if there's salvation, there is glorification at the end

If I have been saved from the penalty of sin, I am being saved from the power of sin, and I will one day be saved completely from the presence of sin. I will be glorified in heaven But my testimony substantiates my security in Christ. I have no fear because he's removed the fear of death He's removed the fear of the evil one Christ says, don't fear the one who can kill your body, but fear the one who kills body and soul in hell That's the one you fear And so we come to a place where we realize that there's no condemnation for those who in Christ Jesus

He goes on to say these words, for I'm convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor these things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creative thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord That's what makes us overwhelming conquerors in Christ Wow, your testimony testifies the mercies of Christ It explains your identity in Christ It substantiates your security in Christ And number four, it tells, listen to this, it tells of the humility of Christ Ah, this is rich

It tells of the humility of Christ We know about the humility of Christ at his incarnation, right? God became man He dwelt among us The word became flesh and dwelt among us Philippians 2 talks about how our Lord took on the form of a bond servant and became obedient to his father That's the incarnation We see his humiliation when God became flesh We see his humiliation at the crucifixion, when he died for your sins and mine, when as the king of the universe, he died as a substitute for you and me He took your penalty and mine upon himself And upon the cross, he was rejected He was despised

So we see his humiliation Listen, at his incarnation, we see it at his crucifixion All throughout his life, there was this instruction about humility, right? Because he said that he came not to be served, but to serve And to give his life away, to give his life a ransom for many Everything about the life of Christ was all about his humiliation Because through that, he would bring salvation to lost souls But the unique thing about his humiliation is that there is the impartation of that humility

We are partakers of the divine nature, right? So because Christ lives in me and I'm a partaker of his divine nature, his humility now becomes a part of my nature My life And so now I tell of the humility of Christ because through that humiliation came the opportunity for you and me to be saved Boy, it's so beautiful That's why Christ said in Matthew 11, 28 and 29, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you Learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart He opened up himself to show us his heart

Why do we come to him? Because he is meek, because he is lowly in heart Remember what Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 5? He said these words in verse number 5 He said, all of you clothe yourself with humility Clothe yourself with humility If I'm going to tell of the humility of Christ, I must clothe myself with humility He says, for God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at due time, casting all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you

See that? If I'm going to tell of the humility of Christ because he gives grace to the humble, he opposes the proud, I will cast my anxiety upon him See, the proud person doesn't cast his anxiety He crashes under his anxiety But the humble person, he's willing to cast that anxiety upon the Lord because he depends upon the Lord for everything

And Peter, writing 1 Peter chapter 5, takes us back to that eve of the crucifixion when Christ would take a slave's apron, wrap it around him, begin to wash the disciples' feet when they were arguing about who was the greatest in the kingdom because they were all about greatness and Christ was all about humiliation They began to wash their feet He gave them an example, he says, that they should do as he has done unto them And what is that? When adversity is at its apex, you need to be the humblest person in the room And Christ was And Christ would say, blessed are you who live like this

This is your testimony This is your life This is what you're portraying to the world You are testifying to the mercies of Christ You, at the same time, are explaining your identity in Christ And then you are substantiating your security in Christ And now you're telling to the humility of Christ That's your testimony But it goes further because your testimony inspires your loyalty to Christ What? Yeah, your testimony inspires your loyalty to Christ

What's your testimony? I was in darkness, now I'm in light. I was on my way to hell, now I'm going to heaven. I was a slave of Satan and now I'm a servant of the true and living God. I am inspired now to be loyal to Christ That's what your testimony does It inspires my loyalty to Christ Think of Mary of Magdala Remember her? She was filled with seven demons And the Bible tells us that Christ cast out those demons She was filled with demons She went from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high God saved her soul He took her from Satan's domain and put her in his kingdom

And what did she do? She was so loyal to Christ There is no woman in the New Testament more loyal to Christ than Mary of Magdala She was that woman that was with him through his ministry She would go and serve him throughout his ministry She's mentioned 14 times in the gospels And she was the one who was, listen, the last at the cross and the first at the tomb She was so loyal And by the way, who did Christ appear to first? Mary of Magdala That's who he appeared to first She was so devoted to her master So loyal to him Why? Because of what he did My loyalty is based on what Christ did for me

He took me out of my sin He cleansed my soul Now I'm loyal to him That's my testimony That's why Paul was so committed and so loyal to Christ No matter what he found happening to him on the outside He was completely loyal to Christ So at the end of his life, he said, I have run the race. I'm finished. I have fought the good fight. I finished the course He was loyal Your testimony testifies to the mercy of Christ That explains my identity in Christ It substantiates my security in Christ It tells of the humility of Christ It inspires my loyalty to Christ And it magnifies the glory of Christ Wow

It magnifies the glory of Christ In other words, I am going to shine so bright for his glory. I'm going to do things for Christ and not for myself. I'm going to put Christ on display. I'm not going to put myself on display Because my testimony is about the Christ My testimony has nothing to do with me It has everything to do with Jesus Christ, my Lord And so because he's the light of the world, I'm going to light up the world Christ says, you are salt and you are light Therefore, be that light shine bright So others will see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven

We're going to magnify his name That's why the psalmist said in Psalm 34, Oh, magnify the Lord with me Let us exalt his name together. I'm going to put God on display That's my testimony It testifies to the mercy of Christ Explains my identity in Christ Substantiates my security in Christ Tells of the humility of Christ Inspires my loyalty to Christ Magnifies the glory of Christ And listen, get this now It obliges my accountability to Christ In other words, I am grateful to be legally and morally bound to a higher authority

It obliges my accountability to Christ. I know that every man is going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive that which is done in his body, whether it be good or bad. I understand as Romans 14, 12 says that we all will stand accountable before the true and living God. I understand that one day I will be held accountable for my life And I am obliged to do that That's my testimony. I know that all my sin has been judged at the cross And therefore I won't be judged according to my sin But God is going to judge everything And I'll be held accountable to that

And that doesn't worry me That, that, that makes me grateful The Lord said in Matthew chapter 12, by your words you shall be justified, by your words you shall be condemned Why? Because your words are the clearest indicator of your heart's condition Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks And so my testimony obliges my accountability to Christ And the next, it nurtures our unity in Christ It nurtures our unity in Christ

There's something about my testimony that's going to affect everybody in the body of Christ. I'm going to endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace, as Ephesians 4 tells us, because that's what I want to have happen. I'm going to walk in loathiness of mind. I'm going to walk in gentleness. I'm going to submit myself one to another. I'm going to be the kind of person that, that prays for others, that, that loves others, that serves others And so my testimony now is going to nurture our unity in Christ We're longing to be with each other

We can't be with each other because of the pandemic But one day when we gather back together again, and we can really actually nurture one another person to person, face to face Oh wow, that's our testimony And that's what my testimony does It nurtures those of light, precious faith, because I'm magnifying my Christ. I'm loyal to my Christ. I'm telling others of the mercies of Christ. I'm living in humility for Christ That's my testimony And lastly, my testimony yearns for eternity with Christ It yearns for eternity with Christ

Have you ever met a bride who didn't yearn to be with her bridegroom? Never We're the bride of Christ We yearn to be with Christ That's why we pray, Lord, your kingdom come That's why we preach the kingdom That's why we pray for the kingdom to come, because we want his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven We are yearning for the kingdom We are yearning for the king We are yearning to see him face to face, because our testimony is such that we want to magnify his name in heaven We want to sing praises to him forever That's my testimony

And when I'm engaged in that activity, when I'm doing what God wants me to do, when I'm living for him, when I'm actually portraying his life, my life doesn't matter And my anxiety is abolished, because everything is about the Christ. I'm consumed with the Christ who controls everything Therefore, I'm content And I want to live only for him and not for myself You see, the anxious person is anxious because they're living for themselves That's why they're worried If you're living for Christ, you're not worried, because he controls everything And you're resting in him

May we regard our testimony in such a way that we actually and accurately portray the true and living God to a lost world Let me pray with you Father, we are grateful for today So grateful for the opportunity we have to be in your word What a joy What a pleasure We pray, Father, that you would use your word in our lives Ah, there's so much more that we could talk about today So little time to cover it all But Lord, please stir our hearts Move us to action For the glory of your kingdom, we pray in Jesus, Jesus' name Amen.