Creflo Dollar - Overcoming Loneliness
If you have your Bibles, go with me to the Book of Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 6; and let's look at it in the NLT first, and then the Message. Deuteronomy 31 and verse 6. You know, I began to study this out and I realized that this is a crack that Satan is using to try to distract people, to cause you to lose focus in your life, to get you to a place where he can ultimately wipe you out, and to destroy you.
Now, I know that you may think by me talking about loneliness that well, you understand what I'm saying, but I was amazed as I got deeper and deeper in this thing to understand that my understanding of loneliness was off and it was as most people think it would be. I thought it was just isolation. It does have something to do, but it's bigger than that. I want to start off and use as a text Deuteronomy 31 and 6, and then Matthew 28, and then we'll begin. Deuteronomy 31 and 6 says, "So be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you".
Now, that's a promise that he made. He says, "I'm going to go ahead, I'm going to personally go ahead of you, and I won't fail you and neither will I abandon you". That's a promise of God that we've got to stick with. And look at this in the Message; Deuteronomy 31:6. He says, "Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give them a second thought because God your God is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't leave you. He won't let you down". Now notice this: "And he won't leave you".
Now, go back to, back up. He says here, first of all, that God is striding ahead of you. So whatever is ahead of you, says God's already there taking care of business. Secondly, he's right there with you. So he's not only ahead of you, but he's right there with you. Thirdly, he won't let you down. That's an assurance there. And then the last one, he won't leave you. Now, you know, when you're talking about loneliness, you cannot forget about God's promise. Obviously, God must have understood that loneliness was going to be an issue in your Christian life; and like he promised, he has gone ahead of us. He has made provisions for us. He has accepted the commitment to take care of us.
And you read these Scriptures and say, "Wow, why these great promises"? Because God understood that loneliness would be something that the enemy was going to try to use to get victory in and over your life. Now, look at Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20 and you begin to see the promise of Jesus here. Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, "And Jesus came and he spake unto them, saying, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go you therefore,'" because all power has been given unto me, "Go you therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you". And he says, "And lo, I'm with you, even unto the end of the world, amen".
Now, he talks about all the power he's been given. He talks about teaching and sharing these things, but then at the end of all of this, he says, he makes this statement: "Remember I am with you even to the end of the world". Which lets me think is that if there's any way that Satan will try to attack you to stop you from ministering the Word or carrying out the will of God for your life, that Jesus knew that somehow maybe loneliness would be a distraction, and he says at the end of this, after he says all this, he says, "Now, I don't want you to forget I am going to be with you even unto the end of the world".
So obviously, there are some situations here. And one of the things that I want to do is just step back a little bit and say, "All right, so what do we have in the world today? What's going on in the world today"? Well, loneliness may be, and I believe it is. It may be the number one emotional problem in our world today. Lonely people are everywhere. Lonely people are in theaters. Lonely people are in restaurants and diners. Lonely people, watch this, they're in churches. Lonely people are in cities. Lonely people, listen to this, are in big crowds.
A recent survey of US adults was given, and the YouGov poll found that 30% of Millennials said they always or often feel lonely, compared to 20% of Generation X and just 15% of Baby Boomers. But the survey also identified that of all Americans, 40% of Americans deal with and say that they are lonely. And then it was interesting that this survey discovered that the loneliest age group ranges between 16 years and 24 years old. So that means that young people are the loneliest age group in America according to the survey.
Now, that doesn't mean that they're the only group, but according to the survey, you know, they're the loneliest. And, you know, for a lot of reasons, it may be if Millennials are not participating in church or relationship with God as other generations or not that involved in politics or really engaged into the social media age. But yet and still, that's what we have. And I believe that it's much larger than that. I believe that if you begin to look at it, that if you can remove the phoniness from Christian people, you'll find out that there is a great percentage of loneliness in the church.
And so while you may be holding on to your idea or your definition of what loneliness is, let's go ahead and talk about it. What is loneliness? Well, one of the best ways to really dig in on something and understand it is before we define loneliness and talk about what loneliness is and what it means, let's talk about what loneliness is not and what it does not mean. What it... let's talk about the other side, the opposite, what it's not before we talk about what it is.
So number one, loneliness does not mean the same thing as solitude or being alone. See, I thought that loneliness was just all about being alone. I found out you can be alone, you can be lonely around a whole bunch of people, and what we've got to understand is that loneliness does not mean the same as solitude. Sometimes it's good to be alone. Solitude just simply means being alone, and I am saying that loneliness does not mean the same thing as solitude. You see, we all have to be alone at times, and sometimes being alone is good. Being alone with God is good. Sometimes being alone to rest is good. Sometimes being alone from the drama is good, but it's not the same thing as being lonely.
You know, at this time, there are certain times that this is good for us, like I said. But Jesus set the example here in John chapter 6, verse 15. Jesus sets this example as he stepped away from some things to be alone, showing us that the problem, by stepping away from some things to be alone, there is no problem with that. He says, "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone". So he wasn't lonely, but he departed in solitude. And so loneliness is not the same thing as solitude. That's the point I want to make.
Number two, loneliness is not being lonesome, if you've heard that phrase before, "I'm lonesome". Loneliness is not the same thing as being lonesome. This is when we miss a loved one who has gone temporarily, but we know he or she will return, or we know that they'll be back. So I'm lonesome because maybe that person's gone for 2 weeks. So I'm lonesome because maybe, you know, this person's, you know, in the military. I'm lonesome, but that doesn't mean the same as lonely. To be lonesome doesn't mean the same as lonely.
Number three, loneliness is not isolation. Now, this is the most familiar definition of loneliness. Loneliness is not isolation. We can be lonely, like I said, in a crowd. You are not isolated. You know, there's a saying that a city is a place where hundreds of people are lonely together. Lonely people can be found in the crowd. They can be found in the park stadiums. They can be found in arenas. They can be found in churches. And yes, they can even be found in pulpits, whoa.
Loneliness is not isolation. Loneliness is not being lonesome. Loneliness is not solitude. Let me tell you what else loneliness is not. Loneliness is not a sin, but it's a part of our imperfect humanity. It's a part that shows up as the result of being a fallen man, our imperfect humanity. Some of the greatest saints in the Bible suffered from a feeling of loneliness. And so, you know, I want to show you three of them at least. In Moses's case, look at Numbers chapter 11, verses 15, and then we'll go to verse 14. But Moses desired to kill himself.
Now, think about this. Moses desired to kill himself. Look at verse 15. "And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness". Now you would ask, "Why would Moses ask God to kill him"? He says, "If I got any favor in your sight, kill me". Why would he ask this? Well, the answer is in verse 14. He says, "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me". So he felt alone because he's like, "I can't handle this big responsibility". And as a result of it, look at the frame of mind that loneliness put Moses in. "Kill me, kill me". And so Moses felt as if he were facing life and facing this challenge all alone.
Look at Elijah. You know Elijah wanted to die in 1 Kings chapter 19, and 4? Look at 1 king 19:4, and then verse 10. In 1 Kings 19, and 4 he says, "But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die and said, 'It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.'" Why? I mean, this anointed man of God, why was this the request? Well, move on down to verse 10. And he says, "And he said, 'I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altar, slain thy prophets with the swords; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.'"
Elijah, he reveals that he felt alone, but not only alone, but it was more loneliness, and I'll show you as we go on. And he wanted to kill himself. And you know about the Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 16. Think about this: loneliness positions a person to want to commit suicide. Loneliness commissions a person to go through this type of trauma. Second Timothy chapter 4:16, "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge". And so here's Paul saying, "There is loneliness taking place with me because there is nobody to stand with me". He says, "There is loneliness that takes prey of me because I'm looking around, I thought I had somebody to have my back, and they forsook me".
Loneliness, now notice, loneliness now comes as a result of what Paul identifies here, being forsaken and feeling like nobody has his back. I think it's time now to define it. What is loneliness? Listen to me carefully. Loneliness is an inward feeling. It's an inward emotion. That it's a feeling that we are unneeded, uncared for, unwanted, and unnoticed. Now notice loneliness means that I feel like I'm not needed. I feel like I'm not cared for. I feel like I'm not wanted. I feel like I'm not noticed.
Now, that's deep, that's heavy, that's heavy. It's more than just being alone. It's an emotion. It's more than being alone. It's a feeling. And if you've ever gotten yourself in a position where you feel like you are not wanted, you feel like you are not needed, you feel like you are not cared for, you feel like you are not noticed, if you don't understand how to focus in on the right thing, this will take you down a path that you don't want to go, this will take you down, if you don't deal with that, it'll take you down a path where you are thinking about death all the time; you are becoming all kinds of emotional wreck, a feeling, an inward feeling that, "I'm not needed, I'm not cared for, I'm not wanted, I'm not noticed".
Look at this Scripture in Psalms 102, verse 7 in the New King James Version; Psalms 102, verse 7 in the New King James Version. And these are all feelings that maybe all of us have had one time or another. And I can show you why and how we got out of that. Psalms 102 and verse 7, the New King James Version, he says, "I lie awake, and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop". Now, I want you to think about this. This Scripture is saying, I mean, look at what the Psalmist was thinking here: "What's more insignificant than a sparrow, first of all". And then he says, "This sparrow is unnoticed. This sparrow is isolated. This sparrow is unwanted. This sparrow is alone on the house top".
And that's the way that Psalmist felt about his own life, wow. And then if you go to Psalms 38, and 11 in the regular King James, and then in the NLT, Psalms 38, and 11, this inward feeling, not being wanted, not being needed, not being cared for, not even being noticed, he says, "My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen," or my neighbors, "stand afar off". Look at this in the NLT. He says, "My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease".
So one of the things you're going to see is that if you don't deal with loneliness, this can cause you to be dis-ease because it is dis-easement. Loneliness is dis-easement, and it can cause disease in your life. "My loved ones and my friends stay away, fearing my disease. Even my family stands at a distance". So understanding that loneliness is much more than feeling lonesome, much more than isolation, it's not sin, but it can open the door for destruction in your life.
Loneliness is a crippling force. Loneliness is a disabling force. It's not something that we should just kind of brush off. It is a crippling, disabling force. Now, I'll tell you why. Because God created us as human beings, we are all human beings, but I'm going to tell you why it can be a crippling, disabling force. Because all humans have three basic needs that every human has to have. In other words, you know, you can go around saying, "I don't need that". You do. Every human needs these three basic needs, and without them, there is going to be some problems. And I'll show it to you in Scripture.
The first basic need, and this is according to Job chapter 19 and 19, the first basic need that every human needs is a need to love and share that love with others, a need to love and to share that love with others. Job in 19:19 he says, "All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I love are turned against me". And so this is a human basic need. It is a need to love and it is a need to share that love with other people. And so when you don't deal with loneliness, you are avoiding exactly one of those or all three of those basic needs that I'm about to share with you, and they will be crippling in your life.
Now, the second basic need, a need for someone to understand you. Job chapter 19, verse 15 and 21, a need for someone to understand you. Now, maybe you've not thought about this before, but you know, if there are issues going on with your life emotionally, these may be some of the areas. It's a need for someone to understand you. And Job 19, verse 15; and then 21, he says that, "They dwell in my house, and my maids count me for a stranger". Wow, stranger in your house, "And I'm an alien in their sight". Verse 21, "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O you, my friends; for the hand of God has touched me". I mean, think of this, man, that you feel so misunderstood or there's no one that understands you to the point where you feel like a stranger in your own house and amongst your own friends. There is a basic need for someone to understand you. There is a basic need for you to love and to be able to share that love with someone.
Here is the third basic human need. Number three, according to Job 19:14: a need to be needed and wanted. That is a human basic need; a need to be needed and wanted. This is probably one of the number one areas of what men suffer from. It is that need to be needed and to be wanted. And in Job chapter 19, verse 14 he says, "My kinsfolks have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me". This is expressing the lack of that basic need; the need to be needed and the need to be wanted.
Sometimes, you know, if you don't understand loneliness, and don't deal with it, and you just can't put your finger on it, that's why I'm teaching this right now today, is, you are walking around life and you are walking around in such frustration, such sadness, such distress, maybe leading to depression because you just don't understand that it's not just, well, you're selfish, is these are basic needs. Every human on the planet has a need to love and to share that love with others. Every human on the planet has a need for someone to understand them. Every human on the planet has a need to be needed and to be wanted.
And so, many people are not having these needs met. And what happens when these needs are not met? Well, it produces an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. It produces an overwhelming feeling, not just loneliness, but all of the attachments of loneliness. It produces an overwhelming feeling of loneliness, of rejection, and of isolation, loneliness. When these three basic needs are not met, loneliness, rejection, and isolation will be the birth of it. It will be the result of it, and so one of the things that I want to look at before I get back in the Word here is what causes loneliness. What causes loneliness? I mean, I know that if you don't meet these three basic needs, then I know that it will produce an overwhelming feeling of loneliness, I know that, but let's look at some causes that you might be able to relate with.
In 2 Timothy chapter 4:6, let's see what Paul discovered here. The first cause of loneliness, watch this, it comes from transitions. Any kinda transition in your life, any new experience you have found will create or has a tendency to create loneliness. Paul says here, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand". There's transitioning going on in his life. He's growing older, and growing older is a series, you know, has a series of changes, and any change can produce loneliness.
You know, moving schools can produce loneliness. Moving in a new home, a new country, having a new job, a divorce or separation. Any kinda transition produces loneliness. Gradually losing your sight. Gradually you losing your hearing, your mobility. Any of those things can lead to loneliness. The death of a loved one, that's a transition, it's lonely. Any new experience we have to deal with is going to create loneliness, and Paul asked Timothy to come and visit him because he knows his time is short and he is lonely.
Number two... so, the first one, the first cause, I believe, out of this is transition, loneliness that comes from transitions, any type of transitions that take place in your life. You can move in a new neighborhood and feel a sense of loneliness that will come there. The second cause: loneliness that comes from separation. Loneliness that comes from separation. 2 Timothy chapter 4:9, look at what happened here. 2 Timothy 4:9, Loneliness that comes from separation. He says, "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me". So, you know, being separated, Paul, from his friends, you know, or family, that caused loneliness, and he was really urging Timothy to come. Paul says to Timothy, "Do your best to come to me quickly".
Now, Paul is lonely because he's separated from his friends, and if you look in verse 13, same chapter, 2 Timothy 4, verse 13, he says, "The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou cometh, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments," or the parchments were the piece of paper that were being written on. So, he was ready to impart and to share some things, but, man, he wanted to resolve. He was fighting against this loneliness because of separation. Loneliness from separation, separation from your friends or separation from your family, can cause loneliness.
And here's the third cause: from opposition. Now, I know about this one. Loneliness from opposition. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 14, look at what he says here in verse 14, and we'll talk about this. "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil," Paul said. "The Lord reward him according to his works". Now, I don't know if Alexander was saying some crazy things about him. I don't know if he was, you know, putting out some bad words, was persecuting him. Paul, in other words, says, "Not only am I getting old and sitting here alone in prison," he says, "but I'm also being persecuted. I'm also being persecuted".
You know, it's a lonely feeling to be misunderstood. It's a lonely feeling to be embarrassed and to be humiliated. It was something that I felt every time somebody would put me on the news, or they would misunderstand that, or get the wrong information about that. It's a lonely feeling. Yeah, I know what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 5:11 and 12. I'll read it to you. "Well, Brother Dollar, it shouldn't be a lonely feeling". Here's what the Bible says. I'm very aware of Matthew 5:11 and 12. He says, "Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake". Verse 12, "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you".
I understand that, but it doesn't necessarily take away the loneliness. I understand that, you know, that what Bible says, that I'm blessed when I'm persecuted, but it doesn't necessarily take away the loneliness. And I had to deal with that fact. You know, I quoted that Scripture when I was going through stuff, when I was being persecuted. I quoted that and stood on that, okay? That probably helped me a whole lot, but it still didn't stop the loneliness from coming in.
Number four, loneliness that comes from rejection. Now, this is the worst form, loneliness that comes from rejection. 2 Timothy 4:16, I wanna read that one more time. 2 Timothy chapter 4:16. He says, "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge". Notice what he said. "No man stood with me". He said, "They all forsook me". This is the form of loneliness that causes us the most pain, the loneliness of rejection. What is that? It's when you feel as though you've been betrayed or forsaken in your time of need by those closest to you, and Paul felt forsaken. He says of his trial before Nero, here's what he said, "At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me".
Now, you can almost hear the pain in Paul's voice when he talks about the loneliness that came as a result of rejection. Rejection is one of the most difficult things for us to handle, whether it is as children on the school playground, as a teen at a gathering, or as a spouse in a marriage, and that's why divorce is so painful and why God hates it. It's an act of abandoning and an act of forsakening, and it's very, very painful. And I know some of you have been or some of you might be there at this very moment, but God has created us for communion. God has created us for fellowship. God has created us for friendship, and that's why we need acceptance. That's why we need communication. That's why we need love.
And some people try to deal with loneliness by becoming workaholics, and that's not gonna work. That eventually will take its toll, and you won't be able to continue with that. And also, some people try to deal with it through materialism, trying to substitute, you know, materials for some type of way to be healed or to feel better. So, I wanted you to have those four causes so as we dig deep into this message there are some practical things. I didn't wanna get so deep with you today that you missed the practical part. I don't want you to just put a cover over this and not see this, because it can be a dreadful downfall, and Satan can continue to take advantage and open a door that hasn't been opened in your life.
Now, look at Job 17 and verse 7 in the New Living Translation. As I said before, loneliness can cripple and disable a person emotionally and physically. Job chapter 17, verse 7 in the New Living Translation. He says this, Job 17:7, "My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self". Look at that in The Message translation as well, because, you know, I asked the Lord, "Why are his eyes swollen"? And it's 'cause he was crying so much. Look at what he said in verse 6 and 7. He says, "God, you've made me the talk of the town, people spit in my face; I can hardly see from crying so much; I'm nothing but skin and bones".
Look at the stress. Look at the crippling and the disabling effect. Look at the physical effects that comes on a person because they have no idea how to deal with the crippling, disabling issues of loneliness emotionally and physically. First of all, emotionally. You know, few hurts are deeper than loneliness, and people don't recognize that, it's like, "I'mma be all right". No, no, no, few hurts are deeper than loneliness. Loneliness hurts, it can be so devastating, it is a leading cause of suicide, and people feel alone with nobody to turn to. You know, that challenges me as a human being to be a little bit more sensitive to people that I come across.
That challenges me even as a pastor of a church to be sensitive to people that may move in our community, in our neighborhood, and they may be looking at a first stage of loneliness because of the transition. That loneliness comes as a result of that. It does something to me as an individual to say, "I need to be a little bit more aware of what's going on in the lives of people". And then, physically, some say that 50% of heart patients were lonely and depressed before their heart attacks, that they were lonely, fifty percent, that they were lonely or depressed before their heart attacks.
And so, what are some common effects of loneliness? Loneliness can lead to immoral relationships. You wanna know where that comes from or where that starts from? People look for acceptance. People look for intimacy and a relationship to fill that empty void, but now listen to me carefully. All of the physical contact in the world cannot fill an empty, lonely heart, so be careful not to think that an immoral relationship is gonna be the answer to an empty, lonely heart. I understand the desire to wanna go and you're looking for acceptance, you're looking for intimacy, you're looking for a relationship to fill that empty void, but physical contact, all the physical contact in the world, cannot fill an empty and a lonely heart. There is an answer. We're not there yet, but there is an answer. I'll tell you it's Jesus, amen?
Here's another effect of loneliness. It can impact our finances. What? Yeah, loneliness can impact our finances. How? By producing materialism. Now, materialism doesn't mean having materials. Materialism is when instead of you going to God to help you deal with your issue, you believe that going shopping or getting materials can help you deal with your issue, and now you're putting materials in the place of God. You feel that "you know, I can put materials in place of God, and materials will help me to feel better".
You see, lonely people will sometimes go on a shopping spree, thinking that purchasing certain items will give 'em an emotional lift, and many times people who abuse credit cards and end up deep in debt are lonely people. And so, the effects of loneliness not only will produce immoral relationships, but effect of loneliness will also produce an impact on your finances, taking you to materialism, replacing God with materials, thinking that those materials can help you to feel better than what God can help you feel.
Number three, here's another effect of loneliness. It can cause us to question our worth. It can cause us to question our worth to God and our worth to others. It causes us to question our value and our worth to God and our value and our worth to others. We no longer see ourselves through the lens of God's Word and who we are in Christ. You know what happens? Satan loves to blind us to our exalted position in Christ. He does not want you to see your identity in Christ. He does not want you to see your exalted position in Christ, and so what happens? Through loneliness causing you to question your value and your worth to God and your value and your worth to other people.
You see how important this is? You know, I've even heard stories about, well, you know, when older people lose a spouse and, you know, your grandfather grieves literally to death after the passing of a loved one. The common thread of suicide, the common thread of suicide, listen to me carefully, and this has just been coming up a whole lot. The common thread to suicide is this: nobody cares. Nobody cares. If you're watching me this morning and that's been a reoccurring theme in your thinking, if you're watching me this morning and that keeps kinda coming up in your thinking, I first of all want you to know God cares, I care, and somebody does care. But sometimes what happens is, you know, nobody really knows what you're going through. That I pray that you can get the courage that it takes to let somebody know what you're going through.
Don't allow this echo to reside in your mind, "Nobody cares. Nobody cares, nobody cares," because that's not true. God cares, God cares, somebody cares, somebody cares. But, man, if you can go along and put on that good show and perfect phoniness, and sometimes it's not nobody cares. It's sometime nobody know, nobody knows. "Well, they ought to know". Well, nobody reads minds. Nobody reads minds, and you gotta talk, you've got to open up, you've got to share, you gotta say some things. I know it's difficult. It's difficult because it's called being vulnerable, and you know that when you choose to become vulnerable, you know there's a chance that somebody could hurt you so bad. That vulnerability can also cause a great deal of pain, and that's a risk, but you gotta take that risk.
Someone says, "I don't feel safe taking that risk". I hear you loud and clear, but somehow, someway you're gonna have to deal with that emotion, because the enemy will take it and he will let that echo go, "Nobody cares, nobody cares, nobody cares," loneliness. Here's the good news I'm getting to now. Somebody feel like, "Oh, my God, you just keep telling"... No, the first thing I wanna say about loneliness is it is a defeated foe. Loneliness is a defeated foe.
Look at John 15, verses 15 through 17. I wanted to go that deep so you can see how serious it is, so you can see it's not just isolation. You're thinking it's just isolation. It's so much deeper than that. It is something that Satan has been using to wreck lives, wreck marriages, take people out, and, you know, we hadn't heard about it, so we didn't know how to release faith in this area. Hadn't heard about it, so we're defeated in this area. It's a conquered foe. It is a conquered enemy.
John 15, verse 15 through 17 says, "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servants knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you," what? "Friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you". "You're my friend". "You have not chosen me," check it out, "but I have chosen you," man, that's a good thing to rehearse. "God's chosen me, God's chosen me". "And he's ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he will do it, and he will give it to you," that's powerful. Verse 17, same chapter, he says, "These things I command you, that you love one another".
Now, the enemy will use the emotion of loneliness to disrupt your focus so that you're not paying attention to what Jesus has promised. He's called me friend. He's called me friend, and he said, "You didn't choose me. I chose you". But somebody thinks, "Well, you know, that's Jesus". Listen, honey, sometimes that's the only one you got, sometimes, when it comes to talking to someone and talking about something that you may be too ashamed or too embarrassed to talk about, sometimes Jesus is the only one you have, but I tell you what. He said he chose you. He said he calls you friend, and he's real. He is as real as anybody you're seated next to. He sent the Holy Spirit to have intimate dwelling on the inside of you.
There's no friend in this physical world that can do you and be the kinda friend that Jesus has committed to be in your life. There is a seat in your heart that only Jesus desires to occupy, glory to God. So, there's some truth from God's Word that will help us conquer and overcome loneliness. Now, let's get in the Word. Let's defeat this. Look at Colossians chapter 1 and verse 21. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 21. He says, "And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works," he says, "yet now hath he reconciled".
So, here's the good news: we've been reconciled back to God. We were enemies to God because of the sin that took place in the Garden of Eden, and God showed up, through Jesus, to restore that friendship, so because of Jesus my friendship with God has been restored. Praise God, that I've been reconciled to God, and he is no longer imputing sin and trespasses upon me. Praise God, I have a friend. Romans chapter 8, verses 9 through 11. Let's take a look at this. Romans chapter 8, verse 9 and 11, and I'm gonna spend the rest of the time just feeding you Scripture, man.
Romans 8:9-11, he says, "But you are not in the flesh, but you're in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his". Verse 10, "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness". Verse 11, "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwell in you".
I'm telling you, you have a friend that lives in you. He walks with you. When you go to bed, he's there with you. There's nowhere you're gonna go without him. Colossians chapter 1:27. Colossians chapter 1:27. Yes, you go to the Word, you go to the Word. Verse 27, "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles". What is the mystery? He says, "Which is Christ in you, the earnest expectation of glory". Christ in you is the reason why you can expect manifestation in your life. Christ in you is the reason why you can expect to be delivered from loneliness and to shut down the door that the enemy has been coming in and reaping havoc in your life.