John Hagee - Stop Worrying and Start Living (Battle For Your Mind)
Listen to saint Paul's command. Saint Paul commanded the New Testament church, "Be anxious for nothing". Say that with me, "Be anxious for nothing". That means don't worry about anything. Let me give you proof that God is in control of planet earth. Consider the flood of Noah, in which God, as the judge of all the earth, proved to humanity that he was the Creator and in total control of this planet. Genesis 7:11, "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, and the seventeenth day of the month, on that exact day all the fountains of the deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened". Translation: water was gushing out of the ground and pouring out of the heaven in torrential rains, because God was judging the world for their forgetting him.
The point is, the flood happened on an exact year, exact month, and exact day with absolute control. On creation's morning, Almighty God flung the glittering stars against the velvet of the night, as celestial evangelists to all of the nations of the world: that there was a Creator whose majesty and might far exceeded the minds of men. It was a demonstration of the grandeur of God. Our God is an all-knowing God. He is all-powerful. He is omnipotent. He calls the stars by name. You get lost calling the names of your children, but God names all of the stars and he calls them by name. The Bible says, he holds the seven seas in the palms of his hand. He measures space with a span of his hand. He weighs the mountains in a scale and the hills in a balance.
Feature in your mind the rocky mountains and God placing them in a scale like you would a grain of dirt. This God has awesome control. On creation morning, he said, "Let there be light," and darkness, both spiritually and physically, were forever defeated! Noah didn't know the day and the hour the flood was coming. But when he had all of the animals on the ark and God shut the door, he knew it wasn't far off. Therefore, we have, as the Bible says, "As it was in the days of Noah," evidence that Christ is coming. That physical, historical, prophetic evidence is that Israel is now a state. That is the premier: that Jerusalem has been reunited to Israel: that the knowledge explosion of Daniel 12 that he says will be, has been for the last 100 years. There is absolutely nothing prophetically that must be fulfilled.
Here is what's going to happen in a snapshot. The trump of God is going to sound. The dead in Christ are going rise from their graves all over the earth. We who are alive and remain shall be caught up to be with the Lord in the air. We're going to the new Jerusalem that God has created for the righteous. Get ready. Get ready! As soon as we leave, there's going to be an economic collapse, because the people paying taxes have left. War is going to cover the earth. There will be a man come out of Europe. He will be a living devil. The Bible says, he is the son of Satan. He is the antichrist. If you do not take his Mark, he will cut your head off. You want someone to understand you? Try that for a while. There are going to be seven years of hell on this earth. The Bible calls it "The Great Tribulation," twenty-one global tragedies that are going to happen in sequence in seven years. You don't want to go through that.
Russia, China, and Iran, and Turkey will be utterly destroyed by the hand of God at Armageddon, because God is going to protect Israel and the Jewish people with his righteous might. At the end of those seven years of hell on earth, Jesus Christ is going to return to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. We will be following him, mounted on white horses, and come to the City of Jerusalem. And we're going to establish a kingdom, the golden age of peace, the millennial reign, a thousand years of perfect peace. And of his kingdom, there shall be no end. Why worry? God's in total control. I've got good news for you. It's going to get worse before it gets better. But brother, when it gets better, it's going to be wonderful instantly and forever!
God's in charge of your life if you will allow him to be. Is your life in a state of chaos and confusion? Are you stressed out? Are you constantly depressed? Is your life constantly difficult? Have you given up hope and surrendered to hopelessness, anxiety, fear, depression? Why? Some of you are watching fake news and it turns your world upside down. Shut it off! It's nothing but propaganda to start with. Hear the words of saint Paul. "Be anxious for nothing". Say that with me. "Be anxious for nothing". Jesus conducted a stress seminar in Matthew 6. The Lord says, "Take no thought," "Don't be anxious," "Don't worry". Verse 25: don't worry about life. It's the Greek word "Suke," which means physical life. Verse 27: which of you by worrying can add one cubit? That's a dimension of length to your life. Verse 28: why do you worry? Verse 31: do not worry about food and drink. Do not worry about tomorrow. It's the Greek word for don't start worrying. And then there are two Greek words that say, "Stop worrying".
So, the message is stop worrying and start living. Why? Because God is your Father. He has 3,000 promises in this book that he has given just for you. He is your provider. He is your healer. He is your defender. He is your rock. He is your high tower. He is your shield. He is your buckler. He is your all in all. His name is Jehovah Jireh. He is the God who is there. When he is there when you need him, he's good all the time. His angels go before you and behind you to prepare your way. The president of the United States has secret service. But you are surrounded by the angels of God! You cannot be defeated! Give the Lord praise in the house!
God, your Father, guides and provides. "He leads in paths of righteousness for his name's sake". David said, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures... He restoreth my soul". Don't worry. Don't worry, because God cannot fail. Don't worry, because he makes streams in the desert of your days. Don't worry. In your darkest night, he is still the light of the world. Ever notice how worry comes at a bad time? It comes at a time of crisis. Just when you need a clear mind and steady nerves to make a great decision, here comes worry like a dark cloud to hide the sun. Like a leech, it drains you of your creative ability to think. Worry is a killer. It makes cowards out of aggressive men. It fills the face with wrinkles in apprehension. Ladies, worry will wrinkle your face. It paralyzes the mind so that you cannot produce a better idea in a moment when you have a great problem. It robs your body of rest at night. It sends you to work shattered and shaky and second rate, on the naked edge.
Again, medical science is saying worry produces heart disease, high blood pressure, ulcers. It's not what you're eating: it's what's eating you that's the problem. Hmmm. Listen. Worry has sent millions of Bible-believing Christians to the cemetery before their time, who were supposed to know the Prince of Peace. "Do not worry," words of Jesus. "Take no thought," "Let not your heart be troubled". Who is in control of that? You! Almighty God has declared, "I am God and I cannot fail". I am God: "I will never leave you nor forsake you". I am God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. I have defeated your enemies already. I've already solved the problems that are in your future: just walk it out. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Shout for joy in the day of adversity. "Clap your hands, o ye people: shout unto God with a voice of triumph". Because the Lord God of Israel is in the house, nothing can defeat you. No enemy can mount attack against you. Give the Lord praise in the house.
Worry is practical atheism. Worry proves you don't believe God can take care of you. He said, "Look at these sparrows in the field. They don't worry. They know that I am taking care of them". Worry is faith in fear. It's not a compliment, really, to be called a person of great faith. Why? We serve a great God who has never failed. It takes no faith to believe in something that never fails. Two words in Jesus' ministry is "Fear not". Fear not your past. Your past is forgiven, and it's forgotten. Your sins, whatever they are, are buried in the deepest sea never to be remembered against you anymore.
One thing God cannot do is remember sin washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Think about that. Think about that. If that was all Christianity had, it would be the greatest thing in the world. Fear not the present. "I will never leave you nor forsake you". Joshua 1:9, "Be not afraid: for God is with you wherever you go". David said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil". Why? Because "You are with me". Listen to me. Death is a bus ticket to glory. Don't be afraid of it. You don't really die. You close your eyes here and open your eyes in heaven. Your last breath here is your first breath in the presence of God.
Hebrews 13:6: the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can do to me. God sends you problems so you can see his power. Fear not sickness. He is the great physician, and the healer is in this house. Right now, he can heal you. Fear not poverty. It is the Lord that gives you the power to get wealth. Fear not other people. The Bible says, "I will make your enemies to be at peace with you". I will make your enemies to be at peace with you. I will drown Pharaoh at your feet if necessary. You will climb the impossible mountain. You will defeat the undefeatable foe. David said, "I will fear no evil". Why? "Because God is with me". He killed Goliath with a slingshot, because he was confident in the victory that he had in Christ. Give the Lord praise in the house.
Listen. Worry is trust in the unpleasant. It's assurance that disaster is coming. It's belief in defeat and despair. Worry is a polluted stream that surges through the mind that drowns optimism. Hope and faith are drowned in doubt. Worry is interest paid on trouble that never has happened to you. One old man said, "Most of the trouble I've had in life never happened". And that's true. What do you worry about? The average husband worries about what his wife spends and what the government spends. The difference is he's not afraid to criticize the government. You are unique. When you were born, the genius of God exploded. You are a divine original. There's no one on the earth like you. You have a divine assignment. Do it, because you are God's masterpiece! Give the Lord praise!
Lift your head. Square your shoulders. Act like it. Talk like it. Live like it. You are royalty. You're a child of the King of kings. You are kings and priests unto God. You are ambassadors for Christ. You are somebody! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God! Paul said, "Stop comparing yourselves among yourselves". Say that with me. "Stop comparing yourselves among yourselves". Have you ever gone to a class reunion? Class reunions are really comparison carnivals. Fifty years ago, you left young and beautiful. Now you come back with bulges, bunions, and bifocals. Yeah. The absolute joy of a class reunion is to discover that the ones who were voted most likely to succeed, didn't. Don't worry about what you can't change. Never worry about it.
Have you ever laid in bed on a cold winter night, cold and shivering, and there's a blanket that's just six-feet away, but you don't want to get up? You don't want to move. It's easier to lay there and worry for the rest of the night. The answer and the solution is, do something about it. Tell your wife to get up and get it. O-ho-ho. I say it again, you can never change what you will not confront. I want you to listen to this very, very, very closely. There are people in this audience and people watching by television whose lives are being controlled by relationships that must be changed. Every relationship in your life is moving you toward your dream or away from it. The Holy Spirit, right now, is showing you changes you must make to accomplish your divine destiny. Your struggle is proof you have not been conquered. Take action. God will show you and you will accomplish things that will stagger your imagination, because you have a destiny that only you can reach for the Kingdom of God.
Why did Jesus say not to worry about water? Jesus had two-thirds of his ministry around the Sea of Galilee, because when you go to Israel, to this day, the Sea of Galilee is the only source of water for Israel. No water, no crops. No crops, no money. No money, no food, poverty, famine, starvation. Water is essential to life. Jesus was talking to farmers. And when he said to farmers and fisherman, "Don't worry about water," here's what he was saying: I can supply absolutely everything you need. And that's what God is saying to you this morning right now in this message. I can supply absolutely anything you need for you to accomplish your destiny. For everything that I've assigned you to do, I will make a way for you to do that. I have a divine assignment for you, and I want you to accomplish it. But I need you to do these things. Don't worry about your enemies: for greater is he that's within you than he that's within the world.
Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered. Don't worry about your fears: for it is the Lord is the strength of my life: of whom shall I be afraid? Jesus gave us three cheers. "Be of good cheer: your sins be forgiven thee". "Be of good cheer... Be not afraid". "Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world". Paul said, "Rejoice in the Lord. And again I say, rejoice"! King David said, "This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it". If you woke up this morning and didn't read your name in the obituary column, it's a great day! "Ask, and you shall receive: seek, and you shall find". "Whatsoever you ask the Father", listen, "He will do it".
Do you need a new beginning? God's all about new beginnings. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away: and behold, all things have become new". You can have a new nature. You can have a new name. You can have a new home in the new Jerusalem. Do you need to feel loved? "God is love". Do you need hope? He's the God of all hope. The Bible says, "Hope thou in God". Say that with me. "Hope thou in God". Do you need comfort? He's the God of all comfort. Do you feel rejected and need a friend? He's the friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Do you feel defeated? We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. He is the Lord of hosts. He is the lion of Judah. He is the Lord of glory. He is the light of the world. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is an awesome God, the Waymaker, the Chain Breaker, the Prince of Peace. Stop worrying! Give him praise in the house of God!
Worry is a rat. I read a story of an aviator making a flight around the world. And he stopped every four hours at selected landing fields. On one leg of his journey, two hours from the selected landing field, exactly halfway, he heard the noise in his plane, and he recognized it as the gnawing of a rat. Not knowing which delicate indicators would be sabotaged by the sharp teeth of that rat, he began to worry. Then he remembered that a rat is a rodent. It was not made for the heights. He was made to live on the ground and in deep, dark holes. So he nosed his plane higher and higher and higher until the gnawing stopped. And two hours later when the plane landed safely, a dead rat fell out of the cockpit. The point is, worry is a rat. When you hear it gnawing into your mind, remember that it cannot live in the secret place of the Most High. It cannot breathe. It cannot breathe in the atmosphere of confidence and faith. If your life's course has been altered by crisis, by stress, or by worry, by the need to change, climb, climb on the wings of faith into the very presence of the living God. Feel his peace. Feel his assurance. Feel his touch. Experience his love and know that worry will die and victory is yours! Give him praise in the house of God!
Can we stand together? How many of you in this room right now, there are things in your life that worry you, that stress you out, that concern you until you can't sleep properly? You need to be liberated from anxiety where you're worried about the future, the past, the present, your health, your children, the job, finances, business, our national security, whatever it is. It's taking peace, love and joy away from you. If that describes you, would you slip your hand up? I'm going to pray for you right now. Those of you, who are watching by television, extend your hand toward the television screen. And I want you to pray with me audibly.
Heavenly Father, in the authority of Jesus' name, I come into your presence, and I ask you to liberate me from the spirit of fear and worry. Let me leave this assembly today confident that we are more than conquerors through Christ, who strengthens us. This is a great day. I am liberated to be filled with love, joy, peace in the Holy Spirit to reach my destiny, in Jesus' name.