Be still and know that I am God (Sound mind special)

Psalm 46 tells us be still and know that I am God. Be still and know. How much time out of your day or week do you spend take that time to be still? How often do you know or realize or comprehend what it means to say that he is God? Now, I had to use up some of my annual leave, that's vacation time from my job before it runs out and it resets for another year. And I was very fortunate that one of my days fell on a very warm t-shirt day. That doesn't happen very often in Britain, so you really have to make the most of it. You have to use it or lose it when it happens. So, I took myself out for the day. And I'm very fortunate to live in a city that is right next to a national park. So, I am just a bus ride away from uh some very beautiful places and quaint old English villages and countryside. Now, the footage that you see isn't actually on on set. I kept messing it up. Uh I tried to record this video last year, completely forgot to edit it. Took it again yesterday and just kept messing it up, so I'm just doing it again, but I'm going to show you some overlays. So, the footage that you see is of a really beautiful town called Matlock and just south of it is a valley called Matlock Bath, which is wedged between some very tight cliffs. And there's some really enjoyable walks through the woods around the cliffs. And it's nice and quiet, not too many people around. The valley itself does get a bit busy with people having a day out, uh families taking their children to the or on a pedal boat ride and restaurants and arcades. And it's also rather popular with motorcycle riders, which even in the quiet woods is a rather annoying sound that tends to fill the entire valley. That's partly why my recording is also getting getting messed up. Now, I appreciate that some of you may not be in a position where you can just take yourself away for a day, especially if you've got wife and kids or various family commitments and things like that. Now, perhaps you may be restricted to something that's more akin to praying in the closet like Jesus spoke about. Or perhaps some of you it is probably just in your car. >> [sighs and gasps] >> It's a very curious thing that we have more automation than at any other time in history. And yet, many of us who are employed are just so busy we can't seem to find lots of spare time in the day. Americans and Asians particularly work incredibly long hours. Now, in Europe we perhaps have a bit more of a balanced work-life lifestyle. But, sometimes in Europe things can feel very sluggish. Like it feels very difficult to get things done in the workplace or to have enough time to get anything done. And yet, there are also so many people who are without work and seem to have quite a shortage of things to do. >> [sighs] >> And we can't seem to build a society where both parties can balance the time out between them and everybody gets a comfortable living. It just doesn't seem to be working like that very well. When we do have time to ourselves, we often spend that time being overly constantly stimulated. So, scrolling on social media, music, noise, YouTube videos, just things that constantly generate noise and our minds are overstimulated with information that we don't really know what to do with. And we don't always know how to be quiet or to be bored or how to concentrate for long periods of time. The problem with our so-called entertainment or pastime, even if it's not necessarily sinful, like I'm not saying something sinful TV drama. It could just be the news or something like that. As I've spoken about before, we are oversaturated with information about all the doings and the goings of Satan and what he's getting up to. You know, the state of politics these days with all our corrupt politicians and all of the injustices that are happening and the evil crime that doesn't seem to get punished and the state of the economy and how wages are not keeping up with prices and inflation. And even in our Christian spaces, you know, it's all here is another example of a damnable false prophet spreading the same false teaching we've exposed a hundred other people for. How outrageous that this person doesn't agree with our very niche belief system. Or or it might be something that branches off into Bill Gates and another vaccine that's coming out or the Freemasons and the J EWS being up to their latest schemes in the next New World Order conspiracy. And depending on the type of person you are, you will each process these things in different ways. So, I'm blessed with the sort of mind or ability where I am able to just switch those things off and just not watch the news and not think about it. Occasionally I might get angry or agitated if I have watched something, but it's usually very short-term. I I don't go days and days on end feeling depressed about something. Now some of you perhaps have more of an ADHD type of a brain where your thoughts are just constantly running off to all of these other things in different directions and it just never switches off and you're joining all of these conspiracy dots together. And this type of person can get a bit obsessed with exposing this or exposing that or being aware of this and and following what's going on with that. Some of you may have more of uh an anxiety or obsessive compulsion and those people are particularly vulnerable and may get very disturbed or shaken by current affairs. People who are heavily autistic or have some sort of disorder can wind into this trap because they they don't always know how to process scale. So a bit like I was as a child really. So the idea that just because something evil is happening somewhere doesn't mean that it's happening everywhere all of the time or it's going to affect you personally. The Bible can leave us feeling somewhat uninformed about these things because it gives one set of instructions for everybody regardless of what kind of brain or mind you have according to clinical psychology or whether you are medically medically qualified for some kind of disorder or on the spectrum. You know, it just tells us all, whoever you are, be still and know that he is God. To some of you the instructions in the Bible like that can be a little bit like saying to a depressed person, don't be depressed. And I understand where you're coming from, but the saying just don't be depressed doesn't necessarily address the reasoning or the specific things as to why you are feeling depressed or what triggers that kind of mindset. What the Bible does do is tackle the reasons why we feel that kind of way. So, suppose you suffer from depression or anxiety and it is triggered by all of the bad evil stuff that is happening in the news and state of the world generally. Well, just saying don't be depressed or anxious doesn't really resolve your issue. But, what if and this is a hypothetical question, but what if you only got depressed or anxious about those things because you feel a sense of obligation to feel that way about those things. As if it's like your responsibility or it's your problem to come up with a solution for these things. If I told you that it wasn't, would that change how you feel? Now, I've noticed I'm not going to mention names, but there are one or two people in HyperGrace who come up in my YouTube home feed who constantly use their platform to whine and complain about everything that's wrong in their life and woe is me, when will Jesus come back? I can't take it anymore. And sometimes they express anger at God or even their subscribers who are actually trying to make them feel better and trying to help them. And and they lash out at those people for saying the wrong thing. >> [snorts] >> I don't think that's a very righteous attitude to have. I think it's rather wicked to use a platform as a self-pity space to encourage Christians to behave in this misery loves the company of misery type of way. And it's not just women, by the way. Men Men do this, too. The Bible already told you that things would be like this. It It already said that there would be few that are saved. Uh we know that there would be wars and rumors of wars. Jesus told us not to fear these things. But, as Christians, we seem to have an excessive obsession with what Satan is doing. We are obsessed about Satan's schedule. Even though he's really a minor character in the Bible in in the grand scheme of things. Now, I haven't done the maths, >> [snorts] >> but if I was to try and rationalize and categorize the New Testament into what it does and it doesn't talk about, I don't see Peter making a big deal about which emperor is currently in charge of Rome. I don't see Paul obsessing about all of the stone buildings and which one's got a triangle shape and is made out of pillars and has some evil satanic symbol of whatever was the closest equivalent to the Freemasons back then. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, I don't see him praying about the state of the world or the outcome of unsaved people that they maybe might they one day kind of have some kind of encounter and maybe believe on him or something or other. Or I don't see him praying that the Roman courts would execute justice and that the institutions would be holy and righteous and that there would be no corruption. It just seems to be absent from his prayer. Now, I'm not saying that it's wrong to know about these things. Obviously, the apostles must have been aware of these things. John the Baptist could not say to the soldiers, "Be content with your wages." if he wasn't aware that soldiers tend to abuse their power and exact bribes on top of their wages. But, it wasn't the focus of his whole ministry. It was It was one sentence that he said. Paul could not say, "We are ignorant of Satan's devices." if he was ignorant of Satan's devices. But, Paul's letters you can tell have a very positive overtone to them. You know, Paul is a very positive, upbeat person. And he isn't obsessed with talking about what Satan is doing. The apostles were aware of the state of the world. But, they were not moved by it. And this is essentially what Psalm 46, the same Psalm that says, "Be still, and know that I am God." also says, "We will not fear, though the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." We are aware of the earth being removed. We are aware of the mountains being cast into the sea. Heck, we might even do that ourselves by faith, who knows. But, we will not be moved. Why is that? Well, the previous verse states, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." >> [snorts] >> Politics is not our refuge. The state of the economy is not our refuge. A national health service or a health care insurance plan is not our refuge and strength. God is our refuge and strength. Now, I have spoken before in this series about the dangers of social media and the the news and current affairs. It can give you a distorted sense of perspective. Because you look at this terrible thing, and then you think this is happening absolutely everywhere all of the time. So, you know, like in Britain, for example, there's a big thing going on at now about the report that's come out about the grooming gangs and how the police and the social services were complicit and and all that kind of thing. But, even if that is a big problem, and it is, it doesn't mean that every single incident of crime that ever gets reported never gets dealt with or that social services and the police are incompetent in absolutely everything that they do. Okay. Now, I I myself have sometimes sometimes contacted the police and situations did get dealt with. Okay? But, just have a look. I'm going to overlay the footage of Matlock again, and just have a look at some of this footage. This is my day out, isn't it? It takes 1 and 1/2 hour to get there by bus. It's much quicker if you drive, obviously. But, it's accessible from where I live. Now, I had a bacon sandwich and a coffee for breakfast. Bacon is our a symbol of our freedom in Christ. I took a nice walk and recorded another video, which I will also publish. You will see it when it comes out. For late lunch, I had chips, cheese, gravy, sausage, and then a bag of small donuts, which I dipped in salted caramel, and had a coffee. Occasional motorcycle noise is notwithstanding. There was a lovely sound of the river, the sound of birds and squirrels. They are not unhappy about the state of the world. Squirrels get killed by road accidents and other animals all the time, but you never see a depressed squirrel. It just doesn't happen. There There were no stabbings here. There were no shootings. God causes it to rain on the just and the unjust. Even non-Christians were having a nice day out, taking their children to the park, enjoying the weather. Even they were enjoying blessings and peace in this place. It didn't matter who the politician was in charge at the time or what parliament was discussing on that day. Now, the British economy hasn't been doing very well since the time of the credit crunch in 2008. My entire adult life, practically, has been defined by the poor state of the British economy, especially in the north of England. Yet, this town with all of its beauty and its attractions is still here and people are still enjoying it to this day. The point that I'm getting at here is that not everything is terrible everywhere all of the time in every corner of the world. As a saved believer you have a reserved place in the city of God. And unlike the earth, it shall not be moved. So it's okay to be aware of current affairs if if you can handle them, but you shouldn't let them control your overall happiness and state of well-being. You shouldn't let them occupy your mind constantly as if you constantly need to be aware of or worried about or concerned about these things. Because we have an obsession with thinking that we need to be doing something about these problems or be keeping busy or be seen to be coming up with some sort of solution or talking about it for some reason. Or we think if only God would solve these problems and the world would be a bit better, I would feel better. But God is the one who according to the Psalm makes wars to cease. So perhaps the wars aren't ceasing yet because it's not actually God's time yet. You are allowing yourself to feel broken about something that is God's responsibility to stop. And you don't really need to be involved or have that strong of an opinion on it. You're being rather like a small child who is trying to worry about things that only the parents or the responsible adults should be worrying about. Now you say but the unsaved people around me, all of these people going to hell. It it's sad, it's it's tragic. Well, I agree that it's tragic, but you have to realize to some extent that they do it to themselves. The reason why the world is in a state is because of the wickedness of the heathen who suffer because of the state of the world. And if we as Christians try to point this out, the heathen rage. They will be offended. How dare you say that I'm responsible for this this this situation? How dare you say that I deserve this or I brought it on myself? How dare you say that I shouldn't behave like this or I should behave like that? Because the heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved. You know, political lines have been redrawn. But if the Bible wanted us to be constantly worried about those things ourselves as Christians, I'm fairly certain it would have probably told us. But the God of Jacob is our refuge. We do not look to the goings-on in the world as our refuge. Now, we could get upset by this and say, "Well, why won't the heathen just repent? Why won't they hear the gospel? Why Why do they go to hell en masse?" But the Bible did tell us that few would be saved. Now, you can get upset by this and eat yourself up with a constant state of despair. Or you can accept that this is just the way that the Bible frames how this works and that's just how it is and there's nothing that you personally can do about it. If the Bible wanted us to be constantly depressed about the faith of the heathen, then the apostles would have been constantly depressed about the state of the heathen and I don't see evidence of that in the New Testament. Now, I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you there, but you need to learn to concern yourself with the things that the Bible tells you to concern yourself about and not the things that it didn't tell you to concern yourself. Let God concern himself with the things that are his problem. Our problem is to give the gospel. After that, we shake the dust off our feet, which basically means, in our vernacular, we move on. We don't think about it anymore. We put it behind us. We get over it. Paul said, "Whatsoever things are honest, lovely, just, pure, praiseful, virtuous, think on these things." Think on these things. I would invite you, if you are able, to consider taking some time alone to be in a place that's quiet, peaceful, the best substitute that you can find, to be still and know that he is God. Now, it's hard to say this without sounding like a Buddhist monk or something, but for the sake of practical comparison, this would be like the Christian equivalent of what the Buddhists might call being in the present moment and detaching yourself. It's not going to change your life just sitting in the garden or sitting in the woods, you know, meditating. It doesn't make problems go away, nor does it completely rewrite your mind, but it's just a bit of time that you can spend for a while to just be alone with God and concentrate on things that actually matter in eternity. You could read your Bible or an edifying Christian book. You could pray, or you could just think. What the Psalms would call meditate. It doesn't mean meditation in the Buddhist sense. It just means thinking about heavenly things. So, in this moment, in this place, in this time of quiet. It doesn't matter what's going on in the news right now if I'm not currently reading it or watching it. It doesn't matter if somebody on YouTube is spreading lies or even doing a video against me calling me names and condemning me to help because I'm not on there right now to hear it. It doesn't matter if the body of Christ is tearing itself apart because of some stupid argument on Discord between people who I've never even met in person, couldn't even tell you what they look like. I'm not on Discord, so I don't see it. So, it doesn't matter. >> [sighs] >> And there's no Jehovah's Witnesses here or street screaming bozos preaching their nonsense in the streets. It's not happening here right now. >> [sighs] >> So, even with all of this evil in the world, even with all of the goings-on that we hate, even with all of Satan's doings, God has gifted me or you or us with a nice, quiet place where we can just switch off from these things and concentrate on his goodness. Let's go back to Psalm 46. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. God shall help her and that's right early. That's our eternity right there. This world is not our home. We are just passing through. And when the time comes, every tear shall be wiped away. The memory of the wicked shall be forgotten. The heathen could have had it if they wanted it, but they don't want it. So, let them be. Spend a bit of time, if by any means you are able, to wind down, turn off the problems in the world, maybe turn off some of the technology, especially if you can't fix those problems anyway. And it's God's problem, not yours. If God wants the wars to cease, he will. So, just be still and know that he is God.