Shane Idleman addresses the emotional rollercoaster many experience in life, emphasizing the importance of contentment and trusting in God's sovereignty. He draws from 1 Corinthians 7 to illustrate that believers should remain steadfast in their current situations, rather than seeking fulfillment through changing circumstances or relationships. Idleman encourages the congregation to keep God's commandments and to find their identity in Christ, rather than in the ups and downs of life. He also highlights the need for a healthy spiritual and physical lifestyle to combat mental health issues, urging listeners to seek God earnestly and to trust Him in all aspects of life.

Get off the emotional rollercoaster. The title reminds us that we're probably on it. And you know what that is? Is anyone ever on their emotional rollercoaster? Ups and downs, highs and lows, disappointments, frustrations, failures, mountaintop experiences, low valleys. And we find ourselves in 1 Corinthians 7. So you can turn your Bible, if you have your Bibles, I hope you do, turn to 1 Corinthians 7. There's Bibles in front of you. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 17. There's actually too much text to put up on the screen, so I'm going to read it when I get there. But something happened amazing on Wednesday night. God just really took over in the message and in the worship. And that message is now available. The title is 8 ways that God speaks to us. 8 ways that God speaks to us. So if you're wanting to know God's voice, if you're wanting to discern His will, make sure you get that CD and make sure you listen to Wednesday night's message. And there's been almost as many people as in the sanctuary on Wednesday nights. At 6 p.m. we have another service, Wednesday nights at 6 p.m. I'm teaching on something completely different. Shane, does that take a lot of time? Yes, it does. Pray for me. Because it is a lot of work to prepare two sermons, but I believe it's what God's called me to do. One reason Pastor Abram's coming on board is to help alleviate some of what is involved with leading the church. So here's what happens, or here's what actually is happening in Corinth. Remember, 1 Corinthians is written to a church in the area of Corinth, that it was called Corinth, and that's why they're called Corinthians. They are coming to know Jesus, but now they're confused. Well, should I stay married? I married an unbeliever. Should I not be circumcised anymore, if you can imagine that one? Can I do this? Well, I've committed to be a virgin. Should I still be a virgin? Can I marry now? And there's so much confusion that Paul is writing these letters to the church. So he said this, but as God, as God, Paul's writing to the church, but as God has distributed to each one, so in other words, however God has put you, God has distributed, God has given you certain giftings, as the Lord has called, the Lord called each one, so let him walk. And in other words, however God has called you, whatever situation you're in, walk in that calling. Walk in that situation. Don't run out of a job just because it's difficult. Don't run out of a marriage just because it's difficult. Don't run out of a challenging situation just because it's difficult. Don't move somewhere just because it's difficult. Don't do all these things. Stay the course where God has called you until he releases, until he moves you. But I like what he said, ellipses, I put ellipses, meaning I took out some of the scriptures there, because I want to get right to the point. Keeping the commandments of God is what matters. Should we say that again? Keeping the commandments of God is what matters. And then he said in verse 24, brethren, church, let each one remain with God in the state in which he has called. So they're writing letters to Paul, wondering if they can divorce, wondering if they can separate. Have you ever been there? Let's quiet on that one. A lot of people have been there thinking, did I marry the right person? What should I do? What should I do in this state? God, I don't know. And God's word gives us clear instruction on this. So a couple things I'm going to stop here and talk about. Number one, no need to give up your identity. So when a person becomes a Christian, there's no need to give up that identity. Do you ever see a person, they become a Christian, and then now they don't want to relate to their friends anymore. They dwarf into something that's kind of weird. You know, be like me trying to dress like a 16-year-old skater. Probably not going to look too, you know, just stay just stay how God has created you. Don't try to break free of something. If God has you in a spot, stay there. That identity. And we should be proud of our identity because God's going to use us to relate to others and minister to others in a way in which he called us, how you were created. See, believe it or not, I don't minister to a lot of PhDs or people wanting apologetics, and even though I love apologetics, my ministry often is a shepherd to the shattered, to the broken, to tell them you can get up again, you can fight this fight again, you don't have to have a perfect education, you don't have, God can use you. And actually, the more you've been forgiven, the more you love. And there are PhDs who go here, don't get me wrong. But God, if I try to change it, well, let me just kind of fit, let me just be this smart intellectual guy, you know, this theology guy, because I want to, you know, kind of relate to this other group. He said, God just said, just be who you are. Don't try to be someone else. Be how you, how I created you, and you'll be most effective. Isn't that true? When we're transparent, this is who I am. And we're not putting on a mask or trying to be something we're not. Often when I talk, a lot of young pastors follow our ministry now. I've come to shock sometimes from all over the United States, and they'll email me questions. And I will tell them sometimes, just be who you are. Don't try to preach like this person on the radio, and this person, and try to just be how, be who God created you to be. And that's where there's safety. That's where there's the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It's interesting though, when he said, keeping the commandments of God is what matters. No man is freer than a Christian. No man is freer than a Christian. They are keeping the course. And society says, oh, God's rules. Oh, it's like a cage around you. You can't do anything. No, we're actually freer than the world. Free to love God, free to do others, free to do everything within his boundaries of safety and protection. Those who outside of that are actually bound to sin, bound to their flesh, bound to being distant from God. And it's a sad thing to see somebody bound in their sin, thinking they are free. And I want to encourage you to keep coming for Corinthians, because we're going to talk about a lot. Next week, I believe, is actually when we talk about liberty, and that we have certain Christian liberties. That could fall under anything from alcohol. What about now, a big thing, marijuana? What does the Bible say? Well, you have to wait till next week. Liberty, there are boundaries to our liberties. Also, we're going to talk about, as we keep going, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul talks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Did you know the Holy Spirit has gifts? Unless you think that doesn't apply today, we just cut it out of our Bible with some scissors. Paul gives direction to the church. He talks about head coverings. Uh-oh. What does it say about that? Why is there a debate on that? So we're going to tackle all these issues in the coming weeks. So here's a key takeaway from this first portion of Scripture. We must be content in all situations. Getting off the emotional rollercoaster involves setting your mind on being content. I don't know about you, but my emotional rollercoaster goes like this when I'm not content. When we think we want this, we want that, it's about us. He says, be content in all situations. Paul said, I've learned how to be content when I'm rich and when I'm poor, when I'm busy and when I'm slow, when things are going great, when things are not going great. One of the best ways to ride that emotional rollercoaster on a flat line is to just be content. And here's how you can be content. Recognizing that God is sovereign. God is sovereign. And there's a big issue, I don't know if I'll ever tell you about it, that we've been praying about for a while. I've got confirmation on it and I pray sometimes and I fight, I fight doubt. I fight doubt. I say, that's impossible, God. And I just had this thought today. The same God that hung the sun 33 million miles away and gave the earth the right atmosphere, the right rotation on the axis, the moon, the gravitational pull, that same God, that same God can do whatever he wants. Nothing is impossible. That's why I felt like the man, God, I believe. Oh, do I ever believe, but help my unbelief. Where's this coming from? And you can beat yourself up. I believe, I want to believe so much, but here it comes. Here comes that unbelief from the flesh, from the enemy, the world, other people. That's why, don't tell your dreams to everybody. Don't tell your dream. I learned that real early on, real early on. I'm so excited. I'm a Christian. I think God's calling me to preach. You? Shane, stick with digging ditches, man. Just pipe dream. And that will kill your dreams. And you listen to the voices of others and not, because often what God speaks to you, he's not telling others. I love what Paul said when he became a Christian. The Bible says, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. Means I didn't ask for anybody's opinion. I went and spent time with God to get my identity, to get my focus, to get my bearings. And if you want to be content this morning, just say, God, I'm giving all of this to you, all of this to you. But Shane, my financial woes, they're not yours, they're his if you give them to him. But this is happening in my marriage, give it to him. But Shane, you don't understand, my kids, it's chaos in my home. Oh, I understand that one. Give it to him. Because see, then it becomes his problems. Cast all your cares upon me for my burden is light and my yoke is easy, Jesus said. And you, but you have to do this mentally, don't you? You cast, you cast those cares upon him. Cast those cares upon him. And get rid of the naysayers. Get rid of the negative gossipers that are pulling you down. Remove it because they'll just continue to drain that from you. But I don't want to skip over this. Keeping the commandments of God is what matters. How popular is this right now? Keeping the commandments of God is what is, is not popular, but it is what matters. And I was just reading this week, I love this story. I remember it from many years ago. A reporter, a news reporter accused Billy Graham of setting the church back 50 years. Billy said, I was trying to set it back 2000 years. Oh man. He is absolutely right. You've got to go back to the old truth, to the old paths. And the pastor's pulpit should preach God's truth, the totality of it 2000 years ago. And today the same truth, preach, keeping the commandments of God, keeping those commandments. And the church will struggle in this area. I've shared this before. You can have the church where it's all about the commandments, right? Come on, God, are you following the commandments? Are you, are you following, are you, are you good Christians? Let me see your tithe records. Are you watching Netflix? Are you watching these junk movies and bad movies and keeping what is your dress down to your feet? No makeup, keeping the commandments. Come on guys. But then you have this other note, and half of that's not God's commandments. No, don't, don't worry about it. I mean, you should, you should be concerned with what you watch and your appearance and modesty. I'm not saying that, but the church can be beating so many people up with, with legalism. We follow you around like you, is that a sin? And it's, it's really just, it's, it's what, what this, this church is called the legalistic church. The heart, have you ever seen those churches? They're hard. They're rigid. They don't smile when you come in. They're just good morning. What brings you here? Where's your Bible? And it's commandments, commandments, commandments. You will run your kids out of your homes if it's all about rules and no relationship. But what's the other side? This is just as dangerous. God is love. Grace, brother, you left your spouse. Don't worry about it. God's grace will cover you, cover you. You and your girlfriend have fun at the movie. And pastors don't preach sin. They don't preach repentance. They don't preach God's commandments because it's going to hurt your feelings. If we don't live in a time and a place where we need to start hurting some feelings, I don't know where we live. We need to start crushing some pride, crushing some feelings. And the church can be too soft and nobody changes. It's just full of people who don't want to use a word. And that word is obedience. I can't get through one day of Bible reading where the word obedience doesn't somehow register. It's finding that middle ground, keeping the commandments. Now be encouraged that we're keeping Chuck Swindoll used it in a sermon and I looked it up and he's writing the money. It's like keeping the course. So there's a ship and it's, but it drifts a little. See, that's why we encourage people. We don't beat people up caught in sin. We encourage them. Now there might be a time for conviction, for pushing down hard on someone who's unrepentant and they're they need a wake up call, but they're keeping that course. So are you, that's what matters. Are you keeping the course? Have you drifted off course? Then get back on. Have you fallen off course? Then get back on. Keeping the course is what matters. Keeping that, that commandments of God, not with rigosity and being mean spirit, but not with just lukewarm living. It's a love for God and a love for God's word, a love for others. It's humility. It's broke. It's keeping that course come hell or high water. I will keep that course. You messed up at home. You tell your kids, you tell your, I told a guy yesterday, you tell your kids, you're sorry. You tell your kids, your daddy's going to change. You tell them, you look them in the face and you own it. You keep the course and we have to get back on track and keep that course and direct our families back to God. When you're content in Christ, the pressures from this world will not push you down like they are now. Problems will not be as great. Preoccupations will not be as difficult and getting caught up in all these different things. So let me give you another key takeaway. Trust, trust, trust. What does that look like practically? Trust. I wrote down a lyric of a song we do sometimes. The line goes something like this. When I only see in part, I will still trust you. I will prophesy your promise, meaning I will speak your truth into my life. When I only see in part, it's okay for a Christian when they only, God, I don't know how this marriage is going to work, but I trust you. I don't know how my kids are ever going to know you again. They've drifted so far, but I trust you. I don't know where this health issue is going. God, I don't know. I've just been diagnosed with this. I've got this call, but I trust you. I look to you because real faith because we talk about faith all the time, don't we? We sing about it. We preach about it. Faith is actually the substance of things not seen. So to really please God, to really have faith, you're not going to see the fruit just yet. It's like going out. Here's what faith is. It's like going out back and you planted an apple seed, but you just see dirt. We have more faith in an apple seed often. Oh, I know it's not there yet, but it's coming. I planted the seed last week. But when it comes to God, sometimes we forget that principle that we're not going to always see. And then verse 25, he said, now concerning virgins, he's speaking to singles. I have no command from the Lord, yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in his mercy has made trustworthy. In other words, I don't have a commandment for the Lord, but God, I believe, has given me this wisdom, Paul says to say this. I suppose therefore, verse 26, that this is good because of the present distress. What Paul's saying there is because there's persecution. And I think we forget about this important element. Did you know that early church was persecuted? Did you know that many husbands would watch their wives being killed? They would watch their children being thrown to lions if they did not denounce Christ. Read Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Read about what the early church had to endure. So Paul's saying because of the current distress, actually there was one of the emperors that would take Christians and bound them, and then he would light them on fire to light the streets of Rome. It's all historical. And so Paul's saying because of this current distress, it's best to remain single. How many know that would be much easier to get through than being married with kids and watching that just devastation? So he said it's good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Then do not seek to be loosed. Make that work. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. In other words, don't go out, I gotta get married, I gotta get married. You ever meet those people? Maybe you're here today. Application time. I gotta find somebody, I gotta find somebody, I gotta find somebody. And what happens in that setting is you lower your standard. The problem with many singles is they don't raise their standard and miss it, they lower it and they hit it. Let God bring that person. But also, where you look is what you find. If you're looking in the bars and nightclubs, online chat rooms, which might have their purpose, I've heard people have meant on those things, which can be good if you use wisdom, I guess. But where are you looking? Are you following God and see who he brings? Because when you're trusting God, you can be on your way home from church, you can get a flat tire and the knight in shining armor stops to help. That was God moving. But there's also something wonderful about singleness. Wonderful. And if me and my wife could get this one element back, I know we would. You can seek God with all your heart. You can get up and seek God. You can go up back on the porch and read the Bible. You can go take a drive and seek God. You can go to a church event in the afternoon and seek God. You can put on worship and seek. You're just seeking God, being saturated by his power and his presence. There's a blessing there. So don't waste your life being disappointed. Again, trust God and see what he can do. So he goes on to say, if a virgin marries, she is not sinned. But if you do not marry, you have not sinned. He says, I'm just trying to save you trouble in this world. I want to spare you that trouble. So again, the context is this church had questions. They just went from darkness to light. Now they're believers. What do we do with this? He said, do not seek to be married. Do not seek to be separated. Be content where God has put you. And I've learned that sometimes God puts me where he puts me in order so that I learn contentment. He'll put you somewhere and say, when you're content, then you can be released. So here's the key takeaway. Don't look for fulfillment in relationships or in changing your situation. Here's the emotional rollercoaster. Oh no, no. And we jump off and we change our situation. It doesn't help. We're still on this. And we look for identity and relationships. We look for what's that saying? The grass is greener on the other side. No, it's not. It's green wherever the water is hitting, wherever you're feeding it. Or yeah, feeding the grass water. You got it. Okay. That sounded weird at first. So don't look for fulfillment and relationships or in changing your situation. The grass is rarely greener. If God changes your situation, there is a greener grass. There is hope on the other side of the fence. But if you're just looking for those things, do you know how many people, I don't want to, you know, I want to be careful here, but that I've talked to that are on their second marriage. Just this week, I heard of a lady, actually divorce. Now she will be going into a third. She gets married and they'll say, I should have just made the first one work. Or they're in their second and say, this is, I'm just as miserable. I don't know what happens. Well, because when the honeymoon's over, life sets in. Now many second marriages can be wonderful. I'm not saying that it all has to do with what foundation are you building it? Are you trusting in God? Are you giving him these cares? And then verse 29, but this I say, brethren, the time is short. Do you not see that today? So that from now on, even those who have wives should be as though they had none. Oh, are we supposed to leave our spouse? No, that's clear. And the teaching we just did last week, those who weep as though they do not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess. And those who use this world as not misusing it, what's he saying here? Well, he goes on to clarify right here for the form of this world is passing away. In a nutshell, live for God in everything you do. If you have a wife, live as though you don't have one. In other words, I'm not going to let this become my entire life. My wife, my work, this, I have no time for God. How often do I preach on that? God's on the back burner by the broccoli. And we've got the steak up on the, we got, you know, the back, we just, whatever that broccoli can go bad. Every time we have stuff on our back burner, we end up throwing it out a couple of days later because a couple of days later, we forget it's on the back burner. But God says, no, I'm the priority. Put me at the forefront. Let me guide your relationship. Let me be the foundation on which your marriage is built. Live for God. Paul is trying to press that point home. Ensure, live for eternity. I like what Jim Garlow said. Do you remember when he spoke here? It's on the radio right now on the weekends, Saturday and Sunday nights at 5, 91.1. Actually, if you know people out of the area, we have an app where they can listen 24 hours a day, seven days a week, wherever they're at in the world on the website. But he's right now, he's talking about this. He just said this yesterday. You can be on the wrong side of history, but on the right side of eternity. That is a Christian today. That is a Christian today. What I'm preaching, what I'm promoting, what I'm writing about. I'm going to release an article written to the leaders of California this week. They probably won't read it, but at least I'll get off my chair. I'm on the wrong side of history, but the right side of eternity. Same with you. When you live for God, that's not where history is going, brother. Come on. Everybody should be welcoming. All religions lead to God. All sexual preferences. I don't care if you want to marry your cat. That's okay. Come on, man. Get with the bandwagon. You're old-fashioned. You're trying to take the Bible back 50 years. No, I'm trying to go back 2,000 years to what God said because truth doesn't change. That's where we get our logo from. Times change. Truth does not. Truth is the foundation of every building that will ever be built. Truth is the gauge by which you gauge your standard of living. Truth is the plumb line by which you see if everything is level. Truth is the embodiment of what God has spoken. It's the lighthouse that directs us. It's the compass that leads us. When the truth, see, here's what's happening. The California and the nation is trying to build on a foundation that has eroded. Why don't they build a house on a river? I mean, I guess you could if you put the right float device, but you don't build a house on a bad foundation. The first thing, if you're building a house, what you're going to do, first, you're going to go to the county and pay a lot of permit fees, number one. But then what are they going to do? Are they just going to, well, let's just start, here's a, let me put a two by four. Let's just start building the house on this piece of dirt. They go down deep. I know I used to do that. You get in that big cat loader and you start taking out thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of tons of dirt and you bring it in one foot at a time with a water truck and you compact it. Days and weeks of compacting and compacting and compacting. They'll come out and they'll bring a soils engineer to test it to make sure you compacted it hard enough. And in addition to that, they're going to make sure you don't have your water content is not too high and not too low. We haven't even built the house yet. The foundation, the foundation, that is everything. Then they pour the concrete. Now you can build the house. And they're trying to build a house. Our nation, our state of California, beautiful state of California. I love this state. I was born here. My kids were born here. I can fly fish in a couple hours. I can go to the beach. I can go snowboarding. If you think I still snowboard, I do sometimes. My son talks me into it. I'll have to film it for you. You probably don't believe me. But that truth is the foundation, the wrong side of history, but the right side of eternity. That will be your life. Get over it now. It's a popularity contest. They're gone. Not ever being mocked or criticized for what you believe. That is over. Your Puritan America, your little house on the prairie is over. It's time now for the Christians to say, okay, you've pushed too far. We're pushing again, but we're pushing with prayer and with fasting. See, that's why I say you can, you have your gun safes are full, but your prayer closets are empty. That's how you're going to change our nation by praying, pulling down heaven. We don't need more banquets or fundraisers. We need men and women on their face before God crying out and saying, God, save us, redeem us, set us free. The wrong side of history, but the right side of eternity. So the key takeaway is live for Christ and everything in marriage and the ups and the downs in business and all areas of life. Jesus is not a divided savior. Well, he's important to my marriage. I've had people tell me this. I can't bring that into my workplace. Shane, if I start using godly principles, I'll have to be honest on my taxes. I can't write all that stuff up, right? Write that stuff off. I can't keep using aliases. I saw this in real estate all the time. When I was in real estate many years ago, there's something called an arm's length agreement. It means you can't short sell your house and then try to buy it somehow. But people tried, they'd open up fake corporations or have their uncle or sister. But they're Christian. It's Sunday. See that, you're going to be miserable. You're going to be miserable. Christ has to take dominance in every area of your life, finances, your relationships. Verse 32, but I want you to be without care. Paul says, he who is unmarried cares for the things of the world, he who pleases, how he may please the Lord. But he who's married cares about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. So Paul's saying, if you're unmarried, you can care for the things of the Lord. But if you're married, you have to care for the things of your spouse. In other words, as a married Christian, yes, God is your foundation. But you cannot have that and have your marriage and your family suffer. It's not like, man, I'm following Christ. I'm leaving you guys in the dust. Good luck. It's now you have to care for the things of this world, even though God is the priority. And God loves marriage. God designed marriage. It's his gift. So here's another key takeaway on this emotional roller coaster. Fulfilling our responsibility leads to contentment. When you fulfill your responsibility, it leads to contentment. This is something I always try to tell men in men's conferences. Somehow or some way, men, wake up, sit up, listen to this. Don't think about lunch. It's not time yet. You will only find commitment when you fulfill your responsibilities as a husband and a father first. Actually, I'll take a step farther. When you fulfill your responsibility of being a devoted follower of Christ, and God is your foundation, Christ is your priority from that foundation, now you take on that responsibility of being a better husband, a better father, and you fulfill your responsibilities at work and you fulfill what God's called you to do. That leads to contentment. Most men are miserable. Why? Because they're chasing the almighty dollar and forgetting about what's really important. The enemy's got them so hoodwinked into believing that that's what's important. How many times you ever heard this or said this? I'm the man of this house. I bring home the money. I call the shots. Now, I don't think I've said that in 18 years, but see, that's the priority. And they're discontent. They're angry. They're often abusive because they're not fulfilling what God called them to do first. See, God is a God of order and priorities. He says, you build your life on me. I'm the foundation. When the storm comes, your house will not fall. And then now you love your wife as Christ loved the church. Women, you respect your husbands. You honor your children. You don't exasperate. Thank you very much. My dyslexia is coming back. So you don't do that. You build on that. You build on that. And then your business or your career follows that. It does not become the priority. And Paul goes on to say there's a difference between married and single. The unmarried cares about the things of the Lord, but she who is married cares about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. So Paul says, I'm not trying to hinder you, but I want you to serve without distractions. Most singles are not focused on God. What are they focused on? Finding Mr. or Mrs. Right, forgetting that you first have to become Mr. or Mrs. Right. Isn't that interesting? Oh, if I could just have this person, they just love the Lord and they're always at worship and they read their Bible. If I could, well, why don't you be that person? Why aren't you that person first? See, you attract who you are. You attract who you are. You'll track that type of person. And then he goes on to say something interesting to the dads. If you committed to keep her a virgin, but are now having second thoughts, maybe the man dedicated, I'm paraphrasing, maybe the man dedicated her to the Lord. Paul's saying it's okay to marry. He says this in verse 30, form 39. Check this out. There's a difference between being married and single. There is a difference between being married and being single. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, but she who is married cares about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Oh, that's what I did. I'm sorry. I took out this whole section. It was about this long on dads to the virgins. In a nutshell, he's telling the dads, the fathers, which is hard. It's hard application here, because if you can believe this, young adults, your dad used to tell you who you're marrying. It's called arranged marriage, and it still happens today. Can you imagine? I can't even imagine that. What about they introduce you and you're like, oh, Lord. No sparks. There's just nothing. What were you thinking? He's saying, and some dads would say this, and this. I don't know if you ever read that story where a man won a victory, and he told God, whatever comes out of my house first, I'm going to give it to you. The Bible alludes to the point that he had to sacrifice his daughter. I don't really see that. I don't really see God allowing that, or that's the heart of God. What I see is that he committed her to the Lord as a virgin, and she went and actually wailed her virginity for 30 days up on the mountain with her friends. I believe the father used to say, no, we're dedicating you to the Lord. You're single for the rest of your life. Paul's actually saying, dads, if you made that commitment, it's okay to let them marry. But if you want to keep them single, it's okay to do that as well. There's a lot of flexibility and freedom in Christianity. I'm hoping to talk about in the weeks to come on having liberty. What does Christian liberty mean? It means doing whatever you want. Do you catch that? Christian liberty is doing whatever you want within the pages of Genesis and Revelation. Have at it. Just have at it. Stay within these boundaries and within this area. So a wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives. Think what he's saying here, verse 39. A wife is bound by the law. In other words, they're married, the law binds them, and as long as your husband lives. So here's the problem in our culture today. We don't think through the scriptures. If we thought through the scriptures a little bit more, we'd probably be a little bit more serious about who we marry. Because the Bible says, think it through, be careful. This is a law. This is a lifelong decision. And I've talked to people that have said, well, if it doesn't work out, I mean, no, you can't go in. You can't go say, I do, thinking, well, if it doesn't, it's okay. No, it's a lifelong decision. Yes, I do, as long as you're nice to me. Yes, I do, as long as you never get sick. Yes, I do, as long as I stay healthy, trim, and fit, and we can do all this. Yes, I do, and they keep adding to this list. But God's word says, no, be careful. This is a lifelong decision. And then he said, but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes. Only in the Lord, though, meaning you can only marry a believer. Now, this is what some people use, and they say, see, Shane, see right here, you can never remarry ever unless your spouse dies. Right here, verse 39. The problem is you have to go read the beginning of 1 Corinthians 7 as well. And also, you can't override what Jesus said, that there is an out for marriage and to remarry if adultery, to me, it's an ongoing pattern of an affair. And you've tried, you've done all you can do. There's an out there, and I'm not going to go into that. Why? Because I just did two weeks ago, when a marriage dies, and when a spouse departs, can I remarry? I just talked about both those issues. So get the CDs, listen on or online. You can listen to a whole topic on those areas. But Paul is reinforcing here. You're bound to your husband. Think things through. Do it the right way. Now, here's my big challenge. A part I really wanted to get to this morning, because it has to do with the emotional roller coaster, is this. Depression and mental illness, five things you need to know. Depression and mental illness, five things you need to know. So I can glance through it quickly, or I can really take some time next week. I've been trying to decide what I want to do. But let me just share this. This might be helpful, since we are talking about the emotional roller coaster. Unless you guys want to go early. Show of hands. Just kidding, just kidding. Depression and mental illness, five things you need to know in regards to this emotional roller coaster. Number one, you have the handout. You can find this article on our website, actually probably at shaneidleman.com. Depression and mental illness, five things you need to know. Number one, chemical imbalances and other physical factors can cause mental illness. They can cause mental anguish. If your serotonin levels are really low and you need something, I think it's called a serotonin uptake inhibitor. There are certain things that can really increase that and make a person feel better. However, most people run to medication versus God for wisdom. So I would never say, nope, nope, nope, you can never take medication. Nope, nope, it's up the devil. It comes from the word pharmacia or pharmacia. It's sorcery in the Bible. It goes to where we get our word pharmacy. Now there's a lot of truth to that. What we're seeing in our culture today, a lot of these issues, just Medicaid, Medicaid, Medicaid, it is, it's a bad idea. We're hurting a lot of people. Some of these mass shootings you see, people taking their lives, they're often on medication. So it's an area we have to be very careful in. Somebody who's skilled in this area and that would not be me to take you through all the different Xanax, Valium, Vicodin, Oxy, Fentanyl. I mean, what did Michael Jackson die on? Propofol. Yeah, I mean, there's so many different things, but suffice it to say there are times sometimes where a chemical imbalance and something will balance it back out. However, I found that that's often not the case as a pastor, praying and talking to people. And here's how you can often tell these other points are hitting a point. They will get upset at what I just said. There are those people who want to blame everything on physical and take medication. Don't touch me with these other points. Don't go there, but I have to because they're biblical. This can also lead to depression, to severe depression. Number two, the consequences of besetting sin. Amen. Have you ever been there? The times I've been the most depressed in my life are because of this little rascal. Number two, not saying everybody, I'm not saying those dealing with mental pain are caught in sin. I would never say that. Don't miss the point though. Don't throw the baby out the bathwater. Psalm 32.3, David said, when I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day and night. It sounds like he was a little depressed because he was caught in sin. Now, number three, it's going to be a little convicting. Take a deep breath. No surprise to this group though. It's in your handout. Now, bad lifestyle choices, a toxic diet can definitely hinder mental clarity, mental health. You put junk in, you're going to get junk out. And some of you know, this has been the news lately. There's a lot in the news today about GABA, gamma-aminobutric acid. Also dopamine. What's other ones? There's other chemicals that God has given us. Isn't that interesting? God has given us serotonin. God has given us dopamine. God has given us these things so we feel better. We do. And what you put in your body will either foster and help these areas or can actually take away from these areas. It can actually pull you down. If your body's like, oh, man, this is so much junk. I have no vitamins, no nutrients. Here's the interesting about vitamins. B12s, B6s, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, all vitamins. See, all these things are so potent and so powerful that even secular psychologists recognize the need for proper nutrition. Why? Because proper nutrition sends signals to the body to create more serotonin, to create more dopamine. Your body's running like a smooth running machine. So if you go to Carl's Jr., you go to Gatorade and you grab the Doritos, your body says, what is this? And it will hinder mental health. Oh, I don't know about that. Just Google diet and mental health and read the experts. Read those out there who actually have PhDs in this field, who actually there's studies out there that show, and you know this, come on, who doesn't know this? All right. Not all of you. Okay. Well, now you do. Is it just me or does anyone else feel terrible after Thanksgiving dinner? Oh my goodness. Why? Or after, do you ever binge eat a half gallon of ice cream? Don't leave me hanging. I haven't done that in a while, but how do you feel? It's interesting. You can have a huge salad with all these great things in it. An hour later, have tons of energy, feel great. But you have that 800 calorie ice cream, you crash. Don't get around mom until she's had her. I recognize the other day I was getting mad because I couldn't find a piece of chocolate. It's that, it's that, that need, but God has designed us. And do you ever feel better after you eat? Why? Often because you're supplying the body with what it needs. So God has designed us. And if you want more information, all of you know about my book, Feasting and Fasting, it's a free download. We have free copies here. You can get that. But also, did you know that, that, that low serotonin levels and all these can lead to confusion, irritability, anxiety, and depression. It all leads to that. And then what happens? It leads to that. Now we binge eat. What do we binge eat on? Broccoli and hummus? No. Snickers, Hershey, ice cream, Starbucks, Frappuccino, Mochaccino, three shots, three shots of, there's some drinks out here. And I'm like, that guy is going to explode. No, really 68 grams of sugar. You know how many, you know how many teaspoons that is? 15, 20 is 80. So 17 grams of sugar, not to mention three shots of caffeine. So you're at 700 milligrams of caffeine and you're just, you're going to explode. And then you talk to him like, man, I'm dealing with, I'm struggling with anxiety and depression and I am, I'm just, I'm suicidal. You've got to start with that. Get rid of that stuff. See, some people it's self-created, not everything. Don't leave here and say, Pastor Shane said my diet is causing my, no, I'm telling you to check your, these points. Besetting sin, chemical imbalance. Chemical imbalance is really, you'd have to have a pretty, pretty thorough blood test where they, where they look at your blood levels and look if there's anything missing iron, missing deficits of iron, of vitamin D deficiencies, vitamin B12, all the B vitamins. When those are deficient, just look at what that does to your body. So it makes me wonder how much of this is self-created because we'll go to the prayer room and I'll pray for you. We'll pray for you, but how much is self-created? It reminds me honestly of the guy coming there, Shane, please help me. I need God to overcome this alcoholism. And we pray and we pull down heaven and he's crying and then he hits the liquor store on his way home. But God's not answering. Oh yes, he is, but it requires obedience on our part as well. And then number four, a demonic attack can affect mental health. Just read Jesus casting out demons. I believe in demons. I believe in angels. I believe in heaven. I believe in hell. There's a demonic realm. So there can be a demonic attack. And the article, I hope you already have the article. It'll list more ways to find out if there's a demonic attack. And personally, what I do in my own life, I take inventory of the whole thing. I look at all these areas, chemical imbalances or consequence of besetting sin or a toxic diet, or is this a demonic attack? And in our life, anytime we're going to start something good of God, here it comes. I've never seen kids get more sick in my life than when we started the church. I don't know, a half dozen within a month from foot and mouth disease to pneumonia, to the flu, to strep throat. It's like what in the world is going on? Well, what do you think? Or if we're going to do that demonic attack, we can't quite understand it. That's why God looks at the whole person. It promotes health in the whole person, body, soul, and spirit. When your body, and those of you who can, I know there's some that are limited. I know there's some bedridden who are actually listening to our LifeFeed. They listen all the time to LifeFeed, and they can't get out of their house. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about those who can make changes. How we affect our body affects our soul, our emotions, our well-being, affects our spirit, does it not? It affects our preaching. No, Shane, that's not necessarily true. If I went and got stopped and got that Vente Starbucks I just described, I'd be a different person up here. What about between services if I go pop two Xanax? You think the spirit of the living God is going to fall at second service? What I put in the body affects me spiritually. You think if I spent this week, I was looking at pornography, and watching movies that are ungodly, and doing whatever, and never reading God's word, and just, I'm just going to show up, Lord, let's wing this. Absolutely not. Why? Because it's all interwoven. The whole person, who that person is, it's all interwoven. But we'll have spiritual struggles. We'll have emotional struggles. We'll have physical struggles. But they all work together, and that leads me to the fifth point. An unhealthy spiritual diet negatively affects mental health. Negatively affects mental health. Not all the time, so I don't want to just throw everyone under the same umbrella, but most of the time. I haven't done it in a while, but when I would, I wrote a book, What Works for Young Adults, Solid Choices in Unstable Times. You can get that free as well. I was speaking, I was like, speaking different young adults events, and ministering more to young adults, and so many times, you know, the cutting was, is it still popular? You know, there's something, you know, there's, but cutting, and just a self-loathing, and darkness, and depression, and suicidal thoughts, and I don't know if any time I've ever spoke to them where they were in the word, and prayer, and church. Now, I'm not saying those people are going to, not going to struggle. I believe those people will still struggle, but without a shadow of a doubt, it was always watching Twilight, vampires, the occult, witchcraft, gothic music, sexual explicit movies, their friends, they pulled them down, they did not build them up. They were saturated in spiritual darkness. Their spiritual diet was very unhealthy. They were saturated in that. They were low, self-loathing, and so that manifests itself in their life. How are you going to go through all that, and then have positive, spirit-filled thoughts if you're putting in garbage? Paul said, finally, brethren, let's do a quick check here. Finally, brethren, whatever things are ungodly, and dark, and demonic, meditate on these things. Philippians 4, read it yourself. Oh, I missed those. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, and noble, and honest, and upright, and good, and godly, and holy, do what? Meditate on those things. Why? Because as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Man, if you want to truly be filled with the spirit of God, you've got to go through your mental inventory and get rid of the junk that is pulling you away from God. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Whatever you focus on, you will become. Our neurotransmitters in the brain are designed in such a way, it's called neuroplasticity, where what you think you actually will become. That darkness will be able to produce that darkness and those evil thoughts, and it'll become to weigh on you, and then you become disgruntled, you become frustrated, you become angry, and then those release toxic emotions that damage the body. It's all connected, all connected. So if I were you, I would do an inventory test on these areas, but I'm going to close with this because I went too long. Let's bring this back to Jesus. The greatest that ever lived, he was. Was he not? Think about this. The greatest who ever lived, he had no servants, yet they called him master. He had no degree, yet they called him teacher. He had no medicine, yet they called him healer. He had no army, yet kings feared him. He won no military battles, yet he conquered the world. He had no crime, yet they crucified him. He had no need, yet he forgave those who mocked him. He was buried in a tomb, and he lives today. That is why we are here worshiping. That is why we are here today, because of Christ and the cross and what that means in our life. So I want to challenge you this morning, if you're listening live, if you're listening later, do you have that deep abiding relationship with him? Because you'll never get off the emotional rollercoaster. You have to throw those emotions to God and say, God, you take this. God, you heal me. We'll never be in a perfected state now, but I thank God he delivered me from the darkness and depression I used to go through and rebellion against God. Days where you know days you wouldn't even want to get up. You don't want to even talk to anybody. Leave me alone. Get me out of here. I hope I check out soon enough, and that depression begins to take over your life. But who the son sets free is free indeed. Praise God. I'm going to close with the lines from an old hymn. We had a hymn night on Wednesday. We're doing another hymn night in October. For all you hymn lovers, you better be here. For all you worship lovers, you better be here. I think, Brant, you're doing it, aren't you? I'm excited about that. Brant does those well, and Jamie and the team. And Blessing is here as well, too. Got to be careful. Got to remember everybody's here. But the worship team, we are so blessed. Pastor Abrams sings, too. I'm jealous. Can never get that one down. So whoever's here on the worship team, if I missed you, we so appreciate what you do. But check out this hymn. It's called And the Judge Will Descend. They used to sing them back then, didn't they? They'd say, that old rugged cross that has set me free, a sinner saved by grace. And then they'd sing, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that what? Saved a what? Oh, you won't catch that today. You won't catch that very often today. Now you'll hear, take my heart, God. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. See, it's not convicting. Check this one out, 300 years ago. And when the judge descends, must the dead arise and not a single soul escape his all discerning eyes? Depart from me, you accursed to everlasting flame. For rebel angels first prepared where mercy never came. Ye sinners, seek his grace, whose wrath he cannot bear. Fly to the shelter of the cross and find salvation there. See, that should be the greatest call of the pulpits today, is to say, flee from the wrath that is to come and embrace the Savior. He is an all-consuming fire. There is a day of judgment coming. Run to the cross and cling on. Run to Christ while you still have breath. Just what he said here, ye sinners, seek his grace, whose wrath you cannot bear. Fly to the shelter of the cross and you will find salvation there. Praise God. Guys, we got to get away from intellectual knowledge of who God is and heart knowledge. Some of you, and I just say this with so much love, please understand, some of you have such hard hearts, you don't know the power of God because your hearts are too hard. You're bored in worship, you're probably going to check every scripture reference I give just to make sure he's on track. Come in here with a critical spirit, my heart weeps for you. My heart weeps for you. What's it going to take for you to return to your first love? To return to the shepherd? Because we can come up here and look at the PowerPoint, sing a few songs, clap a little bit, but God wants to do with our heart. What's the whole point of worship? What's the whole point of a message? I'll tell you what, you know what the point of a message is? God says, is not my word like a fire? Is not my word like a hammer that devours? I was reading one of the prophets the other day, he said, I think it was Jeremiah, he said, go tell Assyria, go tell them this, the burden of the Lord is coming, my righteous indignation is flaring, the burden of your sin is heavy, my lips are lips of indignation and my tongue is a tongue of fire. I will burn the chaff, I will eliminate the king of Assyria, that God, and we have to break, we have to say, God, I am that person that needs you. So the sermon, the word of God is supposed to pierce our hearts, the word of God is living and vibrant, it's sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces the heart, it discerns the thoughts and the intents of the heart, so it's supposed to go in and expose me, expose my hypocrisy, expose my spiritual pride, expose my phariseeism, expose my arrogance, God, expose me and crush me and be filled with your spirit. One of the hardest things for me is I know so many people have been Christians for years, pastors, leaders, and they don't have the spirit of God in them. They have arrogance, they're rigid, but they know nothing of the love and power of God, that's why nobody comes to Christ in their ministry, that's why they don't pray for healing and see God moving in powerful ways, and I'm not casting stones, I can slip right back into that model very quickly, because it's always an issue of the heart. God breaks the heart, God breaks the heart, that's the only thing that's going to change our nation and our state. He saves the soul by breaking the heart. Have you ever thought about what the gospel must mean to a sinner? It doesn't break their heart, it should break their heart. Christ gave himself, he died on the cross for you, for your sin, that should break your heart.