WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.600 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, 2 00:00:04.600 --> 00:00:08.300 in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. 3 00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:13.300 Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. 4 00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:19.800 And listen to this, verse 8, it will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones. 5 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:25.700 ♪♪ 6 00:00:25.700 --> 00:00:33.700 Physician Andrew Weil, Research Associate in Ethnopharmacology at Harvard, 7 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:35.700 and author of Health and Healing Rites, 8 00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:40.000 external material objects never cause disease. 9 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.900 But these agents are merely agents looking for a susceptible host. 10 00:00:44.900 --> 00:00:51.500 If we have poor coping skills, deficient social support, and high stress on our bodies, 11 00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:54.700 they become upset and our resistance is lowered. 12 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:59.200 And then an agent of disease finds fertile ground in which to develop 13 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.700 or might act as straw ready for a fire, end quote. 14 00:01:03.700 --> 00:01:06.700 So all of us are exposed to pathogens every day. 15 00:01:06.700 --> 00:01:08.700 All of us are exposed to germs. 16 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:13.700 If we walk anywhere into any building in this city or in your city, 17 00:01:13.700 --> 00:01:15.700 you're going to be exposed to germs. 18 00:01:15.700 --> 00:01:17.700 You're going to be around people who are coughing. 19 00:01:17.700 --> 00:01:20.200 You're going to be around people who shake your hand, 20 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:24.200 who did not wash their hands appropriately today. 21 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:27.200 All of us have cancer cells. 22 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:33.200 All of us are in some way, shape, or form going outside where there's pollution. 23 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:40.200 All of us are in rooms where there's electromagnetic connectors 24 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:42.200 looking for a host in our bodies. 25 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:46.200 When I drove in today, there was a car, a van, 26 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.200 really nice town and country van, where the alarm was just going off. 27 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:50.200 Bom, bom, bom. 28 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:52.200 And it had been going on for quite a while. 29 00:01:52.200 --> 00:01:54.200 And I got out of my car. 30 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:57.200 I walked up, and there was one of our assistants 31 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:04.200 with the electronic alarm system to cut it off. 32 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:09.199 And it would not cut off from the door of the church 33 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:12.200 all the way out to the car in the parking lot 34 00:02:12.200 --> 00:02:16.200 until she took the alarm and stuck it underneath her chin. 35 00:02:16.200 --> 00:02:20.200 So she took the alarm, stuck it underneath her chin, punched it. 36 00:02:20.200 --> 00:02:21.200 Alarm went off. 37 00:02:21.200 --> 00:02:26.200 Because our bodies are conducive to electricity, 38 00:02:26.200 --> 00:02:30.200 and so it flowed better to get the distance that it needed 39 00:02:30.200 --> 00:02:35.200 flowing through her head and her cavity out to the car 40 00:02:35.200 --> 00:02:37.200 than just pointing it in that direction. 41 00:02:37.200 --> 00:02:44.200 That shows you how conducive we are to the electromagnetic rays 42 00:02:44.200 --> 00:02:48.200 that are flowing through our bodies all the time. 43 00:02:48.200 --> 00:02:49.200 So here's my thesis. 44 00:02:49.200 --> 00:02:52.200 My thesis is the more you line up with God's purposes, 45 00:02:52.200 --> 00:02:55.200 spiritually, emotionally, mentally, relationally, and physically, 46 00:02:55.200 --> 00:03:00.200 the healthier, more vibrant, and more resilient your life will become. 47 00:03:00.200 --> 00:03:04.200 The result will be a maximum impact. 48 00:03:04.200 --> 00:03:08.200 Listen to God's word on health from Proverbs 3. 49 00:03:08.200 --> 00:03:10.200 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 50 00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:12.200 Lean not on your own understanding. 51 00:03:12.200 --> 00:03:16.200 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 52 00:03:16.200 --> 00:03:19.200 Do not be wise in your own eyes. 53 00:03:19.200 --> 00:03:21.200 Fear the Lord and depart from evil. 54 00:03:21.200 --> 00:03:23.200 And listen to this, verse 8. 55 00:03:23.200 --> 00:03:28.200 It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones. 56 00:03:28.200 --> 00:03:31.200 Solomon here, the wisest man in the world at that time, 57 00:03:31.200 --> 00:03:35.200 is saying that when you trust God with your heart, I mean spiritually, 58 00:03:35.200 --> 00:03:38.200 when you lean not on your understanding but the understanding of God, 59 00:03:38.200 --> 00:03:44.200 that's mentally, when you direct your paths and you're not wise in your own eyes, 60 00:03:44.200 --> 00:03:48.200 that God's going to actually cause your body to function better 61 00:03:48.200 --> 00:03:50.200 and you're going to be healed in a powerful way. 62 00:03:50.200 --> 00:03:52.200 So look at this diagram again. 63 00:03:52.200 --> 00:03:59.200 You see these four concentric circles that are sort of a powerful visual 64 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:03.200 of the prescription of a high-impact life, 65 00:04:03.200 --> 00:04:05.200 that if we will stay healthy mentally, 66 00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:09.200 if we will stay healthy emotionally and relationally, 67 00:04:09.200 --> 00:04:13.200 if we'll stay healthy spiritually, if we'll stay healthy physically, 68 00:04:13.200 --> 00:04:15.200 we're going to have a high-impact life. 69 00:04:15.200 --> 00:04:18.200 So let me give you what I think are seven tips, 70 00:04:18.200 --> 00:04:22.200 seven tips for a maximum-impact life. 71 00:04:22.200 --> 00:04:24.200 The first one, this is really important, 72 00:04:24.200 --> 00:04:31.200 and this particular one can be set over all of the others, 73 00:04:31.200 --> 00:04:33.200 and that is be wholehearted. 74 00:04:33.200 --> 00:04:35.200 Seek the King. 75 00:04:35.200 --> 00:04:39.200 Seek the kingdom of God first with all of your heart. 76 00:04:39.200 --> 00:04:44.200 The Bible has more to say about the heart than anything else. 77 00:04:44.200 --> 00:04:48.200 Seventy-two percent of all the verses in the Bible 78 00:04:48.200 --> 00:04:52.200 have to do with, in some way, shape, or form, the heart. 79 00:04:52.200 --> 00:04:54.200 So God is very, very interested in your heart. 80 00:04:54.200 --> 00:04:57.200 And being wholehearted means you're all in. 81 00:04:57.200 --> 00:05:00.200 It means your heart is clean. 82 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.840 And it's about intimacy with God, being wholehearted with him. 83 00:05:04.840 --> 00:05:14.720 And so Dr. McLaughlin of Women's Medical College in Philadelphia says that quote, 65% to 85% 84 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:22.920 of all sickness is rooted in the mental and spiritual, 99% of headaches, 75% of stomach 85 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:30.220 disorders, 75% of asthma, and 75% of skin disease. 86 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:35.080 So when we follow the kingdom laws of the universe, the kingdom laws of seeking first 87 00:05:35.080 --> 00:05:41.160 the kingdom of God and his righteousness, things line up, things go better in our lives. 88 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:45.300 So seek first the kingdom, be wholehearted, that's the most important thing. 89 00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:50.760 The kingdom of God is God's total program for total health. 90 00:05:50.760 --> 00:05:54.540 The kingdom of God is God's total program for total health. 91 00:05:54.540 --> 00:05:59.060 The greatest sermon some could argue on healthy living is the Sermon on the Mount. 92 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:01.980 That's Matthew 5, 6, and 7. 93 00:06:01.980 --> 00:06:09.140 At a medical convention in the 1960s, after much debate, adopted a resolution that the 94 00:06:09.140 --> 00:06:16.260 best description and the best prescription for total health was the Sermon on the Mount. 95 00:06:16.260 --> 00:06:21.680 And they replaced, instead of blessed, they replaced it with healthy. 96 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:26.360 Healthier those who are poor in spirit, healthier those with a gentle spirit, healthier those 97 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:28.320 who hunger and thirst for righteousness. 98 00:06:28.320 --> 00:06:35.240 In other words, Matthew 5, 3 through 12, if we were to put healthy in there, they felt, 99 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:42.560 these physicians felt, this was the most important prescription for overall health in all of 100 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:43.560 their patients. 101 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:46.700 So first of all, be wholehearted. 102 00:06:46.700 --> 00:06:50.020 Second, meditation in truth. 103 00:06:50.020 --> 00:06:52.300 Meditation in truth. 104 00:06:52.300 --> 00:06:55.500 Meditate in and study God's word. 105 00:06:55.500 --> 00:07:01.260 We've hijacked our thoughts by letting all of the bad news, all the fake news, maybe 106 00:07:01.260 --> 00:07:06.340 we should say all the unhealthy news, constantly filter into our hearts. 107 00:07:06.340 --> 00:07:10.260 And God calls us to meditate on truth. 108 00:07:10.260 --> 00:07:13.060 That means ruminate on truth. 109 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:17.480 And so God wants us thinking about truth, meditating in truth. 110 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:20.780 Because truth, Jesus says, is what sets us free. 111 00:07:20.780 --> 00:07:26.720 So when we meditate on truth, when we know the truth, Jesus says, that knowing of the 112 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:28.860 truth sets us free. 113 00:07:28.860 --> 00:07:35.560 So I think you could also say, knowing falsehood, living in falsehood, thinking about falsehood 114 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:38.020 is going to enslave you. 115 00:07:38.020 --> 00:07:41.320 So God wants us to walk in truth, live truth. 116 00:07:41.320 --> 00:07:42.880 It sets our spirits free. 117 00:07:42.900 --> 00:07:48.140 It sets our souls free to know that we're basing our lives on truth. 118 00:07:48.140 --> 00:07:52.100 And truth is kind of like a fire. 119 00:07:52.100 --> 00:07:56.020 So the fire of truth burns up falsehood. 120 00:07:56.020 --> 00:07:59.820 The fire of truth burns up lies. 121 00:07:59.820 --> 00:08:01.420 It's painful sometimes, though. 122 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:06.020 I mean, sometimes when we become a truth seeker, we make truth our goal. 123 00:08:06.020 --> 00:08:10.740 We realize maybe some of the people we've been listening to, maybe some of the things 124 00:08:10.760 --> 00:08:13.960 that we've been reading aren't truth. 125 00:08:13.960 --> 00:08:15.160 That's not truth. 126 00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:22.240 So truth, the seeking of truth, the meditation of truth, begins with God's word. 127 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:27.660 The most intimate books of the entire Bible is the book of Psalms. 128 00:08:27.660 --> 00:08:30.800 And Psalms 1, this is what it says. 129 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:35.919 This is the opening of all the Psalms, 150 Psalms in the Bible, right in the center of 130 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:37.159 your Bible. 131 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:38.159 This is Psalm 1. 132 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:43.580 And I think Psalm 1 sets the theme for all of the Psalms. 133 00:08:43.580 --> 00:08:50.900 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of 134 00:08:50.900 --> 00:08:55.060 sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. 135 00:08:55.060 --> 00:08:58.980 But his delight is in the law of the Lord. 136 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:03.100 And in his law, he meditates day and night. 137 00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:09.120 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its 138 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:14.460 season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. 139 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:18.520 So this is one of the great prosperity passages of the Bible. 140 00:09:18.520 --> 00:09:20.940 You compare this with Joshua 1. 141 00:09:20.940 --> 00:09:26.080 So Psalm 1 and Joshua 1 almost say the exact same thing, that if you meditate in truth, 142 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:31.400 if we meditate and think on the law of God, we're going to be successful. 143 00:09:31.400 --> 00:09:32.960 We're going to prosper. 144 00:09:33.820 --> 00:09:40.220 And without going out on a limb here and saying too much, I will say this, that there is truth 145 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:47.940 all through Scripture that the more and the deeper and the more consistent we obey God, 146 00:09:47.940 --> 00:09:49.940 blessings come our way. 147 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:51.860 All through Scripture, it says that. 148 00:09:51.860 --> 00:09:53.540 Look at Deuteronomy 28. 149 00:09:53.540 --> 00:09:58.220 If you look at Deuteronomy 28, it talks about the blessings and the cursings that come with 150 00:09:58.220 --> 00:09:59.820 obedience or disobedience. 151 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.040 disobedience in our lives. 152 00:10:02.040 --> 00:10:07.040 And here, David is telling us that the way to become a man 153 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:12.640 who is blessed, the way to become a man who will prosper 154 00:10:12.640 --> 00:10:16.220 and who will bear great fruit in his life 155 00:10:16.220 --> 00:10:18.920 is one who delights in the law of the Lord 156 00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:21.400 and meditates in it day and night. 157 00:10:21.400 --> 00:10:25.720 If you drive out east from Colorado Springs where I live 158 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:28.760 and you're headed toward Kansas or Nebraska, 159 00:10:28.800 --> 00:10:33.800 you're gonna see great, huge, massive land 160 00:10:33.880 --> 00:10:35.760 where there's very few trees. 161 00:10:35.760 --> 00:10:38.000 And whenever you see a clump of trees, 162 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:43.000 you'll see usually oak trees right near a stream of water 163 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:46.800 because those roots go down and they can grab that water, 164 00:10:46.800 --> 00:10:50.560 they're nourished, and decade after decade, 165 00:10:50.560 --> 00:10:52.920 those trees grow only there. 166 00:10:52.920 --> 00:10:55.760 But outside of where the streams of water are, 167 00:10:55.760 --> 00:11:00.760 there's no vegetation except for prairie grasses and cactus. 168 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:03.000 So that's a metaphor of our life 169 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:06.420 and this is probably exactly what David is talking about. 170 00:11:06.420 --> 00:11:10.420 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. 171 00:11:10.420 --> 00:11:12.640 So if you look at any desert, it's like that. 172 00:11:12.640 --> 00:11:14.920 And that's the way it is at least in Colorado 173 00:11:14.920 --> 00:11:17.680 on the east side of our state. 174 00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:20.160 According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, 175 00:11:20.160 --> 00:11:22.680 positive thinking is linked 176 00:11:22.680 --> 00:11:25.160 to a wide range of health benefits. 177 00:11:25.160 --> 00:11:27.960 So those who are meditating on truth, 178 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:30.360 those who are meditating on righteousness, 179 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:32.680 those who are meditating on the positive, 180 00:11:32.680 --> 00:11:35.280 here's what Johns Hopkins Medicine says 181 00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:36.840 are the benefits to you. 182 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:40.160 Better stress management and coping skills, 183 00:11:40.160 --> 00:11:43.200 enhanced psychological health, 184 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.980 greater resistance to the common cold, 185 00:11:45.980 --> 00:11:48.560 increased physical well-being, 186 00:11:48.560 --> 00:11:52.440 longer lifespan, lower rates of depression, 187 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:56.920 and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease-related death. 188 00:11:56.920 --> 00:12:01.920 One study of 1,558 older adults 189 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:04.340 found that positive thinking 190 00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:08.000 could also reduce frailty during old age. 191 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:10.640 The power of meditation on truth, 192 00:12:10.640 --> 00:12:15.640 the power of positive thinking affects our mental health. 193 00:12:15.920 --> 00:12:19.600 So I challenge you today that you would seek first the kingdom, 194 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.360 you'd be wholehearted. 195 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:24.380 Second tip, that you'd meditate in truth, 196 00:12:24.380 --> 00:12:25.600 you'd think on truth, 197 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.080 you would live out the truth 198 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:32.560 that you're inculcating into your spirit and into your mind. 199 00:12:32.560 --> 00:12:34.920 It will enable you and empower you 200 00:12:34.920 --> 00:12:37.960 to have a high-impact life 201 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:41.080 and to prosper in literally everything that you do.