Yesterday ended is a podcast dedicated to the healing words of Jesus Christ and his story of redemption. Each podcast contains an original poem so that I can portray a confession of our faith of scripture in unique and succinct ways. Come with me on a journey to become a new creation and to declare old things dead and our life anew in Christ. What we meditate on will determine the direction and fruit of our lives. Let's live today speaking the words of life.
The victory we have in Christ can be felt in our everyday life. We can overcome depression. We can overcome fear. We can be confident. We can be free from worry. We can be free from anxiety. We can have emotional healing. We can have hope. We can be set free from our past. The Bible declares the goodness of God. The Bible is more than Christian psychology it is truth. The truth of God brings mental health, spiritual health and physical health. We can walk in peace. We can overcome the traumas of life.
Are you broken inside? Do you have emotional pain? Are you struggling with issues of your past? Is there any fruit in your life? Do you need inner healing? Welcome to yesterday ended healing the traumas of life. What have you done to change your circumstances? What is your mindset? I'm your host Dennis Dobbin, and I am here to teach you about inner healing through thankfulness. Give a listen.
Are you broken inside? Do you have emotional pain? Are you struggling with issues of your past? Is there any fruit in your life? Do you need inner healing? Welcome to yesterday ended Healing the Traumas of Life. What have you done to change your circumstances? What is your mindset? I'm your host, Dennis Dobbin, and I'm here to teach you about inner healing through thankfulness. Give a listen. I have a friend who unfortunately has an undercurrent of bitterness in their heart. It makes for a challenge in conversation at times. There are certain subjects I have to be cautious to not bring up. You don't have to look very far to find people whose mindset is set on negative. They can't say much, if anything, positive. Being bitter or negative is poisonous. These thoughts are like mental termites creeping into our minds and destroying our outlook on life. Hebrews twelve verse 15. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. Israel had a bad habit of complaining. They murmured against God quite often, and it got them into trouble. Bitterness is the opposite of thankfulness. You're complaining instead of giving thanks. You're whining without cheese and crackers. Consider how God describes bitter words in Psalm 64, verse 3, who wet their tongue like a sword and bend their bows to shoot their arrows even bitter words. So if I start speaking out bitter words in your presence, it's like taking a bow and arrow and shooting you. That's not very friendly. So what do we talk about? The news? Yeah, right. That's real positive. We need to train ourselves to be thankful even in tough circumstances. I recently had the challenge of having done work a month ago, and just now I got the paycheck. It was more annoying than challenging. I waited two weeks for the check at first, and then I asked about it, and they said, Oh, by the way, we need these other tax documents. Would have been nice to have been told that two weeks ago. I was kind and didn't say that uh out loud. And it still took another two weeks after another phone call or two. I had to guard my heart not to become bitter. I would rehearse a kind and gracious conversation before I would call them or email them. I had to stay thankful that my finances were covered, so I didn't have to worry about that issue. The problem was a seeming lack of competence on the company's part. I had to keep my heart within the right mindset and not accuse them of withholding the check. Of course, that thought never entered my mind. Unfortunately, many of us have had issues that went on for more than a month, problems and challenges that did not go away. But the only way to receive inner healing is to maintain a mindset of thankfulness. Too often I find a darkness in my mind, the memory of pain causing my strength to wane, failures of yesterday heavy on my heart do weigh, and I try to fight to walk back into the light. Then in a moment of grace I remember God's smiling face, and on a bended knee to him I make a plea. His love I remember well, and by it my fears are quelled. Thankfulness fills my heart, and so the darkness departs. Now I replace the thought that tied my heart in a knot, I remember what he's done, that through Christ I have won. My mouth begins to sing, and thanks to him I bring, thankful before his face, his presence my fears erase. Our mindset will determine the quality and direction of our lives. It will determine the quality and quantity of fruit in our lives. Our mindset directly influences these things. Consider the alternatives declared in Romans chapter 8, verse 6. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. The carnal mind is set on the things of the world. It is limited to the five senses. It cannot see hope, it cannot trust, it does not have faith, and subsequently the carnal mind brings death. The alternative is to have a spiritual mind, a mindset that hopes and trusts and believes in the truth. There's an old acronym for the word fear, false evidence appearing real. The world tries to blind and deceive us with lies. Our enemy doesn't want us to see the promises of God. We end up looking at what we can see instead of what is unseen, the Spirit of God. What is the focus of our eyes? What is the focus of our heart? I had a time when I was experiencing sciatic pain for over three months. The first month I could hardly walk. I used a walker for quite a while. During that time I had to practice being thankful that I wasn't bedridden. It could be far worse. Unfortunately, some of you may be in that situation. I know it's hard work to renew your mind, but work that must be done to be in a place to receive the goodness of God. Being unthankful or bitter causes the fruit in our life to rot. Matthew chapter 7, verse 17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. There are many examples of people with extreme disabilities, and yet their lives are full and rich because they decided to be thankful for what they did have. They didn't let their circumstances of their life, some that are very extreme, stop them from moving forward. I've seen a video of a runner in a race falling down at the beginning, but then deciding to get up and compete to such an extent that they ended up winning the race. They came from behind because they didn't give up. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name. The words enter and be thankful are both written in the imperative in the Hebrew language, indicating it is not a suggestion, but more like a command. We are instructed how to approach God. You do so with thanksgiving and praise. Philippians chapter two, verse fourteen. Do all things without murmurings and disputings. The word do is rendered in the imperative mood, making it a command. You do not approach God grumbling and doubting. A couple chapters later in Philippians we are told how to talk to him. Philippians chapter 4, verse 6. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. As we saw in Psalm 100, we should enter into the presence of God with thanksgiving. Here we are taught that our prayers and supplications, our request, should be presented, wait for it, with thanksgiving. The Old Testament and the New Testament agree with each other. After all, it is one harmonious revelation from beginning to end, but that's another teaching. This is the bottom line. You do not approach God complaining and murmuring. But wait, there's more instruction in Colossians chapter 3, verses 15 through 17. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Again, this is a command, not a suggestion. Be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. It starts with the mindset of making the peace of God the umpire or ruler of your heart. And it reminds us that as we are called in one body, we must be thankful. So on top of the peace of God ruling in your heart, we are to have the word of Christ dwell in us. The word of Christ will teach and admonish us and bring us to the point of singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord. The word grace here comes from the same root word as thankful in verse 15 and thanks in verse 17. God is telling us three times that being thankful is the way of life. And if those three references to thanks were enough, a few verses later in the next chapter, it commands us in Colossians chapter 4, verse 2, continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. The only attitude of prayer is one of thanksgiving. And when you recognize that the goodness of God leads us to repentance, and that He is the God of all grace, and the God of all comfort, and the God of peace and love, we should realize that we have a lot to be thankful for. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, the wrath of God is set aside from us. We are called to peace. We are called to the Father's glory and virtue. In 1 Thessalonians, there are three verses that depict a proper mindset for a fruitful life. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16 through 18. Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. If you ever had a question about what the will of God for your life is, here it is. Throughout our day we need to rejoice and do a lot of praying and in every situation give thanks. I know that there are circumstances and situations that challenge us, to say the least. The decision we must make is to meet these challenges with the proper mindset. We have been given hope, and we need to keep our eyes on that hope. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 16 through 18. For which cause we faint not. But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. The Apostle Paul uses the phrase light affliction. Here in the context he says that he and his fellow laborers were troubled, perplexed, persecuted, and cast down. Yet he describes it as a light affliction, compared to the far more exceeding eternal weight of glory that awaits us. I have come to adopt the attitude of thankfulness in all the situations of my life. I've come to recognize God's faithfulness to his promises, for which I'm thankful. I've learned to lean on the full, complete work of Jesus Christ as my Savior, for which I'm thankful. I see the power of the Holy Spirit working in my life to bring me closer to the Father and to Jesus, for which I'm thankful. There are things in my life that I would have liked to have accomplished. Yet I'm still thankful. As I look at my life, I am in awe of what God has given me and the doors that He has opened for me and the provision that He has lavished upon me. And for all this, I am thankful. Too often I find a darkness in my mind, the memory of pain causing my strength to wane. Failures of yesterday heavy on my heart do weigh, and I try to fight to walk back into the light. Then in a moment of grace I remember God's smiling face, then on a bended knee to him I make a plea. His love I remember well, and by it my fears are quelled. Thankfulness fills my heart, and so the darkness departs. Now I replace the thought that tied my heart in a knot. I remember what he's done, that through Christ I have won. My mouth begins to sing, and thanks to him I bring, thankful before his face, his presence my fears erase. I have hope in the return of Christ. I have learned to look at life not with the glass half full or half empty attitude. My glass, my cup runs over. I am living in an overflow. God's grace defines me. His promises are true. He will never leave me nor forsake me. He is my helper, and for all this, I am thankful. God bless you all and thank you for listening today. If you'd like to send me a prayer request or discuss a podcast, you can contact me through my email at DMdobin at spcglobal.net, or you can go to the website yesterdayended.buzzsprout.com, and under the show notes there is a link uh by which you can text me. Looking forward to hearing from you. God bless you, and have a great day.
