Taking Control Of Our Thoughts -- Ed Young
Category
📚
ÉducationTranscription
00:00 We have to be specific because when you're specific, you'll be prolific.
00:04 We have to be specific about the thoughts we're fishing for.
00:08 Are you tracking those thoughts? Are you intentional about those thoughts?
00:15 Are you talking to God about those thoughts?
00:27 [Music]
00:55 [Applause]
00:57 Imagine you're in the ocean close to shore. It's very calm.
01:03 You see an ominous dark shadow beneath the surface and you come face to face with
01:13 the apex predator, a great white shark.
01:23 I had the opportunity several weeks ago to fish for a great white, to catch a great white,
01:35 to tag a great white, and release a great white.
01:49 You know, I've got to say that this expedition is a metaphor for our lives.
01:59 I would have to say that when things happen to us,
02:05 they often reflect God's meta-narrative in Scripture.
02:17 A meta-narrative being the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and
02:25 the implications of living for him.
02:28 Great white sharks are pretty prolific.
02:40 And I would say great white sharks would be in your life and mine.
02:47 I would submit to you that there are things swimming between your ears and mine,
02:59 in the oceans of our minds, you could say, that I would refer to as
03:09 thought sharks. Thought sharks.
03:12 It is unique to reel in a great white shark.
03:20 I was told after we caught this fish that there's been maybe 25 fish this size caught
03:30 on a rod and reel in fishing history. History. You wouldn't think that you could
03:43 catch something like this, and this is pretty much the size of the fish.
03:48 And I'll tell you more and more about the specifics of it as we continue in this series.
03:59 But I want you to think about reeling things in, because that's the overarching story, right?
04:07 Reeling something in, bringing something out there up close. Reeling something in.
04:18 We have an opportunity to reel in thought sharks,
04:27 the apex predators in our minds.
04:31 Where are you fishing? I mean, you don't go to a local lake and fish for great white sharks,
04:42 do you? Where are you fishing? What are you fishing for? Or are you fishing at all?
04:54 But we reel in things, people you could say, but specifically we reel in thoughts all the time.
05:03 You're driving down the freeway like I was yesterday. A car cut me off, and I said to
05:09 myself, I had this thought. If I had a bazooka, I'd blow that car off the road. I got to reel
05:16 that thought in. You're at the gym and you see this attractive person, you better reel that
05:25 thought in. You're in an argument with your husband, and you have this thought to say,
05:33 you're just like your father. You better reel that thought in. We have thoughts, don't we?
05:41 We're the sum total of our thoughts. Science tells us we have 60,000 thoughts a day. 75% are negative.
05:54 Now let that settle in. And you're telling me that we're born good?
06:03 You're telling me that we don't have a sin nature? Science has just told us so.
06:11 I have these neural pathways in my brain like you, and 75% of my thoughts and your thoughts are
06:22 negative. Negative thoughts. We have thoughts, don't we, about God? Sometimes negative thoughts
06:28 about God. Some of you maybe have a thought that God is like an NFL referee. The NFL is overly
06:38 officiated, if you've not noticed. It's like after every play, the players are looking around, and
06:43 it's weird. And we think God's that way. Some of us think God is a tyrant. Others of us have a
06:50 thought of God as this benevolent grandfather. If you hang around here at Fellowship Church long
06:56 enough, we're going to complete the photo album of God so you'll understand who God is.
07:04 God thinks about you and me 24/7. Did you know that? The Bible says in Psalm 139, 17 through 18,
07:11 "How precious to me are your thoughts, God. How vast is the sum of them.
07:16 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. And when I awake,
07:23 I'm still with you." Now I want you to think about that again. Think how you think for a second.
07:32 The God of the universe is thinking about you. He never stops thinking about you.
07:38 While he's thinking about you and you and you and you. Is that awesome?
07:46 God made us in his image. We have the capacity to think.
07:57 And the Bible tells you and me that when we become followers of Christ, specifically
08:04 1 Corinthians 2, 16, that we have the mind of Christ.
08:11 Here's where psychology drops the ball. Psychology does a great job in talking about our thoughts and
08:21 positive thoughts and negative thoughts, but they drop the ball when they say, "Look inside yourself
08:30 for freedom. Look inside yourself for this self-esteem." No, no, no, no, no.
08:40 Because our ocean is polluted. Only God, only the power of the Holy Spirit can transform
08:54 our thoughts. But I'm telling you, friend, you're a sum total of your thoughts. So am I.
08:58 What do you think about God? What do you think about yourself?
09:07 I have thoughts about myself and I can't believe the negative thoughts I have about myself.
09:12 Just this week, I'll add, "You have nothing to say."
09:17 I'll say back to myself, "Well, I've put in 25 hours of study. You have nothing to say. Who are
09:24 you to preach?" It's going to be cold. There'll be 2,000 people that will not show up that would
09:34 have been here. And that's true. "Oh, I can go negative quick." And I fight cynicism because
09:45 of my sin nature and because of my background.
09:49 You saw it last week, but I've grown up in the fishbowl.
09:55 My father is one of the most powerful Christian figures in America.
10:03 I've grown up with people watching everything I do. What I say, what I don't say, what I wear,
10:08 what I don't wear, what I drive, where I live, all of that, my whole life. I have seen
10:13 the dark underbelly of people. And you're going to sit there and think, "I don't know what sin is."
10:22 Oh, this might surprise you. "What are you smoking?" Sin is my business.
10:32 Oh, I know. So when you deal with that much garbage and that much darkness, oh, it can give you
10:38 some thought sharks. And we can all point back to our past and talk about those things,
10:45 but I'm just going to tell you that's a fact.
10:50 When I see people, do I tend to see the best? No, not always.
10:59 Because my whole life, people wanted to get next to me because of my family and everything. So I'm
11:03 like, I'm just keeping it real. You're a pastor? Yeah, I am. You have those same thoughts.
11:17 What do you think about yourself? I'm not good enough.
11:22 I'm not pretty enough. I'm not big enough. I'm not smart enough.
11:27 I'm unworthy thoughts.
11:29 And then what we'll do is this is what I do.
11:36 I'll feed my thought sharks.
11:38 Baby shark, bum bum.
11:43 Come on.
11:44 One, two three.
11:47 Baby shark, bum bum.
11:48 Bum ba bum.
11:49 Baby shark, bum bum.
11:51 Bum bum.
11:52 Child shark, bum bum.
11:53 Bum bum.
11:54 Child shark, bum bum.
11:56 Bum bum.
11:57 Teenage shark, bum bum.
11:58 Bum bum.
11:59 Teenage shark, bum bum.
12:01 Bum bum.
12:02 Adult shark, bum bum.
12:03 Bum ba bum.
12:04 Adult shark, bum bum.
12:06 Bum ba bum.
12:07 Grandpa shark, bum ba.
12:09 (audience laughing)
12:12 Lady swimming, bum bum.
12:16 Bum ba bum.
12:17 In the water, bum bum.
12:18 Bum ba bum.
12:19 Shark attack!
12:21 Lost my leg, bum bum.
12:25 (audience laughing)
12:27 All these thoughts, Ed, they're no big deal.
12:30 They're just small baby sharks.
12:33 That big mama right there started out as a small shark.
12:42 Why do I feed my thought sharks?
12:49 Why do you do it?
12:54 It's our sin nature.
12:56 It's who we are.
13:02 So let's reel in thoughts we have about God
13:07 during this series.
13:08 Let's reel in thoughts that we have about ourselves
13:11 in this series and let's look at
13:14 some areas specifically of our thoughts
13:22 that we think about ourselves.
13:25 I was thinking about thinking
13:27 and I was thinking,
13:30 okay, there's seven Cs.
13:34 You've heard of the seven Cs.
13:36 Well, there's seven Cs in our brain.
13:39 And these thought sharks swim in these seven Cs.
13:44 And I'm gonna challenge you to journal
13:52 these seven Cs for the next week.
13:55 I'm gonna challenge you to take a journal out
13:58 and write seven columns
14:00 and I'll post this on all of my social media.
14:06 It'll be on our app.
14:08 And I want you to see in your C
14:11 what triggers these negative and sinful thoughts
14:17 because something positive is gonna happen.
14:21 I know it sounds negative right now, but trust me.
14:23 This is gonna change into something very, very positive.
14:26 What are the seven Cs?
14:28 First one is pride.
14:30 Pride is the forerunner of all sin, pride.
14:33 What elevates your pride and mind?
14:35 How do we feed those thought sharks?
14:41 Well, a simple way is through social media.
14:48 If you don't think that's about pride,
14:52 what planet are you from?
14:54 Here's what's weird.
15:01 I can't think about something positive
15:03 and something negative at the same time.
15:06 Pride, what feeds your pride and mind?
15:10 For me, if you compliment me over a message,
15:16 that doesn't feed my pride.
15:17 It really doesn't.
15:19 I don't know if it's because I've grown up in it.
15:23 Being on stage does not feed my pride.
15:25 I've grown up on stage.
15:26 It's not like, oh boy, I want to hit the stage.
15:29 But I'll tell you what can feed my pride
15:32 would be certain peers, certain people that do what I do
15:36 in being overly competitive and overly negative about them.
15:41 You don't have a problem with other people in the car,
15:45 you don't have a problem with doctors or lawyers
15:49 or pastors, but you have an issue
15:51 with people in the car business.
15:54 I'm the same way.
15:58 I'm not saying you do, I just use that as an example.
16:04 'Cause this guy's in the car business.
16:06 But think about it.
16:07 He's not worried about somebody in real estate.
16:11 He's not worried about somebody who's a teacher,
16:15 a competitor.
16:16 Are you feeling me?
16:19 Anger is another C.
16:21 Anger, anger, anger.
16:23 Oh, anger's not bad.
16:25 But out of control anger is.
16:28 Another of the seven C's, the third one would be lust.
16:33 God-given desire that's gone haywire.
16:36 It always gets deathly quiet when I mention lust.
16:39 Greed, that's another one.
16:43 That's why it's good to take a wide berth
16:45 around a lot of the news that we consume.
16:48 Some of the shows that are being streamed,
16:55 they can feed lust and all sorts of seductive thoughts
17:01 for a long, long time.
17:06 Greed, okay, greed.
17:08 What increases your greed?
17:11 What increases your greed factor?
17:13 Slothfulness, that's being unorganized.
17:18 Envy, envy.
17:22 I deserve to be where you are.
17:28 You don't deserve that.
17:33 I do, how about me?
17:34 And then we have jealousy.
17:38 When I'm jealous I feel lousy, jealousy, jealousy.
17:43 Reel those in.
17:48 Well, how do you reel those in?
17:52 You have to go with the right captain, who is that?
17:55 Well, Chip Mykalov, if you're gonna go
17:56 for great white sharks, it's Jesus.
17:58 You have to have the right crew.
18:00 My crew, I had my son EJ, he's been fishing with me
18:03 since he's been two years old.
18:05 I took Dave Clark with me.
18:06 He's been on steroids for the last 10 years
18:09 and he can reel in anything.
18:12 We had Megan, the scientist,
18:13 who's been on every shark week imaginable.
18:15 We had Chip Mykalov, who's caught more great white sharks
18:18 in a rod and reel than anybody in the history of angling.
18:21 That's a great team.
18:23 We have a great team here called the church.
18:25 We're not supposed to reel in these things alone.
18:28 It's not gonna happen.
18:31 Who am I to doubt Chip Mykalov?
18:33 I mean, who am I to say, hey, Chip,
18:36 let me tell you the deal, brother.
18:38 I have these thoughts about great white sharks.
18:41 I think we're fishing too close to shore.
18:43 I think our boat's too small.
18:45 I think our bait's wrong.
18:46 Who am I, because I had those thoughts,
18:49 but they're stupid compared to him.
18:54 It's like when I had sushi several years ago
18:58 with Troy Eggman, humbled.
19:01 Troy and I were having sushi.
19:03 I've told you this before, but let me tell you again.
19:05 I go, Troy, how do you deal with all this negativity, man?
19:10 Well, let me tell you, Troy, it's easy.
19:13 Whatever they say, I've thought about it over 1,000 times.
19:19 Whatever I tell Chip, hey, Chip,
19:24 are you sure about that bait?
19:27 He's thought about it thousands of times.
19:32 I'm open to suggestions as a pastor,
19:35 but whatever you say, I've thought about it
19:39 thousands of times.
19:41 I asked my man, Wes, about cars.
19:47 Hey, Wes, I have an idea.
19:49 He's thought about it thousands of times.
19:52 Are you understanding me?
19:55 We had a great captain.
20:00 Our captain is Jesus.
20:02 We have the mind of Christ.
20:05 He invented thoughts.
20:07 He gave us the capacity to think.
20:10 I have the right crew with me,
20:12 the right craft, of course, the church,
20:14 and then I catch the fish.
20:16 I catch the fish, and the Bible tells me
20:22 that in Romans 12 too, that I have the horsepower
20:27 because of the Holy Spirit of God to transform,
20:31 again, let me go through it,
20:35 pride into humility as I release it.
20:38 I capture it, and I release it.
20:42 Anger into self-control, lust into purity,
20:44 greed into contentment, slothfulness into order,
20:47 envy into contentment, and jealousy into thankfulness.
20:51 (imitates engine revving)
20:53 Reel it in, pride.
20:55 Contain it, capture it, tag it,
20:58 release it, track it,
21:01 and suddenly I'm looking at these markers
21:06 that cause pride, and I'm journaling that,
21:10 and then I'm seeing that God wants to
21:13 show up in the situation and build instead of pride,
21:19 humility, instead of lust,
21:24 letting lust go, real lust in,
21:27 purity, instead of envy, contentment.
21:30 But maybe he's gonna say,
21:35 get off of social media for a while.
21:39 It's all about comparison, isn't it?
21:42 I mean, it's good, there's some good things,
21:44 but it's more negative than positive.
21:47 Transformation, and again, psychology messes up
21:54 because they say to look inside of ourself,
21:57 I'll say it over and over, if I look inside of myself,
22:01 I'll say it again, the ocean is polluted.
22:05 But if I look to Jesus,
22:07 again, thoughts,
22:12 emotion,
22:16 action,
22:20 and achievement, either to glorify God or not,
22:24 that's the game, that's the game.
22:28 2 Corinthians 10, verse five, the apostle Paul,
22:32 "We demolish arguments and every pretension
22:36 "that sets itself up against the knowledge of God."
22:38 The knowledge of God, when we confront it,
22:42 always humbles us.
22:43 Let me reel that in again, 'cause you missed it.
22:47 The knowledge of God, if we really confront it,
22:51 humbles us.
22:55 So think about it, think about the fishing trip.
22:59 Reeled it in, captured it, caught it, released it.
23:03 Okay, we demolish arguments and every pretension
23:06 that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
23:09 so we take captive every thought
23:12 to make it obedient to Christ.
23:18 I release it.
23:19 I release it.
23:22 God, take this slothfulness,
23:25 and God, you begin to work order in my life.
23:31 When we released this shark we named Leibeth,
23:35 I'm gonna show you some of the places that she showed up.
23:37 You won't believe this.
23:39 Okay, she pinged, those are the places
23:42 just since we caught her.
23:44 Those are the places just since we caught her.
23:47 You might not know this, but sharks do not swim
23:52 all the time with their dorsal out of the water.
23:55 That's just in movies.
23:57 Most of the time, they're beneath the surface.
24:01 You never see them, which is really scary.
24:04 So this means this shark is eating a bunch of dolphins,
24:08 one of their favorite meals.
24:10 Shark like this eats dolphins and seals,
24:13 and who knows, when I was looking at her,
24:15 I'm like, I wonder if she's ever eaten a human.
24:20 Who knows, because the shark was like 40 years old.
24:24 Middle-aged female.
24:28 You never know.
24:33 That one's funny, that really was.
24:38 I didn't mean for that to be funny,
24:39 it was just funny.
24:43 Track your thoughts, here's the application.
24:46 Track your thoughts with the journal.
24:49 The seven Cs, all right, what feeds those thought sharks
24:54 in a negative way and what feeds those thought sharks
25:01 in a positive way?
25:02 What are you putting into your mind?
25:05 How about the music you listen to?
25:08 Hip hop?
25:11 Country?
25:14 Now, I'll listen to secular music, don't get me wrong,
25:20 but what are they saying?
25:25 You know.
25:31 I love to watch different documentaries and shows,
25:36 Lisa and I do on the different streaming platforms,
25:39 but there's certain ones we don't watch.
25:44 Thoughts, certain websites, certain people even
25:52 I don't follow because I struggle with envy.
26:00 Why do they get to do that and I'm here?
26:04 Why are they traveling there and I'm here?
26:10 Why are they speaking there and I'm here?
26:15 Second thing, second bit of homework.
26:29 I have to fly through and skip some stuff,
26:31 we'll hit it next week, okay, I promise you.
26:34 Speak aloud what your identity is in Christ.
26:39 Okay, first thing, I take a journal, seven Cs,
26:48 at the end of the day, we're tracking those thoughts,
26:51 the seven categories, right?
26:53 But God's gonna transform them into something beautiful.
26:58 Next thing, let's speak aloud who we are.
27:03 I forget who I am and I'm gonna challenge you
27:08 to do this three times a day
27:10 and let's practice right now together.
27:12 We're gonna do this for the next week three times a day.
27:14 Here we go, one, two, three.
27:17 I have, wait a minute, that's all of us, you and me.
27:20 One, two, three, I have the mind of Christ,
27:24 I have the righteousness of Christ,
27:26 I am accepted in Christ, I'm forgiven in Christ,
27:30 I'm gifted in Christ, I'm strengthened in Christ.
27:34 Three times a day.
27:35 I can't write fast enough.
27:38 So on all of our social media platforms, okay,
27:40 even our app, make sure to get the fellowship app.
27:43 So I'm journaling, I am confessing,
27:50 and you watch the Holy Spirit of God work in your life.
27:55 Because the mind of Christ is where it's at.
27:58 Our mind is made for the mind of Christ.
28:03 We're not made for another mind.
28:08 So when we think these thoughts,
28:13 suddenly our attitudes will change,
28:17 our actions will change, our aptitudes will change,
28:24 and these neural pathways will change
28:29 because of the power of God.
28:35 This can only happen because of the gospel.
28:42 If it weren't for the gospel,
28:45 we couldn't even have this conversation.
28:47 It'd be like going to an Anthony Robbins seminar.
28:52 (congregation laughing)
28:55 We though have the power of God.
29:00 God thought, He had a thought about mankind.
29:05 Even though we'd sinned, He had a thought.
29:08 He put it into action.
29:10 He sent Jesus down on the cross for our sins and rise again,
29:12 thereby giving us an opportunity to receive Him.
29:15 And when we receive Christ,
29:21 we'll understand what it means to live beneath the surface.
29:26 Beneath the surface.
29:30 - Hi guys, thank you so much
29:32 for watching the Ed Young YouTube channel.
29:34 - That's right, and if you wanna be inspired,
29:36 encouraged, and challenged like never before,
29:38 subscribe and click the notification button.
29:40 - We believe this channel can help change your life.
29:42 (upbeat music)
29:45 (upbeat music)
29:48 (upbeat music)