Episode 12 Thankfulness that Changes Atmospheres

Welcome to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast. We're so glad you've joined us. Each week

you'll hear powerful messages, testimonies, and conversations designed to help you grow

in your faith and encounter Jesus in a fresh way. Let's dive into today's episode.

So good. How's everybody doing this morning?

Before we start, before we get into the message, I woke up this morning just with

Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 on my heart. And I know we all know that verse, even if you don't

think you know it, you know it. But it's now faith is the assurance of what we hope for

and the certainty of what we do not see. And I really feel strong on my heart this morning

that the Lord wanted me to come out here first and foremost and just encourage you in the room

that he is the giver of faith. And I really feel it strong in my spirit that there's a lot

of different situations in this room that require an increased amount of faith.

Because faith attaches with hope to pull what's in the unseen into the now.

So I'm going to believe that the Lord is going to restore faith in the room.

So I don't know if there's anyone in here that when I speak that out, your heart is resonating

with that. Maybe there's a situation going on and you've been praying and you've been praying

and you've been praying. And maybe you feel a little overwhelmed. How many of you know it's

okay to have feelings, but those feelings can't have us. So if you wake up and you feel

overwhelmed, you begin to pray and say, God, I thank you that I have your peace. The

past is all understanding. And I'm not going to partner with this feeling of hopelessness. God,

I thank you that you are the God of hope that fills me with all joy and all peace.

So God, I'm not in denial that I'm going through this circumstance, but I'm not going

to allow this circumstance to dictate how I pray and how I believe. So right now, God,

we just thank you for every family represented in this room right now. God, and I thank you

that you didn't put it on my heart by chance this morning that you wanted me to speak into

the room, faith. God, we thank you that faith is a gift, Lord. And right now we ask for an

increased measure of faith. I don't know if that's you, but if that's you, you better say, God,

give me more faith. God, increase my faith so that that faith would attach itself to hope

and pull what's in the unseen into the scene. So God, we thank you that your plans

are better than our plans. God, we thank you that your way is better than our way.

And right now we submit to you, God, we yield to you and you alone. God, we say have your way

within these situations, Lord. And God, I thank you that this isn't going to be a season

of depression. This isn't going to be a season of sickness.

How many know those beliefs try to creep into the church and we just say things like,

well, this is a season for cold and flu. Not for me in my house.

And I need you to claim that for you in your home and say, just because the world might be

experiencing sickness doesn't mean I have to experience sickness. So right now we speak life

in Jesus' name. I know there's a lot of heavy situations going on just within our own

church family right now. Let me tell you, cancer is not a bigger name than Jesus.

So God, right now we come against cancer, all cancers, in Jesus' name. And God, we say be

healed, be whole right now in Jesus' name. And God, we thank you for increasing our faith

and increasing our hope so that we can have joyful expectations of good things to come.

Amen. Amen. Come on. I believe God is doing stuff in the room this morning,

not just this morning, but every morning. So good. Man, I love, I love this week. Anybody

else love this week preparing for the holidays? Come on. I don't love this week just for the

food. Even though I know who's got stuff marinating already. I see those hands. Come on.

But this is a week where families, we slow down, don't we? We slow down. We gather around

tables. I hope we reflect on the goodness of God. How many? I don't want to just be thankful

the week of Thanksgiving. I truly want to live a life of thankfulness. I want my thankfulness

to convict the world around me. Not just in the month of November. I want to be thankful

in January. Come July, I still want to be thankful. It's thankfulness in itself is

actually a weapon. Thankfulness, it's also, it's a posture of our heart. You know, you

choose to wake up thankful. You choose to wake up and ask God, God, would you show

me all the things in my life that I have to be thankful for? Because we can get

caught up sometimes in what we want to see God do, that we forget about all the things

he's already done. And sometimes our prayer life looks like, God, would you do this

and God, would you do that? But what if we started off our prayer time with the

Lord with just thankfulness? And we begin to thank him for our health. We begin

to thank him for our spouse. We begin to thank him for our children. We begin

to thank him for the roof over our head, for the community that he's given us.

We all have so much to be thankful for. And even if the enemy is attacking you

right now and it seems like you're so distracted and you're like, God, where

are you? You can start off with, God, thank you for the gift of salvation.

Thank you, Lord, that I once was lost, but now I'm found. Let that never

become boring to us, Church. That always needs to be fresh. That always

needs to be right in front of our eyes. I believe that thankfulness,

it's also a mindset. And I truly believe that thankfulness at its core is

a part of a kingdom culture. And I don't know about you, but I don't want

culture to shift my culture. I want the kingdom culture that I'm a part of

to actually shift the culture around me. Amen? So if I had to give this

a message, a title, I would call it, thankfulness that changes atmospheres.

Because I want my thankfulness to be contagious. I want the people around

me to be inspired by, oh my goodness, that person is so thankful, even

though we all have things that are happening around us. We all have

things that are happening within our country, but we have so much to be

thankful for. The last time I checked, this is the land of the free.

The home of the brave. That hasn't changed. The enemy will try to get

your perspective to change. But you need to realize that no matter

what happens around us, no matter what happens in the world that we

live in, it's a true reality that you are seated in heavenly places,

in Christ Jesus, right here and right now. I don't know if you know this,

you may not even have a passport, but you have dual citizenship.

You are a citizen of heaven and also a citizen of this nation, but I

believe you having citizenship in heaven is more of a big deal than

this one. And because you, no passport needed, just a life

transformed, just a surrendered heart, a surrendered yes. And I want

us to realize that that is, that reality is more real than this

one. And as we wake up and the world tries to get us, give us this

negative stinking thinking, we have to flush stinking thinking. I

want to give us a goal of just flushing bad mindsets, bad

belief systems. And guys, let's not wait till January. Some of us around

this time, we get a little lackadaisical and we're like, well,

you know, I'll really start dealing with this stuff as the new year

approaches and I make my goal list and I do this and I do that. Why

don't we start today? Where we're like, I can't afford to have these

negative mindsets in November, in December, and definitely not in

January, going into a fresh new year. Maybe, maybe you feel like, man,

this year was a year. If you can identify with that, I'm not asking

you to say amen. But I do want to challenge you and say your new

year, you don't have to take what's happened in this year into the

new year. And you don't even need to take it into the

Thanksgiving week. I just refuse to give the enemy any day on my

calendar. I refuse it. And I know sometimes this year, guys, us as

Christians, us as believers, we also have to ask the Lord for a

supernatural heart of compassion. Because these weeks are difficult for

some. Because how many know some of us have lost loved ones that

won't be around that table this year. And that hurts. And that pain of

separation is very real. But how many know, in the middle of that, the

pain of separation, the Holy Spirit is there. And he is present with

you. And he's your comforter. And you don't have to not look

forward to Thanksgiving. You can just say, God, would you give me a

different perspective? God, I know that maybe I'm hurting a little bit

this year. Maybe I'm a little sad. But God, even those feelings don't get

to define who I am as a person. God, would you actually highlight

people to me this week to reach out to, to be loved to? Because

how many know, guys, the truth is someone has it harder than us.

Someone has something going on that's a little more challenging. And

we're not called to compare stories and say, well, I have it a

little harder than you have it. We're called to just be love. We're

called to be hope, be joy, be love. But we can't be any of those

things if we're not in those things. It's hard to be thankful

if you're not in Christ. I love that this place is full and

the church is full. But I'm more excited about you being filled

with Christ and you realizing that you are the church. Wherever you

choose to have your Thanksgiving meal, guess what? Church is

happening. Fellowship is happening. And we have to ask the Lord for

that heavenly perspective that only he can give us. We need that

upgrade. Amen. Say it. I want that upgrade. I want that

perspective. I do. I do. So go to Psalms chapter 100 verse four.

Well, my first point is thankfulness shifts the atmosphere of our

heart. So Psalms 100 verse four. We know this. Enter his gates

with Thanksgiving. Go into his courts with praise. Give thanks

to him and praise his name. Guys, this is huge. This is huge.

Don't let this just be scriptures that we quote in

church and it tickles our ear. Let these scriptures resonate

in our heart and let's become what we're reading. Because

it's awesome to memorize scripture. It's awesome to know

these verses, but I don't want to just know about the

verses you have memorized and can quote. I want to know

which ones you have become. Which ones have you spent time

with? And just like you reading them, they have read

you. And you can read that verse and go, I'm doing that,

but God, I want to even do it better. This is huge. The

Bible doesn't say enter his gates with answers. That's

right. It doesn't say enter his gates with everything

figured out. Anybody thankful that it doesn't say that?

Enter his gates when your life is perfect. It says enter

with Thanksgiving. Why? Because Thanksgiving is what

prepares your heart. I truly believe to encounter God. Our

little guy's walking right now, so gotta keep an eye on

him now. He's walking in. He's getting into the

communion. He's trying to have his fill. I like it.

Man, whole life changes now. He can walk. He can get

into everything and anything.

I truly believe that a thankful heart is a receptive

heart. A complaining heart I truly believe is a closed off

heart. A fearful heart I believe is a

distracted heart. And a bitter heart is a heart

that's guarded. And I want my heart to be wide open. I

want God to be able to use me whenever he wants to use

me. Jesus is our greatest example and we read that

Jesus only did what he saw the father do and he only

said what he heard the father saying. That means if

we want to be like Jesus, we have to have a real

intimate, close relationship with Jesus. To be able to

hear what the father is saying. To be able to see what

the father is doing. Watch this. A lot of believers, we

pray for God to change our circumstances, don't we? If

we're just really being honest. But God wants to

change your perspective. He doesn't just want to change

your circumstances. He wants to change your perspective

because circumstances should never be able to dictate

what we believe. Because if they do, then our

circumstances are our God. And we're actually serving our

circumstances, we're not serving the Lord. Because

there's times where your circumstances aren't changing,

but that doesn't mean that God isn't good and God isn't

worthy to be praised. God is worthy to be praised in

the valley, on the way up to the mountaintop, when

you're on the mountaintop, when you get blown off the

mountaintop. When you thought you're going left,

but you went right. When you thought you were going

straight, but really you weren't. He's worthy to be

praised, period. And there's so much blessing in that

relationship alone. Like, for us to be able to go

through circumstances with the peace that passes all

understanding is mind blowing. The fact that we

have supernatural hope in Christ is such a gift. A

fact that the love that God gives us is the only

kind of love that casts out all fear. So if you're

experiencing fear in your life, you need to put your

eyes on love. You need to put your eyes on God who

is love. He doesn't sometimes love and sometimes

he doesn't love. God is love. His love can't be

compared to anything. I look out and I see beautiful

marriages represented in this room, but even in the

really good, healthy, great, nothing going wrong in

marriage relationships, which we know that's not

reality. It doesn't even compare to the love that

we have in Christ. That's such a gift in itself.

Watch this. I believe sometimes the breakthrough

isn't around you, it's within you. The breakthrough

you're looking for on the outside, I truly is

found in the Christ within you, who is the

hope of glory. It's the Christ within you who's

the hope of glory for the world around you.

Why would we look for hope in a fallen world?

Why would we look to a broken, any kind of

political system to find our hope or our joy or

our love? We need to find all of those things

in Christ and then bring those things to the

table, allow it to change our hearts so that we

can begin to pray differently. You have a

choice to watch the news and be affected by

what you're hearing, or you have a choice to

watch the news and allow it to change the

way you pray, change the way that you believe.

I'm not giving up on this nation because I

don't believe God has. Last time I checked,

John 3, 16 says, for God so loved the

world that he sent his son to die for the

world. That means he sent his son to die for

people that think differently than you. He

died for people that vote differently than

you. He died for the world. And I want that

to change the way that I pray. I want that

to change the way that I believe, not just

for big things, but even for my family. I

want that to change what I think is possible.

I've seen so many situations where God has

taken a mess and he's made it into a

beautiful message, where you're sitting with

people and you're counseling and you're

just having a conversation and their

current situation, it's really not great,

but I've seen God move in the midst of

those situations and change things where

it's completely different. And now a

year later, two years later, you can't

even fathom that you once sat in a

room saying that things were once that

way. Some of you have got to get hope

that that is possible. Some of us,

sometimes we lose hope because we're so

focused on what things currently look

like that we forget that God has a

plan. We forget that God is truly

working all things together for our

good. Rick, the last time I checked,

all things meant all things. He

didn't forget about this thing or

this situation or this relationship. God

is a god of redemption. God is a god

that can turn all things around. God is

a god who can redeem any relationship,

can bring any lost son or daughter

home. How are we going to receive

those sons and daughters when they do

come home? I believe if you're praying

for a prodigal to come home, the

best thing you can do is fall on

your face and fall more madly in

love with Jesus because when they come

home, you are the representation of

Christ to them in that moment.

Are you going to be like the father

who ran to his lost son, who didn't

hold any of the charges against him,

who didn't start with, well, son,

you're going to get a piece of my

mind before you come back in this

house.

No, this father runs to his lost son

that just squandered his inheritance,

blew it all on sinful living, and the

father runs to him, embraces him,

gives him new clothes, new shoes on

his feet, gives him a ring that

signifies his identity as a son and

actually gives him authority.

He restores everything in a moment.

Why? Because God is that good.

I want to be like that. I don't want

to be like the other brother that is

a little jealous, like, when have you

slaughtered the fattened calf for me?

He's like, what are you talking about,

son? Like, we could have a party

whenever you want. Like, you want to

have a party? Let's party. That son

didn't even know what he had access

to. How many sons and daughters sit

in the church every Sunday and have

no real, no realization what they have

access to? I'm here to tell you the

bank account is full. We're not

making withdrawals.

God has what you need in him.

But a lot of times we go to stuff and

we don't go to him.

We just need to go to him and say,

God, first and foremost,

before you actually doing the thing

that I want you to do, that I need

you to do,

you are enough for me. God is enough

for your household. God is enough for

your children. God is enough for

you. If he doesn't do anything else

for you in the natural,

he's actually worthy of your praise

for the rest of your life.

Because he's already taken our place. He

already stood in the gap. He already

died on the cross for you,

at you. We've been co-crucified with

Christ. It's no longer I that lives,

but Christ that lives in and through

me. He hung on that tree. You

should have been on that tree.

He took our place. Like, that is

what we have access to.

And he's such a good father that he

doesn't even stop there. He loves to

lavish

his gifts on his children. But I don't

want to pursue the gifts. I want to

pursue

the giver of gifts. And if he chooses

to lavish those things upon me

on this lifetime, then that's fine. But

if he doesn't,

I'm so grateful for all that he's

already done.

All that he's already accomplished.

When Jesus declared, it is finished,

he really,

really meant it. It wasn't to be

continued. It wasn't, well, we got to

do this again. No, it's, it

is finished.

He's our beautiful, perfect example.

Man, I know that we've gone through

hard things, and people have heard us

from time to time, but

I'm pretty sure I can confidently look

out and go,

no one went through what Jesus Christ

went through.

And Jesus is our perfect example.

Jesus is the one hanging on that

tree,

taking the last bit of energy that

he has to say,

Father, forgive them. They know not

what they do.

How many know that's not just a Good

Friday message?

That has to be an everyday reality we

walk in.

When we're faced with situations where

we're being challenged to

be thankful, Lord, would you take us

back to the cross?

Lord, would we remember what you've

already accomplished for us?

I'll be honest with you, there have

been seasons

of my life where thankfulness

didn't come naturally. I had to

actually

choose thankfulness. I had to remind

myself,

God, you are faithful. I don't know who

needs to hear that this morning, but

someone in here needs to realize that

God

is faithful. You need to make a

history with God. You need to remember

the last time that God showed up when

no one else did.

You need to realize the last prayer that

God answered, because sometimes we

forget what God has already done, what

he's already accomplished.

So when we're going through a

challenging time, we're reminding

ourselves of all the times that God

has showed up,

and then we get to speak out loud

with our words, God, thank you that

you showed up.

Surely if you showed up then, you

will show up now.

I'm not going to let this situation

overwhelm me. I'm not going to let

this challenging

moment in time affect my life. You know

when we go through things,

the enemy likes us to think that it's

this

big of a deal, when really in the in

the big scheme of life,

it's like a speck that you have to

look through a microscope to see,

and a lot of the times the things

the enemy

gets us to worry about don't even

happen.

I don't want you to raise your hands,

but has anyone in here ever worried

about something

that never actually happened?

And you look at you can look back and

go, wow,

the enemy distracted me for a week, a

month, sometimes months,

because we chose to partner with

worry, we chose to partner with fear

when we could have just chose to

partner with Christ.

I want that. I need that.

We have to declare things on a

regular basis like,

God, you are working even when I

don't see it.

As some of you are praying and

contending,

you have to partner with what you're

praying for and say, God, just because

I'm not seeing it,

doesn't mean you're not doing things

behind the scenes.

God, I truly believe that you're

working all things together for my

good. This doesn't make sense to me,

God. This

this doesn't necessarily

the way I would go about it, but

like I said in the beginning,

God's way is better than your way,

and he knows what he's doing. You say

things like, God, you you never let me

go. You're always here.

God, even in hard things, you're still

good,

and every time we start thanking him,

not for a perfect situation, but for a

perfect Savior,

Jesus, thank you that you are perfect.

Peace comes.

The atmosphere around us and within us

shifts. Some of us just need a shift,

but it's not a shift in doing more.

It's not a shift in

in in in this happening or this

happening. It's a shift in realizing who

you are in Christ.

It's just it's a shift of you

realizing how close

God is to you right here and right

now. Some of you feel

far away from God, but I'm here to

tell you that he's closer to you

than the very skin on your bones,

and he knows what you're thinking. He

knows what you're processing. He knows

all of the things you're going through

because he's outside of time. He

already knows how this is going to

pan out. He knows what next week

looks like. He knows what next year

looks like,

and some of us just need to let go

and let God. God, I'm not going to

worry about it,

but some of us, we, you know it. You

need to preach this to yourself, and

you need to get it. This can't just be

head knowledge. You can't just know

the right things to say. You have to

partner with belief, and you have to

make it a reality. Come on. I don't

want to start pointing people out,

but I can feel it in the room. You're

like, man, Pastor Matt's talking to

me.

Pastor Matt, you must know what my

weeks look like. Now, I don't, I

just really feel like this is what the

Lord is saying,

corporately. For us to step into,

I want the atmosphere within me to

shift,

so that God can actually place me

wherever he wants to place me, and

the things around me don't get to

dictate my peace,

don't get to dictate my joy, don't

get to dictate my love,

because I know who I am in Christ.

I need, I need you to know who you are

in him.

You guys okay? Point two, thankfulness

shifts the atmosphere of our words.

Let's go to 1st Thessalonians chapter

five,

verse 16. These are verses that we

know, guys. These are verses that

we all can quote. A lot of us know

these verses in our minds, but I

want these verses to penetrate our

heart so deep

that we become what we're reading. And

it starts off real convicting. Always be

joyful.

That could be a whole sermon,

because always is always.

Always be joyful. Never stop praying.

Be thankful in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you who

belong

to Christ Jesus. As a pastor, do you

know how many times I'm asked the

question, what do you think God's will

for me is? This.

I know, but what do you want, what does

God want me to do? This.

If we do this and we become this, it

doesn't matter what we do.

Because this becomes who we are.

Always be joyful. Never stop praying.

Be thankful in all circumstances, for

this is God's will

for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Notice it says in all circumstances, not

for

all circumstances. You don't have to

thank

God for sickness, tragedy, and loss,

because hear me,

that doesn't come from God.

Here at Harvest Chapel, we need to

make that very clear that we don't

believe that sickness is a test.

That sounds like child abuse to me,

and that's not the father I serve.

But we thank God

in those circumstances, because he is

still present.

He's still faithful, and he's still

working,

but those circumstances don't get to

change that reality ever.

Thankfulness is something you speak

out loud. You can feel

gratitude, but unless you express it,

it doesn't shift the atmosphere.

You can feel grateful, that's great. I

want you to feel grateful,

but I want what you're feeling on the

inside to change what's coming out on

the outside. Out of the abundance of

the heart, the mouth speaks.

You want to know how your heart's

doing? What's coming out of your mouth?

Some of us, when we get a sick

heart, we need to go to the great

physician,

and go, Dr. God, there's some things

in my heart that got in there that

I shouldn't have,

and I need you to operate. You know

what that will cryers?

Surrender. That requires you as a son,

you as a daughter,

laying on the operating table and

saying, God, I trust you more than I

trust myself,

and I'm going to let you show me

things in my heart that need worked

out. God, I don't want to partner

with any bit of bitterness. God, I

don't want to partner with any bit of

hopelessness.

God, I don't want any bit of anxiety

in my life. God, I don't want fear

dictate decisions that I'm making.

I refuse to do that, but you have to go

to him.

Jesus died on the cross so that you

would have a one-way ticket to the

father.

You don't have to go through me to

get to him. You have

full access to the throne room. I

don't know if you know that.

Full access. He wants you in his

presence.

Maybe some of us grew up with

parents that didn't want us

in their presence. I'm here to tell

you, you have a heavenly father

that let his son die for you so that

you could be in his presence.

He wants you in his presence. You don't

have to tiptoe into his throne room.

He wants you there.

When your eyes are in my office, he

does whatever he wants to do.

He's getting in all kind of things.

He knows his father wants him near.

And I want you to have that

kind of relationship with your

heavenly father

that you don't feel like a burden. You

don't feel like a nag.

You don't feel like an annoyance.

God wants to spend time with you.

He's jealous for you.

He wants you to want to spend time

with him.

That's why he tells us, look if you

seek me, you'll find me.

If you knock, I'm going to answer the

door. I can't wait to answer the

door. I'm waiting for you to knock.

I'm waiting for you to let me in.

I'm waiting for you to let me come in

and do what only I could do.

Why do we try to clean ourselves up

before we go to him?

Last time I checked, if you fell down

your steps, you broke your ankle,

you're not going to try to perform

some surgery on yourself before you

go to the hospital.

Well, you know, I have a few things

in the basement. I got some duct tape.

Randy's got God knows what in his

basement.

Let me try to patch this thing up

real quick.

You don't want me trying to patch

nothing up.

I'm calling 9-1-1. I'm getting to that

hospital

for them to be able to do what they

can do.

So call 9-1-1

and let him do what only he can do.

Stop trying to fix yourself up so

you can look better. We try to edit

our prayers.

We try to throw filters on ourselves

to make ourselves look better before

God can see us and before he can

view us. He knows what you look like

without the filters.

He knows what you look like without

the editing, without the AI tools. He

knows.

He knows. And he's like, I love that

version of you

because it's a version that I can make

new.

But you're trying to make yourself

new.

And how's that working out for you?

It doesn't last. It's not long-lasting

fruit.

It's not fruit that's going to

transform.

I want him.

I want him. Do you want him? Yes. You

can have him.

He's yours to behold. But you have to

behold him.

You have to look at him. You have to

choose to make eye contact with him.

When it's awkward. When you don't

feel good enough.

When the enemy is speaking to

you in shame and guilt and

condemnation. Those things are

not from your heavenly father.

If shame is speaking, God's not.

If guilt is speaking, it's another

voice.

And spiritual warfare 101 is

taking every thought captive and

submitting it to the will of God.

God, that doesn't sound like you. I'm

not going to listen to that voice.

And if you do listen to that voice,

you take that thought captive, you

cast it out, but then you replace it

with truth.

And this is the only truth that's

going to set you free.

This is the only truth that can truly

set you free.

And all of us have access to it.

Oh, I don't have a Bible. We can get

you a Bible.

If you have a phone, you have lots of

Bibles.

I encourage you to get one of these

because we don't know what they can

do one day with apps and take things

out and

move it around and play the hokey

pokey to your win. I'm not

trying to do that.

I want the word. I want the truth. I

want all of it.

I don't want just the parts that

I'm comfortable with.

I need it all. This isn't a buffet.

We can't pick and choose what we want

and kind of stay away from that

pistachio fluff.

Who likes pistachio fluff? Because I'm

actually a fan of it.

Some of y'all, you're not tasting and

seeing that the Lord is good.

For some of you, the Lord's hiding

in things that you're not really

you're like, I don't know about that.

Yeah, I'm in that. I'm all about

that.

Cranberry sauce from the can. Old

school style.

You pour it out of the can. It still

looks like the can.

That's what I want. I like the fresh

stuff, but I still want the can.

I want a little bit of both. I want to

mix it up.

Look, watch this. The enemy loves

murmuring.

The enemy loves complaining. He loves

negativity because those things

darken the atmosphere around us.

But Thanksgiving pushes back the

darkness.

When you choose to be thankful, when

you choose to put your eyes on Jesus,

it truly changes what the world looks

like around you. We say this all the

time, but I'm going to switch it up

a little bit.

Gratitude is a thermostat.

When you speak it out, the

temperature changes.

It truly does. You can't just think

about it though. You got to say it.

You got to speak it out. Death and life

are held in the power of your tongue.

You choose to speak life or you

choose to speak death.

It doesn't say life and death and life

are held in your thoughts.

It's held in the power of your tongue.

God wants to use your tongue. He

wants to create life through you.

The enemy actually wants to hijack the

tongue of a believer. Why? Because it

has the power to create,

and if the enemy can manipulate you, he

can create death through you.

Because it's death and life are held

in the power of your tongue.

Why do you think the enemy works

overtime trying to get you to think

bad thoughts,

let those things fester in your heart,

get deep into your heart, and now all

of a sudden out of the abundance of

your heart, you're speaking it out

loud,

and it's creating those realities

around you.

Take every thought captive.

Go to Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas.

Paul and Silas, it's a beautiful story.

We're not going to read the entirety

of the story, but I want to hone in

on one part

where it says, around midnight, Paul

and Silas were praying

and singing hymns to God.

Suddenly, we love suddenlies, don't we?

Last time I checked, they were in jail

though.

They were in jail, they were imprisoned.

The suddenly didn't get them out of

the environment,

the suddenly put God in the

environment.

I don't know if you caught that.

Suddenly, there was a massive

earthquake and the prison was shaken

to its foundations, but watch this,

they didn't sing once the doors

opened.

They didn't sing when the chains fell

off, they didn't sing when the

circumstances improved.

They sang while they were still in

shackles.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Bendigo were in

the fire, still bound.

It wasn't until they were thrown in

the fire that the fourth man showed

up,

who was Jesus, a Christophany,

making a little appearance in the Old

Testament before he even manifested in

the New.

And the only thing that burned was the

thing that bound their hands, they

didn't even smell like smoke.

Their clothes didn't even have any bit

of dirt on it,

coming out looking fresh, smelling

fresh.

The only thing that burnt was

binding their hands.

Some of us are praying ourselves out

of the fire, maybe that's right where

God wants to show up.

I'm going to show up right there, I'm

going to show up when no one thinks

I can show up.

And I want you to have faith that even

if you're walking to the furnace, I'm

going to show up.

You get close to that furnace and

you're like, man, it's getting hot.

When are you showing up? But it

doesn't change the way that you're

taking step by step, you're getting

closer to that fire and you're like,

man, God, okay, here we go.

I feel like some of you know, okay,

here we go, season.

And nothing the enemy is going to do

is going to have the power to take

you out.

You just need to be faithful.

You need to keep moving step by step.

I don't care if it's an inch forward

each day, it's better than retreating.

One inch forward is better than two

steps back.

God, I thank you that I have the

faith in me today to just move one

step.

God, I thank you. I celebrate this

step the next day. God, I thank you

that I have faith for one more step.

But all of a sudden pretty soon we're

taking territory.

It may seem like one inch at a

time, but we're getting somewhere.

We're going somewhere with him.

You okay? I ain't sweating for nothing

up here.

Their atmosphere changed before their

circumstance changed.

Thankfulness has that power.

And last time I checked, their

praise, didn't just affect them, it

affected the whole jail.

Your whole family's about to get

blessed because you're willing to

endure.

I refuse to give up. I refuse to not

praise them. I refuse to keep my

hands held high.

Last time I checked, you can't praise

God and worship him with your hands

held high. If you're carrying

everything you're not called to

carry.

You got bags of anxiety, you got bags

of depression, you got bags of

hopelessness, you got bags of this

and bags of that. You need to check

those bags, burn those bags, never

pick those bags back up.

Burn them. Get a new suitcase.

I'm serious. Don't you wait till

January.

That's such a temptation. The enemy

just, the enemy wants you to just

coast through the winter season.

I'm telling you right now, we need to

crush the belief set of seasonal

depression.

I'm right there with you though. Five

o'clock hits, I'm ready for bed.

You're ready to go to bed, he

ain't ready.

Nope, he ain't ready.

Get creative, go do something, get out.

Get in your car, go for a drive, pray.

Do something. Do you know that the

enemy loves isolation?

The enemy loves to isolate you.

And I'm all about spending time with

Jesus. I'm all about

having private time with the Lord.

But you know, sometimes we say we're

spending time with Jesus, but really

we're spending

self with me, myself, and I.

And we're not growing, we're not in

the word, we're binging. Netflix,

Hulu, Prime,

all the things. I'm all about you

spending time with Jesus, but you

better be looking like Jesus when

you're coming out of that secret place.

Some of us need to get out. Oh my

gosh, did you see what's happening in

Hanover? Did you see this? Did you

see that? Get out and pray.

Prayer wall, that actually does things.

We shift the atmosphere. I truly

believe that. I had one of the craziest

times in the hospital this past week.

I won't go into all the details. It

was a wild

hospital visit. I get to the hospital.

I check in. Hi, I'm Pastor Matt. I'm

here to see so-and-so. Okay, great.

They give me the sticker. They tell

me the room number. Okay, great,

great. I'm on my way to the room. I

get to the room.

I kind of peek in the room and I'm

like, okay, I don't think they're

ready for me to come in yet. So I

step back. I get out of the room. I

check in with the nurse and the nurse

is like, yeah, just give us a little bit

of time. We'll kind of get them ready

for a visitor. Okay, that's great. I'll

go wait in the lobby. I'll come back

in like 15 minutes. Yeah, sure. That's

great. Awesome. 15 minutes goes by.

Come back. Nurse sees me. Oh, I

forgot what I needed to do for you

to be able to come back. I'm going

to need 15 more minutes.

Okay, you know, 15 more minutes. We

got this. All right, great.

Go back. Sit down a little bit. Answer

some emails. Do some things.

Uh, third time's a charm. Go back. And

at this point, I just, I kind of just

go in the room, going in the room, peek

around the corner. Uh, not the person

I'm here to see.

I just waited 30 minutes for someone

I don't know. I don't know who you

are. You are not who I'm here to see.

Politely step out. Hey ma'am, um,

that's actually not the person I'm

here to see. Oh my gosh, you gotta

be kidding. Oh yeah, we moved him

from this room to this room. Okay,

you're gonna need to go up to the

room to see you. Okay, okay, great.

Can you help me? Cause this is like

a maze. This is a labyrinth. I need

to, I need some help. I'm gonna be

searching all day. Okay, someone

brings me up there. Oh, there's

actually a lot of people in that

room. So why don't you just go

into this waiting room and someone

will come get you and you can

come in. Okay, great, great, great.

Um, 30 minutes go by. No one come

get me. At this point, I'm in

the chapel. I just, I found the

chapel and I went to the chapel

and I just start praying. I start

praying for the person. I have to

help my mom in about 20 minutes.

Move my mom from, move my mom,

move my grandma from, from one

care facility to another care

facility. So I had somewhere to

go. So I'm like, unfortunately,

I gotta go. But how many know

God shifted something in that

chapel. I could have had a

negative perspective. I could

have been like, you know

what, what the world I've been

waiting for an hour here. What

is going on? No, no, no. I

just started praying wherever I

was. And I believe just, just

where you are, God can touch

the people around you. Just

because he is within you. The

Christ within you is the hope

of glory. He's within you, has

the power to shift atmospheres,

but you have to have a kingdom

perspective. You can't, you

can't partner with the enemy

in those moments. God, what

do you wanna do here? Who do

you want me to encourage?

Maybe I'm not here for that

individual. I thought I was.

Who else do you want me to

pray for? Who else do you

want me to encourage? We

can't get so wrapped up in

what we think things are gonna

look like. God has a

different plan sometimes. Point

number three, thankfulness

shifts the atmosphere of your

home. Parents, grandparents, I

need you to listen up.

Thankfulness has the power to

shift the atmosphere of your

home. The atmosphere of your

home is largely shaped by

what you celebrate or what you

complain about. I don't need

husbands nudging wives. I

don't need wives nudging

husbands. I don't need parents

looking at kids. We all need

to be accountable to

ourselves and say, what can I

do better? Because if your

home atmosphere feels tense,

if your workplace feels

tense, fearful, irritable,

heavy, chaotic, thankfulness

can break that. It's not

about all of those other

people doing what they need

to do. We can do what

we're called to do, and that

thankfulness shifts the

atmosphere. Philippians

chapter four, verse six.

Don't worry about anything.

Some of you need to say help.

Help. I need somebody to help.

Because some of us worry

about a lot. We do. We

worry, worry, worry, worry.

I want to trust, trust,

trust, trust, trust. I want

to trust him. I want to

trust in the Lord with all

my heart, not some of it.

Trust in the Lord with all

your heart. Lean not on

your own understandings. The

thing God asks you to do

ain't gonna make sense. The

things God's gonna ask you

to pray about aren't gonna

make sense. Things God's

gonna ask you to do are

not gonna make sense. Lean

not on your own

understanding. Seek his will,

and he will show you

which path to take. Do

you need that? Do you want

that? I want that. I need

that in my life. But

don't, let's go back to

Philippians chapter four.

Don't worry about anything.

Instead, pray about

everything. Tell God what

you need and thank him for

all he has done. Watch.

Then you will experience

God's peace. Then you

will experience God's

peace, which exceeds

anything we can understand.

The peace that passes all

understanding. That doesn't

just happen. How many of

us are willing to pray

about everything, tell God

what you need and thank

him for what he's already

done. Then he'll let you

experience the peace that

passes all understanding. We

want all of our

circumstances to shift

before we can be thankful.

You worshiping God then

is dictated upon him

doing things for you,

not for who he is.

Little man gets it.

He's getting it right now.

He's vibing with me.

God, I'm thankful. I'm

thankful. You're a God

that shows up time and

time again. And I'm not

going to let this

circumstance get me off

course. Peace in your

home often follows.

Thanksgiving from your

mouth. Thankfulness invites

the presence of God to

dwell in places you live

daily. When Anna and I

choose to speak

thankfulness over our

home, over Uriah, over

our family, you can

truly feel atmosphere

shift. You feel peace

coming into the room.

You can feel it shift.

And there's times where

Anna and I are laying

in bed and she can

feel what I feel.

Cause you know, this,

this is the one thing

I'll just be really

vulnerable. How many know

pastors can be

vulnerable? We can be

honest. We're, we're

actually not super

human. I don't know if

you know that I'm made

just like you. I have

feelings just like you.

I have emotions just

like you. I have choices

just like you. When I

was a 16 year old

teenager, I was riddled

with anxiety and

depression to the point

of medication. I had

suicidal thoughts every

other day. I didn't

want to live. I had

that much spiritual

attack on my life. Every

moment of the day I

had to, there was days

where I had to be like

greater see that's in

me that he's in the

world just to silence

the negative voices that

I was hearing. So if

I'm going through

something or if the

enemy comes at me with

anything, he's going

to try to bring

anxiety to me. He's

going to try to bring

depression to me. Here's

the thing. Those things

don't own me anymore.

When I was a

teenager, I was playing

games with God. I

wasn't in Christ. I

was around Christ. Now

I'm in Christ. So

depression knocks on

my door. My landlord

answers it. Oh, the

washing machine's broke.

I'm calling the

landlord. Not my

responsibility. I don't

own this place. Oh,

hopelessness is trying

to show up. Call on

the landlord. Hey,

hopelessness is here.

They're trying to

invade my space. I

noticed they're hanging

out in the kitchen. We

need to do something

about that. Oh yeah. I'll

be over in just a

moment. Oh, here I am.

Get out. You're

trespassing on

purchased property. I

own this one. Don't

mess with somebody that

I don't know. Because

before Jesus hanging

out with me, he's

hanging out. He's on

the living room couch

and then the

enemy's coming with

depression knocking on

the door. He's like,

you're going to get

that. You haven't

given me your life

yet. I can't answer

it. The moment you

give me your life,

the moment you

surrender your life to

me, son, I'll take

care of all that

anxiety. I'll take

care of all that

depression, but until

you're ready for

that, we're just

hanging out, man. Did

you order pizza? Yeah,

because I'm not going

to feed you either. I'll

do that too. Once you

fully give me your life.

I'm just hanging out

with Jesus. I'm trying

to incorporate him

into my life. I'm

trying to run to him

when I'm drowning.

No, I want to be with

him every moment of

my day. Is he the

Lord over your life?

He doesn't need to

just be your Savior.

He needs to be your

Lord and Savior. You

okay? Some of you

need to start a new

practice today. You

with me? Stay with

me just for a couple

more minutes. A new

practice before bed. I

want you to name three

things you're thankful

for. Before you let

your head hit the pillow

and you drift off to

sleep, you say every

night I'm going to list

off three things that

I'm thankful for. And

then you as a family,

and even if it's just

you at the time, you

just take ownership of

your home, of your

apartment, and you

speak gratitude out

loud. You take those

thankfulness out and

say, God, I just thank

you. I thank you for

this family member. I

thank you for this

friend that has become

family. God, thank

you. And declare God's

goodness over your home.

Can you do that before

you go to bed? Three

things you're

thankful for. Speak

those things out loud

and then declare God's

goodness over your

home. And I promise

you, you will watch

the atmosphere shift.

Thankfulness shifts

atmospheres and

thankfulness does shift

your circumstances.

Promise you.

Because thankfulness

agrees with the

atmosphere of heaven.

Heaven is full of

Thanksgiving, isn't it?

Angels are worshiping,

saints are praising,

gratitude to God,

gratitude fills the

environment of God's

presence. Every time

you give thanks on

earth, you pull

heaven into your

situation. And I

don't know about you,

but I want to pull

heaven into every

one of my situations.

Thankfulness aligns

us with the kingdom.

Where the kingdom of

God is, fear is

broken. Where the

kingdom of God is,

anxiety dissolves.

Where the kingdom of

God is, depression loses

ground. I'm sick and

tired of seeing the

enemy eat some of

y'all's lunch.

Hope returns when

the kingdom is present.

Peace increases,

faith grows and

miracles happen.

If I ask this

question, who wants

the revival?

I think we need to

get a little bit more

excited about that if

we're ever going to see

revival hit South Central

Pennsylvania. So, who

wants revival?

Better. That starts

with thankfulness.

You want healing.

Who wants healing?

Starts with thankfulness.

Who wants peace?

Starts with thankfulness.

Because thankfulness

changes atmospheres.

It all starts with

gratitude. So, I want

to ask you, what

atmosphere have you

been participating in

lately? And this isn't

something to be

embarrassed about. This

is just being real

with yourself. We're

a church family. Look

around. If you're in

this room, if you're

watching online, you

are part of a

church family. Whether

we know each other super

well or not, this is

a church family. We

are the body of

Christ. We need to

be able to be

vulnerable in these

moments. No one

wants you to

pretend like you

have it all together if

you don't have it

all together. We

want you to be real

and vulnerable so

God can come into

this room and do

what only he could

do. Set you free

so you leave this

place differently. But

have you been

partnering with

fear? Have you been

partnering with worry?

Have you been

partnering with

negativity, weariness,

stress, discouragement?

What do you want to

carry? If those are

the things you're

carrying, what do you

want to carry?

Because gratitude is

the bridge between

where you are and

where God is calling

you. The enemy is

trying to get you

so hyped up in

all of those things

so he can distract

you. So today, before

we even head into

Thanksgiving week

officially, I want us

to begin to shift

the atmosphere of our

personal lives so

that God can use us

to shift the

atmospheres of those

around us. But he

can't do that if

he doesn't shift your

heart first. So I

want to do something

simple but powerful.

You with me? We're

not thinking about

lunch this moment.

Simple, powerful.

If you're here today

and you're saying

pastor, I need the

atmosphere in my

heart, my home,

or my situation to

shift, I want you to

stand up right now.

Right now.

Because I love you.

Because God loves you.

I'm going to ask

again. If you're

dealing with anything

that I just listed

off, you can be

vulnerable. It's okay

to be a leader

in this environment

and respond.

I want you real.

I want raw.

I want vulnerable.

So that God can come

in and do what

only he can do.

Because we're in his

presence right now.

Just if you're standing,

just put your eyes

on him, whatever

that means to you.

If you need to have

your eyes closed

for that, close your

eyes. If you want to

look up into heaven,

look up into heaven.

But just put your

focus on him.

And I want us to just

say these things

unto the Lord.

And I truly believe

as we say them,

as we declare them,

we will see things shift.

We will experience

things shift around us.

So if you can say

this with me, but

God, thank you

for your faithfulness.

God, thank you

for your presence.

God, thank you

for your goodness.

God, thank you that you

are working even when

I don't see it.

God, thank you that

you are still on the throne.

Thank you that you are

for me and not against me.

God, I just,

I'm so thankful.

Lord, I just thank you

for everyone standing

right now.

Everyone that is

watching online

that may be responding

in their own way.

But God, I thank you

that you are present

with us here today.

God, I thank you

that hearts are shifting

towards you today.

God, I thank you

that you do not call us

to be in stress,

to be in anxiousness,

be in depression.

And if any of those things

are knocking on the door

of our hearts, God,

would we let you

answer the door?

I hear that so

clearly the Lord is saying,

would you let me answer it?

Stop trying to answer it

for me.

I'm really good at this.

I'm really good at this.

The Bible tells us to cast

all of our anxiety on him

because he cares for us.

Some of you are carrying things

you're not called to carry.

And it's time to lay

those things at his feet.

So even in this moment

as we just put our attention

on him, I'm going to ask

that my prayer team

comes forward.

So if you're on our prayer team,

please just make yourself

available to pray

with individuals

because I feel the Lord

moving in the room,

but I also feel like

the Lord is asking us

to respond to him.

There's no pressure

in this moment.

You don't have to respond

in these moments,

but we get to.

We get to.

I can't take you

to one church service

that I've ever responded

for prayer

and I regretted it.

But I can take you

back into my mind

services that I sat

and the Lord was knocking

on my heart

and I chose to not respond.

I can take you back

to those moments

wishing I did.

Wishing I just brought

those things to his feet.

So don't let pride

don't let anything

hold you back

from responding

in a moment like this.

So if your heart

is beating out of your chest

and I know that

some of your hearts

are beating out of your chest,

I'm going to ask you to come.

Come.

Receive prayer.

Let a son or daughter

partner with you in prayer

and just say,

you know what?

We love you enough is enough.

Let's lay this down

at the feet of Jesus.

So God, I just thank you

for calling your sons

and daughters.

Lord, if there's anyone

in this room that

would like to receive prayer,

I ask that you would

woo them in this moment.

Praise God.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Lord,

for what you are doing

in this room.

I truly believe

that all of heaven celebrates

when one responds.

All of heaven

is so excited

for what is happening.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, God,

for what you could do

and what you can only do.

Thank you, God.

Thank you, Jesus.

Man, if you're here

with somebody

and you know them well

and you know that

maybe they're going

through something,

I encourage you to

just check in

with them right now

and say, hey,

do you want to go up front?

Because if you want to go up front,

I'll go with you.

You don't have to go up alone.

I'm here with you.

I'll walk up there with you.

But today is the day

of laying things

down at his feet.

The altar is open over here.

If you just simply want to come to the altar

and you want to lay something

down at his feet,

please do that.

Jesus, we just thank you

for what you're doing in this room.

If you're in this room

and you just have a heart

to just shift atmospheres,

I ask that you would just begin

to just pray.

Just pray for what God is doing up here.

God, we just thank you

for what you are doing.

God, we thank you

that you are a God that moves.

God, we are thankful

that you're a God that heals.

You're a God that restores.

Thank you, Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Holy Spirit.

Thank you, God.

I just have to be honest with you.

I just hear it in my spirit.

Linger a little longer.

Linger a little longer.

I understand if you need to go,

if you have plans,

you can be dismissed.

But man, if you're here,

and you need prayer,

and you know you need prayer,

I ask that you respond.

Thank you, Jesus.

We're just going to continue to pray.

Thank you guys so much

for being with us.

I thank you.

I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving week.

I pray you have an amazing week

with your families.

But man, if you're here

and you need prayer,

we're going to keep praying.

We're going to keep contending.

We're going to keep going after it.

So Lord, we just thank you

for what you're doing.

We just say have your way.

Have your way.

Have your way.

Ms. Amanda's open for prayer over here

if you want to come to Ms. Amanda.

Yep.

So good.

Love you guys so much.

Thanks for listening

to the Harvest Chapel PA podcast.

We hope this message encouraged you

and drew you closer to Jesus.

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at Harvest Chapel PA.

We can't wait to be with you

again next week.