Peace of Mind, Week 8: Recovery 303

Tim Ross | May 8, 2022

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Transcription

Tim: This is the end of the Peace of Mind series. This is the last message in this series. My hope and my prayer is that you will never be the same. That's my hope and my prayer. My hope and my prayer is that as we've journeyed through these messages, it has unlocked something in your heart, unlocked something in your mind, that has allowed you to grow and grow in a way that's not temporary, but permanent. I am so excited. I hope this doesn't sound weird, but I'm really excited this series is coming to an end, because this has been the most emotionally exhausting series I've ever taught in my entire life.

I'm looking forward to going to sleep for like seven hours today, in Jesus' name. I don't want to move forward at all without honoring the woman that brought me into this world. Maxine Hardy Ross, was born in Birmingham, Alabama.

[applause]

In 1974, she was presented with the option to have me aborted, because I was growing abnormally in her body. Dr. Montgomery said that if she were to carry me to full-term, it would cost her life. Obviously, she chose not to do that. It's the only reason why I'm here today. Thank you, mommy.

[applause]

I love you with all of my heart. It's wonderful to be born. It's another thing to give somebody a baby.

[laughter]

I'm grateful to be born into this world. I was really grateful to make some babies with the finest woman I've ever laid eyes on in my life. Thank you for two wonderful children that you gave, but thank you for carrying five. We lost three children. If you've gone through a miscarriage, we've been through that as well. We have two beautiful boys and you have been the greatest mother that they've ever had. I love you.

[applause]

All right. It's the end of a series. I'm a little mushy. I'm going to just take my time. What I'm saying? We'll be out before the next service.

This message is called Recovery 303. I've taken you through the three stages of trauma recovery. We first talked about stabilization and safety, that's one of trauma recovery. Stage two is coming to terms with your traumatic memories. We talked about that last week, and this week we're talking about integration and moving forward. This is why we sang that song today, because we want you to have a theme song as it relates to you healing from your trauma and moving forward from it.

Integration and moving on from your trauma. That's what we're going to talk about today. I'm going to read you what Janina Fisher the PhD says about integration and moving on in this third stage, and then I'm going to give you some scripture, and then we're going to go to work. Is that all right? Here's what it says, "The client can now begin to work on decreasing shame and alienation."

This is what happens when you start integrating your traumatic experiences, developing a greater capacity for healthy attachment and taking up personal and professional goals that reflect post-traumatic meaning-making. Overcoming fears of normal life, healthy challenge and change and intimacy become the focus of the work. As the survivor's life becomes reconsolidated around a healthy present and a healed self, the trauma feels further away, part of an integrated understanding of self, but no longer a daily focus.

Now, I'm happy and humbled to say that I have been living in phase three of trauma recovery for quite a while. In that, my traumatic experiences do feel much farther away. They don't impede my daily life. I'm not constantly thinking about it. It's not constantly triggering me. When I think about my sexual abuse, it feels miles away. When I think about porn addiction, it feels miles away. When I think about low self-esteem and all the stuff that I struggle with as a result of the sexual abuse, it feels miles away. It feels miles away, but it hasn't gone away.

I want you to understand what it means to move on. You'll never move on from yourself because everywhere you go, there you are. One of the most profound statements anyone has ever made in life. I don't know how it didn't make it to Proverbs, but it should be in there and thus says the Lord, everywhere you go. Surprise, there you are and your whole body comes with you. Everything your body's ever gone through has come with you. It can feel far, but it's never going to be removed. That needs to be said, because some people think that if I think about it again, if I even remember it, then I must not be healed.

No, you can remember it, but how close is it when you remember it? We want to integrate and move on. I want to read this passage, it's a passage that's very familiar in church. It is something that in revisiting it for this particular message, has given me new meaning and insight. Philippians chapter number three, starting at the 12th verse. Paul writes, "I do not mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection, but I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me." No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing. Everybody say, one thing.

Congregation: One thing.

Tim: Say aloud, say, one thing.

Congregation: One thing.

Tim: Say aloud this, say, one thing.

Congregation: One thing.

Tim: I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. We must hold on to the progress we have already made. Oh, it's so good. It preaches itself. Recovery 303. Let's pray real quick. God, thank you for helping us to move on. Amen. That thing felt good. Didn't it? Quick prayers rock.

Philippians 3:12, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection, but I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me." Point number one, please write this down. I have four points to this message. Point number one is simply this. I have to press. I want you to put this in first person, because this is what you are going to need in terms of moving on from your trauma, integrating your past so you can keep going towards the things that God has called you to do.

The first thing you must have is a press. If you don't have a press, tap out now. If you don't have something on the inside of you that wakes you up in the morning to fight, tap out now. I'm going to sound like a coach today. I'm going to sound like a personal trainer today. You know what I mean? If this little vibe is something that makes you get triggered, just look straight ahead. I don't know, close your eyes. I got to tell you, if you don't have a press, you'll never achieve rest.

Paul said, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection." Now, remember Paul has ascended up into the third heaven, got revelations that nobody else has had. He has received revelation from God that the original disciples that were with Jesus have never experienced. He still says, "I'm pressing." I haven't been perfected because in this flesh I will never be perfect. I must press towards the one who is perfect and it ain't me. It's Jesus.

Congregation: Amen.

Tim: I am pressing towards the perfection that is in Christ Jesus. I want to possess Jesus in the same way He's possessed me, in the same way that He has grabbed-- old school word, old churchy word, aholt of me. [laughter]

Only some churchy people know what that means. I don't even know where the T comes from in aholt, but that's what they say, grab aholt of God. Now, I'm thinking about the horns of the altar because I don't even know where their horns are. They will say, "You need to grab the horns of the altar." I'm like, "Where are the horns of this altar?" Instead, I want to latch onto Jesus in the same way He's latched onto me. It's one of the weirdest experiences ever to grab somebody's hand to hold their hand, and their hand is like this. If you're next to somebody that you like, you don't even have to love them, and you grab their hand, and if you were to do this, and they do this, that feels weird because you are holding them, but they're not holding you.

He says, "I press." I'm telling you, in the 26 years that I've been a believer, counseling and therapy has been a part of my life for 24 of those 26 years because I'm still pressing. Trauma feels far away, and the reason why it hasn't caught up to me is because I'm still pressing. Some of you all relapse because you never get to the point where you have a press in your chest that lasts for the rest of your life. You press for four months and then slack off. You went to counseling for three weeks, and you're like, "I feel better. I'm good." Then you get smacked in the face six months later because you didn't get a discipline to press.

Pressing is not a short-term activity. It's a lifetime commitment and decision. You wake up in the morning saying, "I'm about to press today. I don't even feel like pressing today, but I'm going to press today. I don't even feel like praying today, but I'm going to pray today. I don't feel like reading my Bible today, but I got to read my Bible today. If I don't read my Bible, I start relapsing. If I don't read my Bible, I start regressing. If I don't think about things that are pure and holy and good and kind and loving, then I start moving back to being a cynical person. I don't want to be that person anymore, so I press." You have to press. People can't press on you more than you press on yourself. If you need other people to press on you in order for you to press, then you have made your freedom contingent on their effort.

I remember when I was going through my cycles of dysfunction around pornography and how much it was frustrating my relationship with Juliet. I remember it would be this stupid cycle where she would get mad, and then I would be like, "Oh, I'm going to do better." My motivation wasn't grounded in the right thing. It was grounded in doing better to keep her, instead of doing better to keep me. I remember saying to her one day, it finally dawned on me. I said, "Hey, babe. I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I'm not doing this for you. You are not my motivation. Because if you're my motivation, then if you don't act right, then I could justify not doing what I'm supposed to do because you're not doing what I think you're supposed to be doing."

You got to get a press within yourself that says, "If you stay, I'm doing my work. If you don't stay, I'm doing my work. If you keep me at the company, I'm doing my work. If you don't keep me at the company, I'm doing my work. If you want me in the family, I'm doing my work. If you don't want me in the family, I have to do my work." That's the press. Thank you, Holy Spirit. That press is what the enemy's fighting against you for because he wants you oppressed, depressed, repressed, suppressed. He knows if you get these prefixes off of these words, you'll just press. He's keeping you depressed so that you won't press. He's keeping you suppressed so that you won't press. He's keeping you repressed so that you won't press. When you move the prefixes, you can just--

I'm telling you start pressing, you start getting strong. You start waking up on bad days talking about as good. You start waking up in the worst situation of your whole life. Money is funny. People acting crazy around you. Job is unstable. You wake up in the morning, "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." "Glad about what? You only got $8 in the bank." "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." You've taken an Uber to work because your car is in the shop, and you don't have enough money for a rental car. "This is the day that the Lord has made." I will-- that's the choice. "I will rejoice and be glad in it." You press.

When Juliet and I do counseling, we only mess with people that press. After two or three sessions, if you're not a presser, we leave you alone. We're not lying. We'll sit down with a person, they'll be like, "I just don't know if I can. It's just so hard." You got three sessions to do that with us.

[laughter]

I'm an empath, and so I'll be like, "I know it's hard. I've been there too, but you go and press." I'm crying with them. "You're going to get up in the morning, you're going to do this work. I promise you. You're going to do this work." That session when they come back session two, "It's still so hard." I'd be like, "I know it's hard, but you got to do it. You can't just stay in this funk forever. Can't just keep blaming stuff when your dad is gone. He's not coming back. Time to move forward." They'll be like, "I know. It's hard."

[laughter]

They leave. We pray for them. They come back, session number three, "It's hard." I'll be like, "Listen."

[laughter]

"We heard you the first two sessions, 90 minute at a time. We heard you both of them sessions. We are 180 minutes into, "It's hard." Here's what you going to do. You're going to get up. You're going to get up. The next time you come in here, we can't talk about the past. We have to talk about your present and your future. If that's not something you're agreeing to, you need to find somebody that's going to have a violin in hand and play you the saddest song you have ever played in your whole life on the violin, but you won't do it here. That's boundaries."

That's how you get people to not waste your energy. Pressors can't be around depressors. I can't be pressing and you be depressing. I'm not talking about depression. I have friends in my life that have depression, but they're pressors. They have chemical imbalances, but they press. On their darkest days, when their brain chemicals are not balanced to the point that they couldn't even see life objectively, they're still pressing. I just need to be with some fighters. I can't be around some people that don't fight. Paul says, "I press."

Point number two, please write this down. I have to forget. I have to forget. It's not a choice. I have to forget. No dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing, forgetting the past. Forgetting the past is a choice. Now, when we hear the word forget, we think can't remember. Forget here does not mean this. In the Greek, it doesn't mean that you got your mind wiped and the men in black shades went on and then boop and then we erased your memory. This is not what it's talking about. It's literally forgetting the past is, if said another way, choosing what you want to remember. You get to choose what you want to remember.

I hit on this a little bit last week. I can choose to dwell on the fact that I was sexually abused, or I can choose to dwell on the fact that God gave me the strength to recover from that sexual abuse. I forget the past. I'm not suppressing it. I'm not repressing it. I just don't bring it up a lot because it does not pertain to my present nor my future. When I gave my life to Jesus Christ, my testimony of what the Lord freed me from was compelling and I shared it a lot, but it's not better than the good news of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the hope of the world. Not my testimony. I'm about to free 100 people in this room right now. You think your testimony is better than the life, the death, the burial, the resurrection, and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? It's not. It's good for some people, but the reason why I don't share my testimony every weekend, because everybody ain’t been abused. Everybody ain’t from the hood. Everybody didn't see crack on the corner.

Everybody didn't have gunshots where they had to lay on the floor to watch TV, because they couldn't sit up because bullets would fly through the window. Everybody didn't grow up with bars on their windows. My testimony would only hit a few people if I chose to preach that every weekend, but the gospel is one-size-fits-all.

[applause]

The gospel fits White people and Black people and Hispanic people and Southeast Asian people and a little bit of Croatian mixed with Russian mixed with Portuguese, mixed with whatever you found in 23and me this gospel fits everybody. I preach the gospel. I share my testimony, but I forgot about it, I turned into a bona fide Italian. I forgot about it.

[laughter]

Forget about it. No offense to any Italians in the room if that's stereotypical, whatever, forget about it.

[laughter]

Forget about it. Me and Lil Tony are going to get a little pasta, go to the house, forget about it. We’re not going to even worry about it. Oh you got molested? I understand, forget about it. We don't even need to go through this anymore. Just forget about. I don't understand what you're thinking about it so much, just forget about it. It's so terrible, okay. I love you Italians.

You do know that in Acts chapter, number 10, the first people to get filled with the Holy Spirit that were Gentiles, were Italians. They got that thing going for them.

[laughter]

It's pretty dope. My wife has Italian blood, bona fide, so don't mess with her.

[laughter]

Because she'll forget about you.

[laughter].

We choose to forget. You get to choose to forget. I don't even think about it like that anymore. When people bring up your past, it doesn't trigger you, because you know why? Because you're not thinking about it like that no more. Ain't you the win it all you used to be drunk at the club? You know what? I don't even think about it like that no more. I forgot about that person. I don't bring that person up. I didn't enjoy that person, so I don't reminisce about that person. Some of y'all are still in love with your old flesh.

Oh I'm in here today. Because the way you talk about the old you is too romantic. I'm saved but you don't know who I used to be. Why are you talking about that person like that? That person's supposed to be crucified with Christ, dead, buried. Didn't you get baptized? Why are you still talking like you can go get him out the closet? "I'm saved, but I'm still gangster, but I'm still a gang." Then die again, you need to be crucified again.

[laughter]

The gangster needs to die. "I'm saved, but I'll slap you." Why are you so? What is the problem? You either got to forget about it or it is going to hinder you from moving forward. I don't romanticize about the old me. I don't like where the old me put me, so I forget about it. Paul had to do this because if he didn't, he could not be the person he was to the kingdom. Paul stood by and held the garments of some men that stoned a man that professed Jesus.

Paul was going door-to-door, knocking on the doors to see if anybody in the house believed that Jesus was the way to return our life so that he could have them prosecuted and if possible, have them murdered. Now, you can't go from persecuting the church to preaching for the church if you don't forget to past. Paul could have never wrote a letter like he wrote to the Philippian church if he was still going, "You know what?

I'm so sorry for the way I treated y'all back there. I was just so gangster and I had y'all stoned. Then we threw rocks at Steven's head to the white meat, busted opened his head and it was just really bloody." He forgot about it.

Congregation: That's right.

Tim: He started preaching like he was never a persecutor of the church. Does it mean that he's acting like it didn't happen? No, he's just forgetting the past so he can focus on his present and move towards his future. Somebody say, forget about it.

Congregation: forget about it.

Speaker 1: Point number three. Please write this down. I have read this verse, Philippians 3:13, all my life and heard it all my life and read it all my life and something hit. It never dawned to me, until I was studying for this. It just blew my mind. Point number three is, I have to look forward. Okay.

Point number two, I have to forget and then point number three is, I have to look forward. You y'all know I'm a literalist, so hopefully you can see what captivated me about this verse. Philippians 3:13, still, it says, "No dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this." What?

Congregation: One thing.

Tim: One thing. Then he says two things.

[laughter]

Y'all, in my whole life I never noticed that ends. I never saw that ends until I was going back and I'm like, "That's not one thing. That's two things." Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. Which one is it, sir? Because that's two things, that's not one thing, unless through a conjunction, you make it one thing. See, I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Not just peanut butter sandwiches, because I will choke to death.

[laughter]

Some of y'all your tongue has to the roof of your mouth just thinking about it. You’re like, “Ah, yes, that's not a good vibe."

[laughter]

I think people that can eat peanut butter sandwiches solemente are straight up crazy. There's this, you were built different. I don't know how you can ever just eat a peanut butter sandwich by itself, that sounds like death.

[laughter]

I would never eat a jelly sandwich because why not just get a donut? What are we doing right now?

[laughter]

I'm going to have two piece of bread with nothing but jelly on it. Your mental as well, okay? Whoever got the revelation of peanut butter and jelly is a national institution that should be protected at all costs. It should have been trademarked and they should be billionaires. Because peanut butter and jelly sandwich are one of the best things in a-- especially on potato bread with some oat milk that's been in the freezer for about 10, 12 min. Listen, anyway, about to have me a basic Mother's Day meal for lunch.

He made two things. One thing, because he knows he can't do one thing without the other. If I don't forget, I can't move forward. And if I don't move forward, that means I haven't forgotten. It cannot be one or the other, it must be both. I focus on one thing. Paul, you had so many things to focus on, all the churches that you oversaw and all the responsibilities that you had, and all the revelations that you received, you focus on one thing. He forgets and he moves forward. Every day I forget and I move forward.

On Monday, in order for him to have a successful day in the present, he forgets Sunday and looks forward to Tuesday. On Tuesday, in order for him to have a successful day, he forgets about Monday and looks forward to Wednesday. On Wednesday, in order for this day to be successful, I forget about Tuesday and I start focusing on Thursday. I forget and I press forward, because this is how I live my new life post-trauma.

Congregation: Yes.

Tim: I don't dwell in the past anymore, I forget about it and I'm always looking forward. Here's the reason why my present can be so enjoyable, because I always perpetually have hope for the future. Every day I wake up, I'm like, "This is the day that the Lord has made and tomorrow's going to be great too." I never get trapped into thinking that this day is the worst day and there'll never be a better day than this day. Because I'm constantly looking forward. You have to look forward. This is why we sing that song. You make all things new and I will follow you--

Congregation: Forward.

Tim: Not backwards and not stationary. Forward. If you're in a relationship with Jesus, He's constantly calling you forward. Come here. What does He say to His disciples? "Follow me. Keep coming closer to me. Keep moving forward." Even if it feels like you only took an inch, you moved. Everybody thinks faith looks like this. The people that preach it, preach it like this. I took a leap of faith and blessed God, God met me before my feet landed on the ground. Somebody give Him praise and glory.

[laughter]

Maybe you and I just did this, and people would look back and go, "Ugh, that's all the faith you got?" But from heaven's perspective looking down, from way up there to way down here.

Congregation: [applause] Hallelujah.

Tim: It all looks like the same step. Whether you took a big one, a big leap, or you just went like this, you moved forward.

Congregation: Yes.

Tim: Listen, I look forward to tomorrow. I don't know what it's going to bring. I don't know if some hours would be really, really happy or if some hours would make me really, really sad, but I look forward to tomorrow. To me, it doesn't matter if it's happy or sad, if it's good or bad. I prefer good and I prefer happy, but I'm built for sad. I'm battle-tested when it comes to bad days. I've had enough of them to know God is faithful to bring me through them.

[applause]

I know I'm on point number three, but that press is still on the inside of me. I wake up in the morning knowing whether this is going to be my best day or my worst day. I still have the King of glory as Juliet called Him. I got the King of glory on the inside of me and there's nothing that I can face that He won't help me navigate through. I look forward to my days. I look forward to what the future holds. I look forward to what God wants to do. I look forward to where He wants to take me because I know every day I'm moving closer to Him. Which brings me to point number four, ladies and gentlemen, please write this down.

Philippians 3:16. Point number four. I have to progress. Team, what's the difference between looking forward and progressing. While one is looking, the other one is actually progressing. Y'all know I'm basic. I have to progress. Here's what it says in Philippians 3:16, "But we must hold on to the progress we have already made." Oh, man. Oh, this is such a good point to end this whole series on.

I believe that everybody that has heard these messages, that you've walked with us throughout these weeks, you've made some progress. My encouragement to you, my exhortation to you is, hold on to that progress. Doesn't mean you're finished, but don't go backwards. Don't go backwards. I know for some of you all, moving into healing from trauma has cost you relationships. Don't go back to those relationships. You've made progress. Don't regress from the progress that you've made. Hold on to where you are and then take the steps to get to where you want to be. You cannot go backwards. I have to progress. I have to keep going. Again, 26 years as a believer in Jesus, I'm not the same person I was 26 years ago. I better not be.

You got to hold onto that progression. My favorite way to talk about progressing and holding onto it is to talk about when I wore braces. I wore braces for two years. My teeth were in prison on a two year--

[laughter]

Two-year bid. There was no parole. I had to wear them the whole two years. I had this gate in my mouth and it was taking my teeth. Every month I would go in there-- Y'all remember them old school braces? We didn't have Invisalign. You can conveniently pop this stuff in and out whenever you want to. Hey, I'm about to eat …. Okay ….

[laughter]

My teeth were in prison. You don't know about that life.

[laughter]

How're you going to try to make that sound hardcore. "My teeth stayed two years in prison, son. You don't want to mess with me. I'm battle-tested." Teeth was in prison. They were in prison for two years, and every month they came and tightened it. You had a smooth 36 hours to eat whatever you wanted to eat before that pain of that incremental shift locked you down and you were only eating tomato soup and some smoothies. The smoothies in the '90s were not banging like they are now.

[laughter]

We didn't have eyesight ebos in the hood in the '90s. Told you it was rough.

[laughter]

For two years, every month… tighten me up. It was happening so slowly, I couldn't tell. Some of the progress you're making is happening so slowly, the enemy's trying to make you think, "You ain't making no progress. You ain't doing nothing. I don't even understand why you keep on praying. You look just like you did last month."

Congregation: Come on. Very good.

Tim: But that shift is happening.

Congregation: [applause] Very good.

Tim: 24 months later, my teeth were in a different position than they were 24 months prior. Then they let my teeth go free.

[laughter]

They popped those brackets off of every tooth. They somehow chiseled that cement off of my enamel without having me looking like the polka dot cane I thought I'm free at last. Free at last. Then them jokers had the nerve. The audacity, the unmitigated goal, y'all, to hand me a blue container. I said, "What is this?" They said, "It is your retainer." I said, "Sir, I thought I was free. This is house arrest."

[laughter]

"Why would you do this to-- I thought we were free." They said, "You have to wear the retainer to keep the progress we've made-

Congregation: Come on now [applause]

Tim: -in place." "I don't want this." They say, "You got to wear the retainer." Here I go wearing a retainer. This is the most saliva-producing instrument. I have never slurred so many words. I have never consciously drooled this much in all my life. I'm just talking and just… It’s just terrible.

[laughter]

It's just terrible. I wore them for a few weeks. I'm so sorry, mom, I wasted ya'll's money. Dad, I know you're watching. Sorry. I wore them for a few months and I thought because I had the option--

Congregation: Oh, my God.

Tim: I thought I'd just keep it close enough that way, if I felt like putting it back on. I could do it when I wanted to. I took them out and I forgot about them. I was a teenager, don't judge me. I forgot about them. I forgot about these things and that, I was about to call him dumb but he's not. That really great doctor had a really great calendar and a really great admin. That admin called me one year to the date that I walked out of his office and said it was time to come in for a checkup. My dad said, "I got to take you to the dentist. It's time for your one-year checkup." And I went, [yells] "Lord Jesus." I ran and dove under the bed to find the blue container with an inch of dust on top of it. I brushed it off and I popped it open and I put the retainers in my mouth. As soon as I popped them in, they slid right back out.

Congregation: Ooh.

Tim: Put the top in, they popped out, put the bottom in, they popped up. I tried it four or five times, they kept popping up. I did not know that over 11.5 months, my teeth shifted back to where they were and I didn't even notice.

[applause] Why is he bringing up braces? I want him to preach the gospel. Okay. Jesus Christ is your brace. Because of Him hanging, bleeding, and dying, He shifted your position. After shifting your position, He then went on to say, "I'm going to bring you someone else to retain you."

[applause]

He's not going to be on the outside of you with you being able to just put Him in when you want to, I'm putting Him on the inside of you. When you get ready to try to shift back, I'm going to make sure that He holds you in place. The Holy Ghost is the retainer that keeps you from regressing to where you were and progressing to where He wants you to be. Everything preaches, ladies and gentlemen.

How do you not lose your progression? It's not your power. It's His power on the inside of you. The hope of glory on the inside, "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world." I have somebody on the inside of me that won't let me go back to my old ways. He won't let me go back. I'm going to tell you, there's been some days I want to go back. The Holy Spirit's on the inside of me going, "You can't be over here." The whole time I'm over here like, "You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here.

You can't be over here. You cant be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here."

Because you know He's nice. He's not going to force you to do nothing. Because He lives on the inside of you, He just couldn't keep talking. "You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. Can't be over here. You can't build here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here. You can't be over here." Your like, "All right."

The reason why He tells me I can't be over there has nothing to do with me being a preacher. The Holy Spirit has never referred to me as Pastor Ross. God has never called me pastor. I'm His son, not His employee. He said, "I bought you with the price." Your trauma's not going to control you. We're making progress.

I see you want to look back. Sarah talked about earlier Lot looked back. Lot's wife looked back. He said, "I want you to keep your eyes forward." Thank you, Holy Spirit. The Hebrews chapter number 12 explains this better than I can even explain it. The scripture says, "For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross and despised its shame." The cross was not enjoyable for Him. He was looking forward to what was beyond the cross. He knew the cross was going to be painful. He knew the cross was going to be excruciating, but He was looking past the cross to the seat that he had next to His daddy. He said, "If my life costs getting back to my dad's side, bring it on."

I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, this series is going to bless you for years to come. Go back and refer to it on the days that you need to be reminded of whatever sermon needs to be reiterated for you. Let this be some work that you can go back and look forward to. I hope and pray that you have now been emboldened to see a counselor or a therapist. I hope you're not scared of them anymore. I hope you understand that they are here to do the Lord's work. There are so many good spirit-filled, Bible-believing Christian counselors and therapists that are ready to help you walk in true freedom for a lifetime. Not just a few weeks, or a few months. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been your series on Peace of Mind. It has been my honor and privilege to give it to you. God bless you. God bless all of us.

[applause]

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Let me just pray over you real quick. God, thank you so much that you have given us such an incredible opportunity to see our minds, our pain, and our trauma be healed from the inside out. God, I thank you that you're going to take this message and you're going to break generational curses and establish generational blessings. Not for my credit, not for our credit, but all for your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.