* Dr. Caroline Leaf talks about the powerful effects of praising and worshipping God on your physical brain.

* When you worship God the front part of your brain ignites and begins to repair the rest of your brain physically.

* She said it will heal your physical body because 98% of disease is caused by wrong thinking.

* When we praise God our body begins to repair itself.

* Before Jeremiah uttered the famous line about God’s Word being a fire shut up in his bones he mentioned his fear.

* He wanted to stop talking about God because he was always getting in so much trouble.

* But he didn’t let his fear determine his behavior.

* He had such a history with God that he couldn’t help but to speak.

* He had stoked the fire so much that he had to let it out.

* This is “speaking from the overflow.”

* Is that what God’s Word is like inside of you?

* God has a destination for each of us, and He’s provided a straight path to get us there.

* But there will always be another path to take.

* It’s a winding path where you cannot gain any speed, and you will not end up at your ultimate destination.

* If you want the highway you’ll have to stay inside the guard rails.

* One of the best traits we can have is self awareness.

* Knowing why you do and say what you do and say - being in touch with your emotions.

* Self aware people are typically composed and confident.

* Non-self aware people teeter toward obnoxious.

* Here’s the paradox - you cannot be truly self aware by focusing on self!

* The more you focus on self the less you’ll realize why you’re truly here in the first place.

* You’ll end up self conscious.

* The more we focus on our Creator the more He teaches us about us.

* He knows us better than we know us.

* All throughout Paul’s letters he talks about how thankful he is for the people he’s writing to.

* This is such a powerful principle for relationships.

* Imagine talking like this to your spouse and kids every day.

* Gratitude closes the loop of love and brings relational connection.

* When someone does something nice for you a circle has been started.

* The circle is completed when you thank them for what they did.

* Even better is thanking someone for who they are.

* If you don’t express gratitude then the circle of love isn’t closed and disconnection is the result.

* The person receives your lack of expressing gratitude as ingratitude which ultimately leads to a feeling of rejection.

* Relationships are built on thankfulness.

* People don’t fall away from God because they don’t know the truth.

* They fall away because they don’t LOVE the truth (vs 10).

* The love of the truth keeps us from being deceived.

* ex: my daughter used my wife’s phone to send me a text. I knew it wasn’t her right away. How? Because I know my wife - I know her because I’m in love with her.

* The love of the truth also sets people free from addiction.

* ex: John Bevere overcame porn addiction when he read this verse.

* Not looking at porn because it’s not right will only last so long.

* Not looking at porn because you love God and you love your wife will keep you from it forever.

* All throughout Paul’s letters he talks about how thankful he is for the people he’s writing to.

* This is such a powerful principle for relationships.

* Imagine talking like this to your spouse and kids every day.

* Gratitude closes the loop of love and brings relational connection.

* When someone does something nice for you a circle has been started.

* The circle is completed when you thank them for what they did.

* Even better is thanking someone for who they are.

* If you don’t express gratitude then the circle of love isn’t closed and disconnection is the result.

* The person receives your lack of expressing gratitude as ingratitude which ultimately leads to a feeling of rejection.

* Relationships are built on thankfulness.

* Paul doesn’t try to abolish the institution of slavery - he outlines the principle upon which it would one day be abolished.

* He places the master and the slave on the same level.

* How?

* By putting them both UNDER GOD.

* This principle led to the destruction of the institution of slavery.

* It was the foundation for equality.

* Before the institution changed people’s worldview had to change.

* They needed to “see” slaves as equal before they ruled slaves as equal.

* vs 9 - Onesimus was “one of you” - he was actually a runaway slave.

* God called Jeremiah to a no-win situation.

* The people were NOT going to listen to him.

* But he was to speak anyway.

* He was to focus on faithfulness, not effectiveness.

* This meant he had to keep his eyes on Jesus, not the people.

* In the world’s eyes he was a huge failure.

* But in God’s eyes he was a resounding success.

* The Hebrew word for “dread” is “pahad,” and its sense is “terror.”

* God was complaining that His people were no longer terrorized by His presence.

* Yes, God is love and He is the source of all things good.

* But He’s also the Creator and ruling monarch of the universe who can snatch life away in a split second.

* The Israelites stopped trembling and started presuming.

* So do we.

* When was the last time you heard someone preach on the dread of God?

* We have forgotten the words of Jeremiah.

* We have converted a warning into a welcome.

* We have divorced wrath from mercy and have an end-of-the-rainbow kingdom.

* God isn’t here to make us happy, but to make us holy.