➡ Welcome to Man of Mondays, a weekly devotional series where we discuss life and faith. This week, we’re talking about overcoming feelings of loneliness and disappointment, often associated with Mondays. We share personal experiences and biblical stories to illustrate how relying on God’s presence and surrendering control can bring comfort and transformation. We also discuss the importance of managing our thoughts, rejecting negative ones, and focusing on the positive aspects of our faith.
➡ This text is about two individuals encouraging others in their faith journey. They urge people to stay strong in their faith, like biblical figures Daniel and Elijah, and to be leaders in their communities. They emphasize that Jesus understands our struggles and cares deeply for us. They end with a prayer and an invitation to check out their free booklet and other resources for further spiritual support.

God bless you guys and welcome to Man of Mondays. These are the devotionals that’ll happen every single Monday on this channel. As always, the weekend-long videos will always continue. The midweek devotionals will pump those out as well. But every Monday, we want to come to you and just talk to you as your brother. Talk about things of life and get you going in the name of Jesus Christ. I’m here with my awesome brother, Chris. And Brother Chris, good morning, good morning, good morning. We’re going to talk about today about an aspect that many people go through on a Monday because we’re already hardwired that Mondays are going to be horrible.

You know, it’s Monday again, you know, but the loneliness and disappointments, Brother Chris, how in your life have you navigated through those moments, man? Well, you know, I relied on myself most of my life, and so it was intermittent success in navigating, but usually failure. So I guess the difference between then and now is that the presence of the Lord is my comfort. And, you know, it’s interesting that the Holy Spirit is considered the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, and a teacher, and all those things. And when we actually get to the point where we can experience that, I wasn’t able to on a consistent basis until I surrendered my will completely.

When I surrendered my will completely, I stopped trying to have control. When I no longer counted on myself, I was able to see the glory of the Lord working in my life and the transformation process of being born again, being on a continual basis. Because prior to me totally saying, okay, if my existence represented five rooms in a house, and I would say, you can’t go into this room, or you can’t go into that room, or keep this closet door closed. There would never be that comfort that comes from the Lord and the ability to experience life the way He wants us to.

But when I finally said, you know what, you have access. Everything. When that access was given, then the comfort and the consistency was maintained, so that made a difference. Yeah, bro. Absolutely, man. God makes a huge difference, you know. And I don’t know about all of y’all that are watching this, you know, the overwhelming feeling of this world sometimes can get us to feel, you know, when we live our life based on all of our feelings and emotions, we can become a roller coaster in our own thought life. And that’s not fun, you know. I often look at two Bible stories, Brother Chris, and all of you that are watching out there.

And these are our brothers, you know, we’ll meet them someday, you know. You have Daniel, right? When Daniel, when the laws were changed, he went into his bedroom, opened the window like any other day, you know. Walked right into the lines then like any other day. He was only able to do so by the power of God. And then we see an example as when you have this example of Elijah who had already defeated the prophets of Baal. Yet as soon as he heard that message from Jezebel, right, then Jezebel sent the messenger unto Elijah in 1 Kings 19, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I not make thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.

You know, when you think of him going under that juniper tree and just saying, I’m done, I’m done. It’s a wrap, right? How can we get to that point? We can get to that point because we listen to these intrusive thoughts and these whispers of Satan. We may not have Jezebel sending a message to you, but you have intrusive thoughts. And these intrusive thoughts know how to manipulate you. These intrusive thoughts know what to tell you. They know what triggers you in the morning. They know what triggers you in the afternoon. They know what’s your pet peeve because we all have what they say, a pet peeve, you know.

Maybe God has to work that pet peeve out of your life. So maybe that’s why some of these things are coming to you to get you prepared to get that pet peeve. Why, you know, why do we have these things? But it goes to show you, Brother Chris, how Elijah, with just one whisper of Jezebel, ended up under that juniper tree. I think a lot of us in the body of Christ, with loneliness, depression, anxiety, and the many intrusive thoughts, we struggle with taking thoughts captive, Chris, and in struggling in that area, we have our own version of a juniper tree, bro.

We do. We do. And you know, the amazing thing about it is that the victory has already been claimed because the Lord Jesus has already demonstrated that the enemy has no power over him, that he took back. Sin, death, and hell is no longer something that the enemy can control in our lives. When we trust in the Lord Jesus, he can’t control anything in our lives. And that’s where we, many of us, and myself included, fall short. That has to do with the thought process also. And I was talking, Heidi and I were talking to a sister most recently, and she says we talk about how we have the ability to stop the thought stream.

We don’t have to entertain every thought that comes into our mind. We don’t have to contemplate it. We don’t have to think about it. We don’t have to get on that stinking hamster wheel of thoughts that just drive us almost crazy. And it’s because we allow those thoughts to do that, because we allow ourselves to think we feel this way, or we feel that way, or whatever it may be, we can actually say, hold on a minute. That’s not what the Lord wants me to be or do in my life. And when we think of the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, if we’re having any thoughts that violate the fruit of the spirit, then we should say, hold on, that’s not who I’m to be in Christ.

So why would I allow myself to think those things? And the same with the scripture that talks about taking on these things, whatever a peer or noble priest could report. Hey, if you’re not thinking of stuff that doesn’t fit that criteria, then you just say, I’m not interested in it. But we have been under the barrage of these thoughts since we were children, even little children having these kinds of thoughts. And, you know, you and I have been talking about, wow, wouldn’t it be great if something could be done, you know, a little cartoon or something about how to come against those thoughts, not to receive them, not to accept them, not to think, oh, that’s just part of who I am.

No, I’m going to raise up in the ways of the Lord. I’m going to think in the ways of the Lord. I’m going to dissect situations only in the ways of the Lord, not the ways of the world, not the way the brainwashing of this world wants us to think about things. When we do it his way, the outcome is his way, and that’s the outcome we want. And that’s where the peace lies. That’s where the joy is. That’s where our consistency is. And disappointments aren’t really disappointments. They’re opportunities to grow in the Lord. And even the way we speak, you know, I talk to some people and they’ll say, oh, I just feel like I’m defeated at this, defeated at that.

And I tell them, stop saying that. Say, I am on a pathway of the Lord purifying me. Why do we want to give any ground to the enemy in what we say by, oh, I’m just so defeated. No, maybe I’m not there yet, but I’m on the pathway. Why? Because the word of God says that he will complete the good work he started in me. Those are the words we need to speak because the enemy listens and he sees and he watches our body language. And that’s a good test for everybody to see if this is true or not.

Think about how you react when you’re ready to get angry. You’re going to say, you crush your arms or your head, you know, eyebrows get pretty, pretty good. And then think about the thoughts that come into your mind and then try to try to not give out those signs to your body language. And then and then see what kind of thoughts come in your mind. It’s pretty amazing. You know, the Lord showed me that probably four or five years ago, how to really monitor that. And oh, my goodness, it’s a big difference. We don’t realize we are being monitored by familiar spirits all the time.

And the more we try to serve the Lord, the more the enemy is going to try to find our weaknesses and come and attack us in those weaknesses. Get a side crack, get us thinking the wrong thing. So, yeah, it’s amazing. I agree, man. I agree, man. It’s amazing, man. The spiritual warfare we have to go through, you know, and the stuff that happens in our world that is always combating our walk with Jesus Christ. And I don’t know what stage you all find yourself in as we’re having this discussions. This is just two brothers trying to be transparent with you.

We’re just trying to be transparent with you, encouraging you on a Monday. I don’t know what stage you find yourself in. Maybe you’re super strong today, like Daniel. And no matter what comes out, you’re going to be able to open your windows and start praying. Or maybe you’re finding yourself like Elijah, who was under that juniper tree. Look at the grace that God had upon Elijah, though. He fed him. He calmed him down. He restored him. He set him free. He went on his path again. He kept on going, okay? So maybe you’re finding yourself in that point today on this Monday.

And what we want to do right now is we want to pray. We want to pray as you leave this devotional, that you go about your week in the name of Jesus Christ, to be an example unto others, to be an example for your husband, be an example for your wife, be an example for your children. Like Brother Chris was talking about, you know, the external emotions that we demonstrate sometimes. Be a leader. Be a leader at your workplace when bad news comes. Be a leader in your workplace when gossip knocks at the door.

Be a leader wherever you are, okay? And when you’re feeling lonely, when you’re feeling down, when you’re feeling like God understands, when Martha was going through her issue with Lazarus, Jesus wept. So Jesus knows what you’re going through, okay? So right there where you’re at, all right? We’re going to pray together in Jesus’ mighty name, all right? And I want you to remember that Jesus cares so much. So much more to more than you could ever even imagine, okay? And that anxiety, that depression, those intrusive thoughts, they can go in Jesus’ mighty name.

Brother Chris, would you mind closing us out with some prayer, my brother? Sure. Father, it’s an honor. It’s an honor to talk about you, to think about your word, to think about all of the tools that you’ve given us. We just got to pick up the victory. We got to follow the instruction manual and just lay everything at your feet, Lord, and rejoice always, Lord. There’s a reason we’re to rejoice always. It combats the fiery darts of the enemy, Lord. We want to be brought up in understanding and wisdom so that when we stand with you to fight against the evil of this world, we can be effective and we can be fearless, Lord.

So thank you for your mighty hand that is guiding and directing us. Thank you for your love that pours out upon us and help your love to pour through us, Lord, as we are funnels of the eternal, perfect, righteous love that only you can deliver, Lord, and that you are transforming us into your image through it. We love you, Lord. Let us be great ambassadors this day. In your name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen. God is awesome. And family, we have a booklet. It’s called Caught Thought. It’s on the description tab of this video.

If you’re struggling with intrusive thoughts, check it out. It’s free. It doesn’t cost you anything. And it’s a great read of something that can definitely bless your walk. And on the screen right here, you’re going to see at some point in time where I’m pointing, you’re going to see a video that’s to our Bible TV channel. We have various devotionals there throughout the week, live services as well. If you need some fellowship, click on that video, subscribe to that channel for more of these. And thank you for joining us for another Monday manna.

And we look forward to seeing you next week as well. And remember the weekend videos, all that content still continues. This is just some supplemental content for you to keep you going throughout the week. God bless you guys. All right. Have a blessed week. [tr:trw].