Grace Fellowship Church Pastor/Teacher Jim Rickard Thursday, March 17,

Doxology Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.— Amen.

Memory Verse 1 Tim 1:5, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

John 16:5, “But now I (Jesus) am going to Him (God the Father) who sent Me, and yet not one of you (the disciples) asks Me, ‘Where are you going?’”

John 16:6, “But because I have said (taught) to you all these things, sorrow (inward stress) has completely filled your heart (right lobe of the soul).”

Doctrine of Stress

8. Stress, perpetuated in the soul, means failure to glorify God, and therefore, unchecked stress produces the loser believer, one who lives in perpetual carnality.

9. There are seven categories of loser believers brought on by allowing stress to penetrate their souls.

a.Stress results in self-fragmentation.

a.Stress results in self-fragmentation. b. Stress perpetuated results in polarized fragmentation. (P.F.)

PF = the sin nature control takes you to your trend of self-righteous arrogance or antinomianism.

c. P.F. leads to the eight stages of reversionism.

1. Reaction and distraction. 2. The frantic search for happiness. 3. Operation boomerang. 4. Emotional revolt of the soul. 5. Locked in negative volition. 6. Blackout of the soul. 7. Scar tissue of the soul. 8. Reverse process reversionism.

d. Christian moral degeneracy.

d. Christian moral degeneracy. e. Christian immoral degeneracy.

d. Christian moral degeneracy. e. Christian immoral degeneracy. f. Dissociation, which is garbage in the subconscious.

d. Christian moral degeneracy. e. Christian immoral degeneracy. f. Dissociation, which is garbage in the subconscious. g. Becoming a psychotic or neurotic Christian.

10. Stress refers to the consequence of the failure of a person to respond adequately to mental, emotional or physical demands, whether actual or imagined.

a. Signs of stress may be cognitive, emotional, physical or behavioral. Signs include poor judgment, a general negative outlook, excessive worrying, moodiness, irritability, agitation, …

… inability to relax, feeling lonely, isolated or depressed, physical ailments, eating disorders, sleeping disorders, social withdrawal, procrastination or neglect of responsibilities, …

… increased alcohol, nicotine or drug consumption, and nervous habits such as pacing about, nail-biting and neck pains.

b. Physiologists define stress as how the body reacts to adversity, real or imagined, a stimulus that results in stress.

11. Common stimuli of stress include both negative and positive adversities.

The intensity and duration of stress changes depending on the circumstances and emotional condition of the person who is suffering from it.

Common categories of adversities include:

a. Sensory input: pain, bright light, noise, temperatures, or environmental issues like lack of control over environmental circumstances (i.e., food, air, water quality, housing, health, freedom, or mobility).

b. Social issues: struggles of inordinate competition with difficult individuals, social defeat, relationship conflict, deception, break ups, and major events such as birth and deaths, marriage, and divorce.

c. Life experiences: poverty, unemployment, clinical depression, OCD, heavy drinking or insufficient sleep, or performance pressures from exams and deadlines.

d. Adverse experiences during development, (e.g. prenatal, poor attachment histories, sexual abuse, etc.) can contribute to deficits in stress response development.

12. There are three stages of negative influence on the soul and body called the “General Adaptation Syndrome” that result from stress on the soul.

a. Alarm: When the adversity is identified or realized the body’s stress response is a state of alarm. Adrenaline will be produced in order to bring about the fight-or-flight response.

b. Resistance: If adversity persists, some means of coping with the stress is attempted. The body cannot keep this up indefinitely, so its resources are gradually depleted.

c. Exhaustion: At this point, all body resources are eventually depleted and the body is unable to maintain normal function. Long term damage may result as bodily and immune system function is impaired.

The result can manifest itself in obvious illnesses such as ulcers, depression, diabetes, trouble with the digestive system or even cardiovascular problems, along with other mental illnesses.

13. The negative effects of stress on the soul and body are revealed to us in the Old Testament, Psa 6:2-3a; 38:3- 8; 102:1-7; Hab 3:16.

Psa 6:2-3, “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. 3 And my soul is greatly dismayed.”

Hab 3:16, “I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us.”

Grace Fellowship Church Thursday, March 17, 2011 Tape # Doctrine of Stress on Your Soul Upper Room Discourse, Part 484 John 16:6; Psa 6:2-3; 38:3-8; 42:10-11; 102:1-7; Hab 3:16 James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2011