Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000020
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00:18 Welcome to "A Sharper Focus."
00:20 This is our Wednesday night Bible study 00:22 here at the Thompsonville Adventist Church 00:26 and we are so glad that you could join us. 00:28 I don't know about you all 00:29 but this has been a hectic week. 00:31 Anybody else had one? Yes. 00:33 It has been crazy for me 00:36 and I know that there are some of you at home 00:38 who probably had the same kind of week. 00:41 Many, many challenges 00:43 and it's so good just to take a pause 00:46 in the middle of the week, 00:47 come in and just let the water of the word wash it, right. 00:51 Tonight, we are going to be talking about something 00:55 that this is not a new study. 00:58 This is something that the Lord taught me back in the year 2000 01:02 and I'm not sure that I've every taught it on 3ABN. 01:05 I did include this teaching in one of my books, 01:09 the book on prayer called "Pressing In To His Presence." 01:12 But tonight we are gonna be talking 01:15 about the prayer of surrender. 01:18 And I remember-- just open your Bibles if you will 01:22 to 1 Corinthians 6:17 01:27 1 Corinthians 6:17 01:31 and then we will open with prayer. 01:34 We're so glad that you could join us 01:37 those of you who are watching by television 01:39 or by internet or even the ones who are listening by radio 01:44 we are very pleased to have you 01:45 as well as our live audience here tonight. 01:48 But let me read this scripture to you, 01:51 1 Corinthians 6:17 says this. 01:55 "But he who is joined to the Lord 01:58 is one spirit with Him." 02:02 Let me ask you a question, 02:05 "Do you feel like you are one with God?" 02:10 Now while we think on that let's pray. 02:14 Our heavenly Father, 02:15 we are so thankful 02:18 for all that You do for us. 02:21 Lord, we are so blessed and we love You, Father. 02:26 We thank You for Your gifts of grace. 02:29 We thank You for salvation. 02:31 We thank You for Your Son, 02:33 for the Holy Spirit. 02:35 We thank You for Your word. 02:37 And, Lord, we come to you tonight 02:39 asking in the name of Jesus 02:42 that You would send your Holy Spirit 02:44 to be our teacher. 02:45 Father, I pray in the name of Jesus 02:47 You'll get me out of the way 02:49 and send Your spirit 02:51 to do Your work in each and every one of us. 02:54 Please give us ears to hear 02:56 what the Holy Spirit has to say. 02:58 In Jesus name, amen. 03:02 "He who is joined to the Lord 03:05 is one spirit with Him." 03:09 I remember it was in the year 2000 03:13 that this promise was one that I was claiming personally 03:18 and I was praying 03:20 and I was praying this back to the Lord 03:24 as His promise and I said, 03:25 "Father, thank You 03:27 that because of you I'm in Christ Jesus. 03:29 He's become my righteousness, my redemption, 03:32 my sanctification. 03:34 And He is my wisdom 03:36 and because I'm in Christ I'm one in spirit with You. 03:41 And then I don't know about you but just saying those words 03:46 made me realize how far off mark I really was 03:51 and I began to weep. 03:54 And I said, Father, I don't even understand 03:56 what it means to be one in spirit with You. 03:59 I want to be You say I am. 04:02 But He had been teaching me such great things 04:07 and I had been running in that teaching for sometime 04:10 and then somehow there have been about a two weeks 04:13 where I just, it was like I had run out of gas, 04:16 just the spiritual faultier. 04:18 Have you ever experienced that? 04:20 And suddenly I woke up and I realized 04:23 I'm not even doing 04:25 what the Lord had taught me to do. 04:28 So as I was praying and weeping before the Lord 04:32 I said, "Lord how is it that I can walk with you 04:36 so closely sometimes that I sense Your heartbeat? 04:40 And then at other times 04:41 I find myself distanced from you." 04:44 Frank, have you ever been through that? 04:46 Many times. Many times. 04:48 And it's just so amazing to me and suddenly as I was praying 04:54 the still small voice of the Lord, 04:56 how many of you know that the Lord 04:58 has impressed a thought upon your mind 05:01 by the power of the Holy Spirit? 05:03 Amen. 05:04 And that's His still small voice. 05:06 And suddenly this still small voice of the Lord 05:09 spoke to me and He said, 05:11 "I will soon explain the wall of resistance 05:17 that you're hitting. 05:19 I was excited. 05:20 Judy, I was so excited 05:22 because I thought, yes, that's exactly how I felt. 05:25 I felt like I had hit a wall. 05:28 So and couple of weeks went by 05:31 and I'm still praying every day, 05:33 "Lord, what is this wall of resistance? 05:37 When are You going to tell me?" 05:39 And one day I was claiming 2 Corinthians 3:18 05:44 and I was praying that promise back to the Lord 05:47 and saying "Father, I thank You that you taken 05:49 the veil from my eyes 05:51 and that because you have, 05:54 I'm beholding as in the mirror 05:56 Your glory and You are leading me 06:00 from glory to glory 06:02 by the power of Your Holy Spirit. 06:06 Then once again 06:08 I realized am I truly being changed 06:13 going from glory to glory. 06:14 What is glory? 06:16 When God talks about His glory what is He talking about? 06:20 He is talking about His character. 06:22 When Moses asked to see the glory of God 06:25 what happened was the Lord came down. 06:28 He hid Moses in the cliff of the rock 06:30 and He pass by and He started proclaiming His character. 06:36 So what 2 Corinthians 3:18 is telling us 06:39 is that if the Lord is leading us 06:42 by His spirit from glory to glory 06:45 He is leading us 06:46 from one level of God's character 06:49 to the next. 06:50 And once again 06:53 I began to weep before the Lord. 06:55 and I've said, "Father I just feel like 06:57 I'm at that wall and I don't understand 06:59 what this is all about. 07:01 So I was praying so earnestly 07:05 and suddenly I saw a picture in my mind. 07:08 Has that ever happened to you when you're praying? 07:10 Has God ever showed you something? 07:13 You know, I'm a visual person 07:15 and when I see something it's amazing. 07:18 And so, as I was praying what I saw was this staircase 07:21 that went all the way up to heaven. 07:25 I assume it went to heaven. 07:26 It was beyond the clouds. 07:28 And I can see myself running along the staircase. 07:32 And, Johnny, I was probably, 07:34 maybe 25 percent of the way up what I could see. 07:38 And as I was running along 07:40 and I'm looking back over my shoulder, 07:43 I was running full force 07:44 and all of a sudden it was just, 07:47 I hit the wall. 07:50 And I stopped and I looked up and I'm six feet tall 07:55 but this wall was at least 60 feet high 08:00 and I stepped back and I looked 08:02 and what the wall was, was the next step. 08:06 I mean it was the front of the next step if you will. 08:10 So I'm praying and I said, "Lord, 08:12 what is this wall that I'm hitting?" 08:16 And if you don't hear anything else I say tonight 08:19 listen to this 08:20 because what the Lord said was 08:22 "The wall of resistance 08:25 that you're hitting 08:26 is the wall of self preservation." 08:31 Let me repeat that. 08:33 "The wall of resistance 08:35 that you're hitting 08:37 is the wall of self preservation." 08:41 See, for us to go from one level 08:43 of God's character 08:45 to the next we have to be willing to give up 08:49 a little bit more of self, don't we? 08:51 And it's so funny 08:53 how we can be willing to follow the Lord in certain areas 08:57 but there are some areas 08:59 that we are little protective of 09:01 and God was saying that's your problem. 09:04 That's that wall of self preservation. 09:07 So turn if you will to 2 Samuel Chapter 22. 09:11 I asked the Lord, I said, "Father, 09:13 how do I get over this wall?" 09:16 I mean, here's this, you know, 09:18 six feet, sixty feet 09:19 how do I get up to this next level? 09:22 And the Lord led me to 2 Samuel Chapter 22 09:28 and let's look at verses 29 and 30. 09:33 He said, 09:36 and this is actually David writing 09:39 and he says, "For You are my lamp, O Lord." 09:43 Doesn't the Bible say in Psalms 119:105 that 09:46 "The word of God is a lamp to our feet, 09:48 the light to our path." 09:49 And Psalms 119:130 says 09:51 that the entrance of His word brings light. 09:55 So he said, "You are my lamp, O Lord, 09:57 the Lord shall enlighten my darkness. 10:00 For by You I can run against a troop, 10:04 by my God I can leap over a wall." 10:10 So as the Lord led me to this 10:13 what I was impressed, 10:15 what the Holy Spirit impressed upon me was 10:19 that the only way to get to that next level, 10:22 to get over the wall 10:24 is that I had to be willing to surrender. 10:28 Now let me ask just the men for a second. 10:31 If I use the word surrender 10:34 just to any man on the street. 10:36 If I come up and say, 10:37 okay, you got to surrender 10:39 what is the man thinking? 10:41 What does that word mean to a man? 10:43 Lost the battle. He's lost the battle. 10:45 It's over. 10:47 It's, you know, this is end. 10:50 Now for the women, 10:52 if I come up to a woman on the street and say, 10:55 you must surrender 10:57 what's going through a woman's mind? 11:01 Well, the woman usually says is 11:03 "Somebody is gonna control me." 11:06 It's like, 11:07 you know, that's a frightening thought to surrender 11:10 because someone is gonna control me. 11:12 And yet, when we are talking 11:15 to the carnal person on the street 11:17 talking about the Lord we say, 11:18 what you got to do is surrender 11:20 and they are sitting there going wait a minute 11:22 that, you know, just wait a minute. 11:24 What do you mean surrender? 11:26 And even I would ask how do we surrender? 11:31 I was praying here the Lord showed me this 11:34 and God I don't know if He works with you this way. 11:37 Maybe I'm dull 11:38 but God will show me just a little bit at a time. 11:42 He let's me ruminate on stuff. 11:44 He will show me something 11:46 and He-- It's just something 11:49 that's kind of bubbling around in my heart 11:52 and then He will explain a little bit more. 11:55 And then the more earnestly I seek Him, 11:56 He explains even more. 11:59 So I was praying one day 12:02 and the promise of 1 John 2:6 12:06 is one that always kind of brings me up short. 12:11 Let's just turn there and look at that. 12:14 And I call it a promise because any commandment of God 12:20 is a promise of something that He will do in our lives. 12:24 And John writes in 1 John 2:6 12:27 "He who says he abides in Him" 12:31 in Christ 12:32 "ought himself also to walk just as He walked." 12:38 So I'm taking that as an affirmation. 12:42 You know, Isaiah 55:11 God says 12:44 that "His word does not return to Him void." 12:47 Jeremiah 1:12 He says, 12:48 "He watches over His word to perform in." 12:50 In Romans 4:17 says, 12:52 He is the "God who gives life to the dead 12:55 and calls things that are not as though they already were." 12:59 So I was praying this back to the Lord and I'm saying, 13:02 "Lord, I thank you 13:04 that I'm in Christ and I'm walking as He walked." 13:10 And I thought oh, no, 13:13 nothing could be further from the truth in my mind. 13:16 And I realized that I was calling things 13:20 that are not as though they were. 13:21 This is God's plan for my life 13:24 but I thought "Lord, it's not happening yet. 13:27 I'm not walking as Jesus 13:30 and You tell me that I should, that I must." 13:33 And so I was again getting a little bit weepy 13:38 and I'm not a weepy woman, right. 13:41 Usually if I'm going to cry, 13:42 it's in the presence of the Lord. 13:44 And 13:46 so as I was crying out to the Lord 13:48 and saying, "Father, I know I'm falling so short. 13:51 I'm not walking as Christ walked." 13:54 Once again I pressed in and as I was praying 13:58 what I saw was this little bitty sugar ant 14:02 just that miniscule tiniest of ants 14:06 and next to that was this huge elephant 14:10 and this is what the Lord impressed upon my mind. 14:14 He said, "Shelley, 14:15 in your limited human strength 14:19 you could be compared 14:20 to this little tiny sugar ant. 14:23 That's your capacity. 14:25 That's your strength 14:27 whereas My power 14:30 could be compared to this elephant 14:32 that's millions of times larger. 14:35 And, child, when I ask you to surrender 14:40 I'm not asking you to try to do this in your power. 14:46 I'm asking you to be yoked with Me 14:48 and draw on My power." 14:51 Now just get that picture in your mind for a second. 14:54 Think of a little tiny sugar ant 14:56 with this big elephant and it's yoked. 14:59 Now here's its little legs going on. 15:00 Who is carrying the load? 15:04 Who is carrying the load if they are yoked together? 15:07 The elephant is. 15:09 So see, when we are yoked to Christ 15:11 God's plan for our life 15:14 and Oh, I pray that 15:17 those of you who are watching at home will hear this 15:20 that God's plan for our lives is that we learn 15:23 to be totally dependent upon Him. 15:26 And so He says to me 15:29 if you will surrender to My power 15:33 My grace will be sufficient for you 15:35 for My power will be made perfect in your weakness. 15:39 So as this progressed along and God is teaching me 15:45 one day I was praying Psalms 16:11 15:48 and I said, "Father, You said 15:51 that You will show me the path of life 15:54 and that I will find joy in Your presence forever more." 15:58 And I said, "If I'm supposed to be walking 16:01 in Christ footsteps 16:03 You got to show me this path to follow." 16:08 And what I heard in my mind was this. 16:11 "If you want to follow in My Son's footstep 16:16 you must walk in the path of His passion." 16:21 So what was the path of Christ passion? 16:25 He began at the Garden of Gethsemane 16:30 and then it progressed to the hill of Calvary 16:34 and then it progressed to that empty tomb. 16:38 So what I want to share with you tonight 16:42 is a prayer of surrender. 16:46 It's a method of surrender, 16:48 something that can get through our mind 16:50 so that we even understand what surrender is all about 16:53 and it follows those three steps. 16:56 The Garden of Gethsemane, 16:58 the hill of Calvary and that empty tomb. 17:02 So let's look at those. 17:04 If you will please turn to Luke 22:42. 17:09 When Jesus was in the garden the passion of His heart 17:16 is expressed in Luke 22:42. 17:22 And every morning as we get up 17:26 we should also if you, 17:28 as it were visit our own little Garden of Gethsemane. 17:32 In Luke 22:42 Jesus said, 17:36 "Lord, not My will but thine be done. 17:40 Your will be done in My life." 17:43 Now as God was teaching me this, 17:47 every morning I would get up 17:49 and I would pray "Not my will but Yours be done." 17:52 And one morning I got up 17:54 And, Clinton, I prayed this way. 17:56 I said, "Oh, Lord, I'm willing to do Your will." 18:01 And, you know, what I heard? 18:03 No, you're not. 18:06 Who do you think that was? 18:08 The devil or the Lord? 18:10 You know, I think it's God. 18:13 Because if I were willing to do His will, 18:15 I would be doing it. 18:17 And there were areas 18:18 that I was still preserving to myself. 18:21 But when I heard that "No, you are not" 18:24 it was enough to make my knees 18:26 kind of knock together in tremble 18:27 and I said, "Lord, 18:29 at least I'm willing to be made willing." 18:31 He said, "That's all I ask." 18:33 So turn to Philippians 2:13 if you will. 18:37 Philippians 2:13, 18:39 while we are in the garden 18:45 in the morning when we are praying 18:47 in surrender if we pray 18:50 "Lord, not my will but Yours be done" 18:54 we should pray and claim this promise. 18:58 Philippians 2:13 says, 19:01 "It is God who works in you 19:04 both to will and to do His good pleasure." 19:10 You realize those are two separate stages, 19:13 God first works in us to will 19:18 and then once He lines our will up with His. 19:22 Have you ever noticed how gently God can change us? 19:25 You know, I had a friend who, he was a Catholic 19:30 and, you know, how he became converted? 19:33 He went to confession 19:35 and the priest told him to go home 19:37 and read a certain Psalm 19:39 and he went home 19:40 and that was the first time he read the Bible. 19:42 He read that Psalm 19:44 and I don't remember which one it was 19:46 but he found the Lord in that Psalm. 19:49 And he really became a converted man. 19:54 But one thing that was interesting is 19:56 he hated Christian music 19:59 and he said, "I won't do this, 20:01 I just can't listen to that Christian music." 20:04 So he always listened to a certain station. 20:06 He lived in Dallas. 20:08 He always listened to a certain station 20:10 and he said that he was driving down the road one day, 20:14 he had been a Christian for several months, 20:16 maybe six months 20:18 and as he is driving down the road one day 20:21 he is singing along to this song 20:24 just singing his heart out 20:27 and all of a sudden he realizes it's a Christian song. 20:32 He knows all the words. 20:34 He's not even aware 20:36 when he started listening to Christian music. 20:39 And that's the way the Lord works in us, doesn't it? 20:42 He sometimes work so gently inside of us. 20:46 But Philippians 2:13 says that God will work in us to will. 20:51 When we say, "Lord not my will but Yours be done." 20:55 If we will pray that, God will begin to line us up 21:01 through His word, 21:03 through other Christian council, 21:05 just through prayer and hearing the still small voice. 21:08 He begins to line us up where His desires become our desires. 21:15 Now that doesn't mean 21:17 that it's going to actually be put into action yet. 21:21 I remember when I first started watching 3ABN 21:24 I would watch Dick Nunez and that exercise program. 21:29 And I would sit back in my lazy chair and think, 21:31 "Boy, I really need to start exercising. 21:34 You know, I really need to start exercising." 21:36 And the Lord began to change my desire 21:39 and I thought I need to really get serious 21:41 about this exercising. 21:43 But as long as I just sat back and watched, 21:47 God wasn't gonna force me to get up. 21:49 I mean, He started putting that desire in my heart 21:52 but He didn't force me to get up and do it. 21:54 So, if God is working and it's to will 21:58 there is something that happens before God works in us to act. 22:02 And I believe what that is, 22:03 it's just when we take one step of faith. 22:07 As He changes our will, 22:09 if we will take one step of faith 22:12 the power of the Holy Spirit will show up 22:16 and He empowers us to do His will. 22:20 So that, when we are in the Garden of Gethsemane 22:24 that's what we-- I mean, that's kind of our symbolic 22:27 Garden of Gethsemane, if we will pray 22:29 "Lord, not my will but Yours be done" 22:33 and just let Him know. 22:34 Father, please work in me 22:37 to will and to do Your good pleasure." 22:39 That's your promise. 22:41 And we need to remember as Philippians 2:5-8 says 22:44 that we need to have this same humble mind, 22:50 the same attitude of Christ Jesus 22:53 who was willing to make Himself nothing 22:57 and become obedient 22:59 even to the point of the death on a cross. 23:02 Amen. 23:04 So that takes us 23:06 to the second step of surrender. 23:11 And if we are following Christ path of passion, 23:15 that second step was the hill of Calvary. 23:18 Pleas turn to Luke 9:23. 23:24 Luke 9:23. 23:29 When we are ready for God to do a work in us, 23:36 I forgot one scripture I wished I've added in-- 23:39 if you go back to the garden in Psalms 143:10, 23:44 David wrote in Psalms 143:10, 23:47 "Teach me to do Your will, lead me by Your good spirit." 23:51 And when we get to that point that we are willing to do this 23:54 then if symbolically we are ready to go on 23:58 in following Christ path of passion 24:01 go to the hill of Calvary. 24:03 Luke 9:23 Jesus says what? 24:06 "If any man would come after me, 24:09 let him pick up his cross when he is baptized." 24:15 Is that what He says? 24:16 "Let him pick up his cross every Sabbath." 24:20 No. 24:22 "Daily." 24:23 Okay, what does it mean to pick up your cross? 24:29 Have you ever heard somebody say this 24:33 "Oh, bless her heart 24:36 she is married to that no good scoundrel. 24:39 She has got those three children 24:41 and she is having to raise them all by herself. 24:43 But we've all got her cross to bear." 24:47 Ever heard anybody talk like that. 24:49 We've got this cross to bear? 24:52 That is a pitiful application of what Jesus is saying. 24:59 During Jesus' day, Yannick, 25:01 if Jesus said to one of His disciples 25:04 you've got to pick up your cross daily. 25:07 What did it mean when you picked up the cross? 25:11 What was about to happen 25:12 if you picked up a cross during Jesus' day? 25:15 You're gonna be crucified. 25:18 You are going to your death. 25:21 So what Jesus is saying here 25:23 is "If you want to be My disciple, 25:26 you got to die to self daily." 25:30 Isn't that interesting? 25:31 Daily you have to pick up that cross. 25:34 I think the reason we have to die daily 25:38 is because that old flesh nature of ours 25:42 is so capable of rearing its ugly little head, isn't it? 25:47 So Christ wants us to purposely think about 25:52 "Yeah, I've got to die self today." 25:55 And, you know, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:31 25:58 "I die daily, brothers, I mean it." 26:02 Turn to Romans 8:13 please 26:05 because as we are praying this 26:07 we will see why it is so important. 26:11 Jeremiah 13:23, the Bible says, God says, 26:18 that we can't change ourselves anymore than an Ethiopian 26:22 can change his skin 26:24 or leopard can change its spots. 26:27 So we can't really crucify our own sin nature by our self. 26:33 Let's look at this, we need a co-executioner. 26:36 So Romans 8:13 says this, 26:40 "For if you live according to the flesh 26:45 you will die, 26:46 but if" by whom? 26:50 "By the Spirit 26:52 you put to death the deeds of the body, 26:55 you will live." 26:56 Look at that scripture again. 26:58 If by the Spirit you put to death." 27:04 You don't have the power to do it except by the spirit 27:09 but the spirit will not exert his power 27:13 without your corporation. 27:15 So it is by the spirit you put to death 27:19 the misdeeds of the flesh. 27:22 So when we are thinking of this idea 27:26 that we have to pick up our cross daily, 27:29 it's because we need to die to self 27:33 by the power of the Holy Spirit. 27:36 Please turn to Galatians Chapter 5. 27:40 You know, I remember once I was in Roswell, New Mexico 27:42 and I was sharing this teaching 27:45 and it was so funny 27:49 I gave a bunch of scriptures 27:51 on how we have to crucify our flesh. 27:57 And this lady came up to me afterwards and she said, 27:59 "That's just the meanest teaching I've ever heard." 28:03 And I thought did you get this scripture. 28:05 Let me give you the scripture list again. 28:08 Let's look at Galatians 5:25. 28:10 Paul had a lot to say about crucifying the flesh. 28:15 Actually we will begin with Galatians 5:24. 28:18 He says, "Those who are Christ's 28:22 have crucified the flesh 28:24 with its passions and its desires. 28:28 If we live by the Spirit, 28:31 let us also walk by the Spirit." 28:34 And the only way we can walk by the spirit 28:36 not running ahead of him, 28:39 not lagging behind him 28:41 is if we have crucified our flesh 28:46 with its passions and its desires. 28:48 Now, let's look, excuse me. 28:50 Look at Galatians 2:20. 28:55 Galatians 2:20. 29:01 Paul says, 29:03 "I have been crucified with Christ, 29:06 it is no longer I who live, 29:08 but Christ lives in me, 29:10 and the life which I now live in the flesh 29:13 I live by faith in the Son of God, 29:15 who loved me and gave Himself for me." 29:18 I want to encourage you to claim that promise 29:21 because as-- praise the Lord, Yannick. 29:24 Amen. 29:26 As we claim these promises and pray 'em back to the Lord, 29:29 I think God really does do a work 29:31 to make certain that His word doesn't return void. 29:34 Now look at Galatians 6:14. 29:39 In Galatians 6:14 Paul writes 29:45 "But God forbid that I should boast 29:47 except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 29:50 to whom the world has been crucified to me, 29:54 and I to the world." 29:57 By Christ if we are in Christ dead to self 30:03 the world should be crucified to us 30:06 and we are crucified to the world. 30:07 Let me ask you a question for those of you at home. 30:10 Are you crucified to the world 30:13 or does the world is it crucified to you 30:16 or does it have a strange pull on you? 30:20 You know, we can tell 30:22 by the types of television programs we watch. 30:25 How we spend our money. 30:28 What we do with our leisure time. 30:31 You can tell a lot about what kind of pull 30:34 that the world has on us. 30:36 But Paul wrote to the Colossians 30:39 in Colossians 3:3 and he said, 30:42 "You have died, and your real life 30:47 is now hidden with Christ in God." 30:51 Let's look that up. 30:52 I love to hear these pages... 30:58 turning 31:00 because all of these I can't think 31:03 and find a scripture at the same time. 31:06 I mean, I can't talk and think about 31:07 where to turn at the same time. 31:09 Colossians 3:3 he says, 31:11 "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." 31:16 He is not talking about your natural death. 31:20 He is talking about dying to self here. 31:23 So that's what happens when you get up in the morning 31:27 and you pray and say, 31:29 "Lord, not my will but Yours be done. 31:32 And, Father help me to pick up my cross today. 31:35 To be crucified to self. 31:38 But now when the Lord was teaching me this, 31:41 it was interesting. 31:43 Sometimes as God is teaching you something 31:46 it can become so intense 31:49 that what I was doing was-- 31:53 He took me through a season of deep repentance. 31:58 Have you ever noticed that the closer you get to the Lord 32:01 the more you're aware of your own sin? 32:04 You know, it's like when you think of Isaiah 32:09 who said, "Wow, it's me. 32:11 For I'm a man of unclean lips 32:14 and I live amidst the people of unclean lips." 32:18 Isaiah wasn't-- 32:20 I mean he was a prophet 32:23 but as he had that temple vision 32:26 when he is praying in the temple 32:27 and pressing into the presence of the Lord 32:30 when he saw the Lord high and lifted up 32:34 and the closer you get to God, 32:36 it's like the brilliance of His Shekinah glory 32:39 just kind of shows us how really dingy we are. 32:44 So, when He is pressing into this presence, 32:50 Paul is saying here 32:52 "You have died to self 32:55 and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." 33:01 So we've gone from the hill of Calvary 33:03 and oh, I lost my train of thought there, 33:06 is that here I'm, I'm praying 33:08 and God is taking me through this deep repentance 33:12 but I linger there a little too long. 33:16 You know, when we ask God for forgiveness 33:20 my favorite scripture is 1 John 1:9 33:22 that "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 33:26 and cleanse us of all unrighteousness." 33:29 And sometimes we can get so morose 33:33 looking at our sinfulness 33:35 that we forget that we are clothed 33:37 with the cloth of Christ's righteousness. 33:40 And so we have to accept by faith. 33:43 I don't think there is anything wrong 33:44 with the season of repentance 33:46 but I lingered there too long 33:48 to where the Lord was kind of booting me out 33:52 of that garden to the point where He was saying, 33:55 "Child, I didn't stay on the cross forever." 33:59 And the next is we're following this path of passion. 34:04 Our next step is to come to that resurrection morning, 34:10 that empty tomb. 34:11 Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 11:9. 34:17 Luke 11:9. 34:31 Luke 11:9, 34:36 Jesus says in this verse, 34:40 "Ask, and it will be given to you, 34:43 seek, and you will find, 34:46 knock, and the door will be opened to you." 34:51 In the Greek these verbs 34:54 ask, seek, and knock are linear verbs. 34:58 They are verbs that have continuous action. 35:02 So a better translation of the scripture 35:06 of what Jesus was saying 35:08 is ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you. 35:15 Seek and keep on seeking and you will find. 35:20 Knock and keep on knocking 35:24 and the door will be open to you. 35:27 Now, look down to verse 13 35:31 because here He explains in context 35:35 what He is telling us to ask for. 35:38 He says in verse 13, "If you being evil, 35:41 know how to give good gifts to your children, 35:45 how much more will the heavenly Father 35:49 give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and keep on asking." 35:56 Let me ask you a question. 35:59 Did you ask the Lord today 36:01 to be filled with the Holy Spirit? 36:05 That is part of walking in surrender. 36:08 That's part of dying daily to self 36:11 and you should never leave home without Him. 36:14 You know, I remember 36:16 when the Lord first taught me this 36:19 I was, oh, God brought me so close to Him. 36:24 And every morning I would get up 36:25 and I would pray 36:27 and I would say, Lord, not my will, but yours be done. 36:29 Teach me Your will today. 36:31 Help me to pick up my cross 36:32 and die to self by the power of your Holy Spirit. 36:36 You know, to be crucified to the world 36:38 and the world to me." 36:40 And I remember when about this time 36:44 that the Lord was teaching me this, 36:46 I had been practicing this for a couple of years. 36:51 I was invited to come to do a program on 3ABN 36:54 and that was exalting His word. 36:56 Well, they also asked though, 37:00 they thought that this had already been arranged. 37:02 Somehow it was one of those things where they thought 37:05 they had contacted me and I hadn't been contacted. 37:09 So it ended up being a kind of rushed job. 37:12 And they call me 17 days before the program began 37:16 and said, "By the way could you write 37:19 a companion book to go with this program?" 37:22 I had 17 days to write a book. 37:25 So I told my sister 37:27 and I just love my sister to death. 37:29 But I told my sister, 37:32 now I was running the ministry out of the home 37:35 and she was in the habit of calling me 37:38 four or five times a day. 37:40 And I told her, I said now, Sunny, I can't talk to you 37:44 four or five times a day 37:46 because I've only got 17 days to write this book. 37:48 So here's what we are gonna do. 37:50 So let's pick a time how about five o'clock every day. 37:52 I will call you and don't you call me 37:55 unless it's an emergency. 37:58 Well, next day phone rings. 38:00 I pick it up and say "Is this an emergency?" 38:02 "No, I was just lonesome I need to talk to you." 38:05 I said, "Honey, I can't talk." 38:08 Then about three hours later the phone rings. 38:11 I pick it up. "Is this an emergency?" 38:13 "No, I just need to talk to you. 38:16 I'm just lonesome." 38:17 And I said, "Honey, I can't talk." 38:19 well, I have to explain something first. 38:21 Well, my sister is really connected with the Lord. 38:25 She is amazing 38:26 but if she is one of those valleys where she is, 38:30 she is a very bold witness which is connected to the Lord. 38:33 But if she is in a valley experience 38:36 then she can be sometimes a little drama queen 38:40 and she knows I say this about her. 38:42 But anyway, so here I was, 38:46 I had prayed so hard that morning to surrender 38:50 and I was riding for the glory of the Lord 38:53 and she calls me, this is about the fourth time 38:56 and I picked it up and I said, "Sunny, I cannot talk." 38:59 And she says, "Fine, I don't have a sister anymore. 39:02 You don't love me. 39:04 Just forget about it." 39:05 And, you know, what happened 39:08 to this sweet surrendered Christian? 39:11 I said, "I don't love you 39:16 I let her have it with both barrels. 39:19 You don't respect me 39:21 and you keep interrupting up, asking out. 39:23 I let her have it." 39:26 Then I hung up 39:28 and I began to write for the glory of God, right. 39:32 I wrote for an hour 39:34 and when I finished that part 39:36 that I was writing and was reading it, 39:38 it was scripturally accurate. 39:40 I said, it didn't take away from what was up here 39:44 but there was no anointing 39:46 on this writing. 39:48 It was dry 39:50 because I had quenched the spirit. 39:53 I was no longer surrendered to God. 39:56 So I had to go through this process of surrender 39:59 all over again. 40:01 And what do you suppose Lord made me do? 40:06 Had to call my sister and apologize. 40:09 So surrender isn't just a one time thing. 40:12 That's why Jesus says ask and keep on asking. 40:16 Ephesians 5:18 tells us that 40:18 we are ever to be filled with our Holy Spirit. 40:24 Turn to Philippians 3:10 40:27 and you will see why this is so important. 40:29 Philippians 3:10. 40:38 This, I love the scripture. 40:40 If I can find it I'll share it with you. 40:42 There it is. 40:45 Paul is speaking 40:48 and he is talking about the righteousness 40:50 which is from God by faith and in verse 10 he says, 40:55 "That I may know Him 40:57 and the power of His resurrection, 41:01 and the fellowship of His sufferings, 41:04 being conformed to His death." 41:08 Isn't that amazing? 41:10 This is, this is Paul's, 41:12 this is all that Paul wants to know 41:15 is to know Jesus Christ 41:18 and the power of His resurrection. 41:21 And as we pray to surrender to God saying, 41:25 "Lord, not my will but Yours be done. 41:28 Work in me to will and to do Your good pleasure. 41:31 Teach me Your will. 41:32 Help me pick up my cross and die to self. 41:34 And, Lord, now, I'm asking to be feel afresh 41:38 with the power of the resurrection." 41:42 And this is how we walk in Christ footsteps. 41:45 This is how we become one in spirit with Him. 41:51 Now the final point 41:52 that I would like to make is Psalms 24 41:56 as far as the final point. 41:58 Let's see, we still have some time. 42:01 Psalms 24:7, 8. 42:05 When you pray this, if you, 42:11 your only thing once you've asked for the Holy Spirit 42:15 your responsibility is just to open up your heart 42:20 and let the King of glory come in. 42:24 He says in Psalms 24: lets look at verses 7, 8, 42:28 "Lift up your heads, O you gates! 42:32 Be lifted up, you everlasting doors! 42:34 And the King of glory shall come in. 42:37 Who is this King of glory? 42:40 He is the Lord strong and mighty, 42:42 the Lord mighty in battle." 42:45 So as you pray in and say, 42:47 Lord, fill me with your spirit afresh today. 42:51 Your only job is to open up your heart 42:55 and let the King of glory come in and He will. 42:59 Now let me ask you something, 43:02 this is, I really went through that faster than I ever have 43:06 and we've got 14 minutes left on a live program. 43:09 So let's talk about, "How do we know 43:14 when we're filled with the Holy Spirit? 43:16 Why is it so important to be filled with the spirit?" 43:21 Because that's how we become yoked to the Lord 43:25 when we surrender, give control of our life. 43:27 We become yoked to Christ. 43:31 And Ephesians 3:16 just came to mind. 43:34 Let's turn to Ephesians 3:16. 43:41 I wish you guys were mike so that we could have a little 43:46 discussion going back and forth here. 43:49 But Ephesians 3:16 says this. 43:55 Paul is saying that he prays "That God would grant you, 43:58 according to the riches of His glory, 44:02 to be strengthened with might 44:06 through His Spirit in the inner man." 44:09 How are you going to be strengthened with might? 44:13 My power, My grace is sufficient for you 44:16 for My powers make perfect 44:18 in your weakness it's with 44:21 when the Holy Spirit isn't dwelling you 44:24 and in your inner man here's what he goes on and says. 44:28 That's not only how you strengthen with might he says 44:32 that "Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." 44:37 Jesus, when He went to heaven, 44:41 He is not a spirit being anymore. 44:43 He was resurrected. 44:46 He is perfectly God 44:48 but He is perfectly man as well. 44:50 So he took a human body back to heaven with Him. 44:54 So that means He is a little bit limited 44:55 as far as being able to be physically. 44:58 He can't be in more than one place at one time. 45:01 So how does He dwell in our hearts? 45:04 Through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. 45:08 And when that happens, 45:10 you will be rooted and grounded in love. 45:16 Rooted and grounded, if you want to know 45:18 if somebody's spirit filled 45:21 see if they are rooted and grounded in love. 45:24 That means the root of everything they do, 45:26 the motivation is love. 45:30 See, God is holy and God is love. 45:36 The spirit is holy and he is the spirit of love. 45:41 And let's look at Romans 5:5. 45:45 Romans 5:5, 45:48 actually we will come back to there 45:50 maybe but I want to show you something real quick. 45:53 Romans 5:5... 46:02 says this. 46:05 Romans 4, okay. 46:09 "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God 46:13 has been poured out in our" spirits 46:18 or "into our hearts" how? 46:20 "By the Holy Spirit who was given to us." 46:25 What's the most important commandment? 46:27 Mark 12:30, Jesus said, 46:30 "Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, 46:33 with all your soul, with all your strength 46:36 and all your mind." 46:39 I can't do it. 46:41 I can't love God with all of my heart, 46:44 soul, mind and strength not my own power. 46:49 I can't love God the way He wants me to 46:52 until I surrender to Him 46:55 and let His Holy Spirit be poured out into my heart 46:59 and then the love of God is poured into my heart. 47:03 He also says that we are to love our neighbor as our self. 47:08 Glen, I love you but I can't love you as I love myself 47:15 without the power of the Holy Spirit. 47:18 You know, sometimes every time I go somewhere I will pray. 47:22 I shouldn't say every time, 99 percent of time. 47:24 Sometimes I forget but I will pray every time I go-- 47:28 99 percent of the time that I go somewhere and I'll say 47:31 "Lord, please help me to open my heart. 47:35 Pour out Your love for these people 47:38 that I may love them as I love myself. 47:41 And it's amazing how God does that. 47:46 You know, how we can have these Christian bonds, isn't it, 47:48 it's exciting. 47:50 So when we are filled with love this is how we know 47:53 we are filled with the Holy Spirit. 47:55 Now turn back, we'll finish Ephesians 3:16 carrying on 48:01 and then I'm gonna show you one more scripture 48:03 and we will pray. 48:07 So he has said again, Ephesians 3:16 he is praying 48:11 "That God would grant you, 48:12 according to the riches of His glory, 48:14 to be strengthened with might 48:17 through His Spirit in the inner being, 48:19 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, 48:22 that you, being rooted and grounded" 48:26 you are gonna be secure "in love, 48:28 may be able to comprehend with all the saints 48:31 what is the width, the length, the depth and the height 48:35 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, 48:39 that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." 48:42 How you're filled with the fullness of God 48:44 when you are filled with His love. 48:47 And he says, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly 48:50 abundantly above all that we ask or think, 48:54 according to the power that is at work within us." 48:58 And who is that power? 49:00 The Holy Spirit. 49:02 "To Him be glory in the church 49:04 by Christ Jesus to all generations, 49:07 forever and ever. 49:08 Amen." Amen. 49:11 Now, I want you to turn please to 1 Thessalonians, 49:14 one of my favorite scriptures. 49:17 You know, we hope that you at home are enjoying this study 49:21 and we hope that you are in a cool, nice spot 49:25 because we are without air-conditioning tonight 49:28 so we are all just kind of sweltering, aren't we? 49:33 All right, we have a special guest with us tonight 49:36 Frank Fournier and I told Frank before we started. 49:38 "If I got the vapors and fainted 49:40 he'd come up here and finish." 49:43 All right, let me show you this scripture because I love it. 49:47 We're gonna actually began 49:48 1 Thessalonians 3 49:52 and let's look at verse 12. 49:56 Paul is writings to the Thessalonians 49:59 and here's what he says, 50:01 "May the Lord make you increase..." 50:04 Who is gonna give the increase? 50:06 The Lord. 50:07 "May the Lord make you increase and abound in love 50:11 to one another and to all, just as we do to you." 50:15 He wants God to make us increase and abound in love. 50:19 Why? 50:21 Let's look at why that's in verse 12. 50:24 "So that" here's the purpose 50:29 he may establish your hearts 50:32 blameless in holiness 50:36 before our God and Father 50:38 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 50:41 with all His saints." 50:43 Do you realize what that scripture is saying? 50:46 It says, may the Lord make you increase and abound in love 50:49 so that He may establish 50:53 your hearts blameless in holiness. 50:58 What he is saying 51:00 if I can just distil that is to, 51:06 as you increase in love, you increase in holiness. 51:12 That's what it's all about. 51:15 If we would learn to love by the power of the Holy Spirit, 51:22 God is love, His spirit is the spirit of love 51:26 and as we love by His spirit 51:29 and learn to love our neighbor as our self, 51:33 learn to love God with all of our 51:35 hearts, soul, mind and strength, 51:37 we will increase in holiness. 51:39 Isn't that exciting? 51:41 To me this is an extremely exciting scripture. 51:45 So in summation let's talk about this one more time. 51:50 If you want to walk in surrender 51:54 it's an easy process. 51:56 Just pray, follow the path of Christ passion. 51:59 And what's that first stopping point? 52:02 The Garden of Gethsemane. 52:04 So symbolically in the morning think about that. 52:07 Just throw up your hands and say, 52:09 "Lord," Luke 22:42 52:12 "Not my will but Yours be done." 52:15 "Oh, Lord, work in me" 52:17 "To will and to do Your good work." 52:21 "And, Lord, I pray..." Psalms 143:10 52:24 "That you will teach me Your will, 52:27 that You will lead me by Your Spirit." 52:29 And Philippians 2:5-8, 52:31 "That You will give me the mind of Christ. 52:35 Give me that same humble attitude as Christ had 52:39 that I would be willing to be obedient 52:42 even to the point of dying on the cross." 52:44 And then your second step is what? 52:48 You go to the hill of Calvary and it's Luke 9:23 "Lord, 52:53 help me to pick up my cross today 52:56 and I want to crucify this flesh." 52:59 As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:31 53:01 "I want to die daily so that I may live for You." 53:06 "And then pray," Galatians 5:24, 25 53:10 "Lord, help me to be crucified to self and to live 53:15 since I live by the spirit, to walk by the spirit." 53:18 Not running ahead, not behind. 53:22 And pray those scriptures 53:24 and then the most important part 53:27 is to remember that 53:30 resurrection morning is just over the hill here 53:34 and you need to pray and ask the Lord. 53:36 Luke 11:9 and 11:13 53:40 is "Lord, I'm asking, I'm seeking, I'm knocking. 53:44 Fill me with Your Holy Spirit." 53:46 And then just open up your heart 53:48 and let the King of glory come in 53:50 and when you do, 53:52 God will fill your heart with love. 53:55 And as you increase in love, you will increase in holiness. 54:00 Amen? Amen. 54:02 Do you all have any questions? 54:04 Is there any prayer request? 54:06 We wish that and hopefully someday soon, 54:09 we'll be able to take live prayer request. 54:11 This is a live program 54:13 and we want you to know if you are a viewer of 3ABN 54:19 we thank you so much 54:21 for sending in your prayers and your request 54:23 and we get many through the pastoral department. 54:26 We get lot of letters and we want you to know that 54:28 we take everyone of those prayer requests seriously 54:32 and we pray over them throughout the week 54:35 and just know that you are very special to us 54:38 and your prayer requests 54:39 are very special to us and to the Lord. 54:41 Does anybody here have a special prayer request? 54:47 My neighbors. 54:49 For your neighbors. 54:50 Okay, we will pray for your neighbors. 54:52 Anything special? Sharon and Dwaine. 54:53 Sharon and Dwaine, we will pray for them. 54:55 Yes, Frank? 54:57 I have the keynote address of ASI Convention. 55:02 You do indeed. 55:03 So Frank Fournier who is by the way if you don't know 55:06 he is the president of ASI. 55:08 He is visiting with us. 55:09 Had the pleasure of interviewing him today 55:11 along with Judy and Clint, Barn and Clinton. 55:16 We are so glad that you are here. 55:18 Parents of Mark Bond 55:20 and grandparents of all those beautiful children. 55:24 So we will pray 55:25 that you do need this prayer, amen. 55:27 Any others? 55:30 Well, we know that many of you at home, 55:33 some are facing difficulties with finances, 55:37 maybe it's your health, maybe it's your spiritual walk 55:41 and we are gonna pray right now, okay. 55:44 Heavenly Father, oh, Lord, 55:49 we are so grateful to You, Father God, 55:53 for all that You are doing in our lives 55:55 and even the things of which we are unaware. 55:59 Father, we come in the name of Jesus tonight 56:02 and we do pray that You will help us, Lord, 56:05 to express our love for You by obeying Your word. 56:12 You said, if we loved You, keep Your commandments 56:16 and we pray Lord that we will do that. 56:19 And we come this night asking that You will help us 56:22 to put this word into practice, Lord, 56:25 and to remember that it's not just a one time thing 56:29 but, Father, sometimes we have to surrender 56:32 hour by hour or even minute by minute. 56:35 Lord, we want to lift up the neighbors to You, 56:40 the people who are having difficulty. 56:42 Father, we lift up people around the world, 56:45 people who are having financial problems 56:48 or maybe problems with their children, Father, 56:50 or problems, Father, that with unemployment. 56:56 We pray that You will be their Jehovah-Jireh 56:59 who meets all of their needs 57:00 according to Your glorious riches. 57:02 And we lift up the people around the world 57:04 who are suffering for Your name sake, Father, 57:07 and we pray You will be a wall of fire around them 57:09 and the glory in their midst. 57:11 And, Father, we especially want to lift up 57:13 Frank Fournier to You 57:15 and we thank You, Father, for appointing him as 57:19 and calling him to be president of ASI. 57:22 And he has that keynote address, Lord. 57:25 I pray You will prepare him. 57:26 Fill him with Your spirit 57:28 and prepare him to address Your people. 57:33 Lord, we ask for all of us 57:35 help us to walk in Christ footsteps. 57:39 We ask this for the glory of Your name. 57:43 We ask in the name of Jesus 57:45 and receive in the name of Jesus, amen. 57:48 Amen. Amen. 57:49 So thank you all so much for joining us tonight 57:52 and our prayer is 57:53 that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 57:55 the love of the Father 57:56 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 57:58 will be with you always. 57:59 Bye-bye. 58:01 Thank you. |
Revised 2016-04-11