Participants: Tom Waters
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000314
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00:30 Welcome to Faith Chapel,
00:32 I'm Tom Waters with Restoration International. 00:36 Today, I wanna with you about a very special day 00:40 that I had with the Lord. I have many 00:43 special days with the Lord now, 00:45 but this one particularly stood out of my mind 00:48 as a day of learning that we really can be with 00:52 the Lord and He wants to be with us. 00:55 He wants to be at our right side. 00:57 He wants to direct us through the day. 00:59 One evening as I was kneeling by my bed, 01:04 closing the day in prayer to my Lord. 01:08 I was praying, sharing all the things that 01:11 were on my mind and then I was listening. 01:14 You know communication, 01:16 if you think about it, is a two way process, 01:19 if it's effective communication, 01:20 it isn't just one person doing all the talking. 01:23 The Lord really does wanna commune 01:25 with our hearts and He wants us to be 01:27 still and know that He is God. 01:30 And so at the end of my sharing with 01:33 the Lord if you will, I said Lord you know, 01:37 is there anything you have for me 01:38 and this thought came to my mind 01:40 and I wrote it down. It was a challenge 01:42 from the Lord, I want you to know that's 01:46 the thought that came through. 01:47 I want you to know that I'm with you all 01:49 through the day tomorrow. 01:52 So here's the Lord preparing me 01:55 as I'm closing the day that tomorrow is going 01:59 to be a special day that I can know that 02:02 he is with me through the entire day. 02:05 So I said Lord when you wake me in the 02:08 morning will you remind me that you are with me. 02:13 Do you believe Christ wants this kind of 02:17 personal connection with His people. 02:19 Now I hope, hope you do it today, 02:21 I hope that no matter where you find yourself, 02:24 that even now the spirit of the Lord will 02:27 come to you. Will impress upon your 02:30 heart that He loves you with an everlasting 02:33 love and because of that He is drawing 02:36 you to Him with loving kindness. 02:39 The Lord wants to have a personal connection 02:42 with us. He wants to guide us all through 02:45 the day. So the next morning, 02:49 the Lord woke me up. You know its interesting 02:52 in Isaiah 15 in the fourth verse. It says, 02:55 He wakeneth me morning by morning. 02:57 Is he waking you morning by morning, 03:00 He wants to be. He wants to be a part 03:02 of our lives from the beginning of the new 03:05 day until we close it. It says, He wakeneth 03:08 me morning by morning, He wakeneth my ear 03:10 to hear as the learned. Are you waking up with 03:14 the Lord and when you wake up, 03:17 are you waking up with an ear that's ready 03:20 to hear. Lord, what would you have me 03:21 to do today? What do you have for me in this 03:25 new day? Well, the Lord woke me. 03:29 And not only did He wake me, but He did 03:32 just what I asked Him to do in His mercy. 03:35 He reminded me, He reminded me of my 03:39 prayer the night before. Now He was waking me, 03:43 He said He would. He was reminding me, 03:48 now what do I have to do. Oh here's the 03:52 part that we have to face and that is, 03:55 what will we do with the choice that God 03:59 gives us. That's the part that we have. 04:02 He's done his part. He is, He's waken 04:06 us in the morning, He's called to us, 04:09 He's reminded us that He wants to be there 04:12 with us and now the choice is up to me. 04:16 I have a choice, by faith to accept His 04:18 offer that He is bringing to me 04:21 or I have a choice that I can rollover 04:24 in my bed and say I'm tired. 04:28 It doesn't seem so important to be with 04:33 you as it did last night when I closed the day. 04:36 Now we might not say that in reality the way 04:40 I just said it. But the question is, 04:44 are we really saying it in our response. 04:48 Are we saying to the Lord as we rollover 04:51 and turn our back to Him that I don't really 04:54 want to have you guiding me through 04:55 the day. I don't really wanna do it your way. 04:58 I wanna start this day by doing it my way. 05:00 And the way I wanna do it my way is to 05:02 stay in bed right now, because I don't 05:03 feel like getting up and having communion 05:06 with you. I hope that's not the case. 05:09 Let's go back there again to chapter 50 05:12 of Isaiah in verses four and five, it says, 05:15 He wakeneth me morning by morning, 05:17 He wakeneth my ear to hear as the learned 05:19 and the verse five says, And I was not rebellious, 05:24 neither turned away back. Oh what a blessing. 05:29 Let's take the practical application of that now 05:31 He's waken us, are we gonna turn our back 05:33 on Him? Physically, spiritually, are we 05:36 gonna turn our back or we gonna be responding 05:40 to His awakening and saying yes Lord, 05:43 I wanna be with you today. 05:44 Well I remembered my prayer, 05:46 I remembered that I ask Him to remind me. 05:49 And I have remembered this day I was going to 05:51 be with Christ. This day was not going 05:53 to be just the day of doing things my way. 05:56 It was gonna be a day with Christ. 05:59 So, I was aware of His presence, 06:02 I was aware of His call and I began my 06:05 day on my knees with the Lord. 06:08 And I went through my prayer time with 06:11 the Lord and I like to pray and what I call 06:13 gospel order. I found it will be very meaningful. 06:16 That means that the first thing I need to 06:18 pray about is my personal need of a 06:21 leaving connection to Christ. 06:23 I need a new heart, I need a spirit put 06:27 within me, I need to take, the Lord to take 06:30 out this stony heart out of my flesh and 06:32 give me a new heart, a clean heart and that's 06:35 where I start with my prayers in the morning, 06:37 because I know that without Him I'm not 06:41 gonna have a very good day, because 06:43 self's way does not work. Have you found 06:46 that to be the case. My way doesn't work, 06:49 but when I surrendered myself to God 06:51 and I enter into His way, so I opened myself up, 06:56 began to pray, then I like to pray for my wife, 07:00 for my children. I call it gospel order 07:03 because its first the individual, myself to God 07:06 and then its my marriage, then its 07:08 my family, then its my wider circle. 07:11 And so I finished praying and making 07:13 my needs known to God and I said Lord, 07:17 is there anything this morning that 07:18 you wanna put on my heart and it was 07:21 interesting the Lord brought three families 07:25 especially to my mind. And I began to pray 07:28 for those three families. A friend 07:32 of mine has requested that, that I would make 07:35 him more accountable as a Christian. 07:37 Would I be willing to do that to give him 07:39 a call once in a while and I said you know 07:41 I'm happy to do that if the Lord puts 07:43 that in my heart. I wanna do it if its 07:46 God's will and so, this morning that came to 07:49 my mind so clearly and I began to pray for him 07:52 and then I wanted to be able to follow through 07:55 and have that, that positive spiritual 07:58 accountability. It reminded me of 08:01 another family. Family that was 08:03 going through a particularly difficult 08:06 struggle in their experience and I 08:08 began to pray for them. Praying that God would 08:11 come near to them in His presence through Christ 08:14 and through the Holy Spirit, that He would 08:16 meet their particular needs and they too 08:19 could be aware that this day they could be 08:23 with Christ. And so I was praying there 08:26 that beautiful morning with the Lord and 08:28 I said Lord, I just, I have given myself to you. 08:32 I just wanna know that you're with me. 08:34 I wanna be aware of your presence through 08:36 the day. I wanna be in your will all through 08:40 the day. And this thought came to my mind, 08:43 a beautiful thought, I will be at thy right hand. 08:49 Oh! What a thrilling thought, I will be at thy. 08:52 The Lord is saying I will be at thy right hand, 08:55 what an encouragement. 08:57 I remember the words of David in Psalm 16 09:00 verse 8 where David says there, I have set 09:05 the Lord always before me, because He is at 09:09 my right hand, I shall not be moved. 09:12 What a promise. These words are for us 09:16 and this was very personal to me on 09:19 this day with Christ. I knew that He was 09:23 going to make me aware of his presence. 09:26 He was gonna be at my right hand 09:28 and therefore because He is at my right hand. 09:31 I don't have to be moved. What does 09:32 that mean? I don't have to be moved by 09:35 my selfishness, I don't have to be moved by 09:37 wanting to do things my way. 09:40 I don't have to be moved by the 09:41 temptations that the devil is gonna throw 09:44 at me because I have my savior 09:47 who is willing to be at my right hand. 09:51 This is the whole purpose of communion 09:54 with God friends. This is the whole reason 09:57 for our quiet time in the morning. 09:59 This is why God wants to waken us 10:01 morning by morning to be with Him. 10:03 So that we can be set in our minds, 10:07 that we can know that He is at our right 10:09 hand and knowing and consciously aware 10:12 that as he is with us, then we don't have 10:14 to be moved. This is the whole purpose for 10:17 our time. It isn't just, that we take our Bibles 10:20 and we have time, so we can say well 10:22 I read my Bible today or I had a prayer today. 10:25 The whole reason for communion with God 10:28 through His word and through prayer 10:30 is to connect our souls in a vital living 10:35 connection with Jesus Christ and to know that 10:39 He is going to be with us. And I shall not be 10:43 moved. You see a living Christian, 10:45 this is a living Christian, communion with Christ, 10:49 heeding the call of spirit and living in 10:52 His will by His power. The other, the 10:57 professed Christian has no real communion 11:00 with Christ. Not really tuned in or responsive 11:05 to the call of the spirit and he is managing 11:07 my life in myself doing it my way 11:10 and this is the Bible calls a form of Godliness. 11:14 Looks like Godliness to many people, 11:16 but it's a form of Godliness that denies 11:18 the very power of the gospel. 11:20 And we're told that we should turn away 11:23 from that kind of Godliness to the 11:26 living power of Jesus Christ. 11:28 Well that morning as I went upstairs for 11:33 my room. I went upstairs I was about 11:36 to return down stairs I got a drink of water, 11:40 I was just ready to head back down the 11:42 stairs to my room where my desk is 11:45 and the Lord gave me this thought. 11:47 Remember He is gonna be at my right hand. 11:49 I don't need to be moved. The Lord gave 11:52 me this thought, go over and give your 11:54 wife a kiss. And let her know how much 11:57 you appreciate her. Now shall hear a 12:00 behind this thing, this is the way walking. 12:04 Do you think that God wants to communicate 12:06 with us personally in real life situations? 12:11 That he wants us to take His word and 12:13 bring it into our practical daily lives. 12:15 You see God knew the need of my wife 12:19 at that moment. And as I was headed back 12:22 down stairs to go to my desk, the Lord said, 12:25 go over and give your wife a kiss. 12:28 Let her know how much you appreciate her. 12:30 My first instantaneous response was I have 12:34 things I need to do. But the Lord 12:37 reminded me again as I ask Him to do that 12:40 this day was going to be with Christ. 12:42 I was going to stay with Him and so 12:44 I went over. I yielded myself and the power 12:48 of God worked in me to go over and not 12:51 that it's difficulty to give my wife a kiss, 12:53 but its difficult when I'm focused on doing 12:55 something else. But isn't that the struggle 12:58 we have in the Christian life. 12:59 Isn't that the struggle we have daily, 13:01 whether it's my will or thy will be done, 13:04 in the intensity of real life and so 13:07 I yielded myself. I went over to give 13:10 my wife a kiss. She lit up, she said how 13:14 did you know I needed that. I said well, 13:18 the Lord knew, the Lord knew what you needed 13:21 and I was willing because I love you 13:24 and I wanna serve the Lord. 13:25 The Lord knew what you needed and 13:27 I was willing to do what the Lord was 13:29 asking me to do. So how was it with you today. 13:33 Are you experiencing this kind of walk with 13:36 Jesus Christ where you are being guided 13:40 and governed as you go to his word, 13:42 to make the word come alive in Jesus Christ? 13:45 He wants to be our Savior all through 13:48 the day. He wants to be our Lord all 13:50 through the day. He wants to instruct us 13:53 and teach us in the way that we should go. 13:54 He wants to guide us through our day. 13:57 Are we really letting him do that? 14:00 You know, it was interesting, the first 14:03 major plan change for my day came from 14:06 the Lord when I came up for breakfast, 14:08 there I was coming up to the breakfast table, 14:12 I really enjoy breakfast. Coming to the breakfast 14:15 table and I had one of those gentle promptings 14:18 from the Lord. Just gently calling to me 14:22 that I needed to just eat lightly that day 14:26 and just have fruit. Oh I was looking forward 14:30 to a big breakfast. I like to breakfast 14:33 like a king. And I enjoy it so much, 14:36 but you know we have just returned not long 14:41 before from a series of meetings and I realized 14:45 that my throat was not quite what it should 14:47 and you know the Lord was calling to 14:51 me just to eat more lightly. What am I 14:53 gonna do now? He reminded me again that 14:56 He is gonna be at my right hand, so I don't 14:59 need to be moved, so now will I trust him 15:01 enough. This is the question that each 15:03 one of us faces. Will we trust God enough 15:07 to go beyond what I think is best. 15:09 What I wanna do, what self wants to do. 15:12 Do I trust God enough this day with Christ, 15:16 that was what I was going to have this day 15:19 with Christ and I said yes Lord, I'm willing. 15:22 I wanna do your will all through the day, 15:25 because I know you have my best good in mind, 15:27 you have my best health in mind. 15:30 He says I, whether you'd prosper and 15:32 be in health, even as thy soul will prosper. 15:35 So I went to the table and I had the meal 15:40 with my family, not as a martyr. 15:42 Oh poor me, I can't eat today because the 15:46 Lord told me that I, you know I just need to 15:49 give my body a little break and eat lightly. 15:51 So well I'm gonna do what the Lord tells 15:54 me to do. It's really too bad. 15:56 You know I went to the table, I was a joy 16:00 and an inspiration and an encouragement 16:02 to my family, doing what God was asking 16:05 me to do. Because I wanted to have Jesus 16:09 as my companion throughout the day, 16:12 going about my father's will. 16:15 Well I'll tell you. Christianity as far 16:19 as I'm concerned practically speaking 16:22 is living in the present will of Jesus Christ. 16:28 Christianity, think about this, is living 16:32 in the present will of Jesus Christ. 16:35 Not just this morning, not just yesterday, 16:38 but presently in this moment and not only 16:41 is it living in the present will of 16:44 Jesus Christ. It is living in the will of 16:46 Jesus Christ by the present power of 16:49 Jesus Christ. And that's what makes the 16:52 difference. It's not enough to just be 16:55 willing to be in His will in the present moment, 17:00 we need a power outside of ourselves, 17:02 that power is Jesus Christ through His 17:05 Holy Spirit he says I will never leave thee 17:08 nor forsake thee. If we want him to be 17:11 that power, if we choose Him to be that power. 17:14 We can have his will worked out in my life 17:18 with the power of Jesus Christ present 17:22 an alive in us. You know I went on through 17:26 that day. Later that afternoon I got a call, 17:30 a very important phone call from someone 17:33 that I had been praying for, for many years. 17:37 Praying for the Holy Spirit to break through 17:41 to that young man's heart. It was my 17:43 nephew and I had been praying and praying 17:47 for God to break through. Lo and behold 17:50 on this day that I had committed myself 17:53 in a special way. This day from the morning 17:57 to the night I had committed myself to 17:59 stay in a present will of Jesus Christ under 18:03 His divine power and guidance. 18:05 This day God made a divine appointment 18:09 with my nephew. He called me on the phone. 18:13 He had recognized like never before, 18:16 his need of a savior. He said, uncle Tom, 18:19 there is no one else I, I know that I can turn to. 18:22 He said can you help me? Can you help me now? 18:28 I want you to stop for a moment friends 18:31 and think if there is someone you've been 18:34 praying for and they call you on the phone. 18:36 Are you going to be in a position in this 18:40 present moment to help them in the 18:44 strength of Jesus Christ? Are you going 18:46 to be able to give them a life changing 18:49 connection to Jesus Christ? Because only 18:51 as we are in that connection, only as 18:54 we are living and alive in Jesus Christ, 18:56 can we give that experience and 18:59 encourage someone else to take it up. 19:01 It can't be yesterday's experience. 19:03 It can't be living in self and saying well here 19:06 I've got a couple of Bible texts for you. 19:08 I mean they don't really have any 19:09 impact in my life, but boy they're really good, 19:12 you know that's God word. No friends, 19:14 it needs to be in the present experience 19:18 that Jesus has for us. And I began to share 19:22 with him my experience in Jesus. 19:26 I began to experience, share the experience 19:29 of my surrender and what God was asking 19:32 me to do. And that God would be at 19:34 His right hand if he was willing to give himself 19:37 vulnerably to God, that God would be there 19:40 for him. Would be a pleasant experience 19:43 for him. And then he asked me, do you have 19:46 a book? You know I have a Bible. 19:48 Do you have any book that will be helpful 19:50 to me? And immediately the Lord brought that 19:53 special precious book, Steps to Christ. 19:57 Oh! What a beautiful book that is and how simple. 20:01 And the Lord brought that book to mind and I, 20:03 I shared that with him, and said I will send 20:06 you a copy of this book, so you can have it to 20:09 along with your Bible study. And he said, 20:13 uncle Tom could you, could you mark the 20:15 book for me. Mark the things in it that are 20:19 special to you that I might be able to turn 20:21 to and I can get the encouragement that 20:23 God has given you. Would you do that 20:25 for me uncle Tom? And I said yes. 20:28 I'd be happy to do that. Well we had prayer 20:31 together. I got off the phone and I was so 20:34 excited, what an opportunity I had been 20:36 prayer for years for this young man. 20:39 I got off the phone, I got the little book 20:43 Steps to Christ that I was gonna give to him. 20:45 A brand new one, I have a few I like to 20:48 share and I, I got the book and I sat down 20:51 and I was opening it up and I was, I was 20:53 gonna mark some special passages and 20:56 as I just began the thought came to me 20:59 from my ever present Lord, who said that 21:02 he was gonna be at my right hand, 21:04 so that I didn't have to be moved. 21:06 He called my heart, the spirit called to me 21:08 and said mark the whole book. 21:12 Now obvious he didn't mean to mark every 21:15 word in the book, but you know go from 21:17 the front book, to the end of the book 21:19 and mark the passages that are so special 21:23 and so powerful in the book. 21:24 And I have to honest with you. I said Lord, 21:29 that will take a long time. Isn't our 21:33 humanity weak and doesn't it come to the 21:36 surface so quickly. Lord, that will take 21:38 a long time. And the tender reprove from 21:42 the Lord that came to me quietly was, 21:45 you've been praying for him for a longtime 21:50 it will be worth it and he will be blessed. 21:54 And I said Lord, thank you, I'm sorry, 21:58 I want to do this and so I sat down 22:01 and what would have been a long chore 22:03 in the wrong spirit became a joy and 22:06 rejoicing in the right spirit. And I'll tell 22:09 you what a blessing as I went through 22:11 and I highlighted the powerful words of that 22:14 book in many places. One of the things that 22:17 I highlighted, I came across these words. 22:19 It says, take me Lord, take me as wholly Thine. 22:23 I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me this 22:27 today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let 22:32 all of my work be wrought in Thee. 22:34 That's taken from the Steps of Christ page 70. 22:38 Take me as wholly Thine, and this is what 22:41 struck me. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. 22:46 This friends is what God is asking us to do, 22:50 to have this day with Christ. 22:53 To be willing to lay my plans, it's not wrong 22:56 to make plans, but to lay those plans as 23:00 we come to Him morning by morning to say Lord 23:02 these are my plans I've made them perfectly, 23:05 I've made them with my understanding limited 23:09 as it is from what I see. But Lord you take 23:11 these plans and I laid him at Thy feet. 23:15 I'm wholly Thine. If you need to change 23:18 my plans Lord, you can change my plans 23:20 and that's what God is actually doing. 23:22 Changing my plans in that situation, 23:25 he was asking me to highlight the portions 23:30 of that whole book and oh what a blessing 23:34 it was. You see this is the real Christian life. 23:40 This is the of kind of day, these are the 23:44 kinds of days that we can be experiencing 23:49 with Christ over and over and over again. 23:52 When Jesus was here on this earth. 23:55 He said I always do those things that 23:58 please my heavenly father. Oh! I'll tell you 24:02 to be a Christian has become the greatest 24:05 joy of my life. I love being a Christian 24:10 because I love communion and 24:14 the life changing, the life keeping power 24:17 that comes from being with Jesus Christ 24:20 through the Holy Spirit. That experience takes 24:24 Christianity or so called Christianity from a 24:27 dry formality, from a rule, the rules of dos 24:30 and don'ts and it begins to write in 24:33 our hearts the law of God. I delight to do 24:37 thy will, oh! My God. Yea thy law is within 24:42 my heart. This is the experience that Jeremiah 24:46 had when he said, I found thy word 24:48 and I did eat it; and thy word became 24:49 unto me the joy and rejoicing of my soul. 24:54 It means that we take the word of God. 24:57 This is the word that was made flesh 25:00 and dwelt among us. This is the word that comes 25:03 alive in Jesus Christ. We take that word 25:06 and it becomes a part of us as we allow Jesus 25:11 to have full control of us. Do you wanna have 25:14 that difference today? Do you wanna experience 25:17 that in Jesus Christ? If you do, you can have 25:22 this day with Jesus. Not just this day, 25:26 but you can have everyday in Jesus. 25:29 Imagine, if you'll take this day, wherever 25:34 you find yourself in this day. 25:36 And you will open yourself up to Jesus. 25:39 Whatever your perplexity, come to 25:42 Him in living faith, believing that He 25:44 will do in you, what you cannot do for yourself. 25:47 That He has the answer to every perplexity, 25:49 you can live with day as you wholeheartedly 25:54 give yourself to God. You can live this day 25:57 with Jesus. And you'll wanna live tomorrow 26:00 with Him I can assure you. 26:02 You see, the results of living this day with 26:06 Christ are like what Psalm 16:11 says, 26:09 Thou will show me the path of life, 26:11 in thy presence is fulness of joy, 26:14 and at thy right hand there are pleasures 26:17 forever more. The pleasures that are 26:20 forever more are what we experience with 26:23 Jesus at our right hand. The devil wants 26:26 us to think if you surrender yourself 26:28 to Lord. You're not going have any fun anymore. 26:30 No, the devil is a task master. 26:34 The Lord is joy ever more. 26:38 He brings us the fulness of joy. 26:41 It says here at thy right hand there are 26:43 pleasures for evermore. If you aren't experiencing 26:47 those pleasures or if you wanna experience 26:49 them more. Let this day be with Jesus Christ. 26:53 Let's go to our heavenly Father right now 26:55 as we pray. Father, we come to you, 26:58 because we need Jesus Christ. 27:00 We need Him as our savior. 27:02 We need Him as our Lord, we need Him 27:04 as our master, we need Him at our right hand, 27:07 we need Him through the Holy Spirit to be 27:10 to us what we cannot be for ourselves, 27:12 we need the power. The life changing 27:15 transforming power of Jesus Christ to be 27:18 living vibrant Christians. Lord, we want this day 27:22 to be with the Jesus. In His name we pray, amen. 27:27 Oh! What a privilege we have to call God 27:32 our heavenly Father. To call Jesus our Lord 27:35 and master, our friend. He is the 27:37 friend of sinners and wherever you find 27:39 yourself today, He wants you to give Him 27:43 your heart. He wants in this day and everyday 27:48 to be a day with Christ, because a day with 27:51 Christ is a day of pleasure 27:53 forever more. God bless. |
Revised 2014-12-17