Participants: Mike Lemon (Host)
Series Code: HDL
Program Code: HDL000001
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00:38 Hello and welcome to "Help in Daily Living."
00:41 This is the first of the 13-part series 00:43 based on this little book "Help in Daily Living." 00:46 The four chapters of this book are full of practical 00:49 down to the earth everyday guidance 00:51 to make Christianity real and meaningful. 00:54 The few chapters of this little book 00:56 are actually the closing section of the popular 00:59 and widely read book "Ministry of Healing." 01:02 This entire series was produced by the students 01:05 and staff of Fountainview Academy 01:06 in beautiful British Columbia, 01:08 but we're obviously not there right now. 01:10 We are here in the island of Kauai, 01:12 one of the Hawaiian Islands to film this production. 01:16 We hope that the music and message of this production 01:20 will help you to cope with the realities of daily living 01:23 and walking with Jesus. 01:25 On today's program, we're gonna be 01:27 looking at the important topic of "influence." 01:30 But before we begin, 01:31 I'm gonna ask Cyrus to lead us in a word of prayer. 01:37 Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, 01:38 thank you for this beautiful place 01:40 we can come to and I ask that 01:42 You will be with us each individually 01:44 now as we come together in fellowship. 01:46 Lord, as we begin this production, 01:48 I ask that You would help us in our daily lives, Lord. 01:53 And that our influence would be 01:55 uplifting instead of degrading, Lord. 01:57 Thank you for this and be with us now 01:59 in Jesus name I pray, amen. Amen. 02:04 Every morning I wake up, get out of bed 02:08 and take my Bible to go spend time alone with God. 02:11 But so many times as I kneel down 02:13 by the couch to pray, 02:15 a runaway thought chain raises through my mind. 02:18 And I find myself thinking about all my problems 02:21 and worries, my plans and ideas. 02:24 I get so distracted wondering 02:27 what am I gonna do about this 02:29 or wondering if I should do that? 02:31 And I begin to get anxious, 02:34 but then God whispers in my ear and says, 02:36 "Be still and know that I'm God." 02:39 Reminding me that the reason I'm on my knees 02:42 spending time with Him 02:44 is so that I can be prepared to live 02:46 the quite consistent life of a Christian. 02:50 But I cannot have a loving influence 02:52 and reflect Jesus unless I'm at peace with His love 02:56 flowing in my heart. 02:58 When I begin to take anxious thought, 03:00 I must have confidence that the voice 03:02 who ruled the winds and waves 03:05 belongs to the one who will silence my worries, 03:08 take care of my plans, and give me peace, 03:11 if I would but be still. 03:36 In the heart of Jesus there is love for you 03:49 Love most pure and tender love most deep and true 04:02 Why should you be lonely why for friendship sigh 04:15 When the heart of Jesus has a full supply 04:31 In the mind of Jesus there is thought for you 04:44 Warm as summer sunshine sweet as morning dew 04:58 Why should you be fearful why take anxious thought 05:11 When the mind of Jesus cares for those He bought 05:40 Be still, my soul thy God doth undertake 05:54 To guide the future as He has the past 06:07 Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake 06:22 All that's mysterious shall be bright at last 06:36 Be still, my soul the waves and winds still know 06:50 His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below 07:35 Be still, my soul the hour is hastening on 07:49 When we shall be forever with the Lord 08:03 When disappointment grief and fear are gone 08:16 Sorrow forgot love's purest joys restored 08:30 Be still, my soul when change and tears are past 08:44 All safe and blessed 08:50 we shall meet at last 09:04 at last at last 09:29 Obviously Christ has had 09:31 an influence in your life, Brooke. 09:33 How do you shared that influence with others, 09:34 were you successful? 09:36 Ah, definitely not at the beginning. 09:38 When I first came back from selling Christian books, 09:41 my life did a complete like 180, 09:44 like almost every aspect was different like, 09:45 I didn't like the same music 09:47 and just my taste of food was different. 09:49 And the biggest one has been I quit playing 09:50 competitive sports. 09:52 And so I went back to school like, 09:53 I wanted to share with everybody 09:55 what God had been doing in my life, 09:56 but it seems like every time I would share it like, 09:59 it would just go wrong and as I'm uncomfortable, 10:01 and people just, they didn't want to listen to me, 10:03 and I didn't understand what I was doing? 10:05 And so I recognized that, instead of like sharing them 10:08 and encouraging them it was more like, 10:10 I was like Bible bashing them 10:11 or like kind of showering down their throat like 10:13 this is what you're doing wrong, 10:14 this is what I'm doing right. Yeah. 10:15 And at the most stressful was when I would go home because, 10:18 you know, it's most comfortable with your family 10:20 and I tell to mom, 10:21 I'm not gonna do that because of this, 10:22 or dad you shouldn't do that because of that, 10:24 and it was just really stressful situation 10:26 and eventually like my friend Heidi, 10:29 who was one of my mentors 10:30 kind of recognize what I was doing. 10:32 And she kind of pulled me aside 10:33 and we talked, 10:34 and she just kind of give me example of Christ. 10:36 And how the first 30 years of His life, 10:38 He spent like serving others instead of preaching at them 10:42 and the last three years of His life 10:43 was when He did like His full time ministry. 10:45 And I started to recognize that 10:46 before I can ever start preaching at someone, 10:49 I need to show them like the influence 10:50 of the loving a Christian. 10:52 And I praise God, because He's helped me in learning 10:55 how to do that especially at home with my family 10:56 and friends to show them that, 10:58 you know, show them Jesus first, you know. 11:00 Praise the Lord. 11:01 In your life, Alley, what's your influence 11:04 that brought you to Lord? 11:06 Well, there are many influences, 11:09 but one of them was my sister. 11:12 It didn't start all that way though. 11:15 When I was younger, we didn't get along at all. 11:20 I used to tease her a lot, 11:21 I would just do things to annoy her on purpose like, 11:23 like just drumming my fingers on the table constantly 11:26 or cooking by tagine, 11:27 just little things like that would drive her crazy. 11:30 And I would do that on purpose 11:31 and I remember one time she'd just made lunch 11:34 and I was making some weird noise 11:37 and she is like Alley, if you don't stop that 11:39 I'm gonna shove this macaroni in your ear. 11:42 And I was just like, okay whatever 11:44 and I just kept doing it and she did. 11:47 And yeah, it's so interesting. 11:51 But, there were other things too like, 11:54 my mom would ask us to do 11:55 like to fold the laundry or something. 11:57 And she would beautifully trying to fold the laundry 12:00 and get the job done and I'll be playing in the clothes, 12:02 because I just didn't care and can you believe, 12:04 how we need to get this done, 12:05 you should don't want to get in trouble? 12:07 And I just be like, yeah whatever and like, 12:10 it was just not very good. 12:11 And then when she was a freshman in high school, 12:14 she went away to Fountainview. 12:16 And when she came home on break, 12:19 I noticed a change in her, she was a lot kinder to me 12:23 and she was a lot nice to me, 12:24 and she really try to share her faith. 12:25 And that, you think that would have been 12:27 made me want to be kind of her and appreciate her more, 12:30 but it actually did the opposite. 12:32 I felt really, it just made me so angry 12:35 and I just got so annoyed and irritated with her 12:37 because she was so nice. 12:39 And I was just, 12:41 she could walk into her room, and I'll be mad at her. 12:43 I remember one time we, 12:45 she was home on Thanksgiving break 12:46 and my mom asked me, she's say, 12:48 Alley and Katie, I want a break, 12:49 I wanted you to do the dishes. 12:50 And doing the dishes was just another thing 12:53 I hated and so I walked over to the sink 12:59 and Katie being her lovely self, 13:01 she comes out, she like, oh, Alley, "I'll help you, 13:04 we can do them together." 13:06 And oh, my goodness, I was so mad at her, 13:09 like I didn't even say anything, 13:10 I just, just kept doing what I was doing. 13:13 And yeah, I just glared to her as best as I could. 13:16 And yeah, so it was really hard like I just, 13:22 I just had such anger towards her, 13:24 but eventually the life move along 13:27 and I realized what this, this needs to stop, 13:29 I need to, she's being consistently kind, 13:32 she never retaliate, never once. 13:34 She never liked snapped back when she so could have, 13:37 I would have totally deserve it, 13:39 but she never did. 13:40 And eventually that got to me and I realized, 13:43 look I need to stop this, and by God's grace I did. 13:46 And now she is like my best friend 13:49 and because of the influence she has had on my life, 13:51 because we developed that bond, 13:53 I went to trust her 13:54 because she was consistently kind to me. 13:56 I began to love her and because I loved her, 13:59 I was willing to listen to her 14:00 when she talked to me about Christ 14:02 and she talked to me about God 14:03 and having my devotions 14:05 and I wouldn't be who I am today, 14:07 if she hadn't been that loving Christian to me. Amen. 14:13 Do you have a person in your life who has a calm, 14:16 quiet influence that glues you beliefs together. 14:18 In my family, my grandfather is that person. 14:21 Whenever we get together for holidays or meals, 14:24 we don't start eating until 14:25 my grandfather has said the blessing. 14:27 Although he isn't loud and boisterous, 14:28 he sets the atmosphere for the whole time 14:30 that we're together. 14:32 He not only has that influence on her family, 14:34 but on our community as well. 14:36 Support from my belief and my grandfather's integrity 14:39 came once at a local auction. 14:41 The auctioneer was rambling on about different cows 14:44 and then came to my grandfather's cows. 14:46 He stopped the whole auction 14:47 and said before I start the bidding on these cows 14:50 I just wanted to let you know that 14:51 these are Paul Miller's cows. 14:53 Now I've known this man for many years 14:55 and I have come to the conclusion 14:57 that he is the most honest man I've ever met 14:59 and that he will stand behind these cows. 15:02 A lot of the current business transactions on our farm 15:04 are sealed with a hand shake 15:06 because of my grandfather's integrity. 15:09 How has my grandfather become a man of integrity, 15:13 by being consistent in his everyday choices? 15:17 You know, you and I need to set a standard 15:20 for our Christian walk 15:21 and if we're just floating around in like swamps, 15:23 there is no way our circumstances will improve. 15:26 But if we set our sights on a higher standard, 15:29 then we'll naturally gravitate towards it. 15:32 When people look at us, 15:34 they are able to tell what we're focused on. 15:37 Whether it's God or ourselves? 15:40 What do they see when they will get you? 16:07 Teach, me, Father, what to say Teach me, Father, how to pray 16:21 Teach me all along the way How to be like Jesus 16:36 Be like Jesus, this my song In the home and in the throng 16:50 Be like Jesus, all day long I would be like Jesus 17:05 Teach me how will may be one Like the Father and the Son 17:19 And when all is overcome I will be like Jesus 17:35 Be like Jesus, this my song In the home and in the throng 17:49 Be like Jesus, all day long I would be like Jesus 18:25 Be like Jesus, this my song In the home and in the throng 18:38 Be like Jesus, all day long I would be like Jesus 19:01 You know, the influence of Christ 19:03 in our lives is so great. 19:05 We just want to share that with others 19:06 and sometimes we get it right 19:07 and sometimes we blow it and just fail. 19:12 You know in my experience, I've definitely failed. 19:14 I, some years back I had this group of friends 19:18 that I was hanging out with and whatever we did, 19:20 you know we did together basically. 19:23 And what we did wasn't really, 19:25 you know, the most uplifting things 19:27 to do like our conversation was very degrading 19:30 and we were just really dump. 19:32 And once in a while somebody would pop up and say, 19:38 "you know guys, what we're doing isn't really right?" 19:41 But that was, you know, it was usually diffused 19:43 and we just forgot about it after a while. 19:45 But looking back now, I have a feeling of remorse 19:49 and guilt on what sort of influence I had on my friends 19:52 and especially people who are looking at us. Yeah. 19:55 You know, and in Help in Daily Living, 19:57 it says that, "It is our own character and experience 20:00 that determine our influence on others." 20:02 And I've definitely failed at that, 20:05 but God is not teaching me to be more dependent on Him 20:09 instead of depended on others. Yes. 20:10 So that my influence will change, 20:13 you know, myself, my influence will change 20:16 and then the influence on others that I have to change. 20:19 Yeah, so I have got positive influence 20:21 is a constant daily surrender to Him. 20:24 Have you had that experience, Megan? 20:25 I have, there was opportunity last year that I had, 20:31 it was on spring break at my uncle's house. 20:33 And he was holding a Bible study 20:35 for all of his friends and neighbors 20:37 and there was a family with a few teenagers 20:38 that were coming, that were of my age. 20:41 And at that Bible study I was talking with the sister, 20:46 and she was telling me about all her interest 20:48 in different things and I was telling her 20:50 what I like to do and about my school. 20:52 And every single thing that I said, 20:54 she would say something negative, 20:56 or sarcastic, or mark back to me. 20:58 I was really having a hard time holding my tongue 21:00 and not saying something back to her. 21:03 And I have prayed that God would help me 21:05 be a positive influence upon them 21:07 and help them to want him more. 21:10 And so later on in that evening, 21:14 the two brothers came up to me and they said, 21:17 "Megan, why are you so different? 21:19 Why, how can you be so happy 21:20 the whole evening even when our sister 21:22 makes remarks to you?" 21:24 And it surprised me because I thought, 21:28 you know, God was able to use even that, 21:32 that small opportunity 21:34 to have a powerful impact upon them. Amen. 21:37 And it says in Help in Daily Living on page 8, 21:43 "No other influence that can surround the human soul 21:46 has such a power 21:47 as the influence of an unselfish life. 21:50 The strongest argument 21:51 in favor of the gospel 21:52 is a loving and lovable Christian." 21:55 God turn my selfishness into something 21:58 that was loving and lovable and help them 22:02 see that there is something more out there 22:05 and made them want Christ more. 22:08 Yeah, and to have that powerful influence, 22:09 you had to practice self restraint 22:12 and totally trust in the Lord 22:13 to help you and He came through. 22:15 It's only through His grace. Amen. 22:20 I love fruit. 22:21 This fruit has a label on it to help me 22:23 identify what kind of fruit this is. 22:26 But I don't need a sticker to tell me that this is a kiwi, 22:30 I know that's a kiwi simply by looking at it. 22:32 In the same way, the badge of Christianity 22:35 is not an outward sign, 22:37 it's not the wearing of a cross, 22:39 but it's an inward experience, 22:41 it's that which reveals the union of man with God. 22:44 Jesus said the same thing 22:46 when He was talking to His followers. 22:47 He said, "By this they will know that 22:50 you are my disciples, if you love one another." 22:53 How will others be able to see that I am a Christian? 22:55 They will see Christ love shining out through me. 23:12 There is beauty all around When there's love at home 23:22 There is joy in every sound When there's love at home 23:33 Peace and plenty here abide Smiling sweet on every side 23:43 Time doth softly sweetly glide 23:49 When there's love at home 23:54 Kindly heaven smiles above When there's love at home 24:05 All the earth is filled with love 24:10 When there's love at home 24:16 Sweeter sings the brooklet by Brighter beams the azure sky 24:26 Oh, there's One who smiles on high 24:31 When there's love at home 24:37 Love at home love at home 24:48 Time doth softly sweetly glide 24:53 When there's love at home 24:59 Jesus, make me wholly Thine Then there's love at home 25:09 May Thy sacrifice be mine Then there's love at home 25:19 Safely from all harm I'll rest With no sinful care distressed 25:29 Through Thy tender mercy blessed 25:34 When there's love at home 25:40 Love at home love at home 25:51 Time doth softly sweetly glide 25:56 When there's love at home 26:25 "There isn't eloquence far more powerful 26:27 than the eloquence of words in the quite, 26:29 consistent life of a pure, true Christian." 26:32 That person to me is my grandfather, 26:34 like my family we go and visit him and it's like, 26:38 he lived in like one of those cookie cutter type houses, 26:40 it wasn't like anything fancy yet. 26:42 But he has this amazing garden and so we go 26:44 and like had pomegranates and figs, 26:46 and you know, tangerines and we just loved, 26:48 it's just such a wonderful break 26:50 from my hectic lifestyle to go into his lifestyle simplicity. 26:54 And like the thing is though is that just by observing him 26:59 like I learned so much 27:00 because he doesn't really speak English 27:03 and I don't really speak Korean, 27:04 so conversation such as you know, 27:06 how was your day or what school like, you know. 27:09 It doesn't really, it doesn't really, 27:11 they're kind o nonexistent. 27:12 And so like the eloquence of his life was so much 27:18 and powerful than the word, 27:19 like a few words that he did say 27:21 and through that like I've learned 27:23 what it meant to be a loving and lovable Christian 27:25 and it showed me like what I want just like to be. 27:28 Wow, that's really 27:29 what influence is all about. That's right. 27:31 Now, Alley, I'm gonna ask you to 27:32 closing the word of prayer. Okay. 27:35 Father, God, You live the truth 27:37 before You ever spoke it to anyone. 27:39 And I just pray that You'll help us to do the same. 27:42 We can't do that on our own Lord, 27:44 so, please put Your character in us. 27:45 So, all people need to do is look at our lives 27:47 to see a picture of You in Jesus name. 27:50 amen. Amen. 27:56 Help in Daily Living is a 13 part series 27:59 from Fountainview Productions 28:01 designed to share the solid principles 28:03 of practical everyday Christianity. 28:05 It's a simple way to share the good news 28:08 about the power of the gospel with your friends, 28:10 family, and coworkers. 28:12 Order your copies now by calling 1877-490-4141 28:19 or visit us online at www. fountainviewproductions.com. 28:25 Help in Daily Living is also available 28:28 at your local ABC Christian book stores. |
Revised 2014-12-17