Participants: Mike Lemon (Host)
Series Code: HDL
Program Code: HDL000012
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00:38 Hello, and welcome to "Help in Daily Living."
00:41 Today, we're gonna be looking at how God wants us to reach 00:43 a higher experience in our relationship with Him. 00:47 It says, Jesus says, when He speaks to His disciples 00:50 in John Chapter 15 verse 11 where He says, 00:53 "I have told you these things so that my joy might be in you 00:57 and so that your joy might be full." 01:00 He wants us to have a fuller, deeper, 01:03 more broader relationship with Him. 01:07 But this is such an important topic. 01:08 And before we get into something like this, 01:10 we really need to turn to God and ask Him to bless us. 01:14 And so I'm gonna ask Cyrus to lead us 01:15 to lead us in a word of prayer. 01:17 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, 01:21 thank you for Your many blessings that You give to us. 01:24 And I want to thank You also, Lord, 01:26 for the time for fellowship that we can have. 01:29 And Lord, I ask that You would help us 01:32 to have a perpetual growth in our relationship with You. 01:36 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. 01:41 Having a relationship with God is important to me, 01:45 but I often struggle with knowing 01:46 how to have a strong one. 01:48 I've read my Bible, I prayed, 01:50 I've tried to do all the right things, 01:52 yet nothing seemed to change. 01:54 But I've learned something. 01:55 It's not the amount of time I spend talking with God, 01:58 it's what I told Him. 01:59 I need to communicate honestly from my heart. 02:02 If I am hurting, He wants to know, 02:03 and if I'm really excited, He wants to know that too. 02:07 Slowly but truly, I'm coming to the point 02:09 where I must tell Jesus my burdens and cares. 02:12 Knowing that He understands 02:13 and wants to be with me through it all. 02:46 I must tell Jesus all of my trials 02:52 I cannot bear these burdens alone 02:59 In my distress He kindly will help me 03:06 He ever loves and cares for His own 03:12 I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus 03:19 I cannot bear my burdens alone 03:25 I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus! 03:31 Jesus can help me, Jesus alone 03:49 I must tell Jesus all of my troubles 03:57 He is a kind, compassionate Friend 04:04 If I but ask Him He will deliver 04:11 Which are troubles quickly an end 04:17 I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus 04:24 I cannot bear my burdens alone 04:30 I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus 04:36 Jesus can help me, Jesus alone 04:44 O how the world to evil allures me 04:49 O how my heart is tempted to sin 04:55 I must tell Jesus, and He will help me 05:01 Over the world the victory to win 05:08 I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus 05:14 I cannot bear my burdens alone 05:20 I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus 05:27 Jesus can help me, Jesus alone. 06:04 You know that song "I must tell Jesus," 06:06 it's really about turning to Him 06:09 whatever is on your heart. 06:11 And I know, Rachel, 06:12 when you were working door to door, 06:14 I mean, going door to door is not an easy thing, 06:17 and you're selling books. 06:20 It's really, you're walking. 06:21 You can be feeling like you're walking along, 06:24 but you're really walking with Jesus. 06:26 And tell us about that experience. 06:28 Okay. Well, when I went selling 06:31 books door to door last couple of summers ago. 06:34 It was really hard work like way harder than I expected. 06:37 The sun was really, really hot and I know just wanna goes, 06:40 constantly wearing a layer of sweat, 06:42 and my bag of books got really heavy, really fast. 06:45 I can imagine. But at the end of the day, 06:46 I got, I get back to where we were staying 06:48 and my feet would be sore, my back would hurt, 06:51 and for a long time to me, it seemed really pointless. 06:54 'Cause most of the time when we were out there, 06:55 we just get met with rejection door after door after door. 06:58 People says, "Oh, sorry, I'm not interested or no, 07:01 I can't help you today or no, tengo dinero. 07:04 Like it was over and over and over. 07:05 I remember one day I got so many doors slammed in my face. 07:08 I just wanted to sit down on the curb and cry 07:10 and think like, you know, what is the point? 07:12 Right now looking back now though, 07:14 I realize that through that experience, 07:16 God was like reshaping the way I was thinking 07:18 and like teaching me to keep my mind focused on the purpose 07:21 for what I was doing. 07:23 And I didn't really see that clearly 07:24 until the end of the summer, 07:26 it's like two days before our program ended 07:29 and I met this girl at a door 07:30 and I was able to give her "Steps to Christ," 07:32 and I prayed with her and stuff. 07:34 And I kept her contact information 07:35 and at the end of week 07:37 I was able to get together with her. 07:38 We had a Bible study, 07:39 and she continued doing that after 07:41 I left with a different Bible worker. 07:42 And now I know she is doing 07:44 a lot better than when I first met her. 07:46 And just being able to look back 07:47 and see that all that hard work 07:50 and just everything I had to go through 07:51 made a difference in one person's life. 07:53 Yeah. It made it totally worth it, 07:55 even though it was really hard. 07:56 You feel like you were getting, 07:58 like you were walking with Jesus from door to door, 08:01 you know, like you were telling Him 08:03 what you were going through. 08:04 It's more than just a job then-- 08:06 Oh, totally, it's more than job. 08:08 There's a much higher purpose involved. 08:09 You're not just selling any random books. 08:11 It's like giving the truth to people 08:13 that could potentially get them into heaven one day. 08:16 And to be able to reach that higher experience, 08:17 you have to be unselfish. 08:19 And when I think of unselfishness, 08:20 I think of Bristi's parents. 08:24 You want to tell us about your parents. 08:25 Yes, my parents are in their 60s and late 80s. 08:31 And you know, they could be enjoying 08:33 their retirement year. You know, relaxing, 08:36 putting their legs up in a chair and just, 08:38 you know, letting life go by. 08:40 But instead they chose to spend their time 08:44 volunteering at orphanages and their money, 08:48 their time, their energy just everything like-- 08:51 So in this orphanage, you went to that orphanage, 08:54 I mean, you-- That's where they found you. 08:57 Yeah. And so they unselfishly 08:59 took you in as a daughter. 09:01 Yes, they did. 09:02 And they've been just sacrificing so much 09:08 of their whole life basically for these children. 09:12 And so many of times I see these same children 09:15 and they just don't seem very grateful at times. 09:17 And I would often wonder, you know, 09:20 why, why make such a sacrifice for these people 09:23 when they are really not showing any gratitude back. 09:26 Right. And so, then I realized, 09:29 you know, it relates so much 09:30 to what Christ has done for me in my life, 09:33 like when He was on the cross 09:35 and He had the weight of the world on His shoulders. 09:39 You know, the only thing that was holding Him 09:42 on that cross was the fact that He had a aim, 09:45 He had a purpose. Yes. 09:46 And His purpose was to may be one day 09:49 see me in heaven and know that, 09:51 because of His sacrifice I can be there. 09:53 Yeah. And that's, 09:55 that's what my parents were doing. 09:58 Their aim, their goal in sacrificing their time, 10:02 their energy, everything was to one day 10:05 see those children in heaven. Amen. 10:07 And that's a good picture of Jesus 10:09 and His love for us. Yes. 10:14 My dad is a farmer with huge hands. 10:17 They're rough and callus, 10:18 the result of many years of hard work. 10:20 He has deep cracks edging in the fingers of hands 10:23 from working outside during cold winters. 10:26 When I was a little girl, I loved his hands. 10:28 In fact, when I grew up, I wanted hands just like his. 10:32 I would put my hands on my bed and stretch them 10:34 until I was sure that they were gonna have to grow 10:37 a bit that night. 10:38 I know now that the real reason 10:40 why I wanted to have hands like his, 10:42 was because I loved and respected my dad. 10:45 Obviously, his hands represented his character. 10:48 Gentleness shown through his hands, 10:50 revealing the reason I wanted to be like him. 10:52 They were giving hands, holding nothing back 10:54 from friends, family, and people in need. 10:58 Just like I can tell that my dad is a man 11:00 with a strong characterized hands, 11:02 people should be able to tell 11:03 that I am a real Christian by the way I act. 11:06 If I look at my life and realize 11:08 that my heart is callous and hard, 11:10 I need to ask Jesus to change it. 11:12 Only when I draw near to Jesus will people see 11:15 that I am a real Christian. 11:49 Nearer, still nearer, close to Thy heart 12:02 Draw me, my Savior, so precious Thou art 12:15 Fold me, oh, fold me close to Thy breast 12:28 Shelter me safe in that "Haven of Rest" 12:42 Shelter me safe in that "Haven of Rest" 13:02 Nearer, still nearer, nothing I bring 13:14 Naught as an offering to Jesus, my King 13:26 Only my sinful, now contrite heart 13:39 Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart 13:52 Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart 14:13 Nearer, still nearer, Lord, to be Thine 14:25 Sin, with its follies, I gladly resign 14:38 All of its pleasures, pomp and its pride 14:50 Give me but Jesus my Lord, crucified 15:03 Give me but Jesus my Lord, crucified 15:38 Nearer, still nearer while life shall last 15:51 Til safe in glory my anchor is cast 16:05 Through endless ages ever to be 16:19 Nearer, my Savior still nearer to Thee 16:32 Nearer, my Savior still nearer to Thee 16:52 Still nearer to Thee. 17:14 You know, Jesus came to this world 17:16 because He wanted to draw nearer to us 17:18 and He had to come down from heaven really to this, 17:21 this sewer, this dirty planet compared to heaven. Yeah. 17:25 And that's a dirty job. 17:28 And sometimes we have to do dirty jobs 17:29 and it kind of reminds us of Jesus' job 17:32 in coming down here to this planet. 17:34 I know on the farm, there are some dirty jobs 17:36 you have to do, Daniel. Yeah. 17:38 Well, I was working indeed with my friend, Carmen here. 17:41 And with my supervisor Ken, we were out in the fields 17:44 and we were moving the pipe. 17:46 When we were done with that field, 17:48 I sent Carmen to go to turn it on. 17:49 She turns it on, and then Ken walked over 17:51 to make sure all the things were not--were not plugged, 17:54 all the sprinkler heads. Yeah. 17:55 So me and Ken noticed that 17:57 one in the corner is all plugged up. 17:59 So I sent Carmen back to get that to turn it off. Yeah. 18:03 And as we're waiting for it to sink down, 18:05 we go walk over there, I mean, and I'm turning it, 18:08 you know, taking it off. Yeah. 18:10 And all of a sudden a strand of water gets to my mouth, 18:13 and I remember thinking, 18:14 "Man, this stuff is really weird tasting water." 18:17 So I spit it out and lo and behold, 18:19 there is red stuff out of my mouth and I'm like, 18:22 "Oh, this is disgusting, what is this?" 18:24 And I looked over to my supervisor, 18:26 he was hysterically laughing, 18:27 holding the sprinkler head up with the dangling dandles, 18:30 headless rat. Whoa! 18:32 Oh, man, it was so disgusting. 18:34 I didn't realize that it was blood. 18:35 I was like, "Oh, yuck, and I spit it out." 18:38 As I look over to my supervisor, 18:40 and he's just hysterically laughing at me 18:42 and I laughed with him. 18:45 That is a dirty job. Disgusting. 18:47 Well, I have a similar experience though. 18:50 Let me tell you. 18:51 I was working with the sewerage, 18:53 sewerage tanks, right? Whoa! 18:55 And so in that job, 18:58 you know, involves spraying the contents with, 19:02 you know, hose like a fire hose, 19:04 really high pressure. 19:05 So you know, loosen everything up 19:06 and then jamming it with a pole to take out 19:09 all the blockages so that we can take it all out easily. 19:12 Well, for that specific site, I was the pole jammer. Yeah. 19:16 And it took a certain technique to do that. Yeah. 19:18 You have to put the pole underneath 19:20 the surface before jamming it, 19:22 so that nothing would splash out on you, right? 19:25 But I obviously had to learn that technique 19:28 well enough and I got splattered all over on my face 19:30 and in my mouth, and on my buddy 19:32 that I was working with. 19:34 By the end of the day, we were pretty filthy. 19:36 Yeah, and you know, when people are listening to this, 19:39 they're probably thinking, "Now, why are you telling 19:40 the stories of that sewerage and all that kind of stuff." 19:43 But it's really an illustration of, 19:45 you know, we think, okay, this is beautiful like, 19:47 look at the ocean and this is a beautiful world 19:50 and there are some beautiful places on this planet, 19:52 but compared to heaven-- 19:54 God wants to bring us to a higher experience 19:57 and that's why Jesus came to this planet. 19:59 And can you imagine what was going through Jesus' mind. 20:02 This is a sewer compared to heaven. 20:05 He's got all this sin splashing onto Him. 20:09 And you know, and He comes down here 20:12 to draw near to us, 20:13 so that He can draw us near to Him 20:16 and bring us up to heaven. 20:18 And that's really the Plan of Salvation. 20:20 And Jesus wants a higher experience 20:23 for every one of us, to pull us out of this planet, 20:27 to see the unseen, to see heaven 20:30 the way that Jesus sees it. 20:34 Have you ever seen a wilderness sunrise? 20:36 It seems to get more and more beautiful every second. 20:39 First, the blacken of the night fades to blue 20:42 revealing the silhouette of the surrounding mountains. 20:44 Then the first white rays of sun 20:47 tint the western mountains rosy. 20:49 The sun blazes over the ridge, lighting up the whole valley 20:52 with a flood of light and warmth. 20:54 What a start to the day! 20:57 Far too many Christians 20:58 settle for twilight glimpses of God's love, 21:01 but there's more. 21:02 Everyday we should pray, 21:03 Lord, draw me to a nearer walk with You. 21:06 So far I've only seen the first rays of His glory. 21:09 But Proverbs 4:18 says, 21:10 "That the path of the righteous 21:12 is like the light of dawn, 21:14 which shines brighter and brighter until full day. 21:17 I can't wait to see what the day will hold 21:33 I am Thine, O Lord I have heard Thy voice 21:37 And it told Thy love to me 21:41 But I long to rise in the arms of faith 21:45 And be closer drawn to Thee 21:49 Draw me nearer nearer blessed Lord 21:54 To the cross where Thou hast died 21:58 Draw me nearer, nearer nearer blessed Lord 22:04 To Thy precious bleeding side 22:09 Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord 22:14 By the pow'r of grace divine 22:19 Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope 22:25 And my will be lost in Thine 22:30 Draw me nearer nearer blessed Lord 22:34 To the cross where Thou hast died 22:39 Draw me nearer, nearer nearer blessed Lord 22:46 To Thy precious bleeding side 22:51 Oh, the pure delight of a single hour 22:56 That before Thy throne I spend 23:01 When I kneel in prayer and with Thee, my God 23:06 I commune as friend with friend 23:10 Draw me nearer, nearer nearer blessed Lord 23:15 To Thy precious bleeding side 23:20 Draw me nearer, nearer nearer blessed Lord 23:27 To Thy precious bleeding side 23:45 This topic that we're talking about drawing nearer to God, 23:49 having a higher experience is a very serious topic. 23:52 And you really have to look at life seriously. 23:55 And sometimes, it's life changing experiences 23:59 that happen to us, 24:00 that cause us to look at life seriously. 24:03 Yeah, a few weeks ago, it was like we're just, 24:08 it was a group of students and I in a--in this minivan. 24:12 And we had gone down to Vancouver, 24:15 which is a few hours away from our school, 24:18 for music lessons. 24:19 And it was kind of late at night we had-- 24:23 though the day had drawn out and we're all exhausted. 24:25 And, so I fell asleep in the back of the car, 24:30 we're driving back, 24:31 the weather conditions were getting really bad, 24:34 and the roads up to school are pretty curvy and windy, 24:39 and like not too safe, 24:41 especially in bad weather conditions. Yeah. 24:43 And so we were driving along 24:45 and I was so tired, I fell asleep. 24:47 And I was sitting in the back of the car 24:51 and I remember I woke up and at some point in time, 24:55 and I was so hot like the car was just like burning up, 24:58 the heat was on full blast 'cause it was cold outside. 25:01 But I was just like frying. 25:03 And so I took off like my few wears of jackets 25:06 that might have had something to do with it. Yeah. 25:08 And then I put my seatbelt back on 25:11 and went back to sleep. 25:12 And the next thing I remember is that 25:15 like we were being like banged 25:17 and jolted around like I woke up and like, 25:20 I realized immediately what was happening like. 25:23 I was like, we were getting in a car accident 25:25 and I realized that. 25:28 And I sat up and I was like, "Oh, my." 25:31 And it looks like, I didn't know where we were 25:34 but I sat up 25:36 and I saw the headlights of a semi-tractor trailer 25:39 coming straight toward us 25:41 and/or so it seemed from my prospective. 25:43 And at that moment in time like, it was so scary. 25:49 That's got to be 25:51 one of the most terror-filled moments of life, 25:52 like just those few split seconds. 25:55 And I remember I thinking like, "Oh, no. 25:59 We're gonna die or and you know, 26:02 I was like, you know, this is really gonna hurt. 26:04 And but then the next thing I knew 26:06 like we were just kind of slowing down 26:08 and we stopped by the side of the road 26:10 and we checked around 26:12 to make sure that everyone was okay, 26:14 and Cyrus was there. 26:16 And we all just like, you know, I like, 26:20 "Okay, we're all okay." 26:22 Then we're like, we get out of the car 26:24 and look back and we had actually 26:26 been on a bridge. Yeah. 26:27 And we hit another car 26:31 and that it lost control in the snow 26:33 and spun into our way. 26:35 And, so we hit it and shoved it 26:39 into the path of the semi- tractor trailer that came. 26:42 And we kind of bounced into the bridge 26:44 and it shoved us into the path of the semi. 26:49 And that's when I thought that we were gonna hit it. 26:52 But somehow like, I know God was protecting us. 26:55 So we've been-- and looking back, 26:57 you know, just standing there on the bridge. 26:59 Thankfully the lady in the car was-- 27:01 The other driver in the car was okay. Yeah. 27:04 But just looking there on the bridge 27:07 and seeing like what could have happened. 27:09 And if the timing had been any different, 27:13 it just made me realize like how, 27:17 how valuable life is. Yes. 27:19 You know, and how I needed 27:21 to take life more seriously. Yes. 27:23 And how some of the like trivial things 27:25 like really don't matter. Yes. You know. Yeah. 27:27 That we get caught up in so much. 27:29 So here's a life and death situation. 27:32 And you started realizing wait. 27:34 You know, it's not just every day, 27:36 not just getting up and fooling around. 27:39 Now I need to, I mean, God saved my life 27:42 and it must be for a purpose. 27:44 And it puts your mind on a different track 27:46 and you really do want to draw nearer to Him. 27:50 God wants us to draw nearer to Him 27:52 and I'm gonna ask Carmen 27:53 to close this with a word of prayer. 27:56 Dearly, Father Lord, thank You so much 27:58 for taking an interest in sinful humanity here. 28:02 And Lord, help us to realize our great need of You 28:05 and to draw closer to You each day, 28:08 and to come to that higher experience with You. 28:09 In Jesus' name, amen. 28:11 Amen. Amen. 28:15 Help in Daily Living is a 13 part series 28:18 from Fountainview Productions 28:20 designed to share the solid principles 28:22 of practical everyday Christianity. 28:25 It's a simple way to share the good news 28:27 about the power of the gospel with your friends, 28:30 family, and co-workers. 28:32 Order your copies now by calling 28:34 1-877-490-4141 or visit us online 28:40 at www. fountainviewproductions.com. 28:45 Help in Daily Living is also available 28:47 at your local ABC Christian bookstores. |
Revised 2014-12-17