Participants: Ruthie Jacobsen (Host), Pr. Roy Rugless
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000395
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00:01 There is a wonderful little story that comes out
00:04 of the United Kingdom, I think its Scotland. 00:06 You are gonna love i a sweet, sweet story, 00:10 but teaches such powerful principles, life changing 00:14 principles. We'll be right back. 00:41 Welcome to Issues and Answers. The issue that 00:45 I'd like for us to think about together today is, 00:49 have you read the little book try giving yourself 00:52 away, it's a good little book I think its out to 00:55 print now, but that is our theme for this program, 01:01 try giving yourself away. And I believe that comes 01:04 from the Lord himself. There is a text in scripture 01:08 that tells us the Lord has a big plan for us. 01:11 In Psalm 80, David is saying let your hand be 01:17 upon the man of your right hand, upon the son 01:20 of man who made, you made strong for yourself. 01:24 God says I want to make you strong because 01:27 I have a plan for you. I want you to do 01:29 something for me, revive us then we will not 01:33 turn back from you revive us and we will call 01:35 upon your name. So, the Lord is saying, 01:38 I want you to cooperate with me, I'm gonna 01:40 put my hand on you but I want to revive you, 01:44 I want to give you strength and help because 01:46 I have something that I want you to do. 01:49 And then in that next chapter Verse 7 you called 01:54 on me in trouble and I delivered you. God has a 01:58 message that he wants you to give to others. 02:02 He has something that he wants you to do for 02:04 him. In Psalm 149 Verse 4 the Lord takes pleasure 02:11 in his people, he will beautify the humble with 02:15 salvation. I want to tell you a story about a 02:19 humble little boy. He was 8-years-old in his church 02:25 and the deacon was passing the offering 02:28 basket and apparently it was a large basket, 02:32 when he came to this 8-year-old boy; the boy 02:37 tugged on his sleeve and he said put the basket 02:41 on the floor. And the deacon said that's strange, 02:46 I'm not gonna do that. But he couldn't for some 02:50 reason walk on and just ignore that request and 02:54 the little boy repeated it, please put the basket 02:57 on the floor. And the thought came to the 03:01 Deacon well he is not a bad boy, 03:03 he is not gonna do something bad here, 03:07 so he wrestled with this strange request, finally he 03:10 put the basket on the floor. The little boy 03:14 stepped into the basket and he said I am the 03:19 offering. Amen. I am the offering. 03:23 That is our question to you, to me and to each 03:27 one of us God wants you and me to be the 03:32 offering. He wants us to give ourselves so 03:35 completely to him that we can be used for whatever 03:40 task he has for us, for his glory. I want you to 03:44 meet my special guest today, my friend Pastor 03:47 Roy Rugless. Thank you for being here. Thank you 03:50 for having me. And Roy you are Pastor in Tennessee, 03:55 Nashville. No, I Pastor in Athens, Alabama, 03:59 but I also have an administrative position in 04:01 Nashville, Tennessee. In Nashville, Tennessee, 04:02 okay, alright. But you live and Pastor in Athens 04:07 Alabama, correct. Is that North, South, East, 04:10 West where is that in Alabama? That is in the 04:13 Northern part of Alabama, west of Huntsville, 04:16 Alabama that's where we are. Okay, and you 04:19 but you also work with Pastors and Church 04:22 members in five states. Yes mam, cover five states. 04:25 Tell us where that is? Alabama, Mississippi, 04:29 Tennessee, Kentucky, and Northwest part of Florida, 04:33 I am all over the place. Wow. And I'm still pasturing 04:36 and is killing me. But it's a joy, it is, it is, 04:40 it's a joy, it's a joy. But you do have a message 04:42 of hope and it's about prayer and praying for the 04:46 Holy Spirit, yes. And the pastors in these five 04:49 states, yes, yes, are appreciating this, 04:52 yes they are, and the Lord is changing them. 04:54 Yes, they are. Yes they are. We talked about 04:57 that in another show that we did together of 05:02 Issues and Answers and you might just take 05:05 a minute to bring everybody up to speed 05:08 that may not have seen that the Lord is pouring 05:11 out his Spirit, yes, he is. I want to say though 05:15 talking about that experience those of you 05:18 who work with us at our last telecast we had 05:21 an experience, where the Holy Sprit was poured 05:24 out upon the leaders of our Church. We got all 05:26 the pastors together and we experience Pentecost, 05:30 hearts were broken, confessions were made, 05:33 a repentance was done, we praised the Lord, 05:36 testimonies were given and the Holy Spirit came, 05:39 but Ruthie I want to share something based on 05:41 your theme of sacrifice. We have a Latino 05:48 contingent in our organization, they are 05:51 embryonic, just getting started and our 05:55 conference unfortunately does not, can I, 05:57 can I interrupt again, yes mam, when you were 06:00 talking about what happened and this was at Indian 06:02 creek in Tennessee yes in Tennessee, where the 06:04 Holy Spirit just met this group of pastors in a 06:08 powerful way. I want to ask you and that really 06:11 is intrude with what we are talking about today 06:14 and that is why, why do you think the Lord was 06:18 there in that group with the pastors, 06:20 why was he there in power? He was there in 06:24 power because first of all the Lord wants to 06:28 do a special work in the world, that's right, 06:31 he wants men and women to be prepared for 06:33 his second coming, that's right. The only way 06:36 that's gonna happen is through the outpouring 06:38 of the Holy Spirit who God gives to give us 06:43 power to go out and tell people to get ready and 06:46 also to get ready ourselves, but we need to 06:47 understand that the people follow the leaders, 06:51 that's right, so the leaders now have to get 06:53 on board so that they could take it back their 06:55 churches, that's right, so that's what that was 06:57 all about. And that's what, why I believe 06:59 the Lord met you in a very special and powerful 07:02 way with all of those pastors. Yes. And church 07:05 leaders, yes. Because he was saying I want to 07:08 equip you, I want to empower you the pastors 07:12 had an experience that they've never 07:13 experienced before in their lives. I have never 07:16 experienced anything like that, I mean there is 07:17 one thing to talk about the Holy Spirit is another 07:20 thing to experience him working in your life, 07:24 but to receive it in its fullness where you are 07:27 just over shadowed and you know this is God. 07:31 You know it's God. Yeah, It's almost like Moses 07:34 when he went upon Mount Sinai, he is in the 07:37 presence of God. This is like on the mount of 07:39 transfiguration, when the Holy Spirit came 07:43 in the presence of God came in and the disciples 07:46 they just overwhelmed and you know Roy, 07:49 you can live your whole life, you can live your 07:51 whole life reading and hearing what God is 07:55 doing in the lives of other people that you may 07:58 miss it. You can live your whole life and never 08:01 really see God do something awesome, 08:03 that's right, that he wants to do in your life, 08:05 in your life. And I just want to appeal to all 08:10 of us let's ask the Lord what he wants to do 08:12 for you, for me. Yes, on a daily basis, yes, 08:16 he wants to do something to take us out 08:18 of the ordinary. I don't really think that God is 08:22 very interested or very impressed with what you 08:26 and I can do without him. Do you? I agree with 08:30 you 1000%. I don't think, he is very impressed with 08:33 what you and I can do, we are totally depending on 08:38 him. Yes, yes, but now let me take it a step 08:40 further because I want to get back to your theme 08:42 of giving up yourselves yes, yes, if you 08:46 understand that the goal of the gospel is to 08:49 be like God that's the transformation process 08:52 where it's supposed to be coming like God. 08:55 God is love, I mean that's the bottom-line, 08:58 God is love. And encapsulated in his love 09:03 is one of giving, that's right, one of sacrifice, 09:06 that's right, you know the devil was amazed 09:09 Ruthie after he got kicked out of Heaven, 09:13 he was amazed that God would go to such 09:17 lengths as to sacrifice his son and for Christ to 09:22 go to such lengths as to sacrifice his life. So, that 09:27 we could live the essence, the essence of love is self 09:34 sacrifice. That's right, giving of ones self. 09:38 Don't you think the angels were amazed at Calvary 09:42 oh yes, I was reading a story where once the 09:48 angels understood what Christ was getting ready to 09:51 do that they themselves wanted to give themselves 09:56 instead of letting Christ give himself. They didn't 09:58 want that to happen to him. They didn't want 09:59 that to happen to him. But it also showed that 10:01 spirit of love which is in outgrowth of self sacrifice 10:06 and it comes from the father. That's who is. 10:08 That's right, that's the mind blower, that's right, 10:11 God is a God who gives of himself and gives himself, 10:15 that's the mind blower and isn't it beautiful when 10:18 you see him working and transforming his people 10:23 to think of someone else first because we on 10:26 this planet are a bunch of selfish human beings 10:30 who think of ourselves first, I mean that is just the 10:33 way we are. Ever since the fall whether we like 10:36 to admit it or not, ever since the fall our minds 10:39 have been worked and twisted and now we have 10:43 become very selfish people. I think one of the high 10:46 attributes of Christianity is the one of self sacrifice, 10:50 now that's hard to do, you know what it's easy 10:53 to give of what is in abundance, but it is very 10:58 challenging to give up our necessity and I'd 11:02 to suggest that one of the hallmarks of true 11:04 Christianity is being able to give up ones necessity. 11:08 But you know I want to take you back to Roy 11:12 because the little boy who stepped in the 11:14 basket, his name was Robert Moffat. And God 11:21 saw the heart of that little 8-year-old boy and 11:25 he said you want to be my offering, you are 11:30 offering yourself to me I'll take you, I'll take 11:33 you to the heart of Africa. I'll give you William 11:41 Livingston, I'll give you David Livingston as 11:43 your son-in-law, I will left the two of you change 11:48 the heart of Africa, I'll do something to show my 11:51 love to that huge continent. Here is a 11:54 boy 8-years-old who gave himself, who said Lord 11:58 I want you to take me, I am the offering, 12:00 isn't that something. The Lord takes us, yes, 12:03 he is glad to see that here is a child who is 12:06 serious, he wants all of us, let me go back to the 12:09 Bible, you remember the widow with two mites, 12:11 that's right, there were people who had great sums 12:15 of money, that's right, who gave the offering and 12:19 God was not, Jesus was not impressed, that woman 12:23 she only had two mites but in that two mites 12:26 was a whole living her rent groceries all of that. 12:30 She gave of herself that's all she had. 12:32 That's all she had and God said she gave more 12:36 than anybody else. See God wants us, he wants 12:39 our hearts when he has our hearts then he has 12:43 us. He wants us, that's right. So, so that's one of 12:46 the goals of Gospel that we gonna be like God. 12:50 We gonna have to give like God and like you 12:52 said because of sin we are so selfish and self 12:55 centered and so the transformation process is 12:58 to take us out of ourselves to be like God to give 13:02 of ourselves. But, we don't have the desire, 13:05 no or the ability, no, unless we go to his word, 13:10 unless we go to our knees and say Lord what does 13:13 this look like, what does this look like in my life, 13:17 I'll tell you a little story, okay, there was an elderly 13:20 gentlemen at the pharmacy, who discovered and 13:25 he was very embarrassed that he didn't have enough 13:27 money to get his medications. He thought the 13:31 co-pay was less and so he was standing there in 13:36 bewilderment wondering what he should do, 13:38 if he should just leave the medication there, 13:40 but he knew he needed that medication. 13:43 There was a young man standing behind him 13:46 waiting and he heard the conversation between 13:50 the pharmacist and this elderly man and he said 13:55 just a minute he tapped him on the shoulder and 13:57 he said just a minute, he was a jogger, 13:59 he have been out jogging and he had just 14:01 stopped to get something cold to drink, 14:04 but he ran out to his car went to his place 14:07 where he lived came back with his wallet and he 14:09 paid, the difference paid for the medication for this 14:12 man. And so while he was waiting he was just sitting 14:17 there waiting when the man, the jogger came back 14:19 and he said okay let's get this. So, he paid for the 14:22 medications patted the guy on the back, he said 14:26 why would you do this? He said you needed the 14:29 medication and I am happy to do that for you, 14:33 he said are you a Christian? Wow. He said well yes 14:38 I am, where do you go to Church? Come on, 14:41 say sorry, where do you go to church and do you know 14:45 the man went to that Church found the pastor 14:48 and he said I want to tell you why I am here, 14:51 why I am here see that may not have been a big 14:55 deal, but when you are willing to be used, when you 14:59 have gone to the Lord in the morning and said to him 15:02 just take me, take me on an adventure with you, 15:07 use me, yes. Then the Lord says okay stay alert, 15:11 pay attention because I will take you to places 15:15 where I want to speak to somebody's heart, yes, 15:18 yes. Now, that only happens when we have the 15:23 Holy Spirit that's right, the Holy Spirit is the only 15:25 one who can first of all give us the desire and then 15:29 empowers to do, that's right. Let me go back to 15:31 Indian Creek once. Yes. We prayed for the 15:35 Holy Spirit, we pray for the outpouring and in the 15:39 midst of our meeting we had a Latino group of 15:43 pastors as I mentioned earlier who are just 15:47 starting to do work in our conference, Oh, yeah 15:49 I am glad you got back to that. Our conference 15:52 does not have the funds to really sustain the 15:54 ministry like we want to or we are able only to hire 15:57 just the few pastors here and there, but we want to 16:00 do more, but because of budget limitations we are 16:02 not able let me tell you something what happened 16:04 with the Holy Spirit. We got those Latino pastors 16:08 together made a circle around them. How many 16:12 were they? They had to be about maybe five or six 16:16 Latino pastors it's just the work has just started and 16:19 they're scattered all over the five states, 16:20 scattered all over the five states, we got those 16:25 Latino Pastors together they told us about their 16:28 pay there are some of the pastors who are 16:31 working without pay, there are some pastors who 16:34 only can work part-time they got to, see their Bible 16:37 occasional and the bad thing about it those who are 16:42 not working for pay those who are not only getting 16:44 part time salary have two or three churches as many 16:48 churches as full time people have and they're 16:50 still out there and they're praising the Lord, 16:54 they're testifying about his goodness, they're 16:56 talking about how souls are coming in, because they 16:58 are seeing him work but the thing about it here the 17:01 other pastors there who are getting full time 17:03 salaries and these guys who are not getting 17:06 anything and they are working as hard if not 17:10 harder than the rest let me tell you about the 17:12 Holy Spirit let me tell you what happened after 17:14 they told a story, they told a story about how they 17:17 turn to build a Church without money and all that 17:20 kind of stuff. After they told a story we got all the 17:23 Latino pastors together and we made a circle around 17:26 them, we laid hands on them, and we started praying 17:29 and let me tell you what happened, you are not 17:31 gonna believe this. Sure I will. But I wanna hear. 17:36 You know part of prayer is interceding for others, 17:42 that's right, that's right, selfishness thinks about 17:45 self when we pray sometime Lord I need this, 17:47 help me with this, give me that. But when you 17:49 really are doing true prayer, you are not, 17:52 you are not before you even ask for yourself you 17:55 ask for others that's real praying interceding for 17:58 others. Ruthie, that's right, we had an intersession 18:01 prayer for the Latino Pastors, we went around 18:05 the circle, the pastor was just crying out for the 18:08 Lord to do something to help them with the work 18:11 I mean the Holy Spirit was there but not this is, 18:14 that goes back to the Psalms. David did that too. 18:17 Yes, he said cry out to the Lord, cry out, 18:20 cry out, but this is the equinox of this whole 18:22 experience in the praying one of the pastors talking 18:27 about sacrifice now. He is praying this prayer, 18:31 he says Lord I'm committing half of my 18:35 salary, I'm committing half of my salary to help 18:40 these pastors and then some of the other pastor 18:42 Lord I'm committing half of my salary I'm telling 18:46 you the Holy Spirit just came over and gave us 18:48 the spirit of sacrifice that the pastors were crying 18:52 out Lord I'm willing to give of what I have so that 18:56 this work could go forward. Is it you're talking about 18:58 the spirit of sacrifice that's what the Holy Spirit 19:00 will do, that's a miracle, that's a miracle, 19:01 that's what the Holy Spirit will do. Amen. 19:03 Because what is he trying to do, he is trying 19:04 to give us to be like God. And to change our 19:07 hearts and God is a sacrificial God who gave up 19:12 himself as a matter of fact, that's right, when you 19:14 understand the story not only the Christ died but 19:20 apart of God left him as well. How do you, 19:24 how do you, how do you think a pair would feel 19:26 watching his son die or giving of themselves that 19:29 was part of God who died as well, yes, yes, 19:33 we serve a sacrificial God and if we are supposed 19:36 to be like God we also should be sacrificial, 19:40 we all should be giving and let me take you a 19:43 step further not only do we need to give our means 19:48 but we need to give up our time that's right, 19:51 we need to give up ourselves that's right, 19:54 whatever God asks us to do, none of what we 19:58 have belongs to us, the clothes that we have on 20:00 our bags, that's right. Does not belong to us, 20:04 right, it comes from God I told you true story, 20:07 true story. Well, the other one was true too. 20:16 And that was powerful, beautiful, okay let's have 20:17 another true story, I was, I was, I was a student 20:18 at Oakwood college and didn't have a lot of 20:23 clothes, but I had a few and there was a student 20:29 a friend of mine who came over and we were just 20:30 talking, and he talked about how he didn't have 20:34 any clothes, he had to wear the same clothes 20:36 everyday and now the Holy Spirit telling go in your 20:41 closet and give him some of your clothes. 20:44 Share what you have. I told the Holy Spirit 20:47 I can't do that, I only have few to wear how in the 20:50 world and you know let's somebody do this that 20:53 has more than I have got, there you go and some 20:55 of the stuff that I had was really nice stuff, 20:58 Lord I can't do that, the Holy Spirit says give him 21:01 what you have. The Holy Spirit broke me down 21:07 and you know sometimes Ruthie how we want to 21:09 give stuff that's not that good, which you didn't like 21:11 anyway. That's our human nature, let me tell you 21:15 what he said, the Holy Spirit directed give him your 21:18 best suit, give him your best shirt, give him your, 21:25 Ruthie, that's sacrifice, Ruthie there was something 21:27 that went in me that says no I can't do this, 21:31 but there was something else inside me that says 21:33 if you want to be like God this is how God is, 21:36 God gave us his best Amen. And I want to let 21:38 you know that I got even though it was a struggle 21:41 I was just starting my Christian journey I had just 21:45 come into the church went to Oakwood, and the 21:47 Lord was teaching you something big. He was 21:49 sharing he was trying to transform me. That's right, 21:52 so that was my test and all of us are going to be 21:54 tested, we may not be tested in the same way but 21:57 we're all gonna be tested and one of the test is 22:00 giving Abraham, that's right, that's right, his only 22:04 son, but now Roy I love that story and what when 22:09 you gave this other student the clothes what 22:13 happened to him and to you. Lord was rooting 22:17 selfishness out of me. That's right, he was 22:20 rooting selfishness out of me and I was able to 22:22 minister to that, that man and joy came over 22:27 his face and he says man you given me your 22:29 best and he was very appreciative, that's what 22:31 the gospel is all about, that's right, the gospel 22:33 is all about touching others, preaching others, 22:36 but I believe that there is another lesson in that, 22:38 what's that when you give yourself away, 22:41 when you give yourself to the Lord for whatever 22:43 he has for you, you cannot out give the Lord. 22:47 Oh, he blesses abundantly. And you know what 22:50 he just to be honest with you God really doesn't 22:53 need what we have, I'm gonna go back to tie 22:55 an offering, you know the Bible talks about how 22:58 we are supposed to return 10%, it doesn't belong 23:00 to us, it belongs to God and then give the offering, 23:05 but, but, but God doesn't need it. This God who 23:09 leads, who owns everything do you think he really 23:12 needs our money, no, no, no, no the reason, 23:15 one of the reason, he needs our hearts, 23:17 there you go, and one of the reasons he does that 23:20 he wants to provide funds for the gospel to go 23:22 out, but I think even more important he wants to 23:25 transform us, he wants to root out selfishness, 23:28 he wants to, the more we give, the more unselfish 23:30 we become, the more we give the more unselfish. 23:33 So, that eventually we become like him. I got to 23:35 tell you another story, I got so many stories, 23:37 go ahead, go ahead, I got to tell you another 23:38 story, good. I was telling you previously about 23:42 a lady who came who was not a member of my 23:45 Church, who came to my Church to my prayer 23:47 meeting and at testimonies, you always got to 23:51 have testimonies, testimonies are powerful, 23:53 oh yes, that's right, at testimony time in this 23:56 economic time she says she was only working, 23:59 she was only working part time I think she was 24:02 working 30 hours a week and then when the 24:04 economy hit they knocked her down to 15 hours 24:07 a week and then they let her go altogether and 24:11 she said she needed some medication, she didn't 24:15 even have money to go the pharmacy to get 24:17 any medication at all. She didn't even have any 24:20 food to give her children and as I am listening 24:24 to her, my heart just bleeds, my heart just 24:27 bleeds. And I said this lady needs some help, 24:32 after prayer meeting was over, after prayer meeting 24:35 was over I didn't have a lot of money, but I 24:37 reached in my wallet and everything that I had I 24:43 pulled it out, everything that I had I pulled it out, 24:47 and I gave it to her, I gave it to her and you know 24:51 what she says, she says I don't need it, she says 24:54 I am fine now, i didn't know that did, but she 24:57 says I'm fine now, are you sure, I said I want 24:58 you to have this. She said I don't need it I'm fine 25:02 now. But before you say anything what the Lord 25:05 was doing, he was testing me again, 25:09 testing me but you know what, this time it wasn't 25:12 a struggle, it wasn't a struggle, I had no, 25:16 I had no reservations it gets easier, it gets easier, 25:19 obedience prepares you for the next step. 25:22 I was willing I didn't think of myself, I didn't think 25:26 this is everything that I have where is where is the 25:29 next dollar coming from that's growth, that's right, 25:32 that's right, and that's like Abraham on the 25:34 mountain with Isaac. The Lord was asking him to 25:38 sacrifice because he was testing Abraham's heart, 25:41 yes, yes, let me say this because our time is almost 25:44 running out. When you understand God, 25:49 God is love, when you look at his commandments 25:55 his 10 commandments that nothing more than 25:57 love, the first four commandments deal with 26:00 love to God, that's right, last six commandments 26:03 deal with love to your fellow man, right. 26:05 If we love God, if we have true love we will love 26:10 God and we will love our fellow man. 26:12 How do we love God, we give ourselves back to 26:15 him, that's right, how do we love our fellow man 26:17 we give ourselves to our fellow men that's 26:19 commandment keeping, that's right, 26:21 its not a list of thou shall not and what you 26:24 cannot do and prohibitions it's all about love, 26:29 that's right, and if we really understand love in 26:30 his true sense, love is nothing more than giving, 26:34 giving ourselves to God and giving ourselves to 26:37 our fellow men. And no wonder he tells us that's 26:41 fullness of joy, oh wonderful, oh wonderful, 26:46 fullness of joy, fullness that's real happiness, 26:49 that's right, Amen. That's real happiness, 26:52 I wish I had time to I got another story but I know 26:54 you are getting ready to rap this thing up. 26:56 Well, our time is about gone, but I would like to 26:58 say our viewers thank you so much for allowing 27:02 us to come into your homes and we just want 27:04 to say that we pray for you, we pray that these 27:10 programs will be a help in your lives as they are 27:13 in ours. We just pray that that God will show you 27:17 daily how he wants you to give yourself away, 27:21 because he wants to bring each one us to a deeper 27:24 level of joy. Amen. A deeper level of usefulness 27:28 and understanding him better and he tells us 27:31 in Daniel 11:32 those who know him intimately are 27:39 privileged and he says I'll make you strong and able 27:42 to do bold and daring things. So, if you are 27:44 frightened, if you are afraid to do some of these 27:47 things. God will make you strong, because he 27:51 has a plan that is so big, so huge, so much 27:55 bigger than anything we could ever imagine. 27:58 So, daily let's begin the day by saying dear God 28:02 I just want to give myself to you, 28:05 I want to give myself to your plan and let him 28:08 surprise you, it's great. God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17