>>Announcer: It has stood the test of time.... 00:00:11.83\00:00:15.26 God's book, The Bible 00:00:15.26\00:00:18.73 Still relevant in today's complex world 00:00:18.73\00:00:23.53 It Is Written 00:00:23.53\00:00:26.43 Sharing messages of hope around the world 00:00:26.43\00:00:30.93 Welcome to the It Is Written Canada television program, my 00:00:39.30\00:00:42.23 name is Bill Santos, thank you so much for watching. Could it be possible? Could the 00:00:42.23\00:00:47.96 prayers of a handful of people help someone - even someone on 00:00:47.96\00:00:54.43 the other side of the world facing heart surgery? Research focusing on the power of prayer 00:00:54.43\00:01:00.73 in healing has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, says David 00:01:00.73\00:01:06.73 Larson, MD, president of the National Institute for Healthcare Research, a private 00:01:06.73\00:01:10.86 nonprofit agency. These studies show that religious people tend 00:01:10.86\00:01:16.96 to live healthier lives. "They're less likely to smoke, 00:01:16.96\00:01:21.60 to drink, to drink and drive". In fact, people who pray tend to get sick less often, as 00:01:21.60\00:01:29.43 separate studies conducted at Duke, Dartmouth, and Yale 00:01:29.43\00:01:36.03 universities show. Some statistics from these studies: Hospitalized people who never 00:01:36.03\00:01:42.63 attended church have an average stay of three times longer than people who attended 00:01:42.63\00:01:47.43 regularly. Heart patients were 14 times more likely to die 00:01:47.43\00:01:54.36 following surgery if they did not participate in a religion. Elderly people who never 00:01:54.36\00:02:00.20 or rarely attended church had a stroke rate double that of 00:02:00.20\00:02:06.43 people who attended regularly. In Israel, religious people had a 40% lower death rate 00:02:06.43\00:02:13.66 from cardiovascular disease and cancer. People who are more 00:02:13.66\00:02:19.86 religious tend to become depressed less often. And when they do become depressed, they 00:02:19.86\00:02:24.70 recover more quickly from depression. A current study -- 00:02:24.70\00:02:30.13 conducted with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the first to be funded by 00:02:30.13\00:02:35.56 the National Institute for Healthcare Research - involves 00:02:35.56\00:02:40.26 80 black women with early-stage breast cancer. Half the women will be randomly assigned 00:02:40.26\00:02:45.83 to participate in a prayer group, and will choose eight 00:02:45.83\00:02:51.33 women in their church to form the group. In the prayer group, the support team will pray for 00:02:51.33\00:02:57.66 her; she will pray for them. They will offer each other 00:02:57.66\00:03:01.90 psychological support, talk about things that are bothering them. During the six-month trial 00:03:01.90\00:03:09.03 period, each patient will be monitored for changes in immune 00:03:09.03\00:03:14.86 function. The study goes on to say . 00:03:14.86\00:03:17.26 A few years back the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported 00:03:42.66\00:03:48.06 that Cable television mogul Ted Turner criticized fundamentalist 00:03:48.06\00:03:51.50 Christianity and said Jesus probably would "be sick at his 00:03:51.50\00:03:57.90 stomach" over the way his ideas have been "twisted". Turner made 00:03:57.90\00:04:03.43 his remarks at a banquet in Orlando, Fla., where he was given an award by the American 00:04:03.43\00:04:08.53 Humanist Association for his work on behalf of the environment and world 00:04:08.53\00:04:13.36 peace. Turner said he had a strict Christian upbringing and 00:04:13.36\00:04:20.86 at one time considered becoming a missionary. But he said h became disenchanted with 00:04:20.86\00:04:26.03 Christianity after his sister died, despite his prayers. 00:04:26.03\00:04:32.23 Turner said the more he strayed from his faith, "the better I felt." There are times 00:04:32.23\00:04:39.76 when the one thing we want is the one thing we never get. The 00:04:39.76\00:04:50.80 Bible says in Philippians 4:6: 00:04:50.80\00:04:52.63 Today I want to look at what happens when God's answer to 00:05:04.23\00:05:11.86 prayer is no? There are times when we come to God with a request, we are not being 00:05:11.86\00:05:15.56 picky or demanding we are just following what the Bible says ". 00:05:15.56\00:05:20.46 let your requests be made known to God." Maybe all you want is an opened door or an 00:05:20.46\00:05:26.40 sign of His will, we would be thankful with an answer. And so 00:05:26.40\00:05:31.56 you pray and wait, and pray and wait No answer. You pray and wait. No answer. You 00:05:31.56\00:05:41.90 pray and wait. What if God says no? What if the request is 00:05:41.90\00:05:51.96 delayed or even denied? When God says no to us, how do we 00:05:51.96\00:05:58.03 respond? Let's get back to our story with David, to learn from 00:06:01.83\00:06:05.60 his life and experiences lessons for us today. The ark had made its way triumphantly into 00:06:05.60\00:06:13.20 Jerusalem. At long last the ark was residing safely in 00:06:13.20\00:06:19.00 Jerusalem. The nation was going through a period of peace and rest. David was sitting on the 00:06:19.00\00:06:25.06 throne. The days in the wilderness where he was forced 00:06:25.06\00:06:29.80 to run like a hunted animal were now over, he was at peace, David 00:06:29.80\00:06:33.43 was enjoying a period of rest. But the wheels of his mind were turning. You see, it was 00:06:33.43\00:06:38.10 David's purpose to make Jerusalem the religious center 00:06:38.10\00:06:44.56 of the nation. He had built a palace for himself, and he felt that it was not fitting that 00:06:44.56\00:06:49.13 the ark of God would reside within a tent. David was 00:06:49.13\00:06:54.40 determined to build a temple for the ark. A temple of such magnificence that would 00:06:54.40\00:06:59.86 express Israel's appreciation of the honor granted the nation in 00:06:59.86\00:07:05.33 the abiding presence of Jehovah their King. David therefore 00:07:05.33\00:07:11.33 called for his trusted counselor, the prophet Nathan, 00:07:11.33\00:07:21.16 in 2 Samuel 7:2. As David reflected on the contrast between his stately palace and 00:07:32.40\00:07:38.03 the cloth tent that was the temple, he became convinced of 00:07:38.03\00:07:43.33 the need to building a dwelling that was fitting for the ark of 00:07:43.33\00:07:48.26 God. It did not take a prophet to read David's mind. He was formulating a dream to 00:07:49.76\00:07:55.00 build his Lord the grandest, most spectacular temple in the 00:07:55.00\00:08:03.60 world. The prophet assured David that his plan lined up with God's will. 2 Samuel 7:3 00:08:03.60\00:08:12.80 David's heart was definitely in the right place, his objective 00:08:20.03\00:08:23.00 was noble, but, just because David's heart was in the right 00:08:23.00\00:08:27.93 place and his friend, the prophet was endorsing it, did not mean it was God's will. It 00:08:27.93\00:08:33.43 is important that we remember that not every plan that we come 00:08:33.43\00:08:39.76 up with for God is actually of God. Just because we feel that our plan is in harmony with 00:08:39.76\00:08:46.70 God's plan, does not mean that that is in fact the case. Just 00:08:46.70\00:08:53.63 because from my limited perspective it seems to make sense, does not mean that from 00:08:53.63\00:08:58.40 God's infinite, universal perspective that it in fact 00:08:58.40\00:09:05.66 does. Nathan found out that having David build the temple was not God's will. As noble as 00:09:05.66\00:09:12.46 David's plan was, it was not God's plan. 1 Chronicles 17: 3 - 00:09:12.46\00:09:21.66 4 I am sure that this was not the message that Nathan wanted 00:09:34.13\00:09:40.73 to hear, much less communicate to the king. How would David respond to God's rejection 00:09:40.73\00:09:48.33 of his plan? Would David understand? David did understand 00:09:48.33\00:09:55.90 why God did not want him to build the temple. We read about it in 1 Chronicles 22:8 00:09:55.90\00:10:03.66 God's refusal to accept David's plan to build the temple was not 00:10:19.73\00:10:26.80 a refusal of David as a faithful servant. God was redirecting 00:10:26.80\00:10:31.40 David's life plan in a way that neither Nathan nor David could have ever imagined. 00:10:31.40\00:10:37.90 God speaks to David through the prophet Nathan. 2 Samuel 7: 8, 00:10:38.80\00:10:48.66 9, 11 00:10:48.66\00:10:49.86 It was David's dream to build a temple, and now God was taking 00:11:19.80\00:11:24.13 that dream away. I think it inevitable that David's heart 00:11:24.13\00:11:30.40 must have sunk, if only for a moment. I recently found this 00:11:30.40\00:11:36.20 poem . God always answers our prayers... with a ''yes'', a ''no'' or a ''wait a 00:12:29.43\00:12:37.56 while'' or ''something better. 00:12:37.56\00:12:42.33 In David's case God responds with something better than 00:12:44.53\00:12:48.96 building the temple. 2 Samuel 7: 12 - 16 00:12:48.96\00:12:51.63 As one door was closed to David, God established with David a 00:13:41.26\00:13:46.76 covenant that was to last forever. God's loving kindness refers to God's unconditional 00:13:46.76\00:13:52.03 covenant blessing. God would not stand for disobedience but God 00:13:52.03\00:13:57.80 would not remove David or his descendants from their place of 00:13:57.80\00:14:04.26 favor with God. David's unborn son Solomon would be the one responsible for building 00:14:04.26\00:14:09.83 the temple. Typically God's "No" would cause one to be disappointed to the 00:14:09.83\00:14:15.60 point that he would not even recognize the tremendous 00:14:15.60\00:14:19.86 blessing that God had bestowed. Some might even experience some jealousy towards the one 00:14:19.86\00:14:25.83 who was going to accomplish what he couldn't. The Bible 00:14:25.83\00:14:30.66 mentions none of these feelings brewing in David's heart. David 00:14:30.66\00:14:35.73 was content and fully trusted in God. 00:14:35.73\00:14:39.63 John Paton was a great nineteenth century missionary in 00:14:42.56\00:14:47.36 the South Pacific. After he graduated from school and ministered in Scotland for 00:14:47.36\00:14:51.40 awhile, he was sent to an island in the South Pacific with his 00:14:51.40\00:14:56.56 wife. At that time only cannibals lived this particular island. When they landed, 00:14:56.56\00:15:01.86 they didn't speak the language or know anyone who lived there. 00:15:01.86\00:15:07.43 All they knew was that people had gone there and had never returned. The threat of 00:15:07.43\00:15:15.43 their life constantly hung over them. At a later time, when the 00:15:15.43\00:15:22.63 chief of the tribe in that area was saved, he asked John Paton what army protected his 00:15:22.63\00:15:29.36 place of dwelling in the early months when he first arrived. It 00:15:29.36\00:15:34.60 seems that God's holy angels apparently became manifest in order to protect the 00:15:34.60\00:15:40.03 missionary. After having lived there a few weeks, Paton's wife 00:15:40.03\00:15:45.33 gave birth to a baby. But the baby died, and a few days later so did his wife. John slept 00:15:45.33\00:15:52.06 on their graves for three or four nights to keep the natives 00:15:52.06\00:15:57.60 from digging up their bodies and eating them. In spite of that, he devoted the rest of his 00:15:57.60\00:16:03.30 life towards ministering in the South Pacific. In his autobiography it said 00:16:03.30\00:16:09.83 near the end of his life that he didn't know of one native that 00:16:09.83\00:16:18.20 hadn't made at least a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. He went there with great 00:16:18.20\00:16:23.80 hopes, lost his cherished wife and baby, and stayed on alone, 00:16:23.80\00:16:31.40 but God used him because he was content to do God's will no matter what it cost him. That is 00:16:31.40\00:16:38.76 what it means to aim your life at God's purposes. 00:16:38.76\00:16:44.86 Sometimes we focus so much on the privileges that God has given others that we 00:16:46.20\00:16:50.26 overlook the priceless inheritance that He's laid in our laps. David did not 00:16:50.26\00:16:56.93 make that mistake. Overflowing with gratitude, he praised the 00:16:56.93\00:16:59.63 God who had given him so much. David expressed his trust through a series of 00:16:59.63\00:17:07.00 questions, 2 Samuel 7: 18 - 20 00:17:07.00\00:17:12.50 David could have been disillusioned or even become 00:17:43.90\00:17:48.33 bitter with God's reply to his request, but David, the man with a heart like God's trusted 00:17:48.33\00:17:53.10 God in His infinite wisdom and praised God who had given him so 00:17:53.10\00:18:00.23 much. 2 Samuel 7: 27 - 29: 00:18:00.23\00:18:02.23 David would spend the rest of his time on the throne gathering 00:18:39.46\00:18:44.16 building materials for the temple, organizing craftsmen and readying plans for the 00:18:44.16\00:18:49.00 construction of a temple that he would never build. There was 00:18:49.00\00:18:55.60 nothing wrong with David's dream to build the temple. His motives 00:18:55.60\00:18:59.56 were pure; his intentions, pleasing to God. But he was not the right man to carry out the 00:18:59.56\00:19:04.90 plan. Has God ever said "no" to one of your dreams? It can get 00:19:04.90\00:19:11.60 very discouraging, sometimes the situation and circumstances we 00:19:11.60\00:19:17.80 find ourselves in are almost unbelievable, we need not get 00:19:17.80\00:19:24.23 discouraged. A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy 00:19:26.23\00:19:31.66 in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, 00:19:31.66\00:19:36.26 "Eighteen to nothing--we're behind." "Boy," said the spectator, "I'll bet you're 00:19:36.26\00:19:43.90 discouraged." "Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little 00:19:43.90\00:19:48.46 boy. "We haven't even gotten up to bat yet!" When we cannot 00:19:48.46\00:19:54.00 understand our circumstances we need to understand our God. At the end of the Book of 00:19:54.00\00:20:00.26 Habakkuk, chapter 3 verse 17 we read the following: 00:20:00.26\00:20:06.13 These words would have meant so much to people back then who 00:20:25.16\00:20:29.56 were hearing them, they might not mean as much to us unless we understand the background. 00:20:29.56\00:20:37.03 "Though the fig tree not blossom", guess what? The fig tree always blossoms. 00:20:37.03\00:20:45.96 "And there be no fruit on the vines", and there was always 00:20:45.96\00:20:51.73 fruit on the vine. "Though the yield of the olive should fail", I'll tell you one thing about 00:20:51.73\00:20:57.30 an olive tree, they last. "And the fields produce no food", and 00:20:57.30\00:21:04.13 the fields did produce food, "though the flock should be cut off from the fold", in 00:21:04.13\00:21:08.80 other words, animals stop calving and there aren't any more. "And there be no 00:21:08.80\00:21:14.76 cattle in the stalls", in other words, if everything that is 00:21:14.76\00:21:20.60 common, ordinary, every day, dependable kind of thing of natural happening all of a 00:21:20.60\00:21:28.13 sudden stops. If all of a sudden your entire world is turned 00:21:28.13\00:21:35.93 upside down, in spite of your pleas to God, everything just falls apart, Habakkuk 3:18 00:21:35.93\00:21:44.00 This is exactly what David did, his dream to build the temple 00:21:54.93\00:22:00.80 was shattered, his whole world was turned upside down, yet he rejoiced in the Lord. Yet 00:22:00.80\00:22:06.66 he believed, in spite of the circumstances that God loved him 00:22:06.66\00:22:11.56 and cared for him and at the end of the day was going to look after him. How do we get 00:22:11.56\00:22:18.80 to the point where we have that kind of confidence in God? You 00:22:18.80\00:22:23.63 only trust someone you know! Someone once said "a Bible that is falling apart usually 00:22:23.63\00:22:31.03 belongs to someone who isn't" When you know God you can ride 00:22:31.03\00:22:37.80 out the storms, when you know the Lord you will see His love for you even in the "No". 00:22:37.80\00:22:48.30 Building a temple is probably not one of your secret 00:22:48.30\00:22:54.70 ambitions, but all of us have dreams, sometimes those dreams line up with God's will 00:22:54.70\00:23:00.93 sometimes they don't. Broken dreams can shatter a person, but 00:23:00.93\00:23:07.26 they don't have to. If we believe that God really loves us, really wants what is best 00:23:07.26\00:23:13.70 for us - if we trust Him with our lives, He will show us His 00:23:13.70\00:23:21.40 better plan. Let's pray. Father in heaven, may we learn to trust in you and your love 00:23:22.73\00:23:28.56 for us, so that even when circumstances do not play out the way we would have 00:23:28.56\00:23:33.83 liked, we may see it your way. Bless each viewer today be 00:23:33.83\00:23:41.23 especially close to those who are bringing special requests before your throne, grant them 00:23:41.23\00:23:47.20 according to Your will, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:23:47.20\00:23:54.76 >>BEV: Hi, everyone! Do you love desserts, like I do?Well, the 00:24:14.83\00:24:18.83 problem with desserts is that they don't always love us back Too many sugary, fatty 00:24:18.83\00:24:23.56 desserts can pack on the pounds, make our faces break out, and 00:24:23.56\00:24:28.10 overall, just clog up our system. Well, today I've got a totally delicious, very 00:24:28.10\00:24:33.40 easy, and highly nutritious dessert to show you: Carob 00:24:33.40\00:24:39.26 Avocado Mousse. Sounds delicious, right? For the ingredients, all you'll need is 00:24:39.26\00:24:44.33 an avocado or two, 1/2 cup non-dairy milk, 1/3 cup dried dates that have been soaked for 00:24:44.33\00:24:49.53 15 minutes to soften them, and 3 Tbsps of carob powder. So I'm 00:24:49.53\00:24:56.20 just going to put all of that in here. Now Carob powder is a wonderful, caffeine free 00:24:56.20\00:25:00.83 alternative to chocolate -- and it's rich in B vitamins. So I'm 00:25:00.83\00:25:05.96 putting it all in my high-speed Vitamix blender, and I'm going 00:25:05.96\00:25:13.40 to blend it all until it's smooth -- oh, see the carob is going places. OK, let's see how 00:25:13.40\00:25:20.96 this works. You will not believe how good this is, and trust me 00:25:20.96\00:25:25.06 it won't even taste like avocado. Here we go... 00:25:25.06\00:25:28.26 So what you do is blend it until it's totally smooth and creamy 00:25:38.00\00:25:43.96 and it will be just like a mousse, really, really fantastic See it's really nice and 00:25:43.96\00:25:49.40 thick because of the avocado. Now, I adapted the recipe from 00:25:49.40\00:25:53.73 one I found on the Sanaview.com website. This is a really great 00:25:53.73\00:25:58.10 site that features the story of a teenaged girl named Bethany who was paralyzed by a bad 00:25:58.10\00:26:02.33 reaction to a medication, and how the healing power of wholesome food reversed 00:26:02.33\00:26:07.16 her diagnosis. The first time I tried this mousse, it was love 00:26:07.16\00:26:13.20 at first bite! So easy, and avocadoes are so good for us. Yes, they are high in fat, but 00:26:13.20\00:26:18.73 it's a good, primarily monounsaturated plant-based fat. 00:26:18.73\00:26:23.43 Plus, a medium-sized avocado has a ton of potassium, is a good source of vitamin C, 00:26:23.43\00:26:28.56 B6, and magnesium, and has 14 grams of fibre Fantastic! 00:26:28.56\00:26:35.83 Definitely try this, and let me know what you think! So here, I'm just going to scoop some 00:26:35.83\00:26:39.80 out to show you -- and see how easy it was to do. And it's got 00:26:39.80\00:26:45.90 a lovely pudding, mousse consistency and it is so good for you and all of that. And if 00:26:45.90\00:26:53.60 you want to jazz it up a little bit, you can put some nice raspberries on top. Look 00:26:53.60\00:26:58.56 at that, makes it beautiful instantly. Now, about the 00:26:58.56\00:27:05.20 Vitamix, visit their website at vitamix.com for more information 00:27:05.20\00:27:09.73 about this superb blender. And, I hope you'll visit the Sanaview.com website to 00:27:09.73\00:27:14.16 learn more about Bethany and her remarkable story of regained 00:27:14.16\00:27:18.30 health. I'll see you next time. 00:27:18.30\00:27:20.36 >>BILL: All of the messages in this series are in a small book 00:27:27.36\00:27:30.43 I wrote called "David friend of God". I'd like you to have that 00:27:30.43\00:27:34.83 book. Here is the information you need. 00:27:34.83\00:27:37.43 >>BILL: Well, we have come to the end of another program, I 00:28:02.66\00:28:05.40 want to thank you so much for joining us. Remember to visit 00:28:05.40\00:28:08.76 the web site www.ItIsWrittenCanada.ca. On the web site you can send us prayer 00:28:08.76\00:28:14.03 requests, you can make a donation if you feel so impressed to do so. There is 00:28:14.03\00:28:19.10 also a "Watch Live" tab -- anytime we are appearing somewhere and if we are 00:28:19.10\00:28:23.63 streaming it, you will be able to watch it live on any mobile 00:28:23.63\00:28:28.23 device. Well we hope to be back together again next time. Until then remember, it is 00:28:28.23\00:28:31.70 written, man shall not live by bread alone, but be every word 00:28:31.70\00:28:37.33 that proceeds from the mouth of God. 00:28:37.33\00:28:41.43