Hello, I'm Kathy Matthews.
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And I'm glad
you are back with us
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on Thinking About Home.
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We've been
discussing the subject now
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on the decision making process.
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Well that's what we
are gonna discuss today.
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We've been discussing
the right use of the will.
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And this is one the most
interesting subjects to me.
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It was something
that I learned about
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several years ago
as I became a Christian
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and I started trying to
teach that to our children
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in the family
and my husband and I
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were very, very
excited about this subject
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and I think you will be too.
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We have with us
today Dr. David Sedlacek
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from Walmart Institute.
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Thanks for being with us again.
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Well thank you for having me.
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You know, this
particular program on the
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decision making
process is just gonna be
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fascinating I
think for people to see,
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and don't you
think it will be really
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useful for them and their
family with their children?
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I surely do, and
know it has been in mind.
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And not just for their children
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but for
themselves. That's right.
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But I would like for you
to go back over a little bit
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about Jesus plan for
restoring the human mind.
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I would to start
there before we go back
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into or rather we going into
the decision making process.
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Well, God's plan for
restoring the human mind
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basically is the
experience of the Christian
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where our
lives, our whole lives,
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including our
mind which is where the
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battle of the
great controversies
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really being played out. Right.
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It's our mind being submerged
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or being hidden in Christ.
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And when that happens
our experience is going to be
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the same as Jesus experience.
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And in John chapter
8, "I seek not to do
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My own will but the will
of my Father who sent Me."
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And he also said
in John 8:28 He said,
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"When you have
lifted up the Son of Man,
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then you will know that I am he,
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and that I do nothing of myself,
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but as my Father hath taught me,
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I speak these things."
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That will be
literally the experience
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of the restored Christian mind,
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speaking not of our own selves,
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doing not our own will,
but having our whole lives,
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our mind, our heart
hidden with Christ in God.
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Yeah, I know that I've
experienced those times,
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many times, really where
you wonder where that came from.
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You knew that it didn't really
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wasn't your thought processes,
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or something that
was significant to me
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and I realized that the Lord was
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guarding me at the moment.
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I was always in
His will and spoke
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in such a way that
it proved it to me.
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And, hiding, isn't it
kind of allusive though
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to understand how to hide
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your will and the Father's will?
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Is that difficult
for people to grasp?
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Well it is difficult
for many people to grasp
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because self gets
so much in the way.
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Questioning is that
me, is that the Father,
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who do I discern?
Okay. Yes, yes it is.
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The decision making
process, do you want to
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go into that now or you
have a lot to say in that area?
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I just can't wait.
Really, I like the subject.
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Sure. Well again instead
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we talked about the
king of the faculties
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of the mind being the
will and that originally
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every other faculty of the mind
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was in perfect
harmony with the will,
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which was in
perfect harmony with God.
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Sin is what destroyed that
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and Satan then became
our master, if you will.
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And he perverted the
faculties of the mind
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so that they took
ascendancy over the will.
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And so the will
was almost held in
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captivity or in bondage to him.
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And in God's plan of
restoration there are some
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very interesting
things that have happened.
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And so we want to
take a look at three
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other faculties of the
mind in particular, right now.
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And want to take a
look at the Conscience
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and we want to take a look at
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Reason or Common Sense,
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and we want to take a
look at Heart's Desire.
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It's interesting
that when we take
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a look at
Conscience for example,
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originally man was not aware
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of the need for right and wrong.
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Remember God told
Adam in the garden
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that he should not
eat of a particular tree,
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ant that
particular tree was the tree
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of the knowledge
of good and evil.
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Before man ate of that tree,
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he had no
awareness of conscience,
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no awareness of the
need for right and wrong.
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He just naturally
did that which was right.
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Yes, wouldn't that be wonderful
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if that was our
experience today?
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It surely would
be. It surely would be.
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But now as a part of
the plan of restoration
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since we live in a
falling world, yes,
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the idea is that we need
to live in the falling world
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with the knowledge of
good and evil in consciences,
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the faculty of the
mind which God has given us
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to be His voice to our soul.
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So it's like the
voice of the Holy Spirit
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like God told Elijah,
that's still small voice.
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And, and it is
conscience that tells us this is
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what's right and
this is what's wrong.
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And it's very
fascinating. We need that today.
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We need God
speaking to us in a holy way
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than perhaps He spoke
to Adam or related to Adam.
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Right. You know,
I think of this is
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what's right and
this is what's wrong
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and may be, you don't want
to talk about this just yet,
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but there is a lot
of people can understand
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what's right and what's wrong
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but their heart is not in it.
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And then I think
we will talk about
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the heart in a little
bit, but that's what I want
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to get into my
daughters and that's what
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I had always wanted.
They are little older now.
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That's what I had always wanted
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to get into my daughters is that
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heart's desire
and with the will,
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or rather with right and wrong
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and conscience and common sense.
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That's right. They all have to
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work together. Together, yes.
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But you know there
have been some things
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that have happened
with the conscience
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that have created some
difficulties for people.
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There are some people
who have what we call an
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overactive
conscience or oversensitive,
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overly
conscientious, and overly rigid
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who almost
scrupulous and so for them
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it's almost like they
have difficulty being human.
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They have
difficulty being spontaneous.
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They have
difficulty making mistakes.
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It's what we would
call almost perfectionism,
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where they, if they do,
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it's the typical
of people who are,
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who have black
and white thinking
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and it all has to be white.
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If they do anything wrong
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then they are
totally... Devastated!
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Devastated and lost or whatever.
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There is no
capacity to look at the
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normal human growth
and development processes,
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the process of making mistakes
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and learning from them. Right.
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So you have
people of that extreme
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that are scrupulous
and rigid and that's
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totally distractive
of intimacy of Jesus.
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And then you have people who are
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on way in the other extreme too.
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Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
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It's totally
distractive of intimacy--
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That's right. --with Jesus?
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That's right it is. Not without
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obedience to
Jesus, but intimacy.
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Intimacy with
Jesus. That's right.
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And the reason I say that
is if my whole focus is on,
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boy I have to do it
right or else I'm lost,
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then what happens is my focus
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is very much on myself.
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Now I want to pick out
another thing you just said,
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if my whole focus is on that.
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That's right. Okay, all right.
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And so we need to be
careful that our primary,
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the primary goal
the Christian life
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is a process of
learning to love Jesus
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with all of our
hearts, and of relating to Him
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and of trusting
Him that He is going to
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tell us if we are
getting a little off base. Yes.
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You know that voice of the sprit
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in conscience, you know,
if we trust that He loves us
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He is not, you
know, we are His children.
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He is not gonna
just let us go off
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without letting us know that.
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By that still small voice.
By the voice of conscience.
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Yes, okay. That's right.
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And then of
course we have people
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who are at the other extreme,
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who have no conscience at all.
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These are people that we might
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diagnose as being sociopathic.
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I remember hearing
about that in classes, yes.
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Yeah. They think nothing
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of killing people
or hurting people,
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but these are the
kind of people who make
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good hit man or, you know,
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or who almost or, you know,
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I can sell drugs it
doesn't matter to me
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how many people
lives are destroyed.
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Well I have question
there and it might not be
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as relevant, I just
want a quick answers.
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Is that something cultivated?
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Well, yes it is.
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It is cultivated you think,
not necessarily inherited?
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Well, I think
their elements have both
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there can be elements of both
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because we know that we inherit
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the
predispositions of our parents.
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Right, okay. And so a part of it
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maybe generationally cultivated.
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But more often
than not I don't know
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if it's only cultivated by the
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individual who's a sociopath.
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But very often what
happens is when young people
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who've been so destroyed through
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the experiences of
their younger years.
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And have been
exposed to things that have
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dent their conscience totally,
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they are the ones like a
lot of the young people today
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who are killing people in
high schools and so forth,
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for them their ability
to know right and wrong
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has been so
deadened either through
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the kinds of
things they listen to
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and music or the
things that they have been
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exposed to on
television, violence or perhaps
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even violence in their family
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or whatever it
maybe, all of these factors
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have resulted in
them basically having
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no capacity to
hear the voice of God
00:11:02.56\00:11:05.61
at all saying don't do that.
00:11:05.62\00:11:07.73
And instead that have
been opened to hearing
00:11:07.74\00:11:10.45
the voice of the
enemy, who was happy
00:11:10.46\00:11:13.02
to come in and say well,
yeah, and their selfishness.
00:11:13.03\00:11:17.63
I could see this is the
heartening of the heart.
00:11:17.64\00:11:21.05
No ability to hear
that voice anymore.
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It's been completely pushed out.
00:11:24.66\00:11:26.83
That's right. Okay.
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I didn't want to
go too far into that
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if you don't unless that's...
00:11:30.21\00:11:31.61
Oh, but that's very
relative that we're really
00:11:31.62\00:11:33.34
talking about today
because so many of our
00:11:33.35\00:11:35.64
young people are in
that kind of situation.
00:11:35.65\00:11:39.02
But there is hope for them.
00:11:39.03\00:11:40.59
That can be brought
back alive, can't it?
00:11:40.60\00:11:42.68
Yes it can. Yes it can.
00:11:42.69\00:11:44.87
Through Christ everything
can be restored. Amen.
00:11:44.88\00:11:47.76
But there has
to be a willingness
00:11:47.77\00:11:50.52
and a desire and a
seeing and so many times
00:11:50.53\00:11:55.19
that's the problem is
that they are in a situation
00:11:55.20\00:11:58.21
where they don't even
see or even want to see.
00:11:58.22\00:12:01.72
They are just dead and the
Lord can't do anything them.
00:12:01.73\00:12:07.63
Okay, now, what's
the next mental faculty?
00:12:08.99\00:12:12.48
Are you ready to talk
about the next mental faculty?
00:12:12.49\00:12:15.22
Yes I sure. That is,
00:12:15.23\00:12:17.96
wasn't it three
that works with the will?
00:12:17.97\00:12:21.00
That's right. Well you know...
00:12:21.01\00:12:22.24
Three nine ones.
Right, and each of them
00:12:22.25\00:12:24.62
have a vote, you
know in the decision
00:12:24.63\00:12:27.70
that's made and the
choice that will make,
00:12:27.71\00:12:29.75
so conscience
makes the question,
00:12:29.76\00:12:33.45
conscience asks us is
this writer who is wrong.
00:12:33.46\00:12:36.73
When we get over into a reason,
00:12:36.74\00:12:39.34
the next faculty we
are gonna be talking about,
00:12:39.35\00:12:42.92
it asked the question
does this make sense to do?
00:12:42.93\00:12:47.26
Or is it best? Is it best to do?
00:12:47.27\00:12:50.02
And so reason or
another way of saying
00:12:50.03\00:12:52.32
reason is common
sense asks, you know,
00:12:52.33\00:12:56.36
in evaluating a decision
or a potential decision.
00:12:56.37\00:13:00.56
Does this make
sense or is this the
00:13:00.57\00:13:02.07
best thing for me
to do? Yeah, right.
00:13:02.08\00:13:04.58
And again Satan
always has a perversion
00:13:04.59\00:13:07.05
for all of the mind faculties
00:13:07.06\00:13:09.71
and he is perversion for reason.
00:13:09.72\00:13:13.29
It goes something like this.
00:13:13.30\00:13:15.13
It doesn't matter
whether something is moral
00:13:16.91\00:13:20.45
what matter is
whether it suits me,
00:13:20.46\00:13:23.10
whether it's good for me.
00:13:23.11\00:13:24.88
So it doest matter
if it's right or wrong.
00:13:24.89\00:13:28.09
It's what can I get out of it.
00:13:28.10\00:13:30.12
Well, it's almost
like when you take
00:13:30.13\00:13:32.24
a look at the scientific method
00:13:32.25\00:13:35.11
apart from the
scriptures, you remember back
00:13:35.12\00:13:38.07
in the French
Revolution they had a goddess
00:13:38.08\00:13:40.82
they named the
Goddess of Reason, yes okay.
00:13:40.83\00:13:43.86
And so it was man
and man's reason being
00:13:43.87\00:13:46.89
exalted into the
position of God only
00:13:46.90\00:13:50.33
without consulting any
higher being or God at all.
00:13:50.34\00:13:55.99
And so whatever
makes sense to me,
00:13:56.00\00:13:58.12
whatever I can
reason out scientifically,
00:13:58.13\00:14:00.76
whatever I can
see, whatever makes
00:14:00.77\00:14:02.20
sense to me that's
what I'm gonna do alone.
00:14:02.21\00:14:05.49
That's my only and so we can
00:14:05.50\00:14:08.95
even make that
same mistake today.
00:14:08.96\00:14:10.40
Many people for example people
00:14:10.41\00:14:12.83
who are into creationist,
who are revolutionists
00:14:12.84\00:14:16.05
or other people who
only dig into science
00:14:16.06\00:14:19.68
using scientific method
apart from the scriptures,
00:14:19.69\00:14:22.50
now I'm not saying
scientific method is bad
00:14:22.51\00:14:24.94
in and of itself,
right, but it's bad when
00:14:24.95\00:14:27.03
it's done apart from God.
00:14:27.04\00:14:28.16
God's word. Exactly.
00:14:28.17\00:14:30.91
And so we can always
get into that trap of
00:14:30.92\00:14:32.70
exalting reason
as a mind faculty
00:14:32.71\00:14:36.02
above it's
proper position as well.
00:14:36.03\00:14:39.35
And so it says, you know,
does this makes sense to me.
00:14:39.36\00:14:42.29
We are gonna be getting some
00:14:42.30\00:14:43.33
illustrations of
that in a little while,
00:14:43.34\00:14:45.30
but that's the
second mind faculty.
00:14:45.31\00:14:48.37
And it makes sense that things
00:14:48.38\00:14:50.08
have to be reasonable to us.
00:14:50.09\00:14:52.24
I'm not gonna be make a
decision to do something
00:14:52.25\00:14:54.86
that doesn't make sense
and God doesn't except me
00:14:54.87\00:14:57.86
to make a
decision, typically about
00:14:57.87\00:15:00.75
something that
doesn't make sense.
00:15:00.76\00:15:02.90
Because God is
reasonable. Exactly.
00:15:02.91\00:15:05.94
And sensible, and logical.
00:15:05.95\00:15:08.85
And logical. He is
all of these things.
00:15:08.86\00:15:11.67
Now is that all
for common sense,
00:15:11.68\00:15:13.79
do we want to move into
the next one or is there
00:15:13.80\00:15:15.20
more on common
sense. Yes, lets go ahead
00:15:15.21\00:15:16.49
and move into the
next one to start with it.
00:15:16.50\00:15:19.65
And one is
called Heart's Desire.
00:15:19.66\00:15:22.00
Now Heart's Desire
is a beautiful thing
00:15:23.26\00:15:27.32
because in its
natural God given state,
00:15:27.33\00:15:31.45
heart's desire, gives us,
00:15:31.46\00:15:33.47
the capacity to be
connected with God's heart.
00:15:34.91\00:15:38.17
And this is the
feeling part of man.
00:15:38.18\00:15:40.40
It's the effective part of us
00:15:40.41\00:15:43.34
that gives us a longing for God.
00:15:43.35\00:15:47.72
To me the heart's
desire of everyman
00:15:47.73\00:15:51.46
is for a connection
with the heart of God.
00:15:51.47\00:15:55.97
There is the part of
us that only God can fill
00:15:55.98\00:15:59.85
and heart's desires that
00:15:59.86\00:16:01.38
part of us that gets us there.
00:16:01.39\00:16:04.01
But you know a
lot of people Kathy,
00:16:04.02\00:16:05.44
are afraid of this
thing called heart's desire.
00:16:05.45\00:16:09.24
They are much more comfortable,
00:16:09.25\00:16:10.59
with conscience, well conscience
00:16:10.60\00:16:12.87
or reasoning
because those are ones that
00:16:12.88\00:16:15.37
mainly are
intellectual faculties,
00:16:15.38\00:16:18.10
you know lot of us, you know,
00:16:18.11\00:16:19.26
in the Christian
world are much more
00:16:19.27\00:16:21.01
comfortable
living in the world of
00:16:21.02\00:16:22.68
the intellect than we are in the
00:16:22.69\00:16:24.69
world of feelings
and emotions, right.
00:16:24.70\00:16:28.89
But, you know,
00:16:28.90\00:16:29.87
a true character
being well rounded.
00:16:29.88\00:16:32.66
That's just what I
was gonna say a while ago.
00:16:32.67\00:16:34.20
These have to
be that way, right?
00:16:34.21\00:16:35.73
They had to be all in harmony.
00:16:35.74\00:16:39.07
They had to be well rounded
00:16:39.08\00:16:40.39
not one more
developed than the other.
00:16:40.40\00:16:42.95
Too much more developed I guess.
00:16:42.96\00:16:46.16
Or you've got that
off balance ability
00:16:46.17\00:16:48.83
to make a
decision, that's right, okay.
00:16:48.84\00:16:51.40
That's right, you
know, true characters
00:16:51.41\00:16:52.84
compose the both
thoughts and feelings.
00:16:52.85\00:16:54.37
Both are intellectual
world as well as are,
00:16:54.38\00:16:56.71
emotional, effective
and emotional feeling.
00:16:56.72\00:16:59.48
And when we don't acknowledge
00:16:59.49\00:17:01.34
the need for both, both,
00:17:01.35\00:17:03.94
then we are going to be skewed,
00:17:03.95\00:17:05.64
we are gonna either
be over-intellectual
00:17:05.65\00:17:08.03
or if we are skewed
toward emotions to much
00:17:08.04\00:17:10.62
which some people
are, they are gonna be
00:17:10.63\00:17:12.49
carried away by
feelings and not grounded.
00:17:12.50\00:17:15.28
It's gonna be like a
ship being battered by
00:17:15.29\00:17:17.93
a storm with no rudder
to guide the ship and so...
00:17:17.94\00:17:22.05
Can't ignore either one of them.
00:17:22.06\00:17:23.55
Either one of them.
00:17:23.56\00:17:24.61
And the most
beautiful thing is that
00:17:24.62\00:17:26.85
as I look at Jesus life,
He was perfectly balanced.
00:17:26.86\00:17:31.37
You know, He was always
intellectually in-charge.
00:17:31.38\00:17:36.13
He knew what He was doing.
00:17:36.14\00:17:37.18
He did everything with intent
00:17:37.19\00:17:39.19
but He also felt
deeply and you know,
00:17:39.20\00:17:42.55
He didn't put up
walls against feeling.
00:17:42.56\00:17:46.53
He kept himself open to feeling,
00:17:46.54\00:17:49.00
all the pain of
His life all the way
00:17:49.01\00:17:51.06
from childhood on through...
00:17:51.07\00:17:53.22
He didn't just shut that out.
00:17:54.23\00:17:55.63
He didn't shut it
out and I think that's
00:17:55.64\00:17:57.63
a part of His
call to us today is,
00:17:57.64\00:18:00.02
is a call to not
shutting it out anymore
00:18:00.03\00:18:02.10
and not to defending
against but being open to it.
00:18:02.11\00:18:05.37
And balanced with
it. And allowing Him
00:18:05.38\00:18:07.89
to be with us through
the pain of our experience.
00:18:07.90\00:18:11.71
Right, our
experience really does have
00:18:11.72\00:18:13.56
quite a bit of
pain in Christ I think.
00:18:13.57\00:18:17.48
And with Him though
we learn to cope with it,
00:18:17.49\00:18:20.59
learn to handle it,
well, learn to let that happen.
00:18:20.60\00:18:23.33
Well, that's true and the reason
00:18:23.34\00:18:25.38
that we can is that He promised
00:18:25.39\00:18:28.89
that He would never
leave us nor forsake us.
00:18:28.90\00:18:31.86
That He would always
be with us in trouble,
00:18:31.87\00:18:34.59
and that is a
beautiful aspect of Jesus
00:18:34.60\00:18:40.68
to experience Him
not only as a savior,
00:18:40.69\00:18:44.61
and but also as a
comforter, that's one of the
00:18:44.62\00:18:48.38
greatest needs of
human beings today
00:18:48.39\00:18:51.25
is to connect with Jesus
00:18:51.26\00:18:52.53
I think in new and fresh ways,
00:18:52.54\00:18:55.00
ways that really related to the
00:18:55.01\00:18:57.57
human experience
in a fallen world.
00:18:57.58\00:19:00.99
But Jesus is not
gonna leave us comfortless,
00:19:01.00\00:19:03.53
that's the part of the reason
00:19:03.54\00:19:04.53
why He sent the Holy Spirit.
00:19:04.54\00:19:06.03
And this will carry us through
00:19:06.04\00:19:07.16
our harder times right? Exactly.
00:19:07.17\00:19:09.21
Part of that, and when
you talk about heart's desire,
00:19:09.22\00:19:12.09
I think of something
that I've read in the past
00:19:12.10\00:19:14.76
out of one of my
favorite author's books,
00:19:14.77\00:19:17.99
it has to do with, it
might have been education
00:19:19.72\00:19:22.39
or mind charactering
personality I'm not sure.
00:19:22.40\00:19:24.81
But it had to do
with if our affections
00:19:24.82\00:19:29.63
are not wrapped
up with the truth,
00:19:29.64\00:19:31.72
then truth alone
will not carry us through.
00:19:31.73\00:19:34.56
That's exactly right.
00:19:34.57\00:19:35.56
You know, we have to
have a love of the truth.
00:19:35.57\00:19:40.33
And that love of
course is the heart's desire.
00:19:40.34\00:19:43.72
It's wrapped up with it.
00:19:43.73\00:19:44.70
It's not just
because it's right,
00:19:44.71\00:19:45.99
not just because it's
best, but because I love it
00:19:46.00\00:19:49.93
and that's what you will die
00:19:49.94\00:19:51.52
for truth when it's like that.
00:19:51.53\00:19:53.98
And not only die for the truth
00:19:53.99\00:19:55.68
but for a love of
the giver of the truth,
00:19:55.69\00:19:59.18
that Jesus said He
is the truth, right.
00:19:59.19\00:20:01.63
And so we love Jesus and
He leads us into all truth.
00:20:01.64\00:20:06.53
Okay, now, are
you wanting to start
00:20:06.54\00:20:10.56
with how you taught your son?
00:20:10.57\00:20:12.98
Or you finished with that?
00:20:12.99\00:20:14.19
Well, I want to say
a little bit more about
00:20:14.20\00:20:17.32
the perversion
of heart's desire.
00:20:17.33\00:20:19.01
Yes, we are going
to, well I'm anxious
00:20:19.02\00:20:22.71
to hear how you taught it.
00:20:22.72\00:20:24.48
But I'll let you
start with heart's desire.
00:20:24.49\00:20:26.16
Well, the vote of
heart's desire is do I want it,
00:20:26.17\00:20:30.73
and very often
today that do I want it
00:20:32.03\00:20:36.62
is what Satan
uses to draw us away
00:20:36.63\00:20:41.30
from wanting what
God's wants for me.
00:20:41.31\00:20:45.18
See again
ideally my heart's desire
00:20:45.19\00:20:47.48
is in perfect oneness with
God's heart's desire for me.
00:20:47.49\00:20:51.60
That's ideally.
And so the question is,
00:20:51.61\00:20:54.15
does God want this for me
00:20:54.16\00:20:55.60
not only do I want this alone?
00:20:55.61\00:20:57.42
Can heart's desire be
mixed up with just selfishness?
00:20:57.43\00:21:00.57
It sure can, okay. It sure can.
00:21:00.58\00:21:02.64
And that's one of
the avenues through which
00:21:02.65\00:21:04.82
heart's desire
does get perverted,
00:21:04.83\00:21:06.88
you know, the
Madison Avenue hype of,
00:21:06.89\00:21:09.75
boy I have to have
the most wonderful car
00:21:09.76\00:21:12.69
or all the, for
example designer clothes,
00:21:12.70\00:21:16.35
commercials today too leads us
00:21:16.36\00:21:18.50
into the perversion of passion.
00:21:18.51\00:21:23.09
And so those are ways
that Satan uses a lot.
00:21:23.10\00:21:26.06
We could talk a lot about that,
00:21:26.07\00:21:27.41
but I know we
wanna get into how.
00:21:27.42\00:21:30.15
Well, we'll be
talking about sometime
00:21:30.16\00:21:31.54
how Satan destroys our capacity
00:21:31.55\00:21:33.52
in the next program, right.
00:21:33.53\00:21:35.07
That's right,
okay, that's right.
00:21:35.08\00:21:37.22
Okay, now were you
finished with heart's desire?
00:21:37.23\00:21:39.40
Yes. Okay.
00:21:39.41\00:21:40.94
I want to hear how you
talked through your son?
00:21:40.95\00:21:43.27
Well, you know,
we, I tried to involve
00:21:43.28\00:21:46.58
Michael even in
decisions that I make.
00:21:46.59\00:21:50.67
And let me give you an example
00:21:50.68\00:21:51.98
that recently was an
example for us in our family.
00:21:51.99\00:21:56.03
For a while I've
been wanting a truck.
00:21:58.09\00:22:00.81
You too? Yes.
00:22:02.03\00:22:04.04
I have been
wanting a truck and so...
00:22:04.05\00:22:07.16
Well, you have to crucify
heart's desire now. No, yes?
00:22:07.17\00:22:11.13
No, no. Okay.
00:22:11.14\00:22:13.39
Not necessarily. Okay.
00:22:13.40\00:22:14.93
Because, you know,
as I began sharing,
00:22:14.94\00:22:17.45
you know, with
Michael, my son about
00:22:17.46\00:22:21.42
wanting a truck
but every morning
00:22:21.43\00:22:23.82
Michael in his
prayers would pray,
00:22:23.83\00:22:25.68
well daddy please give my,
00:22:25.69\00:22:28.82
Father please give
my daddy a truck, okay.
00:22:28.83\00:22:32.04
That would be a
part of his prayer
00:22:32.05\00:22:33.33
and became quite
important to Michael,
00:22:33.34\00:22:36.14
probably more important
to him than it was to me
00:22:36.15\00:22:38.71
even though I
certainly wanted a truck too.
00:22:38.72\00:22:42.22
And so if we
wanted to take a look
00:22:42.23\00:22:43.59
at our mind faculties, you know,
00:22:43.60\00:22:45.69
a decision should I buy a truck
00:22:45.70\00:22:47.40
or shouldn't I buy a truck,
you know, the first one is,
00:22:47.41\00:22:50.46
you know, we would want to take
00:22:50.47\00:22:51.50
a look at heart's desire. Right.
00:22:51.51\00:22:53.74
You know, this is something
that he wanted and I wanted.
00:22:54.81\00:23:00.31
We wanted to do
some off-roading.
00:23:01.89\00:23:03.88
We wanted to be able
to do a little of hauling
00:23:03.89\00:23:06.48
of this or that
and we couldn't do it
00:23:06.49\00:23:09.13
with just a little
car that we had and so,
00:23:09.14\00:23:12.47
we had a desire for a
truck and we do some camping
00:23:12.48\00:23:16.84
and we would like to be able
00:23:16.85\00:23:17.82
to throw this
stuff in the back, right,
00:23:17.83\00:23:18.80
of the truck and some...
00:23:18.81\00:23:20.03
Reasonable, a
reasonable thought.
00:23:20.04\00:23:22.31
Exactly. So we had a desire
00:23:22.32\00:23:24.29
for a truck and the
question in our prayer
00:23:24.30\00:23:27.04
first of all was, well Lord,
00:23:27.05\00:23:28.80
you know, is my desire valid.
00:23:28.81\00:23:32.17
You know, a lot of
a struggle with that.
00:23:32.18\00:23:33.60
You know, I struggle
with that sometimes too.
00:23:33.61\00:23:37.10
Is it okay for me
to have desires, Lord?
00:23:37.11\00:23:39.61
Is it okay for
me to want things?
00:23:39.62\00:23:42.04
And sometimes, you
know, I think that we almost
00:23:42.05\00:23:47.45
in the name of
Christianity deny simple desires
00:23:47.46\00:23:52.94
and pleasures
that God has for us.
00:23:52.95\00:23:56.50
Right, well I
can relate to that.
00:23:56.51\00:23:58.09
And sometime back
we gave up our home,
00:23:58.10\00:24:01.76
and well the home that
the girls liked so much.
00:24:01.77\00:24:04.33
It wasn't our
home, but it was the home
00:24:04.34\00:24:05.81
that they liked so
much and have never
00:24:05.82\00:24:08.83
we gained that in
the past four years.
00:24:10.27\00:24:12.56
So the thought has
always been it's surely is okay
00:24:12.57\00:24:18.86
that I want a home
in this world today.
00:24:18.87\00:24:21.56
Well, it certainly is
okay that you wanna home.
00:24:21.57\00:24:23.61
You know, God told us that
00:24:23.62\00:24:25.74
we need to have
a home of our own
00:24:25.75\00:24:27.20
and preferably in the country
00:24:27.21\00:24:28.89
and for our families and
so those kinds of desires
00:24:28.90\00:24:31.65
that are in
harmony with God's will,
00:24:31.66\00:24:34.01
are perfectly legitimate.
00:24:34.02\00:24:36.06
But I want to talk a
little bit about reason too now
00:24:36.07\00:24:38.78
and how, how we taught
Michael about reasoning
00:24:38.79\00:24:42.81
and so I began asking him
00:24:42.82\00:24:45.21
about this truck again, well,
00:24:45.22\00:24:48.10
what would be
reasonable in terms of a truck?
00:24:48.11\00:24:50.78
And so began
talking about things like,
00:24:52.21\00:24:55.17
things like, what kind of truck
00:24:55.18\00:24:58.38
would best suit our situation?
00:24:58.39\00:25:02.82
You know, should we get
a four-wheel drive truck,
00:25:02.83\00:25:04.73
should we get a
two wheel drive truck,
00:25:04.74\00:25:06.25
should we, you
know, we need to take
00:25:06.26\00:25:09.31
a look at it
mechanically, you know,
00:25:09.32\00:25:10.75
if we are gonna buy used truck
00:25:10.76\00:25:11.80
which is all we could afford.
00:25:11.81\00:25:14.55
How can we do that and we need,
00:25:14.56\00:25:18.76
I saw, I used it
as an object lesson
00:25:18.77\00:25:20.57
to teach him about how
to evaluate whether a truck,
00:25:20.58\00:25:24.69
any purchase of
the truck was good.
00:25:24.70\00:25:26.09
In other words you
look at the mechanics of it.
00:25:26.10\00:25:28.28
You check it all
out and we look at
00:25:28.29\00:25:30.59
a couple of trucks
and I used it as a way
00:25:30.60\00:25:33.45
of teaching him
about where to look,
00:25:33.46\00:25:35.24
and how to look, and how to
00:25:35.25\00:25:36.32
evaluate mechanically a truck
00:25:36.33\00:25:37.86
and maybe take it to a mechanic
00:25:37.87\00:25:39.91
and all those kinds
of things, the reasonable
00:25:39.92\00:25:43.04
aspects of a
truck. The common sense?
00:25:43.05\00:25:46.42
Yeah, the common sense almost.
00:25:46.43\00:25:47.81
You're not gonna buy something
00:25:47.82\00:25:48.84
that's gonna fall
apart. Right, okay.
00:25:48.85\00:25:51.02
You know,
especially if you gonna invest
00:25:51.03\00:25:52.29
a little bit of money into it.
00:25:52.30\00:25:53.65
You don't want to do that.
00:25:53.66\00:25:55.25
And so we started
taking a look at that
00:25:55.26\00:25:57.53
and we take a look at
that things like well,
00:25:57.54\00:26:01.58
about financing a truck.
00:26:01.59\00:26:02.94
Are we gonna
finance or not finance it?
00:26:02.95\00:26:05.27
And we don't want
to go into depth that's
00:26:05.28\00:26:06.65
a big value of ours to
try not to go into depth
00:26:06.66\00:26:09.73
and so to try and find
00:26:09.74\00:26:11.23
something nice
that is affordable.
00:26:11.24\00:26:13.31
That all goes into
the element of reason.
00:26:13.32\00:26:15.61
And then the next
one is conscience,
00:26:16.94\00:26:20.23
which is, is it
right or is it wrong
00:26:20.24\00:26:23.26
and the kinds of
question that we talked about
00:26:23.27\00:26:27.63
in the area of conscience was,
00:26:27.64\00:26:30.03
well if I do, if
I do this is this
00:26:30.04\00:26:34.78
something that is
really pleasing to good.
00:26:34.79\00:26:37.92
Am I gonna be putting
a big weight on my family
00:26:37.93\00:26:42.37
by purchasing this truck?
Am I gonna be sacrificing,
00:26:42.38\00:26:45.52
you know, other
needs of for the family,
00:26:46.81\00:26:49.58
other things that
we need more than this?
00:26:49.59\00:26:51.48
Or the cause of God.
00:26:51.49\00:26:52.63
Or the cause of God, you know.
00:26:52.64\00:26:53.95
I want to, you
know, if I purchase this
00:26:53.96\00:26:56.39
that the money
that I have, you know,
00:26:56.40\00:26:58.97
is this what God wants me
to do it, with this money.
00:26:58.98\00:27:01.77
Need good store. Exactly.
00:27:01.78\00:27:03.39
So we begin
talking in those areas
00:27:03.40\00:27:05.23
about conscience and so we went
00:27:05.24\00:27:08.80
through that whole process
00:27:08.81\00:27:09.80
and I taught him
that every single decision
00:27:09.81\00:27:12.08
he makes whether it's at school
00:27:12.09\00:27:13.45
or whether it's at home,
00:27:13.46\00:27:14.86
whether it's at a
present or the future,
00:27:14.87\00:27:16.55
he goes through
either consciously
00:27:16.56\00:27:19.32
or unconsciously
this three step process
00:27:19.33\00:27:22.50
of evaluating conscience, reason
00:27:22.51\00:27:24.90
and heart's desire
before any decision is made.
00:27:24.91\00:27:28.53
Well, now we want to
talk a little bit more this.
00:27:29.87\00:27:33.03
I hope we can do
more on the next program.
00:27:33.04\00:27:36.20
I'd like to continue that.
00:27:36.21\00:27:37.64
But we are also
gonna be talking about,
00:27:37.65\00:27:40.11
how Satan seeks to
destroy our capacity to choose?
00:27:40.12\00:27:43.77
We want you to understand
00:27:43.78\00:27:45.91
this process of decision making.
00:27:45.92\00:27:47.74
We want you to be able
to choose, and we will be
00:27:47.75\00:27:50.06
back again, right? Yes we will.
00:27:50.07\00:27:52.10
And if you want
more information,
00:27:52.11\00:27:53.50
you can call or
write @3ABN and I want to
00:27:53.51\00:27:56.91
invite you again on
Thinking About Home.
00:27:56.92\00:27:58.85