Participants: John & Angela Lomacang (Host), Janelle & Donald Owen & Dee Hilderbrand
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW016022A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:07 Hello and welcome to Friday Night Family Worship. 01:11 I'm here with my lovely wife. 01:13 What is your name sweetheart? 01:14 Angela. And I'm glad to be here. 01:15 You know something, hon, wherever we travel to, 01:18 what do people say? 01:19 We love Family Worship. 01:21 We love Friday Night Family Worship. 01:22 And it's good to be here to do another program 01:25 and we have some distinguished guests with us today, 01:29 people that are a part of our 3ABN family. 01:32 And we have one that's often on the other side of the set, 01:35 you'll meet her today, 01:37 and two others that are husband and wife. 01:40 And so I think it'll be good to go ahead 01:41 and introduce them right now at this time 01:43 since they're a part of our 01:45 Family Worship time for tonight. 01:46 We'll start, to my right... 01:49 Go ahead, Dee, tell those who are watching, 01:51 who you are and what you do. 01:52 And if you miss anything, I'm going to fill it in. 01:54 And how long you've been here. Okay. 01:55 I'm Dee Hilderbrand. 01:57 I've actually been here 20 years now at 3ABN. 01:59 This is where God has planted me 02:01 and I work behind the scenes. 02:03 I'm Production Coordinator and I'm kind of a go for. 02:07 I go and help and do whatever needs to be done 02:09 and I do scheduling. 02:11 So I'm always scheduling the programs 02:13 and scheduling the camera people 02:15 and the studios and the group. 02:17 She's involved with the church too. 02:18 And church yeah, and the church treasurer, so... 02:21 Yeah. That's right. 02:22 God keeps me very busy, 02:23 so I stay out of trouble, we hope. 02:26 Good to have you here, Dee. Yeah. 02:27 Your first time on Family Worship. 02:29 Glad to have you here. 02:30 On set, yes, 02:31 but not my first time doing Family Worship. 02:33 Exactly. That's true. 02:34 You have a long history there too. 02:36 And to our far left, let's start with the gentleman. 02:40 Donald Owen, yes, I have been here about two and half years. 02:44 I worked originally as a Studio Manager, 02:47 but I kind of stepped back some hours, I'm on call now. 02:50 But I'm going and doing a lot of things 02:51 in the community. 02:52 We run a group called Celebrating Life and Recovery, 02:54 my wife and I, 02:55 we do a lot of other evangelistic things 02:58 in the community, community outreach. 02:59 So we're extremely busy actually, 03:01 Bible study with people personally, 03:03 so I'm really busy in the community doing things 03:05 and reaching those that are hungry to know Jesus. 03:08 Good to have you here Donald. Yes. 03:09 And you mentioned your wife. 03:10 I'll go ahead and let you introduce yourself. 03:12 And this is my wonderful wife Janelle. 03:13 Thank you. 03:15 My name is Janelle Owen 03:17 and I work in the Publishing Department 03:19 and mostly with the 3ABN World Magazine 03:22 and any other creative projects that come through. 03:26 And as Donald said, we are both really involved 03:28 in personal ministries which we love. 03:31 And so it's definitely something 03:33 God has called us to do. 03:34 Amen. 03:35 And so if you've seen the 3ABN World Magazine, 03:37 you have seen the work of Janelle Owen. 03:39 That's right. 03:40 She is part of the creative team. 03:41 There's a creative team 03:43 but she is the one that weekly or monthly 03:45 sits down with the editors, 03:47 Bobby Davis one of the editors, and gets that magazine ready. 03:50 Thank you for the work that you both do. 03:51 Praise the Lord. 03:52 And glad to have you both here on our set today. 03:55 Now we're gonna do number of things, 03:57 we're going to talk about the topic, 03:58 what's our topic today, hon? 04:00 Do you know the topic title? 04:01 It's about faith, isn't it? 04:02 Yeah. About increasing our faith. 04:04 Increasing our faith. We all need that. 04:05 Okay, I'll tell you. 04:07 What we need more than an increased bank balance 04:09 is a stronger faith, 04:11 because if your bank balance is low, 04:13 your faith makes up the difference, 04:16 because it connects us to the God 04:18 who has no deficit. 04:20 So we're gonna talk about your spiritual faith, 04:22 we're gonna talk about how faith is developed 04:24 and every one of us is on a faith walk still. 04:26 It began somewhere 04:27 and we know that one day we're gonna see our faith 04:29 walk made sight. 04:32 So we're gonna talk about increasing our faith today. 04:34 We're gonna also sing some songs. 04:35 What I'd like to do is have you begin with prayer, 04:38 then we're gonna sing our songs today, 04:40 each of the songs are faith based. 04:42 And we have someone that's gonna be playing for us today. 04:44 After you have the prayer, I'll introduce who she is, 04:47 and then we'll go ahead sing our songs. 04:48 And then dive into this very important topic 04:52 of how to increase your faith. 04:54 Okay, well, let's pray. 04:56 Our Father in heaven, Lord, we bow before Your presence 04:58 this Friday night 05:00 and we give You the praise and the honor 05:02 which is due to You and You alone. 05:04 We thank You for this opportunity. 05:06 We pray that as many people 05:09 are viewing this family worship, 05:12 we pray that they too will receive a blessing. 05:15 Thank you Lord. 05:16 I pray that Your Holy Spirit will come 05:18 and abide here with us 05:20 and may the Spirit of God abide 05:23 in the homes of our viewers and listeners also. 05:26 Thank you for this opportunity. 05:28 And Lord, thank You and praise You. 05:30 In the lovely and the precious name of Jesus. 05:33 Amen. Amen. 05:35 And we always like to sing songs, 05:37 sometimes it's praise songs, sometimes it's hymns, 05:40 tonight it's hymns. 05:42 And if you have a hymnal at home, 05:43 we're gonna sing hymn number 523 05:46 "My faith has found a resting place," 05:49 let's sing that song together. 05:54 My faith has found a resting place, 05:58 Not in a man-made creed; 06:02 I trust the Ever-living One, 06:06 That He for me will plead. 06:10 I need no other evidence, 06:14 I need no other plea; 06:19 It is enough that Jesus died, 06:23 And rose again for me. 06:26 The last stanza. 06:28 The great Physician Heals the sick, 06:32 The lost He came to save; 06:36 For me His precious blood He shed, 06:40 For me His life He gave. 06:44 I need no other evidence, 06:48 I need no other plea; 06:52 It is enough that Jesus died, 06:57 And rose again for me. 07:01 Amen. 07:03 'My faith has found a resting place.' 07:05 And that faith that has found a resting place, 07:08 when it's connected to God, it fits into this next song 07:11 'Great is Thy faithfulness.' 07:14 Number 100, we're gonna sing the first and last stanza 07:19 of 'Great is Thy faithfulness.' 07:22 Great is Thy faithfulness, 07:26 O God my Father 07:30 There is no shadow 07:34 Of turning with Thee; 07:38 Thour changest not, 07:41 Thy compassions, they fail not; 07:46 As Thou hast been 07:49 Thou forever wilt be; 07:54 Great is Thy faithfulness! 07:58 Great is Thy faithfulness! 08:02 Morning by morning 08:06 New mercies I see; 08:10 All I have needed 08:14 Thy hand hath provided, 08:19 Great is Thy faithfulness! 08:23 Lord unto me! 08:27 Pardon for sin 08:31 And a peace that endureth, 08:35 Thy own dear presence 08:39 To cheer and to guide; 08:43 Strength for today 08:46 And bright hope for tomorrow, 08:51 Blessing all mine, 08:55 With ten thousand beside. 08:59 Great is Thy faithfulness! 09:03 Great is Thy faithfulness! 09:07 Morning by morning 09:11 New mercies I see; 09:15 All I have needed 09:19 Thy hand hath provided, 09:24 Great is Thy faithfulness! 09:28 Lord unto me! 09:34 And when you have that abiding faith 09:35 that is centered in Christ, this song 590, 09:39 'I trust and obey' fits wonderfully. 09:41 By the way, Summer is at the piano today 09:43 playing for us. 09:44 Summer Boyd, and we just really enjoy 09:47 the gift that God has given to her 09:49 to accompany us in these wonderful songs, 09:50 590 'I trust and obey.' 09:53 When we walk with the Lord 09:57 In the light of His Word, 10:01 What a glory He sheds on our way! 10:07 While we do His good will, 10:11 He abides with us still, 10:15 And with all Who will trust and obey. 10:22 Trust and obey, 10:25 For there's no other way 10:29 To be happy in Jesus, 10:34 But to trust and obey. 10:38 Then in fellowship sweet 10:42 We will sit at His feet, 10:46 or we'll walk by His side in the way; 10:52 What He says we will do, 10:56 Where He sends we will go, 11:00 Never fear, only trust and obey. 11:06 Let us Trust and obey, 11:10 For there's no other way 11:14 To be happy in Jesus, 11:19 but to trust and obey. 11:24 Amen. Thank you, Dee. 11:27 Donald, Janelle, thank you. 11:29 Now I got to tell our audience 11:31 what prompted the title of this study today 'Faith.' 11:35 You know, in Luke 18:8, 11:37 there's a question that Jesus asks. 11:40 And if you have your Bibles at home, 11:41 you can turn there with us. 11:42 There's a question that Jesus posed 11:45 that really got me to think about faith 11:50 and how important it is to have. 11:52 You know, in this generation we live, 11:53 there are so many things we rely on, 11:55 we rely on texting, and emails, 11:58 we rely on our electricity being on, 12:01 we rely on our friends being there for us, 12:04 our credit card to work when we swipe it, 12:06 our cars to get us to our destination 12:08 when we drive it, 12:10 we rely on people that said they would 12:11 but sometimes they don't 12:13 and we all fall into those categories once in a while, 12:15 but this is a bigger question. 12:17 Jesus asks in Luke 18:8, 12:18 "I tell you that he will avenge them speedily." 12:21 speaking about his children, 12:23 "Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes," 12:25 here is the question, 12:26 "will he really find faith on the earth?" 12:30 And that's a powerful question, 12:31 you know, when we think about the fact that we're identified 12:33 as those who have the faith of Jesus, 12:36 we have to ask the question, 12:40 is our faith challenged on a daily basis? 12:43 Are we ever challenged in our faith walk? 12:46 Are we ever challenged in our faith community? 12:49 Is our faith challenged sometimes one to the other? 12:51 Yes. You know, we all... 12:54 So we're gonna talk about faith today. 12:56 And instead of this being 12:58 a text, to text, to text, to text, to text, 12:59 we're gonna open it up and each person 13:01 is gonna kind of share her faith journey, 13:04 your faith journey, 13:05 and how these texts actually 13:07 in anyway apply to your walk with the Lord. 13:10 And so let's go ahead, I'll just lay the foundation 13:13 and maybe for the sake of going around in a number of order. 13:16 We'll just go ahead and start with Janelle... 13:18 Don, then Janelle, then Ange, and then Dee, 13:21 and then I'll come back to five. 13:23 But we can all, 13:25 you know, intersperse what thoughts come to our mind. 13:28 I'll just begin with the... 13:30 beginning thought since I read. 13:31 Could you read that for me, hon? 13:32 That's kind of small but I think you can see it. 13:35 Hebrews 11:6. 13:37 Well, actually, yeah, Hebrews 11:6. 13:38 Okay. 13:40 Let's turn there 13:41 because I didn't have it on our syllabus. 13:43 Let's turn to that one. Yes. 13:45 We're gonna begin with Hebrews 11:6. 13:48 Actually, it is in our syllabus. 13:49 It is. It's on the number 3. 13:51 It's actually on the number 3. Yeah. 13:52 For those of you that are viewing, 13:53 you can turn there with us. 13:55 In the Bible. 13:56 It says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him. 14:00 For He who comes to God must believe that He is 14:05 and that He is a rewarder of those 14:07 that diligently seek Him." 14:09 Mm-hm! Diligently. 14:11 So in the just the initial thought, 14:14 I'm gonna just lay this. 14:16 This is faith is trust in God. 14:19 It is confidence 14:21 in the one that always honors His word. 14:24 Faith increases in a close relationship with God 14:28 who cares for us 14:30 and always wants the best for us. 14:32 The more we know Him, the more we will trust Him. 14:37 So that's kind of laying the foundation, 14:38 it's a faith based, it's a relationship, 14:40 a close relationship. 14:42 So how many people do you know 14:45 that you could say are really close friends? 14:47 You don't have to give their names. 14:48 Do you have really close friends? 14:49 Not very many but yeah. 14:52 Just a few. 14:55 One or two or three. Yeah. 14:57 Very close. 14:58 You've known for... 14:59 I think its people you've known for a long time. 15:02 Yeah. 15:03 And so when you use the word close, 15:05 they are really the kind of person 15:06 that could tell you what you need to hear. 15:07 Of course. Support you and back you up. 15:10 You can really depend on them. 15:12 They tell you the truth in love. 15:14 And you know they love you 15:16 and that's why you're able to accept 15:18 what they're saying. 15:21 You've got anything else about a close friend? 15:23 I think Dee had it. She did. 15:25 I was just going to say the truth because, for me, 15:28 you know, with Don and I, and other close friends, 15:32 when someone tell you the truth, 15:33 you don't always want to hear it at first, 15:35 but then you think about it later 15:36 and you're like they're right and you appreciate that, 15:39 and I appreciate that, and Don and our friends too. 15:42 Yeah. 15:43 There's a Proverbs about that too. 15:45 Oh, yeah, I was looking it up here. 15:47 It goes, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; 15:51 but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." 15:54 That's a powerful text because, you know, 15:56 we can all attest it because sometimes when you tell, 15:58 when your friends tell you the truth, 16:00 what's another proverb about truth. 16:02 The truth... Just want to smack them. 16:05 I said you just want to smack them at first. 16:10 That's a real response. Yeah. 16:11 Sometimes we say, I don't want to hear that, 16:14 but then the truth hurts sometimes. 16:17 But a friend will kind of cut you with the truth 16:19 and they'll just say, you know, Dee, get a hold of yourself. 16:22 But you know they love you 16:24 because I've had people who I didn't think really 16:28 had my best interest at heart tell me the same thing 16:31 that maybe a friend tells you, 16:33 but coming from a friend you know that love is there 16:36 and even if it hurts, 16:37 but I'm more likely the one to want to smack the enemy 16:40 when they're telling me because I know 16:42 they're telling me out of criticism 16:45 and not out of love. 16:47 Exactly. Yeah. 16:48 There's a fine line. 16:49 My sister, she does that, she tells me the truth. 16:52 And you tell her the truth. I do. 16:54 And my brother, I tell them the truth. 16:55 We're very straight with each other. 16:57 Yeah, and I appreciate it. I love her. 16:59 But you can be, 17:00 you know, I've discovered you can be truthful and honest 17:04 in a loving, caring way. 17:06 And that's why we can trust the Lord. 17:09 He gives it to us as easily as we allow Him to. 17:14 Yeah. 17:16 That's the good way of saying it. Yeah. 17:17 And then sometimes there are people 17:19 that are really not your friends 17:21 and they'll tell you what they think by saying, 17:24 "I'm only telling you this, Don, because I love you." 17:27 What's the big phrase, bless your heart? 17:29 Yeah, bless your heart. 17:31 So I make acceptables. 17:33 Yeah, I'm only telling you this. 17:35 This is not a criticism, however. 17:37 And then they go ahead and give it to you 17:39 and you think, well, they're only saying 17:41 'cause they're not my friends anyway, 17:43 they just found a suitable way to give me a jab. 17:45 But that's not how the lord is. 17:47 So let's, kind of, I'm gonna throw the ball to you, Don. 17:50 Just dive into the first one, 17:51 we'll go down the list, kind of, around. 17:53 Go to the first one. 17:55 Proverbs 3:5, 6. Yeah, the line right above. 17:58 Okay, faith requires a full heart surrender. 18:02 How important is that our heart is fully into this? 18:05 Proverbs 3:5, 6, we'll look there if you want 18:09 to turn to Proverbs 3. 18:10 I'll read it. 18:12 Sure. 18:13 See what we got. 18:14 I've actually got something that's popping in my head 18:16 as I'm reading this. 18:18 Proverbs 3:5 says, 18:20 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart," 18:23 all thine heart, 18:24 not just a little, not some, all, 18:26 "and lean not unto thine own understanding." 18:28 I'm very guilty of that." 18:30 "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, 18:32 and He shall direct thy path." 18:34 So who's actually directing our path? 18:37 Who is that? 18:38 That's kind of interesting 18:40 because before we first came to the 3ABN, 18:43 Janelle had actually put in an application 18:45 through Facebook, 18:46 and we weren't sure 18:48 what was going to happen with that 18:49 and I was kind of like, "Oh, man, 18:51 I know she's got graphic design skills, 18:52 what do I have?" 18:53 That's what I had to bring here. 18:55 So I'm like, I don't know what to do. 18:56 And something popped in my head, 18:57 you know, I used to sort of do little 18:59 camera work and stuff as a kid, 19:00 it wasn't much but just a little bit. 19:02 So I said, "Well, maybe I can get in that way." 19:04 So we came and interviewed, 19:06 but the amazing things we saw before that happened 19:09 and after really increased our faith. 19:11 First God spoke to me in a very direct way. 19:15 She was really struggling with moving from Indiana 19:17 because all of her family has been there, 19:19 that's where she's known all her life. 19:20 I kind of float around like a nomad. 19:22 I just go wherever, but she just stays put, 19:24 she's at one place. 19:25 And the Lord impressed me to tell her 19:27 when she was struggling with this, 19:28 just said, you know, think about Abraham, and Isaac 19:31 when they went up the mountain, 19:32 faith it took to go up the mountain. 19:34 Actually, sorry, I have to correct you on that, 19:36 because we didn't come to that until later 19:40 because actually we talked about this later 19:45 and it was Abraham and Isaac 19:46 that we're both thinking about and he said it 19:48 after I was already thinking about it. 19:50 And then as we both talked about, 19:52 we realized the other was thinking about 19:54 Abraham and Isaac. 19:55 So that wasn't actually until later. 19:56 Well, the thing was that there was three times 19:58 it was shown through various ways, 20:01 Abraham and Isaac, and the last one 20:02 was when we were in church with the young lady, 20:04 she opened right to that particular section, 20:06 the Bible pointed to it next to her. 20:08 She said, "Okay, Lord. I get the point." 20:10 So we ended up coming here and we are like, 20:12 we were basically poor, we had no money. 20:15 I had $10 to my name at that point to get here. 20:18 Ten? We camped out... Yes. 20:19 At Rend Lake. 20:22 We camped out there 20:23 and I had to carry books with me everywhere I go. 20:25 So I had the Great Controversy. 20:27 And that morning, I felt pressed 20:28 to talk to this gentleman 20:29 who had a fold-up bike. 20:31 I'm like, "Man, that's a really neat bike you got there." 20:32 And he tells me his life, 20:34 all these things that he's doing, 20:35 he's retired from the-- and stuff. 20:37 And the Lord impressed me 20:38 to give him the Great Controversy. 20:40 But before I gave him one, he said 20:42 I am a recovering alcoholic and a recovering Catholic. 20:45 I'm like, "Nobody has ever said that to me before." 20:47 Recovering Catholic. 20:49 So I was shocked when I heard that. 20:51 So I'm like, I said, "Man, I've got to give you this book. 20:52 You need to read this." 20:54 He was like, "No, I don't want it. 20:55 I don't want anything to do with this." 20:56 "I got it on my trunk. I'll give it to you." 20:58 So I gave it to him. 20:59 And he's flipping through the Great Controversy 21:00 and he looks he goes, "Oh, Martin Luther! 21:02 I love Martin Luther. You just might convert me." 21:04 I gave him the book. I walked back to the car. 21:07 The Lord said, just wait, 21:08 you sit in the car and wait and see what happens. 21:10 The guy walked, knocked on the window. 21:11 I rolled my window down. 21:12 I told Janelle he's gonna come back and do something. 21:14 The guy slipped me a $50 bill, said go buy yourself lunch, 21:18 get you and your wife some food. 21:20 Fifty dollars. 21:22 I had no money to get back. 21:24 And then when we got here, 21:27 the guy that came to check out the place we were renting, 21:30 our insurance agent, he's an older gentleman 21:32 and he pulled me aside in his car and he said, 21:34 "Don, can I talk to you for a minute personally?" 21:36 I said yeah. 21:37 He said, "I'm getting up there in age, you know, 21:38 I'm a little older and I've got a little bit of money 21:40 to kind of play with 21:41 and I would just like to ask you man to man, 21:42 would you be okay with me paying 21:44 for your first year insurance?" 21:45 This is our insurance agent. 21:47 What? 21:49 This is our insurance agent saying... 21:51 Showing, showing us big time that he wanted us to be here, 21:54 he was like... 21:58 What a faith walk. Yeah. 22:00 Was God increasing your faith? Oh, yeah, totally. 22:04 I've never heard an insurance agent. 22:06 Pay for your insurance. 22:08 I like to pay your first year insurance. 22:10 What did you say? Did you say no? 22:12 And he gave us a guitar later. 22:15 Yeah, the same insurance agent, he gave us a guitar. 22:17 Oh, he did? 22:18 So it's just, you know, 22:20 in all your ways acknowledge Him 22:21 and he shall direct your path. 22:23 I mean, it's just, 22:24 it's phenomenal what God does for us, 22:25 you know, if we're just faithful in little things. 22:27 Watching him work is just beyond our understanding. 22:29 Wow. 22:31 That increased our faith. 22:33 What about that... 22:34 And there's that text there, 22:35 you will seek me and you'll find me 22:37 when you search for me with all your heart. 22:38 Yeah. Jeremiah 29:13. 22:39 And that's important. 22:41 The reason I included there is 22:42 because both of those talked about "all." 22:45 You know, trust Me with all your heart. 22:47 You'll find Me when you're searching Me 22:48 with all your heart. 22:49 The "all" is key. And that's the key. 22:51 That's the key element. 22:52 Anyone else before we go to the next one? 22:53 And not leaning on your own understanding. 22:55 No, No. It's illogical. 22:58 If you lean on your own understanding, 23:00 you have a tendency to go with the logic of it. 23:02 Yeah. 23:03 And God functions on a different level. 23:05 Yes, He does. 23:06 Logical, I believe God is logical 23:09 but it's his logic not ours. 23:11 His ways and not our ways. Yeah, absolutely. 23:14 That's a good way of saying that. 23:15 God is logical. Yeah. 23:17 His logic 23:18 are surpassing the past, future unfold. 23:23 So He says to us, 23:24 I know where you guys 23:25 are going to be in seven and a half months 23:27 at 2:30 in the afternoon, January. 23:31 And He works everything out, not manipulating, 23:34 but so ordering our lives that when we get there he says, 23:38 I know you're gonna be there. 23:39 He orders it. 23:41 He's multifaceted for laying everything in place in advance. 23:46 You know that... 23:48 You just said He ordered, the Bible does say, 23:49 "The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord." 23:54 Wow, that's another one. 23:56 You know, the interesting thing too I was just think of 23:57 is all about how He orchestrates it, 23:59 but He still allows us to make those choices along the way. 24:03 And that's amazing thing too. 24:05 He knows what choice we'll make but He still, 24:08 He can work around our bad choices. 24:12 He can always bring us back onto the path 24:15 in spite of our bad choices. 24:16 He keeps directing it. 24:19 Have you ever... I don't know if you get, 24:21 this is a crazy picture in my mind 24:22 I'm gonna throw it back to Janelle here. 24:24 Have you ever before seen an ant 24:27 and you know where the food is? 24:30 I've did this before. 24:32 The crumb is and he's like walking all over the table. 24:34 I actually did this. 24:35 I actually did this, I used a paper, smaller paper, 24:37 but I kind of went like that 24:39 'cause he's is walking all the way over there 24:41 and the crumb is right here now. 24:43 Went like that and he kept turning, 24:44 he kept turning at the urging of my paper 24:47 till he found the crumb and then he stopped. 24:49 And I think that God sometimes, we're looking all over there 24:51 and God is saying, over here, over here, over here. 24:54 That's a good illustration. 24:56 And we don't see it but that's how He orders our steps, 24:59 'cause He sees where the blessing is and we say, 25:01 "But I don't want to go there." And He says, "Get over there." 25:04 You sound like Jonah trying to. 25:07 I sound like Jonah. 25:08 Well, what's the next one, Janelle, the second one there? 25:10 Let's see, Mark. 25:12 Mark 11:22-24. 25:24 "And Jesus answering saith unto them, 25:26 have faith in God. 25:28 For verily I say unto you 25:30 that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, 25:33 be thou removed, 25:34 and be thou cast into the sea; 25:36 and shall not doubt in his heart, 25:39 but shall believe that those things which he saith 25:42 shall come to pass; 25:44 he shall have whatsoever he saith. 25:47 Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, 25:51 when you pray, believe that ye receive them 25:53 and ye shall have them." 25:56 Wow. I like that. 25:58 Actually, I was just thinking another quick test, 26:00 I'll be quick. 26:02 Now we've been doing this group 26:03 called Celebrating Life and Recovery 26:04 and it was about three weeks ago 26:07 I had several people that were in the group 26:08 call me saying I'm not making it, 26:09 I'm not coming back, 26:11 I don't want anything to do with this group 26:12 and people were having issues. 26:14 I mean, I can see Satan's attacks 26:15 are just ramping up big time. 26:17 And I could feel all this heaviness, 26:20 you know, going on the way that 26:21 I'm actually hearing Satan whisper at my ear, 26:22 "Why don't you just cancel? Why don't you just quit? 26:24 Why don't you just turn around? 26:25 Don't even bother going." 26:27 I finally got into the back of the parking lot 26:28 where we were holding this event 26:30 and I got out of the car and all of a sudden I just, 26:32 I walked out and I heard, 26:34 "Your loyalty is being tested right now. 26:36 We're testing your faith." 26:37 And I heard the voices that says, 26:39 "You've done well, 26:40 you've been My faithful servant. 26:41 So thank you." 26:43 I heard that, I was like. 26:44 I was being so tested, I felt so heavy 26:46 but just through that experience, 26:48 you know, seeing that God 26:49 was seeing if I would be faithful to Him 26:51 and sticking through that. 26:53 And it was an interesting situation. 26:56 Oh, man it was... 26:58 I see it more and more 27:00 as we're getting closer and closer to 27:01 where we're nearing the end. 27:03 I see that our faith is gonna be 27:04 what we have left to hang on to. 27:06 And that's why it's talking about 27:07 how to increase your faith, it's so important. 27:09 I'm learning it right now before the time hits. 27:12 Oh, yeah. You've had any mountains? 27:14 Any of us any had any mountains? 27:15 All of us I believe. 27:17 So what kind of mountain have you had? 27:18 We've studied this little bit in my Sabbath school class 27:21 with the youth 27:23 and I feel like sometimes people look at their Bible 27:27 and we have a tendency 27:29 to think in the literal and the material. 27:32 And God is talking about 27:34 the mustard seed and having faith and belief. 27:36 These are spiritual things. 27:38 We have spiritual mountains 27:40 more so than we do anything else 27:43 but we don't recognize them. 27:45 And I think that if we focus on our spiritual mountains 27:48 and we take care of our spiritual relationship, 27:51 God will take care of the literal mountains. 27:53 Yeah. 27:55 You talked about the money that you didn't have food. 27:57 You took care of the spiritual, 27:58 you followed where God was leading you, 28:00 and He showed you He was going to take care of the physical. 28:03 But you took care of the spiritual first. 28:07 I had a total stranger give me $100 one time and it was God. 28:10 And God told me, 28:12 "Dee, I can make total strangers give you money. 28:15 Why would you worry about money?" 28:17 When I first came here, I can add, 28:20 I know what two and two is 28:22 and I knew that there was more going out 28:23 than there was coming in. 28:25 When I moved here, I took, you know, 28:27 when you move from one job to another. 28:29 And so I was concerned about how I was gonna make it, 28:32 but when you take care of the spiritual, 28:33 I followed God where He led spiritually, 28:36 and he will take care of the physical mountains 28:39 if you take care of the spiritual mountains. 28:41 And I've been trying to talk to my young adults about that. 28:45 Take care of the spiritual. 28:47 When you pray, 28:49 you know, you have to be praying the spiritual things 28:52 and He will take care of the rest. 28:53 I was just thinking too, in that verse, 28:56 in verse 23 there, 28:57 not doubt, not having doubt, 29:00 it's like where does doubt come from? 29:01 It's when we rely on ourselves. 29:04 You know, I believe that, 29:05 you know, I doubt more 29:07 when I do it in my own strength. 29:09 And you know, Satan obviously is whispering things, 29:11 trying to discourage. 29:13 But I think ultimately my doubts 29:15 usually come from 29:17 when I'm trying to do it on my own. 29:18 On your own. Yeah. 29:19 Do you think that also possibly 29:22 our doubt comes a little bit from seeing ourselves. 29:26 See I can pray for somebody else in more power 29:29 than I can for myself 29:31 simply because I know, I believe, 29:33 truly believe in God's power, I've seen it move. 29:37 But will He do it for me because I see my sinful self. 29:42 See, I see you 29:45 as more of a Christian than I see myself sometimes. 29:50 And so do we doubt that God will do it for me 29:55 and that's why sometimes I think 29:57 where our doubt comes from. 29:59 We don't doubt God but we doubt our worthiness 30:03 of Him doing what we need. 30:07 You just reminded me. 30:08 We were just talking this morning 30:10 about John the Baptist. 30:11 Obviously, he is in prison now 30:12 and king Herod is about ready to take his head, 30:14 you know, he said, "So are you the Messiah, 30:16 the one to come or not?" 30:18 His faith, kind of, wavered, 30:20 I can imagine under that kind of extreme pressure, 30:23 you know, of ourselves even 30:24 when we have that kind of extreme pressure. 30:26 Would we be able to, like it's said, 30:28 there was a question about walking in faith. 30:31 Now who'll be able to stand on their faith, 30:32 who will be able to? 30:34 And John the Baptist, 30:35 you know, he needed that little bit encouragement. 30:36 Jesus knew that, he said, go back and tell him, 30:38 you know, this is what I'm doing, 30:40 and he said "Oh, okay. 30:41 So you are," so he was ready to die 30:42 and be martyred for his death. 30:44 And you mentioned something, Dee, 30:45 that was really important. 30:47 You said... 30:48 And you proved this in what happened 30:50 when you were camping. 30:51 Mathew 6:33. 30:53 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 30:58 and all these things will be added unto you." 31:02 And it talked about the desires of your heart too 31:04 Matter of fact... Yeah, go ahead and... 31:06 Let's go to that one. I don't know where it is. 31:07 It's changed. 31:09 My computer is changed so I'm not sure. 31:10 Not giving you the desires of your heart. 31:13 Well, let's go ahead and... 31:15 We'll look at that together. 31:18 Let's look at number four and then we'll see. 31:21 Everyone has some level. 31:22 Yeah everyone has someone. 31:24 Do that one, hon, and we'll bring that one, 31:25 the desires of your heart. 31:27 Everyone has some level of faith, 31:30 Romans 12:3. 31:38 And it says, 31:40 "For I say, through the grace given to me, 31:46 to everyone who is among you, 31:48 not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, 31:53 but to think soberly, 31:56 as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." 32:01 Don't think... 32:03 What do we always ask the Lord when we pray? 32:06 Stay humble. Keep us humble. 32:08 That's our prayer. 32:09 Lord, keep us humble. 32:11 And it's a prayer from our heart 32:14 and that text is so good. 32:16 And how does it end, we have a what? 32:18 A measure, measure of faith. 32:21 What do you mean by that? 32:22 What does the Bible mean by that, 32:23 a measure of faith? 32:25 We all have a measure... 32:27 I think each person is given the faith they need as seed 32:30 to start them down the right path 32:32 and then are you going to grow it? 32:34 Are you gonna grow it? 32:35 But you have that measure to start you out. 32:38 What do you do with it? 32:40 I like this song "Higher ground," 32:41 Lord, leave me on a higher ground. 32:42 And as your faith begins 32:44 to increase and increase, it grows. 32:46 It's like you see, Oh, God you got me through that, okay, 32:48 so now I'm here, 32:50 you come up against this other big, 32:51 you know, mountain, spiritual mountain, 32:52 so now, boom, he knocks it out of the way. 32:55 And your faith just begins to grow more and more 32:57 and you can learn to trust and rely on Him 32:59 as you see Him moving. 33:00 For those of us who were not Christians all of our life. 33:04 I look back and I see how God planted faith in me 33:08 before I even was a Christian. 33:11 As a child, faith was put into me, 33:14 God's knowledge was put into me. 33:16 But there were times in the world where 33:20 maybe I feared for my life 33:21 or I was in a dangerous situation 33:23 where I was just broken. 33:25 And I would call out to the Lord. 33:28 He answered me every single time 33:31 knowing that I wasn't gonna stay with it, but He... 33:36 There has been two or three times, 33:38 you know, some things really stand out in my mind 33:40 of incidences that I was still 33:43 walking in the world 33:45 being very much a sinner and not repenting. 33:47 When I cried out to Him, He answered me. 33:49 He was there I knew it. 33:51 He saved my life or took care of my brokenness. 33:55 And knowing that 33:56 I was not going to keep my promise of walking with Him 34:00 and He still showed up. 34:01 So when I did become a Christian, 34:04 I could see His faithfulness 34:08 before I was ever faithful to Him. 34:13 You know, it's like He sees where we're headed, 34:14 we talked about seed a moment ago. 34:16 I think the text you were talking about is this one here. 34:18 "Delight yourself also in the Lord 34:20 and he shall give you the desires of your heart." 34:22 Yeah I think we read it before that. 34:25 Psalm 37:4. 34:27 I don't know if I had it on my syllabus there 34:29 but I think that's... 34:31 Here it is in Mark 11:22,24 that later part says 34:38 "When you say to the mountain, be thou..." 34:41 "and does not doubt in his heart 34:44 but believe that those things he says will be done; 34:49 he will have whatever he says. 34:51 Therefore I say unto you, 34:54 whatever things you ask when you pray, 34:56 believe that you received them and you will have them." 34:59 What does that mean? 35:02 You have to have faith, right? 35:05 If you're walking in his will and what you're asking for, 35:09 but He gives us little things too. 35:11 Little, yeah. You know, God is... 35:14 I think of it in this scenario, that's a good question, 35:16 what is that talking about? 35:19 God will be that friend that says, 35:22 "Now put on this blindfold and hold my hand." 35:29 Now in many cases, we often do that as a person. 35:32 If we're setting somebody up 35:33 for a surprise birthday party, right? 35:37 Now take your blindfold off, "Surprise!" 35:40 or, "Hey, it's my car," or "Wow, you got me that, 35:43 " but God is the one who never leads us 35:46 anywhere that we have to be fearful. 35:49 And if we honestly grip the belief 35:53 that God takes us to a place better than He finds us. 35:57 We would say "Oh, I love it when we play hide and seek. 36:00 He covers my eyes 36:02 and all I need to do is seek Him 36:05 and He always leads me better." 36:07 If you had somebody that always did that, 36:08 every time you opened your eyes 36:10 there was some grand, some grand revelations, 36:13 some dynamic gifts, some wonderful revelations, 36:16 some better job, you'll say, okay, cover my eyes again. 36:19 I'm ready, you know, wouldn't you? 36:22 If every time that happened, 36:23 you always ended up better than where you were 36:26 whenever he said, okay, now I'll cover your eyes, 36:28 you say, okay, great, great, I love this game 36:30 because it always results in something better. 36:33 Actually before you were talking about that, 36:34 I was thinking about how faith is like God's investment in us. 36:37 He gives us all a certain portion 36:39 like we were talking about earlier 36:40 and then He, like the talent, 36:42 we can either use it or bury it. 36:45 And let it just sit there and got to waste 36:47 or He can increase it if we use it. 36:49 And it's interesting how He increases our faith 36:53 and our talents and all those things 36:55 if we use those for Him. 36:56 That's right. 36:57 And because we're His disciples, 36:59 we all pray that prayer 37:01 right here in Luke 17:4, 37:03 it says, "And the apostle said to the lord, 37:06 increase our faith." 37:08 Right here, "increase our faith" 37:11 in Luke 17 verse 5 and 6, "increase our faith, 37:14 so the Lord said, 37:15 if you have the faith of a mustard seed, 37:19 you can say to the mulberry tree, 37:21 be pulled up by the root and be planted in the sea 37:25 and it would obey you." 37:26 Now we often refer to the mountains being removed 37:29 but this is an interesting one, the mulberry tree. 37:32 I wondered what he meant 37:35 by removing the mulberry tree from where it was planted 37:38 and say move to a different place, 37:41 be planted in the sea. 37:43 You know a tree can't exist in the sea 37:47 but if God says it could, it could. 37:49 With God all things are possible. 37:51 All things. See, he wants to illustrate it. 37:53 You know, we could see a mountain being moved 37:56 but why would anybody want to plant 37:58 a mulberry tree in the sea. 38:00 Isn't that salt water? 38:02 Not only that, it's gonna drown, 38:03 but not if the Lord says it. 38:06 You make me think of the story 38:07 and this is being playing in my head, 38:09 the story of Elisha and his servant 38:10 on the mountain. 38:11 And here all these Syrian army 38:13 ready to take him over and oath in. 38:15 And the servant is kind of quick in his boots, 38:18 you know, Elisha just prays, open your eyes on my servant. 38:22 And by faith, they actually led the whole army 38:24 back into their enemy's camp blinded, 38:27 like that's really a powerful but 38:29 out of the grace and mercy of God, 38:30 they were fed bread and water, 38:32 provisions, and their king let him go. 38:34 And I think that's kind of what God does to us, 38:36 you know, when we walk away, like you were talking about, 38:38 Dee, when we walk away, He still... 38:39 We might be blinded to His love and things, 38:41 we might not see it but it's always around, 38:43 he is gonna bless us through that. 38:46 Even when He picks us up and plants us somewhere else, 38:50 did you feel like, 38:51 Janelle, that maybe He was moving you to the sea 38:54 being from when you were planted, 38:57 how could you flourish there, 38:59 you've been many a times 39:00 you didn't want to go to California. 39:02 That was your sea. 39:04 I came from the West Coast, I love the ocean, the desert, 39:06 the mountains, here we're in the planes, you know. 39:09 I'm like, Lord, where have you taken me? 39:11 So it's like He planted me in the sea 39:14 and yet I've grown here more 39:17 than I could have anywhere else. 39:20 So sometimes what looks like salt water to us, is not. 39:25 He can encase us in salt water 39:29 and we can grow and soak in situations. 39:34 When it looks impossible 39:35 or they can't come to the meeting 39:37 and they give you, they throw all these tests at you, 39:39 now it's gonna happen. 39:41 But Satan can send sea water 39:45 and God can make it fresh water, 39:50 and the roots will grow 39:51 and it appears to be in salt water. 39:54 I have a plant pot that says, "Grow where God plants you." 39:57 Yes. 39:59 Because he can anywhere. 40:01 And you said it, we can't see it. 40:03 We didn't want to come to California, I should say, 40:08 when we left Florida. 40:09 So I could relate to you guys wanting to leave family but... 40:15 That's where that blindfold comes in, 40:17 when you realize, 40:18 when it looks like you're being led 40:21 where you don't want to go. 40:22 If you trust, God will... 40:25 That's where the faith comes in, 40:26 that He rewards where He took you. 40:28 And so then you become more and more willing. 40:31 That faith grows. 40:33 Say it again. 40:34 He rewards those who diligently seek Him. 40:36 That's right. 40:38 He rewards you 40:39 and He doesn't ask you to just map it out, 40:41 you know, we map out our journey. 40:42 I remember long before GPSs were created, 40:45 we map that our journey on our Rand McNally map 40:47 and we photocopied every page. 40:49 Remember those days? 40:51 Yes absolutely. 40:53 If you're a GPS generation, ignore us. 40:55 You have no idea what a map is. 40:57 No, not today. I love maps. 40:58 I still see them at truck stops. 41:00 It's amazing. I still see those maps at truck stops. 41:02 Can you fold a map? I can fold a map. 41:07 And you know the other thing about the map 41:08 is the map is reliable 41:11 where the GPS says 41:13 proceed with caution if this road does exist, 41:16 you know, things like that, 41:17 but the illustration what is going with that 41:19 is when we began our journey from Orlando to California, 41:23 you know, sometimes the devil tries to put doubt in your mind 41:25 at the beginning of the journey. 41:27 We pulled off on the side of the road 41:28 still in route 75 going north in Florida towards route 10. 41:34 And we pulled off on the side of the road. 41:35 And as soon as Ange stepped out, 41:37 she stepped in ant's nest. 41:39 Remember that. 41:41 Hopefully not the fire ants. 41:44 Somewhere along. 41:45 She stepped on it right on the side off the road 41:46 on our way. 41:48 And it is at the beginning of our journey and you think... 41:50 And some people would have said, 41:52 if this is any indication of the rest of our journey... 41:56 Just turn back. 41:58 You know, want to turn back. 41:59 But I haven't given Dee an opportunity yet. 42:02 Go to number five, Dee. 42:04 Read than and then lead us down to the next one. 42:06 Faith is increased by studying the Bible. 42:08 And we're looking at Romans 10:17. 42:13 So Romans 10:17, 42:16 "So then faith comes by hearing, 42:18 and hearing by the word of God." 42:21 I can almost hear Molly's voice, 42:23 she says that quite a bit. 42:25 So it's not only, but she always finishes up. 42:29 "Faith comes by hearing 42:31 and the hearing by word of God." 42:32 It's from the word of God but also when we hear it, 42:36 we have to act on it, we have to internalize it, 42:40 we have to grow with it and not just hear it. 42:46 There has been so many times when we step out 42:50 and we practice the word of God, 42:52 when you say the Lord gave me this promise. 42:56 I remember so vividly in front of my fire place 42:59 after David passed away, 43:01 I said, "Okay, Lord, I'm yours." 43:05 Oh, David was my husband. 43:07 David, when he passed away and I was widowed, 43:11 God brought me here. 43:12 But before then I had already committed Him, 43:15 committed myself to, 43:17 "Okay, Lord, whatever You want to do with my life, 43:19 wherever You want to take me, I'm just yours. 43:21 Use me." 43:22 So once I made that commitment, 43:27 then I had to actually be willing to do it. 43:31 Because moving out here, I left my home, I left my job, 43:36 I left my friends, I left my family, 43:38 I left everything familiar while I was still grieving 43:42 and came to an area of where I knew no one 43:47 and had a new job that I really didn't... 43:50 Danny likes my saying, not knowing what I'm doing 43:53 doesn't even slow me down. 43:55 So I hit the ground at full speed 43:59 not really knowing what I was doing, 44:00 but I had to be willing. 44:02 I have the life I have now 44:04 because I was willing to make the commitment 44:07 but then I was willing to act on it, 44:08 hearing the word, acting on the word, 44:11 and stepping out in faith putting your feet in the water. 44:15 That's how you grow it. 44:17 I was just thinking, you know, 44:18 sometimes God has to really shake you and wake you, 44:20 and almost not actually smack you 44:22 but just show you, "Hey, I'm here for you." 44:24 Another thing that happened to me 44:25 when I was going to colporteuring, 44:27 which was huge, I helped this young lady out, 44:32 helped her grandmother out of her house. 44:34 This lady had dementia, couldn't walk down the steps. 44:36 So we helped, I have a soft heart for that 44:38 since my grandma had the same thing. 44:40 So we helped this lady get down and get in her car, 44:42 and she's sitting there. 44:43 And the reason why I share this is there was this huge faith, 44:45 but she pointed at me, she was totally out of it, 44:49 just leaning over. 44:50 But then she just came to me, she pointed at me, 44:51 she went, "You," like that. 44:53 And I said, "Oh, you know, 44:54 your granddaughter is right behind me. 44:55 Do you want to talk to her?" She says, "No, you. 44:57 You need to door to door selling books 44:58 and get to know your neighbors." 45:00 And she went like this again. 45:02 Yeah, I was like, what just happened there. 45:05 I was like on my car start crying like, 45:07 "Oh, I was supposed to be colporteuring." 45:11 Wow. 45:12 Those moments where definitely 45:14 flashes through the frailty of humanity. 45:16 Yeah, exactly. 45:17 That increases your faith. 45:18 You're like God is really in this. 45:20 You know a lot of people, 45:21 I know that they have questions about if God even exists. 45:23 But when that happens, I'm like 45:25 I can't even begin to question if He exist 45:28 because there's no other way. 45:30 I mean, I was asking for answers. 45:32 Something else too, it's interesting 45:34 in our faith journeys. 45:36 At least, for us, our experiences, 45:38 it seems like 45:39 every time there's a big step that God wants us to take, 45:41 he'll use an unusual person 45:44 or unusual circumstance to confirm 45:48 as maybe someone that we don't think 45:50 is even walking with the Lord, 45:51 maybe, you know, gives us some advice or says something. 45:55 And it's interesting the people that he uses. 45:57 Sometimes they don't even realize 45:58 they're being used by God. 46:00 But they help us in that decision or whatever it is 46:03 that we're facing. 46:05 So I found that to be true. 46:07 And I think that's really cool that God does that 46:09 and He shows Himself through unlikely places. 46:14 Because then we know it's really Him. 46:15 We can't question, 46:18 you know, it's a way He reveals Himself 46:20 that He works not only through Christians 46:23 but He works through all people 46:25 whether they follow Him or trust Him or not. 46:27 He can use them for His will, 46:30 and when we're reconfirmed with something 46:35 that we know can only be God's hand, 46:39 that had to be God, what a faith grower that is. 46:43 Oh, yes. 46:45 Matter of fact, we talked about reading the word, 46:47 you know, lot of times, we use, kind of, reach a wall there. 46:51 We say, "Okay, God, we read the Bible," 46:53 you know, faith comes by hearing, 46:54 hearing by the word of God, 46:56 continues to build on that. 46:58 Look under the point number five. 47:01 Hebrews 4:2 continues to build on that. 47:03 It says "For indeed the gospel was preached to us 47:09 as well as to them; 47:11 but the word which they heard did not profit them, 47:15 not being mixed with faith in those who heard it." 47:18 So you know, when you think about the word being preached, 47:23 the Lord is saying, do you believe that. 47:25 And I'm sure there's someone watching the program 47:27 that may be in Dee's, Pastor Donald, 47:31 or Janelle, or Ange's, or mine, 47:32 and right now we're saying that you might be saying, 47:36 as we saw in the illustrations here, 47:38 is God's speaking to me tonight through this panel, 47:42 why did I give the Lord a final chance tonight 47:45 and I turned on the television 47:47 and they're talking about faith. 47:49 How God provided finances, how God gave you direction, 47:52 how God gave you wisdom to just continue to go forward, 47:56 how God lead you to a place he took you from your sea 47:58 to the mid-west and planted you in salt water. 48:03 And God might be saying to you tonight, 48:05 that's what I wanted to do for you, 48:06 that's how I want to direct you. 48:08 So we're saying, here we're by reading the word, 48:10 but what God is saying to you tonight 48:12 is He wants you to mix what you've heard with faith. 48:16 And hearing it is not just sum total, 48:19 mixing it with faith, that's where the profit comes from. 48:22 He says it did not profit them 48:24 because it was not mixed with faith 48:25 in those who heard it. 48:27 So you might be, 48:29 you know, in your problem about yourself 48:30 or home by yourself 48:31 or you might be someplace where you didn't think, 48:33 in a hotel room, you just turn on this network 48:36 and think what channel is this. 48:37 God might be saying to you tonight, 48:39 this is the beginning of your faith walk. 48:41 3ABN is giving you a message. 48:43 This is the beginning of your faith walk. 48:44 And here's the key as we've seen in all our lives, 48:47 it's not up to you to know where you're headed. 48:49 Is it? 48:51 Abraham didn't know. No, it is to follow. 48:54 Did we want to be in the mid-west? 48:55 No. She said no three times. 48:57 I think everyone here has a story. 49:00 When you talk about sowing in the word, 49:03 you know the story of the sower, 49:05 falls on stony ground, rocky ground, good ground, 49:08 I believe that we can choose what ground we want to be. 49:13 So if you decide you want to change your life 49:16 and you want what God has planned for you, 49:19 which is more awesome than you can dream of. 49:21 I never dreamed of the life He had planed for me. 49:24 If you will choose to be the good ground, 49:28 He will a plant the seed, this can be seed. 49:31 But if you choose to be good ground He will grow it. 49:33 So I think we decide what kind of ground 49:37 we want to be when He plants the seed, 49:40 we have that choice. 49:41 Wow. 49:43 Open up your heart and you're good ground. 49:46 I mean, that's true. 49:47 I never thought about it that way. 49:49 I've preached that sermon four times 49:50 and one of the questions that come to my mind is, 49:52 "Well, how does she become a shallow 49:55 and a stony, and a thorny ground? 49:57 How do they become that?" 49:58 And you made the point. That was very good. 50:00 Yeah, that just occurred to me. 50:01 It had to be God because that just came to me. 50:03 That was good. 50:04 We choose what kind of ground to be. 50:05 We choose... We choose. 50:08 If were not up to us, 50:11 then we would be manipulated into becoming that. 50:15 But really, it comes down to a choice. 50:17 You could say, I want to be, I want to believe God, 50:19 well, I don't believe that, 50:20 or then sometimes worldly pursuits comes in, 50:22 financial ideas come in and we are pulled away, 50:25 or trails 50:27 and we allow the trails to unseed 50:29 what God has planted in your hearts. 50:31 Do we have times where we choose to be rocky ground 50:34 and we've been soft before, 50:35 maybe we have a little thing God is working on it 50:38 and we resist, 50:40 we change our heart to rocky ground on that spot? 50:41 Go ahead. 50:43 I was just thinking that, you know, this reminded me, 50:44 God knows our hearts. 50:46 You know, like David was a man after God's own heart, 50:48 look what he did. 50:49 Of course, thinking about ourselves, 50:51 we can make the wrong choices. 50:52 But through that, God is patience, 50:54 He is merciful, like in Hebrews 12 50:56 it talks about how He punishes those He loves 50:58 but He because He loves them, 50:59 because they're not pastors or sons or daughters. 51:02 And it's through that faith walk He's showing you, 51:04 look, I want you in my kingdom, I want you here permanently, 51:08 you know, keep walking this faith walk 51:09 and you'll make it. 51:10 So it's very powerful stuff, 51:12 you know, He's calling to us, so... 51:14 There's a text I want my wife to read here. 51:16 This one right here, Hebrews 10:22, 51:19 'cause this is a huge text when it comes to, 51:23 how do we get to that place where God 51:27 has always seen that we're going to be, 51:29 how do we become 51:30 what God always knew what we could become. 51:32 This is a very wonderful text. 51:34 Hebrews 10:22. 51:35 It says, "Let us draw near with a true heart 51:38 in full assurance of faith, 51:41 having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience 51:46 and our bodies washed with pure water." 51:50 So what kind of assurance? 51:52 Full assurance. Full assurance. 51:55 No doubts. 51:57 No, no doubts. 51:59 It says full assurance. Yeah. 52:01 Wow, so when you think of full assurance, 52:03 what comes to mind? 52:05 What comes in mind, full assurance? 52:07 That no matter what happens to me, 52:10 like Job said, even though you slay me, I'll trust you. 52:14 And full assurance is when you have that faith 52:16 that no matter what comes at you, 52:20 you have that full assurance and you have that joy inside 52:23 that it can look like 52:26 something you cannot handle or cannot take 52:29 or just something that's gonna break you, 52:31 but if you have that faith, He'll carry you through, 52:34 whatever that answer is. 52:35 You just make me think we've been going back 52:37 through recently reading the Great Controversy 52:39 and those that were tied to the stake and being burned. 52:41 I mean, they're actually singing. 52:43 I mean, that's the full assurance thing 52:46 that God is over there with you 52:47 or even had their wives next to them and saying, 52:49 "Keep going." 52:50 Just you might be losing this earthly life here, 52:54 you got full assurance of life in heaven. 52:56 I think that's a powerful statement to me that, 52:58 you know, people that continue 52:59 in pressing the force to the mark, 53:01 those have being murdered or killed for their faith, 53:03 to me, it just speaks volumes, you know. 53:05 Or those that have cancer 53:06 or going through some serious illness, 53:09 this is not the end. 53:10 They may go to sleep, the Lord may put them to sleep, 53:13 but this is like Elder Brooks, this is not the end. 53:16 But that comes from that personal relationship. 53:19 That's what my children, 53:21 the kids, the young adults in my classes. 53:23 Constantly I'm telling them what is it? 53:26 It's that personal relationship, 53:27 that vertical personal relationship 53:29 with the Lord. 53:30 Yeah. 53:32 You know, some of our young people exercise 53:33 more faith in the rides at the amusement park 53:36 than they do in Jesus. 53:37 I mean, when you think about it, 53:38 they go on these bungee jump, they go on these rides 53:41 that would just take your stomach out 53:42 even at a higher altitude. 53:44 But the Lord is not asking us to do that, 53:46 He's just simply saying to us, "I want to take you 53:49 and do in your life 53:51 and make you what you cannot envision yourself to be. 53:54 That's why, you know, I'm going to my favorite text. 53:56 Let's all turn there as we begin to wind up 53:58 and then we're gonna have a prayer together, 53:59 because I know without a doubt, 54:01 there's someone here who's saying... 54:04 1 John 3: 1, 2. 54:07 Somebody's saying I don't know, 54:10 I mean I hear what you're saying 54:11 but I can't see what God is gonna do with me 54:14 and what do I have to offer God. 54:15 This has become my favorite Bible verse, 54:19 'cause it says to me, John, 54:20 although you are not yet where God 54:23 knows you're gonna be, he's still working on you. 54:25 Amen. 54:27 1 John 3, 54:29 "Behold, what manner of love the Father 54:32 has bestowed on us 54:34 that we should be called sons or children of God. 54:37 Therefore the world does not know us 54:38 because it did not know Him." 54:40 And here's the favorite part. 54:42 "Beloved, now we are the children of God." 54:45 When? Now. 54:47 "And it has not yet been revealed, 54:50 what we shall be but we know." 54:53 That's the word of assurance. 54:54 "But we know." That's the faith statement. 54:56 That's the credit. 54:58 "But we know that when He is revealed, 55:01 we shall be like Him," for we shall what? 55:04 "See him as he is." 55:07 So that's the faith. 55:09 "But we know," those three words. 55:10 So as we wind up our program, which went so fast. 55:13 Have you noticed how fast this program went? 55:15 I thought it was gonna be long, but it was just so short 55:17 but you allowed us, Dee, John, 55:22 Angela, Janelle, and Donald, 55:23 you allowed us to come to your home tonight 55:26 to say to you God is not done with you yet. 55:28 The faith that He has allowed you to have, 55:30 that little mustard seed of faith, 55:32 that little mulberry tree 55:34 that maybe planted in the wrong location. 55:35 He wants to say to you tonight, 55:37 He wants to not only increase your faith, 55:39 but take your life from where it is 55:40 to where He knows it can be. 55:42 So we're not saying to you there's a big drastic jump. 55:45 He's not asking to you to dive off of a cliff 55:47 into the unknown, 55:48 He is simply saying tonight say, "Father, 55:50 I don't see it but I trust you, 55:52 I don't know what's gonna happen, 55:54 but I'm gonna exercise faith." 55:56 And so on behalf of those of us here at 3ABN, 55:58 why don't we have a short word of prayer 56:00 before we say goodbye. 56:01 Let's just bow our heads and ask for God to bless 56:03 those who are on the air. 56:04 Father, somebody's looking at this program tonight 56:06 saying I need the faith that was talked about tonight. 56:10 I'm at a wall in my life. 56:11 I don't know where to go next, 56:13 but I want what You have seen for me. 56:15 I want to be what You know I can be. 56:17 Lord, take that young man, that young women, that family, 56:20 that marriage, that home, that church, that pastor, 56:22 that tonight maybe at the end of his rope, 56:25 that person's watching. 56:26 Take them, Lord, and take that mustard seed, 56:28 plant it where you know it can flourish. 56:30 And finally, when they see the fruit 56:32 of faith and trust in you, 56:33 they can look back tonight, 56:35 they can look back at tonight and remember 56:37 that they have given You control to their lives. 56:39 So help us to trust you, Father, 56:40 that one day we will rejoice when our faith is made sight, 56:44 in Jesus name. 56:46 Amen. Amen. 56:47 Well, honey. That a good program? 56:50 That's a good program. 56:51 It was a good Sabbath, wasn't it? 56:52 Yeah. Yes, wonderful Sabbath. 56:54 Great Sabbath. 56:56 Good to have you here, Dee. Yeah. 56:57 Nice to join you. Thank you. 56:58 I always have a good time. 57:00 You know, Donald and Janelle also helped me 57:02 with my youth class. 57:04 Occasionally, we try to. We're everywhere. 57:08 So it's always blessing to... 57:09 I think we get more out of it 57:11 than maybe the kids do sometimes. 57:12 Yeah. 57:14 And, Donald and Janelle, 57:15 thank you for what you do here for the cause of God. 57:16 Amen. 57:18 Everything we do. A little is much when God is with you. 57:20 Thank you. 57:21 We've taken a slice out of your time. 57:23 And on behalf of the 3ABN family, 57:26 and all of those who pray for us and stand with us, 57:29 we want to wish you a happy Sabbath. 57:31 Continue trusting in God and one day your faith 57:33 will be made sight. 57:35 God bless you. 57:36 Amen. Amen. |
Revised 2016-07-11