Participants: CA & Irma Murray (Host), Jorge & Lynette Jacque
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW016025A
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:20 Removing pain 00:25 Lord, let my words 00:31 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:41 Mending broken people 00:47 I want to spend my life 00:52 Mending broken people. 01:08 Good evening and happy Sabbath. 01:11 If indeed you're watching this program 01:12 on a Friday evening 01:14 it also airs on a Sabbath evening. 01:15 And if that is the case, then we bid you a happy week. 01:19 But we welcome you to The Family Worship Experience. 01:22 I'm CA Murray this is my wife Irma, 01:24 better known as Boo around the house. 01:28 If I call her Irma, 01:30 then I really want to get her attention bad, 01:31 that's like if you call me Clement, 01:33 which you never call me. 01:34 No, I never do. 01:36 I say, "Honey!" Yeah. 01:39 If it's CA, then it means 01:40 that then you need my attention really bad 01:42 or I put something in the wrong place. 01:44 But we, we're having Family Worship, 01:46 and we have our friends, the Jacques 01:48 who we love and respect so much. 01:49 Yes. 01:50 This is Lynette and her husband Jorge, 01:52 who is the production manager for 3ABN Latino. 01:57 And he also doubles as one of the best 02:01 smoothie makers in the western hemisphere 02:04 and he has promised that in one of occasions, 02:06 I keep inviting him, hoping he'll bring the smoothies, 02:08 you know, but he hadn't done so yet. 02:10 But one of these days, 02:11 this water will be replaced with a healthy smoothie 02:14 as we enter the Sabbath smoothie in hand. 02:17 So we're looking forward to that, Jorge. 02:19 Sorry for the... 02:20 I don't know what to say. 02:22 So once you make a promise, we never ever forget. 02:27 This program, we're going to be talking about useful tools. 02:31 I was reading the other day 02:33 and Ellen White one of the three cofounders 02:37 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 02:38 talks about useful tools 02:40 how God wants each of us to be useful tools in his hands 02:45 to lift up humanity and to warn men and women about Jesus. 02:48 So some of the things we're going to be talking about 02:50 were written initially 02:52 for pastors and workers for the church 02:54 but I have found that what is good for a pastor, 02:57 usually pretty good for a congregation too. 02:59 And those kind of qualifications 03:01 that he or she needs to have, 03:04 the members need to have too 03:06 because all of us are called, Jorge, 03:08 to be lights and preachers and speakers for the Lord. 03:12 You are a pastor's child, a son of a pastor, 03:16 but a speaker in your own right. 03:18 And all of us, once you come to Christ, 03:20 you get the call to lift up the name of Jesus 03:22 in any way that you can. 03:23 That's right. Yeah. 03:25 So we're going to talk about being useful tools. 03:29 I said, as I took the hammer off 03:31 the dining room table this morning. 03:34 That was one of those CA moves. Why is this hammer on my table? 03:38 I took the hammer and put it where it belongs. 03:40 I don't know how that hammer got there. 03:41 I know. Often seems to finds its way to the table. 03:45 Similar situation at our house, tools migrate. 03:48 Yeah, tools end up in places where they should not be. 03:52 So we're having a good time in the Lord. 03:54 Hopefully, you're beginning a wonderful Sabbath day 03:57 wherever you are or moving to or through a Sabbath day 04:00 or beginning a new week. 04:02 Before we go to our music, 04:05 I have a reading here that I want 04:06 to just go through that kind of sets the stage, 04:10 Jorge, and Lynette, and Dear Boo, 04:14 from the view in Herald, August 24, 1886. 04:17 So this is right in the time 04:19 just before Ellen White went to Australia 04:21 and just prior to that momentous 1888 04:25 General Conference. 04:27 She says, "It is the purpose of God 04:30 that the plan of salvation shall not be wrought out 04:33 independent of human instrumentalities." 04:36 So really God could do the work Himself 04:38 or assign angels to do it, 04:39 "but it is in His plan 04:41 that we get to join hands with Him, 04:42 " you know, and that's why we want to be useful tools 04:44 because He's planned that we be part of the experience 04:48 because in helping others, you really help yourself. 04:51 "He has not chosen angels 04:52 but men of like passions as ourselves 04:55 to proclaim the Gospel to the human race. 04:57 Paul says, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels 05:01 that the excellency of the power 05:03 maybe of God and not of us." 05:06 Sometimes we feel a little more earthen than others, you know. 05:09 I was saying this the other day, 05:11 this getting old thing is getting old. 05:12 As you grow old you get aches and pains. 05:14 But we are earthen vessels 05:16 and God has chosen to put the work in our hands, 05:20 you know, to help us work with him 05:22 to do the saving of souls. 05:24 So, "It was that he might receive the honor 05:28 that this work was committed to weak erring mortals, 05:32 being the feeble instruments in his hands 05:34 all the glory of their success 05:37 would naturally be reflected upon Him 05:39 the great master workman." 05:41 So if anything good comes of what we do, 05:43 if we ever give a Bible study 05:45 or sing a song or preach a sermon 05:47 and someone's heart is touched 05:49 and they're led to the Lord, it ain't us. 05:51 You know, it's God working through us, 05:54 and that's why He gets the glory, 05:56 which is why I'm always careful when I receive compliments 05:59 after a sermon, someone says, 06:00 "Wow, that was the best sermon in the world." 06:03 You know, and we ought to be careful 06:06 how we puff up preachers and teachers 06:07 because it's not them, it's the Lord. 06:11 "And after He has in His wisdom instituted this plan, 06:16 we have no reason to expect that the work 06:19 will be accomplished without the ordained means." 06:21 So God has put it in our hands, 06:23 but He's also given means by which success can be garnered. 06:27 And that's what we're gonna talk about today. 06:28 Certain traits of the character needs to be gotten rid of, 06:30 certain things we do we ought not to do, 06:31 certain things we're not doing we ought to do, 06:33 so how do you become a more effective tool 06:36 by following those plans that God has put into place. 06:39 "Hence, it is important 06:41 that all who have been made partakers 06:43 of this great salvation communicate to others 06:46 that which has been made known to them." 06:49 So it is our job, once we are called, 06:53 to call others and to share 06:55 and share God's light to everyone that come, 06:57 and that's God's plan. 06:59 That's right. 07:00 So what we're going to talk about today 07:01 is helping you become a useful tool, 07:05 a more effective tool by looking at some of the things 07:07 that sort of creep into our lives occasionally 07:10 and that can sort of get us off track 07:12 and give you some encouragement also. 07:14 Now let's go to our music. 07:17 Everyone here is an excellent singer, 07:23 we want to go to... Is it 156? Is that first one? 07:27 I'm sorry, no, 195. One-ninety-five. 07:29 One-ninety-five. One-ninety-five. 07:32 Showers of blessing. 07:34 And we want to thank and welcome 07:36 as she is warming up her fingers there, Summer, 07:39 who is our resident pianist 07:41 and came into my office a little bit ago and said, 07:43 "Do you need a pianist?" 07:45 I said, "Oh, Summer, yes we do." 07:46 And there she is. 07:48 Showers of Blessings, 07:49 we'll sing first, second and fourth. 07:52 Three stanzas, one, two and four. 07:54 Here we go. 07:55 There shall be showers of blessing 07:59 This is the promise of love 08:04 There shall be seasons refreshing 08:08 Sent from the Savior above 08:12 Showers of blessing 08:16 Showers of blessing we need 08:20 Mercy drops round us are falling 08:24 But for the showers we plead 08:26 Stanza number two. 08:28 There shall be showers of blessing 08:32 Precious reviving again 08:36 Over the hills and the valleys 08:40 Sound of abundance of rain 08:45 Showers of blessing 08:48 Showers of blessing we need 08:52 Mercy drops round us are falling 08:56 But for the showers we plead 08:59 And stanza number four, the last one. 09:01 There shall be showers of blessing 09:05 Oh, that today they might fall 09:09 Now as to God we're confessing 09:13 Now as on Jesus we call 09:17 Showers of blessing 09:22 Showers of blessing we need 09:26 Mercy drops round us are falling 09:30 But for the showers we plead 09:34 Very good. 09:36 We slip over quickly to 306, 09:40 306, Draw me nearer. 09:48 I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice. 09:50 Draw me nearer. Here we go. 09:53 I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice 09:58 And it told Thy love to me 10:02 But I long to rise in the arms of faith 10:07 And be closer drawn to Thee 10:12 Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord 10:17 To the cross where Thou hast died 10:22 Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord 10:29 To Thy precious, bleeding side 10:34 Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord 10:39 By the power of grace divine 10:44 May my soul look up with a steadfast hope 10:49 And my will be lost in Thine 10:53 Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord 10:59 To the cross where Thou hast died 11:04 Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord 11:11 To Thy precious, bleeding side 11:17 O, the pure delight of a single hour 11:23 That before Thy throne I spend 11:27 When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God 11:32 I commune as friend with friend 11:37 Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord 11:42 To the cross where Thou hast died 11:47 Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord 11:54 To Thy precious, bleeding side 12:00 All right, one last one, 152, 152, 12:06 Tell me the story of Jesus. 12:10 Tell me the story of Jesus 12:15 Write on my heart every word 12:20 Tell me the story most precious 12:25 Sweetest that ever was heard 12:30 Tell how the angels, in chorus 12:35 Sang as they welcomed His birth 12:40 Glory to God in the highest 12:46 Peace and good tidings to earth 12:51 Tell me the story of Jesus 12:56 Write on my heart every word 13:01 Tell me the story most precious 13:06 Sweetest that ever was heard 13:10 Fasting alone. 13:11 Fasting, alone in the desert 13:17 Tell of the days that He passed 13:22 How for our sins He was tempted 13:27 Yet was triumphant at last 13:32 Tell of the years of His labor 13:37 Tell of the sorrow He bore 13:42 He was despised and afflicted 13:47 Homeless, rejected and poor 13:53 Tell me the story of Jesus 13:58 Write on my heart every word 14:03 Tell me the story most precious 14:09 Sweetest that ever was heard 14:12 And that last stanza. 14:14 Tell of the cross where they nailed Him 14:19 Writhing in anguish and pain 14:24 Tell of the grave where they laid Him 14:30 Tell how He liveth again 14:35 Love in that story so tender 14:40 Clearer than ever I see 14:45 Stay, let me weep while you whisper 14:50 Love paid the ransom for me 14:55 Tell me the story of Jesus 15:00 Write on my heart every word 15:06 Tell me the story most precious 15:11 Sweetest that ever was heard 15:17 Thank you very much, Summer. Beautiful. 15:19 Yes. 15:20 Beautiful play. Beautiful songs. 15:25 In our seeking to be useful tools, 15:28 I found a quote from the book Evangelism under the title, 15:34 The Worker and His Qualifications. 15:35 And I think some of these readings also 15:38 that we'll be looking at this morning 15:40 come from that also. 15:41 But here's something interesting 15:42 that we're told from the pen of inspiration. 15:46 We're told, "Do not depend on miracles." 15:49 Now this is in spreading the gospel. 15:52 In other words, God is not going to do for you 15:55 what he wants to do through you. 15:57 So it's like, okay, my neighbor next door, 15:59 I would really like them to come to church. 16:01 Lord, go over there and invite them 16:02 so I don't have to be bothered with that. 16:04 So she's saying, "Do not depend on miracles." 16:07 You need to get up, put on your shoes, 16:09 strap on your Bible and trot next door 16:12 and extend that invitation yourself you see. 16:14 So don't depend on miracles. 16:15 "God does not verily work miracles to advance his truth." 16:18 Now God does work miracles, we serve a miracle working God, 16:21 but what she's trying to say here 16:23 is God's not going to do for you 16:25 what he wants to do through you. 16:27 So He wants the truth to be advanced 16:29 but He wants to use us to do that advancing, okay. 16:33 "If the husbandman," that's the farmer the sower, 16:36 "neglects to cultivate the soil after sowing his seed, 16:40 God works no miracle 16:42 to counteract the sure result of neglect." 16:45 You know, you got to sow the seed 16:47 and then water the seed a little bit, you know. 16:49 And if you don't and it dies, then that that's on you, 16:52 it's not God's fault 16:53 because you're not following 16:55 through on those plans that God has put in place. 16:57 "In the harvest, he will find his field barren. 16:59 God works according to great principles 17:02 which He has presented to the human family 17:04 and it is our part to mature wise plans 17:09 and set in operation the means 17:11 whereby God shall bring about certain results." 17:14 So if you follow the pattern, you get the results. 17:17 If you deviate from the pattern, 17:19 then you're not guaranteed that you will get results. 17:23 But God has given us ways to share the Gospel 17:26 and ways to spread His word 17:28 and ways to do what He has called us to do. 17:30 And when you follow those ways, the sheer result is success. 17:34 So let's spend a little time 17:37 discussing and looking at some of those things. 17:40 Lynette, let's start with you 17:41 because yours is a very interesting one. 17:43 And I've had to pastor people who follow none of this 17:46 and we're gonna talk about this just a little bit. 17:48 I had to deal with this myself many times. 17:51 The temptation to fall victim to this. 17:55 It says, "We should not allow ourselves to be easily wounded. 18:00 We are to live not to guard our feelings or our reputation, 18:04 but to save souls. 18:06 As we become interested in the salvation of souls, 18:09 we cease to mind the little differences 18:11 that so often arise in our association with one another, 18:16 whatever others may think of us, 18:19 it need not disturb our oneness with Christ, 18:22 the fellowship of the spirit." 18:23 Amen. 18:24 Now there is so much in there but in reading that, Lynette, 18:27 you've had a chance to sort of look a little bit, 18:29 how does that impact you? 18:34 Wow. 18:39 You pardon the vernacular of the peasantry. 18:42 I've had my tail stepped on many times 18:45 and by some fairly high ranking people. 18:47 And I did fall victim to the poor little me 18:52 and the wounded feelings and I have striven 18:57 with the Lord to overcome these feelings 19:01 because in the grand scheme of things, 19:03 that doesn't matter, where in the Bible does it say, 19:06 Lynette shall not be touched by anything. 19:12 With that, I'd like to lean on Hebrews 13:5 and it says, 19:17 "Let your conversation be without covetousness 19:21 and be content with such things as you have, 19:24 for He hath said..." 19:26 And that's the Lord who says this. 19:27 Yes. 19:28 "I will never leave you or forsake you." 19:30 And so you know if I can do all things through Christ 19:33 who strengthens me, 19:34 that just circles right back around at this, 19:36 I don't have any reason to waste my energies 19:40 that God has given me on the petty things of life, 19:43 on those wounded feelings. 19:45 Well said. 19:47 You know, the truth is, 19:48 sometimes people step on your toes 19:50 or your tail on purpose 19:52 and sometimes they do so quite accidentally. 19:55 I was preaching last week in Oregon, 19:57 I was telling people, when I was in college, 19:59 I had a roommate 20:01 who use to chew with his mouth, bless him. 20:03 You know when you're in a dorm room, 20:04 there's not a lot of space, 20:06 you're sharing each other's space, 20:07 you become intimately acquainted with your roommate. 20:10 And I think this is back in the days when granola was big. 20:13 You know, because that was like the healthy thing. 20:15 Granola was also crunchy 20:17 and it stays in your mouth for a long time 20:18 as you got to chew it. 20:20 And he would chew... 20:24 And I said, you know what, 20:25 there's no way nowhere out 20:27 he doesn't know that does aggravate me, you know. 20:29 And I'm building up all of this animus in my heart. 20:31 I said he's doing that on purpose, 20:33 where he grow up, in a barn? 20:35 And he would just be eating his granola, 20:36 hunched over there. 20:41 and I got so upset with him 20:42 and I was really developing something in my heart. 20:45 I said there's nobody in the world 20:46 that chews like that, he's doing that on purpose. 20:49 And he wasn't. 20:50 And the reason I know he wasn't, 20:54 because at graduation, 20:56 when all the parents came, 20:58 you know, and my mom and dad came, 21:00 my sister came to my graduation, 21:01 his parents came. 21:03 And we were sitting at the table with them 21:05 and the whole family... 21:07 And the whole family... 21:12 It's just a family trait, 21:14 you know, everybody kind of chews like. 21:15 They're enjoying the food. Honestly. 21:18 It's just kind of a thing. 21:20 They were in his genes. Yeah. 21:21 And then, you know, 21:23 after that we had one week together more 21:26 and he had a little green Volkswagen. 21:27 He took this young lady upon on Mount Sano, 21:30 which is kind of the lovers' leap at of Huntsville. 21:33 You know, they went there at Sabbath 21:34 afternoon to study the Bible. 21:36 And he had an accident coming down. 21:39 When I came back the room, I mean, the car was smashed 21:41 and he was laying in bed and bandaged up, you know. 21:44 I felt so bad for him. 21:46 And I said, "You know, Hey, man, 21:47 you know can I do anything. 21:48 You want some granola?" 21:57 So you know sometimes your feelings can, 21:59 sometimes people can step on your toes 22:01 or wound you and not even know. 22:03 You know and you're developing all of this stuff in your heart 22:06 and you know they don't know. 22:07 And there are other times when people deliberately 22:09 or carelessly wound you and yet to be offended 22:13 and I've heard Danny say this is a choice. 22:16 I think you intimate that, Lynette, that it's a choice. 22:19 You know sometimes you just got be 22:21 you know when you, when you love the Lord. 22:24 It allows you to make allowances for other peoples 22:28 less than being perfect. 22:29 You know and there's so much in here 22:31 because sometimes people 22:34 when they attack your reputation, 22:35 your natural desire is to fight back that's a lie, 22:40 you know I'm going to straighten this out. 22:44 And you want to and yet when you're following Christ, 22:48 Christ kind of tells you, 22:49 "When to, and how to, and when not to, 22:51 and to hold and not to hold feelings forever." 22:54 You know I've had members. 22:55 "Oh, we can't put them on a committee with her 22:57 because they don't like each other 22:58 you know or what, what, what's the problem. 23:02 Nobody knows that happened years ago, 23:03 they just don't talk to each other. 23:05 You know, that stuff can go on for years, 23:07 but it says that we shouldn't allow our feelings 23:10 to be easily wounded. 23:12 There're some people 23:13 who do wear their feelings on their sleeves. 23:15 And one of the things that coming to Jesus does, 23:18 He gives you a little thicker skin. 23:20 You know so that you're not 23:21 so every little thing, you know, 23:23 I know you had people sort of come after you over the years, 23:27 you know and you had to kind of swallow it 23:28 and just deal with it. 23:30 Well, you know sometimes the enemy knows 23:34 where our weakness are. 23:35 Yes. 23:37 And where we are easy to be pushed to the ground, 23:41 and so it is good 23:44 and I have learned through the years, 23:49 I wish it would have been earlier too, you know, 23:51 but sometimes it takes some while 23:53 to understand these things 23:55 and it's to realize that we are, 23:58 we are all very different. 24:00 And it's true, sometimes people offends you 24:04 without intention offend, they'll offend you. 24:08 And sometimes you do the same thing to them. 24:11 And one thing that I have realized too 24:14 is that when we are so hurt and so offended. 24:20 It's a bit of pride in us 24:22 because we don't want to be offended. 24:24 We don't want to be hurt 24:25 and we don't want to be treated bad. 24:28 You know, the human nature is that everybody loves you. 24:33 Everybody so nice to you, everybody accepts you and, 24:37 and that is not so and God has not promised us that. 24:42 It's interesting going back 24:44 to your dorm college experience. 24:49 It's interesting because during my high school years 24:54 I was in a boarding school. 24:57 And those years are very, they are really, 25:03 it cause an impact in your life because you are so young and... 25:08 And you get a lot of those because you get to meet people 25:11 you've never seen in your life and boarding schools 25:14 they're coming new kids every time. 25:16 So you have this new guy coming and being cocky 25:20 and then condescend sometimes and you said, 25:22 "That guy is never going to be my friend." 25:25 At the end of the year I can assure you 25:26 that was my best friend and it happens over and over. 25:30 Now it's interesting that as we grow older 25:34 it doesn't happen that easy, 25:37 because we are, we're like you were saying, 25:39 I mean we need to be flexible. 25:41 We need to find in ourselves 25:43 what it is to accept somebody else 25:46 and what the differences. 25:47 As we grow older it's more and more difficult 25:49 to accept other people's differences 25:52 or different ways of doing things. 25:54 We get offended easier as when we were younger 25:57 because we're more flexible. 25:59 Yeah. 26:00 And like I said, 26:02 I don't know having best friends 26:04 out of those people that I would never think 26:06 they were going to be friends where they were offense, 26:09 they were loud, they were all kind of things. 26:12 So that's it. 26:13 And you're still friends with many of them still today. 26:16 Yeah. 26:18 They come breezing in and out of these Adventist circles 26:20 and he is like, 26:21 "I went to school with him or I was his roommate." 26:23 And, and, and I would never thought 26:26 I was going to be a friend for the rest of my life. 26:29 You know this last line, Lynette, is very important, 26:33 "Whatever others may think of us, 26:35 it need not disturb our oneness with Christ, 26:39 the fellowship of the spirit." 26:41 The truth is I don't know 26:43 if there's anybody that everybody thinks good off. 26:46 You know, everybody didn't go to Jesus. 26:48 So there are, there are, and I think if you, 26:51 if you try to dance too much to please everybody, 26:54 and you're not pleasing nobody 26:55 and you're not true to yourself, you know. 26:57 The Bible says, "When a man's ways please the Lord, 26:59 He causes even his enemies to be at peace." 27:01 But it also says to try to get along 27:03 with everybody as best you can, 27:05 but there are some personalities 27:06 they're just not going to mesh with yours, you know. 27:11 So you do the best you can do what you got, 27:13 but don't let others disapproval of you. 27:17 Don't let that destroy your walk with Jesus 27:19 or impact your walk, 27:21 because you know I have a good friend 27:23 and I talk with her after many, many years 27:26 just when we were in St. Louis a couple weeks ago, 27:29 and she left the church and... 27:33 After a few years we talked and I said, "What happened?" 27:36 You know she said, "Well, they ran me out of the church." 27:39 Well, they who? 27:40 Who are they? Who were they, you know? 27:43 So they got between you and Jesus. 27:47 You let them between you and Jesus. 27:49 You know nothing should come between you and the Lord. 27:51 People will say things, people will do things, 27:53 but you can't turn your back on Jesus 27:56 because somebody called your name you know. 27:59 So don't let other people disturb your oneness 28:02 with the Lord is what that's trying to say 28:04 because people will get in there 28:06 and the devil will throw people in your way. 28:07 And you say, okay, I'm not going to church anymore 28:09 or who are you hurting when you stop going to church? 28:12 It would be the same myself when I leave my wife 28:17 because my kids must respect, disrespectful to me 28:20 you know as it is a start, it's a family. 28:22 I cannot led my relationship with my spouse 28:25 be affected by somebody else. 28:26 Yes. 28:28 It's the same thing what you're saying with Jesus, 28:30 it says, the logic, 28:32 there's no logic in saying okay, 28:33 I'm going to abandon my faith because somebody offended me. 28:36 Because somebody offend you. 28:37 You have to decide who your faith is in. 28:39 Precisely, yeah. 28:40 And even it is the pastor 28:42 or somebody high up in the church 28:43 or some church leader. 28:44 No matter how high they sit, they don't sit high enough 28:47 to come between you and the Lord, you know. 28:49 It should never, it should never be. 28:50 I mean you need to take 28:52 your relationship with God to another place 28:55 where you can be a ministering and ministered unto. 28:58 You need to change churches 29:00 because there is so much dissension and friction 29:03 then that's acceptable 29:05 but to walk away from fellowship. 29:08 That's, that's the problem I can see with that. 29:10 Right, Yeah, you don't walk away from Christ. 29:13 I think it will be... 29:15 It's good for us to recognize these things and, 29:20 and always go unto God for help because, you know, human nature 29:27 can be really difficult to deal with. 29:29 You know, you don't self... 29:31 Just ask God, He knows all about that. 29:33 Right. He knows all about that. 29:35 When you do that, 29:36 all that things will fall in place. 29:39 And, and because they no longer bother you, 29:42 while they bother you is very difficult 29:46 you know to accept and to move in 29:49 and to deal with things that are... 29:53 Accessible to Jesus through your, your trials, 29:56 you know, Lord this is really hard 29:57 but I'm here please change me. 30:01 You know help me to move through this instead 30:04 of just throwing your hands up in the air and saying, 30:05 I can't, I can't. 30:06 Right, right, right. 30:08 I remember years ago, 30:09 we went to a path with all our young pastors, 30:11 we went to a pastoral seminar 30:12 and they were trying to, it was a seminar on 30:15 how to get to motivate your members to work. 30:18 You know techniques to try to get them involved 30:20 and invested in the church and the teacher said, 30:24 "First of all these techniques do work 30:27 but nobody's going to get 100 percent." 30:30 You know you just, we're all humans, 30:32 you're not going to get 100 percent of your church portion, 30:34 we want to get the better part of your church working. 30:37 And one pastor put his hand up, "Nope, nope, I disagree. 30:40 I have 100 percent of my church working, 30:44 half working with me, half working against me." 30:48 So I got, they're all working, 30:50 some working with me and some working against me. 30:52 So the point is that you know you do the best you can 30:56 and don't let anybody or anything 30:59 come between you and Jesus 31:01 because then they're in the wrong place 31:02 and you should not allow anybody to be there. 31:05 Well done, thank you Lynette. 31:07 Jorge, you got the next one. I do, I do. 31:10 It's about Meek and Lowly in Heart, it says, 31:16 "The value of our work 31:18 does not consist in making a loud noise in the world, 31:22 in being zealous, eager, and active in our own strength. 31:27 The value of our work is in proportion 31:29 to the impartation of the Holy Spirit. 31:32 The value of our work comes through trust in God, 31:36 which brings holier qualities of mind, 31:40 so that in patience we may possess our souls. 31:44 We should continually pray to God 31:47 to increase our strength, 31:50 to make us strong in His strength, 31:54 to kindle in our hearts the flame of divine love. 31:58 The cause of God is best advanced 32:01 by those who are meek and lowly in heart. 32:06 What does that say to you, Jorge? 32:08 It says a lot, it says a lot and especially... 32:13 I have a little bit of background in sales, 32:17 working in sales force for many years. 32:22 And if you read this to a sales force, 32:26 a group of people will say, well, 32:28 what are you talking about... 32:29 Right, just the opposite. 32:30 It's absolutely the opposite. 32:32 You can't go and get the sale closed 32:37 using these techniques. 32:39 But little they know that you know 32:40 you can be very successful in life 32:43 if you do exactly this. 32:45 So in my opinion it's really, really interesting. 32:50 I have something 32:51 I want to share in relationship with this. 32:52 This is not so biblical but it's somebody who wrote it. 32:56 Theodore Roosevelt, in 1896, 33:00 "It is not the critic who counts, 33:02 not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, 33:07 or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. 33:11 The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, 33:15 whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, 33:20 who strives valiantly, 33:24 who errs, and comes up short again and again, 33:27 who knows the great enthusiasms, 33:29 the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy Cause, 33:32 who knows in the end 33:34 the triumph of high achievement, 33:37 and who at the worst, if he fails, 33:39 at least fails while daring greatly, 33:41 so that his place shall never be 33:44 with those cold and timid souls 33:47 who know neither defeat nor victory." 33:50 So why this is in my opinion 33:53 a similar to what I just read from Ellen White, 33:57 she wrote this in 1895, actually a few years 34:02 before Theodore Roosevelt wrote this other one, 34:05 "Is because I think the value." 34:07 And it says here, 34:08 "The value of our work is in proportion 34:10 to the impartation of the Holy Spirit. 34:12 The value of our work comes through trust in God." 34:15 So we, we can, we can have a very successful life 34:20 if we learn to appreciate what God has done 34:23 and gave us 34:28 a richer experience with him. 34:32 The value of our work 34:35 does not consist in making a loud noise in the world. 34:38 That's exactly. 34:40 That is so counterintuitive 34:42 to what's going out in the world right now 34:43 even as we're taping this program. 34:46 "And doing things in our own strength, 34:47 the value is in proportion 34:49 to the impartation of the Holy Spirit." 34:51 You cannot do the work of God without the Spirit of God. 34:52 No. Amen. 34:54 Yeah. 34:55 We need that... 34:56 That's so true because every time 34:58 we do a work or anything that we do, 35:01 we have the forces of the enemy 35:04 working against the Spirit of God 35:08 because the enemy knows where to... 35:11 Again, I say it again to push the buttons. 35:14 What you were saying, Jorge, it reminds me of a... 35:18 I saw part of this little interview 35:20 they had this morning on in the news 35:23 and they were interviewing this man about his work ethics. 35:29 And his coming from these people 35:33 that wants to better themselves 35:36 and then the question to him is why did you do that. 35:41 He said, well, that sells, that sells. 35:44 Don't you care about the people that you take money from 35:48 and you don't give what they expected? 35:51 No, he says, "We don't know that, 35:53 we don't know if they don't have the money 35:55 we don't... 35:56 We don't care. 35:57 We don't care because we don't know. 36:00 And he was arguing on that point so strongly. 36:05 And says things with God are so different. 36:09 And if the people would open their eyes 36:13 and their ears to hear more about what God is 36:16 and then how better our lives are 36:19 and how we do behave better with Christ in us. 36:23 They will see and want to accept more of God's help. 36:28 There's a selfish way to be successful 36:31 and there is the right way to be successful 36:34 by helping others and to be meek and humble. 36:38 Yes. 36:39 The last line, Jorge, that you read popped out of me, 36:42 the cause of God is best advanced 36:44 by those who are meek and lowly in heart. 36:48 My mom who I had the privilege of baptizing 36:51 at the Adventist church. 36:53 Her entrance into Adventism was delayed considerably 36:58 by a well meaning Bible worker 37:00 who came to the house on Friday afternoon. 37:04 I think she was trying to get one more soul in 37:07 before Sabbath. 37:13 And my mother was frying fish and this well meaning lady, 37:18 my mother came to the door and the stove was still on. 37:21 And she planned on being there just a moment 37:23 but the lady put her foot in the door 37:25 anticipating she's gonna close the door. 37:26 So that she can give her whole canvas. 37:29 And she's talking and not aware that you know 37:33 we got little configuration going on in the kitchen area, 37:36 so... 37:37 So my father came in, 37:39 now my father is at that time had a small restaurant 37:41 called the Silver Slipper. 37:43 And he was better in the kitchen than my mother. 37:47 And any excuse that he tells us, 37:49 you don't belong in the kitchen, 37:51 so he came in... 37:52 Intervene. 37:53 And there was this roaring volcano of fire in the kitchen. 37:56 And my mother really got upset 37:57 that the woman was so inconsiderate 37:59 that she burned the food. 38:01 And of course it gave my mother, 38:02 my dad another opportunity to tell us, see, 38:05 I'm the kitchen person, I'm the professional, 38:08 you're the amateur kind of thing. 38:10 So on holidays he would like Thanksgiving when the big food, 38:13 of course, he'd always say, okay, kitchen is mine, 38:15 all amateurs get out you know... 38:17 Get aside. Get aside. 38:19 So that really delayed my mother's coming to the Lord 38:22 for quite a while 38:23 because she equated the Adventist church 38:25 with that woman who was inconsiderate 38:28 and who turned her kitchen 38:30 into a volcano of burning fish. 38:35 So the idea that you can be meek and humble 38:39 it just speaks better of the Jesus you serve 38:41 and does a better job of sharing Christ 38:43 than being kind of blustery and forward 38:46 and you know kind of having, trying to have your own way 38:48 and that that popped into my mind. 38:50 So it's a very, very good and important reading, Jorge, 38:52 and I thank you for it. 38:53 Irma, you got, your's next. 38:55 Got something to, 38:57 and this one talks about God's work not ours. 39:01 "Now here is the very thing that we want to understand 39:06 that it is not our work but God's work 39:10 and we are only instruments in his hands to accomplish it. 39:15 We want to seek the Lord with all our hearts 39:18 and the Lord will work for us." 39:20 And this was found in the, Evangelist book. 39:27 2 Corinthians 2:14 says a little bit about 39:34 what God thinks about the work that we're doing. 39:37 It says, "Now thanks be to God 39:41 who always leads us in triumph in Christ, 39:45 and through us diffuses the fragrance 39:47 of His knowledge in every place." 39:51 I think is, what I think 39:54 that details me that we even in the, 39:58 in doing the work of God 40:00 sometimes we want to take the credit 40:04 because we want, we want to see the results. 40:08 So the credit is not even necessarily being like I want 40:13 you know people to know, 40:15 I want people to give me the credit, 40:17 is that when you do a work, 40:19 also you want to see good results. 40:22 So in there we have the temptation 40:26 to go on our own. 40:28 To do, to use our own ways 40:31 of doing whatever God is ask us to do 40:37 that to be in our job, 40:38 that be in our witnessing to other people, 40:43 especially when we witness to other people. 40:45 We want the people that to respond right away 40:50 and you know we are only called to do 40:56 our job and then lower the rest. 40:59 Many times we will never see the results of our witnessing 41:03 or else talking to people and showing him Christ. 41:08 We will never see it until we go to heaven 41:11 and that is way of biblical. 41:15 So it's good to remember. 41:17 God says that He is the one who has the power. 41:20 He obviously has the power to help us to overcome. 41:23 He will have to do the power to in these people 41:27 to overcome those trials 41:30 and whatever they need to overcome. 41:32 So he doesn't wants us to get a credit 41:35 because that will not be good for God to see there. 41:37 He loves us so much 41:39 that He knows how much credit we can accept 41:44 without getting a little big on our heads. 41:51 Yeah, I think it's, 41:52 it's a something that we as Christians ought 41:54 to actually remember that the work is God's not ours. 41:57 We have to do our part and then let God do his part. 42:00 I can remember years ago, 42:01 when I was working as a student 42:03 and we gave this long Bible study to this woman. 42:06 And we did well, went through every text ever objections 42:10 and she said, "I just don't see it." 42:14 And at that point, you know, 42:15 you're student you got all the zeal, 42:16 I got little irritated. 42:18 May be you don't see it. 42:19 So we go through it again. 42:21 Well, I just, I just don't see it. 42:22 I don't see it." 42:24 What, are you blind? 42:25 You know, it's plain, you know, you don't see it, 42:28 you don't want to see it, you know, 42:29 and you can get yourself in there. 42:31 You know, you're all in the way 42:34 and that's when you got to remember it's God's word. 42:36 Your job is to present and encourage, 42:40 it's God's job 42:41 to change that heart and you can't do that. 42:45 No, you can't, you can't. 42:47 Sometimes you want to, you want to sign, sealed, 42:49 delivered, baptized, fry, fillet, 42:51 you want to do the whole thing but you can't. 42:53 All you can do is present the truth 42:55 and then let the Lord do the rest. 42:58 You've got to remember it is God's work 43:00 and that He is not going to let His work fall to the ground. 43:02 It is nice to see results, so it's nice to see 43:04 that when we do something for the Lord we get... 43:09 Sometimes when we don't get 43:10 those immediate answers to prayer 43:12 or we don't see things in action, 43:14 we think, "Lord, what did I do. 43:15 Did I do something wrong?" 43:18 I need to evaluate my approach or my own heart. 43:21 Yes. 43:23 We can, we can get a little bit of self-conscious 43:26 and start feeling. 43:27 Well you start going to the whispers of the devil 43:29 I mean... Yes. 43:30 Because if you know that you are following scripture 43:33 to the very best of your ability, 43:35 anything negative is not from God. 43:38 Yeah, you have to trust God, you really have to. 43:40 Yeah, that's a powerful point. 43:42 You know it's you, 43:44 you want so bad to land that that Sunday punch. 43:46 You want to say that perfect thing to bring them across. 43:49 And Ellen White says, 43:50 "If a person does not want to believe, 43:53 you can give them Genesis to Revelation." 43:55 They're not, they're gonna find a reason not to 43:57 and if a person wants to believe one text 44:00 he's gonna do it you know. 44:01 So a lot of it has to do with their heart and it's true 44:03 that we can't change the hearts of other people 44:05 God's got to do that, that's the work of the Lord. 44:08 In a ways is that people believe, 44:11 seen you and not what you're saying 44:13 and know what you know. 44:14 Your knowledge of this is less important 44:18 or meaningless sometimes for people. 44:20 What I know well you know probably 44:23 doesn't really affect me or well, yeah, 44:25 I like the fact 44:27 that you are a knowledgeable person, 44:29 a good pastor, a good preacher 44:31 but when it comes to believe in what you're saying 44:35 it may not be what I need to know. 44:37 So I just close, 44:40 I put that shield in front of me. 44:42 Yeah. 44:44 Yeah, especially when sometimes we say something 44:46 and really don't really live up to it we don't, 44:50 we are just saying that it's good to do. 44:53 Yeah, you know one thing we found about 44:56 serving the Lord, witnessing for the Lord, 44:58 you really got to get yourself out of the way 45:01 you know and all of these have kind of said 45:03 in their own way. 45:04 Don't be so thin skinned, get yourself out of way. 45:07 Don't try to do it all, get yourself out of the way. 45:11 You know, remember it's God's work not yours. 45:13 Get yourself out of the way. 45:15 So one of the great tools to successful living 45:20 and successful witnessing is put self aside. 45:23 Don't lead with your chin. 45:25 You know it's not you, it's the Lord. 45:27 You know, you know Elijah said, 45:29 "Hey, I'm the only one left serving God." 45:32 Lest I notice 7000 you know 45:34 there's others it's not all on you, 45:36 so don't put it on you because it's God's work 45:40 and God will prosecute his work I guarantee. 45:44 Our time is getting away from us but this one 45:47 is under the heading of void business attachments. 45:48 "We are to be workers together with him. 45:52 Those who are in His service 45:55 need to separate from all business entanglements 45:59 that would tarnish their Christ 46:01 like Christ likeness of character. 46:04 The fisherman and the Savior 46:06 called straightway left their nets, 46:09 those who give themselves to the work of the ministry 46:13 must not entangle themselves in business lines 46:17 that will bring a coarseness into their lives. 46:20 And will be a detriment to their spiritual advancement 46:24 to their spiritual advancement in the work of the Lord 46:28 that He has given them to do." 46:30 I had a member of my church 46:33 and I won't mention which church. 46:34 Try to keep it as general as I can, 46:38 who was a good businessman. 46:41 He... 46:42 When I knew him was a, I guess multimillionaire 46:47 and he ended up wearing one of those electronic bracelets 46:54 where his movement was monitored 46:57 and he could only go from the house to church 47:03 to his office back to the house, 47:07 he was very good. 47:08 There are some people 47:10 who seem to be able to predestined to make money, 47:11 they can just make money and this guy was like, 47:14 he could make money. 47:15 And I think sometimes we rely on that maybe too much. 47:18 And he got in tangled with a business partner, 47:24 and this guy was really shady, 47:27 and the partner got a slap on the wrist 47:32 and the Christian, 47:36 the weight of it came down on him 47:37 to the tune of losing a lot of money 47:39 and they didn't put him in jail 47:40 but they monitored his movements for 18 months 47:44 everywhere he go, he got to sign on, 47:45 he couldn't leave the country, we got your passport. 47:48 You can't leave the city without telling us 47:49 and you got this bracelet on your ankle 47:52 and every move is monitored 47:55 because he got entangled with somebody 47:56 who was just a shaky shady guy. 47:59 And so it says, you know, it is the love of money 48:02 that is the root of all evil, not money itself. 48:04 And trying to, you know, you've got some, 48:06 I want to make more, I want to double, 48:07 I want to triple, I want to quadruple, 48:09 I want to quintuple, I want to, you know, 48:10 just want to go on and on and on. 48:12 So you've got to be very, very careful 48:13 particularly when you are doing the work of the Lord 48:15 when you're trying to serve. 48:16 And I was going to say 48:17 because I know who you're talking about 48:19 and this man was sort of really philanthropist. 48:22 He was. 48:23 He used so much money 48:26 in helping the poor and providing for the poor. 48:30 So he was not just wanted to make money 48:33 he did use that quite well. 48:36 Very true, if you needed helped, he helped, 48:38 he helped in a great way, 48:41 but he got caught up in something else 48:42 that was bigger than him and he got caught in trouble. 48:44 So if you want to be an effective tool, 48:47 you want to be free to be able to do the work of the Lord 48:50 and you've got to watch who you partner with. 48:52 When the children of Israel 48:53 were going into the Promised Land. 48:55 First thing Lord told them don't get into alliances 48:57 with these people, you know, don't get 48:59 because what happens is 49:00 well we'll win them as a rule it's the opposite. 49:04 They pull you out as opposed to you pulling them in. 49:05 Yeah. 49:07 And of course it ruins your effectiveness 49:08 and you don't want to do it, 49:10 you want to be free to do the work of the Lord. 49:11 All right, time is getting away from us, Lynette, 49:12 you've got another one. 49:14 I do I do, this one is entitled, 49:17 Harsh Spirit Denies Christ, 49:20 "Men may speak fluently upon doctrines, 49:22 and may express strong faith in theories, 49:25 but do they possess Christ like meekness and love? 49:29 If they reveal a harsh, critical spirit, 49:31 they are denying Christ. 49:33 If they are not kind, tender hearted, long-suffering, 49:36 they are not like Jesus 49:38 they are deceiving their own souls. 49:41 A spirit contrary to the love, humility, meekness, 49:43 and gentleness of Christ denies him, 49:46 whatever may be the profession." 49:48 Powerful. That's, that's powerful. 49:53 You want to take a swing at that. 50:02 Yeah, I will I, 50:04 I haven't got anything incredibly deep and spiritual. 50:06 I can just relate to what I see in my profession 50:12 which is that of a homemaker 50:14 and I am also in the classroom with my kids. 50:20 A soft answer turns away wrath. 50:24 You can't jump in 50:28 and act out 50:31 of these sudden impulses of your heart to somebody. 50:37 This is hard one, CA. 50:41 Anyway if you reveal 50:43 what flashes through your heart due to sin nature, 50:46 you're going to tear everything apart. 50:49 That's when you need to, 50:51 to lean hard on Jesus 50:53 and ask him to change you day-by-day minute-by-minute, 50:56 to exude that kind tender heartedness 51:00 to develop the ability to be more longsuffering 51:04 with that which goes on around you, 51:07 whether it's through other people 51:08 or through groups of people or just happenstance. 51:11 You need to reflect that Christ like demeanor. 51:16 Exactly. Take a breath, count to ten, take a walk. 51:21 You know sometimes, you just, 51:22 you just need to do these things in order 51:24 for Christ to work in you and to create this ability. 51:29 It's interesting that is for the question 51:33 that finish the first sentence 51:35 but do they possess Christian like meekness and love. 51:38 I'm thinking about 1 Corinthians 13 in the first, 51:43 we always dedicate time to read 51:47 what Lord said about in that chapter 51:49 before we get to read 51:51 and to really understand the first two verses it says. 51:55 Let's just read it. 51:57 Why don't we do that 1 Corinthians 13 52:00 and so it's known, everybody knows what it says, 52:03 "Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, 52:07 but have not love, 52:09 I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." 52:18 I remember when I was going 52:21 through the Greek part of this in the seminar 52:26 these word in Greek is... 52:31 something to make a noise, 52:35 it's something that doesn't have any make any sense. 52:39 So a person who may know everything 52:44 can be like here it says, 52:48 "Men may speak fluently upon the doctrines etc, etc." 52:52 But they don't show love. 52:54 It's like a piece of metal the makes noise. 52:58 That's what... 53:00 That's what he's saying here, verse 2 says in, 53:03 "And though I have the gift of prophecy, 53:05 and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, 53:08 and though I have all faith, 53:11 so that I could remove mountains, 53:12 but I have no love, I am nothing." 53:19 Very, very powerful, very powerful. 53:24 I'm looking at the line 53:27 "A spirit contrary to the love, humility, meekness, 53:29 and gentleness of Christ denies him." 53:32 So you're talking about Jesus, 53:34 but if you're talking about Jesus in a critical way, 53:37 you are at the same time denying the person 53:39 that you're trying to promote. 53:40 You can't argue anybody into the kingdom. 53:44 You can't argue anybody into the church. 53:47 You cannot browbeat people into the church. 53:49 You got to love them in, 53:51 and any other spirit is an antichrist spirit. 53:55 You just, you just, you can't, you can't do it that way. 53:58 Whatever maybe the profession, be a pastor, preacher, 54:00 teacher whatever, if you're mean and critical. 54:04 And then see the Holy Spirit 54:05 when it comes and it softens you. 54:10 We had a lady, bless her heart, 54:11 she wanted to be on the Greeting Committee. 54:13 And this was a lady 54:15 who if she had a bad week she brought that to church. 54:18 And I said, "You're not suited 54:22 to be at the door to be the first face 54:25 that people see when they come to church. 54:26 It's just not, you got other gifts but that's not it, 54:29 because if you're having a bad day, 54:31 you're going to make sure everybody else has a bad day." 54:33 So we had to pull her off and she was very, very upset 54:36 but I said, "Your nature is, 54:39 you're not the first face I want to see 54:40 when I come to the church on Sabbath." 54:43 Because you know if it's bad for you, 54:45 it's going to be bad for me and you will see to it 54:47 that it's bad for me, 54:48 and she couldn't understand that. 54:50 And then time, you know she, 54:52 she got upset and she went to another church, 54:55 but she took that same critical spirit 54:57 down to the church 54:59 and so the pastor called me he said, 55:00 "You did me no favor sending me this one." 55:02 You know, this kind of thing 55:04 because she had a critical spirit 55:06 but she wanted to be a greeter 55:07 but that was not her gift, it just wasn't her gift. 55:09 So if you have that spirit you are denying Christ. 55:12 And so you're not leading anybody to Christ. 55:14 And that's really deep to think 55:16 that that we are denying Christ-- 55:19 Oh, yeah. 55:21 Just the thought of it is quite harsh. 55:24 But, you know, 55:28 we have to ask God to chose our way. 55:31 When He chose our way, 55:33 then He's just ready there to listen to us to confess 55:37 so that He can change us. 55:39 Exactly. 55:40 So if we have something, if we're not loving, 55:43 if we are critical, if we are 55:45 or whatever of all those ugly things that we can be, 55:49 He can change us if we, 55:51 if we really want to change, 55:54 we can ask and God will change us 55:57 because He's promised. 55:59 I have experienced it in some things 56:01 not in all of it yet, 56:03 but I'm walking and hoping that it will continue. 56:08 He says that the good work 56:10 that He has started, He will finish, 56:11 and to me that is really powerful promise 56:16 'cause sometimes, 56:18 I myself see that it's not easy to change that I, you know, 56:23 I asked for this to be different 56:25 and then I and end up in one place 56:27 where it does prove to me that hadn't I changed it. 56:33 Yeah, it is a very true. 56:35 We've been talking about things that make us useful tools. 56:39 I want to just and we got, only got seconds left but, 56:42 Lynette, your third one 56:44 that we would not be able to really exhaust it 56:45 to talk faith and encouragement. 56:47 Okay. 56:48 If you want to be a useful tool, 56:49 one of the things that you want to do 56:51 is to talk faith and encouragement. 56:53 You can talk about how bad life is 56:55 but you can also talk about how good Jesus is, 56:57 and talking about the love of Christ 56:59 and how good Jesus is draws, 57:02 talking about how bad your life is pushes away 57:05 because if your life is bad, I got my own story. 57:06 Yeah. 57:07 You got a story, I got a story, 57:09 we can sit around talk about our stories 57:10 or we can lift up the name of Jesus, 57:12 which attracts people. 57:14 So we hope that in this time together 57:17 we've given you some tools to make you a more useful tool 57:20 in the hand of God 57:22 because God wants everyone to share the good news of Jesus 57:25 and you know when you share Jesus, 57:26 you're really helping yourself and blessing yourself. 57:29 Bye-bye, have a wonderful Sabbath 57:31 and a wonderful week. |
Revised 2016-09-06