Participants: Dee Casper, John & Angela Lomacang, Lecia Marr-Bromley, Luis Capote
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW016035A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend 00:14 my life 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 00:50 Mending broken people 01:07 Hello, friends, and welcome to Family Worship. 01:09 We are back in the saddle and I am not alone. 01:13 My name is John Lomacang 01:14 for those tuning in for the first time 01:16 and to my left is my lovely wife, 01:18 and what is your name? 01:20 *I'm Angela Lomacang and welcome to Friday night Family Worship. 01:26 Friday night Family Worship and happy Sabbath... 01:28 That's right. 01:30 To all of you that are watching 01:31 *and listening to this program today 01:33 and I know you gonna be blessed. 01:35 We have a great program, don't we, hon? 01:36 That's right and we have someone here 01:38 that has never been on this set before. 01:41 She's often been on the other side of the camera 01:44 and we are excited to have her here. 01:46 So we're gonna introduce our guest. 01:47 But we gonna start from my right 01:49 and then we gonna go around. 01:50 And by the way the topic is 01:53 "Courage and Boldness." 01:56 Let's say that together, what is it? 01:58 Courage and boldness. 02:00 Something that the world 02:02 is really calling out of us in these last days. 02:07 I though about it in the Christian world, 02:08 many Christians that they are losing heart 02:11 or losing courage because of either 02:12 political reasons, social reasons, 02:15 different parts of the worlds, 02:17 different parts of the world, 02:19 Christians are under attack, 02:21 morally, politically in so many ways 02:23 and it seems as though to some degree Christians are silent. 02:26 What do Christians do in a world 02:28 that's becoming more and more adverse 02:30 by the moment, by the day, by the year 02:32 and by the political circumstance? 02:34 So how do we have boldness, how to be courageous. 02:37 We are gonna talk about that today. 02:38 And we are not going to sing today 02:40 because this topic is gonna 02:41 need all the time it can get. 02:43 And we do have some talkative guest today. 02:45 But I began to my right, 02:48 this young man tell us who you are, 02:49 where you're from and what you do right now. 02:51 Somebody might know you. Yeah. 02:53 But somebody might not. 02:54 *Well, my name is Dee Casper 02:56 and I work with Unseen Media Group. 02:58 So we are a media ministry that's equipping young people 03:01 to reach young people through media and personal evangelism. 03:04 *So my role is the evangelism director 03:06 at Unseen Media Group. 03:07 Good to have you here. Good to have you here, Dee. 03:09 He's a preacher, isn't he? 03:10 Oh, he is a firebrand. Yes. 03:12 He is always ready and on fire. 03:14 I call him my minuteman. Yes, exactly. 03:16 Because if he falls into a lion's den, 03:18 he's gonna preach to the lions. 03:20 That's just how Dee is, that's good. 03:21 Yes. 03:23 No lack of courage and boldness there. 03:24 He's a preacher. 03:26 I guess the Lord appointed you 03:27 to be here today for that reason. 03:28 And, honey, I let you introduce the person next to you, 03:30 or maybe let her do that. 03:31 Yeah. Well, I am so honoured 03:33 and privileged to have my sister 03:37 Lecia Marr, I'm Angela Marr Lomacang 03:40 and she is Lecia Marr Lomacang. 03:42 She is a little older than me. Oh, no. 03:44 Lecia Marr... 03:45 I'm sorry, Lecia Marr Bromley. 03:48 Okay, I don't have two wives. 03:51 No, no, no. 03:52 And welcome sis, tell us what you do. 03:55 Oh, yes. 03:57 Thank you for having me here. 03:59 It's a pleasure to be with the 3ABN family. 04:03 Just want to say 04:04 how great it is to be here. 04:07 I work with the elderly, 04:11 help to provide them shared housings 04:14 and care as well. 04:18 SDA. 04:19 And it is SDA, elderly care by the way. 04:23 Okay and who do we have with us? 04:26 Our Cuban gentlemen. 04:28 A Cuban friend. 04:30 I'm Luis Capote, 04:32 I'm the program director here at 3ABN 04:35 and I'm so glad to be able 04:38 to take part of such a topic like this one today. 04:42 Especially with all the things that are happening, 04:43 I know that a lot of individuals 04:45 are asking me about, 04:47 you know, Cuba and what's happening 04:48 and some of the stories 04:50 that we may come up with from there 04:52 and how individuals had to have courage 04:56 and how individuals had to with boldness 04:58 be able to stand up to even worship God. 05:03 So I'm looking forward to, you know, 05:04 some of the stories that we'd be able to share with you 05:07 to let you know 05:08 that when you are in God's presence... 05:11 Yes. 05:12 God can do amazing things through you, 05:15 if you are just willing to 05:17 honor him and follow through. 05:19 That's right. 05:20 And I think that a program like this 05:22 we can't go forward unless we have prayer. 05:24 Yeah. 05:25 Because we're not going forward on our strengths. 05:26 So, honey, why don't you lead us 05:28 before the throne of grace with prayer? 05:29 I'll be glad to, let's bow our heads. 05:31 Our kind Father in heaven, 05:33 we come to you in the name of Jesus this Friday night. 05:36 God it's a privilege and honor to bow before your presence. 05:40 And we ask that you will be with us, 05:42 guide each and every one of us that's here. 05:45 Guide our minds to speak of you 05:50 and to have holy boldness for you. 05:52 So Lord may someone out there that's watching and listening, 05:56 be encouraged to know that, 05:59 yes, you can be bold for Jesus 06:01 and you can have courage for Jesus. 06:04 He had courage for us to go all the way to Calvary. 06:08 So Lord we thank you for Calvary. 06:10 We thank you for this time that we will spend together. 06:14 We ask that 06:15 your presence will be here 06:17 in our midst in Jesus name, amen. 06:19 Amen. 06:20 Thank you, wonderful prayer. 06:22 I want to kind of launch into this topic with some stories 06:25 because each of us has examples in our own lives 06:27 where we've had to be courageous, 06:29 we've had to be bold and it may or may not 06:33 have been our first reaction 06:35 but we thought about well, 06:36 what do I do in the midst of this challenge 06:38 that's just come to me. 06:39 And more recently, just to maybe add 06:42 a little timestamp to this program, 06:44 a movie was released called Hacksaw Ridge, 06:48 and for those of who that are part of our denomination, 06:50 you know of the name Desmond Doss 06:53 who was received 06:54 the congressional medal of honor 06:56 as one of the highest awards you can get in the military 06:59 for his display of courage and boldness at a time when, 07:05 you know, even in his own platoon, 07:08 even among his own fellow military soldiers, 07:11 he had to have courage first to stand up against them 07:14 and then to stand up against the government norms, 07:18 and then to not be a conscientious objector 07:22 but a conscientious participant, 07:24 that's the word he use, a phrase he used. 07:26 He said, I'm not objecting to the war, 07:28 I just want to go in without a weapon. 07:30 You are right, exactly. 07:31 And when you think about that, if you object or decide, 07:35 well, I'm gonna be a conscientious objector, 07:37 I'd rather be court martial and go to jail 07:38 rather than go in a war 07:40 because I don't want to carry a weapon, 07:41 like we can mention some names that we know. 07:43 But he said, I'm not an objector, 07:46 I'm a conscientious participant. 07:49 I am not wanting to get out of going into battle, 07:52 I just want to go without a weapon. 07:54 And so, 07:57 I want to save lives, say it again. 08:00 Yeah, save lives. 08:01 Right, I don't want to take lives... 08:03 Yes. 08:04 I want to save lives and so we... 08:07 He is such a modern day example to so many people 08:10 that are in the military think of his name with great esteem 08:15 and great pride that a man like this in great honor. 08:19 So he is a modern day example 08:22 of what it means to be a person of courage, 08:24 and we've had examples in our own lives. 08:26 But let's just kind of bring it some of the stories 08:29 and I'm gonna give you before we go to our text, 08:31 because we have a little more time today 08:33 and you launched into just as a Cuban. 08:38 Yeah. 08:39 'Cause I've been to Cuba and I know what a society it is 08:42 and now that they are coming into 08:43 the sisterhood of nations as so to speak. 08:45 Right. 08:46 Kind of tell us little about this courage you talked about, 08:48 what was needed to be and that's the kind of society 08:51 and stand up as a Christian. 08:52 You know what, you sometimes take it for granted. 08:55 Sometimes you are in a country 08:57 where you have all the freedoms of the world 08:59 where the Bible is available in any time of form, 09:03 you gotten in the Bible, you got in the, 09:05 but once you are an Adventist in Cuba, 09:08 I remember one time that 09:10 the government want it to shut down 09:12 the whole Adventist movement. 09:14 So they imposed of us a fine that I think was like $14, 000 09:20 and you say to yourself, what $14,000, what to that? 09:23 When somebody only makes $232 a month, 09:27 $14,000 is a large amount 09:30 for any organization to come up with. 09:33 And we remember how individuals that were gonna get married, 09:37 individuals that were planning all of these things, 09:39 they donated their whole money 09:42 in order for us to be able to make it 09:44 and it came out to exactly the amount that God needed, 09:47 that we needed in order to continue. 09:49 And I've told story all the time, 09:52 I mean individuals that 09:54 actually were taken to jail 09:56 and were said, if you don't deny God, 09:58 we are going to kill you today. 10:00 And you hear, you know, this... 10:02 I tell the story of a family that they go into the prison 10:05 and there the father said, I'm not going to die, God, 10:08 and hear the gunshots, 10:09 you know, and then the mother had to make the decision 10:11 and the same to kids. 10:13 All to show at the end or we were just checking 10:16 to see if you were still Christian. 10:18 You know, they would just shooting 10:20 at the air on the other hand. 10:23 But still, it took courage for individuals to say, 10:27 hey, I'm gonna stand up for God. 10:30 And that's the one thing that is so interesting for us to... 10:36 Nowadays when you understand you talk about Desmond Doss 10:40 and what they didn't understand, 10:43 the part they didn't understand 10:44 was that he went with a two-edged sword. 10:46 That's right. 10:47 You know, this two-edged sword is a lot more powerful 10:50 than whatever weapon they could have given him. 10:52 Amen. That's right. 10:54 Once you are completely, 10:56 this is the part that I want to ask you as a pastor 10:58 because there is a difference between courage and faith 11:02 or courage and respect. 11:05 You know, when we go in faith with God, 11:08 sometimes we have our reservations. 11:12 When we go with courage, 11:13 is God working through the whole aspect of it, 11:17 there is nothing in us 11:18 and that's what is so beautiful about this aspect. 11:21 A lot of the times we're sure, we know that. 11:23 Oh, yeah, we'll do things in faith 11:25 but are we courageous? 11:27 Okay, all right. 11:29 We do things in faith, are we courageous? 11:31 I'll let, Dee, anyone of you want to respond to that, 11:33 what's the difference between faith and courage? 11:36 That's what we are talking, that's the question. 11:37 I think both are gifts from God. 11:39 I don't think either one of those 11:41 are naturally intrinsic to us. 11:42 We are typically a fearful, 11:44 self preserving people generally. 11:47 So I think that God gives 11:49 the measure of faith and courage 11:50 necessary for any given trial, 11:52 should we call upon Him to do so. 11:54 But yes, 11:57 there is probably a lot of over lapse 11:59 as far as distinct characteristics. 12:01 I can't think even at the top of my head 12:02 that are just like it, 12:04 this is only this and this is only that. 12:05 I think both are virtue things that have to come 12:07 from a source greater than ourselves. 12:08 One who knows no fear and they come from God... 12:11 Okay. Regardless. 12:13 All right, ladies? 12:14 Yeah, I think faith and courage go hand in hand. 12:17 Yeah. You know, you need the both... 12:18 Yeah. 12:20 Of them. 12:21 With faith you trust that God is going to bring you through, 12:27 and with courage that gives you 12:30 the will to go forward 12:34 believing against all odds 12:38 that your God is gonna bring you through, that's courage. 12:41 Amen. 12:42 Okay, Ann, anything? 12:44 No, no, my sister said it all. All right. 12:46 Everything I would say, she said it. 12:49 Look at some of these texts because we kind of build 12:51 a framework because there's so many, 12:53 you know, there are so many scriptural examples 12:55 and one of the ones that came to my mind 12:56 to launch into this topic was Revelation 21:8. 12:59 I kind of abbreviated since there was only a certain 13:01 portion of that I wanted to amplify. 13:04 But Revelation 21:8, 13:06 "But the fearful, and unbelieving, 13:10 shall have their part in the lake 13:11 which burneth with fire and brimstone, 13:13 which is the second death." 13:15 You never think fearful. 13:19 This not a, is it a crime, is it a sin? 13:22 And I thought for the first time 13:24 when I read that text that, 13:26 fearfulness 13:28 was handled like a sin. 13:31 And what do you do 13:33 when you are confronted with the situation 13:34 in our world today, if somebody is in, 13:37 you're in a whole setting 13:38 and everybody there is not Christians 13:40 and they are dogging Christians for examples, 13:44 do you have enough courage to say something... 13:48 Yeah. 13:49 While Christians are just being verbally crucified, 13:53 do you have enough stamina to say, 13:55 say something at that particular moment. 13:57 I think, you know, 13:58 when you think about it that way, 13:59 it seems to me that's 14:01 what's being actually pulled out of us. 14:02 Then you study where it kind 14:04 of comments on this and it says, 14:05 nothing naturally timid, 14:06 this refers to those who choose personal safety 14:08 over faithfulness to God in the end time. 14:11 Wow. 14:12 The idea of self preservation in the midst of hardship, 14:14 you know, if it's gonna be me or somebody else. 14:16 Yeah, all this, you know and try to save my own skin. 14:19 That's right. 14:21 So like for example, 14:22 let's catapult to the mark of the beast, 14:24 you know, if they say, you're gonna quit your job... 14:27 Yeah. 14:29 Or you're gonna, 14:30 you're gonna give up your job to keep Sunday. 14:32 Oh, no, I won't do this. 14:33 Adventism cost me something, man... 14:35 Oh, yes. 14:36 Like I had to leave least both of my forms of employment 14:38 because both of them had heavy weekend involvements. 14:41 It's a really terrifying process 14:43 for me for a while that, 14:44 I remember my daddy came into my room and he says, 14:46 you know, buddy see they throw us not, 14:48 what are we gonna do about this Sabbath thing. 14:49 Oh, wow. 14:50 And, you know, this is what the Bible says bit like, 14:54 believe in the Bible say something as one thing 14:57 but living your life is if it's true is another, 14:59 and it can cost us something. 15:01 I think that those who grow up in the system maybe 15:03 don't appreciate that as much. 15:05 I know if someone is involved in evangelism, 15:06 I take it maybe a little differently than someone 15:09 who grow up in the institution 15:10 that I know what's going through their minds 15:12 when they had to make this decision 15:13 because imagine being a young family 15:15 and they are having to make a choice 15:17 as a husband, as the breadwinner, 15:18 that I had to leave this job to stand for God, 15:20 but I have a small child and a wife and other things. 15:23 God is asking us to have courage to believe 15:25 and faith to believe 15:27 that He who called is faithful and He will do it 15:30 and God did provide for us. 15:31 We went through severe economic hardship, 15:34 but God prove faithful 15:35 and always found a ways to provide 15:37 for our day to day needs. 15:38 It was scary, it was difficult 15:40 but through that process, 15:42 I came to understand the depths of the faithfulness of God 15:45 in the midst of my difficulties. 15:47 And I think God wants us to learn those lessons 15:49 in day to day situations now to make us 15:52 in a person who would stand then later. 15:55 Wow, any comments on that 15:56 'cause that's a real life situation. 15:59 Yeah, 'cause he came out of, 16:00 you know, he was not raised Adventist. 16:02 No. That's right. 16:03 Yeah. Yeah, and you gave up so much. 16:05 Yeah. 16:07 You were in that finish line. 16:09 Yeah, that's right. Well, that's where we met. 16:10 Yeah. 16:11 The finish line job was the beginning line. 16:13 That's right, the first time was my starting line. 16:14 In your walk with God, you have to give it 16:16 a finish line to start a new line with the Lord. 16:17 Yeah, that's right. 16:18 If we truly look at our lives... 16:20 Yes. 16:21 We look at everywhere, I've moved 25 times in my life. 16:24 Wow. 16:25 I mean, my wife has worked for the conference, 16:27 she has worked for inter-American division, 16:30 she has worked for schools, so we followed. 16:33 Every time I'm the one that have to go and find a job. 16:36 You know, she is already moved with, 16:38 you know, the organization with the church. 16:41 And when you are in the work force, 16:44 people don't understand your belief, 16:46 what you are trying to accomplish. 16:48 I remember I went to a car dealership. 16:51 Because I'm bilingual, 16:53 there was a Spanish person there, 16:55 and I went and talked to him I pretty much sold him the car. 16:57 You know, I translated for them and all that. 16:59 While the manager just said, you can start right now, 17:03 you know, I'm hiring you in the spot, 17:04 and I said, well, not a problem and I just cannot, 17:07 from sundown to sundown, I just don't work. 17:09 And he says, what do you mean? 17:10 That's the time when we are most busy. 17:13 Yeah. 17:14 And says, well, you guys work on commission 17:15 so nobody else would object to that, 17:17 I know my God will take care of me. 17:19 Oh, no, the guys are gonna be upset. 17:21 He comes up to me and tells me 17:23 how is that you serve a God that doesn't understand 17:26 that you need to provide for my family. 17:28 Yeah. For your family. 17:29 I said, no, you don't quite understand. 17:31 I serve a God that provides for my family. 17:33 I'm just a vessel that He uses to do that. 17:35 That's right. Right. 17:37 And that's the part that they don't quite comprehend. 17:39 That aspect of trusting God fully and it's countless. 17:44 You know, jobs like that, that you've had to, 17:47 I've had to say well, you know what? 17:48 Thank you, but no, I don't like the opportunity. 17:51 And you have to continue be faithful. 17:54 The nice part about that 17:55 is that the job that God did give me eventually 17:58 was one that I've enjoyed thoroughly for, 18:02 you know, for a long period of time. 18:04 And when we are faithful, 18:07 at times we feel this is never going to end. 18:10 You know, Lord, how am I going to, 18:13 how am I gonna provide next, how am I gonna do, 18:16 and like Dee was mentioning, God always provides. 18:20 Always. 18:21 I remember vividly this, this... 18:24 I've always paycheck to paycheck's been in my house, 18:27 it doesn't matter whether 18:28 we made a 100,000 or 50, 000 a year. 18:30 There's always been like that I remember one time that 18:33 I'm driving along and all of he sudden 18:35 my car's transmission goes and I'm just floored. 18:40 I said Lord, I finally had a little bit of money, 18:43 I had $400 in the back account, I finally have, 18:46 why is this happening to me? 18:47 Immediately He comes to me and says you hypocrite. 18:50 That transmission has been broken 18:52 for about three months, 18:53 I left it till you had the money to pay for it and now 18:56 you come and you tell me this. 18:58 You know, I'm just like, 18:59 okay, Lord, I get it, I understand. 19:02 How many times we do the same thing to God, 19:06 that God holds things for when we do have the funds 19:11 and we don't give God the glory. 19:14 Well, you know, we have somebody around this table, 19:16 that I want to kind of pull into this scenario 19:17 because she disconnected from all sustenance of life. 19:22 And I want to kind of talk 19:23 about a situation you're in that, 19:24 I want to pray remain just a topic of verbal 19:28 discussion not emotional because it's very fresh to us. 19:30 Exactly. 19:32 But my sister-in-law Lecia, 19:33 when she heard about her mom's need, 19:36 she disconnected from job, from family... 19:39 Yeah. 19:40 And just decided, I'm gonna dedicate, 19:41 I have no monthly income coming in, 19:43 I'm just gonna go ahead and dedicate myself 19:45 and this is what we are talking about here. 19:47 Talk about that for a moment 19:49 because that takes an act of faith and courage. 19:51 Yeah, it's... 19:53 A lot of people may go through this 19:54 and this is a time in your life 19:57 where it's a testing period 19:59 and I went through that testing period of my life 20:03 where the Lord says do you trust me. 20:06 And you say, yes, Lord 20:08 but then He comes back again and He says do you trust me? 20:12 And you are like yes, Lord. 20:13 Then the Lord put you to the test. 20:15 That's right. 20:16 And when you go through that, 20:18 you know, sometimes you have to give everything up, 20:22 but I can tell you when I gave everything up, 20:25 my bills were paid every month. 20:28 I never was broke, 20:31 I gave up my job, 20:33 I started a new business. 20:37 A lot of things that happened, 20:38 I gave up a lot including my home 20:44 because I knew at that time that God was leading me. 20:47 You can't do this without 20:50 daily connection with God, 20:52 you know, it's important. 20:54 There were times I had to pray on my knees at work, 20:57 you know, on my knees praying in the bathroom, 21:00 not understanding why things were happening 21:03 and not knowing that God was gently leading me through this. 21:06 Yeah. 21:08 And then finally, when I made the decision to quit my job, 21:12 was a really good job, 21:16 paid well 21:18 and I got a promotion 21:22 and then there was jealousy because I got the promotion. 21:24 Yeah, employee of the month. 21:26 And as I started work, wondering why is, 21:30 you know, these attacks coming this way, 21:32 and finally I had enough after praying and praying 21:36 and then finally a peace came over me 21:40 and when that peace came I knew at that moment 21:44 that now is the time for me to make this move... 21:47 Yeah. 21:48 And I went in and spoke to my manager 21:50 and she's, "Why, Lecia, why are you quitting?" 21:53 She says, "You know all those fears." 21:56 Now going back to fears, 21:58 it was a lot of fears 21:59 that led me to want to quit my job. 22:02 Because of the jealousy they were telling me, 22:05 oh, they are gonna get rid of you next, 22:07 they got rid your supervisor, 22:10 you are gonna be next and all these things and, 22:13 you know, the jealousy you could see it, 22:15 you know, what was going on but yet you wondered, 22:17 am I gonna be next? 22:18 That's fair. 22:20 You know, when you've got a bills, 22:21 you've got your house, that's fair, 22:24 how are you gonna manage, 22:25 you know, but then you still had to believe, 22:29 you had to believe 22:31 and I can't stress enough how important it is 22:35 that when you're going through these trials, 22:37 read your Bible. 22:39 Yeah. That's right. 22:40 Sing songs of praise and look to the Lord 22:44 and He is your best friend. 22:46 That's right. 22:47 He actually, He doesn't care how big your problem is, 22:50 how little it is that you're praying, 22:52 anything that concerns you, 22:54 no matter how big or how little... 22:56 That's right. 22:57 You take it to the Lord in prayer 22:59 and once you take it to God in prayer, 23:02 He wants that, He wants to know 23:04 that we have that open relationship. 23:06 Yes, He does. That's right. 23:08 And because of that 23:10 He's brought me through a mighty long way 23:12 and I have to tell everyone before I end on this note, 23:15 I have to say that, it pays to serve God. 23:18 Amen. That's right. 23:20 And the reward at the end is greater than the fear 23:23 that you had in the beginning. 23:24 That's right. That's right, that's right. 23:26 And this morning I woke up 'cause you are staying with us 23:29 for just about a week and I woke up 23:31 and I'm like what is the Li doing on? 23:33 And I went out to your bedroom 23:36 and there she was on her knees praying, 23:38 asking the Lord to help, to guide her 23:41 because she has been through a lot. 23:43 That's right. And so prayer is the key. 23:45 We have to have a relationship with the Lord 23:48 and prayer is the key 23:50 and study in God's word is the key also. 23:53 Matter of fact on that note, let's read Deuteronomy 31:6, 23:56 because this fits right into what you just talked about, 23:59 because you talked about your job, 24:01 people coming up against you, feeling that you might be next, 24:05 that the devil sowing all these seeds of fear and intimidation, 24:08 and then this text came to my mind. 24:10 I jumped over the stories in the beginning 24:12 because when you talked about that this text, 24:13 read that one for us, hon, Deuteronomy 31:6. 24:15 It says, "Be strong and of good courage, 24:20 do not fear nor be afraid of them, 24:23 for the Lord your God, 24:25 He is the One who goes with you. 24:28 He will not leave you nor for sake you." 24:32 Powerful. 24:34 So in the job, don't be afraid to them, what you are hearing. 24:36 Don't be afraid of them, what you are anticipating. 24:38 In Cuba, in the employment realm, 24:41 I mean, I lost the job twice because of Sabbath issues. 24:45 But those are the little tests 24:49 that are getting us ready 24:50 for the larger tests and usually when you, 24:53 it's kind of like weightlifters. 24:55 Now I'm not one to talk about weightlifting. 24:57 I mean, I'm really not any example of that. 25:00 But you'll notice that more weight you lift, 25:03 the more weight you are able to lift, 25:05 the weight continues to increase 25:06 and your strength increases. 25:08 And so trial sometimes come, 25:10 the Lord is letting us become strong Christians 25:12 but they will never be developed 25:14 if there is not some weights of moments of courage 25:17 to test our faith in our examples of life. 25:20 I can see you percolating there, Luis. 25:22 No, it's interesting 25:24 because I do a lot of prison ministry. 25:27 Right. Oh, yeah. 25:28 And every time that we do prayer request, 25:32 there is a couple of guys 25:33 that would stand up and they says, 25:35 you know, I was at my last and I didn't know 25:37 where to go and I pray to God, 25:39 God please save me and here's where I am. 25:42 So you know, and it's just funny 25:46 because a lot of the times God has to get us to a place 25:50 where we have no influences around us 25:55 in order for us to be able to be victorious. 25:58 Most of us, we feel oh, we can do it. 26:01 There isn't anything, 26:02 I have learned in my short life 26:03 that there isn't anything I could do of myself. 26:07 I always joke around with people and he says, 26:10 I always tell him and he says, 26:13 are you being good? 26:15 And, you know, and people would say, 26:17 oh, yeah, oh, I stopped doing that a long ago. 26:20 You know, and people start thinking that, 26:22 I'm doing it, and I says no, 26:23 I gave it to the Lord to do because when I tried, 26:25 I failed, I failed tremendously. 26:29 But it's encouraging to know that when we started, 26:34 when I started the prison ministry, 26:35 I was fearful. 26:37 I was so until, it wasn't until God actually said 26:41 what are you fearful for? 26:42 Yeah. 26:43 Those are your brothers that are in there, 26:45 that they need somebody like you 26:46 to give them a difference 26:48 and now is when I'm there, I'm like I can't have enough. 26:51 I want to, you know, so the fear 26:55 that you may be going through 26:57 is because the enemy knows 27:00 that you are getting closer and closer 27:02 to our relationship with God. 27:03 That's right. 27:05 And sometimes it takes God, 27:09 it may take God to put you in a situation 27:11 where you're completely out of your realm 27:12 which is a prison, 27:14 in order for you to deal down 27:16 and to completely devote yourself 27:19 or develop your character. 27:21 And as like you were telling about weightlifting. 27:24 It's the same thing with God. 27:25 If you look through your life, 27:27 if you look at all the things that's happened in your life, 27:29 your faith has been increasing through time, 27:34 through trials and tribulations, 27:36 through obstacles in your life. 27:38 So if you are going through life 27:39 when nothing is happening 27:40 and you are just enjoying life, 27:43 how strong are you? 27:46 And I remember one of these aspect, 27:47 I went to, in Arizona they have the, 27:50 I think it's called Earth 2 or something. 27:52 It's a place where they try to mimic 27:55 what the earth look like 27:57 and they have built these trees 27:59 but the trees they don't have a good root 28:01 and what they found out is there was no resistant. 28:03 There was no air, 28:05 we did not put the resistant of the air for the root 28:08 to actually to go down and deep and to hold on. 28:12 So any little movement, 28:14 those trees would fall and it's the same with us. 28:16 Until we have those roots 28:19 and a lot of those roots come with a lot of pain. 28:22 That's right and resistance. 28:23 A lot of those roots come with resistance 28:25 and with us completely surrendering. 28:30 And that for some reason 28:32 is one of the toughest thing that human does. 28:36 The roots, do you want to say some? 28:38 The roots when a tree is standing by itself 28:40 in the middle of an open field, it's got deep roots. 28:43 Because it's been tested through the winds of life, 28:45 the trials of life, 28:47 the difficulties of life have come. 28:49 The one you just read, 28:50 I want to dive into couple 28:51 of more text here because we are, 28:53 you know, where we find our strength 28:54 is in the Bible verses, 28:55 the foundation that the scriptures lay for us. 28:57 You know, we began with 28:59 the fearful and unbelieving. 29:01 That's the society in which we live today, 29:03 and I've said this to Angie so many times, 29:06 with all these things threatening Christians, 29:09 their practices today, 29:10 why are we so quiet? 29:12 And they go, oh, the government passed this law. 29:14 Well, this is now legislated well and I say well, 29:18 that didn't stopped Martin Luther death, 29:20 didn't stop Martin Luther King Jr., 29:22 it didn't, so what we are missing 29:24 in our world today is somebody 29:25 who is fearless to speak to the matter at hand 29:29 and like I was listening to, 29:30 you know, there are so many 29:32 Christian radio stations including 3ABN 29:33 but there was a particular Christian station said, 29:37 if you stand up against such and such activity, 29:40 you know, boycott such and such a store, 29:43 let them know that we don't stand 29:44 for that kind of behavior. 29:45 And I thought wow, that takes a lot of courage 29:47 to broadcast that on the radio, 29:49 but this is the kind of society in which we live. 29:52 Let's look at one story in the Bible 29:53 to even open up some more doors. 29:55 Okay, who would like to walk us through this? 29:58 You probably read pretty efficiently. 30:00 Okay. 30:02 Walk us through the story right there 30:03 because this as Dee reads it, 30:05 this an example of Gideon. 30:07 Now we know Gideon was a man of eventual courage 30:10 but he didn't start that place. 30:11 That's right. 30:13 We don't often get to the point of full courage unless 30:15 we start in a place sometimes of fear. 30:16 Right. 30:18 It's in Judges 6:7-14, 30:20 look at this, " And it came to pass, 30:22 when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord 30:24 because of the Midianites, 30:25 that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, 30:28 who said to them, 30:30 "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 30:31 'I brought you up from Egypt 30:33 and brought you out of the house of bondage 30:35 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians 30:38 and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, 30:40 and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 30:43 Also I said to you, 'I am the Lord your God, 30:46 do not fear the gods of the Amorites, 30:48 in whose land you dwell.' 30:50 But you have not obeyed My voice.' 30:52 Okay, see he showed him all what he did for him. 30:54 Yeah. Right. 30:55 He says, but why you are here, 30:57 'cause you haven't obeyed my voice. 30:58 Yeah. And where is he? 30:59 Look at the next verse. Yeah. 31:01 Why? Where is he? 31:02 "Now the Angel of the Lord came 31:03 and sat under the terebinth tree 31:05 which was in Ophrah, 31:06 which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, 31:08 while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, 31:10 in order to hide it from the Midianites." 31:13 What's he doing? God has... 31:15 Not in the open, it doesn't seem. 31:16 He is not in the open. 31:17 Lord is telling all this I did for you, 31:19 did not I live for you? Did not I fight for you? 31:20 Wasn't I with you? 31:23 Not so loud, I'm treshing wheat in the winepress. 31:27 The Midianites might hear this conversation. 31:29 Keep going. 31:31 And God responds to this, says, 31:32 "And Angel of the Lord appeared to him, 31:34 and said to him, "The Lord is with you, 31:36 you mighty man of valor!" 31:37 Now does he look like a mighty man of valor? 31:40 Looks like a littley man, littley man here. 31:43 The Lord is seeing in him what he doesn't see in himself. 31:46 He is speaking faith into Gideon, yes. 31:48 Thank you. Yeah. 31:49 So he looks at us, I want to break that, 31:51 he looks at us in our moments of fear and he says, 31:53 you mighty man or valor, 31:55 you can do this and you're saying shh, 31:59 they might hear us God. 32:00 You mighty man of valor, you winepress hider, 32:03 you can do this, get out of that vat and go 32:06 and fight you mighty man of valor. 32:08 He has seen in him, so he's saying to my wife, 32:11 he's saying to Lecie, he's saying to Luis. 32:15 And, you know, when you mentioned 32:16 you are in prison ministry and you are fearful, 32:17 I'm thinking I can't see that. 32:21 He is my bodyguard. 32:23 I can't see him walking into prison and say, 32:25 would you guys like to hear sermon? 32:29 Well, finish the story, this is amazing story. 32:31 And Gideon's response, 32:32 Gideon doesn't believe in God's belief in him... 32:34 Okay. 32:35 Right now he says, "O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, 32:38 why then has all this happened to us? 32:41 And where are all the miracles which our fathers told us about, 32:44 saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' 32:46 But now the Lord has forsaken us 32:48 and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 32:51 Then the Lord turned to him and said, 32:53 'Go in this might of yours, 32:55 and you shall save Israel 32:57 from the hand of the Midianites. 32:58 Have I not sent you?' 33:00 " Now he doesn't even say my might. 33:01 Exactly. 33:03 He said which implies that God 33:04 has already provided might to Gideon. 33:06 Right. 33:07 But Gideon does not believe that's the case 33:09 and all he can remember, all the downsides, 33:11 all the failures of the past but he has no recollection 33:15 of the faithfulness of God in his past. 33:17 Little on the belief of God in his present, 33:19 which is what he just said, 33:20 I see you as a mighty man of valor. 33:22 That's right. 33:23 He won't believe in the faithfulness of God's past 33:25 or God's faith in him in the present, 33:27 and that's what caused him to not be willing to do 33:29 what God had said initially was because of that. 33:32 And we've had these examples 33:33 in our own ministry, in our own life 33:35 where we have seen these timelines 33:37 that we mark and we could, 33:38 and the Lord could look at us and say. 33:40 So when we come up against a new mountain 33:42 and the Lord says to us, haven't I done this? 33:46 Haven't I done that? Haven't I done that? 33:47 Haven't I done that? Oh, yeah, I'm an easer. 33:50 I'm an easer, I'm not at the place now 33:53 where I could actually fall 33:54 into the Gideon's category because I could say, 33:56 yes, you have Lord but Gideon wasn't there yet. 33:59 Right. Right. 34:00 He was saying but, the Lord has for saken us. 34:02 Yeah. 34:04 That's the part that I'm so in awe by, 34:06 I mean, I'm wondering like, how could you tell that to God. 34:09 Right. 34:10 You know, that you have turned us against the Mid. 34:13 How is it that you after failing so many times of all the things 34:18 that God has given and now you're gonna blame God 34:20 for the situation that you put yourself in. 34:23 How often do we do that to ourselves? 34:25 Yeah. 34:26 How often do we, does God, and I remember vividly 34:28 when God wanted me to move back home 34:30 and I kept on saying no, no, no. 34:32 God had to remove himself from me like 34:35 where I couldn't even hear him on to a point 34:37 that I was faithful and I kept on saying, Lord, 34:41 what do you want from me? What do you want from me? 34:42 And He kept on telling me, I wasn't listening. 34:44 And sometimes is what happens to us and we tell God, 34:47 why am I in this situation and He has to remind us. 34:49 You are in this situation because you put yourself there. 34:52 I wanted to show you how mighty and powerful, 34:54 how great things that I'm gonna do through you, 34:57 so countless of generations are going to see your valor, 35:02 how wonderful you are, but first you have to trust me. 35:05 You've got to get to the point 35:06 where you could humble yourself to the point 35:08 where you understand what I'm trying to tell you. 35:10 Yeah. 35:11 You know, Ellen White tells us that in the Spirit of Prophecy, 35:13 she mentions that all of God's biddings are enablings. 35:16 Yes. That's right. 35:18 And in this situation how many times have you counsel people, 35:20 I had to do it tons of times, 35:21 where someone says this very thing, 35:23 if God was with me then why has this happened? 35:26 And where is this faithful God when I need Him? 35:28 Right. And He's in your past. 35:32 Just recount your life history, 35:34 the things that God has done for you, 35:35 that same God that was there then, 35:37 He is still here now, 35:38 and this very God in spite of your weak faith 35:41 is asking you to do something. 35:43 And if God is asking you to do something, 35:45 it must mean that He has 35:47 a better knowledge of your capabilities, 35:50 and the holy unction from Holy Spirit 35:51 to give you the ability to do them, then you do. 35:54 God must have more faith in your ability 35:56 to succeed in this than you do, 35:58 but will you believe what He says. 36:00 So no call from God will ever come unless 36:02 the provision of God was already there. 36:04 And Gideon didn't believe that at that movement 36:06 and yet God still speaks to him as if Gideon did believe it, 36:09 this is the amazing thing. 36:11 He calls him a mighty man of valor. 36:12 Lecia, go down to point number four in the next page, 36:14 I want you to read that text in Isaiah. 36:15 What's that? You don't have to fear... 36:17 Isaiah 40. 36:18 Oh, right. 36:19 We have nothing to fear for the future, 36:21 point number four except as we forget 36:24 the way the Lord led us in the past. 36:26 It's Isaiah 40:29-31. 36:28 Read that, that's a powerful text because it's just, 36:31 the God is looking at Gideon, this weak link 36:35 and look at what He says. 36:36 "He gives power to the weak, 36:39 And to those who have no might He increases strength. 36:43 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, 36:46 and the young men shall utterly fall, 36:49 but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. 36:55 They shall mount up with wings like eagles, 36:59 they shall run and not be weary, 37:02 they shall walk and not faint." 37:04 Wow. 37:06 So he was described, 37:07 He gives strength to those who are what? 37:09 Weak. Power to the weak. 37:11 Yeah. 37:13 So he looks at this, 37:15 I keep saying Gideon, he looks at us. 37:17 Yeah. That's right. 37:20 All right, I'm Gideon. Yeah. 37:22 You see, we like to side with the guys of courage, 37:24 we like the David examples. 37:27 It reminds me of times when 37:30 I don't have enough faith and I'm wondering where is God, 37:36 we all get to that even though no matter 37:37 how many times you've been Christians and study the word. 37:41 Sometimes pressures of life can get 37:43 so heavy that you tend to forget 37:47 but the key word to me when I get down to that point, 37:51 I say within myself, 37:54 God would not have brought me this far to leave me. 37:57 Never. That's right. 37:58 You know, the interesting part, you didn't put in this 38:01 is that then he goes out and test God twice. 38:03 Right. 38:05 So it's like wait a minute, God is telling them 38:06 and showing them all these things... 38:08 Yes. 38:09 Oh, well, can you, kind of tell me, 38:10 I want to make sure that it's you. 38:12 Can you wet the floor and leave the fleece dry? 38:14 Okay, you did that, now can you leave the... 38:16 wet the fleece and leave the floor dry. 38:18 Yeah. 38:19 Do we not do the same thing to God all the time? 38:21 Yes, we do. Yes. 38:23 Do does not God tells, like for example, the prison ministry. 38:25 What would happen to those guys in there right now they, 38:30 you know, they love that I'm coming, that I'm helping them. 38:32 All of those individuals, they may not have, who knows, 38:35 how many of those are gonna see in the kingdom of God 38:37 because I got away from my fear 38:41 and I went and did something that God tells me. 38:43 To this day, even to this past Saturday, 38:46 this past Sunday I would talk to them 38:49 about the state of the dead and all of these things, 38:52 and I'm like, I'm saying, 38:54 Lord, I'm not the one that should be doing this, 38:56 there is a lot more people that are more, 38:57 far better qualified and God had to tell me. 39:01 I called them, they didn't want to, 39:04 you are the one that went, 39:05 I will empower you, 39:06 I will help you and that's what people need to understand. 39:09 Yeah. 39:10 A lot of us, we want to be completely prepare 39:13 before we give our hearts to God. 39:14 Right. 39:16 And God tells us there is nothing in you that you can do, 39:18 it's through me that you were able to show your courage 39:22 is shown through your ability to submit fully to Me. 39:26 Yeah. 39:27 You know, the enemy has a lot of weapons. 39:29 I want Angie to read this example of David's courage. 39:31 This, that... 39:32 I mean, perfect segue 39:33 to what she's gonna read right now. 39:35 But some of us want to take a bath first, 39:38 you know, so to speak to get cleanse. 39:40 But Lord said come as you are. Okay. 39:43 He will clean you, He will cleanse you. 39:45 So let's read this text, where is it? 39:48 Yeah, the example here, the setting it up is, 39:51 you said sometimes we want to be prepare, 39:53 we want to go and get everything in order, 39:55 David went to this battle, 39:57 David went to the field of battle 39:59 not intending to fight. 40:01 He was delivering cheese. 40:02 He wasn't going to fight in the battle, isn't it? 40:06 That's what he was doing, wasn't he? 40:08 The Lord may use different circumstances 40:11 to get you where your battles are. 40:13 Yes. 40:14 Go take some bread and cheese to your brothers. 40:16 Yeah. They need something to eat. 40:18 Yeah. 40:19 But that's not why He's sending you there. 40:20 No. 40:22 Because He knew that if he said to David, 40:23 hey, I want you to go fight that big, 40:25 tall guy with the coat of male, with that iron spear, 40:28 when the tip is a 120 pound, I mean 20 pound tip on it. 40:31 Go fight him. 40:32 David might say, 40:34 "Lord, could I just stay here with the sheep?" 40:36 So he goes out there 40:37 and he hears this boisterous, bold... 40:39 He even hit the way 40:40 that he recounts in the situation, 40:42 was the faithfulness of God in his past. 40:43 Right. 40:45 He says, I fought the bear 40:46 and I fought the lion or whatever 40:47 and I deliver that with my own bare hands, 40:49 the Lord is with me then, He'll be with me now, 40:51 tying the previous point together. 40:52 David took that mentality. 40:54 Now look at the text, look at what God did. 40:57 Then in 1 Samuel 17:45, 41:01 "Then David said to the Philistine, 41:04 'You come to me with a sword, and a spear, 41:07 and with a javelin. 41:09 But I come to you in the name 41:11 of the Lord of hosts, 41:13 the God of the armies of Israel, 41:15 whom you have defiled.' 41:17 Wow, he said you got all this weaponry. 41:19 Yeah. 41:20 And you know what happens, 41:22 we look at the weaponry against us. 41:23 Yeah. 41:25 But what have we been told about weapons? 41:27 Come on somebody say it. 41:29 No weapon formed against me shall prosper. 41:31 No weapon, none shall prosper. 41:34 How many weapons? None. 41:36 Zero. 41:37 How many weapons, together how many weapons? 41:39 None. 41:41 And so there is somebody 41:42 watching this program today and might think, 41:44 but what about, my job is on the line. 41:47 Oh, yeah, yeah. 41:48 I can't afford to lose my job this time of the year. 41:52 What about, I got to make a decision 41:54 between this Sabbath and my mortgage? 41:59 Why have all these weapons come up against me? 42:03 Wow. What do I do? 42:05 Do I say God, okay, 42:07 hold on for a moment 42:09 I'll take my tithe and offering 42:12 and pay my insurance and my car payments 42:15 and I'll catch up with you later, 42:16 you understand that? 42:18 And no, comes in. 42:19 You know, Jonathan actually is 42:21 a good example of this too David's, 42:22 you know, compatriot that, Jonathan was in the situation, 42:25 they were literally no swords in Israel. 42:28 They were two, Jonathan and Saul. 42:29 Okay. 42:31 No swords at all and Jonathan in the situation that he says, 42:34 you know what? 42:35 I believe that God wants to fight for us 42:37 and as our bearer says my heart is yours, 42:39 if you are going, I'm going too. 42:41 Right. 42:42 And this one guy, 42:43 into taking out like 20 men in a small area 42:46 and eventually more and God fought for him. 42:49 He went forward in the fight for the Lord by himself. 42:53 That's right. 42:54 And God fought for him and we may feel like 42:56 we are in the situations that maybe someone's 42:58 a single parent in the situation right now 42:59 that God is calling them to make a decision 43:01 and they feel like they're just fighting for their children 43:03 or for the situation alone, there is no one with them. 43:05 And the story of Jonathan or any other individual fighter 43:09 in the sense is showing that God is able to use one. 43:13 It's not your circumstances that God is depended upon, 43:16 it's your willingness. 43:18 If He has your willingness, 43:19 you have everything that you need. 43:21 That's right. 43:22 And God fought valiantly for him, 43:23 and the whole nation was delivered 43:25 because one man stood. 43:26 Oh. He wasn't even the king. 43:27 You guys are setting these segues up. 43:29 Look at Exodus 14, under point... 43:31 What does Bible say if you are willing enable, 43:33 you shall live of the food of the lamb? 43:35 Yeah. When He said willing. 43:36 Isaiah 1:18, if you are willing, 43:39 if you are willing, 43:40 you will eat of the food of the lamb. 43:42 If you're willing and obedient... 43:43 And obedient. That's right. 43:44 You will eat of the food of the lamb. 43:46 Exodus 14:19, under point number two, 43:47 I want you to read those two together. 43:49 Exodus 14:13, either one of you could do that. 43:52 You have right there under point number two, 43:54 there, it's right there. 43:55 "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." 43:58 And verse 13. 44:00 "And Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. 44:03 Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, 44:06 which He will accomplish for you today. 44:10 For the Egyptians whom you see today, 44:13 you shall see again no more forever." 44:16 Wow. 44:18 And just hit one more, I want you to pick after that. 44:20 Romans 8:31, "What then shall we say to these things? 44:24 If God be for us, who can be against us?" 44:28 Wow. 44:30 Notice the onus for deliverance is not on the people though. 44:31 That's right. 44:32 He says which He will accomplish for you, 44:34 and so God has already fought 44:35 the battles for us in this sense. 44:37 Victory is already ours, 44:38 but we have to go forward and believe that's the case 44:40 and that's where fear comes in because, 44:42 you know, if the enemy can't deceive you, 44:43 he'll discourage you. 44:45 Yes, he will. 44:46 And so maybe he can't get you 44:48 to change your philosophical views, 44:49 but as long as you stop fighting, 44:50 he doest care what it looks like. 44:52 That's right. 44:53 And so if people are willing to believe 44:54 what the word of God says 44:56 and to lie upon the word of God to do what it says, 44:57 they're the people that are courageous, 44:59 they're the people that see the victories 45:00 that others will not see. 45:01 Yes. 45:03 First like you mentioned earlier about fear being the sin, 45:05 it's precisely that reason. 45:07 When we are fearful, we are not trusting. 45:10 When we are fearful, we are not courageous. 45:12 When we are fearful, we don't see the God in us. 45:14 So we are studying, 45:16 you know, we may be studying the Book of Job 45:20 at the same time we look at his, 45:22 God is on the highest court saying 45:24 look at my servant and yet He comes down to the point 45:29 at the end where He is saying oh, 45:31 vow with me. 45:32 How many times has God is bragging about us in places 45:37 and we are sitting here with fear 45:39 and scared of the things 45:42 that are happening in our lives when, 45:46 I don't know, all those stories are the ones 45:49 that I'm gonna sit there and talk to God about, 45:51 you know, and ask Him, God how is it that you, 45:56 do even sat around, 45:57 I mean, I could only imagine what's going through your head 46:00 when you are trying to say what a great, 46:02 how awesome and great things are gonna go through you, 46:04 and then we as human beings are feeling like this, 46:08 are feeling failure and are feeling discouragement 46:11 which are the tools 46:12 that the enemy use all the time. 46:14 Yes, he does. You know there is... 46:15 Sorry, go ahead. 46:16 God said, He hasn't given us the spirit of fear... 46:18 That's right. 46:20 You know, and that's so powerful that fear that, 46:25 you know, if we can just get pass that, 46:29 there is a saying that, 46:31 you have nothing to fear but fear itself. 46:33 Yeah. That's right. 46:34 And once you are able to think of stories in the Bible, 46:38 that's why God has given us 46:41 the Old Testament 46:42 which nowadays people will think 46:44 that you don't need the Old Testament anymore, 46:46 you hear new churches they'll come up and say, 46:49 well, it's just the New Testament, 46:50 the Old Testament, 46:52 but the Old Testaments has so many prophets, 46:53 so many people that's already gone through 46:56 feelings of fear such as us. 46:58 Think of Jonah... Yeah. 47:00 You know, when he had to Nineveh... 47:02 Right, Nineveh, yeah. Nineveh. 47:03 Yeah, and see at the end it was to save souls 47:08 and it was and the fear itself, 47:10 when he ended up in the belly of the fish, 47:13 that fear was worst than the fear that he had before. 47:16 That's true. 47:17 He get more and more and more fear. 47:18 Yeah. The Lord is saying, why? 47:20 What's up with you? 47:21 I got to send you, if you got to get to this evangelistic 47:23 series smelling like a fish, you are gonna get there. 47:25 Yeah. 47:26 You can go forward in the strength of God. 47:27 I'm gonna get you right there, I'll take you there. 47:30 You are not gonna like it either. 47:31 Yeah. 47:33 In 1 John 4, it talks about how fear can be dealt with, 47:36 because I think that fear's a bad thing that's true, 47:38 but what is the answer? 47:40 This is the answer I've found to my own fears, 47:41 it was 1 John 4... 47:43 Okay. 47:44 Beginning at verse 17. 47:46 1 John 4:17. Got you. 47:48 It says, "Love has been perfected among us in this, 47:51 that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment..." 47:55 Now many of us are terrified of that Day of Judgment 47:57 because we think that God is pushing that big red button 47:59 when my name comes out. 48:01 But He says we can have boldness in the Day of Judgment 48:04 because as he is so we are in this world and He says, 48:06 "There is no fear in love but perfect love cast out fear 48:11 because fear involves torment..." 48:13 Amen. 48:14 When you come face to face 48:15 with the undying love of Jesus for you individually, 48:17 and a reciprocating love is found in you for him 48:20 which he says later in verse 19. 48:23 Love breaks the chains of fear. 48:25 And this is what it did for me, and this is what actually kept 48:27 Jesus in Gethsemane was love. 48:29 Jesus is love and true knowledge, 48:31 or the true character of the Father is 48:32 what kept Him going through Gethsemane... 48:34 That's right. 48:35 He wasn't memorizing a prophecy charts or other things. 48:37 That's right. 48:38 With His own personal connection with God 48:39 that even when He felt that God had left Him, 48:41 He would stand for Him because He knew Him 48:43 and that's what He wants for us. 48:44 And so He says, "There is no fear in love 48:46 but perfect love cast out fear because fear involves torment. 48:48 But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 48:52 Wow. 48:53 "And we love him because He first loved us." 48:56 And so we are told to come again to Calvary, 48:58 to see the love that Christ has for us, 49:00 to find the reciprocating love in our hearts for Christ, 49:03 and to be willing to go wherever He leads 49:05 because if Christ loves me and is leading me, 49:07 He'll be with me even now. 49:09 That's right. Wow. 49:10 You had a comment, you have something? 49:11 Oh, wow. 49:13 Well, I have something I want us to read 49:14 from the Adventist Home. 49:15 Okay. 49:17 Okay, it's just a short paragraph 49:18 about courage and faith. 49:20 It says, what is it? 49:22 Adventist Home Chapter 66, says, 49:24 "Every Christian must stand on guard continually, 49:28 watching every avenue of the soul 49:31 where Satan might find access. 49:33 He must pray for divine help and at the same time 49:38 resolutely resist every inclination to sin. 49:42 By courage, by faith, by persevering toil, 49:46 he can conquer. 49:48 But let him remember that to gain the victory 49:52 Christ must abide in him and he in Christ." 49:55 Amen. 49:56 Okay, there is a cooperation of the two together. 49:58 Because you mentioned early in, I think was 2 Timothy 1:7, 50:01 God has not given us the spirit of fear." 50:03 And then also... But of power, and of love... 50:05 Of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 50:06 Yeah. 50:08 And the whole, the thing that we have continually 50:10 sewn through this tapestry 50:11 of we're talking about the courage and boldness 50:14 is the fact that we are not strong 50:16 in our own strength... 50:17 No way. 50:19 We are strong in the Lord. Amen. 50:20 Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord, 50:22 in the power of His might. 50:24 I want to hit a couple of scriptures here. 50:25 So that let's go to point number five. 50:28 This is on our outline here. 50:31 One very important one. 50:32 Don't look to others, look to the Lord. 50:37 In other, what the most fearful thing 50:39 in our house is the mirror 50:40 'cause we look to ourselves. 50:42 The most beautiful thing in our house is the Bible, 50:44 we look to the Lord. 50:46 Notice what it says, Isaiah 40, read that one Isaiah 45:22. 50:50 Under number five. Oh, okay. 50:53 "Look to Me, and be saved. All you ends of the earth! 50:57 For I am God, and there is no other." 50:59 And then it says and then it goes on saying, 51:01 I'm God and there is none like me. 51:03 Now let's put that in the context of love. 51:05 If somebody ask you in, 51:06 I think, one father told me this, 51:08 I don't have any children 51:10 and you gave an example earlier 51:11 of sustaining family and children. 51:12 I just want to make sure that, you know, he is single, okay. 51:15 Just sustaining family and friends. 51:17 But one person told me this example, 51:19 if a father puts a new born baby 51:21 like 9 or 11 months on top 51:22 of a dresser and say jump, jump, jump. 51:26 They'll jump without reservation 51:27 into their daddy's arm 51:28 because they've never fallen before. 51:31 What happens as we go through life and get bruises and, 51:34 we forget our father still wants to catch us. 51:37 And then He still says, I'm God, there is none like me. 51:40 I don't want to drop you but you are older now, 51:43 you've had a couple of bruises 51:44 but I'm the same yesterday together, today and forever. 51:48 Our God doesn't want to drop us. 51:49 That's right. Here's another one. 51:51 Others may fail us. 51:52 Look at Psalms 118:9, which is, 51:58 "Do not put your trust in princes, 52:01 Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help." 52:05 How many times we say to people can you come through for me? 52:08 Can you come through me? 52:10 Anyone said that before? Yes. 52:11 And they didn't come through for you. 52:13 And then you connect that to God. 52:15 Any examples of that where you have trusted people 52:18 and they didn't come through for you and... 52:21 I'm actually, I was just speaking to someone last night, 52:23 I was counseling a former student of mine 52:25 who I'd been investing in them and there was a space 52:28 where they didn't have me, 52:29 they had someone else investing in them 52:31 and they've had come to realize 52:32 that God allowed for the separation for me 52:34 and from this other individual so that they could learn 52:37 to rely upon God for themselves. 52:39 Sometimes God does bring people 52:40 into our experience to help buoy us, 52:42 and they help us at different stages. 52:43 My dad was a big one for me. 52:45 And then eventually a time comes where those are removed 52:47 and sometimes God allows people to fail us because 52:51 someone even better than them wants to help us, 52:54 and sometimes we look to these people at the expense 52:57 of looking to God, and God just wants to make sure 52:59 that it's just Him that you are looking to. 53:01 You are just looking to Me for this... 53:03 Exactly. 53:04 And these are examples of me and they're being sent by Me, 53:06 but it's Me that you are looking for in the end. 53:08 And so sometimes God will allow people to fail just to ensure 53:12 that we are relying upon Him and Him alone. 53:13 Exactly. 53:15 But I want to take it to the another step, go Lecy? 53:16 No, I'll pass on this one. Okay. 53:18 But sometimes we fail ourselves. 53:20 Yes. Yeah. 53:21 That's right, that's right. Read that text for us. 53:24 We fail ourselves. Psalm 73:26. 53:26 Sometimes we fail ourselves, not even other people. 53:28 Look at what it says. 53:29 "My flesh and my heart fail. 53:31 But God is the strength of my strength 53:33 and my portion forever." 53:35 See, my heart and my flesh fail. 53:39 Yeah. Right. 53:40 But God is my strength. 53:42 That's hard for people to understand. 53:43 I mean, I know when you are going through life 53:45 and we tell individuals, you know, 53:47 God has help me through and God's will 53:50 and an individual starts wondering. 53:52 What is it that you are thinking about? 53:54 I'm thinking just now when I came back from Weimar, 53:58 there was a gentlemen there that did not, you know, 54:01 believe in God, 54:02 and at the end he comes out to me and he tells me and says, 54:05 there is something in you, 54:07 You know, you trust God, you believe in God 54:09 and I don't have that, 54:11 and something that you have planted a seed in my life. 54:14 And a lot of times you, until you get to that point, 54:17 until you get to the point where God is the one 54:21 that is completely engulfed 54:25 in your day to day life, 54:28 individuals will never understand 54:29 what that means... Yeah. 54:31 You know, and that's when the courageous things 54:34 in your life are going to happen. 54:36 If you look at through your life, 54:38 you are gonna see all the obstacles 54:40 that have made you the strength 54:42 and the person that you are today, 54:44 that what does God do to with that. 54:47 He helps you to be a light for other people in most cases. 54:51 Lecia, bring that point out, you had a thought, 54:53 I don't want you to miss that because... 54:54 Yeah, it was just a thought of a saying that sometimes, 54:59 it was just based on what you were saying, 55:01 I just wanted to add to that because sometimes 55:04 the disappointments come in, in friends, family... 55:07 Yeah. 55:08 Co-workers, it can come in so many different ways. 55:11 But the good thing about it that you learnt to trust in God 55:15 and you realize where else can you go? 55:17 Yes. You know. 55:19 Yes, yes. 55:20 Where else can you go but to the Lord because 55:21 they're gonna be situations when those people 55:24 that you relied on can't bring you through, 55:26 and it has to be God and God alone. 55:29 Yes. That's right. 55:30 As like you said here in Psalms 46:1, 55:33 "God is our refuge, our strength, 55:36 a very present help in trouble." 55:38 That's right. 55:40 And getting back to the boldness and courage, 55:41 we have to remember that because, you know, 55:43 it's amazing we need another hour and half. 55:47 But we don't have another hour and half. 55:48 As we talked about these examples in each of our lives 55:51 where God allowed us to get this resume 55:54 of experiences with Him... 55:55 Yes. 55:57 He says now when you come up, 55:58 when you make it through your lion 56:00 and your bear and your goliath, 56:01 there's gonna be some other things, 56:02 you gonna have to face in life. 56:04 But I want you to be courageous and I want to add this 56:05 other component which we didn't touch. 56:08 Also when it comes to telling the truth, these are champions, 56:12 we all are called to tell the truth. 56:14 Remember that as Paul the Apostle says, 56:17 "For we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth." 56:23 2 Corinthians 13:8. 56:24 So when it comes to telling the truth, 56:26 don't fear telling the truth. 56:27 Be open and candid, people can't stop it. 56:29 Yeah. 56:31 You're not afraid, you have holy boldness. 56:34 I mean, I think the Lord ordained for all of us 56:35 because we have these examples 56:37 in our life and our own ministry. 56:38 Oh, yeah. We had to just tell the truth. 56:41 Young man and love. Always better than love. 56:44 And that love that the Lord gives to us 56:46 is the foundation of our strength. 56:49 You know, as our program came and went so quickly, 56:51 what we want to encourage you because somebody watching 56:53 this program today might be at that wall in their lives. 56:57 They might be called to maybe give up a job 57:01 at this time of a year 57:02 and it's a difficult thing to do. 57:05 They might be wondering how am I gonna be sustained 57:06 if I make that kind of decision 57:08 or they maybe in a country where the curtain is still up, 57:10 it could be overseas in a country where Christianity 57:13 is a part of the minority in society or looked down upon. 57:16 Whatever the situation maybe, 57:18 or you might be called to sacrifice your own wellbeing 57:21 for the wellbeing of somebody else. 57:23 Whatever that situation might be, remember this. 57:26 Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 57:29 And we know that if you are, the Lord will sustain you 57:32 until we see you again. God bless you. |
Revised 2016-12-26