Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW018006A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my word 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:08 Hello and welcome to Friday night... 01:10 Family worship. 01:12 And I'm sitting with my copilot, 01:13 well, actually it's not a plane, 01:16 but we are flying together and tonight, 01:19 we're talking about blessings. 01:22 And wherever you are joining us from, 01:24 thank you for inviting us to come into your living room, 01:25 into your home, maybe into your church, 01:28 wherever you may be, thank you for tuning into 3ABN, 01:30 the channel of blessings. 01:33 Ain't that right? Sure is. 01:35 And we've got a panel tonight that knows about blessings. 01:41 And if you are tuning and you probably 01:43 been praying for blessings, we're going to talk about 01:46 how you can trust God for the blessings to come 01:50 in God's time and in God's way. 01:52 And, honey, I tell you, 01:54 I've said this on several occasions, 01:56 if we just did nothing else but stayed on the road 01:58 and talked about God's blessings, 02:00 we can spend weeks together. 02:01 What does the song say, "Count your blessings." 02:03 Name them one by one. 02:05 And it will surprise you... 02:07 What the Lord has done. That's right. 02:08 She doesn't sing but she does remember lyrics. 02:12 Our panel tonight, look at that wide shot there. 02:14 I'm excited about our panel. 02:15 I'm so glad to have Mr. Blessings 02:17 on the go himself. 02:19 Good to see you, Danny. Great to be here. 02:21 Love the Sabbath. Wonderful time. 02:24 I tell you, and blessings 3ABN is a channel 02:27 not only of divine origins but blessings 02:29 for how many years now? 02:30 Thirty-three. 02:32 Thirty-three? Yeah. 02:33 And we're going to talk about those blessing 02:35 and some of the stories in the ways that God blessed 02:36 and we're going to use the Bible for sure. 02:38 And to your left, to my right is? 02:40 Yvonne. Welcome, Yvonne. 02:43 Glad to have you. How are you doing? 02:45 Oh, they always do that. 02:46 That's our super handshake. Yeah. 02:48 So good to have you here tonight with us. 02:50 It's so good to be here. 02:51 And you have come out of blessings 02:52 into greater blessings. 02:54 Oh, amen. 02:55 There's nothing that compares with... 02:56 And she is a blessing. 02:58 That's right. Aw, you are too. 02:59 Yes, she is. Praise God. 03:02 And to my left is my sweetheart. 03:05 You are a blessing to me, honey. 03:07 You had been all my life. 03:08 We are a blessing to each other, right? 03:09 That's right. That's right. God is good. 03:11 And to our far left is Gary Will, 03:13 who is a blessing to 3ABN. 03:15 Amen. Amen. 03:16 It's a blessing to be here and Sabbath is 03:19 one of the most blessed days of the week for sure. 03:22 Absolutely. 03:23 What better time to talk about blessings 03:25 and on God's blessed Sabbath. 03:27 And so, honey, before we dive into the program, 03:30 would you bless us with an opening prayer? 03:32 Sure will. Let's bow our heads. 03:33 Our kind loving heavenly Father, 03:35 Lord, we bow before Your presence 03:37 this Sabbath evening. 03:39 We thank You Father for family worship. 03:41 Many people around the world are joining us 03:44 in family worship. 03:45 I pray Your blessing upon this program about blessings. 03:49 You are the gift of every good and perfect blessing 03:53 and we thank You for that. 03:54 Now guide this study that we're going to have, 03:57 this worship service that we're going to have tonight. 04:00 And we thank You, in Jesus' name, amen. 04:03 Amen. 04:05 Now there are so many Bible verses about blessings 04:08 that this is by no means 04:10 an exhaustive study on blessings, 04:11 but just I think it's always good to begin 04:14 at the beginning and I decided to kind of 04:18 throw the question out there, 04:19 what are some of the things that God blessed? 04:21 And if you think about creation... 04:23 Yeah, Sabbath. 04:25 There are two scriptures that I'd like us to catapult into 04:29 and anyone could read those scriptures 04:31 if they desired to do so, Genesis 2:3 and Genesis 5:2. 04:38 And, Danny, you've been writing, 04:40 we're going to talk about these, 04:41 we're going to expand our horizon, 04:43 something right there, Danny, why don't you go ahead? 04:44 "Then God blessed the seventh day 04:45 and sanctified it because in it 04:47 He rested from some of His work." 04:50 All. 04:52 I need my glasses here. 04:53 "He rested from all His work, 04:56 which God had created and made." 04:59 Talk about that, the blessing. 05:01 Oh. 05:03 God knew He didn't need to rest. 05:05 True. That's right. 05:07 He knew we did. That's right. 05:08 And as a world, we get so busy in this world 05:12 that we forget about God and so, you know, 05:15 and when you're in work sometimes, in business, 05:19 they say, "Well, it's a squeaky wheel 05:21 that gets oiled," but if you're not focused on it, 05:25 you don't even know there's a squeaky wheel. 05:26 So the point is what I'm trying to say is 05:29 is when it comes to God and his Sabbath, 05:31 the Lord knows that our attentions pan towards Him 05:35 is only about six days in a row. 05:37 So He says, "I'm going to give him a Sabbath, 05:39 I'm going to bless this day, 05:41 I'm going to have them to come aside, 05:43 forget the work, forget everything 05:45 that they've got going on. 05:47 Get rid of their football and basketball 05:48 and get rid of everything on this day, 05:50 spend it with Me as a reminder 05:53 that I'm coming back again to get My people. 05:58 But to remind them that, "Hey, I'm the creator God, 06:01 I'm here for them, I'm willing to bless them, 06:03 no matter what they're going through," 06:05 and so to me the Sabbath, God did it for us. 06:09 People said, "Well, 06:10 I don't believe in the Sabbath," 06:12 I mean, why would God need to rest? 06:14 Well, He didn't need to rest, He showed us, 06:16 He made an example, and said, "Look, 06:19 this is what I want you to do, because in resting 06:22 you contemplate the goodness," we will contemplate, 06:24 I do the goodness of God 06:26 and all the blessings that he has. 06:27 So it gets me back on track, and it is like coming to eat, 06:30 you know. 06:32 That's right. Being refilled. 06:33 Coming to eat at a spiritual food table 06:36 once a week, and now I'm ready to go out 06:38 and do my business all week, then God knows, 06:42 we don't go to church, we don't think about him, 06:45 as time goes on, we totally forget about Him. 06:47 The Sabbath was made for man. 06:51 And, you know, to add to this and, Gary, I see your hand... 06:54 And this happened before there was sin. 06:56 Yes. That's right. 06:58 So there was never any sin in the world, 07:00 there would be no argument about the seventh day 07:03 being the Sabbath. 07:04 This was God had set aside a day for rest 07:08 before sin entered the world knowing that 07:11 even Adam in his perfection needed to rest, 07:14 knowing that Eve in her perfection 07:16 needed to rest, knowing that creation in its perfection 07:19 needed a cycle of rest. 07:21 And so this, if the world never entered 07:23 into a cycle of sin, 07:25 there would never be a controversy today 07:27 about the seventh day being the Sabbath. 07:29 And don't you think it's a possibility 07:31 that God looking down the stream of time knew that 07:34 sin would come into this world and that we would need that? 07:37 'Cause I'm sure He could have created us 07:39 where we didn't need any rest, 07:41 but He created us this way because He knew 07:44 what was best for mankind in His creation. 07:48 There's a rhythm to our world, you know, our heart's beat, 07:54 there's a natural rhythm in nature. 07:59 And God created the Sabbath like there's a circadian clock, 08:05 you know, your body has a certain natural rhythm, 08:08 well, by the end of the week, by Friday, 08:11 you just find yourself winding down 08:14 because your body needs that rest. 08:18 The Sabbath is so preserving, it preserves us, 08:21 it keeps us from burning out because that's the time 08:27 when God says, you know, when He said to the... 08:30 Jesus said to the disciples, "Come beside and rest a while," 08:33 is because He knew they were working, 08:35 working, working, let's just relax, 08:38 come aside on the Sabbath, He blessed it, 08:41 He sanctified it, and set it aside for holy time. 08:47 "Come aside, rest a while in Me." 08:50 He is our Sabbath rest. That's right. 08:52 I just heard someone say the other day, 08:55 a lot has been in the news and I think Anderson Copper 08:58 did a thing on Seventh-day Adventist 09:00 and the longevity and how long, and this person said, 09:05 "All of the emphasis they're putting on their diet," 09:08 but he said, "I'm here to tell you," 09:10 and he was a preacher, we went to church there 09:13 in Orlando, and Pastor Mc Donald, 09:17 I think it was. 09:18 That's who it was, yes. 09:19 He said, I was trying to think who it was. 09:21 We were in... 09:22 We've been traveling so much lately in Orlando, 09:24 but he said the other day, he says, 09:27 "People are trying to say, 'It's just our diet,' 09:29 but it's not just our diet 'cause I see how you eat." 09:33 But he said, "What we're failing to give is 09:35 God the credit, give the glory to God 09:37 because it's the rest." 09:40 That comes as getting rid of the stress 09:43 will help you live longer. 09:44 So while diet is important, 09:45 we don't want to forget the part about that stress 09:49 that when you come set aside and let everything go, 09:53 your whole system relaxes, your blood pressure comes down, 09:56 you get back to that peace and contentment. 09:58 Yes. It is the rest. 10:00 Well, it is interesting in the creation of the Sabbath 10:03 or actually creation of the world, 10:06 Adam and Eve never saw any of the creation 10:09 except they saw God create the Sabbath day 10:11 'cause they observed Him how He kept the Sabbath day. 10:14 And at the end of the day, God said, "Okay, 10:17 I've made this day holy because I rested on it." 10:19 And so He gave us an example of how to rest on the Sabbath, 10:23 you know, and so anyway that's God give a blessing to man 10:27 to actually see Him create the day 10:30 that He gave for us to rest. 10:31 It's not just a two-hour rest, is it? 10:34 Like a three, four hours rest, it's a 24-hour period... 10:38 That's right. That we have. 10:40 And so that rhythm, I like that. 10:43 I just wrote a word down, it's going to, 10:45 I'm not going to tell you this future sermon title. 10:47 But when we're out, when the body is out of rhythm, 10:53 when the heart is out of rhythm, what's it called? 10:55 Arrhythmia. Okay. 10:57 So when you're out of rhythm with God, 10:58 you are living in arrhythmia. 11:00 Come on now. Okay. 11:02 Come on. I like it. 11:03 I like it. Don't write my sermon title. 11:07 Arrhythmia, when you're out of step with God, 11:10 it's arrhythmia. 11:11 When you're out of step with the Sabbath, 11:12 it's arrhythmia. 11:14 When you're out of step with the truth, 11:15 it's arrhythmia. 11:16 That's interesting. 11:18 So you can't just say, "See the Sabbath is a blessing 11:22 that comes only when you're in step of God," 11:25 which means you can't pick a day, 11:27 you can't be out of step with what is only designed to be 11:30 in step on a particular day. 11:31 That's right. Okay. 11:34 So if the heart is pumping up and it should be pumping down, 11:36 it's out of step. 11:38 It's arrhythmia. 11:39 So what would Satan, and if you were Satan, 11:41 what would you do 11:43 because you would be furious about this, 11:45 you should be angry about this blessing, 11:46 so what would you do? 11:48 I'd create a day that take you out of step with God. 11:51 There you go. 11:53 And then I would say it doesn't really matter. 11:55 Well, if your heart is out of step, it matters, right? 11:58 Absolutely. 11:59 If a marching band is out of step, it matters. 12:02 Oh, yeah. It does. 12:03 If the pistons on your car are firing out of line, 12:05 it matters. 12:07 Everything matters, that's why the entire world, 12:09 the word rhythm fits into everything 12:11 we do in our society. 12:12 So the very first blessing is God's rhythm. 12:17 Love it. The Sabbath is God's rhythm. 12:20 This is what you started, Yvonne. 12:21 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 12:22 We happen to have a musician. 12:24 A doctor. Praise God. 12:26 The Sabbath brings out rhythm, a blessing of rhythm. 12:30 Ain't that wonderful? With God, that's the first one. 12:33 But the next one 'cause 12:34 there are so many blessings we have to talk about, 12:35 we can spend the whole program on the Sabbath rhythm. 12:37 That's true. But what's the next one? 12:39 Oh, honey, I was going to have you read that one. 12:41 The second one, okay, the second thing 12:44 that God blessed in Genesis 5:2. 12:49 It says, "He created the male and female 12:52 and blessed them and called them mankind 12:56 in the day they were created." 12:59 Okay, so who are they? Male and female. 13:03 Okay, let's talk about arrhythmia again on that point. 13:06 Okay. 13:07 The world is out of rhythm with God's blessing on the family. 13:11 That's right. 13:13 As the day was substituted to take us out of rhythm 13:16 with God and missed that blessing, 13:18 the last blessing that Satan wants to rob us of 13:21 which God ordained before sin is the husband and the wife. 13:25 Uh-oh, watch out. That's arrhythmia. 13:28 Don't get Danny started now. 13:30 No, no, no. Come on. 13:31 No, the reason why this topic is about blessings is because 13:35 you can't get blessings other than the way 13:37 God ordains him to be. 13:38 Thank you. That's the point. 13:41 That is a very, very good point. 13:43 We want to seek our own way to get blessing just like Cain. 13:49 Oh, yeah. 13:51 We want to be blessed in our disobedience. 13:54 And God says... 13:56 And false gods, we say I'm blessed, 13:58 when you're out of line with God, and we say, "Oh, 14:01 I'm so blessed," no God doesn't bless corruption. 14:04 A true blessing is when you're in God's will. 14:08 And He says He blessed the male and female 14:11 and in the day they were created, 14:13 so that leads to a lot of other things, 14:15 but you are the host, so I'll let you... 14:17 No, go ahead. Keep going, Danny. 14:18 Keep going. This is good. 14:20 But the reason why we brought this topic 14:21 up tonight is because 14:22 nobody listening to the program or watching the program, 14:26 I don't think there is anybody watching this program 14:30 that would say, "I don't want to be blessed." 14:31 Right. Exactly. 14:33 Everybody wants to be blessed. 14:34 But we often think blessings are just financial. 14:36 We brought those way down. 14:38 But the first blessing comes when you're in rhythm with God. 14:41 Yes. Sabbath is a rhythm. 14:43 One, not any day in seven, but the seventh day. 14:46 That's right. 14:48 Not any gender in society but male and female. 14:52 So if Satan is out to steal, kill, and to destroy, 14:54 what would he do to this? 14:56 He would try to destroy the Sabbath 14:58 because there're so many blessings attached to it. 15:01 And so for no other reason, those of you at home, 15:03 "Well, I don't know one day or I don't know about this 15:05 or that, " just think about that for a moment. 15:08 You're seeing what God is doing, 15:09 the blessings that He gives us, and Satan says, 15:13 "I'm going to destroy that, I'm going to make void 15:15 that Sabbath law, and I'll use "Christian" people 15:19 or the "church" if you will to do it. 15:22 It won't come from atheists, I'll use church leaders 15:25 way back in the 3rd century A.D. 15:27 and back, so we'll do this and we'll do all 15:30 in the name of religion and we'll say, 15:32 "You're just as blessed, in fact, you're more blessed 15:34 'cause if you keep first day of the week, 15:36 but right here, Satan is going to attack something 15:40 that wonderful that is going to help 15:42 lead us to eternal life. 15:44 That's right. And then the second one? 15:46 Family. 15:47 Husband and wife. Absolutely. 15:49 Husband and wife. Male and female. 15:50 Male and female. 15:51 That's the key. Yeah. 15:53 So what would Satan... 15:54 Why is Satan upset? 15:56 Why is Satan so upset? 15:59 He's upset because Satan cannot procreate. 16:04 Man can, man and woman can, but Satan cannot. 16:08 He doesn't have the power to do. 16:10 He can imitate. 16:11 He may come and look like an angel of light, 16:13 may look like impersonate people, 16:15 but he can't. 16:17 So he's made sex that God created 16:20 as a beautiful thing, made it in ugly thing, 16:23 dirty thing, and something 16:25 that does not represent God at all. 16:27 He wants to destroy 16:29 what God has created for mankind. 16:33 And then he goes farther to where man with man 16:37 and woman with woman 16:38 and now all the genders that we have, 16:41 I lose track every time we talk, 16:43 it seems to be more like last I heard 16:45 now there's 109 different genders. 16:48 And I mean, that's what they're teaching at schools 16:51 and telling kids all of these things, 16:53 but I've said it for the last couple months, 16:56 you know, isn't that amazing, you can be 25 years old 16:59 not knowing if you're a male or female 17:01 or 50 years older or 70, we don't know who we are. 17:04 This is making a mockery out of God's creation, 17:08 a mockery out of God. 17:10 And the thing about it is they want God to bless it, 17:14 but once I go back to it, you cannot bless anything 17:17 that's out of rhythm with God, and God will not bless it. 17:19 No. That's right. 17:21 And so they use word, we love each other, 17:22 but "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 17:25 That's right. God sets a rhythm. 17:27 Put Him first. 17:29 But, you know, there's a point you made, 17:30 what will the devil do? 17:32 He would seek to mar the image of God. 17:34 Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in His own image. 17:40 In the image of God, He created them, 17:42 male and female, He created them." 17:44 So when man and woman come together, 17:45 they complete the image of God. 17:48 Man and man cannot complete the image of God, 17:50 neither woman and woman can complete. 17:52 But male and female, He created them. 17:55 So God split Himself down the middle, 17:58 the maleness and the femaleness, 18:01 when they're united together 18:03 create the image of God in the human race. 18:06 So Satan seeks to deface the image of God. 18:08 That's right. Wow, that's deep. 18:10 And when you go to Genesis, when you go to Romans 1, 18:12 I'm going to go there very quickly. 18:13 Look at Romans 1. 18:15 Romans is powerful. 18:16 So what happens is that's exactly 18:18 what the devil sought to do. 18:20 Any points before I go further? 18:23 Romans 1, look at this, this is powerful. 18:27 And I'm going to look at verse, 18:31 okay, yes, here it is. 18:35 Okay, here it is, verse 23, How about 22? 18:41 Well, okay, "Professing to be wise, they became fools," 18:44 and look what they did, "and changed the glory 18:47 of the incorruptible God into an image," 18:51 they changed his image, into an image, 18:53 "made like corruptible man, and birds, 18:56 and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." 18:59 So you find they change God's image. 19:02 And when you go further... He gives them up though. 19:04 Right, when you go further, look what it says in verse 25, 19:09 "Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie 19:13 and worshipped the Sabbath," here again, 19:15 "and served the creature rather than the creator 19:17 who is blessed forever, amen." 19:19 And then he goes on verse 27, and says, 19:23 somebody else read that for us. 19:25 Verse 27? Verse 27. 19:26 "Likewise also the men leaving the natural..." 19:29 Well, let's go to 26. Yeah. 19:31 "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. 19:34 For even their women exchanged the natural use 19:37 for what is against nature. 19:39 Likewise also the men, 19:40 leaving the natural use of the woman, 19:43 burned in their lust for one another, 19:45 men with men committing what is shameful, 19:47 and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error 19:51 which was due. 19:52 And even as they did not like 19:54 to retain God in their knowledge, 19:55 God gave them over to a debased mind, 19:58 to do those things which are not fitting, 20:01 being filled with all unrighteousness, 20:03 sexual immorality, wickedness, 20:05 covetousness, maliciousness, 20:07 full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, 20:11 they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, 20:14 violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, 20:17 disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, 20:20 unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who, 20:23 knowing the righteous judgment of God, 20:26 that those who practice such things 20:28 are deserving of death, not only do the same 20:31 but also approve of those who practice them." 20:35 End of that part. And that last phrase... 20:37 Powerful. You may not even do it. 20:40 That's right. But you approve of it. 20:42 You condone it. Who practice that. 20:44 Let me ask you a question now, pastor, 20:46 you're the pastor on call today, 20:49 so you're the one. 20:51 After reading something like this so strong, 20:54 what is it... 20:56 'cause I'm being sincere here in my questioning, 20:59 I haven't figured out yet, 21:01 what is it that people in churches, 21:04 in Christian church, including their own, 21:07 coming in and saying, 21:08 "There is nothing wrong with this, 21:10 we need to accept homosexual marriages, 21:13 homosexual relationships, 21:15 the Bible is not really clear about it,"? 21:18 And so I don't know where are they coming from 21:23 because you talk to people, I've seen him, 21:24 I've watched the videos on YouTube and stuff, 21:27 and they're saying, "Oh, we're sincere, 21:29 we believe in the Sabbath, 21:31 we believe in all these other things," 21:33 but this is totally taken out of context. 21:35 Totally. 21:36 You know, and so they're saying, 21:38 "This is not right, that was for, 21:40 that's not for today," I mean, what are people thinking? 21:43 Can you help me with that? 21:44 I don't know, this seems to me... 21:46 It's pretty clear, they can't even say 21:47 it's Old Testament. 21:48 No, it's New Testament. 21:50 So it's pretty clear, what is going on 21:51 that we as a people, so many people are saying, 21:54 you know what, I think we need to accept this 21:56 and, you know, if a person is this way, 21:59 he should be a pastor, he should be a leader, 22:02 I don't know, can you help me? 22:04 Well, I was just thinking to, you know, your question there, 22:10 people wants to decide 22:11 what the standard of right or wrong is. 22:14 But also it's coupled with what you're mentioning 22:16 about God is the standard of what blessings are. 22:20 And people, you know, you were saying 22:23 how people want to get married to the same sex, 22:26 same gender, but they want to be blessed. 22:29 So they don't want to accept God's standard 22:32 in any form whether it be His day of worship, 22:35 whether it be what's right or wrong, 22:38 or how they even get blessed for God. 22:39 They want to tell God how to bless them, exactly. 22:43 Right. 22:45 It's almost like Adam and Eve sewing the fig leaves, 22:47 you know, they want their own righteousness, 22:49 I mean, I think we're gonna get into even that, 22:51 you know, it's their own righteousness. 22:53 My point is the deception on this is so strong 22:55 because when it comes to a man having an affair, 23:00 nobody argues and say, 23:02 "Well, this Bible is not very clear on that." 23:04 We'll say, "That's terrible, you had an affair." 23:06 A woman has an affair, and husband we all sinned, 23:08 "Oh, that's terrible." 23:09 You know, that is wrong, that is sin, 23:12 but two men get together, live together and marry, 23:14 and we say, "Well, you know, you have to understand 23:16 they're born that way, you know, 23:18 they're really good people." 23:20 And somehow it's the only sin that we seem to accept like, 23:25 "Well, okay," and not everybody of course but I'm saying. 23:28 I see that in there. 23:29 But if it's any other sin, you know, 23:32 we can call sin by what it is, but on this one, it's not. 23:37 Like even on the news, on whatever the network may be, 23:39 somebody might say, "Well, shouldn't our leaders 23:46 be the moral standard of our nation?" 23:49 You know, and then you'll say, but then, 23:52 when the nation pushes something that's immoral, 23:57 and political circles puts something that's immoral, 23:59 and then the church gets on board 24:02 and start supporting what is immoral, 24:03 that's where the problem comes in. 24:05 The world can do whatever it wants. 24:07 God is not organizing and manipulating 24:10 the mind of the carnal person because they don't, 24:14 carnal man is at enmity against God. 24:16 But when the church gets on board, 24:18 that's where the departing from the blessing comes in, 24:20 so I'm bringing you back to the blessing. 24:22 If you want to be blessed, you have to be blessed the way 24:24 that God ordains blessings to be. 24:26 You can't say that no, and that's why Isaiah 4:1,7 24:31 will take all of one man, they'll say, 24:33 "We'll eat our own bread, wear our own apparel, 24:36 only let us be called by your name 24:39 to take away our reproach." 24:41 So the church doesn't even have the latitude to get on board 24:43 with that because the church cannot, 24:45 the church cannot approve something 24:47 that's out of rhythm with God. 24:49 Right. That's right. 24:50 Well, and it goes to everything around us. 24:54 Take the political situation right now because 24:57 each side says, you know, we are morally the republicans 25:01 and democrats, so the republicans are saying, 25:05 "Oh, we don't agree with same sex marriage, 25:06 we don't agree with abortion," they're just saying it's wrong. 25:10 Well, you know, they're pointing fingers 25:13 at the others. 25:14 But then the democrats say but you don't really care 25:17 about those that are less fortunate 25:18 than yourself, you don't do... 25:20 So we each have moral standards. 25:22 So the right is saying, "We have this moral standard, 25:26 that you say we don't really agree 25:28 with same sex marriage and abortion," 25:30 but then the left says, 25:32 "We have these moral convictions 25:34 that we have to take care of those 25:35 who don't take care of themselves 25:37 and you don't care about these," 25:39 and so both sides are guilty, 25:42 you know, both sides are guilty, 25:43 but we're trying to point fingers at each other, 25:46 but what you just said is the moral standard 25:48 because we're saying, "Well, look at this president, 25:51 he is immoral, and look at this, you know, 25:54 whoever they are, politicians, they are immoral 25:56 but the one saying it, and I'm seeing him on the news, 25:59 they are living in a homosexual relationships 26:01 and they say, "This man doesn't support 26:04 our moral values," and I'm like, 26:06 "Well, where is your moral value?" 26:07 And that's why what we're doing here 26:11 on this program, is we're tying it back to the Bible 26:13 and God's church setting the standard. 26:16 The world does not set our standard. 26:18 Yes, we'll be confused won't we, 26:20 by every wind of doctrines, you turn on this news 26:22 and you want to... 26:24 No matter what channel you turn on, 26:26 you're going to be led one way or the other. 26:28 Like our network is WGOD, 26:33 God's network, God's word. 26:34 Now we spend it on the Sabbath and on marriage, 26:36 let's keep going on the other blessings 26:38 'cause there's so many blessings 26:39 that we have to get to, and very valid point. 26:42 So here's the point we want to make 26:44 as we transition is you cannot get any blessing 26:47 when you're out of rhythm with the established parameter 26:51 of that blessing. 26:52 Man with woman is God's established parameter. 26:55 No time, no legislature, no party can alter that 27:02 and expect a blessing. 27:03 That's right. That's the point we're making. 27:05 And same thing with the Sabbath. 27:07 No church, no organization, no edict, no institution 27:11 can alter the Sabbath and demand a blessing of it 27:14 because it's out of rhythm with God. 27:16 That's right. 27:17 What we really need to think about to is the fact 27:21 that God loves everybody, so His love is not in question 27:27 when it comes to these blessings. 27:29 But blessings are conditional. Yes. 27:32 They are not unconditional, you don't get a blessing 27:34 just for being on the planet. 27:36 You know, they say, millennials... 27:39 I love millennials, 27:41 I have family that's millennials. 27:42 But they'll say, you know, millennials just expect reward 27:45 just for breathing. 27:47 But, you know, we know that God loves everybody, 27:52 but He calls sin out in the Word. 27:55 Sin is called out and we as a church, 27:59 we should be able to say, you know, 28:01 "Cry aloud and spare not." 28:02 We're supposed to be able to call sin by its name 28:05 and say there is a remedy for it. 28:09 You can be blessed by God, but you have to come out 28:13 from the sinful ways. 28:14 And nobody wants to call sin sin. 28:19 People don't want to call it sin because then it's... 28:21 Let me give it a nice name. Yeah, yeah. 28:23 Like my sexual preference. 28:25 Yeah, right? "An Affair. 28:30 We're having an affair this weekend." 28:32 "We have an open marriage." Oh, I've heard that. 28:35 Yeah, don't forget that. 28:36 Two categories of blessings I think God has, 28:39 one is blessings of forgiveness and mercy, 28:43 that's for the sinners, but blessings of abundance 28:47 and prosperity is for the obedient. 28:50 Okay. That's good. You're right on line. 28:51 Read that Proverbs 10:6 for us, Gary, on the second point. 28:55 Proverbs 10:6, "Blessings are on the head of the righteous 28:58 but violence covers the mouth of the wicked." 29:01 See when you're righteous, that's when the blessings come. 29:04 You can't go on a different direction altogether and say, 29:07 "Well, I'm going to get the blessings anyway," 29:09 'cause God is not going to partner with that. 29:11 No, He's not. 29:13 Blessings are on the head of the righteous. 29:16 So when the Lord put it there, those blessings are not... 29:20 We're going to get to the financial blessings 29:21 in a moment, but I can hear you. 29:22 Yeah. 29:24 I was just thinking, you know, there are some people 29:26 that we look at and especially people on TV, 29:30 that, you know, that are on secular television, 29:32 I need to make that clear. 29:34 And they are just living supposedly the life. 29:39 So they look like they're being blessed 29:41 and just living abundantly and all that... 29:44 On some Christian television too. 29:46 That's true. That is true. 29:49 Not on this one. Yeah, no, no, no. 29:51 But it's true. 29:53 And one of things though that I see is that even though 29:57 they seem to have all of the stuff, 30:01 they all look so miserable. 30:02 Yes. 30:04 When you see them, they all look so miserable 30:06 because what they're missing, they have... 30:09 Satan can bless you too with material things. 30:13 But he doesn't give that peace and joy that God gives. 30:17 So when we're talking about blessings, you know, 30:20 we're talking about here what I meant 30:22 the blessings of God but Satan can bless you too, 30:26 but it's so different from God's. 30:29 I wouldn't call it blessing, I'd call it a curse. 30:31 What it looks like, appears to be blessings, 30:34 but it's really a curse. 30:35 It's a counterfeit blessing. 30:37 Counterfeit blessing, there you go. 30:38 You know, one of my Psalms, 30:40 I've been sharing so much lately, you know 30:41 exactly where I'm going Psalms 73, 30:44 is because the young man by the name of Asaph. 30:46 He had a problem, he lived in a world like ours, 30:50 and he saw the prosperity of the wicked. 30:54 And they're saying, "I'm blessed, I'm blessed. 30:56 I've got a car and I've got my mansion. 30:58 I'm blessed." 30:59 He saw and he says, 31:04 "Truly God," Psalms 73:1, 31:06 "Truly God is good to Israel to such are pure in heart. 31:10 But as for me, my feet almost had stumbled. 31:12 My steps had nearly slipped, for I was envious 31:16 of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." 31:19 And he goes on and describes their whole life. 31:21 And then this is the transition, 31:23 I won't go through all the part, 31:24 he talks about their abundance, their wealth, 31:26 they talk against God, they have more... 31:29 Even when they die, they die in with so much. 31:32 But then he goes to verse 17, he says, verse 16, 31:36 "When I thought I had to understand this, 31:37 it was too painful for me 31:40 until I went into the sanctuary of God, 31:42 then I understood their end." 31:45 He went back and then he says, 31:47 "Surely, you set them in slippery places, 31:51 or how they are brought to desolation in a moment." 31:54 He says, so he starts to see, wait a minute, 31:57 that's temporary, because wealth, prosperity, 31:59 and blessing are not the same thing. 32:01 And that is a major point right there. 32:04 Money and blessing are not the same thing. 32:05 That's right. And people think that that is. 32:08 They do. They confuse them. 32:10 But money and blessing are not necessarily... 32:11 And you said that they're not happy. 32:13 There's no peace. Right. 32:14 It could be a great curse. 32:16 Most of us, if we don't have any financial problems, 32:20 we tend to get independent from God because now we start, 32:24 "Well, I've got this, I don't..." 32:26 You watch somebody who's really may have got great health, 32:30 got all the money they need, they don't need God, 32:33 and soon as they, all of a sudden, they go broke, 32:34 as soon as their health goes bad, 32:36 "Oh, now I need God." 32:38 What it is? 32:39 It's a reminder that, "Boy, you know, 32:42 I'm a failed human agent, I could die any minute. 32:45 Now I need to look at..." But long as we're... 32:47 My dad used to say, "He is as independent 32:49 as a hog on ice 'cause his feet are going everywhere, 32:54 it's not really independent but he thinks he is out free. 32:59 And so that's the thing about it. 33:01 They seem to be blessings, the money, you know, 33:04 all of this stuff, when really the devil will use that 33:08 and it can be a blessing of God, 33:10 but the devil will use it to distract you from God. 33:14 That's why you need to come back 33:15 to that Sabbath rest to refocus and say, 33:19 "Okay, Lord, where am I, and what brings to happiness?" 33:22 It's not money, I don't know if you remember Howard Hughes? 33:25 Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. 33:26 His nails grew... 33:28 He's a multi-million, billionaire... 33:31 But he was so unhappy, Miserable. 33:33 Remember we used to see that. 33:34 We used to see videos of him years ago, 33:37 and he was so miserable, he lived in his hotel room, 33:39 everything pile up, it's like, he have all this money, 33:42 and he is still not happy. 33:44 Right. No. 33:45 'Cause money does not bring happiness. 33:47 It doesn't. No. 33:49 It doesn't bring happiness. Peace of mind. 33:50 Right, if you don't know the Lord, 33:52 money is not going to be a substitute for you happiness. 33:54 But I've also heard somebody once say, 33:56 "Money doesn't bring happiness, give me a chance to decide." 33:59 To decide for myself. But money is not the... 34:03 Money is not happiness. 34:04 It's being godliness with contentment. 34:07 That's right. 34:09 I like what Danny said, 34:11 bringing it back to the Sabbath. 34:13 The Sabbath also teaches us that we're not our own, 34:16 that God owns everything 34:18 and we can't have contentment till we realize that 34:23 what we possess is really not ours, 34:25 we're just stewards of it. 34:26 So another blessing God gives us that 34:29 being able to return to him, our tithes and offerings. 34:32 That's good. That's right. 34:33 We're going there too. Hope we get there. 34:36 But I want to go ahead and put a context 34:38 to the blessings of the Christians. 34:41 Look at the third point, Ephesians 1:3. 34:43 Yvonne, would you read that for us? 34:45 Sure. I have it right here actually. 34:47 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 34:50 who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing 34:54 in the heavenly places in Christ." 34:55 What kind of blessings? 34:57 Spiritual. Spiritual blessings. 34:59 Spiritual blessings are forever, 35:02 temporary blessings are exactly that. 35:06 Material blessings are temporary. 35:07 I've never heard anybody... 35:09 Well, there is one guy that got buried 35:11 in this corvette, the seat of his corvette 35:14 and he was encased in a plexiglass 35:16 and they put the whole thing in the ground. 35:17 Oh my god. 35:19 What a waste of a corvette 35:20 'cause he wasn't going anywhere. 35:22 All right, all right. 35:23 And one person had a very good picture of that. 35:25 There was a guy that wanted to be buried with his $66,000 35:27 he had left in the bank. 35:29 And so, somebody is walking past the coffin, 35:31 you may have heard the story before, 35:34 he had $66,000 and one of the people 35:36 came up to coffin, took all the cash, 35:39 wrote him a check and put it in there. 35:45 That's good. 35:46 You can't take it with you. No. 35:48 That thing on the tip of your fingernail, 35:50 you can't take it with you. 35:51 The blessings are here. 35:52 But let's go forward, because I want to go to question four. 35:56 What are some of the conditions of blessings? 35:58 This is huge because, I was looking at the Bible... 36:02 Honey, would you read that for us, Genesis 32:26, 36:05 and this is, we know the story of Jacob. 36:06 Oh, yeah. 36:08 And he said, "Let me go for the day breaks, 36:12 but he said I will not let you go 36:15 unless you bless me." 36:16 Now that was powerful to me because the thing 36:19 that came out of that, panel 36:21 and those who are watching the program is some people 36:24 let the Lord go before the blessing comes. 36:27 Just a little before the blessing can give up. 36:31 Yeah. 36:32 How many people have been waiting for a job 36:34 and they say, "You know what, I just got a job on Sabbath, 36:36 I'm taking it, I'm tired of God, 36:39 I've been waiting for three months." 36:41 Well, if the company needs to be build 36:44 and they are three months out, trust God for the three months 36:49 and in the fourth month, He will give you a job 36:50 where you don't have to violate the Sabbath, 36:52 which makes you lose that blessing. 36:54 But some people say, 36:55 "I can't wait for God any longer, 36:57 I just got an offer for job, I got to work on the Sabbath, 36:59 but I need the money, I'm going to take it." 37:01 Jacob refused to let God go until... 37:05 It's good. Yeah, till You bless me. 37:08 Till You bless me. 37:09 So some people let go before God, 37:11 before the blessing comes. 37:12 Now what are spiritual blessings? 37:14 Oh, wow. 37:16 What's more of a blessing than money? 37:20 Good health I think. 37:22 Health is wealth. Okay. 37:23 But even when your health goes bad, 37:26 and it will, should the Lord tarry. 37:29 I'm not the man I used to be as I say, 37:31 you know, as we get older, that happens. 37:35 But the blessing is the peace and knowing 37:38 that if I die today, the next thing that I will see 37:41 is the face of Jesus, I hear the trumpets. 37:44 I think of Dr. Walt Thompson, he may be watching as we speak. 37:48 Yvonne and I've talked to him last week and he says, 37:52 I will use his words and not ours. 37:54 He's been suffering for quite a while and he says, 37:58 "I'm just ready for the Lord and I'm waiting for death, 38:02 and I'm okay with it, that's fine. 38:04 I have a peace with it, I'm encouraged, you know," 38:07 the very next thing, he will hear 38:10 Yvonne said is to Trumpet, 38:11 so when you shut your eyes and sleep, so to him. 38:15 Now money can't buy that, you can take billionaires 38:18 who don't know the Lord and they won't be like 38:20 that Dr. Walt right now who just says, 38:22 "Hey, this is the end of this journey, and I'm okay, 38:26 and I'm looking forward to eternity." 38:28 That money can't buy. That's a spiritual blessing. 38:32 But how did he get there? 38:34 He got it by reading the back of the book. 38:37 By understanding the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, 38:39 the three angles' messages which will say to you 38:42 in a time of trouble, "I'm not worried about that. 38:45 I've read the back of the book." 38:46 Walt has read the back of the book. 38:48 So that peace of mind, there is no money, 38:51 nothing on earth, no beautiful homes, cars, 38:54 nothing can give you that. 38:55 That's the spiritual blessing. That's right. 38:57 Anything else, honey? 38:59 No, no, I was just throwing out the question. 39:00 Go ahead, Gary. 39:02 Oh, another blessing from God is forgiveness. 39:03 Oh, yeah. Yeah. 39:05 My kids tease me sometimes, they say, 39:06 "Why are you so disgustingly cheerful?" 39:10 And I tell them sometimes it's because 39:13 I don't carry around grudges. 39:15 I forgive people and that God gives me 39:17 the gift of forgiveness and that's a blessing 39:19 'cause you don't have to be weigh down with the burden 39:21 of, you know, who said this to me 39:23 and who did that to me. 39:24 The concrete basket that want forgiveness. 39:27 Yes. It's good. 39:28 So that's a blessing of God's forgiveness. 39:30 That's a very good point. 39:31 Blessing of forgiveness, the lightening of your heart, 39:34 the burden that sometimes you carry. 39:36 And we don't have to carry those burdens 39:38 but some people, some people, you know, 39:41 when you don't forgive somebody, 39:42 what was the analogy somebody used, 39:44 it was a book you were reading, it's like drinking... 39:46 What is it? 39:47 Drinking poison and hope they would die. 39:49 No, drinking poison and hope the other person would die. 39:52 Yeah, you drink the poison. 39:55 And that's what... Go ahead. 39:57 I think God's blessings and it's good for us to know 40:00 or talk about or for everyone in this sense, 40:04 but are we going to take advantage of them? 40:06 You can take someone who says, "I'm an atheist," 40:09 but if he eats right, and he exercises, 40:12 he will get to enjoy probably longer life. 40:15 But it's only on this earth, 40:17 so he cuts himself short of the real blessing, 40:20 he wants to take care of that physical blessing. 40:22 But man is born of a woman is of few days 40:25 and come full of trouble, 40:27 he's coming forth like a flower 40:29 and flee it not and continue it says. 40:30 Fades. 40:32 Yeah, continuously, he fades away, 40:33 and continues not till heavens be no more. 40:35 That's right. 40:36 So the physical blessing, it's there, if we just... 40:41 So any time you're within God's laws, 40:45 His physical laws, 40:46 so you don't have to be a Christian 40:48 to get blessings physically 40:50 if you eat right and take care of your health, 40:53 you know, and exercise 40:54 and do all these things, you can. 40:56 But the physical blessing is not what you're wanting, 41:00 you want that spiritual blessing 41:02 where this spiritual blessing lasts for eternity. 41:06 The other may give you some 41:07 but it doesn't give you peace of mind. 41:09 But the residual benefits of good eating is good health, 41:13 but even, you know, you might die at 105, 41:16 but you gonna die anyway. 41:18 It's good to know that the next thing 41:20 you will hear when the Lord comes 41:21 is that trumpet sound like when you said that. 41:23 Right, with Dr. Walt. To Dr. Walt. 41:25 It's good to have that peace, the peace of forgiveness. 41:28 I like the way what he said to Gary, 41:30 "Being disgustingly happy," you know. 41:34 And some people don't like it when you're happy. 41:36 "Why are you always smiling?" 41:38 You know, like a pastor said to a lady, 41:39 "You're always positive. 41:41 What could you say positive about the devil?" 41:43 She said, "He's always busy." 41:46 I have a family member 41:47 that we used to go to Nashville quite a bit 41:50 when we're recording and stuff and, 41:52 I'd call him, and we'd have to leave 41:53 like at six in the morning, get there for session, I'd say, 41:56 "Good morning, rise and shine," 41:58 and he's like, "Would you stop that, 41:59 why are you so happy all the time." 42:02 And all the way down here, he would hardly speak, 42:04 we'd go three hours driving and he's just quiet. 42:06 And I'd be talking, he's like, "Can't you... 42:10 Aren't you ever just like upset or don't you ever just crabby?" 42:14 I say, 42:15 "There's no reason to be, I woke up this morning, 42:17 I'm blessed, we're on the way, 42:19 so it makes no sense to be just, you know," 42:23 so he's like, it's almost like that, 42:25 you know, "This is too much for me, 42:27 I don't want to hear 42:29 all of this happiness in the morning." 42:30 No, life is a blessing. Oh, absolutely. 42:32 Life is a blessing. 42:34 Any day above the ground is a good day. 42:36 Very good day. 42:37 With good health and all the other benefits. 42:39 I read a quote which certainly is kind of interesting, 42:40 it said, 42:42 "God created this to be a blessing to ourselves," 42:44 and it's interesting the order of this place, 42:48 blessing to our self, blessings to others, 42:51 and then to bring forth 42:53 the praise of God in that order, 42:55 you know, so God created us to be blessing to ourselves. 42:57 That's right. 42:59 And sometimes we don't allow ourselves 43:00 to have that blessing 43:01 because we're not a blessing to our self. 43:03 We're not in harmony, in rhythm with God. 43:06 Doing what it takes to receive His blessings. 43:09 It's like trying to plant a rose 43:10 in the middle of winter. 43:12 You can say, "This is not the time of year, 43:15 you're out of rhythm with the planting season. 43:17 You can't get a rose to grow on the winter time, 43:19 not here at least." 43:20 Right. 43:22 In this scripture, 43:24 I'm looking at here, Genesis 32:26, 43:27 "I will not let you go," 43:28 one of the blessings and here's what I've found 43:31 and this has been the key for 33 years 43:35 that the blessing of God is on the go. 43:37 In fact, I had this little book, 43:39 "The Blessing Is on the Go," 43:40 what we'll do is anybody who wants it, 43:42 you write to 3ABN, and we'll just give it to you. 43:44 So we're not trying to sell you books, 43:46 we'll just mail it to you, everything is free, 43:48 you don't pay shipping, and we'll just give it to you. 43:51 But the blessing of God is on the go. 43:53 God gives these blessings to us, 43:56 but when I go in faith, 43:58 He says, "Go ye into all the world," 44:01 as Dr. Thompson used to say, when he said, "Go ye..." 44:04 He's countered his resources in advance, 44:06 found that he's not wanting and so when we go forward, 44:10 God honors that. 44:11 Blessings will fall where Malachi, 44:14 you know, where there is not room enough to receive, 44:16 the windows are open up for heaven. 44:18 But that's not when you're just sitting. 44:19 That's right. 44:20 It's not when you're sitting, it's when you're in action. 44:23 So if you want blessings of God and God to bless your ministry 44:27 or what you're doing all your life, get up and go. 44:30 So if we want to sit home, watch TV all day, 44:33 don't expect a lot of blessings coming your way, 44:35 that is peace of mind and all this things 44:38 and because you're not really focused, 44:40 "Well, God, I'm waiting on you. 44:41 I gave some money now, you know, bless me." 44:45 You watch, when you get up and you do something, 44:46 and you, I don't care 44:48 if there's witnessing to somebody 44:49 to a gas station or the restaurant, 44:51 wherever you are, you watch how God opens up doors. 44:53 You're so blessed 44:55 that it's literally running over. 44:58 Oh, running over. 45:00 Go ahead, you were talking about that, 45:01 Darrell Marshall song. 45:04 We are drinking from our saucer. 45:06 There you go. 45:08 Every time I hear Darrell sing that song, 45:09 The cup is full, have you heard that song? 45:11 The cup is full, so it's running over, 45:13 someone said he's drinking from the saucer. 45:15 Oh, wow. Beautiful. 45:17 Nobody sings it like Darrell. 45:19 I love it every time I hear it, that's one of my favorites. 45:21 And the other one, Just a Rose Will Do, 45:24 you know, it's a beautiful song. 45:25 He's got a tremendous voice. 45:27 But now I want to go to the financial blessings 45:28 because you alluded to it. 45:30 Look at point number six, Malachi 3:10, 45:33 there are some blessings that will only come 45:34 since you mentioned it, 45:35 Danny, go ahead and read it for us, 45:37 Malachi 3:10 on point number six there. 45:39 "Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, 45:41 that there may be food in my house 45:43 and try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, 45:47 if I will not open the windows for you, 45:50 get this, the windows of heaven for you, 45:52 and pour you out such a blessing, 45:54 there will not be room enough to receive it." 45:57 Wow, some people don't get that blessing 45:59 because they don't follow God's parameter. 46:02 But I bet that lot of people, 46:04 what do they say, John, they say, 46:05 "Pastor, I can't afford to give tithes and offerings.' 46:07 Well, if you give, 46:09 you'll be able to afford to give. 46:10 That's right. So there's really no excuse. 46:13 If I'd figured out my budget and I can't afford my tithe 46:17 then maybe I should cut my budget down, right? 46:19 Something in that budget needs to be removed. 46:22 I'll dig a little testimony in this area, 46:23 that the Lord blessed on one day, 46:26 our church that I was attending asked 46:27 for funds to fund evangelistic meetings 46:30 and so I didn't have much money 46:32 but I committed to give 7% of my income extra above tithe 46:36 and offering to the Lord. 46:38 And that week, 46:40 I was called into my boss's office 46:42 and it was just a review, just a review. 46:45 And in that review, 46:49 unbeknown to me, I've got a promotion, 46:51 I've got two set promotions and I've got a 14% raise. 46:55 God doubled my commitment, I have a proof of that text. 46:58 Look at that. Wow! 47:00 Sometimes we should do a whole worship 47:01 on the blessings of God 47:03 when you give, when you think 47:06 that you can't give and you can't afford to give. 47:08 My little quick one is, I'll never forget, 47:10 in the early 80s before 3ABN, I had been playing basketball, 47:14 John broke the navicular bone in my wrist, 47:16 so I had to cast for several months, 47:18 couldn't work, didn't have insurance, 47:19 didn't have any money coming in, 47:21 so I was struggling literally for weeks and weeks, 47:24 Melody was young. 47:26 And so I went to church one day, 47:28 I had $2 in my pocket, $2 is all I had in my pocket. 47:32 And I knew 'cause I'd run down to debt. 47:34 So I go to church and I'm like, 47:36 "Lord, I don't want to do this week 47:37 and I never ask people for help, 47:39 never felt comfortable about it. 47:43 Please you need to supply somehow, 47:45 we got to keep going." 47:46 So I go to church and I have $2 and they take up the offering. 47:50 And so I thought, "I can't give the $2, 47:53 now really what's $2 can buy me. 47:57 And I said, "I can't give this 47:59 'cause we won't have anything left," 48:01 and so the offerings, 48:03 the deacons come forward and they get it 48:04 and so as they were leaving, the Holy Spirit said, 48:08 "Do you trust in that $2 or you want to trust me?" 48:12 So I reached in my pocket 48:13 and quickly put it in the plate. 48:15 Now after church, I don't know how long I stayed, 48:18 but I talked to people and visit, 48:20 I got into my vehicle, drove, 48:22 I lived on the west side of West Frankfort at the time, 48:25 and so I was driving through the main street, 48:27 got right past the post office to the stop lights, 48:31 and I saw a lady walking 48:33 across the street, I'm in a red light. 48:35 Now the timing of this, 48:36 I hadn't see this lady in years but when I did, 48:39 she's an older lady that would say, 48:41 "Well, I'm really struggling, 48:43 you know, could you help me a little bit financially," 48:45 and I knew her from relatives, and what have you, 48:49 so if had some I'd tried to help her 48:50 and I saw her 48:52 and she started waving me down, 48:53 I said, "This is not the right time, 48:55 I'm coming home, 48:56 I don't have a dime in my pocket, 48:58 I'm broke as it can be," 49:00 she, John, motions me to pullover 49:04 so I pull right over there in front of furniture store 49:07 and she came up and I rolled the windows, 49:08 she's on the passenger's side, I was driving, rolled it down, 49:11 I said, "Hey, how are you doing?" 49:13 And I was probably a little stiff, 49:14 you know, hello, how are you doing, thinking, 49:16 "I'm broke, please don't ask me for anything," 49:19 and she says, 49:20 "You remember about four or five years ago," 49:23 and she knew the exact time, 49:24 I didn't, so let's say, five years ago, 49:27 "When I was really struggling and it was November, 49:30 they were going to cut my electricity off, 49:32 and I came to your house and told you I needed help 49:35 and the bill was $109," 49:38 and I just looked at her and I said, 49:40 "No," and she said, "Oh, you remember that 49:42 'cause I had nowhere else to go 49:43 and I asked you to loan it and you said, 49:46 you would give me the money, 49:48 you wouldn't loan it, and I said, "Why?" 49:49 And you said, 49:50 "Because when you don't pay back, 49:52 I'll be mad at you." 49:53 So if I give it you, then I won't be mad at you, 49:55 so this is a gift so let's forget about it." 49:59 She said, "Well, the Lord has blessed me 50:00 since then and I've started, 50:02 I'm taking care of some older people 50:04 and I saw you and I've been going look you up, 50:07 I have $109 in my pocket and I want to give it to you." 50:12 Now this was after church which the timing for me to go 50:16 through West Frankfort, and if I'd said, 50:18 "Let's meet at this time, you'd never meet," 50:20 right, somebody would be late. 50:21 And she is in front of me and just happens to look over, 50:24 and that $109 got me through what I needed that week 50:27 till the Lord blessed the next week. 50:29 What a blessing. 50:30 Now you think that's coincidence? 50:31 No. Not probably. 50:33 Matter of fact, let me turn... 50:34 Read point number nine, that's exactly what it is. 50:35 Look at that scripture, that's what it is. 50:37 This is amazing, Danny, what a story. 50:38 Luke 6:38. And that's true. 50:40 Yes. 50:41 Absolutely, it is. Yes. 50:42 "Give and it will be given to you, 50:45 good measure, press down, 50:47 shaken together and running over, 50:49 will be put into your bosom. 50:51 For with the same measure that you use, 50:53 it will be measured back to you." 50:54 Okay. $109. 50:57 The same measure. 51:00 As your neighbor says, "I need a cup of sugar," 51:02 and you give him a teaspoon, 51:03 you're going to get the teaspoon back, 51:05 in same measure. 51:07 And now get this, Danny, so the... 51:11 Come on, help me with the... 51:13 The stingy people get the stingy blessing. 51:17 But the liberal people get the liberal blessings. 51:20 Am I right? Look at the next one. 51:22 And it's funny, wait, wait, Danny, 51:23 you even forgot about that. 51:25 I totally forgot about it. With the lady. 51:27 And I couldn't remember until she, 51:29 "Well, you remember that," vaguely I remember, 51:32 but I really want to say to her, 51:33 "Which time was that?" 51:35 Well, it's the only time I'd seen her at my house 51:38 and she was all right 51:40 and, you know, and so I tried to help her, 51:42 another people did too, I'm not the only one, 51:44 but I didn't remember that, and then when she told me, 51:47 all of a sudden I went back, 51:48 I said, "I do remember, no, it was a $109," 51:50 but what got me, she had the cash in her purse. 51:53 She said, "I've been going to call you, 51:55 I haven't done it, I'm carrying this money around, 51:57 and I hadn't seen her probably in two years." 52:00 And there we meet, right there, as soon as I've given that $2. 52:03 Did you know that was God? Oh, absolutely. 52:06 I knew that was God. 52:08 'Cause when He said, the impression was to me, 52:10 "You gonna trust in that $2 or me?" 52:12 That's right. I know it. 52:14 This is pre-3ABN. That's right. 52:17 And the Lord had this field already figured out. 52:19 Yes. 52:21 Building your faith. And you know what... 52:23 Building your faith. 52:24 Over and over, over again, when Hal Steenson need, 52:27 I walked into a church one day quickly 52:29 and they were underneath a group of people 52:31 I was wanting to, I had a van, 52:33 I was going to sell it and I thought, 52:34 "I need to get a better van," right, 52:36 and I'm going to sell this van 52:38 so he might know somebody that would... 52:40 Before he was Adventist, 52:41 they had a church out here so I'd go in and I'm like... 52:45 And these people were praying, about eight of them, 52:47 they knew how to pray, they were praying 52:49 and so they got up and I say, "Hey, anybody need a van?" 52:52 And they're like, 52:53 "Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, 52:55 we were sitting here praying that this woman has eight kids, 52:58 her husband left her with six kids, 52:59 and she needs a van, 53:01 and we don't have the money to get one and praise the Lord, 53:04 God sent you," and I'm like, 53:05 "Whoa," 'cause I needed that money 53:08 from the van to put a down payment on another van. 53:11 And I had no money and I'm like, 53:13 "Well," and they're all like, "What? 53:15 This is the Lord." 53:16 And I'm like, "There's no way I can get..." 53:18 I was traveling with Melody at the time. 53:20 And trying to get some money. 53:21 And after mother died, 53:23 we're trying to take a PA system 53:25 and I'm like, "Oh, no, what am I going to do?" 53:27 So I said, you know, I hate to, I said, 53:29 "I'm sorry," I said, "Honestly, 53:31 I don't have the money to get another van, 53:33 I needed this, but I'd sell it cheaper," 53:35 and they all looked disappointed 53:37 like you're not listening to God, 53:39 you know, but I felt guilty so I'm like, 53:41 "Well, look hey, we'll talk later." 53:43 So I head out the door, and I go out the door 53:45 and I sat in it, and that exact same thing said, 53:49 "Are you going to trust in this van 53:50 or you're going to trust in me?" 53:52 So I went back and I said, "Pastor Hal," I said, 53:54 "If you follow me to the house, 53:55 I'll give you the title to the car 53:57 and clean out my stuff into the van," 53:59 and I did, and gave it to them. 54:01 I didn't know what I was going to go. 54:03 Within a short time later, God blessed me, 54:07 somebody bought a brand new van 54:11 and I get this message on my phone, 54:13 I got home not that day but a few weeks later. 54:15 And the message said 54:17 'cause I have been praying about getting a new van 54:19 even priced one 54:20 and the message on the phone said, 54:22 "You don't know me," it's when we had, 54:24 you know, you can call information 54:25 and get your number. 54:26 Oh, yeah. 54:28 "You don't know me, but the Lord impressed me, 54:29 the urgency of which you need this $15,000, 54:31 it will be there tomorrow, and you'll know what it is." 54:34 I had been pricing 54:35 the van exactly $15, 000 54:37 the day before with no money and no trading. 54:40 So I went down and booked that van. 54:42 You know what? Look at God blessings. 54:46 I got to get this text before we... 54:47 Go for it. 54:49 Matthew 6:33, it's ingredients for all blessings, 54:52 and if you want a blessing today, 54:54 go to Matthew 6:33. 54:56 The secret is that 54:57 we have to seek first God's Kingdom 55:02 and then His righteousness. 55:03 That's the ingredient, if you want a blessing, 55:05 That's the key. That's the key. 55:07 Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. 55:08 That's great. 55:09 And all these things will be added unto you. 55:11 Every time we see 6:33 on the clock, Angie said, 55:14 "Seek ye first..." 55:16 We could be in the car, 55:17 we could be on the plane, 6:33, 55:20 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." 55:22 I mean, this program needs another hour 55:24 because we just started to talk about... 55:26 But what we're pointing out here 55:27 and the rhythm 55:29 is don't try to find blessings outside of God's rhythm. 55:32 That's right. That's right. 55:34 You can't seek the world and expect God to bless you. 55:36 No. 55:37 Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. 55:39 Yeah. 55:40 You can't expect to thwart God's Sabbath 55:43 and expect Him to bless another day, 55:45 He's not going to do it. 55:47 If you don't know, that's the difference, 55:48 but if you know and you insist otherwise, 55:51 you can't find a blessing on a day 55:52 that He didn't bless. 55:54 He only blessed one. 55:55 You can't find the blessing outside 55:57 of a relationship, husband and wife, 55:59 not husband and husband, not wife and wife. 56:01 He's not going to bless it. 56:03 It's not about love, it's about God's, and love, 56:06 that is outside of God's plan is not really love 56:08 because God is love. 56:10 Exactly. 56:11 So we can't use the word love to neuter 56:13 what God has established as a blessing. 56:15 That's right. 56:16 Thirdly, when you give in harmony 56:18 with God's plan, your tithing and your offering, 56:21 He will open the windows, 56:23 but don't give for Him to open the windows, 56:25 give not grudgingly or out of necessity 56:29 but out of love for God. 56:31 And in the next, 56:33 if somebody has a need and God has touched your heart, 56:36 don't hold on to the little and miss the big. 56:39 Wow. Yeah. 56:40 Right? Fourteen percent raise. 56:42 The percent. Yeah. 56:44 To give God. 56:46 I gave my $75 tithe and offering one Sabbath. 56:48 The Sabbath morning, 56:50 I had no money for insurance on the next day, 56:52 and Monday was due, that night, 56:53 God gave me $238 from somebody I never met. 56:56 There you go. God wants to bless you. 56:58 Does He want to bless us, honey? 57:00 Amen. And you know what? 57:01 We are talking about blessing from our network 57:03 that is all about blessings. 57:05 Oh, yeah. 57:06 The Lord tested Danny Shelton years ago with $2 57:07 because he had 57:09 this whole property already picked out. 57:10 Amen. 57:11 So let him look back and see how far God has let us. 57:14 So our message to you is follow God's plan 57:17 and the blessing really is on the go 57:19 if you follow the Lord as He leads. 57:21 God bless you until we see you again. 57:24 Amen. |
Revised 2018-04-26