Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW018015A
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Happy Sabbath. 01:11 This is a wonderful time that we've got together. 01:13 And, man, I'm with some of my good buds. 01:15 You'll notice that, probably, 01:16 I'm the only ones who got gray hair, 01:17 but there is a couple of us that are graying. 01:21 But anyway, the others are young. 01:24 And I just want to introduce because this is Sabbath time. 01:28 And this is a time whenever... 01:32 That we can take that deep breath and relax 01:34 because I know each one of us work hard 01:37 during the week. 01:38 You know, so this is a special, special time. 01:41 And you'll notice that there is no girls with us 01:43 because this is what they call "guys Sabbath out." 01:48 And before I introduce, before we go any further, 01:51 I'm just so pleased with the topic 01:55 that we have this evening. 01:57 And this evening, pray boldly before His throne of grace. 02:02 Boy, that sounds like that's simple to do, 02:05 but that is what it's all about, 02:08 to be totally empty yourself and go to the Lord, 02:11 and then present, and then it goes up to heaven. 02:15 Amen. 02:16 With that heavenly incense... 02:18 Amen. 02:19 And then Jesus is there to sit and massage it. 02:24 And then and interpret whatever it's supposed to 02:27 and how it's supposed to work, 02:29 and then we are supposed to believe. 02:31 But we are not going into all of that right now. 02:33 We got Gary. 02:35 What department do you work in, Gary? 02:37 Post-production video editor here at 3ABN. 02:40 And you have been here what, two years? 02:42 Almost two years. Two years. 02:43 It's just absolutely amazing. You got a family? 02:46 I do have a large family. You do have a large family. 02:50 You know, but anyway, we just love Gary. 02:52 Don? Yes, sir. 02:53 Tell us about Don. 02:55 I just recently moved up to pastoral, 02:56 what, back in October, last year. 02:59 And it's just been such a blessing 03:00 to get hear our callers and to pray with them. 03:03 And I also do Bible work here locally, 03:05 and just other things that we get 03:07 into addiction recovery, and into prison even. 03:10 So where the Lord sends is where I go. 03:13 Amen. 03:15 And I know that Don's plate's full. 03:17 Luis, talk about full plates. Amen. 03:21 Yes. Tell us about Luis. Boy, I'm so glad. 03:24 I can't believe, it has been almost three years 03:27 that I've been here. 03:28 And by far, this is probably the best time that I have, 03:32 you know, being with you guys, receiving the Sabbath, 03:36 and just diving into the Word. 03:40 I work in the programming department, 03:42 and it's a stressful job. 03:46 Well, it's a stressful job, especially right now 03:48 because going high def that means everything changes. 03:51 I mean, boy, we are putting on big-boy pants now. 03:53 That's right. 03:54 I mean, this thing, 03:56 so there's lots of changes going on. 03:57 And so, you know, just, kind of, 03:59 see yourself coming sometimes. 04:01 That's right. 04:02 But I just want you to know 04:03 that you are doing a fantastic job. 04:05 Oh, God is good. Isn't He? Amen. Amen. 04:07 And with that, whenever we are doing this business 04:10 and everything, thanks for breaking down, 04:13 thanks for how does this fit... 04:15 So needless to say, we have to have an engineer. 04:18 All right. Uh-oh, we have Eric. 04:21 Eric, tell us about Eric. 04:22 Well, I've been here with my wife 04:24 for going on four years. 04:26 I work in broadcast engineering, 04:28 and part of my job, like JD, 04:30 you said, is to keep everything running. 04:32 Keep us on the air, keep our customers happy, 04:34 and our customers are you. 04:37 Amen. Amen. 04:39 And then we have Jason over here. 04:41 And I guess that he's probably... 04:43 Are you the youngest at the table? 04:45 Maybe? Maybe? I think so. 04:47 I might be. I might be. 04:49 Okay. Yeah. 04:50 I'm at an age where I can't tell age anymore. 04:52 So I don't want to... 04:53 Okay. 04:55 And I know that you with Dare to Dream. 04:56 What all do you do? 04:57 Well, you know, we all wear multiple hats, 04:59 which some of it involves office work, 05:01 prison ministry, producing programs, 05:03 being on programs, and whatever else is needed. 05:06 Amen. Yeah. 05:07 And I know that you carryout healthy appetite 05:10 with you at all times too. 05:11 All times. 05:12 I've got to share a meal or two. 05:16 I thought I could eat a lot, but anyway, but here again, 05:20 now let's go back to the serious side 05:23 'cause we're going to go into this pray boldly 05:26 before the throne of grace. 05:27 But before we do, 05:28 I know that there's times in our life 05:31 whenever, we know that Jesus is with us, 05:34 but then there is another time, 05:36 and we're going to share this right now 05:38 just when I need Him most. 05:41 So we're going to attempt to sing this in harmony, 05:48 and for you 05:49 it's in the Seventh-day Adventist hymnal. 05:51 It's page 512. 05:53 And you can sing along with us 05:55 'cause it's going to be 05:56 at the bottom part of the screen. 05:59 But before we start the music, 06:00 and we are so blessed to have Alex Toris with us today, 06:03 there's going to be... 06:04 He works in accounting, 06:06 and he is going to be graciously 06:08 leading us through this. 06:10 But before we start, Luis, 06:11 why don't you open prayer with us? 06:14 Our loving Father, we thank You so much 06:17 that You gave us opportunities, 06:19 Lord, to come together to worship You, 06:21 to give You all the honor, and all the power, 06:24 that we come, 06:25 Lord, to a message so important that prayer has victory, 06:29 and prayer has strength, 06:31 and prayer can change your life. 06:34 And as we are praying at this moment, 06:36 Lord, we want to make sure that we give You all the power 06:40 and all the glory 06:41 'cause we're in awe of You, Lord. 06:44 We ask that Your Holy Spirit be poured upon us here, 06:46 and we pour it upon our viewers and our listeners, Lord, 06:50 that they may find this hour, 06:54 an hour that will change completely 06:57 who they were and start a new walk with You. 07:01 We ask these things only in the precious name of Jesus. 07:04 Amen. Amen. 07:07 And I thank that we've agreed that we're going to sing verses 07:10 1, 2, and 4. 07:13 1, 2, and 4. 07:15 And, Alex, if you will kindly get us started. 07:43 Just when I need Him, Jesus is near 07:49 Just when I falter, just when I fear 07:55 Ready to help me, ready to cheer 08:01 Just when I need Him most 08:06 Just when I need Him most 08:10 Just when I need Him most 08:14 Jesus is near to comfort and cheer 08:19 Just when I need Him most 08:23 Just when I need Him, Jesus is true 08:30 Never forsaking all the way through 08:36 Giving for burdens pleasures anew 08:42 Just when I need Him most 08:47 Just when I need Him most 08:51 Just when I need Him most 08:55 Jesus is near to comfort and cheer 09:00 Just when I need Him most 09:05 Just when I need Him, He is my all 09:11 Answering when upon Him I call 09:17 Tenderly watching lest I should fall 09:23 Just when I need Him most 09:28 Just when I need Him most 09:32 Just when I need Him most 09:36 Jesus is near to comfort and cheer 09:41 Just when I need Him most 09:46 Amen. 09:48 Wow. Wow. Wow. Just as I need Him. 09:50 Wow, I love that. Amen. 09:52 You know, wow. 09:54 I mean, I know nothing about music, 09:56 but I thought we sounded pretty good. 10:00 I want to read this affirmation dealing 10:01 with pray boldly before the throne of grace. 10:04 This is coming from law of affirmations from scripture, 10:07 and it's number 103. 10:09 But this is kind of... 10:11 We are going to build this platform 10:14 around this right here that I'm getting ready to read. 10:17 And then we're going to all contribute 10:20 and fill in the gaps, okay? 10:23 Amen. 10:24 I come boldly before God's throne of grace 10:27 to obtain mercy and help in the time of need. 10:30 Thank you, Jesus. 10:31 Because I obey His commands, do what He pleases, 10:35 do what pleases Him as with unselfish motives 10:39 and in agreement with His will, 10:42 His ears are attentive to my prayers. 10:45 I have this confidence in approaching my holy 10:48 and righteous Father that He hears my prayers, 10:52 and by His love, power, and faithfulness, 10:56 I have what I ask of Him in the authority of Jesus name 11:00 according to His will. 11:02 Amen. Wow. 11:04 That's where we're going with this. 11:06 I mean, our responsibility 11:10 and having the confidence in His gift to us. 11:15 Don, why don't you kick this off? 11:16 Sure. 11:18 You turn open your Bibles to Hebrews 4:15, 16. 11:23 I'll be reading from the New King James version. 11:25 I really love this actually. 11:27 I want to start in verse 14, actually. 11:28 It's just too good. I have to start in 14. 11:30 So it says in there, 11:32 "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest 11:35 who has passed through the heavens, 11:37 Jesus the Son of God, 11:38 let us hold fast our confession. 11:41 For we do not have a High Priest 11:43 who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses," 11:45 that's a big word, 11:46 "but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." 11:49 Praise God. 11:51 "Let us therefore come boldly," it's that word, 11:54 "to the throne of grace 11:55 that we may obtain mercy and find grace 11:58 to help in time of need." 12:00 I was really resonating on this word boldly 12:03 and actually, I knew we talked 12:04 about this a little bit earlier, JD. 12:06 But I did look this up in the concordance, 12:08 and it's a Greek term. 12:10 Of course, it's parresia. 12:14 And I really like 12:15 that word broke down to it says 12:17 that this boldly means frankness, 12:19 bluntness, being blunt. 12:21 You think you could be blunt with God. 12:23 Blunt, publicity, 12:24 or also assurance, or confidence, 12:26 you mentioned the word confidence earlier, 12:28 openly, and plainly. 12:29 So I thought about 12:31 that the idea of being confident. 12:32 And I asked the question, actually, myself today, 12:35 I said, "On whose merits are we able to come boldly 12:38 into the throne of grace?" 12:39 Wow. Whose merits? 12:41 And when I thought about that... 12:43 We kind of mentioned that 12:44 but there is another wonderful scripture, 12:45 it's in Revelation 8:3. 12:48 If you want to turn there... 12:50 I don't know this is a deep word picture. 12:52 Of course, Revelation, 12:54 you know, it's a lot of symbolic language. 12:56 But on Revelation 8:3 12:57 it has a beautiful picture for us, 12:59 and especially in the last days, 13:01 it's a picture of this angel here. 13:03 It's says in verse 3, "Then another angel, 13:06 having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. 13:08 He was given much incense," 13:11 who is able to stand before the alter, 13:14 it's Jesus, "that he should offer it 13:16 with the prayers of all the saints 13:18 upon the golden altar which was before the throne." 13:22 So now we can see this picture of Jesus, 13:24 as you mentioned earlier, taking His nail-pierced hands 13:26 before the Father and said, 13:27 "I suffered and died on the cross for these. 13:30 I can now mingle my prayers with these, 13:33 my saint's prayers." 13:34 Amen. And that's a beautiful picture. 13:36 When I shared it on Prayer Line, people are like, 13:37 "Wow, what is that scripture? 13:39 I want to write that down. That's powerful." 13:41 But to see that Jesus wants to mingle His prayers 13:44 with our prayers 13:45 as our efficient heeding High Priest, 13:46 and I really liked 13:48 what He said too and His affirmation says, 13:50 "Ask with an unselfish motives." 13:53 I hear a lot of people sometimes 13:54 when they pray, 13:55 it's very give me, give me this, give me that, 13:57 it's not unselfish. 13:59 And we need to realize, 14:00 we are talking to the Almighty God. 14:01 Amen. 14:03 And how is it that we can come before Him 14:05 unless we are unselfish in our motives. 14:07 So I really thought on that. 14:08 And another one I really liked was Psalm 18. 14:12 Psalm 18:6. 14:15 And when I share this 14:16 with people calling the Prayer Line, it just... 14:19 You can hear just voices melt. They just melt. 14:24 And like, "I've never heard that before." 14:26 18:6 is a beautiful scripture. 14:29 And actually all of 18, I really enjoy. 14:30 But 18:6 says, "In my distress," 14:32 how many of us have distress? 14:35 "In my distress, I called upon the Lord, 14:37 and cried out," 14:39 of course, prayer, " and I cried out to my God. 14:41 He heard my voice from His temple, 14:43 and my cry came before Him, even to His ears." 14:47 Wow, I can't even picture where is this temple, 14:49 I know, obviously, 14:51 we are supposed to be the temple of Lord. 14:52 But in the heavenly places, where is this temple? 14:56 And He hears our voices, even the faintest person. 14:59 You know, the faintest person who cries out. 15:01 And just to share quick testimony of this cry, 15:05 we did a thing last year, 15:07 it was during the solar eclipse. 15:09 And we wanted to get these Hacksaw Ridge books 15:11 in the people's hands. 15:12 And of course, a big name... 15:15 a gentleman by the name of Ozzy Osbourne 15:16 is coming to perform. 15:18 And the Lord had opened up a miraculous door 15:20 but one of my biggest prayers, I said, "Lord," 15:22 And I was being really honest and blunt with the Lord. 15:25 I'm like, "Lord, I really want to get every book in a car. 15:28 I want every car come in here have a book." 15:31 And so my wife she... 15:33 Once we set up our booth there, 15:35 she went over to the 15:36 where they took all the tickets to park. 15:38 And she asked the lady, she said, 15:39 "Hey, you know, do you mind 15:41 if we set a table out to give these books out?" 15:43 And the lady says... 15:45 Well, probably, I should back up a bit. 15:47 The gentleman who let us in, he said, 15:49 "If you give your books and you slowdown our traffic, 15:51 you are kicked out of here. 15:52 We can't have you slowing down traffic. 15:54 So if you do that, you are kicked out." 15:55 So I'm like, "Oh, man, I want to give these books. 15:57 I want to give them in the cars. 15:59 I want to give them in the cars." 16:00 And so then as Janelle, again, she mentioned like, 16:02 she was "Hey, you know, we want set up a table, 16:03 I'll tell you what I'm going to do, 16:05 you give us the books, and we'll give them for you." 16:08 I'm like, "Are you kidding me?" 16:10 So everybody got a book in the car, 16:12 and we got to go home and sleep 16:13 while people are giving our books. 16:15 Amen. Amen. 16:16 So there is so much power in prayer, 16:18 and just like you said that honesty like, 16:20 "Look, I want to do this, Lord," 16:22 and He'll open the door. 16:24 I think that's a really powerful thought. 16:25 So I just wanted to share that. 16:27 And I guess, again, that word there it says, 16:30 "We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize 16:33 with our weaknesses 16:34 but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." 16:37 We are all tempted on a minute-to-minute basis. 16:40 And Jesus knows full well what we are going through. 16:42 He suffered it just like what we are going through. 16:45 So He can relate. I really like that. 16:47 Amen. He is a relatable God. 16:50 You know, I really love it, so... 16:51 You know what, He is relatable and He is also approachable. 16:54 That's right. 16:56 That's what our God, 16:57 you know, I mean, He is not going to turn 16:59 His back on any one. 17:01 He says, "Come unto me that are weary and heavy-laden, 17:05 and I will give you rest." 17:07 Amen. Amen. 17:08 Luis, I know that you've got some fantastic scriptures here. 17:12 Well, it's interesting. 17:14 I was just as he was reading, and he used the word boldness. 17:17 I'm going back to the verse which says that, 17:19 "If you have the faith of a mustard seed, 17:21 you can ask the mountain to move." 17:22 So it's like to go from weakness to boldness, 17:27 all you need is the faith of a mustard seed. 17:30 But that faith of a mustard seed 17:32 sometimes is a mountain for us, you know, as individuals. 17:35 And if you look at the verses that you have given me, 17:37 1 John 3: 21-22, and it says, 17:41 "Dear friend, if our hearts do not condemn us, 17:46 we have confidence before God and receive from Him 17:52 anything we ask 17:53 because we obey His command and do what pleases Him." 17:59 You know, it's interesting, 18:00 the first thing that we need to do 18:02 is to go boldly is to understand 18:05 where we are in the connection with God. 18:07 It's to understand that we need to be assured. 18:11 And this brought me to a verse 18:13 that is found in Luke 22. 18:18 And I have two verses that you had given me, 18:20 but I think this one will, kind of, 18:22 fit in between the two of us. 18:24 And this is with the struggles that we have daily. 18:26 And as you can see in Luke 22, 18:31 I'll read verse 31, 18:34 "And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon, behold, 18:37 Satan has desired to have you, that he may,"' What? 18:43 "'He may sift you as wheat."' 18:46 You see, the one thing 18:47 that we forget sometimes is at that the enemy 18:50 is constantly wanting to make that mustard seed 18:55 an absolute mountain into our lives. 18:58 You know, that's the one aspect that is happening. 19:00 But this says here, "If you are faithful 19:03 and if you follow the commandments, 19:05 you can boldly come to the throne of God." 19:07 But see, this is what Christ told him. 19:10 It says, "But I have prayed for thee," 19:14 and it says, "that thy faith fail not," 19:18 and it says, "and when thou art converted, 19:21 strengthen, thy brethren." 19:24 You see, the first thing we need to be is converted. 19:27 The first thing is to 19:28 that we need to be is to understand 19:30 what God is asking for us, you know? 19:32 And this is Christ that's saying, 19:34 "Hey, wait a minute, you don't understand. 19:37 The enemy is coming to Me to tell Me, 19:40 'No, I want you to give one of your disciples. 19:42 I'm going to tear up everything.'" 19:44 But Christ said, "No, I'm praying for you. 19:47 I'm going to the Father. 19:49 I'm interceding to the Father for you." 19:52 And the only thing that is required of us is what? 19:55 What that verse was saying, "Just obey My commands." 19:58 Now we got to 1 John 5:14. 20:03 "This is the confidence that we have in Him, 20:06 that, if we ask anything 20:09 according to His will, He hears us." 20:13 Now this is an interesting verse 20:16 because in it, it says, it's good news. 20:19 God's going to do everything we ask Him to do. 20:23 You know, and we can go boldly to God. 20:25 We can call Him into His throne and if we ask God, 20:28 "God I want to..." 20:29 And you put whatever in that blank. 20:33 But then we have to go back to that verse, 20:34 it says according to whose will? 20:36 His will. Oh, no. 20:39 Oh, no. 20:45 It's according to God's will. 20:47 But now if we look at the text that we read before in Luke, 20:52 why is it important that we ask according to God's will? 20:56 It's because the enemy 20:57 is constantly putting selfish thoughts 21:00 and selfish things and is constantly filling us 21:03 with things that are, oh, you know... 21:07 And I want to go just a little bit 21:09 about what's happening. 21:10 I want to go to Acts. 21:12 And this is what could happen to you 21:14 if you don't follow the teachings of God. 21:17 Now I'll give you a little bit of a pretext. 21:20 We're going to go to Acts 8. 21:23 And we're going to start with verse 18. 21:26 I'll give you a little bit about... 21:27 This is with Simon, 21:30 he was kind of like a witch doctor 21:32 or sorcerer in that area, and then he found Philip 21:35 and then he said, "Oh, wow. 21:36 He's got better magic than I have. 21:39 I want to follow him to see 21:42 what magic he has so I can have it for myself." 21:46 So he got baptized... 21:47 Just to tell you a little bit, he got baptized 21:49 and then he went on and started following, 21:52 but to what end? 21:55 He was doing everything 21:56 that we're doing, he was thinking, 21:57 but in his heart... 21:59 Guess what it was in his heart. 22:00 Now we go to verse 18 and check what that is. 22:02 And it says, "And when Simon saw that 22:05 through laying of the apostles' hands, 22:08 the Holy Ghost was given, 22:11 he offered them money." 22:15 You see, he thought it could be bought. 22:17 And I think many of us misinterpret 22:19 some of these verses, 22:21 and we think that God can be bought. 22:23 We think that God can be just our genie in a bottle, 22:26 and we can just come to Bible 22:29 and stroke it a couple of a times, 22:30 "Oh, please, God. 22:31 Oh, please, God." 22:33 And keep on following 22:34 what the enemy wants in our life 22:36 and keep our life of destruction without... 22:39 This is what a lot of people are saying, 22:40 "Oh, the laws are nailed to the cross." 22:42 Sure, they are nailed to the cross 22:44 because it says here, 22:45 "Unless you follow My commandment... 22:48 It's when you follow My commandment 22:50 that you are going to be..." 22:52 God is going to be pleased with you, 22:54 and you're going to be pleased with Him, 22:55 and you are going do His... 22:56 So basically what most people say, 22:58 "Don't worry about the commandments, 22:59 just rub the Bible three times, and the genie will come up, 23:02 and he will bless you." 23:06 That is what a lot of individuals think that 23:09 because they have the money, the influence, 23:12 the power that they can just use it 23:15 for their own benefits and not to use it 23:17 for what God has given us the power for. 23:20 We can go boldly to God 23:21 and God is going to make miracles. 23:23 Please read that chapter. 23:25 Read Acts 8, 23:26 and you'll see all the miracles, 23:28 the casting demons, and all of these things. 23:31 But how was it done? 23:33 If you read on, it talks about, 23:35 it's because we have died to self, 23:37 and we've given God all the power. 23:39 And that's where it's all the beauty. 23:41 Prayer is the most powerful connection 23:44 that you have to God. 23:46 But the only way 23:47 that that connection comes is when you empty self 23:50 and you allow the Spirit to talk through you. 23:51 Amen. 23:52 You know, to me, you know... 23:56 The irony here is that if I can sit 24:00 and rub my Bible three times and then I get my gift... 24:04 Right. 24:06 What happens if I don't get my gift, 24:08 then we go up here, 24:09 "Dear friends, if our heart does not condemn us, 24:11 we have confidence." 24:12 All of a sudden, I don't have confidence there. 24:14 So what I'm looking for... 24:17 I'm looking for a relationship with God 24:20 so I understand that it's according His will. 24:26 Now it's my understanding 24:27 that He has my eternal interest in marital times. 24:30 So if I'm allowing Him to be in charge, 24:33 now I do have peace 24:35 because it makes no difference if it didn't work out, 24:39 "Thank you, Jesus 24:41 because that wasn't the plan that You had for my life." 24:44 So there is it where it gets... 24:45 If our hearts do not condemn us, 24:48 we have confidence. 24:49 Well, I mean, that's important to play by the rules. 24:53 Say if we got a football game 24:55 and I show up in a basketball outfit, 24:58 I'm a little confused. 25:00 So now it's hard to have confidence. 25:03 So, you know, that's the gift that He is giving us 25:07 and that's what this is all about right here, you know. 25:10 How many times have you asked God 25:11 for something and you were so grateful 25:13 that God didn't answer that prayer 25:15 because what He gave you was so much greater. 25:16 Amen. 25:18 You know, there is countless times 25:19 in my young life that I have asked God, 25:21 and I've begged, "Lord, I need this. 25:24 I want this so desperately." 25:25 And God sent me totally to a different... 25:29 To the opposite way to what I was asking. 25:32 And then I said, "Oh, my God, my God, 25:34 when am I going to learn? 25:36 When am I going to learn that Your ways 25:38 are much better than my ways, to ask for Your will?" 25:41 And I'm sure 25:43 that there is somebody out here, 25:44 you know, that's looking for more peace. 25:47 And they get the peace in learning 25:50 what the rules are 25:52 for an eternal life that's... 25:57 Anything else that you want to contribute along this 25:59 or we're just getting started? 26:00 We're just getting started. 26:02 That's what... 26:03 I like what Luis said. 26:06 Sometimes there is a detour 26:08 because the bridge is collapsed. 26:09 Oh, man. 26:11 And we complain because there's a detour, 26:12 so it's going to take weeks, or days, 26:15 or years longer than we want to get where we want to go. 26:18 But God is saying, "The bridge is collapsed, 26:22 and that's not the way you want to go." 26:24 And it's, kind of, interesting, you know, the perception. 26:27 They are working on a bridge right up 26:28 the road between here and West Frankfort. 26:30 And I was talking to somebody this morning says, "Oh, yeah. 26:34 I got stuck there, 26:36 and I had to wait, and I had to wait." 26:39 And somebody else dropped by and, 26:40 "You know, I got that bridge that you're saying. 26:42 Man, the time, just like that and we got through." 26:44 So I mean, we are looking... 26:46 Yes, different sort of eyes here. 26:47 Yeah, Gary. 26:49 Well, I got a quote that actually 26:50 fits right in here. 26:51 It's taken from the devotional book 26:53 To Be Like Jesus. 26:54 It says, "Be not discouraged if your prayers do not seem 26:56 to obtain an immediate answer. 26:58 The Lord sees that prayer 26:59 is often mixed with earthliness. 27:01 People pray for that 27:02 which will gratify their selfish desires, 27:04 and the Lord does not fulfill their requests in the way 27:07 which they expect. 27:08 He takes them through tests and trials, 27:10 He brings them through humiliations 27:12 until they see more clearly what their necessities are. 27:16 He does not give to His children those things 27:18 which will gratify a debased appetite, 27:20 and which will prove an injury to human agents, 27:22 and make them a dishonor to God. 27:24 He does not give men and women 27:26 that which will gratify their ambition and work 27:29 simply for self-exaltation. 27:31 When we come to God, we must be submissive 27:34 and contrite of heart subordinating everything 27:36 to His sacred will." 27:37 Amen. 27:39 I was just going to, kind of, 27:40 bounce off of what you just said, Eric. 27:42 Sometimes they have me as a call porter, 27:43 I didn't have GPS like all the other guys have, 27:45 so I did all these maps and stuffs. 27:46 So I'm mapping all my routes. 27:48 I'm supposed to get to this place 27:49 called Angel Road. 27:50 So I'm going down the road 27:52 and all of a sudden I see detour. 27:53 It's a road I'm supposed to take and I'm like, 27:54 "I don't have a map for this. 27:56 Where do I go now, Lord? This isn't cool." 27:57 So I turned, I go around. I know I got to go south. 27:59 So I'm like I tried to take that detour. 28:01 I'm like, "Are you kidding me?" 28:03 So I'm like, "How am I going to get here, Lord?" 28:04 So I finally take this other road, 28:06 and I go turn down, 28:07 and get down to this end, it T's out. 28:09 And He says, "Look up." 28:10 I looked up, Angel Road. "How did I get here?" 28:14 And right in the corner right is right 28:15 where the house I had to go. 28:17 I was like, "Are you kidding me? 28:18 How did I even get here?" Amen. 28:21 So don't complain. Amen. The mysteries of life. 28:23 And that fits right into what... 28:25 Because many times we are asking and what happens? 28:29 Well, let's take a look at James 4:2, 3. 28:33 I'm going to read it first from the Amplified Version. 28:37 "You do not have because you do not ask God 28:41 or you do ask God for them and yet fail to receive 28:45 because you asked with wrong purpose 28:47 and evil selfish motives." 28:49 Wow. 28:50 Now the New King James version, I'll read that. 28:55 "You lust and do not have. 28:57 You murder and covet and cannot obtain. 28:59 You fight and war, yet you do not have 29:02 because you do not ask. 29:04 You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss 29:08 that you may spend it on your pleasures." 29:11 Yes. 29:12 I've got some other verses 29:14 that as I was looking at this verse 29:16 that I looked up 29:17 and I want to share with you guys. 29:18 If you'd go to Psalm 84:11, 29:24 there's some really, 29:27 really good verses here. 29:30 "For the Lord God is a sun and shield. 29:33 The Lord will give grace and glory. 29:36 No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." 29:40 Okay, so no good thing will He withhold from those 29:43 who walk uprightly, right? 29:45 Let's go to Romans 29:48 8:32. 29:54 I know the time is short, so... 29:56 We're going good. 29:57 So we're going through these here. 29:58 Let's see, 30:00 Romans 8:32. 30:07 Let's see, "He who did not spare 30:09 His own Son 30:11 but delivered Him up for us all, 30:13 how shall He not with Him 30:14 also freely give us all things?" 30:17 Right? Now keep all that in mind. 30:19 Let's go to Matthew... 30:22 So we're going to walk through the Word today, fellas. 30:24 We're going to go through the Word. 30:25 Let's go to Matthew 7:7-12. 30:31 Okay, "Ask, and it will be given to you. 30:35 Seek, and you will find. 30:36 Knock, and it will be opened to you. 30:38 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, 30:42 and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 30:46 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, 30:50 will give him a stone? 30:51 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 30:55 If you then, being evil, 30:57 know how to give good gifts to your children, 30:59 how much more will your Father 31:01 who is in heaven give good things 31:03 to those who ask Him. 31:05 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, 31:09 do also to them, 31:10 this is the Law and the Prophets." 31:12 And then when you think about John 3:16, 31:14 "For God so loved the world, 31:16 that He gave His only begotten Son, 31:17 that whosoever believeth in Him 31:19 shall not perish but have everlasting life." 31:22 If we go to the Lord 31:24 with, you know, an honest heart 31:26 and ask for His will to be done, 31:29 when we are in line in accordance to His will, 31:33 He's not going to withhold anything good from us. 31:36 And we shouldn't want anything that's outside of His will 31:38 because I'd rather go with someone 31:41 who sees the end from the beginning 31:43 than my finite mind which sees... 31:46 I can't see tomorrow, you know? 31:48 So I'd rather Him order my steps 31:52 and be a light to my path. 31:55 Amen. Amen. 31:56 And that's where that confidence comes in, 31:57 you know, I mean, it keeps going back 32:00 to that confidence which... 32:03 as I was looking up, you know, we were talking 32:04 about this earlier on definitions. 32:06 Confidence is 32:08 as we're approaching God boldly, He is saying, 32:11 "Hey, you can come to Me freely, 32:14 and you can come to Me fearlessly 32:17 with confidence." 32:19 And so it's making it perfectly... 32:21 I was wondering where it was going to go 32:23 with this with the Amplified, you know, "You do not have 32:25 because you do not ask God." 32:27 Well, the reason... 32:30 He loves us so much. 32:33 "There is a snare out there, JD. 32:36 And I love you so much, 32:38 I don't want you to get your foot caught on that snare 32:40 because that could bring infection." 32:42 And so He deviates around, and I'm pounding, 32:46 I'm pounding because I didn't get... 32:48 and I actually... 32:51 This is just, kind of, common sense stuff 32:52 if you can just sit 32:53 and break it down a little bit and... 32:56 It's, kind of, like a slap in the face to God 32:59 when you're just trying to take things 33:01 into your own hands and do it your own ways. 33:03 He's sitting there like, "Why didn't you ask Me? 33:07 You know, I love you. 33:09 Why didn't come to Me, your Father, and ask Me?" 33:12 Sometimes as men, 33:14 we want to be in the driver's seat, 33:16 but God says, 33:17 "I'm a better driver than you are." 33:19 And it takes us a few car crashes 33:22 before we come to the reality 33:23 that He is indeed the better driver, 33:25 and then we give it over to Him, 33:27 and we sit as a passenger, and the rides are lot softer 33:30 and a lot more glorious at that point. 33:33 Amen. 33:35 You know, I get the pleasure 33:36 of going every week to prison ministries 33:39 and as I'm talking to these individuals, 33:41 and they are bringing their traditions 33:43 and their things, and they just... 33:45 They don't want to break, 33:46 you know, they are at that point, 33:47 they say, "You know this... 33:49 I've got a good hold to this, I don't want to... 33:51 I hear, I'm listening to you, 33:53 I think you are starting to make sense, 33:55 but I don't know, I'm sure of what I'm doing." 33:59 And when I look at, 34:00 you know, we were talking about gray hairs 34:02 and each one of those I'm remembering back, 34:05 the places that where God has led me. 34:10 And every time 34:13 that I get into my poverty stage, 34:17 you know, God has to remind me, 34:20 "Listen to what I've done for you. 34:22 Look at... 34:23 Go back to your journal, go back and read 34:26 the wonderful things 34:27 that I've been able to do in your life and understand 34:30 that I've never left you nor have I forsaken you. 34:34 And I'm not going to start now." 34:36 So those are the things that we need to go back to. 34:38 When you're... 34:40 You can come boldly 34:41 to the throne of God, the only way... 34:42 Let me preference that, 34:44 the only way that you can come boldly to the Christ 34:46 is through the filling of the Holy Spirit. 34:48 And it's only the Holy Spirit, 34:50 the one that goes boldly forward 34:52 and puts the words that you need to use. 34:55 But many people think, "Oh, I can do it." 34:56 No, you can't. 34:58 You have to first... 34:59 what the verse was saying, "Follow My will, 35:02 and then it's the Spirit that's going to be speaking 35:04 through you 35:05 because the Spirit knows best what I want of you." 35:10 And then that's when 35:11 you can just sit back and relax. 35:13 'Cause you have no power of your own. 35:14 Yeah, none of you. 35:16 Well, I mean, I'll tell you, those were... 35:18 A lot of people skipped school that day. 35:21 They think they can do anything 35:23 but without Christ you can do nothing. 35:26 You may get down the road 35:27 a little farther than someone else, 35:29 but you're always going to get caught in that snare 35:31 or that wall of resistance is going to pop you. 35:35 And, you know, you are going to have to make some decisions 35:37 some place if you want 35:38 that confidence, you know, so... 35:41 Speaking on confidence, I've a... 35:43 It's a short quote. I saw it Review and Herald. 35:45 I really like sharing this with our callers too. 35:47 It says, "By your fervent prayers of faith, 35:50 you can move the arm that moves the world." 35:53 Wow. 35:54 Put that one in your mind for just a little bit. 35:58 Wow. Wow. Wow. 35:59 Yeah, that's the world. That's the universe. 36:03 Eric, does God see everything and know everything? 36:07 I mean, do we have some proof of that? 36:09 Absolutely. Absolutely. 36:11 One of the common things 36:12 that I'm hearing at this table here 36:14 is that you can pray boldly before God, 36:18 but you have to be obedient at the same time. 36:21 That's right. 36:22 In our 1 Peter 3:12 36:27 emphasizes that, if we can go there. 36:30 "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, 36:34 and His ears are attentive to their prayers. 36:37 But the face of the Lord is against those 36:41 who practice evil." 36:44 The big question here is righteousness. 36:46 How can I be righteous? 36:50 Let me give a quick testimony. 36:53 Before I was a Christian, 36:54 I was, well, I would consider a searcher. 36:56 I was looking. 36:58 And the Lord impressed upon my mind. 37:03 He said, "Make a list, 37:07 and on this list put down all of the things 37:11 that you had problems with 37:13 since the beginning of your life." 37:16 He said, "It doesn't matter 37:17 how long it takes you to make this list, 37:18 but make this list." 37:20 And it took a couple of days. 37:22 I made this list, and then column two, 37:25 He said, "Next to each item in this list, 37:31 write down what law you broke." 37:34 And it took a couple days. 37:36 But when I was done, I looked at the list, 37:39 and I saw that 99% of the problems 37:41 that I had was related to a law that I broke. 37:47 And I said to myself, 37:48 I had an epiphany at that moment, 37:49 and this is really what played a large role in changing 37:52 in my thought process. 37:54 If I keep God's law, 37:56 I won't have all these problems. 38:00 And from that point on, I said, 38:02 "I need to focus on the Word and start keeping that law." 38:07 What Christ said to... 38:08 If you remember the lady caught in adultery, 38:14 He said, "I don't condemn you. 38:16 Go and sin no more." 38:19 And then He said the same thing 38:20 to the cripple that He healed. 38:25 He said, "Go and sin no more." 38:29 Now why did He say that? 38:31 And it comes to my mind that He said that 38:33 because we're like buckets, we're like containers, 38:37 and we are full of filthy water. 38:40 And the Lord's saying, 38:42 "I'm going to put a hole in this bucket 38:44 and drain out the filthy water. 38:47 And then I'm going to fill you with the new water, 38:49 the fresh water. 38:51 But before I can do that, 38:53 you have to stop pouring filthy water 38:54 on the top of the bucket. 38:57 As long as you're pouring filthy water on the top 38:58 of the bucket, I can't help you." 39:02 And a lot of us, especially, 39:04 myself when I was in my younger days, 39:06 I didn't want to leave that sin behind. 39:09 I wanted God than I wanted the sin. 39:11 And you can't do that. 39:13 So what this is emphasizing here 39:14 is that it is saying, 39:16 "But the face of the Lord is against those 39:18 who practice evil." 39:20 So they pray boldly, 39:23 don't practice evil at the same time. 39:24 I had a friend, and he'd said to me, 39:26 "I don't believe in God." 39:27 And I said, "Why not?" 39:28 He said, "'Cause He doesn't answer 39:30 any of my prayers." 39:31 And I said, "Wait a minute, you're living with this lady 39:35 that you shouldn't be living with, 39:37 you are going to these clubs that you shouldn't be going to, 39:40 you're drinking these drinks that you shouldn't be drinking, 39:42 but you're praying to the Lord and you want answers? 39:46 You're listening to yourself, 39:48 and you are listening to the enemy 39:50 more than you are listening to the Lord, 39:51 but you want the Lord to answer your prayers." 39:53 He is filling that bucket full of filthy water 39:56 when God's trying to fill it with clean water. 39:58 Amen. 40:00 So to close out, I'd have to say that 40:02 to each one of us to Jason, and to JD, 40:07 and Luis, and to Donald, and to Gary, 40:11 God is saying, "Now that I've healed you, 40:17 go and sin no more." 40:19 Oh, amen. Amen. 40:22 Aptly put. 40:25 You know, I'm kind of piggybacking off 40:27 of what you said, 40:28 you know, and I found in 2 Chronicles 16:9. 40:31 And I absolutely love this. And I have used it for years. 40:34 And I think that I, kind of, 40:35 concentrated more on the A part and that says, 40:39 "For the eyes of Lord run to 40:41 and fro throughout the whole earth," 40:43 I was like, "Wow, wait. 40:45 So in other words, He is everywhere." 40:47 Yes, He is everywhere. 40:49 But I really didn't concentrate on the second part. 40:52 I just assumed that as the Lord, you know... 40:57 I guess it, kind of, reminded me 40:58 a little bit of my mother. 40:59 But when I was growing up, "Jimmy, why did you know that?" 41:03 "How did you know that?" 41:05 You know, I mean, wow. 41:08 I mean, she... 41:09 And I think most mothers have that gift, 41:12 you know, that they are always there. 41:14 But then the B part, A part, "For the eyes of Lord run to 41:18 and fro throughout the whole earth," 41:22 the B part, "to show Himself strong 41:25 on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." 41:28 Here again, as it should be, it doesn't make any sense, 41:32 "For the eyes of Lord run to 41:33 and fro throughout the whole earth, 41:34 to show Himself strong on behalf of everybody." 41:38 I mean, there's got to be... 41:39 God is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. 41:44 Amen. 41:45 Now His love is unconditional. "I love you, JD. 41:51 I love you. I love you." 41:52 But there is got to be some type of rules 41:55 or regulations in here or something. 41:58 There's no prodigal son, I mean... 42:01 So His covenant promises 42:03 our condition upon our covenant loyalty. 42:08 So we've got to do our part, 42:10 I think it's called cooperation, is it not? 42:13 I think it's called cooperation. 42:14 And that's the reason, 42:16 it's so important that we know what outfit to show up in. 42:21 And this tells us the outfit. These are the rules. 42:25 And they are not slapping on your hand rules. 42:28 I mean, we're sitting here... 42:29 This is common sense stuff. That's right. 42:31 And a very serious topic 42:34 and that is that we want our request 42:37 to go directly to the throne of grace 42:41 because we know if we can get that far up, wow, 42:44 thank you because we're working within His will. 42:47 Amen. 42:48 And we can expect good results, 42:51 which should put joy in our heart. 42:53 So, anyway, 42:57 the eyes of the Lord running to and fro, 43:01 and He is there to assist us, He is there to empower us, 43:05 He is there to infuse His strength into us 43:08 to be able to accomplish 43:09 what the plan that He has for our life. 43:12 I have a little popup that comes up on my phone 43:14 probably a couple of times a week. 43:16 And the popup says, 43:18 "Obedience is the highest form of worship." 43:21 Oh, amen. 43:22 So who you obey in a world 43:24 full of lots of different spirits, 43:27 the one you obey is showing who you are loyal to, 43:30 where your allegiance lies. 43:33 And if you are not loyal and obedient to God, 43:35 how can He answer your prayers? 43:37 Yeah. 43:38 I was thinking to... 43:39 We talked about earlier that we're converted. 43:41 That's a powerful word to plug in there. 43:43 And when you are really convert it, 43:44 and Peter, you know, you see that obviously, 43:47 Jesus was there in the courts and stuff, 43:48 and Peter is like, "I don't know the man. 43:50 I don't know who He is. I don't know Him." 43:51 Deny Him. 43:53 How many times that we denied Lord? 43:55 But then at the end, you see, like Jesus said, 43:57 "I'm praying for you, Peter." 43:59 And then later on. 44:00 we see in Acts of course, Peter just, 44:02 he gets it, he's converted. 44:04 And Christ is waiting for all of us 44:06 to give us our converted hearts to Him, 44:08 and He'll answer those prayers. 44:09 You know, one of the cool things 44:11 about prayer as we're talking about praying boldly, 44:13 here is a quick quote. 44:15 This is from Steps to Christ. 44:18 And it's entitled prayer brings us up to Him. 44:21 "In order to have spiritual life and energy, 44:23 we must have actual intercourse," 44:25 and that word intercourse 44:27 in this context means association, 44:29 "with our heavenly Father. 44:30 In order to commune with God, we must have something to say 44:33 to Him concerning our actual life. 44:36 Prayer is the opening of the heart 44:38 to God as to a friend. 44:40 Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God 44:43 what we are but in order to enable us to receive Him. 44:49 Prayer does not bring God down to us, 44:52 but brings us up to Him." 44:55 That's deep. 44:57 You just hit a point 44:58 that is so important. 45:03 Look, I hate saying this. 45:05 I come from a communist country. 45:08 You know, and I never understood this concept, 45:11 why is it that they always want to bring the rich down 45:15 to the poor man's level? 45:16 I mean, that's the concept of it, 45:18 take from the rich and give to the poor. 45:20 And never is take from the poor and help him become rich. 45:26 And the point that you just hit, 45:28 most of us want to bring God down, 45:30 most of us want us God for things to help us, 45:33 most of us wants the... 45:35 "Lord God, help me here." 45:36 And God's going to say, 45:37 "No, I'm going to help you there. 45:39 I want to elevate you 45:40 to the point where you can come, 45:42 and you can boldly see the power that I have." 45:44 And we're all so used to... 45:46 Our little, you know, we pray for somebody to get healed, 45:50 we've been praying lately for a young boy to get healed. 45:52 And what we're hearing 45:53 amazing recoveries are happening. 45:55 And God is powerful to be able to do that. 45:57 But God wants to... 45:59 "I want to use you to take demons away, 46:01 to do all these different, to be able take the Word..." 46:04 But we want just to stay, we're happy here. 46:07 And what that's saying, 46:08 "No, don't limit Me to what you see. 46:13 Relieve Me and have that resolved to understand 46:17 that I want to do greater things for you. 46:20 Come to my level. 46:21 I'm giving you the full power of the celestial power for you 46:25 to be able to come boldly 46:27 and to be able to tell the enemy, 46:28 'Enough is enough, this is enough, 46:31 you're done with whatever.'" 46:32 The Job experience can come to the point 46:34 where you can say how many of us 46:36 would like God to say, "Look at My son, Luis, 46:38 look at My son, you know..." 46:40 And we forget that Job had that boldness 46:45 but at the end the enemy broke them. 46:47 And what God is trying to tell us 46:48 and what that quote is saying is, 46:52 "Test Me, see what I'm capable of doing 46:57 but first you must be obedient." 46:59 You see, many people feel 47:01 that the laws are just a hindrance and it says, 47:04 "Try not educating a dog, 47:06 try not teaching the dog that it cannot cross a street 47:09 and see what a good person you were 47:11 when that dog was hit by a car." 47:13 But if you train him well, 47:15 then he's going to have a long life. 47:17 That's what laws are, 47:19 that dog is not being obedient to you 47:21 because he loves you, he's being obedient to you 47:23 because you know best and God has given you. 47:25 And that could keep him safe. 47:26 And that's the same thing that happens to us. 47:28 We are not following the commandments 47:30 because we love God, 47:31 we're following the commandments 47:33 because God puts it in us, and while we are doing through, 47:36 that's when all the blessings 47:37 and all the great things happen. 47:38 You know what you are saying? 47:40 You're saying that we're praying 47:41 for the crumbs under the table... 47:43 Oh, my goodness. 47:44 When God's inviting us 47:45 to the buffet on the top of the table. 47:47 And when you think about that that's pretty profound. 47:49 Amen. Yeah. 47:51 Yeah. Yeah. 47:52 And not only that, 47:53 it leads into the scripture I have John 16:23, 24. 47:58 "In that day you won't ask Me anything. 48:01 I assure you 48:02 that the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. 48:05 Up to now you have asked nothing in My name. 48:07 Ask, and you will receive 48:08 so that your joy will be complete." 48:11 So basically what God is saying to us 48:13 is He's making us a co-signer on His account. 48:16 Amen. 48:18 He's given us a credit card 48:20 in His name to use in this world. 48:23 Amen. 48:25 And you don't give... 48:26 If you have children and you have a obedient child 48:28 and disobedient child, 48:30 you don't give the disobedient child 48:31 your credit card, 48:33 and tell him to go to store and get the things 48:34 that the family needs, 48:36 you give it to the obedient child 48:38 'cause you know the obedient child 48:39 is going to go and get those things 48:40 that the family needs 48:42 that will provide for everybody. 48:45 And so that's what God is giving us. 48:47 And I looked up the word "ask" and in the Greek it's aiteo, 48:52 I think that's right, and it's the beg, call, 48:55 or crave, desire, require. 48:56 So when we bring our desires and requests to God, 49:02 then He gives. 49:04 And the Greek word is didomi, 49:07 and it's to give over 49:10 to one's care or entrust. 49:14 So what God gives us is the power to do good 49:18 in the world and not to use it on ourself. 49:21 And so there's conditions. 49:22 What is conditions for... 49:25 Or what is the principle for being able 49:27 to receive this power? 49:29 Look at... 49:30 And we read it one actually is Matthew 7:7-11. 49:34 The condition is that 49:37 as a parent gives the child good things, 49:40 the Father is going to give us much more things. 49:43 That's the principle. 49:47 The condition is that 49:48 we have to be in God's will like 49:51 we've been discussing, 49:52 obeying the commandments, and such. 49:56 And I came across some really good quotes. 49:58 This is out of the devotional as well, To Be Like Jesus. 50:01 And the privilege we have to pray in His name 50:03 that the power 50:05 that we're given to pray in His name... 50:07 It says here, 50:08 "We have an advocate at the throne of God 50:11 which is encircled by the bow of promise, 50:13 and we are invited to present our petitions 50:15 in the name of Christ before the Father. 50:18 Jesus says, "Ask what ye will in My name, 50:20 and it shall be done unto you. 50:21 In presenting My name, 50:23 you bear witness that you belong to Me 50:26 and that you are My sons and daughters, 50:27 and the Father will treat you as His own, 50:29 and love you as He loveth Me.'" 50:31 So as we make our petitions in His name, 50:34 we show that we love Jesus. 50:36 And that's the next thing, it says, 50:38 "Express to My Father the fact that My name is dear to you, 50:43 that you respect and love Me, and you may ask what you will. 50:47 He will pardon your transgressions 50:48 and adopt you into His royal family, 50:51 make you a child of God, 50:52 a joint heir with His only-begotten Son." 50:56 You know, I used to think the text is Psalms... 50:59 What is it, Psalms 37:4 says, 51:01 "Delight thyself also in the Lord, 51:02 and He shall give you 51:04 the desires of your thine heart." 51:05 I used to think that, you know, 51:07 "Well, God's going to give me the things that I want, 51:10 you know, I see it, I want it, He said that, 51:11 'You know, ask in My name, pray for it, 51:13 and I'll give it to you.'" 51:14 But really what He is saying there 51:16 is that He is going to give us desires 51:19 in our heart that are holy 51:22 so that now we can use that credit card 51:24 He gives us not to go to, 51:25 you know, the bar or the places that we shouldn't go, 51:29 but we're going to use that credit card 51:30 to bless others, 51:32 to bring those things to God's people 51:35 that are needful for them. 51:37 And that's why He gives us the power to pray in His name, 51:39 and that's the condition is that we pray 51:41 for those things that are good for our fellowmen, 51:44 and we're going to want to 51:46 'cause He gives us those desires in our heart. 51:48 Kind of what you are touching on there 51:49 is like one of the commandments says, 51:51 you know, "Don't take the Lord's name in vain." 51:53 It goes a lot further than what people think, 51:54 it's not just using, you know, whatever expressions, 51:56 but we're talking about His character, who He is. 51:59 And you kind of hit on it a little bit, 52:01 you know, like Christ. 52:02 You know, we're representing Christ. 52:03 Absolutely. 52:05 And the thing that you said with credit cards, 52:06 like you're representing Christ every time you use that card. 52:07 Absolutely. 52:09 And you touched on the altar of incense in the beginning, 52:12 we started this at the alter of incense, 52:13 and often people think 52:15 that the incense represents the prayer, 52:17 but it doesn't incense 52:18 actually is the merit of Christ mixed 52:20 with our prayers 52:22 because our prayers are earthly, our prayers... 52:24 We don't even know what to pray. 52:26 And so Christ mixes His righteousness 52:28 with our prayer and presents it to the Father. 52:31 And then whatever we ask, we receive. 52:34 Yes. Yes. 52:35 As adopted sons and daughters of God. 52:37 Amen. Amen. 52:38 I'm going to read this over, 52:41 and when something jumps out at you, 52:45 we're going to finish up, we got probably, oh, 52:47 I don't know, four minutes something like that. 52:49 But I just... 52:51 We're going to massage this a little bit further. 52:54 "I come boldly before God's throne of grace 52:56 to obtain mercy and help in the time of need." 53:00 What does that mean to somebody? 53:01 It means to me, and I've said this before, 53:04 and I'll probably say it a thousand times. 53:07 I do believe that the mother's prayer, 53:10 even a father's prayer is the most powerful prayer 53:13 in the universe. 53:15 And I would guess, I'm going to go out on a limb, 53:17 and I would guess that each one of us had parents 53:20 that prayed for us. 53:22 When I see the things that happened in my life 53:24 that directed me along the right path, 53:27 sometimes I listened and sometimes I didn't, 53:29 but God was persistent. 53:31 When I see the life-changing miracles 53:32 that saved my life, 53:33 when I see all these events before I was a Christian 53:36 and later on finding out 53:38 that my mother prayed desperately for me, 53:40 she came boldly to God. 53:43 She was obedient. 53:45 Obedience on the righteousness. Amen. 53:47 And God answered her prayers. 53:49 We talked about this morning, a friend of me and myself, 53:51 we were out on a boat one time on a lake, 53:54 and we were out there. 53:57 One of the guys was on the boat, 53:58 he was actually smoking cigarettes, 54:00 well, little that we know, 54:01 thankfully he didn't at that time 54:02 'cause we looked at the bottom, but we thought it was water. 54:04 But we smelled something, "What is that smell? 54:06 It's gasoline." 54:08 Whole bottom of the boat 54:09 was full about two inches of gasoline. 54:12 How easily that could have blown up 54:14 with that cigarette. 54:16 So, yeah, God is merciful and helping in time of needs. 54:19 You know, JD, what this means to me is right now 54:22 the attacks of the enemy. 54:25 Many of the times, people see us, 54:27 you know, here and they think, "Oh, they are in heaven, 54:30 you know, they are in paradise." 54:33 But the enemy is attacking us more, 54:36 and more, and more everyday, 54:37 and this is with the time that it helps 54:39 if you come boldly to the throne of God, 54:41 God's going to be able give you 54:42 that power to be able to tell the enemy, 54:46 "I choose God, no matter who I am, 54:50 I am filthy rag that's what the Bible tells me, 54:52 don't tell me how bad I am, I know that, 54:54 my Bible have told me. 54:56 I'm going to tell you how good my God is, 54:58 and He is the one that's reflected in me." 55:00 So that's what this tells me that when you come boldly 55:04 with God's throne, 55:06 God's going to help you in those times 55:08 when you're battling, 55:09 when your battle is not with flesh and blood, 55:12 with principalities. 55:13 And that to me is what gives me that peace. 55:16 And, you know, just the definition of grace, 55:20 divine assistance. 55:22 Amen. Boy, enough said there. 55:24 If this divinely given to me, 55:27 well, then the Red Sea could be parted, you know? 55:30 so... 55:34 Quick here "Because I obey His commands," 55:38 there's a lot of people have a... 55:39 We just got to me, 55:40 it's got negative connotation of obey. 55:42 Who can unwrap that real quick, a minute? 55:46 Obey 'cause, you know, some people think, 55:49 "Well, that's a demand." 55:52 "Oh, Jesus, if you love me, keep my commandments." 55:54 It's a love relationship. You can't obey without love. 55:58 And a lot of churches will try to split love and commandments 56:02 and law from each other. 56:04 But the Bible says that because there is an increase 56:07 in lawlessness in the last days, 56:09 the love of many will wax cold. 56:11 So you cannot uncouple love and law, when lawlessness, 56:14 when people disobey man's law or God's law, 56:18 then it creates an affect in others 56:20 so that there is less love. 56:22 So if there is no keeping of God's law, 56:25 there's not going to be love for each other 56:27 'cause love is fulfilling of the law. 56:28 "It's he that says he loves Me 56:30 and does not keep My commandments is a liar 56:32 and the truth is not in him." 56:34 And the law is Christ character. 56:36 So that's all it is. 56:37 So basically the only thing is if you talk about law 56:40 and you're fulfilling the law, 56:42 you are then become Christ-like. 56:45 And the reason why we have it is 56:46 because He loves us, 56:48 and it's for our protection as well. 56:51 So what you're saying is that for people 56:54 that are out there in no man's land 56:56 to get on their knees and say, 56:58 "I don't even really know what to ask for, 57:00 but I'm turning it to over to You, Lord. 57:02 Because you are the almighty, You are the creator, 57:05 and You can make something out of nothing." 57:07 Amen. Amen. 57:08 Listen, this has been really good. 57:10 I just love each one of y'all, 57:12 and wish that we could do this more often. 57:14 But I want to thank you for being with us, 57:17 just know how much we love you, and we thank you. 57:20 Thank you for support to 3ABN. 57:22 And I just ask in the name of Jesus 57:24 that you have a happy Sabbath 57:27 and that God continues to be with you day, night, 57:30 with your family, 57:31 with all that you put your hands to. 57:34 God bless you. Amen. |
Revised 2018-07-03