Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW190010A
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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 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 Hello and welcome. 01:11 We welcome you to this special time 01:13 we can have together with you 01:14 and with the family here at 3ABN. 01:17 And it's my joy and pleasure to say to you, 01:20 Jesus loves you and happy Sabbath. 01:22 Happy Sabbath. Amen. 01:24 Happy Sabbath. Happy Sabbath. 01:25 Well, we have part of the family here 01:26 that we would like for you to once again 01:28 hear their names, 01:30 and a little bit of what they do here at 3ABN, 01:33 get a little bit acquainted again, 01:34 and then we will 01:35 worship together and study together. 01:37 I will start to my left, we have Brother Don Owen here. 01:41 Now, tell us a little bit about what you do? 01:43 Thank you for having us on here, appreciate it. 01:45 I always enjoy doing these Family Worships. 01:46 It's just, I don't know, something about it, 01:48 just it's a great time. 01:50 What I do here, I work pastoral full time. 01:53 So it's been a blessing to be in pastoral. 01:56 I'm really growing a lot and my brain is exploding 01:59 with scriptures, and stories, and testimonies. 02:02 It's just been incredible so. 02:04 And hearing people's stories, 02:05 that's just been a blessing to me. 02:06 And I kind of think, like what Isaiah say, 02:08 you know, "Who am I, Lord will?" 02:10 I really feel that way. 02:11 I'm really privileged and blessed to be here, 02:13 so thankful. A tremendous blessing. 02:14 Yes, yes. Amen. 02:16 Amen. And next to you... 02:18 I was gonna say, you brought your wife, 02:20 but you came together. 02:21 Yes. We're not attached to the hip. 02:23 But this is my wife Janelle. 02:25 Yes. Yes. My name is Janelle Owen, 02:28 and I work in the publishing department. 02:30 And it's really hard to summarize what we do. 02:37 What my main function is the 3ABN World Magazine. 02:42 We also do print and web, all kinds of projects. 02:45 So that kind of, I guess, that's a good summary. 02:48 So you have to be in prayer 02:49 for the Lord to give you some creative ideas? 02:51 Yes, He's always given us creativity 02:53 and helps us do a lot with little time, 02:57 yeah, and little staff. 02:58 Yes, sometimes we pass by and see on the door, 03:01 do not disturb, deadline, you know. 03:04 Yeah. 03:05 Yeah, deadlines are a part of everything 03:08 that we do in there, so, yeah. 03:10 There you go, we're glad that you're here. 03:11 Thank you. 03:13 And to my right, we have Jonathan Bab. 03:15 Welcome. Thank you. Good to be here. 03:18 And tell us a little bit about what you do? 03:20 Well, now I manage all the office computers. 03:23 I keep everything running, try to. 03:26 And if you walk by my office, 03:27 you generally won't find me there. 03:30 You're on location. Yeah, most of the time. Yeah. 03:34 Well, we are glad also that we have Tim Parton. 03:38 Yes, I am general manager 03:39 of the Praise Him Music Network. 03:41 And I am creating content and just... 03:45 If it has music involved, I wanna be in the middle of it. 03:48 Wonderful. 03:50 So I'm very blessed 03:51 to be able to praise the Lord through music. 03:52 Wonderful. 03:54 And blessed to be here on this Sabbath. 03:55 Amen. It's a pleasure. 03:56 Thank you. 03:58 And my name is John Dinzey, 03:59 and I'm glad to be with you also, 04:01 and we hope that you will join along as we sing 04:05 in this beautiful hymn, it's called "Draw me nearer". 04:09 And this is a wonderful, wonderful hymn that 04:11 we hope that you'll sing along. 04:14 Perhaps, you may know it by memory. 04:16 So we will listen to the piano and start together. 04:30 I am Thine, O Lord I have heard Thy voice 04:35 And it told Thy love to me 04:40 But I long to rise in the arms of faith 04:45 And be closer drawn to Thee 04:50 Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord 04:56 To the cross where Thou hast died 05:01 Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord 05:08 To Thy precious, bleeding side 05:14 Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord 05:19 By the power of grace divine 05:24 May my soul look up with a steadfast hope 05:29 And my will be lost in Thine 05:35 Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord 05:40 To the cross where Thou hast died 05:45 Draw me nearer, 05:48 nearer blessed Lord 05:52 To Thy precious, bleeding side 05:58 Oh, the pure delight of a single hour 06:03 That before Thy throne I spend 06:08 When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God 06:13 I commune as friend with friend 06:19 Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord 06:24 To the cross where Thou hast died 06:29 Draw me nearer, 06:32 nearer blessed Lord 06:38 To Thy precious, 06:40 bleeding side 06:46 Amen. Amen. 06:47 Amen. This is a beautiful hymn. 06:49 You know, you look at these hymns, 06:51 and you know, way back in 1875 it was written, 06:55 but it still has a powerful, wonderful message for us. 07:00 And it really speaks of 07:01 what we want to happen in our lives 07:05 is to be drawn nearer to the Lord. 07:06 Amen. 07:08 I was focused on this time in this verse 3 where it says, 07:15 "I commune as friend with friend." Amen. 07:19 And you know, when you think about Jesus 07:23 where He says that 07:25 He's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. 07:29 That is interesting to think about that, 07:30 that Jesus is willing to be close to us, 07:34 closer than a brother, 07:36 you know, somebody that's there 07:37 in your own family that you can see. 07:39 And that's an experience that I think the Lord longs for us 07:43 to not only want, but to search or seek to have with Him. 07:48 Amen. Amen. 07:50 Something that to bounce off what you just said it, 07:52 I may think of Jonathan and David, 07:54 and he was a friend of David but he was supposed to... 07:57 Actually, Jonathan was supposed to be the next in the line 08:00 for the kingdom but he knew that David was the chosen one. 08:03 So he's humbled himself 08:06 and let David take the reign, and he could have fought. 08:08 But that's a beautiful thing. 08:09 A friend would step down, humble himself, 08:11 and let David take the rightful place that 08:13 God had provided for him so. 08:15 Yes, wonderful. 08:16 And then Jesus is doing the same thing, 08:18 stepping down from His heavenly throne 08:22 to be our friend, to take our punishment. 08:25 Oh, amen. So, yeah, for sure. 08:27 Great friends. Wonderful. 08:29 Priceless friendship, relationship 08:32 that we have with Christ. 08:33 Amen. Amen, amen. 08:34 Well, I think we'd like to go to the Lord in prayer. 08:36 Maybe, Sister Janelle, if you could lead us this time? 08:39 Sure. 08:41 Dear Heavenly Father, 08:42 thank You for the privilege of gathering together. 08:45 Thank You for the blessing of the Sabbath, 08:47 and how it reminds us of how You created us 08:50 and who You are in our lives. 08:52 We just ask now that Your Holy Spirit 08:54 would be present as we meet together 08:57 and talk of Your goodness. 08:59 In Jesus' name, amen. 09:00 Amen. Amen. 09:02 Amen. Amen. 09:03 You know, when I think of the Sabbath, 09:05 it's one of those things that, 09:10 you know, you're busy during the week. 09:12 And it says, 09:14 "Six days shall you labor and do all your work, 09:16 but the seventh day is the Sabbath 09:18 of the Lord your God." 09:19 In other words, it gives us an opportunity to, 09:22 "Wait a minute, you know, you're busy, 09:24 you can go to the Lord, you can go to church every day. 09:27 But on this particular day, 09:28 it's like you have more opportunity 09:30 because you're not supposed to be busy 09:32 with the everyday things of life." 09:34 And so it's more... 09:36 It's like you have more of an opportunity 09:38 to do so and rest. 09:39 And I think it's... 09:42 From my personal experience, I've seen that 09:45 it has provided me an opportunity to do that. 09:48 And I think that as we think of this topic, 09:52 because we decided to talk about, 09:54 well, how do we draw nearer to the Lord? 09:55 What are the steps we can take? 09:59 And then you start thinking, "What are the benefits 10:01 of being close to the Lord, you know?" 10:03 So I like to go back to the Garden of Eden 10:09 for a moment and think about 10:12 the wonderful experience and blessing 10:16 that was before Adam and Eve, and their children 10:20 and their children's children and children's children 10:22 had not sin entered into the world. 10:25 And it was supposed to be a growing experience 10:29 in the Lord that they will get to know the Lord more. 10:33 And the more they lived, they will be interested 10:36 in knowing more about the Lord that, 10:38 "You created all this wonderful stuff for us," 10:42 you know. 10:44 But it was interrupted by sin. 10:46 And unfortunately, it created this separation. 10:51 But there is a scripture that, it says that after they sinned, 10:55 it says that they heard 10:58 the voice of the Lord. walking in the garden. 11:01 And that helps me to understand 11:03 that this was something that the Lord did 11:08 or planned on doing with them, 11:11 coming to spend time with them, you know. 11:14 Yeah. 11:15 And so sin created a separation. 11:21 But in the midst of, "Oh-oh, you know, 11:24 we're in trouble, what's gonna happen now? 11:26 God did say that when we eat of this tree 11:30 that we were not supposed to eat of, 11:32 we're supposed to die and... Boy! 11:36 They're in this fear, I would say, you know. 11:41 I don't know, how many have gone before a judge 11:43 when you're in trouble? Yeah. 11:44 Anybody here? Yeah. 11:46 And you're wondering, "Okay, what's gonna happen?" 11:48 Because even most countries have 11:52 what you call the minimum sentence 11:54 or the maximum sentence. 11:56 And if you been before the judge before 11:59 and then you're back, it's like, 12:01 you're gonna have to get punished a little harder 12:03 this time because, you know, this is like the fifth time. 12:06 you're here. 12:09 And so people are in fear, "Okay, what's gonna happen?" 12:13 But God tells them a little bit of their suffering, 12:16 but then He communicates hope. 12:18 And that's why, you know, I like to consider 12:20 Genesis 3:15. 12:23 If somebody can read that for us, Genesis 3:15 12:25 is the first communication of hope after sin. 12:29 Amen. 12:30 And it was supposed to bring a message of hope to them, 12:34 and it brings a message of hope to us. 12:36 Does anybody have it that would like to read it? 12:37 Sure. 12:38 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, 12:42 and between thy seed and her seed, 12:44 it shall bruise thy head, 12:46 and thou shalt bruise his heel." 12:48 Okay. 12:49 So there's the message of hope hidden in there for us. 12:54 What would you like to say about that 12:55 that will help you understand that there's hope for us 12:57 in this message? 12:59 I've this marked in my Bible as the first gospel promise, 13:02 like you're saying that's the hope. 13:05 And it is the hope. 13:06 And you know, like, think about... 13:09 If He wouldn't have done that, 13:11 you know, where would we be, like, what hope would we have? 13:14 And the fact that He put the enmity there, 13:18 it shows you that, 13:19 you know, that God wants to save us 13:21 because He wants to make a distinction 13:23 between life and death 13:25 and to give us an opportunity to choose life. 13:27 Yeah. Yes, yes. 13:29 And... Preparation. 13:32 What would you say is... 13:34 Why would we want to get closer to the Lord? 13:37 I mean, we have people listening that are wondering, 13:40 "Well, why would I wanna do that?" 13:42 Why would we want to get closer to the Lord? 13:45 Is there any benefit? 13:47 Is there any anything 13:48 that would be good for us to do that? 13:50 What would be some thoughts that you could share with us? 13:54 I will say, from what I understand in the Word, 13:57 it's the Spirit that draws us. 14:00 So the fact that 14:03 it's truly nothing that we do even to honk to want 14:07 to be near to God. 14:09 You know, because we have all kinds of rules and laws 14:12 that you can live by as secular in the world 14:16 that will make you a perfectly good time citizen, 14:19 respectable among your neighbors, 14:21 and you can obey the speed limit, 14:23 but the separation is the Holy Spirit 14:26 that draws you to God. 14:28 Amen. Yes. 14:30 So I believe we have to start there. 14:32 Yes. 14:33 And then to be able to build on that 14:35 to become more like Him 14:36 is out of a love after you realize 14:39 what He has done for you, what He's done for me. 14:42 I want to be more like Him 14:43 just to honor Him and serve Him. 14:45 Amen. 14:46 Bottom line, just to be like Him, so I can... 14:48 We all have idols of... 14:50 All right, maybe, they're not idols 14:52 but someone we idolize... Yes, you're right. 14:53 Or someone we'd love to be, we'd like to be like, 14:56 even in not necessarily the negative sense. 15:00 But as a kid, we have somebody we look up to, 15:02 whether it be a fireman, or a doctor, 15:04 or something that we'd love to be like. 15:07 And so in that same way, in a small way, 15:11 I think we want to be attained to 15:15 what we read as Christ is in the Word, 15:18 we want to be more like Him. 15:19 Yeah, I think to kind of touch note 15:21 on what you're saying, you know, 15:22 to fast forward, we're talking about 15:23 the Adam and Eve story, but when we go into Israel, 15:25 we see that Israel fell into obviously slavery. 15:29 They're under bondage. 15:31 And how many of us are under bondage or something? 15:33 We're talking about the idea of idols 15:35 and different things. 15:36 And I think about how Israel is under bondage 15:37 and what was God's purpose for getting them out of Egypt. 15:42 He wanted to have a people separate, 15:44 a people separate that would follow Him, 15:46 and that Sabbath was really nestled in them. 15:48 They lost that concept of the Sabbath, 15:52 they lost the concept of who they were as identified 15:54 as a people in God. 15:55 And I think that idea of bondage, 15:57 we all find ourselves in some kind of bondage 15:59 whether it be, you know, outwardly, externally, 16:01 we can talk about, you know, drug addictions, cigarettes, 16:03 all kinds of sexual stuff, 16:05 or inwardly we're talking about pride, 16:06 you know, gossip, all these things. 16:08 We have something that we're in bondage too, 16:11 but God wants to break us out of that bondage. 16:13 And He gave us that right there in that Genesis 3:15, 16:16 I will put enmity, and I'm gonna get you out. 16:18 Amen. 16:19 So I think, to me, that's powerful. 16:21 It is very powerful. That speaks. 16:22 That is powerful. 16:23 You know, I like to focus a little bit... 16:27 Well, as much as we want to on what Tim said, 16:30 because what we see is that God takes the initiative. 16:33 God takes the first step, and continues appealing 16:37 to the person to come and accept. 16:42 What you would say, an offer of friendship, 16:45 an offer of companionship, an offer of adoption, 16:49 because the Bible even speaks to us as 16:52 that we can be adopted. 16:55 And so many wonderful messages in the Bible. 16:57 Yeah. 16:58 So God takes the initiative and tries to draw us to Him. 17:02 And when we respond, it's when... 17:04 Yeah, that's the key, the responding. 17:08 When we respond, and yes, lest, we should talk about that. 17:11 Because God is making a call even when you... 17:14 I mean, so many different things tell us that. 17:18 Consider the parable of the lost sheep, 17:21 you know, where Jesus tells this parable 17:23 about this shepherd that has 100 sheep, 17:27 but then there's one that somehow wandered off and... 17:33 "Well, I have 99, that's a lot. I only lost one. 17:38 Why worry about one, you know." 17:39 And as a matter of fact, when you talk about a shepherd 17:42 that has to go searching for a sheep, 17:43 there's danger out there, because he has to go 17:46 and find this one that wandered off, 17:50 but there are wolves out there and there are others that... 17:54 Robbers, thieves. 17:55 Robbers and thieves, 17:56 so there's a certain amount of danger 17:58 for the shepherd. 18:00 And that's an illustration of what God was willing to do, 18:07 you know, come to this world 18:10 to search for us, to rescue us. 18:13 For the one lost sheep. 18:14 The world is the one lost sheep. 18:15 Yes. 18:17 I guess I can just share a quick story 18:18 that I've been actually given permission, 18:20 I think this might plug in really well here. 18:22 Couple ladies, I just noticed a few days ago on YouTube, 18:24 they were into the lesbian lifestyle. 18:27 They were gonna get married. 18:28 They actually approve it, I could share this, 18:29 so thank you. 18:31 They're actually gonna watch this too so. 18:32 But they came to this lesbian lifestyle. 18:35 They started reading the Bible together. 18:37 So they're reading the Bible, 18:39 they're studying, and they're thinking, 18:40 "Man, I still wanna get married, 18:41 but I'm not sure." 18:43 So in her mind, one lady, 18:44 she said, "Lord, you're gonna help me, 18:45 You have to help me because we're gonna go through this. 18:47 We're gonna do this. 18:48 And if this is a right way, you have to show me a sign." 18:51 And so she's praying that, so she goes to the courthouse 18:53 to get documents, to get these marriage certificates. 18:56 And this lady who printed it up there 18:58 at the court county clerks, 19:00 she actually printed the certificate up, 19:02 cut her finger on the certificate. 19:04 She said, "Over 30 years, I've been doing this. 19:05 I've never done this once." Wow! 19:07 And the lady goes, "Whoa! 19:08 That's definitely a sign from God." 19:10 So then she walked out the courthouse and she said, 19:12 she walked down, different paths she took, 19:14 she looked down as there's bird feather or bird wing, 19:18 there's a bird wing that was ripped off, 19:19 just recently. 19:20 And she looked closer and it was a dove's wing. 19:22 She's like, "God, you are definitely telling me that 19:24 I should not be getting married to this woman." 19:26 Unbeknownst to her the other woman 19:28 was praying the same thing. 19:30 "Lord, if this is not right, show me a sign." 19:32 So that night she got a dream, she had a dream. 19:36 And there's four parties that were getting married, 19:38 and it had this rejoice celebration, 19:40 celebratory thing. 19:41 And then it was come to their turn to get married. 19:44 No, celebration nothing, completely cold. 19:46 And she said, "God you are definitely telling me 19:48 we're not to get married. 19:49 Neither one wanted to tell each other. 19:51 Neither one wanted to tell each other either. 19:52 And it was incredible. They sat down. 19:53 She said, "I have to tell you something. 19:55 We're not to get married. God told me in a dream." 19:58 And they were being drawn by the Word of God 20:00 and just a powerful testimony. 20:01 I could share a lot more 20:03 but that's kind of the nuts and bolts of it. 20:05 But the cool thing was she said that 20:06 that was not even supposed to leak on YouTube. 20:07 Oh. 20:09 I said, "Well, thanks to God, sneaky Jesus." 20:11 You know, it's amazing because they're actually... 20:14 Their ministry is booming right now. 20:17 So God will make a way for us through His Word 20:21 that we can come out of that bondage. 20:22 And He ooze us. Yeah, and He ooze us. 20:24 And He's calling to us. 20:25 As you mentioned, He's calling to us, you know. 20:27 He wants to fix us, He wants to heal us. 20:29 So Psalm 103:2, says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, 20:32 and forget not all of His benefits." 20:35 His benefits. 20:36 So they are reading the scriptures 20:37 and finding that 20:39 they can find strength in the Lord to do His will 20:41 and learning many new things. 20:43 Now they're sisters in Christ. 20:44 They're baptized? 20:46 Yep, they're baptized and they're sisters in Christ. 20:47 Well, praise the Lord! 20:49 Yeah, it's incredible how God ooze us 20:50 out of those things like, "This is a wrong path." 20:52 You know, Holy Spirit, "Don't go down there." 20:55 And like how we respond to that can be, 20:57 you know, that might be our last opportunity. 20:59 And that's why it's like, you know, 21:02 depending on the life that we're in, like, 21:04 sometimes God has to really get our attention for it 21:06 to open our eyes and get us to make a decision. 21:10 Yes. 21:12 And even in Revelation 3:20, 21:15 we have this powerful message of the Lord. 21:20 And I said it before, 21:21 but I think it's important to say it again. 21:23 In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, 21:26 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 21:30 And if anyone hears my voice and opens the door," 21:34 there's the part that we have to do, 21:36 "opens the door, I will come into him 21:38 and sup with him and he with Me." 21:41 And so, I'm glad that's written in the present tense, 21:46 you know, it's not, 21:47 "Behold, I was standing at the door and I knocked, 21:50 and you didn't hear My voice, and so I left." 21:52 You know, so, I think that today, as you hear 21:57 what we're saying is Jesus is standing, 22:00 knocking at the door of your heart. 22:01 And if you open the door, Jesus will come in. 22:04 And when He comes in, wonderful things happen. 22:07 Well, just to get Jonathan's feet a little wet, 22:10 I'm gonna ask him to read for me. 22:12 If you read Psalm 16:11. 22:16 And if you have any comments about that, please share them. 22:20 Psalm 16:11. 22:23 In Psalm 16:11, 22:24 we find some of the benefits of drawing closer to the Lord. 22:29 All right. 22:30 It says, "You will show me the path of life, 22:33 in Your presence is fullness of joy, 22:36 at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." 22:39 Amen. Wonderful. Wow! 22:41 What would you like to share about that? 22:44 All right. 22:45 So much. 22:48 Now show me the path of your life? 22:50 Who doesn't wonder what their goal in life is? 22:55 What you're doing? 22:56 You know, we just, 22:57 you know, so many people just going through emotions, 22:59 "Oh, I'm supposed to get rich," or this or that. 23:03 You know, how many people truly understand 23:06 and know what their life is? 23:10 So, you know, one reason we come to God is to know 23:14 and to learn, "What is my purpose?" 23:17 Yeah, that's true. 23:18 And you know, God may not show us right away. 23:21 We may not fully understand our path, 23:24 but He shows us enough of our path to know 23:26 that we're on the right one. 23:28 And it's so much more fulfilling than 23:30 just going through life, 23:32 wondering what's this all for. 23:33 Yeah. Amen. 23:35 That's true purpose. Wonderful. Thank you. 23:36 I like that part in there, it says, 23:37 "In Thy presence is fullness of joy." 23:40 And having fullness of joy and that doesn't always mean 23:43 that we're gonna always be, like elated and happy, 23:46 and you know, it's mean abiding joy, 23:48 like that's consistent. 23:50 That doesn't change with our circumstance, 23:52 that we still have that joy even though 23:55 the emotion might not be, you know, 23:58 a high emotion like, you know. 24:00 But for me, that's comforting, because you know, God gives us 24:04 that fullness that we can't find anywhere else. 24:06 I think too, in this verse, it speaks to me is the idea 24:09 of the pleasures forevermore. 24:10 And pleasures of this world, all they are is misery, 24:13 and pain, and suffering, and woe. 24:16 You know, I can kind of share just a little bit 24:17 about our paths with dealing with alcohol. 24:20 I mean, you wake up next day, "I'm feeling I'm sick." 24:23 You know, and you feel nasty... 24:25 And then you come to the Lord and He just rids that off 24:28 and you got so much time on your hands, 24:30 you got things to do, you can read the book, 24:31 now you can read the Bible, you can watch 3ABN, 24:34 all those kinds of things. 24:35 But just those pleasures, 24:36 there's much more peace in that. 24:38 You're not like, okay, like you said, you know, 24:40 we're talking a little earlier about the cop, you know, 24:42 driving and stuff and you're like, 24:43 "If I'm breaking the law, you know, 24:46 I don't know if they're gonna catch me or not, 24:48 I don't know, but I got to do this." 24:50 And you're kind of worried and then if you get 24:51 pulled over, then what you do... 24:52 You know, it's having that constant assurance that, 24:56 you know, you don't have to worry about that anymore. 24:57 It's done. You have that peace. 24:59 Amen, amen. 25:01 That is an amazing thing. 25:02 This whole Psalm is just packed full of... 25:05 In fact, the first verse starts out, 25:06 "Keep and protect me, O God." 25:08 So if you're wanting a closer walk with God, 25:11 being drawn nearer, 25:14 this is a beautiful Psalm to pray. 25:16 But that last verse is just kind of a summation 25:20 and the freedom that is in that, knowing, 25:23 like you said, Jonathan, to know the path of life 25:26 and to know your purpose, it doesn't... 25:28 I don't think... 25:30 I mean the life doesn't come with a manual. 25:32 So you know, 25:33 we would all have to kind of do follow a path 25:36 and just gonna put your feelers out there 25:39 and see if it's a good feel for you. 25:41 My son just started a job as a car salesman, 25:45 and I just got a message from him saying that 25:50 he was so glad to have his own cubicle 25:54 at this car dealership. 25:56 And so you know, he's been in the service industry 25:58 for a long time, waiting tables. 26:00 But now, you know, so this is a new. 26:03 He's 20 years old. This is a new page in his path. 26:07 But you know, we have been praying about it. 26:10 And so you know, God just reveals, like you say, 26:13 a little bit at a time, 26:14 and he's already found joy in that, 26:18 in this little piece that he has to the puzzle right now, 26:21 and then pleasures forevermore. Amen. 26:24 He has salvation. 26:26 And so that that alone, 26:27 you know, in the distance is pleasure forevermore. 26:30 But what freedom, and just a beautiful, 26:32 beautiful scripture! That's how we can draw near. 26:34 Amen. Amen. 26:35 What most people don't realize, 26:36 you know, it says pleasures forevermore, 26:38 and you're talking about, 26:40 you know, people think, you know, you read the Bible. 26:43 You think about what God wants us to do and think, 26:45 "Well, that's all just restrictions." 26:47 But you know, how many people once you start diving into it, 26:52 it's a pleasure to not do what you used to. 26:55 Yep. 26:56 Because misery follows when you do something wrong. 26:58 Right. Exactly. 27:01 You know, those two ladies who were talking about. 27:04 If they weren't finding joy in what they were reading, 27:07 why would they have regarded 27:08 what the Bible was saying at all? 27:10 Yeah. Yeah, it's true. 27:11 You know, so they're learning what the Bible says 27:16 and what's truth is, but they're also learning 27:19 why that is better way, 27:21 that there is pleasure in it that it's not just, 27:24 "Oh, you can't do this. You can't do that." 27:26 You know, you learn what truly is the pleasure. 27:30 God substitutes what we thought were pleasure 27:34 for true pleasures. 27:35 Well, I got to balance on what you said, 27:37 just came to my mind, the idea is that fullness of joy, 27:39 we get to share that testimony now. 27:41 Yes. Amen. 27:42 That's where the joy is. Oh, yes, yes. 27:44 Because now you're bringing other people along your journey 27:46 with you and they're like, 27:47 "Wow! They can do it. I can do it." 27:49 Here's the joy, fullness of joy. 27:51 You kind of just made me think of that, 27:52 it snapped in my head. 27:54 So yeah, I think about that the story. 27:55 We all have a story, we've all been on a journey. 27:57 I like what Mr. CA used to say, "I've got stuff. 28:00 You got stuff. We've all got stuff." 28:02 Right, right. That's good. 28:03 So we all got something we're dealing with, 28:04 and you know, that fullness of joy 28:06 is when we get to share that testimony, 28:08 "God gave me the victory. Look at this. 28:10 I'm not that person anymore. I'm something different." 28:12 That brings me joy, so. Amen. 28:14 Amen, amen. 28:16 You know, we have Jacob in Genesis Chapter 28. 28:21 And something happens there in Genesis 28 28:24 that is a message for us, really. 28:28 I'm gonna read Genesis 28. 28:30 I'm gonna read a few verses, 28:32 because there's a very visual message 28:36 there for us concerning how God is trying to tell us 28:40 that He wants to have this connection with us. 28:44 So in Genesis 28, beginning in verse 10, it says, 28:47 "Now Jacob went out 28:48 from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 28:51 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, 28:54 because the sun had set. 28:56 And he took one of the stones of that place 28:59 and put it at his head, 29:01 and he lay down in that place to sleep." 29:03 It wasn't a jacket rock, I guess. 29:05 I hope not. Sounding that's comfortable. 29:07 Oh, that's sounds comforting. 29:08 A smooth rock. A smooth rock. 29:11 "Then he dreamed, and behold, 29:13 a ladder was set up on the earth, 29:15 and its top reached to heaven, and there the angels of God 29:19 were ascending and descending on it. 29:22 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, 29:24 'I am the Lord, God of Abraham, your father, 29:27 and the God of Isaac. 29:29 The land on which you lie I will give to you 29:32 and your descendants. 29:33 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth. 29:37 And you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east, 29:40 to the north and the south, 29:45 and in you and in your seed 29:47 all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 29:50 Behold, I am with you 29:52 and will keep you wherever you go, 29:55 and will bring you back to this land, 29:57 for I will not leave you until I have done 29:59 what I have spoken to you.' 30:01 Wow! 30:02 What a wonderful message Jacob receives. 30:06 And this ladder is, you know... 30:12 Sin brought a separation. 30:14 But God is trying to say, 30:16 "I made a bridge, I've made a way, 30:18 and that way is Jesus Christ." 30:19 Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." 30:22 In many different ways, you can look at that. 30:24 But I am the way, the truth, and the life. 30:26 Through Jesus, heaven and earth are connected again. 30:29 Amen. Right. 30:30 And He is that ladder. 30:32 He is that letter. 30:33 Amen. Yes. 30:35 He is... 30:36 And that message that he received, 30:38 "I am going to be with you wherever you go." 30:41 Make me think of Isaiah 58:12, 30:43 yeah, it's so good, restorers of the breach 30:45 and repairers of the paths to dwell in. 30:47 That's what Christ, and I think I get this little nugget 30:49 in Desire of Ages, here in my Bible says, 30:50 "Christ is the ladder that Jacob saw 30:53 the base resting on the earth 30:54 and this top most realm reaching to the gate of heaven 30:57 to the very threshold of glory. 30:59 If that ladder had failed 31:00 by a single step of reaching the earth, 31:02 we should have been lost." 31:04 Wow! Wow! 31:05 "But Christ reaches us where we are." 31:08 Amen. Man! 31:09 "He took our nature and overcame 31:11 that we through taking His nature might overcome." 31:15 Amen. Wow! That's so powerful. 31:18 I like the visualization of the ladder. 31:20 I hadn't thought of it before. 31:22 You know, angels, the angels can fly. 31:25 God and the angels, they don't need anything 31:26 to get between heaven and earth. 31:29 God could have shown a vision of just the angels 31:32 flying to and fro. 31:33 But there'd still that be that divide. 31:36 But He made a path, a bridge connecting earth and heaven 31:40 through something we recognize, a ladder as a bridge. 31:45 Amen. 31:46 That's very good, very good. 31:48 You know, it's interesting 31:49 that when we call upon the Lord, 31:51 sometimes even before we call, 31:52 He's already started the answer coming. 31:54 Amen. Yes. 31:56 I remember my dad, when I was younger, 31:59 he said, 32:01 the time it takes an angel to come from heaven to earth 32:06 has been calculating. 32:07 It's only point something seconds, 32:09 or x amount of seconds. 32:11 And I said, "Really?" 32:12 And I was like, "Wow! That's amazing!" 32:15 Because, you know, I look up in the sky 32:16 and heaven is way, way up there. 32:18 You know, you don't know where exactly is God's throne. 32:22 When I was little, I used to wonder, 32:23 "Okay, where would God be? 32:26 Where and which part of the sky, 32:28 you know, does He live? 32:29 Does He live by the moon? 32:31 Does He live by those stars over there?" 32:32 But God is trying to tell us, 32:35 you know, "I'm gonna be with you 32:36 wherever you are." 32:37 So that's trying to tell, "I'm gonna be close to you 32:39 wherever you are. 32:40 So I'm gonna be there." 32:42 And so it's a wonderful message by... 32:43 And eventually, I understood that there's... 32:46 My father is talking about that scripture 32:49 where Daniel is praying, 32:51 and somebody had calculated reading that, 32:54 how many seconds it took to read. 32:56 Oh, that's good. 32:57 How many seconds it took to read. 32:59 So he said, "So many seconds." 33:00 God is there. That's fun. 33:02 So it was very interesting. 33:03 But it helped me to understand that, 33:05 you know, God is not far away. 33:07 God is very near to us. 33:08 And not only that... 33:12 Jesus is knocking at the door of our heart to say, 33:14 "I'm going to be with you, inside you, 33:17 and be with you wherever you go." 33:18 And that's really powerful. 33:20 The other comforting thing to me is, 33:22 you know, when He came to this earth as a baby, 33:25 He lived His life on the earth 33:29 to give us an example. 33:31 And not only did He die for our sins, 33:34 He lived to show us an example. 33:37 And through His sufferings, all the things He went through, 33:40 there's something that each of us can relate to. 33:42 And that just makes it so much more personal to me. 33:45 You know, He didn't just come and die for our sins, 33:48 but He actually walked and lived 33:50 and mingled with the people. 33:54 And that's a relatable Savior. 33:56 That communicates a lot right there. 33:59 Relatable Savior. 34:00 Yes, I like that. 34:04 He could have said, "Well, you guys are on your own. 34:06 I told you not to eat of that tree." 34:08 Now look. Sorry. 34:09 No, but God brought the solution. 34:11 And there's that scripture in Romans 5:8 says, 34:15 "And God commendeth His love toward us 34:17 and that while we were yet sinners, 34:19 Christ died for us." 34:23 And don't concentrate on the "us", 34:25 concentrate that Christ died for me. 34:27 And that helps me to understand 34:29 that His loves reached out to me, 34:31 reached out to you. 34:33 And I'd like to... 34:34 Perhaps, you have some scriptures 34:35 that help us understand that God is near. 34:39 There's one that not only says He's near, 34:41 but He can be inside you. 34:43 I was thinking of John 12:32, 34:46 and it said there, 34:47 "If I be lifted up, 34:49 I will draw all men unto Myself." 34:52 So that really speaks to me, you know, when Christ died, 34:55 He gave us that victory over death. 34:56 Amen. 34:58 And He is in us and we will get that victory. 34:59 Another scripture says, you know, this temporal is... 35:03 This temporal world, you know, it's fading away, 35:06 but the eternal life, that's... 35:07 The things which are seen are temporal, 35:09 the things that are unseen are eternal. 35:11 And we get that eternal life promised to us 35:13 because Christ did conquer death at the cross. 35:16 That's what speaks to me. 35:18 John 12:32? John 12:32. 35:20 Perhaps, our family members that are out there, 35:24 we wanna write some of these down 35:26 to read them again, 35:27 because they are very, very powerful. 35:29 Well, while you're looking, I will read one also. 35:33 In Psalms 35:35 34:18, 35:40 we have this wonderful message. 35:43 "The Lord is near to those 35:46 who have a broken heart, 35:48 and say such as have a contrite spirit." 35:53 And that speaks to me very powerfully. 35:55 You know, 35:56 sometimes when people are going through difficult times, 35:59 they think, "I'm all alone." 36:01 And they start thinking about friends or family 36:03 that are not there for them. 36:05 But God says, 36:07 "I am near to those that have a broken heart." 36:09 And when we open our mind to understand that, 36:13 we're going to be comforted in knowing that God is near. 36:17 Amen. 36:19 And not only that, He's gonna help us through 36:20 whatever we're going through. 36:22 Whatever we're going through, He is near. 36:24 Amen. 36:25 Anyone else like to share with us? 36:26 That was Psalms 34:18, by the way, 36:28 if you want to write that down. 36:30 I like 1 Corinthians 10:13, 36:34 verse most of us are familiar with, 36:37 but it's always been blessing to me in times of trouble 36:41 and just says, 36:42 not only how powerful God is, 36:44 but how much He does for us. 36:47 That's 1 Corinthians 10:13, 36:49 "No temptation has overtaken you 36:52 except such as is common to man, 36:55 but God is faithful, 36:57 who will not allow you to be tempted 36:59 beyond what you are able, 37:00 but with the temptation 37:02 will also make the way of escape, 37:04 that you may be able to bear it." 37:06 Amen. Amen. 37:07 God's all powerful 37:08 that He controls the temptations. 37:10 Amen. 37:12 You know, He will not allow them 37:14 to be too powerful for us. 37:16 Anytime we're struggling through something, 37:18 you can look to this verse and know, 37:21 "Okay, through with God's strength, 37:25 we can bear it and there's a way out." 37:26 Amen. Amen. 37:28 That's awesome. Amen. 37:29 And the same is true. 37:30 You know, we think of temptation, 37:32 but also trials, difficulties that come to us. 37:35 Let's say you're having financial trouble, 37:36 let's say you're having some difficulty 37:39 in some other area of your life, 37:40 God will make a way of escape for us. 37:43 He's gonna find a solution for our situation. 37:46 And He is in control. 37:49 I like that, He is in control of... 37:52 You know, if God did not place control upon the devil, 37:56 I mean, I know you have suffered, 37:58 I know I have suffered, 37:59 but if God didn't put a, 38:01 "Okay, you can only go this far right here, 38:04 not an inch more not a millimeter more, 38:07 this is as far as you can go." 38:09 And so that's it, and the devil can do nothing 38:13 beyond what God allows. 38:15 And for some reason, 38:16 the good thing is that we also are told that 38:19 whatever God allows, 38:21 not only has He made a way of escape, 38:22 but somehow 38:25 He works out something good for us 38:28 in that experience, you know. 38:30 It's true. Yeah. 38:31 In Genesis 50:20, 38:33 "What you meant for evil, God meant good." 38:34 I love that verse. 38:35 Which one is that? 38:37 Genesis 50:20, 38:38 "What you meant for evil, God meant for good." 38:39 Something to that effect, but yeah. 38:41 Excellent. Excellent. 38:42 I like also Romans 8:1, 38:44 "There is therefore now no condemnation," 38:47 that's a great word, 38:49 "no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, 38:52 who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." 38:54 So no condemnation, 38:56 that really speaks 38:58 when you feel the world pressing you in. 38:59 And you got people saying, 39:01 "Oh, I caught you doing this or doing that." 39:03 And they're condemning you. 39:04 A lot of people would wanna judge 39:05 or they see a beam 39:07 or speck in your eye or something, 39:08 and they wanna come and berate you, 39:10 you know, having that. 39:11 Jesus even said it again in John 3:17, 39:14 "He didn't come in the world to condemn it, 39:15 but that the world through Him would be saved." 39:17 Wonderful! 39:18 So that no condemnation and Christ doesn't condemn. 39:21 Amen. Amen. 39:22 I was just thinking of the verse. 39:24 It's here in John Chapter 10. 39:28 And actually, 39:29 there's a couple of verses there. 39:32 I'm gonna read verse 4. 39:34 It says, "And when he putteth forth 39:36 His own sheep, 39:37 He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, 39:39 for they know His voice." 39:42 Actually, I'll read verse 5 too. 39:44 "And a stranger will they not follow, 39:46 but will flee from him, 39:47 for they know not the voice of strangers." 39:50 But just the idea of hearing God's voice 39:53 and, you know, 39:55 like when I was thinking 39:58 and praying about this topic of drawing near to God, 40:00 I was thinking of the different ways 40:03 that we can hear God's voice. 40:05 And for me, I think the number one thing 40:09 that helps me is being in nature 40:11 and just being among God's creation. 40:17 I just feel so blessed to be able to be in the country 40:19 where I can do that 40:21 and just to hear from Him more clearly in nature, 40:26 to have that opportunity 40:27 because when there's a lot of noise 40:30 and distractions and things like that, 40:32 it's really hard for me to be able to hear from God. 40:36 And so that's been a major thing for me 40:39 to be able to have that time, 40:41 that intentional time in nature with God, 40:44 and also just be surrounded by godly friends. 40:50 And not only, you know, church family, 40:53 but just godly friends too, 40:55 and having that personal devotion time. 40:59 But hearing His voice is so important 41:01 to draw near to Him. 41:03 And I think that for me, definitely the nature has been, 41:08 you know... 41:09 I'm just thankful that God made what He made for us, 41:12 the birds, the trees, the grass, 41:14 just the beauty of nature, it's just, it's amazing. 41:18 And it just speaks of God's... 41:20 Yes, so. 41:22 You know, you mentioned something 41:23 that brought back memories to me 41:25 from when I used to live in Chicago. 41:28 And I remember... 41:31 I guess you get used to the noise, 41:32 you know, 41:34 because that's all you hear in Chicago is just noise, 41:36 cars passing by, people talking. 41:38 And it was just... 41:40 Even when you're inside your house, 41:42 you may hear, 41:44 you know, the alarms 41:45 and some kind of alarm going off, 41:47 ambulance, police, whatever it may be. 41:50 And so I used to look forward to what we call camp meeting. 41:55 That's when all the churches get together, 41:57 and we used to go out of the city 42:00 into the country. 42:01 And there we were... 42:02 And it was... 42:04 I mean, we would only go Friday, 42:09 Thursday or Friday, 42:10 and we were there till Saturday afternoon. 42:14 We left the city, and you're out in nature. 42:18 And it was just such a blessing, 42:20 it's like peaceful being out, out there in middle of nature. 42:25 And for a while 42:26 to disconnect yourself from the noise, 42:29 and I usually use the word hustle and bustle, 42:33 and the stress of people passing by, 42:35 cars passing by, and all these types of things. 42:38 It's really a blessing that God has given to us. 42:40 Nature is one of the ways 42:43 in which God tries to communicate with us, 42:45 you know. 42:46 And so there are many ways, there are many ways. 42:49 I see that Brother Tim has found some scripture 42:51 or something. 42:52 No, I mean, you know, it's full of... 42:55 John as you were reading is full of His nearness 43:00 and Him being a friend 43:01 and no one has greater love than to lay down 43:07 or give up his own life for his friends. 43:10 And He says, "You are My friends 43:11 if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do." 43:18 Where are you reading from? 43:20 From John, John 15:13 and 14, 43:25 just the fact that He would lay His life down for me 43:29 to draw me near to Him. 43:32 That's just something we hear often, 43:36 and we just need to be reminded that that's the kind of love 43:39 He has for us to be drawing close to us. 43:42 And also the fact that in the next chapter, 43:45 John 16:7 43:47 how He talks about when He leaves, 43:51 He left but He said 43:52 that He was going to leave us the Holy Spirit, 43:54 a comforter, a counselor, a helper, advocate, 43:57 intercessor, strengthener, stand-by, 44:00 the amplified version goes into all those that, 44:03 you know, that He would care enough, 44:05 because He's got a plan. 44:06 He was going away, 44:08 but so that everyone could encounter His goodness. 44:11 You know, He couldn't do that in His physical state on earth, 44:15 but He was going to... 44:16 He had a plan 44:18 that everybody could have an in-dwelling helper 44:21 and the Spirit to guide us through our everyday life. 44:25 That's how much He cares. 44:26 And so we don't only have the Word, 44:29 but it's the Word, 44:30 the Holy Spirit that quickens us, 44:33 you know, to go to place to study the Word and to... 44:37 Even through life, we can count on His Spirit 44:41 to guide us. 44:42 He's made every provision for us. 44:44 I've mentioned this case, I mentioned that verse. 44:47 Yeah, I had a lady in pastoral 44:48 that called a while back just few days ago. 44:51 And she had mentioned when she was eight years old, 44:52 she's already out of the house on the streets. 44:54 Eight, eight years old. 44:56 Fourteen, she became an atheist. 44:58 Fifteen, she already had a child. 45:00 Next year, had another child. 45:02 She had three children, four children, 45:03 and they got adopted out, all of them. 45:06 And then by 33, something spoke to her, 45:07 the Holy Spirit says, 45:09 "You need to surrender your heart to the Lord." 45:11 And she did at 33. 45:12 And now she's growing in the Lord. 45:13 So you know, even at eight years old, 45:15 I can't imagine being on a street by yourself 45:17 at eight years old, going from party house 45:19 to party house at eight. 45:21 And here's the Lord says, "I love you. 45:23 You're my child. 45:24 I see you, 45:26 and I'm gonna pick you up out of this junk. 45:27 And I'm gonna clean you up and make you My daughter." 45:30 That's powerful. 45:32 Laying down your life. 45:33 We have kind... It is powerful. 45:37 We have mentioned it in different ways, 45:39 but if we were... 45:41 If somebody is listening to us and is wondering, 45:44 "Well, how do I get close to the Lord? 45:46 You told me that the Lord is near. 45:48 And you told me that the Lord is knocking, " 45:50 and we said about opening, "Well, how do I open the door?" 45:54 I've had young people asked that, 45:56 "Well, how do I open the door? 45:58 You know, Jesus is knocking, how do I open the door?" 46:00 Right. 46:02 And so what is it that we need to do to respond 46:05 the Holy Spirit is drawing us? 46:06 What do we need to do to respond to God 46:10 drawing us closer to Him? 46:13 I think of like, Samuel came to my mind, 46:16 you know, "Here I am Lord." 46:18 He responds, "Here I am, Lord, I'm listening. 46:20 What you need me to do?" 46:21 And I think prayer is so... 46:23 I mean, you talk about the armor of God, 46:25 obviously, we missed the one piece of armor 46:27 which is in there is the prayer. 46:28 And I think praying, 46:30 "Lord, I don't know who You are, 46:31 please show me who You are. 46:33 Help me to understand." 46:35 You know, like these ladies, again, I revert back to them. 46:36 They said, "If this is a right, Lord, show me a sign. 46:39 I need something, you know, show me something. 46:41 I wanna make sure you're real. 46:43 And I mean, are you real in my life?" 46:44 I think prayer is really powerful. 46:46 He's a big God, He can handle it, 46:48 He'll show you who He is. 46:49 That's right. 46:50 I think prayer, to me, is a key, 46:52 you know, and have nothing else. 46:53 You just, "God, just show yourself," 46:55 you know. 46:56 And giving Him that invitation just, 46:57 you know, allowing Him to speak 46:59 into our lives, and just say, 47:00 "I'm open to hear from you," 47:03 you know. Yeah. Wonderful! 47:04 Someone else? 47:06 Something I saw recently that's really spoken to me, 47:09 and it's... 47:11 I've been a Christian all my life, so to speak. 47:15 But just it really hit home, 47:18 talked about 47:20 how we are dead to sin as Christians. 47:23 And so we are to pluck our eye out 47:28 or cut our hand off. 47:30 And as even as Christians, 47:35 if we have an issue in our life for we will deal with it by, 47:39 this person said, taking a butter knife to our wrist, 47:42 and saying "Oh, I'm sorry," 47:44 you know, but we're commanded to be dead to sin. 47:49 And so I would encourage, 47:51 be you a young person or a young, 47:55 someone who is just stepping 47:57 into wanting to become a Christian 47:59 or if you've been a Christian all your life, 48:01 and you have an issue 48:02 that you can't seem to get rid of, 48:04 Bible says we are dead to sin. 48:07 And so pluck your eye out and throw it away. 48:11 This person said, 48:12 we often put our eye in our pocket, 48:15 you know, that way we keep it near to us. 48:17 But no, it says to get rid of it. 48:20 Like, if it were a bomb or whatever those hand grenade, 48:25 you know, you don't pull the plug 48:27 and then run it up toward the person, 48:29 you're gonna say, "Here, hold this." 48:31 But while you're standing there, 48:32 you get rid of it. 48:34 You know, throw it up 48:35 and so it doesn't blow up and blow up in your face. 48:37 Yeah. Anyway, the same idea. 48:38 We are dead to sin, so be dead, take a stand. 48:42 And if you're serious about, 48:43 you know, 48:44 your walk with Christ, 48:46 you will be dead whatever the situation is. 48:48 We nurse our sin, we nurse our habits, 48:52 we nurse our addictions. 48:53 Come on. 48:54 You know, and it's frustrating because I do the same thing. 48:58 So it's not I'm blaming anybody else. 49:00 I'm saying. 49:02 Right here's this... 49:04 And it's for our own good that He's telling us, 49:06 "Be dead to it, be done with it." 49:09 So what that looks like in our lives is, 49:11 "Okay, that music is not good for you, 49:13 that stuff you're eating is not good for you, 49:15 those people that you're hanging out with 49:17 are taking you back down those bad roads, 49:21 those places you're going," 49:22 you know, all of that, God will show you 49:25 at the right time and make it clear 49:28 and to be ready to do that 49:30 when He calls because it is a journey 49:32 and it's not easy. 49:34 You will have those struggles, but He takes us where we're at, 49:36 and He wants us to grow, and we can't grow 49:39 if we're holding on to all that stuff. 49:41 And petting the skunk, 49:42 like we heard someone describing sin 49:44 as petting the skunk 'cause you never know 49:45 when it's gonna spray you, 49:47 you know? 49:48 Right. Yeah. 49:49 I've never heard of that. 49:51 So that's pet skunk. 49:52 You make me think of Hebrews 12 talks about in there. 49:54 It talks about how He disciplines those 49:55 He loves. 49:57 If He didn't discipline us, then we'd be, 49:58 in a sense, illegitimate children 50:00 and not sons and daughters of God. 50:02 So He's doing that because He wants you home. 50:05 He wants you coming home, 50:06 and He wants to chisel you and refine you. 50:08 Some people are, like you're saying, 50:09 putting in that refusal or putting the eye, 50:11 well, spiritually putting eye in your pocket 50:13 or taking a little butternut, 50:14 I mean, you just wanna give Him 50:15 just that little piece here is this, you know. 50:18 He wants to give you a spiritual root canal. 50:19 Right. 50:21 Just rip that thing out there. Yeah. 50:22 It's kind of like too, if you think about, 50:23 it's the Tower of Babel where they were trying to... 50:28 They didn't ever wanna be flooded again. 50:31 And so they were building this tower 50:32 and like, "Oh, we're gonna take matters in our own hands." 50:34 And you know, they were just trying to deal with it 50:37 on their own. 50:39 And we tend to do that sometimes as, 50:41 you know, we just wanna have our backup plan, 50:43 you know? 50:45 Right. 50:46 Well, I like to read from Colossians Chapter 1. 50:50 Very good. 50:51 Colossians Chapter 1, 50:53 this is another one of those scriptures 50:56 that help us understand the nearness 51:00 that God wants to be with us. 51:02 And so I will read Colossians 1:26 and 27. 51:08 And it says, 51:10 "The mystery which has been hidden from ages 51:12 and from generations, 51:13 but now has been revealed to His saints, 51:16 to them God willed to make known 51:19 what are the riches 51:21 of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, 51:24 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 51:30 So this is how near God wants to be with us. 51:34 Christ in you communicates, 51:37 "You don't need to worry anymore." 51:40 If Christ is in you, 51:42 because you have His protection, 51:44 He's gonna give you His peace, 51:46 and He's going to provide for you. 51:48 He will take care of you. 51:49 Of course, this doesn't mean that you say, 51:51 "Well, I'm just gonna lay back and enjoy life. 51:55 Christ is gonna do everything for me." 51:57 We are to cooperate with Him 51:59 in the process of our relationship with Him. 52:01 Because, you know, you think of a marriage. 52:07 And if only one is saying, "I love you. 52:10 You're the most wonderful thing in the life for to me." 52:13 And the other person, "Well, thank you." 52:16 That's cold. That's just a little cold. 52:18 "Appreciate it. I know it. Thank you." 52:20 But doesn't respond to that love 52:22 and doesn't reciprocate, 52:24 is that's the word? 52:25 Right. That's exactly, reciprocate. 52:27 Yeah, reciprocate. Reciprocate. 52:28 And so yes, respond and answer to that love. 52:31 And so that's where 52:33 wonderful things begin to happen for us. 52:36 And we will have this fullness of joy. 52:39 We wanna share Christ with others 52:40 and God is going to provide with us opportunities 52:43 to know Him more on a more personal level. 52:48 Christ in you, the hope of glory. 52:50 So how in the world does that happen? 52:52 Well, we talked about Jesus Christ saying, 52:54 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 52:56 And if any man hears My voice and opens the door, " 52:58 it's you responding say, "Yes, Lord, come in, come in. 53:02 I'm giving you complete access to me, come in." 53:05 And He will come in. 53:06 Amen. Amen. 53:08 I was gonna mentioning, going back Colossians, 53:09 what we talked about just a bit, 53:11 verse 13 in Chapter 1, 53:12 we have to look at that scripture, 53:13 it's so awesome. 53:15 We're talking about Jesus here, 53:16 what Christ has done and verse 13 says, 53:18 "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, " 53:21 you know, it says in darkness "and hath translated us 53:24 into the kingdom of His dear Son." 53:26 That speaks to me. 53:27 You know, how many of us are in darkness? 53:29 We're playing with something we shouldn't. 53:30 We're going down paths that are leading us astray, 53:33 and He's delivering us from that power of darkness. 53:37 I think that... 53:38 Well, don't stop there. 53:40 Read the next verse. 53:41 Oh, yes. 53:43 How can we forget that? 53:44 "In whom we have redemption through His, " 53:46 whose blood is that? 53:47 That's Christ, right? 53:48 "Even the forgiveness of sin." Right. 53:50 Wow. 53:52 That's a great... I mean, Colossians 1 is just great. 53:54 We have under three minutes, under four, 53:57 three and a half minutes. 53:58 So let's start really quick over here 54:00 and give us one last capsule of hope and blessing. 54:05 Well, I just wanna say that the nearness of God is my good, 54:08 and I want Christ to live in me, 54:11 and I want to be dead to my sin. 54:14 And knowing that dead men have no habits, 54:18 so I want to be dead in me. 54:20 I want to be alive in Christ. 54:22 Amen. Amen. Amen. 54:24 I was wondering how we get nearer to God. 54:27 Well, God has given us the Sabbath. 54:28 And Christians, 54:32 we tend to struggle, 54:33 "Okay, what do we do on the Sabbath?" 54:35 We know what we aren't supposed to do. 54:38 But what, you know, do you do, it came to me, 54:43 "What do you do when you go on vacation to see family? 54:47 You're going there to spend the time with them. 54:49 You do what they wanna do, 54:51 you spend time with them to enrich your relationship." 54:54 Yes. 54:55 Well, we go on vacation to see God. 54:58 We're seeing God every day. 55:00 But Sabbath especially, is when we go to His house, 55:04 and we spend the whole day with Him, 55:06 whether that's out in nature, 55:09 you know, with our mind on Him, 55:11 in the Bible, praying, combination of it all, 55:15 it's our day to spend with Him and that draws us to Him. 55:19 That's good. Thank you so much. 55:20 Janelle? Very good. 55:22 You know, I've been convicted lately 55:23 that I need to read the Bible more. 55:26 I read it, 55:27 you know, but not, I think as deep as, 55:31 I think, I should be. 55:32 And I think that would really make an impact on, 55:36 you know, hearing from God more. 55:38 And you know, 55:40 when we have those scriptures in our minds, 55:42 I would really like to memorize more scriptures too. 55:44 You know, and just to be able to share those 55:46 because there's always divine appointments 55:49 that we can share a word of hope to somebody. 55:51 So if I'm reading my Bible, 55:54 you know, asking God to help me 55:55 remember those scriptures and just to share it. 55:58 So I think that's encouragement. 56:01 Thank you. And, Don? 56:02 I'll just say the idea of hope 56:04 is when we let Christ in our heart, 56:05 He can transform us. 56:07 He can make us into His sons and daughters of God. 56:09 And I get the opportunity 56:11 to share that with many people. 56:12 And I just see, when we show them 56:14 the picture of who they can be 56:15 as a son or daughter of God, 56:17 it breaks all the bonds, it literally breaks the... 56:20 sets the captive free. 56:22 And that's what Christ came to do. 56:23 He came to set the captive free. 56:25 He came to break them out of the bonds of wickedness. 56:29 And we can have that opportunity 56:30 if we just give somebody 56:32 a little encouragement, that hope. 56:33 And giving promises from the Bible's huge. 56:35 I do that every day in the prayer lines. 56:36 And these people are just being, 56:38 just stories of them hearing is just miraculous. 56:40 So transformation, allowing Christ in your heart, 56:42 and He's going to get you through this. 56:44 Amen, amen. 56:45 I like to leave one last scripture. 56:47 Isaiah 55:6 and 7, 56:49 "Seek the Lord while He may be found. 56:53 Call upon Him while He is near. 56:55 Let the wicked forsake his way, 56:57 and the unrighteous man his thoughts. 56:59 Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him, 57:02 And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." 57:06 Amen. 57:07 And so there it is, 57:08 "Seek the Lord while He may be found." 57:10 He is near. 57:11 And we want to thank you 57:12 for being with us during this hour. 57:14 We hope you have been blessed. 57:16 And I encourage you to do just as we read, 57:18 "Seek the Lord while He may be found." 57:21 And I invite you once again. 57:23 Give your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, 57:24 and you will find peace and happiness 57:26 that begins in this world and continues forever. 57:28 Happy Sabbath. God bless. 57:30 Happy Sabbath. Happy Sabbath. |
Revised 2019-04-08