Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW190038S
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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 01:09 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn. J.D. Quinn. 01:11 And we want to wish you a happy Sabbath. 01:14 Amen. 01:15 And welcome you to Family Worship. 01:17 We are always blessed to have this opportunity 01:19 to welcome in this Sabbath with you. 01:21 And, honey, we've got some family 01:24 around the table. 01:25 Why don't you introduce? Well, I'd be happy to. 01:27 This is my buddy, Ryan over here. 01:28 That's Ryan. 01:30 Ryan, you always feel comfortable with Ryan. 01:33 Really! 01:35 You know, you're just a wonderful man, 01:38 you know the word inside and out and... 01:40 I try, I try. 01:42 You compliment, compliment. 01:43 Praise the Lord. 01:45 And then we have Jason, we have Francine, 01:47 we love Jason and Francine. 01:49 We are in accounting and we're with the kids. 01:52 That's the two responsibilities we have. 01:53 Chief Financial Officer and General Manager 01:56 of 3ABN Kids Network. 01:58 Yes. And this is fun. 01:59 We're gonna have a wonderful time today 02:01 because this is a great topic. 02:02 Yes it is. 02:03 And who do we have at the piano? 02:05 We have our precious Summer boy at the piano. 02:07 Yes. 02:08 We always love you when Summer's here. 02:09 That's right. 02:11 Well, we just want to take this time first 02:14 to thank you for your prayers, and your love, 02:17 and your financial support of 3ABN. 02:20 But our topic tonight, 02:24 let me just start it by reading the scripture 02:26 1 Corinthians 10:12. 02:29 And it's funny. 02:30 I had a man call me many years ago 02:32 when I was first on 3ABN, 02:34 and very busy but still doing the ministry from home. 02:37 This gentleman called me and said, 02:39 "Sister, are you aware of 1 Corinthians 10:12? 02:42 Therefore let him who thinks he stands, 02:47 take heed lest he fall." 02:50 And I told him, "Oh, absolutely. 02:51 I pray that scripture every day and ask the Lord, you know, 02:55 'Help me to examine myself and make sure that, 02:59 first, what I'm teaching is true, 03:01 but second that I really am in relationship with You.'" 03:05 And can you think our topic tonight 03:08 is keep a finger on your spiritual pulse. 03:11 Can you think of an example in the Bible of someone 03:14 who was a bit overconfident and thought he would stand? 03:18 Yet Jesus said to him, 03:21 "Satan desires to sift you like wheat, 03:24 and when you've returned, you know, 03:27 encourage and feed my lambs. 03:30 So Peter was overconfident. 03:33 And just because we are in ministry, 03:37 just because you go to church twice a week, 03:42 we all have to take the counsel 03:46 of 2 Corinthians 13:5, 03:49 where Peter says, "Examine yourselves." 03:52 That's present tense. 03:54 It means keep on examining yourself. 03:57 "As to whether you are in the faith, test yourselves." 04:01 And that also is present tense. 04:03 Keep on testing. 04:05 He said, "Do you not know yourselves, 04:07 that Jesus Christ is in you? 04:09 Unless indeed you are disqualified." 04:14 So what Peter is encouraging us to do 04:19 is to make a regular self examination. 04:23 And not in a fearful way 04:24 because, you know, one good thing is that 04:27 sometimes we feel like 04:29 maybe we're not grasping hold of God, 04:31 strongly enough that He's still holding on to us 04:34 and that's the beautiful thing. 04:36 And that's why we're gonna sing. 04:38 What are we gonna sing, honey? 04:40 Blessed Assurance. And what number is that? 04:41 I love Blessed Assurance. 04:43 And in your hymnal, it's number 649. 04:47 Is that right? 04:48 462. 04:50 Well, if you have problem with reading, then it's 462. 04:55 But the words will also be at the bottom of the screen. 04:57 So sing along with us. 04:58 Let's make a joyful noise. 05:03 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine 05:09 O what a foretaste of glory divine 05:14 Heir of salvation, purchase of God 05:20 Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood 05:25 This is my story, this is my song 05:31 Praising my Savior all the day long 05:36 This is my story, this is my song 05:42 Praising my Savior all the day long 05:48 Perfect submission, all is at rest 05:53 I in my Savior am happy and blessed 05:59 Watching and waiting, looking above 06:05 Filled with His goodness, lost in His love 06:10 This is my story, this is my song 06:16 Praising my Savior all the day long 06:22 This is my story, this is my song 06:27 Praising my Savior all the day long 06:33 Amen. Thank you. 06:35 One of my favorites. I love that song. 06:36 Amen. Me too. 06:38 Thank you, Summer, so much. 06:40 All right, let's just kick this off. 06:43 It's always good 06:44 to sit around the table and discuss the Bible. 06:46 Yes. 06:47 But I have a question. 06:49 Can we get so busy doing things, 06:54 good things in the name of God 06:57 and find that we're actually ignoring the greatest thing, 07:04 and that is to stay close to Jesus. 07:08 Have you ever had that experience? 07:10 Absolutely. 07:12 Many times, many times, 07:13 especially when you're in a daily relationship 07:16 as it's supposed to be, 07:18 you know, Paul mentioned that he died daily. 07:20 Yes. 07:21 And so that means that he had to learn, 07:23 he had to be in a surrendered state, 07:25 every single day. 07:27 And of course, throughout that journey, 07:29 the Lord's gonna bring things to your attention 07:31 that you weren't aware of. 07:33 And sometimes, it may be shocking, 07:35 like, "Oh, what? 07:36 Really that aspect of my life, 07:37 that aspect of my relationship, 07:39 I never really considered that it was that important 07:41 or that the Lord would want to bring that to my attention 07:44 or that that's something 07:45 that He wants to fix in my life, 07:47 that He wants to cleanse me of." 07:49 What makes it even more dangerous though 07:51 is when you think you're in that relationship 07:55 and you are in that saving relationship, 07:57 and you hear Christians say I'm saved, 07:59 and they take that particular concept 08:04 and they run with it. 08:05 And they don't realize, 08:07 they don't allow Christ to show them. 08:10 And a couple of passages that come to mind. 08:12 I'm thinking of, you know, it's interesting 08:14 'cause Christ began His ministry 08:16 with making this point. 08:18 And He would end His ministry prior to being crucified, 08:22 also making the same point. 08:24 And I'm thinking of Matthew 7:21-23. 08:27 This is the Sermon on the Mount. 08:29 So this is Christ 08:30 beginning His ministry, of course, 08:31 this will be His first ever recorded sermon in scripture. 08:37 And notice what Jesus says here, 08:39 and this is, again, kind of asking the question, 08:41 can we get so busy doing good things 08:43 which reiterating what you would ask. 08:44 That's perfect. 08:46 In the name of God that we forget 08:47 to do the greatest thing 08:48 maintain an intimate relationship with the Lord. 08:51 And it is possible, and we see that it's possible, 08:54 and this kind of brings in the question also is, 08:56 is it possible that I think 08:59 that I'm saved when really I'm not. 09:00 Is it possible that I think everything's okay 09:02 when really, you know what, 09:04 I need to do some self-examination 09:06 and allow Christ to show me. 09:07 This group of people that Christ is talking about 09:09 here in verses 21 through 23 of Matthew 7 09:13 is vitally important 09:14 because it shows us 09:16 the need of surrendering to Christ daily, 09:19 so that He can show us. 09:21 Notice this group here, it says, of course, 09:22 it's Christ speaking, He says, 09:23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' 09:25 shall enter the kingdom of heaven, 09:27 but he who does the will of my Father," 09:29 which is in heaven. 09:30 And then he describes a particular group of people 09:33 that respond to Him, He says, 09:34 "Many will say to Me in that day, 09:35 'Lord, Lord,' 09:37 have we not prophesied in Your name, 09:38 cast out demons in Your name, 09:40 and done many wonders in Your name?" 09:41 So this group of people saying, 09:43 "Hey, Jesus, wait a second, you know me. 09:45 You know, I'm that person that sit in church every week, 09:46 I paid my tithe, 09:48 that was a deacon in the local church 09:49 or I was in altar, 09:51 I was involved in this group and that group 09:52 and this small group study." 09:54 You know, these group of people, 09:56 they're recognizing that they were fully convinced. 09:59 I'm in a saving relationship with Jesus. 10:01 But notice what Christ says in verse 23. 10:03 He says, "And then I will declare to them, 10:04 I never knew you,' 10:06 depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." 10:09 And I'm not gonna read this text, 10:11 but I'm referencing also 10:13 the very last kind of mini sermon 10:16 that Jesus would give to His disciples 10:18 a top the Mount of Olives, 10:20 about a week before He went to the cross. 10:23 In the end, we're talking about the Olivet Discourse, 10:25 where Christ is sitting atop the Mount of Olives, 10:27 He's come out of the temple, 10:29 He's having this private meeting 10:30 with His disciples. 10:31 Then He's pouring through the signs of the times, 10:33 He's telling them what to be aware of. 10:34 And then when we transition 10:36 from Matthew 24 into Matthew 25, 10:38 He starts to tell a parable of these Ten Virgins. 10:42 And of course, these Ten Virgins, 10:43 you have five wise, five foolish, 10:45 they all have their lamps. 10:47 They've got their lamps, you know, 10:49 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet 10:50 and a light unto my path." 10:52 They have their lamps, 10:53 but five of them were fully convinced 10:55 "I've got my lamp, I'm going out in faith 10:57 to meet the bridegroom," but they lack the oil. 11:00 And it wasn't until the midnight cry went out 11:03 that they realized, "Uh-oh, I don't have enough oil." 11:05 And really at that point, 11:08 they should have had enough oil. 11:09 It was a little too late at that point but nonetheless, 11:11 I think these are biblical examples 11:13 that answer this question, Shelley... 11:14 Absolutely. 11:15 That we can't be going along in our relationship 11:19 and thinking that everything's okay, 11:21 when everything's really not. 11:22 And that's where we have to... 11:24 I love the title of this. 11:25 Keep a finger on our spiritual pulse 11:27 because if we're dying daily, 11:29 and we're in a daily relationship with Jesus, 11:32 then that means each and every day, 11:33 I'm in prayer saying 11:35 "Christ, not my will but yours..." 11:37 Amen. 11:39 "Whatever it is, that's in my life, 11:40 Lord, please help me surrender." 11:41 And I think we have all experienced those times 11:45 when we get so busy doing good 11:47 that we're forgetting the greatest thing. 11:50 So let's talk about how do we know, 11:54 how do we keep a finger on our spiritual pulse. 11:57 Now the very first thing that comes to my mind 12:00 is check your priorities. 12:03 You know, because what we esteem 12:07 is what we spend our time on. 12:09 That's right. 12:10 So, Francine, 12:12 why don't you read Matthew 6:33, 12:17 Matthew 6:33. 12:19 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness 12:23 and all these things shall be added to you." 12:26 And it reminds me also, sometimes, I'm thinking of 12:30 I know Jason's more in the business world, 12:31 but every company or even every school 12:34 that I've been to, 12:35 we always want a mission or some kind of goal to set. 12:40 And when you do that, 12:43 everything hopefully that you do 12:44 in your company or the school 12:47 or whatever you're setting, 12:48 for example, in 3ABN, goes toward that mission. 12:52 And so if you have that light 12:54 of what is your focus for Jesus, 12:57 then hopefully everything that you do throughout the day 13:01 is going toward that goal. 13:03 Amen. That's right. 13:04 Amen. That's really good. 13:05 You would assume that our chief purpose in life, 13:10 even for our existence 13:13 is seeking first the Kingdom of God. 13:16 But how many times do... 13:19 Hey, we never point, I never point fingers. 13:22 Because we've all been through it all I think 13:25 but I mean, there are days that I wake up late, 13:29 actually, today was one, and you hit the floor running 13:33 and you go, go, go, go and you think, 13:35 "Okay, Lord, I don't have time for my devotional. 13:38 I've got to get ready, get to work on time." 13:41 And then you get to work, 13:42 and of course, we're very blessed here 13:44 'cause we get to start our days with a devotional. 13:47 But guess what, today wasn't a time 13:51 that we got to start with a devotional. 13:54 And so all of a sudden you find yourself 13:57 just into the rhythm of the day 13:59 and all the things that are required, 14:02 and it's not till you get home 14:04 and you're going "Oh, Lord, forgive me." 14:06 And you feel like you're giving God leftovers. 14:09 Anybody ever been through that? 14:11 Absolutely. 14:12 And so it happens to everyone. 14:15 And there's something even that I told J.D. 14:17 and particularly the Lord's been bringing it 14:20 to my attention lately. 14:21 He's the most important person on earth to me 14:25 yet I can get so busy working 14:28 that I'm robbing Him of time 14:31 and the Lord's been showing me I need more balance in my life. 14:35 So when I say what we esteem we spend time with, 14:39 there we can become so intimate with someone 14:44 that you can think 14:46 "Oh, okay, I can spend my time doing this 14:48 because this is secure." 14:51 Some people end up getting a divorce because of that, 14:53 but also some people 14:55 who are like these the Ten Virgins 14:58 who aren't surrendered to the Lord. 14:59 Yeah, I think, you know, 15:01 this western American culture that we live in 15:04 has kind of set us up for defeat in that area. 15:08 Because in the culture that we live in, you know, 15:13 trying to attempt to achieve the American dream is... 15:18 Push yourself, work, work, 15:19 work hard, hard, hard, as hard as you can, 15:22 to, you know, reach those goals, 15:24 you know, to be that person you want to be. 15:26 And there's nothing wrong with those things. 15:28 I think we all should have goals, 15:29 we all should love our jobs. 15:30 And, you know, the Bible said 15:32 "You don't work, you don't eat." 15:33 And so we have to work, working is important. 15:35 But I think in this western American culture 15:37 that we live in, you know, 15:38 sometimes talking about priorities, 15:40 we instead of seeking first the Kingdom of God 15:43 at the top, you know, it's kind of, you know, 15:46 it may be, you know, 15:47 family first or maybe job first and then family 15:50 and then relationships and then, you know, 15:52 church and the mission of the church, 15:54 and God's work and the Kingdom of God 15:55 kind of gets shoved down at the bottom, you know, 15:58 if I have any time left over in the week, 15:59 you know, I might go to prayer meeting 16:01 if I feel okay or I might go to church this week 16:04 if I feel like it, if I'm not too tired. 16:06 And so just an example, you know. 16:08 I think when we put that list right side up, 16:11 and then we put Jesus first and His mission and His kingdom 16:13 and the work of the church, 16:15 you know, in a responsible perspective, 16:18 then everything else as He said, it will be added, 16:20 everything else will fall in line 16:22 as it's supposed to. 16:23 And I'm gonna take it one step further 16:25 because I always have Kingdom work first, 16:29 that's where he gets ignored sometimes. 16:32 I think, 16:34 if you're gonna keep a finger on your spiritual pulse, 16:37 they say prayer is the breath of the soul. 16:39 Right. 16:40 I mean, if you're not starting your day 16:42 in serious prayer, and not just a list of, 16:47 you know, like you're thinking he is running a casino 16:52 and you're on the slot machine, 16:54 "Lord, I need this, this, 16:55 and this today or do this or that." 16:57 That's not what I'm talking about. 16:58 If we're not seeking His face, 17:02 that intimate relationship, 17:05 I mean, to me that's when... 17:07 If your prayer life is suffering, 17:10 let me tell you, your spiritual pulse is weak. 17:13 So, J.D, why don't you read Psalms 62:8? 17:18 Psalms 62, because as we go through priorities, 17:21 and how do we stay within the parameters 17:24 of the priorities that we're setting 17:26 as a believing child of God, 17:29 and I believe that it probably starts with prayer. 17:32 And when you think of prayer, you think of David, okay, 17:35 'cause David was just... 17:37 How many books in David? 17:39 150? 17:40 In Psalms? How many Psalms? 17:42 Yes. Yeah. 17:43 So, I mean, lots of prayer there. 17:45 Here in Psalms 62:8, 17:48 "Trust in Him," capital H, 17:50 "trust in Jesus at all times, you people. 17:54 Pour out your heart before Him, 17:56 because God is indeed a refuge for us." 17:59 Amen. Amen. 18:01 So what does it mean 18:02 to pour out your heart before the Lord? 18:05 I would say to give up everything. 18:07 Just to focus on Him. 18:09 You know, I think of Matthew 7:24 18:13 talks about building your life on the rock. 18:16 Amen. 18:18 And when we can do that, that's when, you know, 18:20 we're grounded on something that is solid. 18:23 And, you know, we can move forward. 18:27 You know, I also look at... 18:29 In my life, I love analytics. 18:33 And I go through my whole day. 18:35 And at the end of the day, 18:36 I look at all the things that I could have done better. 18:40 And I analyze those things. 18:42 And then I pray, I'm like, 18:44 "Okay, Lord, tomorrow help me with those kind of things." 18:50 But I find that when I step back, 18:54 that has happened to me in that day 18:58 and those things that I could have done better. 19:01 I ask the Lord, you know, 19:03 "Give me those attributes or give me those things 19:05 that maybe I could have done better with." 19:08 You know, so sometimes stepping back 19:10 and searching your own life, and all the activities 19:13 and all the things that you've done in your life, 19:15 and then focusing on Jesus and saying, 19:17 "Hey, you know, I need to be on the rock. 19:21 I need to be focused on Jesus 19:22 and what He's done in my life and all the attributes 19:25 that He can give me to do better." 19:28 But I always and I always fall 19:32 when I think that I can do it. 19:36 And that's when Jesus... 19:37 You know, that's what's so awesome with Jesus. 19:39 He will never force us 19:41 into doing something that, we... 19:45 You know, we want to do stuff, but sometimes by letting go, 19:48 the Lord can take over. 19:50 But when I say "I can do it." 19:52 Right. 19:54 That's when the Lord said okay, 19:55 He backs off and then He allows us to fall 20:00 and then we get up. 20:01 And as long as we can stand on the rock 20:04 and realize that we have messed up, 20:07 that's when we can go 20:08 to that next rung in that ladder 20:10 and climb to that next step in a relationship with Jesus. 20:13 That's right. 20:15 If my people who are called by my name 20:17 will humble themselves and pray. 20:20 But now, let me ask you something 20:21 I recently... 20:23 Well, actually, today, I was talking with someone, 20:25 and I told them, I just learned 20:27 that I'm going to have to have surgery 20:29 on four vertebrae at once, which is, I mean, 20:32 some serious major back surgery. 20:35 You know, what the most interesting thing. 20:37 When I got the news, part of it was expected, 20:41 the rest of it was not expected. 20:43 And it was like, 20:45 "Ah" and I just cocooned. 20:52 I became like a recluse, and when I was... 20:55 I could pray for other people, but I couldn't pray for myself. 20:59 Does that make sense? 21:00 You know, there are times 'cause we don't want to... 21:02 When we're sitting here, 21:04 I think pouring out our heart to God, 21:07 He knows our fears, 21:09 He knows when we don't want to do something. 21:11 And sometimes even I'll say to Him, 21:13 "Lord, you got to make me willing, 21:15 I'm willing to be made willing, 21:17 but I really don't want to do this." 21:19 That's right. 21:20 But this was a time when it was like, 21:23 I just kept saying, 21:26 "Lord, don't let me make a mistake 21:27 here in the decision." 21:29 That's all I could say, but I couldn't pray anymore. 21:32 There are times that we become like a paralytic, 21:35 be paralytic. 21:37 And when we can't pray for ourselves, 21:39 we need to go to others. 21:40 Oh, absolutely. 21:42 And say, "I need a stretcher bearer." 21:44 And if you will pray for me 21:48 'cause sometimes, other people 21:50 when you've been hit with some news, 21:52 maybe that is just shocking to you, 21:54 you need somebody else 21:57 to help you get to the throne of God. 21:59 That's true. 22:00 Someone just recently... 22:02 This is powerful on the note you're talking about 22:03 because someone just recently sent me a link 22:05 to an inter... 22:07 Well, it's kind of an interview 22:08 but more or less say a testimony of a lady. 22:11 And in this testimony, it's powerful. 22:15 Long story short, 22:16 this lady basically ends up in the hospital 22:18 with a strong bacteria in her bloodstream. 22:21 And she was on the verge of dying 22:23 and she knew it. 22:24 And she was calling everyone in her church, 22:27 everyone she knew, 22:29 "Please, please send up a prayer for me, 22:30 please send up a prayer for me." 22:32 Even herself all night long, laying in that bed 22:34 getting sicker and sicker, praying, praying, praying, 22:36 praying the Lord. 22:37 Eventually this led her 22:38 to this kind of this rock-bottom moment 22:42 where she was kind of almost delirious, 22:44 but at the same time calling out to the Lord saying, 22:46 "Lord, why aren't You hearing me? 22:48 Why aren't You answering my prayer? 22:49 Why aren't You answering? 22:50 Lord, I'm pleading, I'm calling, I'm Your servant, 22:52 I'm asking You to answer my prayer 22:54 but You're silent. 22:55 You're not hearing me, You're not answering me." 22:57 And then she goes to this moment 22:59 where she believes the Lord spoke to her, 23:01 told her, "I'm gonna heal you, 23:02 but it's not because of your prayers. 23:04 It's because there's another person praying for you. 23:06 I'm gonna heal you 23:08 because someone else is praying for you. 23:09 Amen. 23:10 And through this experience, 23:12 this woman had a revival like no other. 23:14 And I think sometimes we have to keep in mind 23:16 that, you know, 23:17 there are people in the Bible, there's examples in the Bible 23:19 were strong men and women in the Lord, 23:22 you know, they found themselves in circumstances 23:24 where they, I'm sure they prayed. 23:25 I could imagine the many years that Joseph spent in jail, 23:29 every single day, "Lord, save me. 23:31 Lord, save me. Lord, save me." 23:33 You know, most of us would probably give up 23:35 after a week or a month or two months, 23:37 and he's in there for years. 23:38 And you can imagine day in and day out, 23:40 "Lord, save me. 23:41 Lord, save me." 23:42 And he could have eventually, you know, threw in the towel 23:44 and say, "Well, I guess, the Lord's just... 23:45 He's given up on me," but He didn't. 23:48 Think of Job, Job went through. 23:50 He could have easily get through 23:51 no throwing in the towel, and said, 23:53 "You know what, the Lord's not hearing me, 23:54 He's ignoring me, He's silent." 23:56 But he isn't. The Lord hears our prayers. 23:58 But sometimes the Lord will answer a prayer 24:01 through someone else to reach us. 24:03 Let me piggyback. 24:05 Let's go back to that Psalms 62:8 24:07 and follow the story 24:08 that you just told on that lady. 24:11 "Trust in him at all times, trust in Jesus at all times. 24:15 Pour out your heart," 24:17 the lady's pouring out her heart before Him, 24:20 "and then God is the refuge." 24:22 That's right. 24:23 We don't have any idea how, you know... 24:26 Great story and the tie in there 24:28 and that's what we all need to do. 24:30 You know, trust in Him at all times. 24:34 It doesn't get any better than that 24:36 if you can understand the hope, 24:38 the eager expectation of when you're going, 24:40 "Lord, I trust in You. 24:42 You're the one that has the plan." 24:44 And you're the one that's from the beginning. 24:46 Yeah. 24:47 But don't stop pouring out your heart to Him 24:50 because now we're cooperating with each other. 24:53 And then the creator what He does best, 24:57 then recreates. 24:58 But, you know, and we've got to remember 25:00 that pouring out our heart, 25:02 I mean, there's nothing wrong 25:03 with having showing our emotions in prayer. 25:05 Now first of all, 25:07 God knows everything we're thinking, right? 25:09 But I think that Psalms 27:8 is one of my favorite verses 25:13 because there was a time that God was teaching me 25:16 to press into His presence 25:18 and, and like David, 25:20 what I heard was seek my face. 25:23 In Psalms 28:7, or Psalms 27:8, 25:29 David said to the Lord, 25:31 "When you said, 'Seek my face'" 25:34 this is God speaking to David. 25:36 "Seek my face." 25:39 He said, "My heart said to you, 25:41 'your face, Lord, I will seek.'" 25:43 And what that means is, 25:46 this is a complete turning to the Lord in devotion, 25:50 not looking for what God can do for you 25:55 but to get to know God. 25:57 That's right. 25:58 And, you know, for me in one way that... 26:02 How do you seek His face? 26:03 What I would do is I would pray. 26:06 And then I'd say, now, Lord... 26:09 John 17:17 says that "You sanctify me by Your word." 26:13 So sanctify me by this word. 26:15 Speak to me through your word." 26:17 And then I would read 26:18 and I pray over the scripture to the Lord. 26:21 So seeking God's face is to get to understand His love, 26:26 and His plan better, don't you think? 26:27 That's right. 26:29 Also on that same note, you know, 26:30 the face of the Lord, I think, the Moses, 26:32 you know, Moses wanted to see God. 26:34 Yeah. That's exactly... 26:35 He was able to see God's body on a couple of accounts, 26:38 but he was never able to look upon the face of God 26:40 because of God's glory. 26:42 And of course, the glory within the face of God 26:44 would represent His character, His righteousness. 26:46 And so when we seek God's face, 26:48 we're seeking His perfect character, 26:50 His righteousness. 26:51 And I love what you said there, we don't want to be seeking... 26:53 There's a song I sing, 26:54 you know, with all my heart and in the lyrics it says, 26:57 "You faithfully supply my need according to Your plan 27:00 so help me, Lord, 27:01 to seek your face before I seek your hand." 27:03 Amen. 27:05 Because a lot of times 27:06 we're in this constant perpetual state of 27:08 "Lord, give me, give me, give me. 27:09 Lord, help me, help me, help me." 27:11 And the Lord does want to give to us 27:12 and He does want to help us. 27:14 But before He always provides, 27:16 the most important thing is that we're transformed. 27:19 And so His face would be of course that knowing factor, 27:22 that personal relationship. 27:23 But looking up on the face of God, 27:26 seeking the face of God is seeking His righteousness, 27:28 His perfect character. 27:30 And I think praying with thanks... 27:32 I begin my prayer with thanksgiving and praise. 27:35 Actually, I would say 50 percent to 70 percent 27:39 of my prayers, thanksgiving and praise. 27:42 And I think that is bringing you 27:44 into where you're really seeing the face of God. 27:47 You know, I've actually experienced that 27:49 I had a pastor where I was working with, 27:52 and we're going through... 27:54 Both of us we're going through some trials. 27:56 And, you know, he told me one morning he goes, 27:59 "You know, we just need to praise God. 28:02 Spend a few minutes just praising God." 28:05 And so I actually started doing that. 28:06 It was amazing, the transformation, 28:08 just in my own mind. 28:10 When, you know, I started, you know... 28:13 And it's not like, "Well, I praise the Lord." 28:15 But it's, you know, outright saying, 28:18 I praise You, to You be all the glory. 28:22 And to praise God in the way that will give glory to Him, 28:26 which, you know, we're denying ourselves, 28:27 we're denying anything, 28:29 but we're realizing 28:30 that without Jesus, we're nothing. 28:32 But then when we focus, and our mission is on Jesus, 28:38 and we start today with just praising God. 28:42 And I can attest you that when I did this, 28:46 and I did it for about three to four minutes 28:48 while I was walking to work. 28:50 And I had this armor. 28:53 Amen. 28:54 It felt like that when people were doing things 28:57 and saying things and acting inappropriate, 29:02 it didn't bother me. 29:03 And, you know, you get through the day... 29:05 And yeah, at the end of the day, 29:06 you felt like you've been, 29:07 you know, you went through a war, 29:09 and you felt tired and all that burden, 29:12 but you were able to get through that day, 29:15 with that start of the day of just praising God 29:18 for all that He has done for us, 29:20 and the glory that is His. 29:22 Well, you know, when you're praising God 29:24 for His faithfulness, for His mercy, 29:26 for His power, it's like, 29:27 suddenly you're remembering who He really, really is. 29:30 That's right. 29:32 But also, one thing that I praise God 29:34 and thank Him for all the time 29:35 is that salvation is a gift. 29:40 And, you know... 29:41 And I'm always telling Him, "Lord, I thank you 29:43 because I know I can never save myself." 29:46 That is for me growing up 29:49 in the pattern in which I grew up. 29:53 I tried so hard to save myself for 50 years, 29:55 and it was just... 29:57 I got so discouraged from time to time. 29:59 But when I really understood God's grace, 30:02 and that I don't obey to be saved, 30:05 I obey because I am saved, 30:07 I obey because I love Him. 30:09 It's just... 30:10 It's how I express my love to Him. 30:12 That made all the difference in the world. 30:14 You know, this certainly brings up 1 Thessalonians 5:17. 30:17 Yes, amen. 30:19 Because we are in prayer, we go to Him, 30:20 we pour out our voices to Him, 30:23 you know, and 1 Thessalonians 5:17 30:25 is "Pray without ceasing, but our love..." 30:27 You have to start with 16, don't you? 30:29 Yeah. 30:32 Rejoice always, 30:33 as you were just saying, you know. 30:35 I mean, I remember when someone... 30:37 You mentioned that to me, 30:39 thanking Him and praising and all things, 30:41 and I did the same thing. 30:43 And, boy, that was a aha moment. 30:45 That next whatever and even to this day, 30:47 "Thank You, Jesus." 30:49 I don't know what's coming but this is what threw me 30:52 because I never really saw the end. 30:55 It's "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, 30:57 give thanks in all things." 31:00 I just always can't think for all things, 31:02 you know, if it's in all things. 31:04 And man, that's good times bad times. 31:06 And that's hard. 31:07 You bet it's hard. 31:08 I mean, when you're in the hard times, 31:10 you know, I don't feel like praising God... 31:12 Yeah. In those times. 31:14 But I find that when we do that 31:16 when we give up ourselves and we're like, 31:19 "Okay, let's just take that Bible verse 31:21 and let's put it to the test." 31:23 It's amazing how God can transform our lives and, 31:28 you know, and protects us. 31:30 You know, I also look at this also... 31:32 As I ask the question, 31:35 I like asking my question, 31:36 why, why do I do the things I do? 31:40 You know, for what purpose? 31:41 What is... 31:42 You know, as we're talking about 31:44 what is your mission, what's your goals. 31:46 And when I look at Jesus, 31:48 and I look at everything that He has done for me, 31:52 it's all about relational. 31:53 Amen. 31:55 And I do it because number one, I want to be closer to Jesus. 31:59 And I do that because I know 32:02 that there is nothing in my life 32:04 that's really good of myself. 32:06 Amen. 32:07 But it's all because of what Jesus has did for me. 32:09 And He created me for a purpose. 32:13 And He created each one of us for a purpose. 32:16 That's why, you know, 32:18 I look at the fruits of the spirit saying, 32:20 "Okay, I need those attributes 32:22 because we're all brothers and sisters, 32:25 and we need to treat everyone 32:27 with love and respect and have patience." 32:30 And not, you know, 32:31 some people may need more patience 32:33 than others and, 32:35 or I may need more patience, you know, you know. 32:38 So it's... 32:40 And, you know, I'm talking about myself 32:41 because I see a lot of things 32:43 that in my life I need to improve on. 32:46 But I know that I'm doing this 32:48 because I want a relationship with Jesus. 32:51 And the bonus, the goal, 32:54 the final thing is being with Him for eternity. 32:57 Amen. 32:58 So if we're checking our spiritual pulse, 33:03 we start by looking at what are our priorities. 33:07 Sometimes we need to reprioritize things. 33:11 And of course, 33:15 prayer should be one of our top priorities. 33:17 If you love somebody, you want to talk with them. 33:20 But now, prayer is more of a... 33:23 it's actually a two way conversation 33:25 if you learn to listen for His voice. 33:28 But how this God primarily speak to us? 33:32 So I would put that on our second, I mean... 33:37 Our third rink here is reading God's word. 33:41 So you want to read Matthew 4:4, Francine? 33:45 Yeah. Mathew 4:4. Let me get to it. 33:48 Let's see. 33:54 I like that Bible with you. 33:55 I like it. It's nice and big. 33:57 That's a big print. 33:59 "But He answered and said..." 34:00 Am I in the right place? That's it. 34:02 Okay, "It is written, 34:04 Man shall not live by bread alone, 34:06 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 34:09 So what's going on in this scene? 34:13 Well, Jesus is being tempted by the devil of brethrens. 34:15 And by the devil. Yeah. 34:17 And so Jesus is applying a primary example here to us 34:22 because He is our example. 34:24 Peter tells us that He's our example, 34:26 that, you know, 34:28 where Jesus is showing us here that 34:29 when the devil comes along, 34:31 and he brings that temptation, 34:33 that He like Himself, 34:35 we should also follow in His steps 34:37 to defend ourselves 34:39 or to allow the Word of God to defend us 34:41 and declaring the promises 34:42 and the powerful words of the Word of God. 34:45 And so... 34:46 When He says that, we live by this, 34:50 if the Bible is our spiritual nourishment, 34:54 what kind of pulse do you have 34:55 if you're not doing some kind of daily Bible study? 34:59 Probably not much of one 35:01 because you're spiritually malnourished. 35:03 At least that's the concept of it, 35:05 you know, we have to feed on the Word of God. 35:07 I think of the sanctuary, 35:10 the sanctuary is the perfect laid out 35:12 beautiful blueprint plan of salvation. 35:15 And that table of showbread was there for a purpose. 35:19 The priesthood would eat on that bread daily, 35:23 and it was a part of their daily experience 35:26 in the sanctuary. 35:27 And that is an example to us that just as Christ 35:30 is the bread of life, 35:31 we should feast on Him daily in His Word. 35:34 I think of also Isaiah 8:20, which says 35:37 "And to the law and to the prophets," 35:39 if they speak, you know... 35:40 It should be that a law and the testimony 35:42 if they speak not according to this word, 35:44 it is because there is no light in them, 35:45 there's heavy emphasis placed on the importance 35:48 and significance of the Word of God in our life. 35:51 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. 35:55 So you have a daughter, Amanda. 35:59 And I know that this is something 36:00 that you're teaching and training her up 36:03 is to have this daily Bible study. 36:06 And it's interesting when she takes the time 36:08 and shows that interest and she reads to us on a, 36:11 you know, and she's getting excited. 36:14 I mean, that is again, 36:16 a little bit of the fruit of the Spirit. 36:17 But, you know, 36:19 when I see the bread coming in, we take that in 36:22 and it gives us the nourishment that we need. 36:25 And I like how you said, 36:26 you know, daily check your pulse 36:28 because the blood is giving all this nourishment 36:32 to the different organs, every part of your body. 36:35 And just like the Holy Spirit 36:37 is giving all these different attributes 36:40 of who God is, 36:41 and focusing on all these little areas is 36:44 if you do spend time in prayer, 36:46 if you do try to study God's Word, 36:49 all of these things are again feeding 36:52 into what is going to help you grow spiritually. 36:55 And so it just reminds me again, about... 36:58 It's not just the body, 37:00 but that is a good connection of an example 37:02 of who God is trying to show His character. 37:05 Seems to me like He's reminding us. 37:08 He says, "Yes, being human beings, 37:10 we all need bread, we all need food to sustain us. 37:14 But there's something more important that 37:18 if you want to spend 37:21 a joy filled life for eternity, 37:26 well, then you might pay attention to my words. 37:31 Amen. 37:32 And that's a... 37:37 That's heavy. You know what... 37:39 Because it's stepping out in faith now. 37:41 You know, I mean, 37:43 I can see this loaf of bread here 37:44 and I know boy, I hear my stomach growling. 37:47 And I know about take that and put it here. 37:49 That's just going to satisfy me. 37:51 But, boy, now you're talking about eternity 37:54 and talking about a relationship 37:56 where I have love, joy, peace, 37:57 longsuffering instead, etcetera. 38:00 Wow! I do want that. 38:04 And so that means, well, it's available to you. 38:07 That's right. 38:08 You know, I look at this verse, 38:10 and I see the bread as substance for the body. 38:15 But when it really comes down to the tug of war in life, 38:19 is all about the mind. 38:20 Amen. 38:22 You know, because the devil wants to take your mind 38:24 and pollute it, but Jesus says, "Take My words 38:27 because that's gonna illuminate your minds." 38:30 And it's your mind that, you know, 38:33 what you think is what you're gonna do. 38:36 And so by focusing on the words of the Bible, 38:41 as you were saying, 38:43 that's where we're gonna get the strength, 38:45 we're gonna get the endurance, 38:46 and we're gonna get the peace of mind 38:48 knowing that we're on that rock, 38:50 and we have that power 38:52 and the illumination that God's before us. 38:55 That's right. 38:57 The heart in the Bible is often reference 39:00 to the mind obviously not so, 39:02 you know, give your, you know, love the Lord 39:04 with all your heart, mind, and soul. 39:06 You're not obviously the Bible's not talking 39:07 about your aortic pump in your chest, 39:09 but it's often a reference to the mind. 39:11 And so I think of that scripture, 39:13 the Psalm is right. 39:14 David writes, you know, 39:15 "Thy word I had hid in my heart 39:17 that I might not sin against You." 39:18 And so we're not... 39:19 It's important, as you're stating that, 39:21 you know, Christ... 39:23 You know, let this mind be in you. 39:25 So it's spiritual nourishment for eternity, 39:28 but it is also our defensive weapon. 39:30 I mean, this is the sword of the Spirit. 39:32 The word is the sword of the Spirit. 39:34 And that's how we, it is written. 39:38 This is how we can fend off the devil's rise. 39:43 And it's not an offensive weapon, 39:46 it's a defensive weapon. 39:48 You put on the full armor of God 39:50 because you're trying to be defended 39:52 from the devil's attacks. 39:54 And many people try to use this as an offensive weapon. 39:57 But God never meant for us 39:58 to be used as an offensive weapon, 40:00 but a defensive weapon. 40:01 Defending the devil. Okay. 40:03 Priorities, prayer, the Bible. 40:07 And I have to say, 40:08 if you go a day without reading the Bible, 40:12 I mean, it's not like 40:13 God's up there with His checklist 40:15 saying, "Uh-oh, Ryan didn't read today, 40:18 put a little X by this day." 40:22 This is practical and good advice. 40:27 And we want to be doers that they would not hear us only. 40:31 This is for our eternal benefit. 40:34 But I think it is only as we pray in getting the word 40:39 that we can really be walking in surrender, 40:43 and boy that is, 40:44 you know, bottom line is 40:46 if you want to check your spiritual pulse, 40:48 are you walking in spirits? 40:51 J.D, you want to read Luke 9:23? 40:54 Luke 9:23. Yes, sir. 40:57 Matthew, Mark, Luke, here we are. 40:59 Luke, right here, 9:23, 9:23. 41:04 "And then He said to them all, 41:07 'If anyone desires to come after Me, 41:10 let him deny himself, 41:12 take up his cross daily, and follow Me.' 41:15 " Now walking in surrender. 41:17 You know, that scripture has always been a powerful... 41:22 There is a book I read a few years ago called 41:25 "Not a Fan." 41:28 And the whole book is talking about 41:29 how there's a difference between a fan and a follower. 41:33 And many of us are fans of Jesus. 41:36 We know a lot about Him. 41:38 We're willing to profess His name. 41:40 We're willing to tell others that He's our Lord. 41:43 But really, the experience 41:45 that we're experiencing in Christ 41:47 is more or less a fan experience 41:49 rather than a follower 41:50 because we're willing to stand on the sidelines 41:52 and cheer for Him from the stands. 41:54 But are we willing to follow Him? 41:56 And that the key verse 41:58 throughout this book that is built, 41:59 that this whole book and the purpose of this book 42:02 is built on is Luke 9:23. 42:04 And I love how Jesus starts with, 42:06 "If you desire to come after Me, 42:08 you have to do what first?" 42:09 Deny yourself. 42:11 When you learn to deny yourself, 42:13 then you prepare yourself 42:14 to be placed upon the altar of sacrifice. 42:17 In other words, 42:19 pick up your instrument of death and follow me 42:23 because when Christ was speaking 42:24 of taking up His cross, 42:26 He's not speaking of it 42:27 in the modern western cultural sense of, 42:29 you know, we look at a cross today, 42:30 and we just smile, 42:32 and it's just such a great symbol of hope, 42:33 because of what we see it in hindsight, 42:36 looking back. 42:37 But in His day to go up to someone and say, 42:40 you know, take up your cross 42:42 would be like us telling someone, 42:44 you know, stab yourself in the chest 42:46 with a knife or, you know, 42:47 go grab a noose and, 42:49 you know, hang yourself from a tree. 42:50 That's horrible imagery, but nonetheless, 42:52 that's what Christ was saying. 42:54 Yeah, because they knew in that day 42:55 when they said pick up your cross, 42:57 if you picked up your cross, 42:58 you were gonna go be crucified. 43:00 So, you know, this is when Paul says 43:02 "I die daily." 43:03 He's talking about picking up this cross daily, 43:06 dying to self. 43:07 This isn't... 43:08 I remember once I was in Roswell, New Mexico, 43:10 and I was doing this series, 43:11 and I was talking about how Paul said, 43:14 "I'm crucified with Christ, I'm crucified to the world, 43:17 the world to me, picking up Your cross." 43:19 And this woman came to me afterwards and said, 43:22 "Well, that's just the harshest sermon I've ever heard. 43:26 All this dying to self stuff, and being crucified." 43:30 And I said, "You know, this is how, by dying to self, 43:35 we can only be filled with the Holy Spirit 43:37 to that griever emptied himself. 43:40 So it's as Romans 8:13 says, 43:45 that if you live according to the flesh, 43:46 what's gonna happen? 43:48 You die. 43:49 You're gonna die. 43:51 But if by the power of the Holy Spirit, 43:55 you put to death the mistakes of the flesh, 43:57 you're gonna live. 43:58 So let me say one point on that. 44:01 You and I can't put to death the misdeeds of our flesh, 44:05 not by ourselves. 44:07 It's because Romans 8:13 says, 44:09 "If you, by the power of the Holy Spirit 44:14 put to death misdeeds of your flesh," 44:17 you can't do it on your own. 44:18 And the Holy Spirit's not gonna do it without you. 44:21 So that is where we... 44:24 When we talk about surrender it's yielding to His leading. 44:29 And it's only as we yield to Him, 44:34 and let Him lead, 44:36 that we can die to our selfish desires. 44:38 And there's nothing frightening about it 44:40 'cause God always gives us some banner. 44:42 What were you gonna say? 44:44 Well, you know, I look at this 44:46 and there's what I see in my life, 44:49 that there's no better place 44:50 than being where God wants you to be. 44:52 Amen. 44:53 And when I find myself wanting to do my will 44:57 or wanting to go in my direction, 45:00 I found that the Lord has a way of correcting that. 45:02 Yes. That's right. 45:04 And sometimes you go through situations 45:07 in your life and you're like, "Well, you know, 45:10 I thought I was going in the right direction. 45:12 But when we look at what Jesus is trying to do in our lives, 45:17 and we go in that direction, and we follow Him, 45:21 we're in a perfect spot. 45:22 I know when Francine and I, 45:24 we had to leave Michigan and we went to Washington, 45:28 you know, we left our family, 45:30 we left our jobs that we liked, 45:33 we left, you know, all the things we had 45:36 what we called our dream home, 45:38 we left all that 45:41 because we knew that the Lord was taking us 45:43 in another direction. 45:45 And I'm driving, and it was interesting 45:47 because I had all... 45:48 You know, I had my goals and Francine, 45:51 and we're at that stage, you know, young people, 45:53 we were building our lives, 45:55 and we thought we knew what was good for us. 45:59 And when we realized after three years, 46:02 we didn't really build relationships 46:04 with our neighbors, 46:05 you know, we were doing all the right things. 46:07 You know, we were elders, we were deacons, we were, 46:10 you know, doing Sabbath School in our church, 46:12 we were involved in our church, 46:13 in the conference, you know, 46:15 we're doing all these great things... 46:16 But spiritually. 46:17 But spiritually we were draining ourselves, 46:19 but we weren't getting connected with the Lord. 46:22 And we were doing all these good things. 46:24 But until we realized 46:25 that the Lord has something better for us, 46:28 and we need to focus on that, 46:30 and then move in that direction. 46:31 And when we did that, we had an amazing joy. 46:35 We wouldn't have been able to adopt our little girl 46:38 if we didn't go to Washington, you know. 46:40 So there's a lot of things when we're focusing on Jesus, 46:43 and we realize that He's guiding us 46:46 in the direction, 46:47 even though we have to give up so much, 46:50 there's so much more 46:52 that we don't realize that He's giving us. 46:54 And there's so many times that you wonder 46:56 if you had yielded to God's will more often 47:00 and not be so driven 47:02 on what you thought was the mission, 47:06 then you wonder 47:07 what other blessings God had in store 47:09 that you could have already been blessed with. 47:12 And, you know, 47:13 if you hadn't focused on yourself first 47:16 or what you thought the goal should have been. 47:19 Because I know that I see it in tithing, 47:21 I see it with so many people, 47:22 there are so many people 47:24 that they think they're doing what's right 47:25 and you want to just say, hold back, 47:28 now that I'm a little older, you think in your mind, 47:31 you could be preventing so much 47:33 and God wants to do so much for you. 47:36 You always just want to tell people sometimes, 47:39 and sometimes they just have to learn it. 47:41 Again, it's that relationship with Christ 47:43 when you get to that point. 47:44 And so I think that's why we have to pray for each other, 47:48 is lifting each other up, and those prayers 47:50 that you were talking about earlier 47:52 is because we don't know all these things 47:54 that God really has in store. 47:56 I think there's so much more that God is waiting for us on. 47:59 Amen. Absolutely, absolutely. 48:01 You mentioned earlier that, 48:02 you know, we can't do the work ourselves. 48:06 And, you know, it's hard to move 48:10 when you're nailed to a cross. 48:13 It's hard to be in control when you're nailed to a cross. 48:17 When Jesus was hanging on that cross, 48:19 He was completely vulnerable, 48:21 and in the control of other people. 48:24 And when I read Luke 9:23, 48:26 when we deny ourselves 48:27 and we take up that instrument of death, 48:30 when we hang ourselves on a cross spiritually, 48:32 obviously, when we crucify self, 48:35 we at that moment are saying, "Lord, I don't trust myself. 48:39 I'm nailed to this cross. 48:40 Lord, I don't... 48:41 I'm pining myself to this cross 48:43 because I don't trust myself 48:44 to act, to do, to decide, to make choices 48:47 and what's best in my life, 48:48 Lord, not my will but Yours." 48:50 Yeah, but see, 48:51 we can't even do that by ourselves, 48:53 if we ever gonna try to nail ourselves to the cross, 48:55 we could get one but then it's like, 48:57 "Oh, okay, how do I do this?" 48:59 So, we can't even deny self 49:03 without the Holy Spirit's help. 49:05 And that's why Paul in Ephesians 5:18 says, 49:09 always be filled with the Holy Spirit. 49:12 And I think, you know, 49:13 what we have to look at is if we're walking 49:16 under the influence of the Spirit, 49:19 the Word of God will have control in our lives. 49:23 We will confess our known sins 49:26 and the Holy Spirit will help us to recognize 49:29 when we're not pleasing to God, 49:32 we will die to self according to His will, 49:35 but we're depending upon His power. 49:37 You know, I used to try to do this 49:39 under my own power and it was so discouraging. 49:42 I actually walked away from the Lord once and said, 49:46 shaking my little finger in His face, 49:48 "You demand too much." 49:51 It was just impossible. 49:53 So in Luke 11:13 49:56 is probably one of my favorite scriptures. 49:59 J.D, why don't you read that one. 50:01 Luke 11:13. 50:04 "If you then, being evil, 50:06 know how to give good gifts to your children, 50:08 how much more will your heavenly Father 50:10 give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" 50:13 Remember, you're walking in surrender here. 50:15 So you're allowing Him to be in charge. 50:18 And so, Him being in charge, He's just saying, 50:21 "Listen, Quinn, I want to give you things 50:22 that you'd never knew that is even possible." 50:24 You know. 50:26 And, you know, when you look in Luke 11, 50:28 this is where Jesus is saying, 50:31 ask and it'll be given to you, 50:34 seek and you will find, 50:36 knock and the door will be open. 50:37 These are linear verbs. 50:39 They are constant present tense. 50:42 So He's saying, 50:43 "Keep on asking, keep on seeking, 50:47 keep on knocking." 50:49 But then He comes down to this point where He says, 50:53 "Here's what I'm telling you. 50:56 You're evil, 50:57 you know how to give good gifts to your kids, 50:58 but if you keep on asking the Father 51:02 for the Holy Spirit, 51:04 how much more is He gonna give you 51:06 that good gift, you know? 51:08 And here's what I want to say. 51:11 If you want to get a finger 51:12 on your spiritual pulse, priorities, 51:17 check your priorities. 51:19 Are you praying in a way that's a friend to friend 51:24 that you're praying to God, 51:26 pouring out your heart before Him, 51:28 seeking His face? 51:30 Are you in His word 51:31 so that you can let Him counsel you? 51:33 And are you saying, praying every day, 51:37 "Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit." 51:40 And it's not just day by day, sometimes, it's hour by hour. 51:44 That's right. 51:46 Isn't it? Yes. 51:48 'Cause I certainly know 51:49 that I have started my days surrendered 51:53 and somehow you end up not. 51:54 Of course. 51:56 Let's read 2 Corinthians 3:18. 52:01 Francine, you want to read that one? 52:03 All right. 52:05 So 2 Corinthians 3:18. 52:06 "But we all, with unveiled faces 52:09 beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, 52:13 are being transformed in the same image 52:15 from the glory to glory 52:16 just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 52:21 It's just saying it again. 52:23 Again, it's that mirror we want to reflect who Christ is. 52:26 That's right. 52:27 So you don't want them to see you, 52:29 you want them to see God. 52:31 That's what Jesus was communicating 52:32 to Nicodemus in John 3. 52:35 I love how Mrs. White, she says that 52:37 "No other place in the Bible is the gospel 52:39 put on display more clearly than in John 3." 52:42 And that conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. 52:44 Because Nicodemus is thinking fleshly, earthly. 52:48 Jesus is... 52:49 Jesus is having a vertical conversation 52:51 and Nicodemus's mind is completely horizontal. 52:54 And Jesus says, "No, it's a spiritual thing." 52:56 And if you look in that chapter, 52:58 and you look for the one thing 53:00 that Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must do, 53:03 in order to hurry the work of the Spirit in our life, 53:07 he references Numbers 21. 53:10 The story of Numbers 21. 53:11 He says, 53:13 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 53:15 so shall also the Son of Man be lifted up." 53:18 Jesus said, "I, and if I am lifted up, 53:20 I will draw all men unto myself." 53:22 You know, and sometimes we think 53:24 that us lifting up Jesus, you know, that we're... 53:27 And it is important that we uplift Jesus 53:29 for others to see but, you know, 53:31 we need to uplift Jesus every single day 53:33 so we can see Him. 53:34 Amen. That's good. 53:36 And it's very important that we understand 53:39 and by beholding we become change. 53:41 If I'm keeping my attention and my focus every single day 53:44 on the uplifted Savior, 53:46 and I'm beholding Christ 53:47 and the events that transpired on Calvary 53:49 are in my mind, as Mrs. White would say 53:52 "A thoughtful hour each day on the life of Christ, 53:54 especially the closing ones." 53:56 When we put Christ in our view, 53:59 everything falls in place where it should. 54:01 And the Holy Spirit takes us 54:03 from one level of His character to the next. 54:05 But now we've got... I just looked at the clock. 54:08 It's ticking away. 54:10 Yes, this is probably one of the best ways 54:13 to check your spiritual pulse. 54:16 J.D, John 14:15, what does Jesus say? 54:19 "Abide in me, and I am you, 54:22 as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, 54:25 unless it abides in the vine, 54:27 neither can you unless you abide in Me. 54:30 I, Jesus Am the vine, you are the branches 54:34 and who who abides in Me and I in him, 54:37 bears much fruit for without Me you can do nothing. 54:40 So that's John 15:4 and 5 that you read. 54:44 And John 14:15, Jesus said, 54:47 "If you love Me, keep my commandments." 54:51 So and, you know, we don't have time 54:53 but in that passage, John 14:15, 54:57 "If you love Me, keep my commandments." 55:00 He's saying our love is obedience, 55:02 I mean, our love is evidence by our obedience. 55:05 But it goes on in verses 15 through 17, 55:08 to say, "If you do this, 55:10 I'm gonna give you the Holy Spirit 55:11 as you're helper." 55:13 So you got supernatural help. 55:14 And in verses 18 through 19, 55:16 He says, you're gonna have a supernatural life. 55:18 And verse 20 through 25, supernatural union, 55:22 and 27 through 31, 55:24 you're gonna know supernatural peace. 55:27 So if you want to keep a finger in your spiritual pulse, 55:31 producing fruit, what you just read, 55:34 what is He saying in John 15:4 and 5? 55:37 What does it mean to abide in Christ? 55:40 Be part of him, 55:42 be an extension of him, you know. 55:44 And it's a dwelling thing, isn't it? 55:46 Most certainly. 55:47 It's a settling thing. 55:48 It's basically giving up your time 55:50 to have that relationship with Him, 55:52 and it's through prayer, reading His word, 55:54 you know, thinking on all that He has done for us, 55:58 I mean, it's a full package. 56:00 Amen. 56:02 What I like is on John 15:7, 56:07 it says, "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, 56:11 you shall ask what you will 56:12 and it shall be given unto you." 56:14 I mean, that's amazing promise. 56:15 But it's not, you know, what we want, 56:17 but it's what we believe the Lord wants us to do 56:21 when He will give it to us 56:22 as long as we're focusing on Him. 56:24 Praise the lord. Amen. Okay. 56:26 I think that I should coming to Him 56:27 with an unveiled face. 56:29 That's right. Amen. 56:30 I can't believe our time's all gone 56:32 'cause I know we can really expound on this. 56:35 But let's just kind of recap. 56:37 If you want to keep a finger on your spiritual pulse, 56:41 then we want to check our priorities and see, 56:44 "Are we seeking God first?" 56:46 We want to make sure we're staying in prayer 56:49 that that is a persistent and regular prayer, 56:52 that we're reading God's word, 56:54 that we are walking in surrender, 56:56 walking in obedience, bearing fruit, 57:01 fruit of the spirit and the fruit of activity, 57:04 and we will become who we behold. 57:06 Amen. 57:07 I can't believe our time's all gone. 57:09 We want to thank you so much for joining us. 57:12 And our prayer for you 57:14 is that the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 57:16 the love of the Father 57:18 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 57:20 will be with you this Sabbath and always. 57:24 Happy Sabbath. |
Revised 2020-01-04