Participants:
Series Code: CW
Program Code: CW000020S
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00:00 (gentle music)
00:05 - Yes, stay right there. 00:08 Stay right there I will be right back. 00:13 Hey, welcome, everybody to A Talking Donkey International 00:16 in our new television series "Country Wisdom." 00:19 - Let's set the tone for this new series of ours, 00:22 it's found in Proverbs 4. 00:24 "Let your eyes look directly forward 00:27 "and your gaze be straight before you. 00:30 "Ponder the path of your feet and then all your ways 00:34 "will be sure." 00:36 - Join us now for "Country Wisdom." 00:38 (gentle music) 00:48 - I have to tell you, Jim, I love your garden. 00:50 This is so impressive, at least to me. 00:53 I mean, our garden is maybe a 10th the size 00:57 and I was impressed with it. 00:59 Steve doesn't let me up there very often 01:01 because I have a black thumb. 01:04 - He does the green at all. 01:05 - Yeah, in fact, you probably shouldn't let me 01:06 out here very long or things will just start wilting. 01:09 But you have done a great job. 01:12 - You know, Janice, I'm gonna tell you 01:13 it isn't me, it's God. 01:15 Because seriously, you know, I don't do anything 01:19 that a lot of gardeners do but I mean, 01:21 God brings the sunshine, He brings the rain, 01:24 you know, the water, even the fertilizer from the animals, 01:28 you know, in a roundabout way he brings, 01:29 He created it all. 01:31 - [Janice] Hadn't thought about it that way. 01:32 - Yeah, and when I get out here in the garden, 01:35 I get so excited thinking about God created all this, 01:39 all the different, I mean, 01:41 the different things are phenomenal, you know, from squash 01:44 to beans to Jerusalem-- - You obviously like squash. 01:48 I don't know that many varieties even grew. 01:51 - I got a little carried away because my wife planted 01:54 a lot of different starts and so I had them all I use them. 02:00 But you know, I think about right there in the beginning, 02:03 God created everything. 02:04 In a matter of fact, can I read you something? 02:06 - Sure. 02:07 - Headed here I think in Genesis 1, 02:09 very beginning of the Bible. 02:11 Nothing before that inspires the word for us. 02:13 Matter of fact, I think about, you know, 02:16 you've got the first two chapters tell us where we were, 02:19 the last two chapters tell us where we're gonna be 02:22 and everything in between tells us how to get back there. 02:25 Because there was a problem and interesting problem. 02:29 See, God created all this beauty. 02:32 Each day He did He'd say, it's good. 02:34 It's good, and He got down to the bottom 02:36 and He said he is very good. 02:38 And not just good from the hand of the Creator, 02:40 but very good. 02:43 Then He takes this garden that He's created and this world 02:47 and then He puts in verse eight of chapter two, 02:49 "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, 02:52 "and there he put a man." 02:54 He created a special man. 02:58 Right back in the start, God said, 02:59 let us make man in our image after our likeness. 03:03 So the God had all three the Father, the Son, Holy Spirit, 03:06 God together, talked this all out and then decided 03:09 what it would take to represent them, 03:10 a very special creation, a very special being, 03:14 but He put man in the garden and He said, 03:17 is not good the man should be alone. 03:19 - Oh, it still isn't, 03:20 - Still isn't, still I can guarantee is still isn't. 03:23 And He caused asleep to fall upon man 03:26 and while he was asleep, He took a rib from his side 03:29 to create a woman not from his head, not from the foot 03:33 to be under the foot, but from the side, 03:35 they were to be helpmates together. 03:37 And that's what it took to represent God 03:40 as a man and a woman. 03:42 Each a man and a woman have their own very special traits. 03:46 You and I do a marriage program too, 03:50 man is not like a woman, a woman is not like a man, 03:52 regardless of what people say today. 03:54 - No, in fact, often have said to you things 03:57 I'll be talking about something I'll go, 03:59 well, I don't know, maybe it's different for you 04:00 being a guy but women, you know, tend this way 04:05 because I understand women. 04:09 I don't understand men so much but I know that together 04:13 we're whole lot healthier than apart. 04:17 - Yeah. 04:18 I think about the various names of God in the Bible. 04:20 And you got, you know, the Mighty God, 04:23 the Everlasting Father. 04:24 And then you've got to Jesus He calls, 04:26 oh how often I would have gathered you 04:29 as a mother hen gathers her chicks. 04:31 There He is El Shaddai, the Mighty breasted one 04:34 who would take all of the little chicks 04:36 under his wings in great protection. 04:38 That's a woman, that's a woman, the others, the man. 04:42 You know, and people today the devil wants to destroy 04:45 all of it, he wants to totally annihilate the semblance 04:49 of what God was really planning; husband and wife, 04:52 man and woman, the home, all of that. 04:55 - He wants to twist and destroy every good gift 04:58 God has given us. 05:00 - And He saw this garden, he got totally mad, totally upset, 05:03 and he comes down, he possesses basically 05:06 the most beautiful serpent in the garden at that time, 05:09 apparently it flew up on a tree. 05:11 - I have to tell you the thought of flying snakes. 05:14 - But this was a beautiful one. 05:16 And on top of that talked in human voice, and it began-- 05:19 - [Janice] That would get your attention. 05:21 - Yeah, well, you bet. 05:22 It begins wandering in the garden, 05:23 that day she's taking care of something 05:25 but she forgets a couple of things. 05:27 One, God said, don't leave the side of your mate 05:30 and she just kind of inadvertently wandered away. 05:33 And when she realized that, she should have run back 05:35 and gotten together because there was what 05:37 with that partnership. - Strength in numbers 05:39 - Strength in that partnership, yeah. 05:41 And so anyway, she's wandering out there 05:44 and she sees the tree of knowledge of good and evil 05:47 in the midst of this beautiful garden. 05:49 And that should have been another key because God said, 05:52 don't go over that tree, don't mess around that tree. 05:55 - They were not supposed to go near. 05:56 - Here's this beautiful voice and pretty soon, 05:59 we don't have time to go into the whole story 06:00 but basically, the devil tricked her. 06:02 She ate of the fruit because the devil is no, no, 06:06 God's wrong, you won't really die. 06:08 And she runs back to Adam, she takes that fruit 06:10 back to Adam too, and Adam, well, he falls, 06:15 he accepts the fruit too, and leads the entire human race 06:18 into a whole new situation. 06:20 And what can I say? 06:23 They felt guilty. 06:25 Now, what does guilt do? 06:26 What does it look like? 06:29 - Well, they went and hid from God, the next time He came. 06:32 They used to look forward to it, 06:33 used to like when you have company coming 06:35 that you haven't seen in a while, and you love these people, 06:39 you don't even stay inside, you go and run out to greet them 06:42 in the driveway. 06:44 - Yeah. 06:45 - They heard, saw God, and they went the other way. 06:48 And all that it changed was them. 06:50 - They had spent so much time with God, 06:52 we don't know how long, could have been, you know, 06:54 maybe who knows years. - It doesn't say. 06:56 - Spent that time with God but yet they ran away from Him 06:59 the second they heard Him this time 07:00 because they felt guilty. 07:02 Guilt creates fear. 07:05 And the devil loves fear because he can operate with fear, 07:08 he can twist you inside now with that fear and that guilt. 07:12 And you know, the sad situation about all this is, 07:16 is they continue to blame God, God it's all your fault, God. 07:21 And well, I've got a little note 07:24 I wanted to talk to you about to here. 07:27 It says, after sin, of course, they ran and hid 07:30 and they blamed God. 07:31 Then after sin, weed showed up in the garden. 07:35 - Everything changed. - Everything changed 07:37 after sin, they began fighting, had family fights, 07:41 after sin, brother killed brother, 07:45 after sin as time went on, they lived for almost 900 years 07:49 so they had a little time to think about all this 07:51 but I can imagine they continued to watch and see 07:54 the actions that they had caused. 07:57 In matter of fact, in the very beginning, 08:00 the first leaf that fell from the tree that died, 08:03 that probably caused Adam more guilt 08:08 than anything you can imagine 08:09 because they never seen anything like that happen. 08:11 - And they knew it was their fault. 08:13 - Knew it was their fault. 08:14 And then can you imagine when son killed son. 08:17 I can't even begin to imagine those conversations 08:20 between husband and wife. 08:21 Even though God had come in to save them 08:24 and gave a whole plan of salvation, 08:28 it was still gonna be some heavy burden upon them you know. 08:32 It's just, I don't know, they just felt absolute guilt. 08:37 - And guilt ruins everything. 08:38 - Guilt ruins everything, yeah. 08:41 Hi, I'm Jim Ayer. 08:42 My good friend Terry Cantrell and I 08:44 have traveled the world together 08:45 filming from Egypt to Zanzibar, from Costa Rica to Brazil, 08:49 India and beyond. 08:51 For years, we've captured stories 08:52 that uplift the God of heaven, 08:54 stories that touch and change lives. 08:56 Now on a new adventure and you're invited, 08:59 we started Talking Donkey International. 09:01 Talking Donkey as a media ministry dedicated 09:04 to sharing Jesus Christ in a unique and powerful way, 09:08 out of the ordinary, just like a talking donkey. 09:11 Like us, I'm guessing you're tired 09:13 of the same old cookie cutter programs 09:15 that line the Christian airwaves. 09:17 The gospel is exciting, it's time to jump out of the mold 09:21 and let the donkey talk. 09:22 When that happens, people will pay attention. 09:25 It's way out of the ordinary and we're inviting you 09:27 to become a part of this exciting 09:29 and innovative outreach to the world. 09:31 People are tired of watching the same old thing, 09:34 become a financial partner with us today and together, 09:37 we will change Christian TV for ever. 09:40 Give the donkey a voice. 09:42 (birds singing) 09:46 - Are we there yet? 09:49 - A little bit to, we can take a break up here for a second. 09:51 - I'm going to need it. 09:54 - You're getting tired. 09:56 - This pack, with every step is getting heavier. 09:58 I swear every 100 feet, it gains 10 pounds. 10:01 - What would you put in it? 10:02 - I don't know food, 10:05 I can't go anywhere without snacks, water. 10:09 - Well, that shouldn't be that heavy, yeah. 10:11 - You should feel this thing though. 10:14 Or at least feel what it feels like on your shoulders. 10:18 - Oh, what are you having that thing? 10:21 - I told you some food and water. 10:26 - Mine is totally light though. 10:29 - Well, you can check it if you want 10:30 but I know I only put in what I needed. 10:34 - You can have a seat, I will help you down. 10:36 - I can do it. 10:38 - Your own hips and your old knees. 10:40 - Oh, who's talking? 10:43 - Yeah, well, yeah, I am but I've just got to see 10:46 what's in this backpack but since it's yours, 10:48 I'm gonna let you deal with it. 10:51 - You can look through, 10:52 I'm just happy to be sitting for once. 10:54 - Just dig out, I wanna see what's in this bag. 10:57 - There. 10:58 - Rocks, seriously? 11:02 - I did not put these in, you did this. 11:04 - No, no, no, no, no. 11:05 - Why would I pack rocks? 11:08 - Wasn't me, you know. 11:09 - Some of them are so big. 11:12 - Really, it's kind of like, you do that I thought, 11:16 that's a perfect illustration of the way the devil is. 11:19 You know, the devil takes sin in our lives, 11:21 he drops that guilt in, just one rock at a time, 11:26 one piece at a time and we never think about it. 11:30 Because it usually is so small. 11:32 I mean, yeah, you got some big ones in there, 11:34 you got some big sins, don't you? 11:36 - We're not getting into that. 11:38 But you know, it reminds me back in the day 11:41 when I used to do a whole lot more camping and backpacking, 11:45 Steve and I had gone on a trip 11:47 with my brother and sister-in- law. 11:50 And we had Collin, our oldest, and he was maybe two, 11:56 he had to been less than three because Lauren 11:57 hadn't been born yet. 11:59 And Collin was adorable. 12:01 Oh, he was the most, you're talking this blond, 12:04 blue eyed Gerber baby toddler. 12:07 And I remember he had this little corduroy Oshkosh jacket, 12:12 and it had a hood on it. 12:14 Well, we're going down this trail 12:16 and the hood is of course hanging down his back. 12:20 My brother kept picking up little rocks 12:22 and slipping them into that hood. 12:26 Well, Collin, you know, as we go on, 12:28 he's not noticing it 'cause you don't notice a little rock. 12:32 One of those big ones, he would have noticed, 12:35 you know, would have knocked him backwards. 12:38 But by the end of that trail, 12:39 that poor kid is trying to stay upright 12:43 and practically staggering and I felt so guilty 12:46 because I was laughing, which was bad. 12:49 But it reminds me of so often, it's not some huge thing 12:56 that we've done that is just weighing on our minds, 12:58 it's a buildup, it's a little nagging sin that grows 13:04 and pretty soon you don't realize 13:07 how much weight you're carrying. 13:08 Just like, - That weight is called guilt. 13:10 - Yeah, Collin didn't realize how much weight 13:12 he was carrying because it came on very slowly. 13:15 It would be nice if you know, God just hit you upside 13:19 the head with a rock, you'd notice that. 13:22 Satan just weighs us down slowly 13:25 and we don't realize what's happening sometimes. 13:28 If you don't get rid of those little sins, 13:30 while they're still pebbles, 13:32 you end up with the boulder in your backpack 13:35 that's really holding you down. 13:37 - That's such a good example. 13:39 I think of my dad, my dad did not speak to his sister 13:43 for 20 years because she'd done something 13:46 and that was it, he just cut her off. 13:49 And I thought, how could you even do that, 13:51 you know, to a family member but boy, that's the way, 13:53 you know, you do my dad wrong and that was it. 13:58 My dad became a Christian, he accepted the Lord 14:01 later in life like 75 years old. 14:04 And every once in a while I'd mention something to him dad, 14:09 you should call your sister. 14:13 - Did he feel guilty about the fact he'd cut her off? 14:15 - He would never say a word. 14:17 One day my mom calls said, your dad called his sister 14:24 and it was so cool that I finally said dad, 14:27 I understand you called Aunt Margret. 14:31 Yeah, I did. 14:32 So how do you feel, dad? 14:33 He said, really good. 14:36 You know, that's what sin does, that's what the guilt does, 14:38 it weighs you down. 14:39 He'd had that with him for 20 years 14:41 and it changed his whole life. 14:43 - Carrying a boulder around 14:44 that he didn't need to be carrying. 14:46 - Yeah, exactly, a huge boulder. 14:49 - It changes us. 14:50 We might think we're punishing someone in fact, 14:53 but it's not, it's punishing us. 14:55 We talked about Adam and Eve in the garden 14:58 and what changed that one evening when God came to visit, 15:01 they had always looked forward to it, 15:03 this time they're hiding. 15:05 The change was in their own heads. 15:07 That's why guilt separates us from God 15:10 because now we're afraid, now we're running from Him. 15:13 We're trying to hide, we're trying to cover up. 15:16 And once you finally admit, here's what I did, 15:21 you know, then there's no more, 15:23 nothing between you and God anymore. 15:25 - That's right. 15:27 You know, I thought we were alone on this mountain 15:28 but there's hackers all over the place. 15:29 I've got to see what's in my pack. 15:31 - Oh, yeah, you're making fun of-- 15:33 - Well because certainly, you know-- 15:34 - Here's another one. 15:36 - Rocks all over the place. 15:38 Well, this was kind of, you know, 15:40 I thought you were the only one-- 15:41 - All right, 15:42 now the truth is out. - That guilt and sin. 15:43 Right, but man, oh, man, oh, man, this horrible. 15:50 But, you know, really, that's an example too 15:52 because every single one of us, 15:54 there isn't anybody that's immune from it, even Christians. 15:57 You know, as Christians, we can hang on to the tiniest thing 16:01 I mean, you could almost say that Adam and Eve 16:04 in the garden, you know, they were kind of Christians, 16:06 they knew Jesus, right? 16:08 - Obviously. - They spent time 16:09 communicating with Him in the garden but all of a sudden, 16:12 when the devil comes in and starts dropping 16:14 that guilt on them, they hid from God, 16:18 I can't even imagine that, you know, you hide from God 16:19 but that's what all that sin does. 16:22 - I just thought when I was a girl, 16:24 I shared a bedroom with my sister. 16:26 And I may have been the kind of sister 16:28 who occasionally got in her sister's closet, 16:31 you know, maybe that's just a girl thing 16:33 but Bonnie always had better clothes, 16:36 I got the hand me downs, right? 16:38 And there was one time where I was just trying something on 16:42 when she wasn't home and I snagged it. 16:47 Now, it was very small but of course, 16:50 my sister was the sort who someday was gonna notice it. 16:53 But I put it back. 16:55 Now, it might have been weeks before she went 16:58 to get that particular sweater out, 17:01 but I knew the snag was there 17:04 and it changed my attitude toward her. 17:07 Every time Bonnie was around, I was kind of on edge 17:09 like has she found it. 17:11 - She hadn't changed. - She was oblivious. 17:12 - She hadn't changed. - She had no idea 17:13 that there was a little snag on that sweater. 17:15 She maybe wouldn't have even noticed it later 17:18 or would have thought, oh my goodness, I snagged my sweater. 17:21 I might have been able to get away with it. 17:23 But it was eating away in me and changing my attitude 17:27 so that when she came in, there was that fear. 17:31 I understand how Adam and Eve felt 17:34 when they heard God's voice because it was the guilt. 17:38 There was nothing on her end. 17:39 If she walked in a room and said, hey, Janice, 17:42 I was just like, what, what, no what did I do? 17:44 You know, because I knew I had done something. 17:48 And she probably would have been shocked. 17:50 And you know, I don't honestly remember 17:52 if I ever confessed it or not, maybe that's why 17:55 the Lord just brought it to my head. 17:56 - And the devil uses a magnifying glass. 17:58 - Oh, yeah, some little thing grows and grows and grows. 18:02 Like, you can stick a little pebble in this backpack 18:05 and it wouldn't have bothered me. 18:07 But they grow because if you don't take care of sin 18:13 by handing it over to God, it just gets worse and worse. 18:15 - I got something my pack that actually somebody say, 18:18 well, that's heavy, but no, it actually lightens the load. 18:23 It lightens the load, you know, Word of God. 18:25 God can come in and take all that garbage in your life, 18:28 take all that guilt and get rid of it. 18:32 That's what Jesus does. - And oh, 18:33 don't you feel lighter like your dad. 18:35 Once he had made that phone call 18:37 which probably loomed so large in his own head. 18:41 He might have been worried she's gonna hate me now. 18:44 - Yeah. 18:45 - I'm sure Adam and Eve thought 18:46 God hated them at that point, that He was the one 18:50 who didn't wanna talk to them, didn't wanna to see them. 18:53 I've had people who've said, oh, 18:56 you don't know what I've done, I've done too much, 18:57 I can't even talk to God. 18:59 God, you know, wouldn't want anything to do with me. 19:03 And the opposite is true, He's just waiting for you 19:07 to turn around and say, can you help me with this? 19:12 - Yeah. 19:14 - Jeremiah 17:9, tells us that our hearts 19:18 are hopelessly deceitful and sick. 19:21 We're all in desperate need of a heart transplant. 19:25 The good news is that a new heart is available, 19:28 free of charge with no waiting list. 19:31 You can have it here and now simply for the asking. 19:35 This little pamphlet, "A Gift for You," 19:38 is our free gift to you about God's free gift to all of us, 19:44 the gift of a new heart. 19:45 Go to talkingdonkeyinternational.org 19:48 and request Offer Number 125, "A Gift for You." 19:56 - Unfortunately unlike the garden of Eden, 19:58 in our gardens today, we got weeds, big weeds. 20:01 I mean, this is one of the small weeds, 20:03 I've got some in here that I can't even pull out 20:05 because they'll actually pull the plant out with it. 20:07 - The roots have gotten too deep. 20:09 - Roots have gotten too big, too deep, yeah. 20:11 But God gave us those weeds, right? 20:15 - Well, you know, I hadn't thought about it 20:17 until you were mentioning that. 20:19 But God actually had a blessing in that, 20:23 they had to work harder. 20:25 And I know people think of that as a curse 20:27 and if you're out here in the hot sun and you're sweating 20:30 and you have weeds that are weeding that day, 20:33 it does feel like a curse. 20:35 But having to work a little harder, 20:39 it's actually good for us in a lot of ways. 20:41 It kept them out of more trouble. 20:43 - You remember what the saying is today? 20:45 Idleness is the devil's workshop. 20:47 - Oh, yeah, the same grandmother I did. 20:49 (both laughing) 20:51 She loved saying that. 20:52 Anytime she caught me on the couch with a book, 20:55 which was fairly often, she would find something 20:57 for me to do. 20:58 - But the devil knows it's true, don't he? 21:01 - In fact, if you want more evidence about idleness 21:05 is not what God intended for us 21:06 and that it leads to bad things, 21:10 the moment the lockdown hit-- 21:12 - For the pandemic. 21:14 - Right. - Yeah. 21:15 - And all of a sudden you had more people idle 21:18 than ever before, and what's been the result? 21:24 If you look at, as it progressed, rise in suicide rates 21:29 because it's messing with people's emotions, 21:32 rise in domestic violence. 21:34 There were women mostly but people who are now trapped 21:39 with an abusive spouse, 21:43 children who are trapped with an abuser, no place to turn. 21:46 - In matter of fact, I heard a stat that there are 25% less 21:50 reports of abuse of children. 21:52 Why is that? 21:54 They're not going to school and schools 21:55 are normally the place that reports it. 21:56 So much more is going unnoticed. 21:59 - Because nobody's, you know, nobody's around to see. 22:02 And more anger, alcohol, oh, the rise in alcoholism 22:07 and drug abuse has just skyrocketed as well. 22:10 Because people can't deal with that kind of thing, 22:13 with enforced idleness. 22:15 It happens to people who lose their jobs, 22:18 even if it's not their fault, you know, 22:19 their company down sized, it just completely throws you. 22:22 - I just was thinking, here's the big thing, the devil says, 22:25 you're not worthwhile, you're worth nothing. 22:27 You know, you're sitting there, you're idle, 22:29 you don't have your job, you don't have whatever he says, 22:31 you're not worth anything. 22:33 You may as well just go ahead and end it, 22:34 you may as well bury your sorrows. 22:36 - And we reap the results. 22:38 But all of that leads to even more guilt 22:41 because then you hate yourself even more. 22:44 And getting rid of guilt, facing it, turning it over to God, 22:50 well, let me read you something 22:51 if you wanna know. - That's a big key. 22:53 That's a big key, turn it over to God. 22:55 - A lot of people don't even like admitting guilt. 23:00 You probably never read an interview with a celebrity 23:04 but I've heard people say, well, yeah, you know, 23:08 I was in and out of rehab and I have 14, you know, 23:12 broken relationships behind me. 23:13 But you know, I don't regret any of it 23:15 'because it made me who I am, it made me stronger. 23:18 I think he might as well say I do it all again 23:20 and I don't care who I hurt because I like where it got me. 23:24 - You leave a trail of sorrow behind you. 23:26 - It's still not dealing with that guilt the way David did. 23:30 And when he had, here he wrote, 23:34 "How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, 23:37 "whose sin is covered. 23:39 "How blessed is the man to whom the Lord 23:41 "does not impute in iniquity, and in whose spirit 23:45 "there is no deceit. 23:47 "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away 23:52 "through my groaning all day long. 23:55 "For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me. 23:59 "My vitality was drained away as the fever heat of summer." 24:04 But when he acknowledged his sin, 24:07 and he didn't hide his iniquity, he says, 24:10 "I will confess my transgression to the Lord." 24:13 - You can just feel-- - That heaviness. 24:15 - Flourishing through this as he confesses the murderer, 24:19 the adulterer, the one who killed maybe even a friend, 24:23 all of these things, you can just feel how 24:25 it's all lifting off of him. 24:26 - In spite of the fact he still had consequences, 24:30 he didn't feel that weight. 24:32 He felt better, he was free. 24:34 - Yeah, amen. 24:40 - You know, we can't take any kind of comfort and think, 24:44 well, compared to David, you know, 24:45 I've never murdered anyone, I haven't lied to that extent, 24:50 I haven't committed adultery, but we all are guilty 24:55 because even the little tiniest sin, it harbors, you know, 25:01 it finds a place in your heart, in your psyche, 25:03 it starts separating you from people that you love 25:06 because you're hiding that 25:09 and it starts getting heavier and heavier. 25:11 And God wants to be able to take that away 25:14 just like he took David's guilt away. 25:16 - You know, I have got good news for you. 25:17 And you already know this news, Romans 5:8, 25:21 "But God demonstrated His own love toward us, 25:24 "in that while we were yet sinners, He died for us." 25:28 He died for us. 25:30 - He didn't wait until we had cleaned up our guilt 25:31 and confessed everything and fixed everything ourselves. 25:35 - Yeah, He didn't wait for King David 25:39 to get the act together and then come to him 25:41 and said, you're forgiven. 25:42 He came to him first that hey, you got to clean up 25:45 your act here, I'll help you do it. 25:47 - And he did. - Yeah, here's another one. 25:49 Psalms 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, 25:56 "so far has He removed our transgressions from us." 25:59 That's where David, when you read that text in Psalms, 26:02 that's where David could get that feeling of, oh, 26:05 it feels so good. - The weight off of him. 26:07 - Yeah. 26:08 When Janine and I, when we gave our lives to God, 26:11 I can remember flushing stuff down the toilet, 26:14 I thought, you know, flushing the drugs down the toilet. 26:17 And it was like this huge weight was lifted off of me, 26:19 a weight that I wasn't even aware I had. 26:22 - Until you got rid of it. 26:23 - Until I got rid of it, util God got rid of it really. 26:28 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, 26:32 "He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins 26:36 "and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 26:39 Now, you know I've experienced that, 26:41 you've experienced that, what I wonder folks, 26:46 have you experienced it? 26:47 Have you experience that change that comes into your life 26:50 when you allow God to cleanse you 26:52 and wash you with his blood, to take care of the guilt 26:55 and the sin that plagues you because as Janice just said, 27:00 sin is in every one of us, the guilt is in every one of us. 27:04 But when we accept God, when we allow Him to change us, 27:08 well, you talk about a change. 27:11 Right, they're serious changes. 27:13 - Oh, yes, you're not the same. 27:15 Once you unload that backpack full of rocks 27:18 that you've been carrying around, 27:21 you're free to do other things. 27:23 - Good analogy, perfect analogy, folks. 27:25 Take the backpack off. 27:27 Experience God and what He'll do in your life. 27:30 Believe me, it is life changing, it's exciting 27:33 and like King David, you can begin rejoicing 27:36 for what God is doing in your life. 27:38 Try it, I mean, we're in terrible times, horrible times, 27:41 they might get worse. 27:42 They probably will according to Scripture, 27:45 but God will be with you, He'll take care of you. 27:47 Whatever is going on in your life. 27:50 Give Him a try it today. 27:52 (gentle music) 27:56 Hey, thanks for joining us for "Country Wisdom." 27:58 - See you next time. 28:00 (gentle music) |
Revised 2021-05-24