Participants:
Series Code: CW
Program Code: CW000054S
|
00:00 (gentle music)
00:03 - Welcome everyone. 00:05 We're excited to share some country wisdom with you. 00:07 - King Solomon had a thing or two to say 00:09 about the path to wisdom. 00:11 In Proverbs 4, he wrote, 00:13 "Let your eyes look directly forward 00:16 and your gaze be straight before you. 00:19 Keep straight the path of your feet, 00:21 and all your ways will be sure." 00:23 - Join us now for "Country Wisdom." 00:31 (ambient music) 00:40 It's sure a beautiful day out here, isn't it? 00:42 - Oh man, this is great. 00:43 I could just, I wish we brought a picnic here. 00:45 I could just stay out here. 00:47 We've got lovely cloud cover. Beautiful. 00:50 - Makes me kind of think of the Sea of Galilee, 00:52 you know, I mean- 00:52 - A little bit smaller. 00:54 - We've, yeah, a little bit smaller. 00:55 (Janice laughing) 00:56 We filmed on the Sea of Galilee. 00:58 - Oh, I'm jealous. 00:59 - I even had the privilege of filming one of the boats, 01:02 or kind of like the boats that the disciples used. 01:05 - [Janice] How did they compare - size? 01:07 - [Jim] This is tiny of course, 01:09 you think about 12 disciples and Jesus fitting in one 01:11 and you know, they had room to knock around a little bit. 01:14 But there's a, it really brings to mind something about, 01:19 you know, Jesus, they'd worked hard all day. 01:21 They'd been doing a lot, and they're tired. 01:23 They're really tired. 01:25 Jesus, he's God, but he's man also, 01:27 and he wants to relax. 01:30 So he comes down to the shore. 01:31 He said, "Let's get in the boat and go to the other side." 01:40 Now it came to pass on a certain day 01:41 that he went into a ship with his disciples, 01:44 and he said to them, 01:45 "Let's go over to the other side." 01:48 And I think about- - [Janice] Do we have any idea 01:50 how far that was? 01:53 - [Jim] Well, I mean, you can see the other side, but- 01:55 - [Janice] Having never been there, 01:56 I don't know if you can - 01:58 - [Jim] You can see the other side, 01:59 but it's quite a ways over. 02:00 It's a big, I mean, it's big enough that, matter of fact, 02:05 they went out there, and pretty soon the wind came up. 02:08 And the wind, I mean, it just whips, 02:10 and comes off of those mountains 02:12 and those hills and begins to churn everything up. 02:16 And it was so big, matter of fact, 02:18 that we're told the boat was beginning to fill with water. 02:21 - [Janice] So waves were coming up over. 02:23 - [Jim] Waves were coming in. 02:24 And you've got seasoned fishermen that are, they're bailing. 02:29 I mean, all these guys now, 02:30 all 12 are bailing and they're getting scared. 02:34 Seasoned fishermen, been out here all their lives. 02:37 - [Janice] They were probably pretty tough. 02:39 That had to have been one big storm. 02:41 - [Jim] Yeah. One major storm. 02:43 It, it's filling up so much, 02:45 it actually says that they're, 02:47 they're in peril of the boat to sink. So. 02:50 - [Janice] And they're way too far out to swim to shore. 02:52 - [Jim] Oh, yeah, yeah. 02:54 - [Janice] If they even knew how to swim. 02:55 - [Jim] And I'm sure they did. And I mean. 02:57 - [Janice] Well, a lot of English sailors throughout history 02:59 were out on ships and had no idea how to swim. 03:02 - Yeah, that's true. That's true. 03:04 But these fishermen, you know, 03:05 they're out in the water a lot with their nets 03:06 and everything else, but they, they're out there. 03:09 The boat looks like it's going to sink. 03:11 I mean, these guys are full, 03:13 full water waves are coming over the top of them 03:16 and they're panicked. 03:17 - I was just thinking, I would be in full blown panic mode. 03:20 - [Jim] Yeah. 03:21 - You know how they say we have a, a fight or flight? 03:23 They've added another F because it describes me. 03:28 You don't really, seriously, Jim, 03:30 you do not ever want me around in an emergency 03:32 because I'll be no good to anyone. 03:35 I don't panic. 03:36 Not externally anyway. 03:39 I'm not one who's gonna be screaming or getting in the way. 03:43 I'm very calm. 03:44 But I stand there and pretty much it's like 03:47 somebody needs to do something. 03:49 I, it's not gonna be me, 03:50 but it's like somebody needs to do something here. 03:53 I freeze. That's the third F. Flight - 03:58 Fight, flight or freeze. 03:59 - [Jim] Freeze. 04:00 - I'm the freeze. 04:01 - [Jim] You fit in the freeze category. 04:02 - Ah, you got it. 04:04 - Yeah. You know, you, you think about this, 04:07 Jesus stood on the shore and said, "Let's get in the boat." 04:10 They get in the boat and what happens? 04:12 - [Janice] Huge storm. 04:13 - Major storm. 04:14 And like these guys are going, 04:16 - You would think if Jesus were with you, 04:18 everything would be smooth. 04:20 - [Jim] Yeah. That, that's exactly it. 04:22 And that's what, unfortunately, you know, 04:23 I think a lot of people think. 04:24 Well, you, you become a Christian, you know, 04:27 everything's roses. You know, not necessarily. You know? 04:31 - And as soon as things aren't roses, 04:33 they think God has abandoned them 04:35 or God isn't real after all, how could he do this to them? 04:39 - [Jim] Yeah. 04:40 - I, I'm guilty. There are times, 04:42 and I've had a pretty good life. 04:43 I've not had the kinds of storms, you know. 04:47 well there are, there are storms that are physical, 04:49 like out on the Sea of Galilee, 04:51 but we've all had storms in our own lives. 04:53 - [Jim] Oh yeah. 04:54 - And when I look back on mine, I, 04:56 I've had a fairly blessed life. 04:59 But still, there are times where my first thought is, 05:02 why is God letting this happen? 05:04 Where is He? 05:05 - Yeah, exactly. God, I'm your child, 05:07 and why is all this garbage happening in my life? 05:08 - Why are you doing this to me? 05:09 - Yeah. Yeah. 05:11 So when that happens to you, 05:13 and you probably have a story or two, I'm guessing. 05:15 (Janice chuckles) 05:17 - Well, one that comes to mind, 05:19 when we were in the process of adopting, 05:23 it's very different. 05:24 When I had the boys, you had a due date. 05:27 You knew when this was all gonna be over. 05:30 With the adoption process, you don't. 05:33 It's like being pregnant, but with no due date. 05:36 And we had applied originally to, to China. 05:42 Wanted an infant. 05:44 And at least twice, and I think it was actually three times, 05:48 we got phone calls saying, 05:51 "Hey, it looks like we've got a baby for you." 05:54 Well, as soon as they say that, I'm out buying baby clothes, 05:57 it's like, it's happening. 05:59 And then, something would go wrong. 06:01 I remember in one case, 06:04 Steve and I had been open to medical problems 06:07 and other couples aren't. You've got some 06:09 who don't wanna deal with any medical issues, 06:12 but we thought, he's a physician. 06:14 We know all kinds of other doctors. 06:17 We would be in a very good position 06:19 to handle anything medical. 06:21 And in this case, her eyes were crossed, 06:25 which is like hardly even a problem. That's so easy to fix. 06:29 And we were number one on the list of a prospective parents 06:35 who were willing to take any medical issues. 06:37 So they called us, it was like, 06:38 "Oh, this is gonna be wonderful. 06:40 I've forgotten how many outfits, 06:42 little pink outfits I had waiting." 06:45 Then they called back, it was just a day or two later, 06:48 and they said another couple 06:50 who had not been open to any medical issues, 06:53 heard about her somehow, and said, 06:56 "Oh, well crossed eyes, you know. 06:58 That's, that's no big deal." 07:01 They were higher up on the, they were above us on the list. 07:04 We happened to be the first ones open to medical. 07:07 They weren't, but they changed their mind and said, 07:10 "Oh, we'll take that." 07:11 So they had to call us back and say, 07:13 "No, she's not yours after all." 07:14 - And that was a pretty big blow for you. 07:16 - Oh my goodness. 07:17 And I was just literally devastated. 07:21 It's like, God, why do you keep letting this happen? 07:24 You know, you get our hopes up. And then, 07:26 "Oh, sorry. Just kidding." 07:29 And the emotions that you go through 07:32 was a storm inside me 07:34 that I'm sure equaled that storm on Galilee. 07:38 And who am I blaming? 07:41 God. - [Jim] God. Yeah. 07:42 - It's like, how could you let this happen? 07:44 Why do you keep letting our hopes get ruined? 07:47 And I could not understand, but just two weeks later, 07:53 they called us about Aaliyah, completely different country. 07:55 She wasn't a baby. 07:57 They were talking so fast, 07:59 trying to get me to not hang up and say, 08:01 "Sorry, no, you say she's four? 08:03 We said infant, if you look, check the paperwork, infant." 08:07 And the whole time, I'm saying, "Sure, yes, yes." 08:11 You know. "Well, she's, you know, from Ethiopia, not China." 08:14 No problem. "Well, she's four years old, we think." 08:18 No problem. You know, I mean, two weeks before that, 08:22 when I am, you know, 08:23 curled up in a fetal position on the couch, 08:26 sobbing and going, "Why, why is this happening?" 08:29 And thinking my life is just over, 08:32 God knew already. It's like, you know, 08:35 if you'll just wait a minute? 08:37 'Cause really, what's two weeks? 08:39 That's, that's a minute in His, 08:41 "If you'll just wait a minute, I've got your daughter." 08:45 You know? I just couldn't see that far. 08:48 But, you know, it's like those, 08:50 those Google maps that are up above 08:52 when you're on the highway, 08:54 and to you, it looks like traffic is just gridlock. 08:57 He's up there going, "Oh, no, no. 08:58 Just around the corner. It it's clear sailing." 09:01 - [Jim] Yeah. Yeah. 09:04 (inspirational music) 09:06 - I have a little pamphlet here 09:07 called "Hope in Troubled Times." 09:10 I don't know about you, 09:12 but the times we're living in seem pretty troubled to me. 09:16 If I didn't have the hope Jesus gives me, 09:19 I couldn't get out of bed some mornings. 09:22 "Hope in Troubled Times" is meant for that kind of morning. 09:26 Inside its pages, you'll find promises of hope 09:29 straight from the Bible. 09:31 Go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org 09:34 and request offer number 129, "Hope In Troubled Times." 09:45 - I can remember a story with my wife. 09:49 We had a real house problem in a situation, 09:52 and she desperately wanted to get in a house. 09:55 And we looked and looked and we finally found. 09:58 - Isn't house-hunting fun? 09:59 - Yeah, house. We finally found this little bitty house. 10:02 I mean, it was a wreck. 10:03 It, it was an absolute dump. But, you know, we'd. 10:05 - But you could afford it. 10:06 - Yeah, we could afford it. 10:07 And we, we'd fixed up stuff, so no problem. 10:09 So we put an offer in on this house, 10:11 and all of a sudden somebody came in 10:13 and just bought it right out from under us. 10:15 Janine was just devastated. 10:17 It's like, "I'll never have -" 10:19 I mean, I'm telling tales. 10:20 - Cause she had her heart set on that house. 10:21 - Telling tales outta school now on her, you know. 10:22 But yeah, she had her heart set on it. 10:23 She just knew she was gonna finally have a house 10:26 and just devastated. 10:27 "I'll never have a house in my whole life. 10:29 It's just life is over." And honey, it's just a house. 10:32 And it's just a house. 10:33 And easier for the husband to say, maybe. 10:35 But you know, in not too long a time, 10:38 God brought us an amazing house. 10:40 Just an amazing house. 10:41 But it was down the road a little bit, you know, 10:44 And I think about the disciples. 10:45 - Because he could see the road. 10:47 - Yeah. I think about the disciples. 10:48 They're, they're bailing, and all of a sudden, 10:51 they see Jesus in the bow of the boat. 10:52 He is sound asleep. 10:55 You gotta think about this. 10:56 The boat is filling up with water. 10:58 The waves are crashing over. 10:59 - I'm sure they were yelling at each other. 11:01 - [Jim] Oh, yeah. 11:02 - Hey, grab that rope. 11:03 You know, gimme another bucket, whatever. 11:05 It had to have been noisy. 11:06 - Yeah, the lightning flashes over, you know, 11:07 they see him there, sound asleep. 11:08 And Peter, you know, Matthew, Peter runs over. 11:11 "Lord, wake up! Don't you care? We're going to die." 11:16 It's just, imagine those words, 11:18 "Lord, don't you care?" 11:19 - Why do our brains - or our emotions, I should say, 11:22 for me, it's like, I'm total limbic system 11:24 when I'm in a crisis. 11:27 And it just feels like we always go to that thought. 11:31 God obviously doesn't care about me. 11:32 - Yeah. Yeah. 11:34 It, we all find ourselves 11:37 in that kind of situation a lot of the time 11:38 because it's a, it's a trust issue. You know? 11:41 But Jesus stood up, got up, holds his hands up. 11:45 You know, I, it'd be almost fun 11:47 to try and do this in here and stand up. 11:48 - Please don't! I do not wanna end up in the pond. 11:51 - But he held his hands up and says, "Peace be still." 11:54 And billions and billions of gallons of water 11:57 on the Sea of Galilee just smoothed out like a mirror. 12:00 Probably something like this. 12:01 - Oh, if you look at it right now, 12:02 the breeze stopped and it's just glass. 12:04 - It had been a raging storm. 12:06 And they're going like, whoa. 12:08 You know, there were other boats in proximity. 12:10 And they all come around close all of a sudden and they say, 12:13 "What manner of man is this? 12:15 Even the winds and the waves obey him." 12:18 - Wouldn't you have loved to have been there? 12:20 I don't think I would enjoy being in the storm. 12:22 - I was gonna say, I'm not sure I would've enjoyed 12:24 being in the storm, you know? 12:25 - But to see him, and I'm sure he was not concerned, 12:28 they are literally doing this stationary panic, you know, 12:32 and he just stands up. 12:35 They didn't use the word 'chill,' but it was probably like, 12:37 "Guys, you know, what are you worried about? I've got this." 12:41 - Well, matter of fact, he says, 12:42 you know, "you of little faith." Little faith. 12:46 They spend all that time with Jesus. 12:48 They watch all the miracles, 12:49 all the incredible things going on, 12:51 and they blow it. 12:52 - And they're sure he's gonna let him die 12:54 out on the middle of the lake. 12:55 - That, you wonder how they thought and felt afterwards. 12:57 "Lord, don't you care?" 13:00 You know, say that to our Lord. 13:01 You know, Don't you care? 13:02 - Well, Peter had a number of things 13:04 that he felt guilty about ever saying. 13:06 - Oh yeah, yeah. 13:08 When you think Jesus is on his way to the cross, 13:11 because he cares so much. 13:14 And you know, they've gotta accuse him of, don't you care? 13:17 - Because we have blinders. 13:19 Like I said, that analogy I said about being, 13:21 when you're in the middle of a traffic jam, 13:23 all you can see are the two or three cars ahead of you. 13:26 And it seems like this is gonna last forever. 13:28 They stretch forever. 13:30 But God has the Google Earth perspective 13:33 and he knows that, no. No, it clears up. Right, Right out. 13:37 Just beyond what you can see. 13:38 - I like that. The Google Earth. 13:40 (Jim laughing) 13:41 He really does. He's the creator of Google Earth. 13:43 Right? He can. 13:45 - And yet, over and over, the amazing thing isn't that 13:50 there are times where I have faith, 13:52 there are times where I literally thought to myself, 13:55 oh wow, you just did that okay. 13:57 You, you didn't panic right then. 14:00 But the amazing thing is that no matter how often I panic 14:03 or how badly I'm panicking 14:05 that he hasn't gotten out of the boat and said, 14:07 "Okay, you know, you still don't trust me. 14:10 You're, you're how old and you're doing this again? 14:14 I've had it." 14:15 And he doesn't do that. 14:16 - That's what this walk is all about 14:18 here on the Earth, right? 14:19 It, it's all about learning each day, 14:21 step by step to trust Him. 14:22 Learning each day that He is in the boat with us. 14:25 And an amazing thing is, what was that text I read? 14:31 Let's get in the boat and do what? 14:33 - Go to the other side. 14:34 - Go to the other side. 14:35 - He didn't say what might be in between. 14:37 - Yeah. He didn't say what was gonna be in between, 14:39 but you're gonna get to the other side. And I think - 14:42 - As long as you're in the same boat He's in. 14:43 - Speaking of that, 14:44 we probably ought row a little bit to shore here, but - 14:45 - [Janice] You want me to paddle? 14:46 - Yeah, go ahead and paddle a little bit. 14:48 But which end of of the paddle do you use? 14:51 - [Janice] No, I know which end. 14:53 (Jim laughing) 14:54 It's, I, I don't know, left and right. 14:55 And I have to always stop and actually think, 14:57 okay, which way do I paddle. This way, right? 14:59 - Yeah. There you go. There you go. 15:01 But you know, you think about that is, 15:04 is Jesus knew before they got in the boat, 15:08 there was gonna be a massive storm. 15:09 Never said a word to him about it. 15:11 He chides them. 15:13 - [Janice] That's always where you put your (inaudible.) 15:14 - Yeah. He chides them a little later about their faith 15:17 and the situation because they didn't have faith 15:20 while they were in the storm. 15:23 Kind of an interesting scenario 15:25 that he was testing them 15:27 really to see if they would trust him. 15:30 If they would trust him. Because as we grow and trust, 15:35 we grow in, in the things that He can do in and through us. 15:40 You know, when we begin to trust Him, 15:41 the Holy Spirit comes into our life. 15:43 He gives us really - hit the edge - 15:46 He gives us power and He gives us strength 15:49 to walk a little further, do a little bit more. 15:53 But you know, these guys, it says, 15:54 it says the boat immediately was at the shore. 15:59 From that storm out there, that raging storm, 16:02 they're at the shore now. 16:04 And the guys get outta the boat. 16:06 Gonna be a little tougher for us 16:07 getting outta the boat here, maybe. 16:08 - This is the best spot you could pick? 16:11 - Yeah, this is the best spot I could pick. 16:13 But they get out the boat 16:14 and they begin walking up the shore, 16:15 and something major happened. 16:19 - I felt like Satan was constantly nipping at my heels 16:22 and I just couldn't catch my breath. 16:24 I was grieving. 16:26 I felt scared, confused, anxious, and depressed. 16:30 My life was literally turned upside down and falling apart. 16:35 I didn't know what to do, but I knew who had the answers. 16:39 Can you relate? 16:41 This amazing study guide changed my life. 16:44 In 12 weeks, I caught my breath, my faith grew stronger, 16:48 my confusion turned to clarity, 16:51 my anxiety lessened, my depression eased. 16:55 I let myself be held in the arms of Jesus, 16:58 and he calmed my aching heart. 17:02 Are you ready for a dramatic change in your life? 17:05 This 12 week study guide 17:07 will guide you on your journey of transformation. 17:11 This study is packed with powerful content 17:14 to lead you on an encounter with Jesus. 17:17 Jesus will use this study 17:19 as a tool to change your life as he did mine. 17:23 Order your copy today to experience your transformation. 17:27 Log on to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org. 17:32 - Can you imagine how relieved they were 17:34 to get out of the boat, away from that storm, 17:36 and back on solid ground? 17:38 - But you know, now they ran into another storm, 17:40 and they look and they turn around. 17:42 - They did. They hightailed it back. 17:47 - The disciples get back to the boat, 17:49 they turn around, and Jesus isn't with them. 17:53 - I wonder what they were thinking in that moment. 17:55 Like, did that guy get him? 17:59 You know, what, should we have stayed? 18:01 I wonder if feelings of guilt and panic and - 18:05 - Yeah. I mean, but they look around, 18:06 and there's Jesus up the hill, at the graveyard. 18:10 - He hadn't run in terror like they did. 18:11 - He hadn't run. 18:14 This story actually takes place. 18:16 We can find it in Mark chapter five. 18:18 People wanna follow along at some time 18:20 or go back and read the story, it's amazing. 18:22 Because basically, situation disciples, you know, 18:26 see Jesus up there with this crazy man 18:28 who virtually chased them back to the boats 18:30 because he came running and yelling and screaming. 18:33 - That's why they turned tail. 18:34 And he wasn't just an ordinary man running at them. 18:37 - Oh no. 18:38 - He had been obviously living outside of town 18:41 for some time. He had chains, they'd actually - 18:44 - Living outside of town. Yeah. 18:45 In the graveyard. Yeah. 18:47 - But he had chains that he'd broken through. 18:50 This was someone who, in his, in his craze, 18:55 that he had actually pulled up chains. 18:57 I don't know how you do that. 18:59 - It's because you're possessed. 19:01 Matter of fact, we can kind of look at this story. 19:04 And he called out to Jesus, 19:05 but he didn't even have his own voice because, 19:08 says "What have we to do with you, Jesus?" 19:11 - We, The plural. 19:12 - The plural, Yeah. 19:13 They're demons speaking out of this man. 19:15 Now, people may not understand there's a real conflict, 19:19 there's a real war going on between good and evil, 19:22 but it's real. I mean, it, it's scary. 19:24 I've been in some countries that, that, I mean, boy, 19:28 it's right out in front of your face. Good and evil. 19:31 No use to go into it today, but, but suffice it to say, 19:34 when they're talking about this man being possessed, 19:37 it was for real. 19:39 This guy is out there, he's taking rocks, 19:41 he's cutting himself, he's piercing himself, 19:43 doing all these things. You know, he's bleeding everywhere, 19:47 running holes through himself. 19:49 Matter of fact, 19:50 it's kind of interesting because 19:51 the devil really wants to deface humanity. 19:54 They wants to, they want deface the image of God. 19:57 All the demons and the devil. 20:00 And I remember one time we were in one country, 20:03 Maasai warriors, Maasai witch doctor. 20:06 He found Jesus Christ. 20:08 And as I'm talking with him and his wife, 20:10 wife is sitting right there, sweet thing. 20:12 and all the other Maasai, 20:14 they've got all these big piercings and holes 20:17 and through their noses and everything and with the rings. 20:20 And I said, "Well, what happened to all of that?" 20:22 He said, oh, he said, "As soon as we accepted Christ, 20:24 we took all that off. We got rid of all that." 20:28 Why? Because they wanted to become like Jesus. 20:31 They wanted that, that likeness of Christ. 20:34 - This man who was living out amongst the tombs. 20:38 I wondered back then, did the disciples, 20:40 were people weirded out by cemeteries? 20:43 The way - obviously we're out, there are tombs around us. 20:46 It's a cemetery, clearly different 20:48 from what theirs probably looked like. 20:51 There are some people who wouldn't be caught dead, 20:54 you know, or. 20:54 (Jim laughing) 20:56 - Okay. 20:56 - Pardon the pun. 20:58 Who, you couldn't drag them into a cemetery 21:00 unless maybe it was broad daylight 21:02 and a lot of people were with them. 21:03 They have these ideas about, "Oh, I don't want to go there." 21:08 Would the disciples have had that same feeling? 21:11 - Oh, I'm sure there were some of this superstition 21:13 and some of this old thing hanging on. 21:15 You know, Jesus hadn't been able 21:16 to train them out of everything yet. 21:19 - And I've always wondered why was that man there? 21:22 What led him in his life 21:24 that he ended up living out in the tombs, 21:26 having people trying to contain him 21:29 so that he wouldn't either hurt himself or hurt them. 21:32 - Basically, I think you can say 21:33 he wanted no restraints in life. 21:35 I mean, when they chained him out there 21:37 to get him out of town 21:38 and try and keep him someplace away from it, 21:40 you know, he broke every restraint. 21:42 Well, I think that's a, 21:43 a good way to say that's the way he wanted his life. 21:45 No restraints, no borders, no walls, no restrictions. 21:49 - I have sometimes, you know, 21:51 you've probably had this experience too. 21:52 You're at the county fair 21:55 or you're walking down the street 21:56 and you see someone who has clearly had a hard life. 22:00 You can tell the look in their eye, 22:03 or the blank look in their eye, 22:05 it's like they're not all there. 22:06 They're either on something, 22:08 or they've lost a chunk of their mind. 22:10 - Oh yeah. 22:11 - And yet my tendency is the other side of the street 22:16 because I don't know how to approach them. 22:18 There is a little fear of people who are like that. 22:21 - When I was kind of in the old style and the old things, 22:24 one of my favorite songs was, 22:26 it was a song by Steppenwolf that was 22:28 "Walking Around With Tombstones In Your Eyes." 22:31 You know? - [Janice] Okay. 22:32 - That, that really is descriptive, I think, 22:34 of what was going on with this man. 22:37 And he continues on and these, 22:40 these demons basically have a conversation with Jesus 22:43 and they start conversing 22:44 and the disciples are there to, 22:46 to see everything going on. 22:49 And Jesus said, "Get out of this man." 22:51 "Well, why don't you send us to the swine?" 22:54 I'm not certain exactly why he allowed that to happen, 22:57 that, well, there's probably a few reasons. 22:59 But finally he says, "Go ahead." And there's - 23:01 - I'm surprised that there were people with, 23:03 'cause pigs were anathema. 23:06 You wonder why there were pig farmers in the area. 23:09 - They probably weren't from Israel. 23:11 You know, they probably weren't part of the group, you know? 23:13 But, but, so here's thousands of pigs up there. 23:17 All these spirits go in the pigs, 23:18 they all run off the cliff. 23:20 And every one of 'em die. 23:22 Now that's a pretty interesting thing 23:24 because pretty soon all those pigs 23:26 begin floating over to Israel side, you know, 23:29 and they began hearing about this story of what happened, 23:32 what Jesus did. 23:34 Now it's pretty cool because in verse 15, 23:38 the people come out now that Jesus - 23:40 - And they were thrilled that he had helped this poor man. 23:42 - Oh, not at all. Not at all. 23:44 Because he just killed all their pigs, 23:46 and they were mad at him. 23:48 The interesting thing in verse 15, they came to Jesus 23:51 and see him that was possessed of the devil, 23:55 and had a legion in him, a legion of demons, 23:58 a couple thousand demons in him. 24:00 And he was clothed and sitting there in his right mind. 24:04 - But they could tell 24:05 that's the guy that we've been staying away from, 24:07 that we've been trying to keep out here 24:09 so he wouldn't come into town. 24:11 - They they knew that. But think about this now, clothed. 24:14 The man was naked. 24:16 - You're right. 24:17 - Where'd he get the clothes? 24:19 I like to think that Jesus took off his outer garment, 24:22 and he clothed this man with his own garment. 24:24 - The way he covers us. 24:26 - Exactly. 24:27 - Covers up all our ugly parts. 24:29 - Yeah, we're bleeding, we're pierced, we're horrible. 24:31 We're, got all this garbage. 24:33 And he takes his righteousness and wraps it around us. 24:37 - Well, and even if we don't have 24:39 any outward signs of the ugliness in us, 24:42 we all have it in here 24:44 if we haven't given over every ounce of it 24:47 to the Lord already. 24:48 But he literally covers us with his robe of righteousness. 24:51 - He does. 24:52 - And there he probably did it literally. 24:54 - Yeah. And basically, I think the Bible turns out is, 24:57 you know, justification. 24:59 He became justified in Jesus Christ. 25:02 You know, no longer the sinner that he was, 25:04 but a saint in Jesus Christ now 25:06 because God changed him. 25:08 The other exciting thing about this 25:10 is he's now in his right mind. 25:15 He had 2000 demons dwelling in him. 25:17 He wanted nothing to do with God, 25:19 except there finally, someplace down 25:21 in the little hollow of his heart, 25:23 he saw Jesus, knew that he was the Creator. 25:26 He wanted that. He couldn't even speak. 25:29 But Jesus read the intent of his heart. 25:30 Matter of fact, as you know, 25:32 Jesus came all the way across the Sea of Galilee 25:34 because he had an appointment with this guy. 25:36 - A divine appointment. 25:37 - Yeah. Divine appointment. 25:39 He knew exactly what this man was hungering for. 25:43 And he had the cure. He had the answer. 25:46 And you think about that, Jesus, he knows our address. 25:51 You know, He knows where we live. 25:53 - And he'll meet us wherever we are. 25:55 Even if we are living outside of town in a, 25:57 in a cemetery because nobody wants us around. 26:01 - Yeah. 26:02 - We've burned every bridge in our life. 26:04 We have no relationships left. 26:05 - Exactly. 26:07 - And we can't even articulate what we need anymore. 26:10 But he'll arrange an appointment. 26:12 - He will. 26:13 You know, folks, Jesus knows your address. 26:17 He knows all of our addresses. 26:19 He knows our heart. He knows our life. 26:20 And he has a divine appointment with you. 26:24 He knows exactly what you're hungering for. 26:27 You may be having tons of troubles. 26:29 You may be just up to your neck in sin. 26:33 God doesn't care. 26:36 God will take you and he'll change your life, won't He? 26:39 He'll do that. 26:40 - Oh. And you don't even have to be able 26:42 to articulate it yet, 26:43 because he knows what's in your heart. 26:45 You might not even recognize, "God, I need you." 26:49 It hasn't been a conscious spoken thought. 26:52 - Yeah. 26:53 - And he's there. 26:53 - It says, and he found him. 26:54 He was in his right mind or to get that mind. 26:57 It was the mind of Jesus Christ. 26:59 Jesus wrapped him with his righteousness 27:01 and then he gave him his own mind. 27:04 This man now is completely whole on the inside 27:07 and on the outside. 27:08 My friend, choose Jesus today. 27:10 Call out to him. 27:11 He knows your address, and he'll come right now to you. 27:18 - I have a little pamphlet here 27:19 called "Hope in Troubled Times." 27:22 I don't know about you, 27:23 but the times we're living in seem pretty troubled to me. 27:27 If I didn't have the hope Jesus gives me, 27:30 I couldn't get out of bed some mornings. 27:34 "Hope in Troubled Times" is meant for that kind of morning. 27:38 Inside its pages, you'll find promises of hope 27:41 straight from the Bible. 27:43 Go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org 27:46 and request offer number 129, "Hope in Troubled Times." 27:58 - Thank you for watching. 27:59 Join us again for another exciting country wisdom. 28:01 - See you next time. 28:03 (calming guitar music) |
Revised 2022-10-13