Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY210016A
|
00:01 As you're well aware,
00:02 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for Today special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Mending broken people 00:23 I want to spend my life 00:29 Removing pain 00:33 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:50 Mending broken people 00:55 I want to spend my life 01:00 Mending broken people 01:15 Hello, welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:17 My name is John Dinzey. 01:18 And it's a joy and privilege to be with you 01:20 today during this hour. 01:21 We have a program that we have been 01:23 praying for the Lord to bless each person that tunes in, 01:27 watches, listens and shares this program. 01:33 We have a special member of the family, 01:36 a guest that is joining us. 01:38 He's traveled from a little ways 01:41 I would say this far in the east side. 01:44 I am referring to Pastor Pavel Goia. 01:47 Welcome back. 01:49 Thank you so much. 01:51 It's a privilege to be here. 01:52 Amen. Amen. 01:53 We're glad to have you back. 01:55 You work, you know, we say here are 3ABN, 01:59 people wear different hats. 02:00 And I from talking to you briefly, 02:02 you wear different hats. 02:04 The Lord has you busy in many different ways. 02:06 Could you share a little bit of how the Lord has you busy? 02:09 I know one of your titles 02:10 is Director of Ministry Magazine. 02:12 What is Ministry Magazine briefly? 02:15 So I'm the Editor of Ministry Magazine. 02:18 Ministry Magazine goes to pastors worldwide, 02:23 not only to our pastors in our church, 02:26 but to many other denominations, 02:28 many other pastors and gives, 02:32 prepares resources for the pastors to grow 02:35 and to help the church. 02:36 And I would say in a few words, I don't want to say much. 02:40 But in a few words, we get letters from pastors 02:44 from our church or from other denominations 02:46 appreciating the resources that they receive. 02:49 Yes, wonderful. 02:50 Praise the Lord. 02:51 You also work with the General Conference 02:53 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 02:55 as an Associate Secretary... 02:57 For Ministerial. 02:59 For Ministerial. 03:00 Yes, that also keeps you very busy. 03:03 Amen. Amen. 03:05 If you would lead us in prayer, please? 03:09 I will be glad to. Let's pray. 03:12 Father in heaven, 03:14 what a privilege to come in Your presence. 03:17 We don't deserve it, 03:19 but we come only in Jesus name and in His merits. 03:22 We thank You for Your love, for Your grace, 03:25 for Your promises. 03:27 And we know Jesus is coming soon indeed. 03:30 And we can hardly wait to see Him face to face. 03:34 But, Father, right now we pray in humility for Your Spirit, 03:38 for Your leading, that we may forget self 03:42 and You may be uplifted, 03:44 that Your Spirit may touch our lips 03:48 and may touch the hearts of the listeners. 03:51 And we may be transformed, made all before Your glory. 03:55 We pray in Jesus' name and thank You, Lord. 03:58 Amen. 03:59 Amen. Amen. 04:01 Well, we are going to turn our pages 04:04 to the Bible in John 14:12. 04:08 And we're going to share a scripture, 04:09 and we're going to ask Pastor Goia 04:11 if he will share just some brief comments about it. 04:12 And maybe we can talk a little bit more about it 04:14 later as the Lord leads. 04:17 But John 14:12, Jesus says something 04:20 that is remarkable when you look at it. 04:23 It says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, 04:27 he who believes in Me the work that I do, 04:32 he will do also, and greater works than these 04:38 he will do because I go to My Father." 04:42 These words people have wondered at for years. 04:47 In your experience, what does this mean to you? 04:51 We, so many times why we love God 04:55 and we believe the Bible theoretically we say it, 05:00 but practically sometimes we struggle 05:03 because we see power in the Bible. 05:07 God has unlimited, 05:09 amazing power beyond human imagination. 05:13 God says, and it happens. 05:16 And we see in the Bible, the Red Sea split. 05:18 Can we grasp that, the sea split? 05:21 We see in the Bible, 05:22 the walls of Jericho coming down the sun, 05:24 standing still for several hours. 05:26 How do we explain the gravity and all that process? 05:30 We see in the Bible sick being healed, 05:32 dead being resurrected. 05:34 We see 5000 baptized after a short, simple sermon, 05:38 we see many things. 05:39 And yet, in our lives today, many times we go to church, 05:44 wonderful sermon, wonderful music, we come home, 05:46 and yet we don't see the power. 05:48 Where is the power? 05:49 Is it because God has arthritis? 05:52 He got a little older, He has no more power, 05:55 or He is sleeping, or He's in vacation? 05:57 Or is it because it's not God's power, not God's love, 06:01 not God's promises, 06:02 but on our side something that we need more? 06:06 What is the problem? 06:08 Because Ellen White says in the Spirit of Prophecy 06:11 clearly that the work is gonna close 06:13 with greater power than it started. 06:15 Where is it? 06:16 How do we get it? 06:17 Should we look for power? 06:19 Hmm, very good. 06:20 Praise the Lord. 06:22 So this is going to get started 06:23 in what we will be talking about in a moment. 06:26 We'd like to share with you now, 06:28 what I like to call a musical offering. 06:30 And we have for you during this hour, 06:33 we have a message recorded some time ago by Hope Vasquez 06:38 and you will hear a message entitled, 06:41 "He Knows My Name." 06:59 I have a Maker 07:06 He formed my heart 07:13 Before even time began 07:18 My life 07:20 Was in his hands 07:27 He knows my name 07:34 He knows my every thought 07:40 And He sees Each tear that falls 07:47 And He hears me when I call 07:58 I have a Father 08:05 He calls me His own 08:12 And He'll never leave me 08:18 No matter 08:20 Where I go 08:26 He knows my name 08:34 He knows my every thought 08:40 And He sees Each tear that falls 08:47 And He hears me when I call 08:55 He knows my name 09:02 He knows my every thought 09:09 And He sees Each tear that falls 09:16 And He hears me when I call 09:22 Yes, He hears me when I call 09:40 Amen. 09:41 Hope Vasquez, singing He Knows My Name. 09:44 He knows my name, He knows your name, 09:46 because He loves you, cares about you. 09:49 And more than you know, he has been watching over you. 09:53 We have with us Pastor Pavel Goia, 09:55 and he will be sharing from the Bible 09:59 and personal experience things about the Almighty God 10:04 that we are hoping and praying that will be a blessing to you. 10:09 I first like to ask Pastor Goia, 10:13 did you grow up in a Christian home? 10:17 Yes, I was privileged to be born an Adventist, 10:21 you cannot be born an Adventist 10:23 but to be born in an Adventist family, 10:25 and my father too. 10:26 And my grandfather was, 10:28 he became Adventist when he was 21. 10:30 He was among the pioneers in Romania. 10:33 Praise the Lord. Yes. 10:35 Now, at some point in time, 10:38 the Holy Spirit worked in your life 10:40 that you made a decision to be baptized 10:44 and become a member of the church. 10:46 Amen. 10:48 How did that happen? 10:49 Can you briefly tell us about that? 10:50 Yes, it's a long story, but I'll try to be briefly. 10:52 That's why I said briefly. 10:53 Exactly. 10:55 It's a challenge for me to be brief. 10:57 While I did believe in God, 10:59 and I had an excellent Adventist education, 11:02 I had my time of wandering, 11:06 and to a long story 11:08 that I'm not going to go to right now. 11:10 God helped me understand that He loves me. 11:12 Amen. 11:13 And He has a plan for me. 11:15 And in that night, 11:16 I prayed probably the whole night, 11:18 and asking God for forgiveness and asking God 11:22 for His plan and so on. 11:24 And in that night, I started to study 11:27 and the Bible verses that came was were just 11:29 the answer to my very words, my very prayer, and I... 11:34 That was when God's helped me to turn totally around 11:39 and commit my life to Him and His service. 11:43 So it was, it was you studying and praying the Bible 11:46 that led you to make a decision? 11:48 Not really. 11:49 Or something happened in your life, 11:50 you listening to a sermon? 11:52 Yes. Okay. 11:53 Something happened that you understood, 11:55 God loves you, is willing to forgive you 11:57 and make you His child. 11:58 Yes. Okay. 12:00 Let's fast forward a little bit 12:01 because you have a miracle story. 12:04 You have many miracle stories, 12:05 but a miracle story of something that challenged 12:08 your faith during a time when you were in the military. 12:11 Yes. 12:13 You were born in Romania, Romania. 12:16 Okay. 12:17 And when you went into the military, 12:20 the country was under a communist regime, 12:23 under Ceausescu. 12:24 What is this name again, Nicolae? 12:26 Nicolae Ceausescu. 12:27 Nicolae Ceausescu, and he were in control 12:31 for how many years from what year to what year, 12:32 do you know that? 12:34 Roughly about 45 years more or less. 12:36 Forty five years? 12:37 Yes, I don't. 12:39 I could check it here. Yes. 12:40 So you went into the military volunteer 12:43 or was it mandatory? 12:45 It was mandatory. 12:46 Mandatory. Yes. 12:48 So as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 12:52 when you went into the military, 12:53 it challenged your faith, tells us how... 12:56 the miracles the Lord did or some of them? 12:59 Okay. 13:00 There are many stories, 13:01 we are going to go through this story. 13:03 And I will try to use the story to underline a few points 13:06 that would connect to our scripture 13:08 that you just read. 13:11 In Romania, 13:13 the military service was mandatory. 13:16 And you didn't choose where to go. 13:18 The government sent everybody to a specific place. 13:23 They... 13:25 We talk about God's unlimited power, 13:29 but we so many times struggle. 13:32 And as soon as we pray, 13:34 and we don't sense an answer to prayer, we wonder. 13:36 I've been praying for my health, 13:37 for my job, or for my children. 13:39 Why does it take so long? 13:41 And I want to emphasize 13:43 that there is much to say about prayer. 13:46 But usually not always, 13:48 in the Bible answer to prayer is not an event but a process. 13:53 Abraham had to wait 25 years for the answer. 13:56 Moses, 40 years. 13:57 And Joseph in prison so many years. 13:59 Yes. 14:00 Daniel, we looked through the Bible, 14:03 Anna waiting for a baby. 14:04 In the Bible, people wait for God's answer 14:08 those who wait upon the Lord. 14:10 So many times in our life, 14:12 we pray and then we act instead of giving 14:14 God the chance to work. 14:17 I have a question because, you know, you mentioned people 14:20 that the Bible talks about having great faith, 14:23 you talk about Abraham, you talk about Joseph. 14:27 And why do you think briefly, 14:31 is there a delay in answering these prayers? 14:33 Because Abraham was a man of faith, 14:36 a father of the faithful, but here he is having to wait 14:38 about 25 years for his son to be born. 14:42 What do you... 14:44 What can you... How can you explain that? 14:45 Well, I'm not sure if I have the answer, 14:47 but I could suggest two, three reasons. 14:50 Okay. 14:51 For instance, God works with people. 14:54 Yes. 14:55 And we people, we are not perfect, 14:57 far from perfect, 14:59 and God gave us freedom of choice. 15:02 And God respects that, God doesn't abuse His power 15:05 to basically force us to do something. 15:08 He wants us to grow to the point 15:09 that we understand. 15:11 And we joyfully, freely choose to do what He says. 15:16 And usually when God speaks, God speaks big. 15:20 God is not small. 15:22 If I have a plan and it's small, 15:23 that's my plan. 15:25 If it comes from God, the plan is, 15:27 if I can say crazy big. 15:29 For instance, Noah, that was not as mere plan, 15:32 build an ark when there was never a, 15:34 to save the world. 15:35 That was a crazy big plan. 15:36 How do you bring Daniel mercy? 15:38 Why would you build an ark? 15:39 It was a crazy plan. 15:41 God's saying to Moses, "Go and deliver My people." 15:43 "Lord, I don't have an army. 15:44 I used to have, not anymore. 15:46 I don't have power. 15:47 I've been gone for 40 years. 15:49 It's crazy impossible." 15:51 God says, "Cross the sea." 15:52 That's impossible. 15:54 Take Jericho walking around. 15:55 That's impossible. 15:57 God's plans for the human understanding 16:00 that we don't see the picture. 16:02 We don't understand God, how He works, 16:03 how much He loves us. 16:05 God's plans are crazy, impossible, big. 16:08 And because we don't understand, 16:10 we don't obey and don't trust. 16:12 We don't need to understand, we need to know Him, 16:15 not to know how He's going to happen 16:16 in order to obey. 16:18 Yes. 16:19 To know Him enough to obey when we don't understand. 16:22 We cannot, in human wisdom, 16:24 understand God's infinite wisdom, 16:26 therefore, instead of trying to understand in order to obey, 16:30 it's better to try to have a relationship to 16:32 know Him enough, to trust Him 16:34 when you don't understand what is going on. 16:36 And so, number one, God wants us to know Him 16:39 enough that we will obey regardless. 16:41 If God says to Abraham, leave your country, 16:43 sacrifice your son, you don't try to why? 16:46 You just say, "If You say so, I trust in You." 16:48 Amen. Amen. 16:49 So number one, to develop our faith to the point 16:51 that regardless how crazy, how big the plan, 16:54 we'll obey, trust and obey. 16:55 Trust the Lord because He knows what's best for us. 16:59 And He knows the future and He knows the big picture. 17:01 But number two, God has to work with people. 17:05 He says, Angel Gabriel says to Daniel, 17:07 it took three weeks because I had to work 17:09 with the kings of Medes and Persians. 17:10 God has to work with people, and God doesn't force them. 17:12 So it takes a while to prepare you for the plan. 17:15 And it takes a while to prepare the community 17:17 or the church or whatever. 17:18 And so, God works with them with patience and grace, 17:22 unlike us, you know, we have no patience, you know. 17:25 And so, there may be many reasons. 17:27 Yes. 17:28 I would say another one of them, 17:29 and I will stop there, there may be a lot more. 17:32 In God's plan, He doesn't want just to throw a bomb, 17:37 do a miracle, and we are not ready for it. 17:39 He wants us to be much spiritually mature. 17:43 Because if I just give my son a million dollars, 17:45 he may spend it in right away. 17:47 But if you learn to work and to appreciate it, 17:50 then he would value it. 17:52 God may want us to grow spiritually, 17:53 to value these things, we believe in them, 17:55 they become life, not only receive it as a miracle, 17:59 so there'll be many other reasons. 18:02 But in the Bible many times 18:04 answer to prayer, it's a process. 18:05 It's a process. 18:06 I like that, you know, 18:08 because when father and a mother have a child, 18:10 when he is a baby in the crib, they don't go, well, son, 18:14 we have key for your car right here. 18:16 Whenever you're ready to drive, 18:18 just go ahead and grab them and take off. 18:19 It's a process. 18:21 Yes, and some things, some things take time, 18:23 especially when it has to do with the Lord 18:26 working with people. 18:27 And that's something to consider. 18:29 So you were in the army. 18:31 Yes. 18:32 And your faith was challenged in many ways, 18:35 but something particular happened. 18:37 And let's, let's go to that story. 18:39 We are tempted, as I go to the story, 18:43 we are tempted after we pray, 18:45 asking God for help to do something. 18:47 Yes. 18:49 As Abraham was tempted and he will, 18:50 he tried to have a baby 18:52 through his own plans instead of waiting for God's power. 18:56 And God doesn't need our help. 18:58 Those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength. 19:01 God wants us to trust Him and do only 19:03 what He says not what we think that 19:05 it would be good to help God, God doesn't need help. 19:08 We need help. 19:09 And so, I was in the army. 19:13 And they put me in a unit. 19:16 It was a garrison of 5,000 soldiers. 19:19 But they picked, handpicked from the 5,000, 19:22 they picked 51 soldiers and the unit was called Genius. 19:27 Not that we're genius or anything like that. 19:30 And we were trained not only artillery 19:32 or this or that, 19:33 but we were trained to do anything, 19:35 to shoot any type of weapon, regardless from small to big, 19:38 to make a bomb, to plant a bomb, 19:41 to put a big bomb 19:42 that you move part of the mountain 19:43 or a small bomb in a telephone. 19:45 We could go one soldier in the place 19:47 where the whole army could not go 19:49 and do some limiting of the enemy in case of war, 19:52 so we are specially trained. 19:55 And one day, the captain who was also the representant 20:01 of the Communist Party in that unit in the army, 20:05 and they had unlimited power. 20:08 They decided your life or my life 20:10 without any court or justice. 20:12 If they said, this is it, that will be the end. 20:15 And so, he came to me. 20:17 And he said, "Goia, 20:19 you are the enemy of the state." 20:21 I thought he was kidding. 20:22 Wow. I said, "Me, look at me. 20:24 How could I be the enemy? 20:25 Why? 20:27 Why am I so dangerous? 20:28 Are you kidding?" 20:29 He said, "You are the enemy." 20:31 I said, "Why?" 20:32 "Because you believe in God. 20:34 In this country, we have no God. 20:35 If you believe in God, you need to be eliminated. 20:38 You need to be terminated." 20:39 I said, "You don't look like Schwarzenegger 20:41 to be the Terminator. 20:43 Why would you say that?" 20:45 I thought he was joking. 20:46 And he said, "You need to give up your God 20:50 and put country and the government 20:52 and the Communist Party first. 20:55 Let me ask you a question, had he talked to you before? 20:58 How did he know about you? 20:59 They knew everything about everybody. 21:02 Everything was wired. 21:04 We could not talk in the house. 21:05 If we want you to talk about religion or government, 21:08 my father will take us a walk through the forest. 21:11 As soon as you talk in the house, 21:12 they will come and pick you up. 21:14 And that's not an exaggeration. 21:16 Many, many people, many, 21:18 we talk about over two, three million people 21:20 within 45 years were killed because of political 21:23 or religious reasons, including relatives, friends, 21:27 they were picked up and they never came back. 21:29 And so, they knew everything. 21:31 So at this point, 21:33 when he's telling you these things, 21:34 you are doubtful about what his intentions are. 21:38 You're not sure where he's going 21:40 or what he's going to do? 21:41 And he said, "You need to put the country 21:45 and the government and the Communist Party 21:46 first above your God." 21:48 And I said, "Listen, I love my country. 21:50 My bible teaches me to pray for the country, 21:53 to pray for the king, to pray for the president." 21:55 And sometimes we may not agree with this or that 21:58 because I believe in God and you don't. 22:00 But that doesn't mean that we should hate each other, 22:02 the parties that we should fight against each other. 22:05 The Bible says that we should love people, 22:07 love the government, pray for them. 22:09 And I said, "I'm paying for my country. 22:12 I love my country." 22:13 He said, "Well, if it was war, 22:16 and you told your day, Saturday, your Sabbath, 22:19 and I was in danger, I was shot. 22:22 Would you save me?" 22:23 I said, "Absolutely. 22:25 If you are in danger, not only during war, but peace. 22:28 If you had the car accident, or your house was on fire, 22:30 I would absolutely save you." 22:32 He says, "I want you to prove. 22:34 Today Saturday, 22:35 if I command you to dig a hole in the ground, 22:37 will you dig the hole?" 22:39 I said, "No. It's Sabbath. 22:40 Why would I do that?" 22:41 You said, "You'd put country above God." 22:44 I said, "I never said that. God comes first. 22:46 I told you that in an emergency, 22:48 I would be willing to sacrifice my life. 22:50 This is not an emergency. 22:51 There is no war, why would I dig a hole?" 22:54 He said, "Goia, 22:55 that means that you put God above country." 22:57 I said, "Absolutely, God comes first." 22:59 Oh, he didn't like that. 23:00 Oh! He was not happy about that. 23:02 He got angry red, he started to curse. 23:05 I said, "God comes first and then country, 23:08 and I need to give to God what belongs to God 23:10 and to Caesar what belongs to Caesar." 23:11 He said, "There is no God. 23:13 You get in my hands, 23:14 no God will be able to save you from my hands. 23:16 No God will save you from the Communist Party." 23:19 Was there anyone else around you while he was... 23:21 That's what he did next. 23:23 Okay. 23:24 He said to me, "If you disregard my authority, 23:26 between you and me it's seven years prison. 23:29 But if you disregard my authority 23:30 in front of the other soldiers. 23:31 It's 14 year prison and in war you'll be executed on the spot. 23:35 Fourteen year prison or executed on the spot. 23:39 And he called the other soldiers 23:42 50 plus, me 51. 23:44 And he commanded them to align themselves, 23:46 they all got straight, they saluted him. 23:48 And then he commanded me to a Saturday morning, 23:50 Goia three step forward, bang, bang, bang, I took three steps. 23:54 He says, "I command you to dig a hole." 23:57 It was Saturday morning I said, 23:59 "Captain with all due respect, I cannot do it, it is Sabbath. 24:03 I'm not gonna work." 24:05 "You disregard my authority. 24:08 I will destroy you. 24:10 I will make you an example. 24:12 I will show you that there is no God 24:14 that can save you. 24:15 You need to learn a lesson." 24:17 And he went on and on. 24:18 He cursed me and then he started 24:19 to curse God using really terrible dirty words. 24:22 And then says, 24:24 No, God can save you from our hands. 24:26 I want to see what God has power to do that. 24:28 Where is God? 24:29 And then he said, "You dig a hole right now." 24:33 I said, "I'm sorry. I cannot." 24:35 I said, "Give me a reason." 24:37 "There is war. 24:39 The enemy airplanes are attacking you right now. 24:41 Dig a hole and hide." I said... 24:45 You looked around. 24:46 There is no enemy airplanes dropping bombs on me. 24:51 "I want you to imagine that there are airplanes." 24:54 I said, "Well then I want you to imagine 24:55 that I dug the hole." 24:58 So you, this, from the military standpoint, 25:02 you are speaking to a superior, 25:05 a superior officer in a way that will get him really upset. 25:09 Oh, people were afraid of them. 25:11 People were shaking, 25:13 people could lose freedom in a second. 25:15 And people would bow down and stay with their heads down. 25:18 And people who tremble and say, 25:21 please, please, please, I have a family. 25:23 And my father taught me that God's presence 25:26 would cast away fear. 25:27 And that if you are afraid your God must be very small. 25:30 Because if you have a big God, you have no reason. 25:33 God is in control, and nothing would happen 25:35 to you unless He allows it. 25:36 And if He allows it, He has a reason. 25:38 Like He allowed Joseph to go to prison. 25:40 He had the reason. 25:41 He allowed Daniel to go to Babylon, He had the reason. 25:43 And that you don't need to understand, 25:45 but you need to know Him enough to trust Him 25:46 when you don't understand what is going on. 25:48 So I got my back straight. 25:51 And he expected me to shake and I said, 25:53 Well, God is with me. 25:54 And if God is with me who can be against me? 25:56 He says, "Are you crazy? 25:58 What God is with you? 26:00 Let me ask you a question. 26:01 Because you said the other soldiers were there. 26:05 Did they have any rifles or weapons 26:07 that in case he commanded them to kill you, 26:09 they all did. 26:11 All of them. We were in training field. 26:12 Okay. 26:14 And you're basically he would call us every day. 26:16 And that on Saturdays, when he would call us to train, 26:18 I would refuse. 26:19 And usually I would go and lock myself 26:21 in the backroom, and pray and study and rest Sabbath. 26:25 And so there are other stories 26:26 as he tried to put me in prison before. 26:28 But right now, he commanded in front of the whole unit, 26:33 basically, to have witnesses and the reason 26:35 to put me in prison. 26:37 Wow, this is a situation that I think 26:40 the majority of people that are with us 26:43 or listening would say, I don't think, 26:47 I think I would go ahead 26:49 and dig the hole to live another day, 26:51 but you were challenged. 26:52 This is serve God or serve man. 26:55 What happened? 26:57 I want to make a parenthesis 26:58 to try to touch a little on a lesson. 27:01 It's easy to say, Oh, I would not, 27:03 I would go to prison. 27:04 It's easy to say it. 27:05 But when you get there, it's a little struggle. 27:08 Yes. 27:09 It's easy to tell the story now. 27:11 But it was not easy then. 27:12 Number two, when we go through small crisis, 27:15 and we pray and we don't seem to get an answer right away, 27:18 we struggle more over a big crisis. 27:20 And if we don't learn to trust God in small, 27:23 daily challenges, how are you going to trust God 27:26 in the final crisis, the biggest of earth's history, 27:29 and we need to learn to know our God and to trust our God. 27:33 But anyway, another point 27:35 that I want to draw attention to, 27:37 is that we so many times focus on self, 27:42 my freedom, my health, my job, 27:44 my blessings, my need, my family, 27:46 my and, and in the Bible, 27:49 we are called to put God first, His kingdom, His honor, 27:53 His interest, to love God more than self. 27:56 In fact, the Bible says, 27:57 whoever doesn't give up mother and father, 27:59 He said cannot be My disciple. 28:01 We are called to die to self. 28:02 Yes. 28:03 We are not called to seek blessings, 28:05 but to give up everything, 28:06 including comfort and freedom in life. 28:08 We are called to do what Jesus did and unless 28:12 we are ready to put God first. 28:13 Yes. 28:15 Jesus says, you are no My disciple. 28:17 And like the rich young ruler, Lord, I keep the commandments. 28:20 I eat vegetables, I go to church, 28:23 and I know the doctrines, 28:24 and Jesus said, give up everything. 28:25 Yes. 28:27 Unless we are willing to surrender all. 28:29 Paul says, "I consider all things a loss." 28:32 Unless we are willing to surrender all, 28:35 we are not really Christians, 28:37 because whatever comes between us and God, 28:39 and we cannot surrender, that's what we worship. 28:41 Wow. This is true. 28:43 This is true. 28:44 Now, this was life or death. 28:46 And the way you're presenting to us this story, 28:50 this is life or death, 28:51 he was ready to challenge your faith. 28:54 Yes. 28:56 And have you, had you seen him do things 29:00 that you asked yourself, why would he do that before? 29:02 Then you had seen him many times. 29:04 Many times. Okay, so what happened next? 29:05 He got red angry, started to mumble something 29:11 that was obviously so angry 29:13 that he couldn't speak fluently and clearly. 29:16 He said, "I'm going back. 29:18 And today is the last day of your freedom. 29:19 I'm going to propose maximum prison 14 years 29:22 in the toughest facility in the country." 29:24 And he named it. 29:25 Many people who entered that facility never came back. 29:29 He said, "You will face torture, 29:31 your beatings, and so on and so forth. 29:32 You, I'm going to teach you a lesson. 29:35 And I want to see what God can save you." 29:37 And then he said, 29:39 "There, if you don't obey what they say, 29:40 and you keep putting your God first, 29:43 they are going to double, triple your sentence, 29:45 you will never come back. 29:46 He says, "I'm going to show you that we decide your destiny. 29:49 And I'm going to teach you to give up your God. 29:51 And he left all the soldiers in the training field on me 29:55 and he went to the garrison. 29:56 He called an emergency meeting to propose prison for me. 30:01 In that moment, I left the training field. 30:04 I was in charge of the warehouse. 30:06 I went inside the warehouse, 30:07 locked myself inside 30:09 and started to do whatever Christians do. 30:11 Pray, Lord, help me please, Lord, I am in trouble. 30:14 My health, my job, my health, my, Lord, have me my freedom, 30:17 Lord, like I started to pray as we all do. 30:20 Yes. 30:21 But this is what my father used to say to me. 30:24 The more you looked at the problems, 30:26 the more discouraged you are. 30:28 The more you look at the... 30:29 This is something one of those things 30:31 you kind of underline, 30:32 the more you looked to the problem, 30:33 the more discouraged you are. 30:35 The bigger the problem seemed to be, like King Saul. 30:38 He was taller than the others in Israel. 30:40 But when he looked to giant, to Goliath, 30:43 Goliath seemed pretty big, even compared to Saul. 30:45 Yes. 30:46 But David, who was only a child, 30:49 probably very short. 30:50 Yes. 30:51 When he looked, he didn't look to Goliath, 30:53 he looked to God. 30:54 He says, "I come to you in the name of our God, 30:56 the Almighty God of Israel." 30:58 Amen. 30:59 When he looked to God, Goliath seemed to be a baby. 31:01 Yes. 31:02 We have big problems because we look too much 31:04 to the problems and too little to God 31:06 and we have a very small God. 31:07 The more you look to God, the more you understand 31:10 what He has done in the past, His promises, His might, 31:13 His love, the more peace we have 31:16 when you look to the problem. 31:17 The bible says, you keep him in perfect peace 31:19 him whose mind is fixed on you. 31:21 Amen. Amen. 31:22 And so, we seek turn your eyes upon Jesus, 31:26 but we so many times focus on problems 31:29 and solutions instead of focusing on God 31:31 and His grace and His power, and His promise 31:34 and what He has done in the past. 31:35 We have nothing to fear unless we forget how God has led us. 31:39 And so, I was praying for my freedom. 31:42 Lord, I don't want to go to prison. 31:43 Lord, they are going to beat me. 31:45 And, Lord, what's going to happen 14 years, Lord, 31:47 and the more I prayed the more desperate 31:49 I was because I was looking to prison 31:52 and it came in my mind, fix your eyes. 31:54 My father used to say, 31:55 "They are going to challenge your faith, 31:57 there will be a time that you will have no solution. 32:00 Turn your eyes upon Jesus. 32:02 Don't only sing the song, do the song." 32:04 Oh, praise the Lord. He'd tell me. 32:06 Many times the Communist party came 32:08 and took him to police 32:10 because he was bringing Bibles from former Yugoslavia 32:13 and he would say to me, "Turn your eyes upon your God, 32:15 have a real God, not a theory of God. 32:18 And he will say to me, "Your God is big, 32:20 why are you afraid?" 32:22 And he would say to me, in Revelation Chapter 13, 32:27 he says that this and this and this will not go to heaven, 32:29 and on top of the list is people who are afraid. 32:31 Yes. 32:32 If you have a real God, you should not be afraid, 32:34 you should have courage. 32:35 Jesus says from Genesis to Revelation, 32:38 don't be afraid, for I am with you. 32:40 At the Red Sea, tell them not to be afraid, 32:42 because I will go ahead of them. 32:43 At Jericho, be courageous, I'm with you. 32:45 If God is with you, why are you afraid? 32:48 That's right. That's right. 32:49 And so, I was praying and I was wondering 32:52 am I a Christian if I'm afraid of prison. 32:56 Jesus gave His life to save even one soul. 32:59 What if God has one soul in prison to be saved? 33:02 Shouldn't if Joseph didn't go to prison, 33:04 he would have never been prime minister, 33:05 not that I will be prime minister 33:06 or anything like that, but what if God wants me to go 33:09 to prison to save a soul. 33:10 Could be. 33:12 And I said, "But I don't want to go to prison. 33:13 Am I crazy? 33:14 I don't want to go to prison." 33:16 And then it came in my mind whoever doesn't love God 33:18 more than self cannot be My disciple. 33:21 And I said, "But, Lord, I love you more than freedom, 33:24 but I don't want to go to prison." 33:26 Let me ask you just in case because there are people 33:29 watching of different ages. 33:30 How old were you at this time 33:32 when you receive this challenge? 33:34 Eighteen. Eighteen years old. 33:35 Yeah, that was 100 years ago. 33:39 So you're praying, asking the Lord to deliver you 33:42 from prison and how was the transition, 33:47 how did you find peace and tranquility 33:50 in the Lord in the midst of this great challenge? 33:51 It came in my mind what my father would say again 33:55 and again, every time would have a challenge, 33:56 I will talk to him, 33:57 and he will not give me the answer 33:59 but he will throw some tips. 34:00 He said to me that in our life we have no blessings, 34:06 no growth, no power, no victory, 34:08 and we are unable to even help others 34:11 because we don't learn to trust God 34:13 and to fully surrender and let Him deal with it 34:15 everything, regardless of the spiritual matter 34:17 or whatever, to surrender. 34:20 We talk about surrendering, give Him permission to work, 34:23 but then we act ourselves. 34:25 And my father said, 34:27 "All Bible stories 34:28 are because people surrender everything. 34:30 They trust in God even with life. 34:32 Yes. 34:33 And in history, people of faith have been people 34:36 that learned to surrender. 34:38 And my father would say, "Moses gave up everything." 34:41 God could not use you unless you give up everything. 34:44 As long as you are in control 34:45 and you keep some things for you, 34:47 God cannot give you power 34:48 because you are going to use the power in a selfish way, 34:51 self centered way according to your good plans, 34:54 your good wisdom, but when you fully surrender 34:58 and God takes over 34:59 and He's in control of your life, 35:01 then God can give you power because He's going to control 35:04 how you use that power. 35:05 And Paul says, "I've been crucified, 35:08 I no longer live, Christ lives and leads and so on." 35:12 He says, "I die daily." 35:13 Basically my father will say, 35:15 "If you really want to see God's power in your life, 35:17 you first need to die. 35:19 Unless you die, you will never produce fruit. 35:21 As long as you are alive, God cannot give you power 35:24 because you will control that power." 35:26 So when you say, you have to die, 35:28 you're talking about having control, 35:31 you're saying dying to self, your ideas, your ways. 35:34 You're saying, allow God to control? 35:36 Okay. 35:38 And he will repeat again and again that basically 35:43 if you want to keep your life or your house or your salary, 35:46 you will lose it, 35:47 but if you're willing to give it to God, 35:49 then you will save it because God can preserve it 35:52 better than you can, and you need to be willing 35:54 to let go for God to be able to grow it, 35:56 bless it, preserve it. 35:58 For instance, he would say, 35:59 "If you love your family more than God, you'll lose it. 36:01 But if you put God first, 36:02 He will be able to preserve your family for you 36:04 better than you do it." 36:06 He will say, "In God's hands it's safer than in your hands." 36:09 And so, when it came in my mind to surrender my freedom, 36:13 and if I want to keep my freedom, 36:14 I'm going to lose it. 36:16 But if I'm willing to give it to God, 36:17 He will do best. 36:19 I was struggling to pray a new prayer. 36:22 And I said, "Lord, I really don't want to go to prison. 36:26 But I am willing to surrender my freedom. 36:29 Do to me whatever You want, I give you my permission. 36:33 I know You respect my freedom. 36:34 So, Lord, if You want to give me freedom, 36:37 please do that. 36:38 But if not, if You have a job for me in prison, 36:42 like Joseph, like, let me go to prison. 36:44 And if You want me to love You more than freedom, 36:47 let me love You joyfully more than freedom or life. 36:51 And so, Lord, I joyfully surrender 36:53 my freedom and my life, 36:54 even if I will be beaten or tortured, 36:57 do whatever You want." 36:58 And then it came these words in my mouth, I don't know why. 37:01 But I said, "Do to me, not what I ask or what I want, 37:04 or what is important to me. 37:06 Do to me what would honor you and serve you, 37:09 and your kingdom and your mission 37:11 and your honor to the point that this communist people, 37:14 secular communist that don't know you, 37:16 they will have a chance to know 37:18 that there is a God in heaven and to be saved. 37:20 So, Lord, I'm gonna put You, Your mission, Your honor, 37:24 Your work above my freedom. 37:26 When I said those words, though I should have cried 37:29 because hey, I'm willing to give up my freedom. 37:32 Instantly, before when I paid for freedom, 37:36 I was struggling. 37:38 When I said, "Do to me whatever You want." 37:39 Instantly I had peace like, 37:41 there was no problem with my freedom. 37:43 And I didn't know what will happen next. 37:46 But I stopped asking. 37:48 I didn't feel the need to ask anymore, 37:49 like, basically, I gave it to God. 37:50 And I was like, "No need to ask, He knows it. 37:53 He's in control." Yes. 37:55 I gave up my freedom. 37:56 I gave it to Him. 37:57 It's His problem, not mine. 37:59 So you are willing to face no matter what happened? 38:01 Even if you had to go to prison, 38:02 you were willing to face that if that was God's will? 38:05 I didn't even think about it anymore. 38:07 And for some reason, I was afraid to open my eyes. 38:09 I sensed that God is right there. 38:12 He can hear me. 38:13 He knows my heart. 38:14 He knows the future. 38:16 And He's in control. 38:17 And I said, Lord, you know it all, You are God. 38:19 And they started for some reason to sing, 38:21 literally a song that is the one 38:23 that trust in the Lord he has peace 38:25 and the Romanian words. 38:26 Yes. 38:28 And I started to sing and while I was singing, 38:30 somebody knocked in the door, powerful in the warehouse door, 38:34 and I stopped singing and I opened the door. 38:36 And it was a sergeant, 38:37 his name was Chu-Chu Marian, short guy. 38:40 He says, "Pavel, you're an Adventist." 38:41 I said, "Yes." 38:43 "You cannot lie." 38:44 I said, "I'm trying to tell the truth always." 38:47 "I want you to tell me the truth." 38:49 I said, "Okay." 38:50 "Do you know General Jonna? 38:52 General Joni? 38:54 Jonna. 38:55 I said, "I don't know General Jonna." 38:57 "Oh, yes, you do." 38:58 I said, "Who is he?" 39:01 "Pavel, you cannot lie. 39:03 Your God can hear you." 39:05 I said, "What are you talking about?" 39:08 "You don't know him?" "No, I don't know him. 39:09 Who is he?" 39:11 Well, all armies in Romania are divided in four, 39:13 four big armies. 39:15 And there are four generals 39:16 who are responsible 39:18 with the four armies of Romania. 39:20 And over them is the minister of defense 39:21 and over them the president. 39:23 And these four people are people 39:25 that everybody is afraid of them. 39:27 And the most fearful among all, 39:29 the one that people really shake his presence. 39:32 He has the power to take anybody's life. 39:34 That guy is extremely powerful 39:36 in our country is General Jonna. 39:39 We are in a meeting to put you in prison 14 years, 39:41 and the door opened and guess who came? 39:44 From Bucharest to this city, countryside, 39:47 General Jonna showed up with his guards. 39:51 And we all got straight... 39:52 This is interesting. 39:54 We said, "This is it. 39:55 We are done." 39:57 If he came to inspect our garrison, 39:58 we are in trouble. 39:59 And we were afraid for our jobs or freedom. 40:02 And he said, "Relax, sit down." 40:04 We all sat down, waited. 40:06 He says, "I came three years ago to inspect the garrison 40:08 and you're to arrest. 40:11 The fence was broken, the driveway was broken, 40:13 the roof was leaking, 40:14 the windows were broken of the museum. 40:16 And you said you have no funds, no money. 40:18 I came now to inspect. 40:20 You have a nice new fence, who fixed it for you?" 40:23 "Well, there is a soldier, his name is Goia. 40:25 He fixed it." 40:26 "How much did you pay him?" 40:27 "Oh, he volunteered. 40:29 He did it for free." 40:30 Nice. 40:31 Praise the Lord. 40:33 "The driveway is fixed." 40:34 "He fixed the driveway." 40:36 "Who?" "Goia. 40:37 "The same soldier?" "Yes." 40:38 "The roof is fixed, you got new roof." 40:40 "Well, he worked with his father roofs 40:41 and construction and he fixed the roof." 40:43 "Who? "The same soldier Goia." 40:45 "How much did he charge?" 40:47 "Oh, every day he fixes something around the building. 40:50 He goes and he will fix something." 40:52 He says that "He has to do everything 40:53 as he will do it for God." 40:56 "Oh, I noticed that the windows are replaced." 40:58 He worked on glass with his father. 41:00 He owns a business in glass. 41:01 He knows how to, he replaced the windows." 41:03 "The museum who did?" 41:04 "He did the museum." 41:06 "The warehouse was missing tools. 41:07 Soldiers would sell them to buy alcohol. 41:10 Right now nothing is missing, 41:11 who is in charge of the warehouse." 41:13 Goia, he doesn't allow anybody to steal. 41:15 He keeps them clean." 41:16 "Man, what have you done to reward him, 41:19 to put a picture of him under flag to send him home, 41:22 to put him on the TV, to give him a financial reward? 41:26 What have you done to honor him?" 41:28 And they said, "Nothing." 41:31 "Why are you here?" 41:32 "An emergency meeting. "Why?" 41:33 "We want to put a soldier in prison, 41:35 maximum sentence." 41:37 "Who?" "Goia." 41:38 "Why would you do that? 41:40 You see a traitor." "No." 41:42 "Is he talking against the government?" 41:43 "No. 41:45 But he believes in God." 41:46 "Well, many people believe in God, 41:48 though we don't like it. 41:49 Are you planning to kill them all? 41:51 Is he going against our country?" 41:53 "No." 41:54 "If there was an emergency, would he?" 41:56 "Oh, yeah. 41:57 In an emergency he would give his life." 41:59 "What was the problem?" 42:01 "We asked him to dig a hole 42:02 and it was Saturday and he refused." 42:04 "Why would you ask him to dig a hole?" 42:06 "Well, we wanted to see if he'll obey." 42:09 "Why would you do that?" 42:10 "Well, we told him that there is work." 42:12 "But there is no work." 42:14 Praise the Lord. 42:15 He said, "You wish you had all soldiers like him. 42:19 Why would you go against your best soldier?" 42:21 And then the General said, "You touch him, you touch me. 42:24 You go against him. 42:26 I'm going to make you lose your jobs and your freedom. 42:28 I myself, I'm going to go against you. 42:30 Don't you touch Goia?" 42:32 Wow! 42:33 This is something amazing. 42:35 And then the sergeant said to me, 42:36 "You tell me that you don't know him." 42:38 I said, "Nope. 42:39 But I know somebody bigger." 42:41 "You know, the president or who?" 42:43 "I said somebody bigger." 42:45 I was referring to God. Praise God. 42:46 He says, "I'm gonna tell everybody 42:48 that you know somebody bigger than the general." 42:51 Sure enough, from that day 42:53 to the end of the military service, 42:55 they never asked me to do anything. 42:57 They would ask me, "Go home, go to church, do whatever. 42:59 You don't have to work, you don't have to do training, 43:01 you can go in your room and pray. 43:03 Just call the general and talk to him about us. 43:05 Maybe we get the promotion." 43:07 I said, "I don't know the general, 43:08 I know somebody bigger." 43:09 "Well, whoever you know bigger, talk to him for us." 43:12 I said, "I am doing every day. 43:13 I'm talking to him about you," because I was praying for them. 43:16 Yes. Praise the Lord. 43:18 But so many times, we want God to serve us, 43:24 while we put our needs above God. 43:28 And God cannot really serve us 43:30 because we are supposed to serve Him. 43:32 And we need to be willing to put God, 43:34 His honor, His service, 43:36 the proclamation of the good news of the gospel. 43:40 We need to put God first and ready to give up life, 43:43 freedom, money. 43:45 It's not about money, it's about everything, 43:46 time, energy, house, job, family, we need self health. 43:51 We need to put God above everything, 43:53 because whatever is your treasure, 43:55 that's where your heart is. 43:57 We need to put God above these things 43:59 in order to allow God to work at any place. 44:02 Praise the Lord. 44:03 You know, you're, as you're telling the story 44:06 and how this general showed up at the time 44:10 when they were about to make a decision 44:11 to put you in prison. 44:13 The Lord directed him to come 44:15 long before the meeting started. 44:18 What's the distance between Bucharest 44:21 where he was 44:22 and where your military base was? 44:24 I even checked online, but with the train 44:28 would probably be seven, eight hours. 44:31 I don't know in... 44:32 This is one of those things that... 44:34 Five six hundred kilometers, about 300-400 miles. 44:36 Obviously the Lord was in control. 44:39 He knew what emergency His child, 44:41 and I'm saying you His child in this case, 44:43 was going to be facing 44:45 and the Lord brought the solution. 44:47 The Lord had the solution 44:48 before you even started praying. 44:50 The Lord had the victory done before I even had the trial. 44:54 God knows the future. 44:55 The problem is not with God, 44:57 God's hand is not shorter than before. 44:58 God doesn't change. 45:00 The problem is that we are so focused 45:01 on self and our needs that we forget to worship God, 45:05 to know Him, to trust Him, to serve Him. 45:07 And we try to solve our own problems 45:08 and we make a mess. 45:10 Instead of putting God first and learning to trust in Him 45:13 that He promised. 45:15 If we put Him first, 45:16 He will take care of the other things. 45:17 Praise the Lord, you know, before times run, runs out, 45:21 we need to share your contact information. 45:23 So those of you at home 45:24 that would like to contact him via email. 45:27 We're going to put his email on the screen in a few moments 45:29 and we'll read it for you, so those that are listening. 45:34 How do you get there? 45:35 How do you get to the place where you learn to trust God 45:40 no matter what the circumstances? 45:41 Very good question. 45:42 Because every day, we are facing challenges 45:47 and faith fails, 45:48 we begin to doubt like you said, 45:51 we begin to look at the problem, 45:53 the problem gets bigger. 45:54 How do you learn not to look at the problem, 45:56 but to look to God? 45:58 So many times we do want to have faith, 46:00 but you struggle. 46:01 Help my unbelief, you know, I believe help my unbelief. 46:04 I believe and I could be wrong again, 46:06 I don't pretend that I had the answers. 46:08 But from my experience from studying in the Bible, 46:12 in the Spirit of Prophecy, 46:14 I believe that God would never allow 46:18 over us more than we can handle. 46:19 And He would prepare also the way out 46:21 when He allows a challenge, a crisis, 46:23 and that God to daily challenges 46:27 small daily things that we believe 46:30 they are not related to anything, 46:32 oh, today, I had a flat tire, 46:34 small things that may not seem connected to anything 46:37 in our spiritual life, 46:38 God through daily trials is teaching us faith, trust, 46:43 dependence, humility, whatever we need. 46:47 And in the several pages towards the end, 46:50 in the last two, three, four chapters, 46:51 the Spirit of Prophecy says that so many times people 46:55 wait for a big thing, but they need to be faithful 46:58 in daily small things and unless they are faithful 47:00 in small things, it grows them for bigger things, 47:02 and they have faith. 47:04 And so it's a progression. 47:06 It's a growing experience. 47:09 And so I believe that we need to, 47:11 instead of looking for big faith, 47:13 we need to learn in daily things to trust God. 47:16 And as we are faithful daily, and learn to trust Him, 47:20 as we stretch our faith, 47:21 we step out in faith in small things. 47:24 And we see how wonderful God is that will prepare us 47:27 for bigger things, and then bigger things. 47:29 And this week, God is growing us. 47:32 Growing us every day. 47:33 You mentioned a book, 47:35 what was the name of the book, again? 47:36 Desire of Ages. Desire of Ages. 47:38 So you're saying towards the end? 47:39 Okay. 47:40 I would, apparently you recommend 47:42 reading this book? 47:43 Absolutely. 47:44 It's a life changing book. 47:46 And I believe that people say, I've been praying, studying, 47:50 trying to trust God every day, and still there is no growth. 47:53 People need to understand that growth happens slow, 47:58 children grow, but you don't see them growing. 48:01 But five years later, you look, and they are a lot taller. 48:05 So the work of the Holy Spirit is like the wind, 48:08 you don't see the wind, but you do see the effects. 48:10 So growth should not be our concern. 48:13 We should stop monitoring self. 48:15 Yes. 48:17 I want my job is to be connected to God, 48:19 to love Him, to trust Him, to surrender daily, 48:21 to spend time with Him in prayer and study, 48:24 to trust in Him even in small things. 48:26 His job is growth and transformation and victory. 48:30 So I need to do my job, stay connected, 48:32 and trust that God will finish what He said. 48:34 He will do His job. 48:35 And so, instead of monitoring, 48:37 oh, I didn't grow from yesterday to today, 48:39 just stay connected. 48:41 Two, three years down the road as you look back, 48:42 you will see that God has been working faithfully. 48:45 And this is probably one of the keys. 48:48 In my opinion, it doesn't matter 48:51 if you are here or here or here 48:53 in your spiritual growth 48:54 as long as you are in Christ. 48:56 Because God doesn't save us based on how good we are, 48:59 but based on His unbelievable grace. 49:03 God saved the thief on the cross 49:04 was in the beginning of the spiritual growth. 49:07 He was a baby. Yes. 49:08 And God saved Paul, who was probably at the end 49:10 of the fight, after running the good fight, you know. 49:13 And so, wherever you are, you need to be in Christ 49:16 and let Him grow you. 49:18 Amen. Amen. 49:19 Well, let's share your contact information. 49:21 So that those of you that would like to contact 49:24 Pastor Goia can do so. 49:26 What is your email that you can share with us? 49:29 It's P... 49:31 Pgoia777@ gmail.com. 49:35 Pgoia777... 49:38 Three sevens @Gmail. Gmail.com. 49:41 I want to mention something that can sound a little rude, 49:43 but sometimes I receive, 49:46 I'm exaggerating 20 pages emails 49:49 like a whole episode, you know, 49:51 and when you receive 140-150 emails a day, 49:54 it's better if there is an email 49:56 that is short straight to the subject 49:57 without too many introductions, and... 49:59 Yes. 50:00 Because you know, you can read and answer so many. 50:03 Yes, this is true. This is true. 50:04 So patients, if you contact Pastor Goia, 50:07 I have some patients that he has opportunity 50:09 to answer you because he gets many, 50:11 many emails, many, many emails. 50:13 So praise the Lord. 50:14 The Lord took you from this experience 50:16 that you were facing possibly 14 years of prison, 50:19 but you surrendered. 50:21 This is what you say, how in a couple of minutes, 50:25 how do you surrender to the Lord? 50:27 Because you have to discover this. 50:30 The Spirit of Prophecy uses a very nice word consent. 50:34 And I have the paragraph, the quotation in my briefcase 50:36 in one of my spiritual growth presentation, 50:40 how do you grow more and more like Jesus? 50:44 And so, she says, "Give Him the consent daily." 50:48 Basically, how do you surrender? 50:51 Daily in the morning, give God the consent. 50:54 Give Him the permission to do in your life 50:57 what is necessary for you instance, 50:59 and this is a challenging sentence 51:02 that I'm going to say next. 51:04 As soon as we face a problem, we got to solve it. 51:09 But we need to think about it. 51:11 If I say, Lord, give me patience. 51:12 Basically, I'm asking for trouble. 51:15 Because how God could teach me patience 51:16 if nobody bothers me. 51:18 So when I say, give me patience, 51:19 God has to send somebody 51:21 that would really bother me to how do I develop patience, 51:25 if I don't have a situation to exercise patience. 51:27 So then God has to allow somebody to bother me. 51:30 And as soon as somebody bothers me, 51:31 I say, "Lord, please solve this problem with my boss." 51:34 But God says, "Given to us for patience." 51:36 So instead of asking God to solve my problem, 51:39 we should rather ask God to grow us. 51:42 And then after we learned the lesson, 51:44 if you want to remove the problem. 51:46 And so, many times the challenge 51:48 that we ask God to take care of them 51:50 are actually the very answers to our prayer to grow faith, 51:54 patience, trust, and so on. 51:57 Praise the Lord. Thank you so much. 51:59 We have another closing remarks 52:02 that we would like to get to in a moment. 52:03 But we are now going to take the opportunity 52:06 to give you the opportunity to hear news and things 52:11 that are going on at 3ABN that are things 52:13 that you would say praise the Lord, 52:15 and also things that you can pray for 3ABN. 52:18 So we're going to go to a news break at this time, 52:22 so that you can hear all the wonderful things 52:23 that God is doing. 52:25 And also we want to include you 52:27 to stand by because Pastor Goia will be back 52:29 for some final comments to end this program. 52:31 And we'll see you in a moment. |
Revised 2021-04-12