Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW200007S
|
00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:08 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN 01:11 Today Family Worship and happy Sabbath. 01:14 I'm Jason Bradley and I'm so glad 01:17 that you could join us. 01:18 I have our 3ABN family here 01:21 and you are definitely a part of that. 01:23 I hope that you have your Bibles ready. 01:25 I hope you have a pen and a piece of paper ready. 01:28 Well, probably several pieces of paper 01:30 'cause we have a lot to cover. 01:32 We're gonna be talking about the Christian walk 01:35 and we'll be looking at the fruit of the Spirit 01:39 which is found in Galatians 5:22, 23. 01:43 And then we'll be covering several other verses. 01:46 Now I can't guarantee that 01:48 we're gonna even get through all of this 01:50 because I don't even know 01:52 exactly where we're just gonna focus our time, 01:56 we're just allowing the Holy Spirit to lead. 01:58 And so here with me 01:59 to discuss this wonderful topic, 02:02 we have Dee Hildebrand. 02:03 Hello, it is terrific to be here 02:05 with all of you again tonight. 02:07 Oh, it's great to have you here, Dee. 02:10 We have Pastor Ryan Day. 02:12 Hey, I'm blessed to be here as always, excited to study. 02:15 Amen. 02:17 With, you know, 02:18 we should have got you to sing a solo 02:19 since we're not going to have music. 02:21 We're gonna be singing the word. 02:22 All right. Amen. 02:24 We have Marilyn Durant. Happy to be here. 02:27 Thank you for having me. Great to have you. 02:30 And we have your hubs, husband, 02:33 well, I said hubby, your husband, Eric Durant. 02:36 Very, very happy to be here. Thank you, Jason. 02:38 Yeah. Great to have you here. 02:40 So, Dee, why don't you tell us 02:42 a little bit about what you do at 3ABN? 02:44 Now this might take most of the program 'cause... 02:46 No, no, because I'm semi-retired now, 02:48 I only work part time. 02:50 I still do scheduling and I just help out here 02:53 and there where I'm needed. 02:54 Semi-retired that equals like 70 hours a week. 02:58 No, I'm being very, very good little girl, 03:01 I'm down to 20-25 hours 03:03 and I do other things out in the community. 03:06 I'm so very busy, don't misunderstand. 03:09 That's right. Amen. 03:10 Pastor Ryan Day. 03:12 Well, I guess I kind of wear multiple hats here 03:15 which a lot of people do. 03:17 I'm still working kind of part time with 3ABN 03:20 Praise Him music network. 03:22 And I'm also kind of dividing my time 03:24 also with the 3ABN pastoral department 03:26 now as well. 03:27 Still preaching, singing, doing a lot of things. 03:29 So, it's a blessing to be here 03:31 and to be a part of this ministry. 03:32 Nice. Amen. Eric? 03:34 I'm one of the engineers here, 03:35 one of three and my main responsibility 03:38 is to make sure that we stay on the air. 03:41 We have internet, we have satellite, 03:44 we have a number of different ways to broadcast 03:46 and it keeps us very, very busy. 03:49 Amen. And, Marilyn? 03:51 I am the manager at 3ABN call center. 03:54 And I make sure that all the orders get out 03:56 and processing our inventory 04:01 and anything that customers may need. 04:03 Yes. 04:04 She also makes sure that I stay out of trouble. 04:07 Your team keeps everybody happy over there. 04:09 Yeah. 04:10 You got your work cut out for you. 04:12 I do. That's right. 04:14 Well, before we jump into our study, 04:15 let's have a word of prayer. 04:17 Pastor Day, will you pray? Yeah, absolutely. 04:19 Father in heaven, Lord, we're just so thankful 04:21 to be here again on the Sabbath evening, 04:23 taking time, Lord, 04:25 in our day to just come together 04:28 in fellowship and worship, Lord, 04:30 as we were going to break 04:31 the bread of life at this moment, 04:33 in spirit and in truth, Lord, we want to worship You. 04:35 We want to open Your Word and we need understanding. 04:38 And so, Lord, give us Your Holy Spirit right now. 04:40 Help us to have the spiritual, mental capacity, 04:44 Lord, to be able to rightly divide 04:46 Your word of truth and understand it. 04:48 And may, when this message goes out, 04:50 may there be many blessed because of this tonight. 04:53 Maybe You draw us closer together 04:55 as brothers and sisters in Christ 04:57 and closer to Jesus Christ. 04:58 We ask in Jesus' holy name, amen. 05:00 Amen. Amen. 05:03 I think we should start with Galatians 5:22, 23. 05:08 And since we'll be looking at the fruit of the Spirit, 05:11 why not start right there. 05:14 Galatians 5:22, 23. 05:17 And it says, "But the fruit of the spirit is love, 05:21 joy, peace, long-suffering, 05:24 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 05:27 gentleness, self-control against such there is no law." 05:32 Now when you're looking at that list 05:36 and then you start thinking about your own life, 05:38 like I'm looking and I'm like, I know there's times 05:41 where I haven't been the most loving. 05:43 I know there's times where maybe I wasn't joyful 05:47 'cause I wasn't walking with the Lord at one point. 05:51 Maybe I didn't have that peace, the long-suffering, 05:55 maybe I was a little impatient, 05:57 kindness, you know, so as you start looking 06:00 at these different, different 06:03 parts of the fruit of the Spirit 06:06 and you take a look at your own life, 06:08 it's like, man, you really recognize your need. 06:11 I know I can speak for myself, 06:12 like I really recognize my need for Christ. 06:14 Amen. Amen. 06:16 Amen. Absolutely. 06:17 It's funny when I look back on my past 06:19 and I said to myself, I really did lack 06:23 all of the fruits of the Spirit. 06:25 I can go down that list and see 06:26 how I came up short in every one of those areas, 06:29 but the glory of God and I give it to Him 06:31 all the time is that 06:34 I've grown and that each of those areas 06:36 that I look at now I've improved vastly 06:38 and it's by God's love that's happened. 06:42 So, I think every Christian goes through that 06:44 growth experience and the fruit is sweet. 06:47 Amen. 06:48 I think part of it is, for the... 06:50 After I became a Christian I actually wanted to, 06:54 this is a list of giving, not taking. 06:59 Before you're a Christian, you want to take all of that, 07:03 but after you become a Christian 07:04 you want to share, you want to give, 07:08 so it's a whole complete change of attitude. 07:12 Yes. 07:13 I love that contrast because it's selflessness 07:17 instead of selfishness. 07:18 Absolutely. Yes. 07:20 How you think about it. 07:22 Is that what conversion is, 07:23 I heard somebody say a long time ago conversion 07:26 is a 180-degree turn. 07:27 A U-turn. A U-turn, yeah. 07:30 And where I really fail is that 07:34 I come up short in all those places 07:37 that I wish I was, I've grown, yes, thank You, Lord. 07:40 Amen. 07:41 But the more you grow, 07:43 the more you see how short you fall too. 07:47 That's why it's important to stay surrendered 07:48 every single day. 07:51 You know, sanctification is the work of a lifetime. 07:53 So just constantly dying to self every day, 07:56 every day that battle goes on. 07:58 Absolutely. 08:00 We're talking about the fruits of the Spirit, 08:02 almost said gifts, the fruits of the Spirit, 08:04 and I had just made a little note here 08:05 gifts versus fruits because these fruits 08:09 are identification factors of our character, 08:13 they identify who we are or who we aren't as Christians. 08:17 And so, talk, I'll probably talk about 08:19 this a little later in the program 08:21 but you know I praise God that we serve a patient God. 08:23 Amen. 08:24 A patient God which is actually 08:25 one of the fruits of the Spirit. 08:27 He has patience with us 08:28 and we'll talk about that in just a little bit but, 08:30 you know, we're going to develop 08:32 as we grow close to the Lord, 08:33 we're gonna develop these fruits of the Spirit. 08:36 People are gonna see Christ in us. 08:38 They're gonna see these identification factors 08:41 within us and when they see us they'll see Jesus. 08:44 And I put a little note here, gifts versus fruits. 08:47 I had a guy call me the other day, 08:49 it was somebody I guess who had connected 08:51 to someone who knew me through ministry. 08:53 And he called me out of nowhere and he said, 08:55 you know, I want to talk to you 08:56 about the gift of the spirit, okay. 09:00 And I knew immediately where he was going 09:01 because I grew up in a Pentecostal background. 09:04 And this isn't just in Pentecostal churches now, 09:08 it's in many different denominations 09:09 and non-denominational churches. 09:11 But he called me up, 09:13 he wanted to talk to me about the gift of the Spirit. 09:16 And then he asked me, 09:17 I'll never forget he said, how do you, he said, 09:19 "Do you have the Holy Spirit?" 09:21 I said, "Well, of course I have the Holy Spirit." 09:22 I said, "I believe that with all my heart." 09:24 He said, "Well, but how do you know 09:26 you have the Holy Spirit?" 09:27 And I caught him off guard because I said, 09:29 "Well, because I see evidence of the fruits of God's Spirit 09:34 at work in my life becoming in 09:36 and made manifest within my character. 09:38 I'm not the same person that I used to be, 09:41 God is changing me and I'm starting to see that 09:43 fruit take place in my own life." 09:45 And it was, there was this awkward pause 09:47 in silence over the phone and he, 09:48 then he commenced to go into talking about 09:51 one of the gifts of the Spirit, speaking in tongues. 09:53 I mean, well, you know, 09:54 the evidence of that you have the Holy Spirit 09:56 is that you must speak in tongues. 09:58 And so, if you haven't spoken in tongues, 09:59 how do you know that you have the Holy Spirit 10:01 because that's the evidence. 10:02 And I just made that point just to say that 10:04 the evidence that 10:06 Christ is working in someone's life, 10:08 the evidence that you have received 10:10 the Holy Spirit in your life are the fruits of the Spirit, 10:13 not the gifts of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit 10:15 and then we'll probably mention this a little later, 10:17 but in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 Paul makes it clear that 10:20 not everyone receives the same gift. 10:22 You know, God distributes those gifts accordingly 10:25 to your talents and how He thinks that 10:28 you can best minister for His kingdom. 10:30 But we should all desire and we should all have 10:33 the gifts of the Spirit in our life. 10:35 And so, you know... Yeah, go ahead. 10:37 Not the gifts. The fruits... 10:40 Oh, the fruits, I said the gifts, 10:41 I'm prone to do that sometimes. 10:43 We all supposed to have. 10:44 All supposed to have the fruits of the Spirit, 10:46 not necessarily all the gifts of the Spirit. 10:48 But you know, if you walk out to a tree 10:50 and someone points out a tree and says that's an apple tree, 10:53 isn't that a beautiful apple tree 10:55 and you're kind of investigating it 10:56 and you're looking at it and it's like, you know, 10:58 there's nothing on that tree. 11:00 How do you know that's an apple tree? 11:01 You look for the evidence that that's an apple tree. 11:03 And, of course, 11:05 it's gonna have certain features 11:06 and ultimately, you're gonna want to see 11:08 the fruit of an apple on that tree, 11:09 with the same thing about a Christian. 11:11 And so I really appreciate this study that 11:14 you kind of drew up for us here because it really helps us 11:16 to be to be reminded that the evidence of Christ's work 11:22 in our life in this Christian walk of life 11:24 are the fruits of the Spirit, 11:27 I got to get Dee beside me to keep me from straying. 11:30 Fruits, fruits. Fruits, fruits, fruits. 11:32 It kind of reminds me of the fig tree 11:34 where Jesus was walking with the apostles 11:36 and His disciples 11:37 and the fig tree wasn't producing any figs. 11:40 And He condemned that fig tree. That's right. 11:43 So, we don't want to be contemned, condemned, 11:45 I specially don't, 11:47 I think we want to generate those fruit. 11:48 'Cause it was a fig tree but it did not demonstrates 11:52 the evidence of its fruit. 11:55 That's right. 11:56 Lots of people walk around claiming identification 12:00 of Christianity without the fruit. 12:03 Yes, mere profession. 12:05 And we're gonna see that too in 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. 12:10 Pastor Day, if you would. Absolutely. 12:12 So, 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, anyone who knows this chapter, 12:16 we know that we're talking about the famous love chapter. 12:19 And this is verses 1 through 7 and I love this message 12:23 because I like to often read this 12:25 and take that, take that word love 12:27 or charity that you often see here mentioned 12:30 and I like to replace it with the name of Jesus 12:33 because the Bible says in 1 John 4 that God is love, 12:36 not that He's just mere loving but He is love. 12:39 And so, when I read this chapter 12:41 I think of God. 12:42 And so here it is, it says, Paul says, 12:43 "Though I speak with tongues of men and angels." 12:46 And, of course, he's saying here that 12:47 he doesn't necessarily speak 12:48 with the tongues of men and angels. 12:50 He says, even if, "For though I may 12:52 but have not love I become sounding brass 12:55 or clinging cymbal. 12:56 And though I have the gift of prophecy 12:58 and understanding and of all mysteries 13:02 and all knowledge and though I have all faith 13:05 so that I could remove mountains 13:08 but have not love, I am nothing." 13:11 And then he continues on, 13:12 "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor 13:14 and though I give all my body to be burned 13:17 but have not love, it profits me nothing. 13:20 Love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy, 13:23 love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up, 13:27 it does not behave rudely, it does not seek its own, 13:32 it's not provoked, thinks no evil, 13:34 does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth, 13:38 it bears all things, believes all things, 13:41 hopes all things, endures all things." 13:43 And I have to read the first part of verse 8, 13:45 "Love never fails." 13:47 Amen. Love never fails. 13:49 Amen. 13:50 Yeah, I mean, it's almost like you see the fruit in there. 13:54 And I love how like verses 1 through 3 13:57 really speak to motive too. 13:59 You know, because when you think about God 14:01 everything He does is motivated by love. 14:03 That's right. 14:04 You know, and so we as human beings 14:06 we can do some things and we can do some good things 14:10 but the motive is all wrong, we can have the stronger, 14:14 the best head knowledge on Scripture, 14:16 we can have, we can give everything 14:19 we have to the poor, we can do all of these things 14:23 but it's saying if we, 14:24 if we don't have love, I am nothing. 14:27 That's right. It's nothing. 14:28 Exactly, exactly. 14:30 All the fruit comes from the love. 14:32 That's the seed, love is like the seed. 14:35 That's it. Yeah. 14:36 And the fruit grows from there. 14:37 And it's interesting how love is, 14:39 like you said it's the seed, everything comes out of there 14:42 and it starts off the fruit of the Spirit. 14:44 Yeah. Love is the first one. 14:46 I had a teacher one time at AFCO 14:47 when I was, years ago 14:48 when I was at Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism. 14:50 And he said, 14:51 "What's the fruit of the Spirit?" 14:53 And we all started naming them and he said, 14:54 "No, the fruit of the Spirit is love:" 14:59 The fruit of the Spirit is love: 15:01 And then you get all these out of it. 15:03 And then, so the response from that 15:05 and I understood that is that, you know, 15:07 to have true love, if you have true love 15:10 that godly love, biblical love, 15:13 love is the very expression of joy, 15:17 peace, patience, kindness, 15:19 goodness, faithfulness, gentleness 15:21 and self-control as she was bringing out, 15:22 it all comes from that. 15:23 That is love. 15:25 But you can have selfish love 15:29 and then you want all the fruit to be directed at you 15:33 instead of outwardly, 15:35 you want people to make you happy, 15:39 it's your responsibility to make me happy. 15:41 It's your response to be patient with me 15:44 so you can have the motive of love from God 15:50 and be motivated to selflessness 15:53 or you can have the motive of love from man, 15:57 selfish and have that wrong motive 16:00 and have all the gifts 16:02 that you're taking instead of giving. 16:04 For every genuine thing 16:07 that comes from God, the devil has a counterfeit. 16:09 Absolutely. 16:11 And so, when I think about love, 16:13 you know, I see that coming from God, 16:16 when I think about lust, 16:17 I see that coming from the devil. 16:19 And so, you know, when I think about happiness, 16:23 I think of it as a fleeting emotion 16:25 or something that's not long-lasting. 16:27 When I think about joy, 16:28 I think about that coming from God 16:30 and that being a pure, long-lasting, you know, 16:35 joy that brings about peace. 16:38 And when I think about peace, 16:39 I think about that coming from God, you know, 16:42 a peace which passeth all understanding, 16:45 no matter what your circumstance may be, 16:48 you may have a moment where you're feeling down 16:51 or whatever the case may be, but there's still yet a peace 16:55 knowing that we have the great hope. 16:57 Amen. 16:58 You know, with Christ paying it all on the cross for us. 17:00 And so, it's interesting 17:02 as we just look at all of these love, 17:04 joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, 17:09 faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, 17:13 I mean, all of these things you see Christ in all of it. 17:18 I think it's wonderful, Christianity 17:21 because Christ not only says it, 17:24 He demonstrated it. 17:26 He demonstrated it because I'm still shocked 17:29 and it still awes me that God would die for me. 17:34 That summarizes the entire gospel. 17:36 It's a gospel of love. It's a gospel of giving. 17:39 It's a gospel of sacrifice. 17:42 It's a gospel of a God who did not see Himself 17:45 better than everyone. 17:48 He saw Himself as a lover of His children. 17:52 And that just inspires me. Yes. 17:55 He continues to do so. 17:57 He is still, that sacrifice is still given to me, 18:03 he's still long-suffering, he has not changed, 18:06 he still being 18:08 who He's always been to each individual. 18:11 Yes. Yes, that is very true. 18:14 And He is super, super, super, super strong. 18:18 Amen. 18:20 You know, because when you, when you think about, 18:22 when you take a look at the life of Christ, 18:24 when He was on this earth, you know, yes, 18:26 He turned the other cheek, yes, He endured so much abuse 18:31 and heartache and all of this stuff. 18:34 And He responded in a loving manner 18:38 despite all of that. 18:39 You know, how strong you have to be 18:42 to even be able to do that. 18:44 Yeah, that takes strength, it's easy to get mad 18:47 and to be angry and all of that stuff, 18:50 it's hard to be gentle 18:54 and have that self-control and be kind. 18:57 And, you know... Oh, yeah. He was meek. 18:59 He was meek, but He wasn't weak. 19:01 That's right. Absolutely. 19:03 I like that. That's right. 19:05 That is right. 19:06 He was meek, but He wasn't weak. 19:08 It takes a great deal of strength to be meek. 19:11 Yes. It does, it does. 19:14 And patience. Yes. 19:16 He had a lot of patience. Yes. 19:18 And still has a lot of patience. 19:20 That's right. Yeah, with all of us. Yes. 19:23 Who wants to read 1 John 4:19-20? 19:29 1 John... Through 20? 19:31 Yes. 1 John, yeah. Okay. 19:35 1 John 4:19, 20. 19:39 "We love Him because He first loved us. 19:43 If someone says I love God and hates his brother, 19:47 he is a liar, for he who does not love his brother 19:52 whom he has seen, 19:53 how can he love God whom he has not seen." 19:59 That's powerful. 20:01 Anything in there, any comments on that? 20:03 I think that what we were saying before that 20:06 love is the fruit, one of the things that 20:08 I talk about in my ministry, I do prison ministry 20:12 is that a lot of the people incarcerated, 20:15 they're incarcerated for drugs, 20:17 they're incarcerated for violence. 20:20 If you, if he, if they love their brother, 20:24 they never would have sold them drugs. 20:25 Yeah. 20:27 They never would have done 20:28 violence to their brother or to their sister. 20:31 So, when I see here, if someone says, 20:35 I love God and hates my brother, 20:37 instantly that person is saying, 20:40 if I harm my brother, I don't love God. 20:43 If I curse my brother or my sister, 20:44 I don't love God. And to me that's profound. 20:47 Yeah. Yeah. 20:48 And the beginning of the verses is 20:50 where He gives us our example. 20:52 We love Him because He first loved us. 20:56 So we have to love our brother before our brother loves us. 21:00 We have to give that love out not returning love 21:06 but actually giving it first, and I can't, I mean, 21:11 I don't know why God would have loved me 21:14 in the condition He found me. 21:16 Yeah. 21:18 That's all of us, and that's, that is, that is all of us. 21:21 You know, Eric, speaking to your point 21:25 a minute ago, you know, 21:26 I think that when we look at today's society 21:29 and we think about love, 21:32 a lot of people view love as being an enabler, 21:38 condoning bad behavior. 21:41 You know, but love is, it's quite the opposite 21:44 and I'm gonna paraphrase the verse 21:45 'cause I don't know to quote it, 21:48 but I'm gonna paraphrase and maybe one of you can jump 21:50 in and help me out but it's like, 21:53 as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten 21:57 or something like that. 21:58 Yeah, that's in, that's found in Revelation Chapter 3, 22:00 it's a little message to Laodicea. 22:02 Yes, yes and so, you know, love, 22:06 you want the best for people like you want the best, 22:10 and the best is spending eternity with Christ. 22:12 That's right. 22:13 So what are the steps to, you know, to get there, 22:16 like it's not condoning behavior, 22:18 we love the individuals, we don't condone the sin, 22:22 we don't love the sin. 22:25 And that's, and that's what God does to us, 22:27 that's how He treats us. 22:28 He loves us with an everlasting love. 22:31 But He does not, He despises the sins. 22:35 Sometimes I wonder, especially in the past, 22:38 I know that God loves me but does God like me. 22:43 I want God to love me and like me. 22:46 And I think a lot of parents even have that perspective 22:49 on their children or maybe their spouse, 22:52 you know, you love someone but do you like them. 22:56 Because of their actions. 22:57 Because of their actions, you know. 22:59 I know a lot of people in bad relationships 23:01 that they love the person that they're with, 23:02 but they don't like them 23:04 because the person does violence against them 23:05 or hurts them or speaks badly or poorly against them. 23:08 And God wants us not only to love each other, 23:11 He wants us to like each other. 23:14 So for me to be liked, I have to bear the fruits. 23:16 That's right. Amen. Come on now. 23:18 You know, while you're saying that it brings to my mind, 23:21 you know, true love requires sacrifice, 23:24 sacrifice of self. 23:26 And it's true love. Yeah. 23:27 'Cause sometimes we can get that concept of love twisted 23:30 because the world wants to tell you 23:31 what love is, but the love of the world 23:34 is not the love of the Father. 23:36 That's right. 23:37 And so, but true love requires an amazingly unselfish 23:42 sacrifice of self upon the altar. 23:45 I think of that, I think it's Luke 9:23 23:47 where Jesus says, 23:49 "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, 23:52 take up his cross and then follow Me." 23:56 In other words, we have to pick up 23:57 our instrument of death and be willing to follow Him 24:00 once we get to that point. 24:03 We just read 1 John 4:19, 20. 24:06 And the part that caught me here, he says, 24:08 "If someone says I love God and hates his brother, 24:10 he is a liar." 24:12 And then another text that come to my mind 24:13 when I read that is John 15:13, 24:17 notice what Christ says, He says, 24:19 "Greater love has no one than this than to lay down 24:23 one's life for his friends. 24:25 So, Jesus was, in a sense 24:27 He was clearly giving a prophecy 24:29 because that's what He was about to do. 24:30 You know, this is actually 24:32 toward the latter part of His ministry. 24:34 And He is telling them, I'm about to, 24:36 I'm about to put on the greatest display of love 24:38 that one cannot even possibly begin to fathom 24:41 but you've got to get to that point. 24:43 In other words, He says, "I can help you get there, 24:45 but you've gotta be willing to deny yourself." 24:48 Put self up on that spiritual cross and say, 24:51 "Lord, not my will but Yours." 24:53 You know, He must increase and I must decrease. 24:56 And so, in order for us 24:57 to truly love our brother and sister 25:00 as we should, it requires us to lay our self upon the altar 25:04 every day at the beginning of every day and say, 25:06 Lord, guard my lips, guard my heart, 25:08 guard my mind, lead and guide me 25:10 to say those things 25:12 and to be that beacon of light to others that 25:15 You would be so that I'm, so that it's not me speaking, 25:18 it's not me living, it's You. 25:20 I always noticed in the Bible that God's always, 25:23 the Father is always giving glory to the Son 25:25 and the Son's always giving glory to the Father. 25:27 That's right. 25:28 And one of the other things I noticed is 25:30 it changed me a lot was marriage, 25:32 we just celebrated our anniversary... 25:35 Yesterday. Yesterday. 25:36 Congratulations. Happy anniversary. 25:39 And as a bachelor you think differently, 25:42 it's all about me. 25:43 That's right. What's in it for me. 25:45 And when you marry someone, and you marry out of love, 25:50 it stops being what's in for me. 25:51 It preferential, you prefer that other person. 25:53 You prefer that other person, 25:55 it's them first, it's a marriage. 25:58 So when Christ marries the church 25:59 and we marry Christ, we also marry each other. 26:03 You know, we're one in Christ, 26:05 we are one and we should take care of 26:07 and what Ryan, what Ryan needs, 26:09 his need should come before mine 26:10 and these needs and everyone's needs 26:12 should come before mine. 26:13 And I don't always think that way, 26:14 but I should and that's... 26:16 Can you see the results of where that leads 26:18 that if we live that way though? 26:20 When you have a marriage, 26:22 when you're putting Marilyn first 26:25 and then Marilyn puts you first, 26:27 out of that joint giving grows an immense happiness and joy. 26:33 In a church, in God's family 26:37 if we are looking out for the other person 26:41 what happens is we're all looking out 26:43 for each other and the results of that 26:46 brings us into this love and joy and peace 26:50 and even though you sacrifice yourself, 26:53 you end up getting fed by others. 26:57 It's an amazing place to live 27:02 even if you sacrifice yourself. 27:05 You send, you end up having that happiness 27:09 and joy that you wanted 27:10 before you knew God and didn't know how to find it. 27:14 Nobody thinks by giving of yourself, 27:17 you end up on the receiving end. 27:20 That's right. 27:21 'Cause it doesn't make any sense. 27:23 I want to take that a step further 27:24 because I just got a thought, 27:26 just had a thought, it's powerful. 27:30 I heard Ty Gibson say this, 27:31 I think it was Ty Gibson that said this. 27:33 He said true love, true godly love, 27:35 when the Bible says God is love that requires three. 27:40 Yes, two can be selfish. 27:43 We're talking about this, this powerful point. 27:45 We're talking about this, 27:47 you know, husband and wife and that's true. 27:49 When God created Adam, He created him a help meet, 27:51 He created and I'm sure that, 27:52 you know, they fell in love with each other, 27:54 that was his wife, that was her husband, 27:56 but what was the first commandment 27:57 God gave them? 27:58 Go and multiply. Go and make another. 28:01 It wasn't until that third element came in that 28:04 there was a complete love established there 28:07 because even a husband and wife although there's a, 28:10 there's a genuine godly love there 28:12 and I don't have children, 28:13 me and my wife don't have children 28:15 and we understand this to a certain extent 28:16 because, you know, I, that's all I've ever know 28:19 being with her, I've been with her 28:20 for 14 years now, almost 15 years. 28:23 We've been married for 10 years of that. 28:25 And so, it's like I can't imagine life 28:28 without her and I certainly, you know, 28:30 if a little one were to come along, 28:31 you know, praise the Lord. 28:33 It would change that scenario, it would change it greatly. 28:36 Not necessarily in a bad way, 28:38 but it would no longer be that and I don't want to use 28:41 the word but it almost, I think you said it rightfully, 28:43 it could almost be a selfish love, 28:45 a no one else is gonna get my love 28:47 but you and you alone, 28:48 but when you have that third element to come in, 28:50 now that changes. 28:52 Now let's talk about those individuals 28:54 that may not have children, God, 28:56 what Jesus is essentially saying here is, you know, 28:58 what it goes far and beyond that inner family connection. 29:01 I want you to learn, I want you to love 29:03 that stranger out there who you don't know 29:05 as much as you would anyone else 29:06 because essentially isn't that 29:08 one it's gonna be like when we get to heaven. 29:10 You know, in heaven their marriage 29:11 is gonna be, I mean, we're gonna know each other 29:14 as we know it but the Bible says, 29:16 you know, we're neither given in marriage 29:17 or anything like that. 29:18 So we're gonna be made like unto the angels. 29:20 There's gonna be this unfathomable, 29:23 unfathomable atmosphere of godly love 29:26 that we can't begin to understand 29:28 where you love everyone equally in such a way 29:32 that just surpasses our understanding. 29:34 And Jesus is saying, "You can get a glimpse of that, 29:36 you can, you can start practicing that now." 29:39 Yes. Powerful. 29:41 Incredible. 29:42 A Christian married couple, 29:44 if they do not go outside of themselves and start, 29:48 both of you are very active in your community, 29:52 you're very involved with other people and children. 29:56 If a married couple just focus on their marriage, 29:59 it does turn in, it turns inwardly 30:02 and it becomes very selfish. 30:04 But a married couple without children 30:07 can adopt children in, 30:09 they can adopt Church family in, 30:11 they can create that third person 30:15 that makes that love flow through the marriage 30:20 and through your church and community. 30:22 Amen. Amen. 30:23 So, I know we're spending 30:25 quite a bit of time on love, right? 30:27 But this, I mean, love is such a powerful, 30:29 it's such a powerful topic, a powerful subject. 30:33 What stories can, let's just go around the table 30:36 and what stories can we share 30:38 where maybe somebody has loved us, 30:41 you know, shown us love in a time 30:44 where we definitely didn't deserve it for sure. 30:49 I had an aunt that has, I had actually had 30:53 two aunts that prayed for me my entire life, 30:57 they still pray for me, well, yes, they still pray for me. 31:00 But they prayed for me while I was still the sinner. 31:03 And they knew I was a sinner, 31:05 there was not a secret or anything 31:07 but they love me enough to lift me up in prayer 31:11 and ask the Lord to intervene in my life. 31:15 So that is a love that makes a difference in your life. 31:20 I've had maybe a boyfriend that loved me, 31:25 but it was a superficial love and it was a selfish love, 31:30 it wasn't the love that changes your life. 31:33 So, I will always love my aunts, 31:39 my two aunts that prayed for me daily 31:43 for my soul to be saved. 31:45 Amen. Amen. That's powerful. 31:48 I think the type of love 31:51 that I can relate to is my mother's love. 31:55 You know, when I wasn't going down the path 31:57 that I should have been going, the prayer she prayed for me 32:01 and that's just a love that you can't find, 32:05 you know, when you're, 32:06 you've got your mother praying for you 32:09 and longing for you to come back to Christ, so. 32:12 Amen. 32:13 I think, I think I'm the result of my mother's prayers. 32:17 And she didn't live to see me join the ministry 32:23 but I think her prayers, matter of fact, 32:26 I have no doubt her prayers outlasted even her. 32:30 And it inspires me a lot 32:32 because I know sometimes you may not live to see 32:35 the answer to your prayers like Abraham. 32:37 Abraham didn't live to see the promise that 32:41 God promised to him but pray anyway, 32:44 pray with faith. 32:46 And my mother's love, 32:47 I'm the result of my mother's love 32:49 and it was completely selfless 32:51 because when she died Marilyn can attest to this, 32:54 she had nothing, 32:55 she'd given everything to her friends, 32:57 to her family and to her God. 33:00 And that's what love is about. Amen. 33:03 Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. 33:05 You know, I don't not necessarily 33:08 an example in my own life 33:09 which I could tell many different stories 33:10 but as we were talking about this, 33:12 I thought of the story of Desmond Doss. 33:15 Man, powerful, I mean, this guy again goes back 33:18 into the battlefield, the shooting zone, 33:21 the strike zone, I guess you could say 33:24 to save more than 70 lives. 33:27 And you think about that, 33:28 you know, the guy, you know, that's a real moment, 33:30 in that moment I doubt that someone 33:32 in the heat of the battle 33:34 which you and I possibly can't begin to imagine 33:36 unless I know Eric, you were military guy 33:38 but unless one is actually in that moment, 33:42 I can only imagine that that person is not saying, 33:44 oh, let me go back in 33:45 and be the hero for one more person. 33:47 Oh, I'm superman, let me get two more. 33:49 Oh, I'm superman, 33:50 let me go get three or four more. 33:52 There has to be a drive that a person 33:55 can't possibly begin to explain other than a godly love. 34:00 But this man was willing to say, 34:02 I know that if I go back in there one more time 34:05 to try to save another life, 34:06 there's a chance that I'm gonna die 34:07 and then I'm not gonna be able to save myself 34:09 or another person. 34:10 But he went through this and went back. 34:12 And I'm just thinking of that story 34:13 because that's a godly love, 34:15 that name was full of the Holy Spirit. 34:17 He was being protected by God and never touched an instrument 34:21 and a gun or an instrument. 34:22 He went back in there 34:24 and he saved more than 70 men's lives 34:25 that could, can go on living their life 34:27 because they can say, this man was selfless. 34:30 And he kept saying, Lord, help me save one more. 34:32 One more. 34:34 Going back in and he said, they help me save one more. 34:36 That's powerful. That is. 34:37 Heroes are made and born out of love. 34:40 That's right. 34:42 That is the only reason why heroes are called heroes. 34:44 Yeah. 34:46 Because they were selfless, whatever their actions were, 34:47 they were selfless, 34:49 they were looking after their brothers. 34:50 That's right. And we all want to be heroes. 34:53 Amen. Amen. Yes. 34:54 I think about in my own life 34:58 how when I was at my lowest point in my life 35:01 I was arrested, I was, spent the night in jail, 35:04 I was looking at 35:06 a maximum potential prison sentence of 15 years in prison 35:09 for a drug charge, I was addicted to drugs, 35:11 I was selling narcotics, I was, all of those things 35:15 at the lowest point in my life. 35:16 You were a mess. Oh, I was. 35:18 Definitely, I was beyond a mess. 35:21 And so my mom prayed for me and loved me and my dad, 35:27 he loved me and he, you know, 35:29 they rallied around me and behind me 35:33 and supported me. 35:34 I went to rehab, I did all of these things to, 35:39 you know, to get better 35:41 and they just poured that love out, 35:43 they didn't support what I was doing, 35:45 that's for sure, but they rallied behind me, 35:48 they loved me enough and kept me in prayer 35:52 and just showed that support. 35:54 They didn't turn their back on me 35:56 because I was making those mistakes. 35:59 You know, perhaps there's somebody 36:00 at home right now who's watching this program. 36:03 And, you know, I want to speak to you 36:05 because maybe you're watching this 36:07 and you're sitting there and you're thinking, 36:09 you know, I've done so much, 36:10 I've gone too far to come back and God, 36:15 how could He, how could God love me. 36:17 God loves you with an everlasting love, 36:20 He is not ashamed of you, He loves you 36:23 and wants to spend eternity with you. 36:25 Amen. 36:26 And so, no matter how far you have gone, 36:28 God is saying to you that son or daughter, come home. 36:33 Amen. 36:34 Come back to Me, surrender your life to Me, 36:36 I want to do great things in your life. 36:39 And He wants to spend forever with you, 36:43 eternity is a long time. 36:44 That's right. Amen. 36:45 And He wants to spend that with you. 36:47 He doesn't care about what you did. 36:49 He wants to show you where He can take you, 36:52 where He can deliver you to. 36:54 And so, take this opportunity to give your life to Him 36:58 and spend eternity with God. 37:00 Amen. Amen. 37:01 Yes, He will. Oh, yeah. 37:03 God will make you a new man. You don't have to... 37:07 I know when I became a Christian 37:09 after being this mess, 37:12 you feel ashamed, 37:16 but God creates a new person, 37:19 you become a new person, 37:21 I don't even know how to explain it. 37:24 He gives you that new heart that new life 37:26 and it's from His love. 37:28 So do not give up and don't think that 37:31 you can't be a new woman or a new man 37:34 because you can through God's power and love. 37:38 I think that's where the joy comes from. 37:40 I think that's a good... 37:41 That's where the joy comes from. 37:43 That is, that's a good segue. I like that. 37:45 I always say to myself, God does not care about 37:48 who you were, He cares about who you are 37:50 and who you will be. 37:52 That's right. 37:53 And that thought once you accept that thought, 37:56 that God's love is greater than my sin, 37:58 the joy comes, the freedom, the freedom comes. 38:00 Yes. Yes. 38:02 The joy and the peace. But we have joy. 38:07 There's so many Bible verses that talk about the joy. 38:10 That's right. 38:12 Before we jump into joy there, 38:14 I do want to share this last two verses 38:16 under the love category here 38:19 and it's 1 John 4:9, 10 and it says, 38:23 "In this the love of God was manifested toward us 38:27 that God has sent His only begotten Son 38:29 into the world that we might live through Him. 38:32 In this is love not that we loved God 38:35 but that He loved us and sent His Son 38:38 to be the propitiation for our sins." 38:40 I mean, that's huge. Amen. 38:41 That's huge. 38:43 And that is the ultimate love 38:45 and accepting that leads to the ultimate purest joy, 38:49 long lasting, you know, 38:51 the true joy that comes from God. 38:53 Who wants to read Psalm 16:11? 38:58 Psalm 16:11. Yeah. 39:00 Let's go there. All right. 39:04 This is, boy, our time is... It's flying away, yeah. 39:08 We're gonna get as far as we can. 39:10 Sure. There's no agenda necessarily. 39:13 Psalm 16:11 says, 39:16 "You will show me the path of life. 39:18 In Your presence is fullness of joy, 39:21 at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." 39:25 Amen. Joy. 39:27 Yes. So then... 39:29 Fullness of joy. Yes, in your presence. 39:31 That's right. 39:33 That, I mean, that right there to me, 39:35 You will show me the path of life, 39:37 in Your presence is fullness of joy like, 39:40 so where do we find joy? 39:42 In the presence of God. That's right. 39:44 A while ago someone tried to discourage me 39:46 'cause I was, I was witnessing to them 39:48 and they said that, 39:51 "How dare God send His Son, He should have sent, 39:57 He should have did it the deed Himself." 40:00 And I said to him, "Wait a minute. 40:02 What would be 40:03 the greater pain for you to go 40:08 or for you to send your child to go 40:11 and then to watch them endure that." 40:13 Yeah. 40:15 God sending His Son was the greatest sacrifice 40:20 that any being could ever make. 40:23 That's right. 40:24 And that is the love and when I think about that, 40:27 that is what brings me joy knowing that 40:30 there is a God willing to send His Son. 40:34 Jesus volunteered, it's almost, 40:37 Jesus volunteered and chose to come 40:39 and God allowed it. 40:41 How many of you will allow 40:43 your children to go into danger? 40:45 Oh. All right. 40:46 Yeah. So sure, go ahead. 40:49 Yeah. 40:51 Because it was a gamble, people... 40:53 I think a lot of people don't realize that 40:56 they were taking a chance, 40:57 so there was a real chance there. 41:02 We can't get into it right now. 41:04 But there was a real and Jesus 41:07 what He suffered I think about this a lot. 41:09 What He suffered was His most pain 41:12 and anguish was not 41:14 hanging physically on that cross 41:16 but the price He paid on so many different levels. 41:19 Amen. 41:21 Have broken heart and He came to die 41:23 for those very ones that were crucifying Him. 41:25 That's right. That's right. 41:26 But even when He was born, He was separated 41:29 from His Father in a certain sense. 41:32 He gave up being omnipresent. 41:35 Would you give that up? Selfish me, probably not. 41:40 That's way beyond my pay grade. There you go. 41:44 And His joy was, 41:46 and He reaped joy out of all of that 41:49 because He knew the price He was paying, 41:51 what was going to bring Him 41:53 united with those He loved which is us. 41:57 I want to read this text here and then make a comment that 42:00 I feel is very important for this particular subject. 42:04 So, this comes from John 15:9-11. 42:08 It says, "As the father loved me, 42:10 I also have loved you, abide in My love. 42:15 If you keep My commandments you will abide in My love 42:19 just as I have kept My Father's commandments 42:22 and abide in His love." 42:25 And then He goes on to say, 42:26 "These things I have spoken to you 42:28 that my joy may remain in you 42:30 and that your joy may be full." 42:36 Now not to be critical or judgmental, 42:38 but I have to make this point just because, 42:40 you know, even us 42:42 as Seventh-day Adventist Christians 42:43 and I know that there may be someone watching 42:44 that's not even 42:46 a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 42:47 this message is not just 42:49 for Seventh-day Adventist Christians, for everyone. 42:50 But I find a lot of Christians today, 42:52 they really promote and we will push the message 42:55 of the Ten Commandments which is vitally important. 42:57 We should uphold God's law. 42:59 It has not been made void, 43:00 it is still in effect, it's an everlasting law. 43:02 And I want to make that very clear. 43:04 But it's interesting that Jesus links 43:07 as it does many times throughout the Bible. 43:09 He links joy to the obedience of keeping His commandments. 43:14 And I find it very ironic. 43:16 And again, I'm not speaking of about everyone 43:18 but the Bible says you will know them 43:20 by their fruits, okay? 43:21 So, I just want to make that clear. 43:23 This isn't a judgment 43:24 being passed on someone's salvation, 43:26 but simply just making an observation here. 43:29 You will know them by their fruits. 43:31 It's amazing to me that even within Adventism 43:33 sometimes we really, really push 43:35 and uphold God's Ten Commandments, 43:37 but yet you can see the lack of the fruit of joy 43:40 in a person's life. 43:42 And so, I just want to make a clear statement, 43:43 all of us as Christian 43:45 we could use a little bit more joy. 43:46 Yes. Amen. 43:48 And not just in our lives in general. 43:50 Absolutely in our lives in general, 43:51 we need that, we need that genuine happiness 43:54 and joy that comes from God each and every day, 43:57 but you can also somewhat kind of see it 43:59 in our worship services. 44:01 You know, and we're worshiping God 44:02 collectively together. 44:04 You know, it becomes, you can look out there 44:07 and you can just see that people are hurting, 44:09 people are in pain, people are in sorrow, 44:12 people are, they're lacking joy. 44:15 And, but yet we'll be quick to say, 44:17 you know, keep God's commandments 44:18 and all of those things are great. 44:20 And so, I can see here that 44:22 that one of the fruits of the spirit is joy. 44:25 God wants us to experience genuine godly joy. 44:29 Amen. 44:30 And there's nothing wrong 44:32 with being happy and joyful in the Lord. 44:34 We're not talking about 44:35 being Pentecostal or over charismatic 44:37 or anything like that. 44:38 We're just simply talking, like haven't been happy to sing 44:41 those hymns, right? 44:43 You know, sing the wondrous love of Jesus. 44:47 And yet you look on some people's faces sometimes 44:49 it's like, sing that wonderous... 44:51 You can, there's just a lack of joy 44:53 and happiness there. 44:54 And I recognize there's different personalities 44:56 and whatnot but I think here in these last days 45:00 what we really need, we need more joy. 45:02 I think if non-Christians 45:05 and I think even other Christians 45:06 who like to do, if they solve that genuine joy in us, 45:11 they would want that, right? 45:12 But when they see us talking about God and in witnessing, 45:15 sometimes we become a stumbling block for someone, 45:19 our witness is somewhat tainted 45:20 because we go to try to tell someone of the good news 45:23 but yet we lack it ourselves. 45:25 You know, we lack that joy and so my prayer is, 45:27 God, fill me with joy, help me to have 45:29 Your genuine godly biblical joy in my life. 45:32 Well, we have that 45:34 if we get things in the right order. 45:36 Right. 45:37 You have, you abide in My love, you love the Lord first, 45:43 then the obedience comes because you choose to. 45:45 Right. 45:46 Just like any, if we join ourselves to Christ. 45:51 I mean, He is, we are His church, 45:54 we are the bride, so if you have, 45:57 when you fall in love and get married 45:59 you fall in love first. 46:01 Do you, do you in a marriage you don't say, 46:06 well, let me see what I've gotten do, or does it say, 46:08 I have to fix your dinner tonight. 46:09 No, you fall in love and you want, 46:13 you want to make the other person happy. 46:16 So when it talks about, 46:17 if you love Me, keep My commandments, 46:20 it's the love came first, if you love me 46:23 you'll want to keep My commandments, 46:25 besides if you love Me, you'll want to accept 46:28 the freedom I give you in My commandments. 46:31 To me, keeping the commandments is total freedom. 46:35 So sometimes Christians get it backwards. 46:38 You don't keep the commandments 46:39 and get love, you love and then you keep the commandments. 46:42 That's right, it's a response, absolutely. 46:43 And so, when you're winning someone to the Lord, 46:45 did He give His commandments first 46:47 or did He love us first? 46:49 He loves us first then gave us. 46:51 This is how you're going to stay happy. 46:53 Amen. Amen. 46:55 Amen, Dee. That's a good word. 46:58 Let's take a look at Romans 15:13. 47:02 And, Eric, if you would read that, Romans 15:13? 47:07 Romans Chapter 15. Verse 13. 47:11 15:13. 47:16 "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace 47:20 and believing that you may abound in hope 47:24 by the power of the Holy Spirit." 47:26 Amen. Joy and what? 47:29 Peace. And peace. 47:31 They go together, 47:32 they go together which is amazing. 47:34 By the power of the Holy Spirit. 47:35 That's right. Yeah. Yeah. 47:37 Which is beautiful, the God of hope. 47:39 Amen. 47:41 I think that there's a joy 47:43 in walking in nature. 47:48 There's a joy in, for me at least 47:50 because I've been through a lot in my life. 47:52 You know, a lot of traumatic experiences, 47:54 to me there's a joy in sitting by a tree 47:56 and watching a river flow by and seeing the birds, you know. 48:00 For others I think joy is more animated. 48:04 I don't think there's a wrong or right, 48:06 the point is, are you happy, are you content, 48:10 are you at peace, are you looking forward 48:12 to the greater hope that's on the way. 48:15 So I think that we all celebrate, 48:16 if I can use that term, we celebrate joy differently, 48:20 but no matter how you celebrate it, 48:23 I think joy is contagious. 48:26 I think if I'm joyful, you're gonna know it. 48:28 Oh, yeah. 48:30 You know, even if I'm not jumping up and down... 48:33 Because the fruits are visible. 48:34 Because the fruit is visible. Yeah, yeah. 48:37 Sometimes when Ryan is preaching, 48:41 Marilyn will tell you I'm kind of level, 48:44 I try and maintain an even keel but sometimes 48:47 when Ryan is preaching I want to jump up, 48:50 you know, and I want to run across 48:53 and like do some back, I'm excited 48:55 'cause sometimes it's deep, you know, and it's a new light 48:58 something you may not realize before. 49:00 So, we do have different personalities like you say. 49:02 And I think it's the fact that you know we do have 49:04 different personalities but, you know, 49:07 people respond physically differently. 49:10 And I'd recognize that someone, 49:12 you know, who's really, really joyful 49:13 may just sit there and just be full of joy. 49:16 But notice it, but you could, 49:17 but you can tell it on their face. 49:20 Right. 49:21 Their face will tell the story, right? 49:22 That's why sometimes 49:24 I want to ask people are you joyful? 49:25 Yes, I am, well, tell your face about it. 49:27 You know, but, you know, 49:29 we respond, some people have more of a calmer. 49:31 Me, I'm a loud person. 49:34 You know, when I get excited about something, 49:35 I'm just, I'm expressive. 49:37 And so, I preach that way, I teach that way. 49:39 See, I get joy from learning. 49:42 I love to learn about God, I love to learn His Word. 49:44 I get an even greater joy to be able to share that 49:47 with someone else, to tell someone something 49:49 that perhaps God shared with me that they may not know. 49:52 And that's my, one of my grid, 49:54 I get joy from that, I get excited from that. 49:56 That's why when I put day, 49:58 on days that I preach I give Bible studies 49:59 where I do these type of things. 50:00 It's hard for me to wind down at the end of the day 50:02 because I'm still thinking about all the wonderful things 50:05 that we've discussed and we've talked 50:07 and that we've learned 50:08 and that we've shared with each other. 50:09 And I think that if we had that type of. 50:11 And again, I'm not bragging or anything 50:13 but I think if all of us, you know, we're... 50:16 On fire. On fire. There you go. 50:17 On fire for God in the sense that others saw that. 50:20 Wait, wait, wait. 50:21 What do you got so excited about? 50:23 Let me show you, right, 'cause if you're excited about 50:25 something, greater chances 50:27 are someone else's gonna get excited about. 50:29 Oh, yeah. 50:30 It's like, man, you know, if Publishers Clearing House 50:33 showed up at your front door 50:34 and said you're gonna win ten million dollars a month 50:36 for the next five years, I doubt that you would be like, 50:39 oh, that's cool, you know. 50:43 But, we're breaking that some people may not, 50:45 you know, some people may just be like, 50:47 oh, that's a blessing and they may be full of joy. 50:49 You know, so we're not trying to be judgmental in that way 50:50 but joy, joy is a fruit, 50:53 it's gonna be obvious that's the point I'm trying to make. 50:55 And we need more of that. 50:56 But I think people gravitate to that 50:58 because I work in the call center 51:00 and people gravitate to you. 51:01 So I know that if you express that and you show it, 51:05 people are gonna want it, they want it. 51:07 People show it because 51:09 see my husband was like you, Eric, 51:10 he was very even-keeled but I knew, 51:14 I could read him, even though he was even-keeled, 51:17 I knew when he was joyful and happy 51:19 and other people did too. 51:20 But he, obviously I was the one that was, 51:23 you know, you can read me like a book. 51:27 But him you didn't know but yet like you said, 51:32 when you're joyful, 51:33 even if your personality is calm 51:36 and even-keeled, somehow it shines through, 51:40 it's like in your eyes somehow or on your face. 51:42 That's right. 51:43 And your joy comes through 51:45 'cause the world would be awful if everybody was like. 51:48 I think I remember, I think it was, 51:52 it was Lee Venden I think it was telling a story about 51:55 his father Morris Venden, 51:57 and it just kind of stuck with me. 51:58 He was so excited he had just had a, 52:00 had a real conversion experience with the Lord. 52:03 And he comes into the kitchen one day 52:04 and he was just so excited, dad, dad, you know, 52:07 I just learned all this, did you know this 52:08 and this and this about Jesus and this and this. 52:10 He was sharing it, there was such excitement 52:12 and but with the calm just, you know, reserved, 52:16 you know, he respond, Morse responded with, 52:18 isn't that wonderful. 52:21 Is just calm, isn't that wonderful. 52:22 And I'm reminded of people in my life 52:24 that I've met that that's how they respond 52:26 but you can sense it, you can tell 52:28 that fruit is visible, the fruit is visible. 52:31 Absolutely. 52:32 Speaking of calm, let's transition into peace. 52:37 We've got plenty of joy. 52:40 Now let's transition down to peace. 52:42 That's right. 52:44 And I like the outdoors, 52:45 like you were talking about sitting by 52:47 and that does fill you with joy, 52:49 but it also gives you that peace too. 52:52 If I see a sunset or nature can fill you 52:58 with awe and peace that feels incredible. 53:03 Yes. 53:04 Marilyn, will you read Colossians 3:12-15? 53:08 Sure. Okay. 53:11 "Therefore, as the elect of God holy and beloved 53:15 put on tender mercies, kindness, 53:17 humility, meekness, long-suffering, 53:21 bearing with one another and forgiving one another. 53:24 If anyone has complaint against another 53:27 even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 53:31 But above all these things put on love 53:34 which is the bond of perfection and let the peace of God 53:38 rule in your hearts to which also you were called 53:42 in one body and be thankful." 53:44 Amen. I love that put on love. 53:49 Yeah, first fruit, love, right? That's right. 53:53 Then now we're, you know, 53:54 and let the peace of God rule in your hearts. 53:56 Well, if you let the peace of God rule in your hearts, 53:58 you're definitely gonna have joy. 53:59 That's right. 54:01 You know, so you got, now we've got love, 54:02 we've got joy, we've got peace. 54:06 Hebrews, I'm reading that one down there. 54:09 Oh, Hebrews 12:14. 54:11 Why don't you read that for us, Dee? 54:13 "Well, pursue peace with all people and holiness 54:18 without which no one will see the Lord." 54:21 Pursue peace with all people, that being at peace with others 54:26 makes life so wonderful. 54:29 Yes, it does. 54:31 It makes life great for them and for us and it gives us joy. 54:34 And if you have peace with other men and women, 54:37 you can share the gospel there. 54:39 That's right. Amen. 54:41 Yeah. Yeah. 54:42 Some people feed off of drama 54:44 and negativity and stuff like that. 54:47 That's so opposite of peace. 54:49 Again, just like how God has genuine, 54:53 the devil has the counterfeit. 54:55 I love this verse here, Philippians 4:6, 7 54:57 when speaking about peace this is just one of those 54:59 that come to my mind, "Be anxious for nothing 55:02 but in everything by prayer and supplication 55:05 with thanksgiving. 55:06 Let your requests be made known to God 55:08 and the peace of God 55:10 which surpasses all understanding 55:12 will guard your hearts and minds 55:14 through Christ Jesus." 55:15 You know all that has been 55:17 going on in our world as of recently, 55:18 there's a lot of anxiousness. 55:20 Oh, yeah. 55:21 A lot of fear and my heart just goes out and breaks 55:24 for those people who lack peace. 55:27 You know, the humanistic side of us 55:30 is always going to, you know, try to bump its way in, right? 55:34 In other words, it's gonna try to rear its head. 55:36 So there's moments when we may reach something, 55:38 see something, know something's going on. 55:40 And there's a part of us that wants to almost respond 55:43 with a sense of fear and anxiety. 55:45 But what separates a genuine Christian 55:48 from a non-genuine Christian 55:50 is that genuine Christian has that peace. 55:51 Amen. 55:52 Someone who really, 55:54 who really is in tune with the Lord, 55:55 they're gonna quickly be 55:56 able to flee to the throne of grace, 55:59 flee to the foot of the cross and say, 56:00 "Jesus, I know You're in control." 56:02 Amen. 56:03 I don't know what holds tomorrow 56:04 and I don't know what's gonna go on next but, 56:06 Lord, I know you got things in control. 56:08 And that's not always easy, that's not always easy. 56:11 A peace that surpasses all understanding, that's deep. 56:13 Yes. That's deep. 56:15 I think Jesus sleeping on the boat during the storm. 56:17 I know, right? 56:18 The storm is raging and He's sleeping like... 56:20 That's right. Yeah. 56:22 And those who lack the faith were around them like, 56:24 "What's wrong with You, 56:25 don't you know that the boat is sinking." 56:27 And He said, "Ye who lack faith." 56:28 Yes. So, yeah. 56:30 Righteous, I know that, 56:32 I feel at peace right now all the time, 56:35 simply because if you work 56:37 on your relationship with the Lord, 56:40 if you're walking with Him 56:41 and doing the very best that you can 56:43 and I think we should all do the best we can, 56:45 we should be doing what we should be doing 56:47 but then all to me, 56:49 at the end of the day the bottom line is, 56:52 my life is in God's hands. 56:54 Yes. That's right. Yes. 56:55 And that can bring me great peace, 56:57 it's like I don't think He's done with me, 57:00 I think I got a lot more work going on. 57:01 That's right. Amen. 57:03 But if He is, He knows best and He knows 57:07 even from the beginning, so I'm going to allow Him. 57:10 Amen. Praise the Lord. 57:11 That means you're gonna trust Him. 57:12 That's right. 57:14 You're gonna be faithful, you're gonna be long-suffering 57:17 in the eyes of adversity, right? 57:19 You're gonna exude kindness, and goodness, 57:22 and faithfulness, and gentleness, 57:24 and self-control in difficult times. 57:26 That's right. 57:27 I can't believe our time has escaped us. 57:29 Thank you, guys, so much for your contribution 57:31 and thank you for joining us. 57:33 Until next time, God bless. |
Revised 2020-05-14