Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW200011S
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my word 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 01:09 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today Family Worship 01:12 and happy Sabbath. 01:13 My name is Jason Bradley, and I'm so glad 01:16 that you could join us this evening. 01:18 You know, I remember when I was a young boy, 01:21 my mom used to make us have family worship. 01:25 I enjoyed family worship, 01:27 so it wasn't an obligation necessarily, 01:29 I probably should have rephrased that. 01:33 But one thing that I didn't enjoy 01:35 about family worship was singing 01:37 because I think that I sing best 01:39 when nobody's around. 01:40 I'm an all-star singer when nobody is in the room. 01:44 But I'm so glad that you are here with us 01:47 for this wonderful topic, 01:49 peace in the midst of the storm, 01:52 so much going on in our world today, 01:55 but you can have peace in the midst of the storm. 01:58 And we're going to talk about how you can have peace. 02:01 And here with me to discuss this wonderful topic is, 02:05 well, you know him as Mr. Danny Shelton, 02:08 Founder and Corporate Consultant 02:11 of 3ABN. 02:12 It's great to have you on. Good to be here. 02:14 I know him as pop. 02:15 All right. 02:16 And we have his lovely wife, Yvonne Shelton, 02:20 Co-Founder of 3ABN's Dare to Dream Network 02:23 and Consultant. 02:24 Great to have you here. Thank you. 02:26 I know her as mom. 02:28 And then we have Pastor Kenny Shelton 02:31 of Behold the Lamb Ministries. 02:34 I know him as Uncle Kenny. 02:36 And we have his lovely wife Chris Shelton 02:39 of Behold the Land Ministries. 02:41 I know her as Aunt Chris. 02:44 Yeah, it's good to be around the table 02:46 and then to study the Word. 02:47 Yes. 02:48 Yeah, it's truly family worship. 02:50 It is, it is. 02:51 And we have our 3ABN family joining us. 02:53 This is wonderful. 02:55 That mean, we don't have a song, Jay. 02:57 Oh, yes, absolutely. 02:58 So that's, that's the joy 03:00 when you get to host the program, 03:01 you get to make that decision. 03:04 There you go. Okay. 03:06 All right. 03:08 So, peace in the midst of the storm. 03:10 Have you guys ever experienced any storms in your life? 03:14 Absolutely. Yeah. 03:16 Anybody that tells you they haven't, 03:18 I'd question their, 03:19 either their sanity or their truthfulness. 03:23 But people say, well, you know, 03:25 but you're a Christian like, 03:27 everything should be perfect, right? 03:29 Well, that sounds good. Yeah. 03:31 Sounds good, but we all die. 03:33 So that's a little warning 03:34 that everything may not go good. 03:36 Yeah, I'm a Christian but there is some good news. 03:40 We're talking about the outside 03:41 and I'm sure we're gonna get into the good news 03:44 about peace in the midst of the storm. 03:45 Amen. 03:46 That's the difference. 03:48 Absolutely. 03:49 Pastor Kenny, will you open up with prayer? 03:51 Oh, absolutely. 03:52 Let's all pray together, shall we? 03:54 Loving Father in heaven, 03:55 we truly thank You for this privilege, 03:57 this opportunity 03:58 to be able to get into Your work. 04:00 We just invite the Holy Spirit now 04:02 to take possession of our hearts 04:03 and our minds and each one who listens, 04:06 those who view we just pray Your Holy Spirit will give ears 04:09 and eyes to hear to see that You're coming soon 04:12 and we need to be prepared. 04:13 We need this peace 04:14 as we are in the midst of a storm, right? 04:16 Amen. 04:17 And, Lord, every day of our life, 04:18 the enemy's trying to blow with the winds 04:20 and try to blow us off center. 04:22 We just pray the Holy Spirit now 04:24 will center us up with Your Word, 04:25 bless each one here, 04:27 each one again who views and who listens. 04:29 May the Holy Spirit be paramount 04:30 in each of our hearts and lives and lead us, 04:32 we pray to our eternal home. 04:35 Thank You for the power of the Holy Spirit. 04:36 Now we turn everything over to you 04:38 because you are able. 04:40 In Jesus' name, amen. 04:41 Amen. Amen. 04:42 Amen. Thank you, Uncle Kenny. 04:44 Let's look at Mark 4:35-41. 04:51 And we're going to look at some storms in the Bible. 04:55 Mom, would you like to read that? 04:56 Sure, 35 to 41. 05:01 Yeah, this is true with family worship. 05:03 Yeah. 05:06 "On the same day, 05:07 when evening it come, He said to them, 05:09 'Let us cross over to the other side.' 05:12 Now when they left the multitude, 05:14 they took Him along in the boat as He was, 05:17 and other little boats were also with Him. 05:20 And a great windstorm arose 05:22 and the waves beat into the boat, 05:23 so that was all already filling. 05:26 But He was in the stern asleep on a pillow, 05:29 and they woke Him and said to Him, 05:30 'Teacher, do you not care that we're perishing?' 05:34 Then He arose and rebuked the wind 05:36 and said to the sea, 05:37 'Peace be still.' 05:39 And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 05:43 But He said to them, 'Why are you so fearful? 05:46 How is it that you have no faith?' 05:49 And they feared exceedingly and said to one another, 05:52 'Who can this be 05:53 that even the wind and the sea obey Him.'" 05:56 Amen. 05:58 They didn't know who they had in the boat. 06:00 Come on. 06:02 And that's, I think that's one key takeaway 06:04 from this passage 06:06 is you have to know who you have in the boat. 06:07 Come on. Who's with you. 06:09 Who are you serving. 06:10 So, I think, I think that's crucial. 06:12 What jumps out to you 06:13 and we can just go around the table. 06:15 What jumps out to you guys from this passage? 06:19 What jumped out to me 06:21 is during the midst of the storm, 06:23 a terrible storm, 06:24 they thought they were gonna die. 06:26 And the Savior was fast asleep on the boat. 06:29 He had no concern, no worries, 06:33 He was tired and He was just taking a rest, 06:35 He was sleeping. 06:37 And it reminded me 06:38 of Philippians 4:7 where it says, 06:39 "And the peace of God which passes all understanding 06:43 shall keep your hearts and your minds 06:45 through Christ Jesus." 06:47 And He had that peace. 06:49 Of course, I believe it's part of Himself 06:51 but He had to learn too, 06:52 being born on this earth 06:53 He had to learn from His Father. 06:55 And so, He had that that peace from His Father 06:58 and I think it passed all understanding around Him. 07:01 And that's kind of where we're finding ourselves 07:03 many times even today. 07:06 You know, 07:07 there's several points that came out, 07:09 you know, vivid in my mind 07:10 because naturally if you're in a storm, 07:13 you're out on a set little boat. 07:14 I assume Jesus was on a little boat 07:16 'cause there's other little boats. 07:18 And so, it wouldn't take a whole lot of people 07:21 to turn that boat over. 07:22 They feared for their lives 07:23 but it's kind of an illustration 07:25 at least in my mind about trying to earn 07:27 salvation by works. 07:30 They work their self into a tizzy. 07:33 What was they doing? 07:35 I mean they were rowing, they were fighting, 07:37 they were carrying on 07:39 as probably we might do if we were out there. 07:41 I mean, in less situations than that, 07:44 fought tooth and nail, you know, to survive. 07:47 I was just thinking we've been out on the water. 07:50 And it wasn't that bad of a storm, 07:51 but we were pretty concerned. 07:53 But when you think about that, they did all they could, 07:58 but their expertise as boatmen, fishermen, 08:02 this is not their, where they got first rodeo 08:04 with the first storm. 08:06 All right, this wasn't their first storm, 08:07 so they had fought many of them 08:09 and they thought maybe they had the skill to, 08:11 you know, to counter. 08:12 As Christians we have what it takes inside 08:14 and make it to heaven. 08:16 And sometime we leave Jesus outside. 08:18 So they did everything they could. 08:20 It didn't, it didn't avail to nothing, their strength, 08:23 their skill, everything was out the window. 08:25 And so, then they began to think about, 08:28 you know, they forgot Jesus for a while, 08:29 we notice we read there, they felt, 08:32 when they begin to feel helpless, 08:34 when there was no hope, 08:37 you see, and there seemed to be nothing else for them to do, 08:40 all of a sudden, they remembered Jesus. 08:44 First thing we should do, 08:45 you know, instead of trying to fail, 08:47 again we're talking about salvation here. 08:48 They tried, I think this happens, 08:51 anytime we try to save ourselves by works, 08:56 by doing, 08:57 we automatically have forgotten Jesus. 09:00 Automatically, we put Him back here 09:02 because we're going to earn our way in 09:04 and they tried their best, 09:05 bless their heart to save themselves. 09:08 Nothing availed 09:09 until they finally gave up and said, 09:12 "Lord save us from perishing." That's good. 09:15 Wow. 09:16 Beauty of that is, though, sometimes we do that, 09:19 He's there when we do call. 09:21 Yeah. 09:22 In other words, we can put Him off, 09:24 they tried everything else first. 09:26 But you know, we always say, well, you know, 09:29 the peace I found in the midst of the storm 09:31 is because I've read the back of the book, 09:33 but they were with the book. 09:36 Jesus is the book, right? 09:37 He is the Word. 09:38 They were, was with the Word. That's right. 09:42 And didn't even really realize it. 09:43 Yes. 09:45 But even in the worst of times, 09:48 and even when we've forgotten somehow, 09:50 and we've tried it our way, if we cry out, "Lord save us." 09:54 Yeah. He is there. 09:55 That's right. That's right. 09:57 And another application where you guys were talking, 09:59 it made me think right now, 10:01 you know, we're going through this COVID-19 crisis 10:06 all over the world 10:07 and a lot of people are very fearful 10:09 and so many people are turning to the Word of God. 10:13 I mean, I, we listened to a news, 10:15 I guess I shouldn't say which news network on the air. 10:19 Well, even more than one, you hear more about praying, 10:23 you hear more about scriptures, 10:24 they're bringing in different pastors or priests 10:27 or whatever you know that they, they want to bring in. 10:30 In fact, I've even seen some of ours on there, 10:32 Wintley Phipps, you know, come in. 10:35 But what's happening is a lot of people 10:38 are turning back to the Bible for the first time. 10:41 We saw this at 9/11. 10:43 You know, my prayer is 10:45 if God gives us a little more peace after this, 10:48 we know that there's gonna be repetitions 10:52 of this type of thing continue on, 10:54 and I pray that everyone will continue on 10:57 with their walk with Christ. 10:58 Amen. 11:00 Hold on to Him, 11:01 not just in the midst of the storm, 11:02 but every moment of every day. 11:04 Yes. 11:05 I remember growing up thanking, Lord, 11:07 I, please fill me with Your love. 11:08 I want to love and serve You no matter what, 11:11 not just in bad times but anytime. 11:13 Yes, yes. 11:15 One of the things that jumps out at me 11:17 is that everything is in such chaos. 11:23 Yeah. 11:24 And the Lord's not wringing his hands 11:26 and saying, "Oh, what am I gonna do?" 11:29 No, He is so calm. He's sleeping. 11:33 You know, how can you sleep 11:34 in the midst of this kind of storm. 11:37 You can do that if you are in control. 11:41 So there's nothing that confronts us 11:43 that's too big for God. 11:45 Amen. 11:46 There's no challenge that's too great for Him. 11:49 It's, He's so chill about the whole thing 11:53 that He can sleep in the midst of the storm. 11:56 Which doesn't mean that He's not responsive 11:59 when we call because when they called on Him 12:02 as you brought out, 12:03 He answered them. Yes. 12:05 When we call on Him, He answers us. 12:08 Amen. Yes. 12:09 So there's nothing too hard for God. 12:13 He is always there. 12:15 He responds when we call, 12:17 and He's got the solution for every storm. 12:20 Amen. Amen. 12:21 Every storm. 12:23 So the moral would be maybe why fight it yourself. 12:26 Yeah, exactly. 12:28 Why not just give it to Jesus? 12:29 There you go. Exactly. 12:31 Song ever used to sing, give them all, 12:32 give them all to Jesus. 12:34 Yes. 12:35 But why did, you know, the question becomes why did, 12:37 why did Jesus let it go to this point? 12:41 There had to be a reason, right? 12:43 So we have to think, 12:44 why did He let it go to this point? 12:47 Was there something and I know in my own life, 12:50 there's things that the Lord reveals 12:52 by situations and circumstances and storms. 12:56 Right. 12:57 And so, we see that here 12:58 there were things evidently with His close disciples, 13:02 those who are with Him that needed to be revealed. 13:05 And I believe one of those was simply a note 13:07 I put down here, 13:09 fear in the time of danger reveals unbelief. 13:14 Fear in the time of danger reveals unbelief. 13:18 Okay. 13:20 That's true. Now somebody help me with it. 13:22 There's a difference, isn't there, 13:23 maybe help people understand 13:25 the difference between 13:26 I'm concerned than fear, is that right? 13:30 What kind of difference would that be, 13:31 there is a vast difference or is there a... 13:32 Fear right now, you're looking at the COVID 13:35 as you brought up 19. 13:37 People around the world are afraid. 13:40 Yes. We have friends. 13:42 I heard Yvonne talking to one of her friends 13:44 who's not a Christian or at least believes in Jesus. 13:48 And she's, I mean, like to me it was almost foreign 13:52 to hear like, I'm so afraid. 13:54 I'm afraid to go outside, 13:55 I wouldn't wanna take my dogs out. 13:57 I'm afraid of everything. 13:58 I don't know what's gonna happen. 14:00 I mean her whole life was just tore, 14:02 tore up and we're sitting here, 14:04 you know, well, this is what's to be expected. 14:07 That's right. 14:08 But we can have peace in the midst of the storm 14:10 because we've read the back of the book. 14:12 That's right. 14:13 And so, to be concerned, absolutely. 14:15 Should we be concerned enough to wear a face mask 14:18 when we are around people to do social distancing? 14:21 Absolutely. 14:23 Should we try to make sure to do, you know, 14:26 to eat right and to do everything we can do 14:28 and we can? 14:29 Absolutely. 14:31 That's what the Christian, I think you're talking about. 14:33 We have concerns 14:35 if we want to live a longer healthier, happier life, 14:37 lets say it depends what we take into our body 14:40 just like our automobiles, 14:41 if we put gas in them instead of sugars 14:43 they say if we do it's not gonna run. 14:45 So, if we're, so as a Christian, 14:47 we're concerned when things go wrong, 14:51 but we have peace 14:52 that the end of the story is going to be, we win. 14:54 Amen. 14:56 In other words, 14:57 that there is hope beyond this life. 14:59 Yes. 15:00 Someone just put, I read, his name is Andrew. 15:05 He read, his father just went to sleep 15:09 in the Lord yesterday. 15:11 And so, I know him, 15:13 he's a writer for the church papers, 15:15 and we've talked some, and he said, but why? 15:18 I've prayed, I've read Psalms 41:43. 15:21 And I've read all the scriptures 15:22 and I questioned, Lord, why did this happen? 15:25 You know, I've prayed it, because it says, 15:27 you know, I'll heal you, and I'll take care of you. 15:29 And, you know, if you do all this. 15:31 Then his father dies, and he said, 15:33 but then all of a sudden, 15:35 I read the Scripture differently. 15:37 Because my father was a missionary. 15:39 And he had helped so many people 15:41 and this was referring to him, 15:43 and he'd been had three different 15:45 like heart attacks or things in the last number of years 15:48 but he said when I looked at it and not being a selfish, 15:52 you know, not being selfish, 15:53 the scriptures everything that the Lord said 15:55 it would be and now my father's at peace, 15:57 he's waiting on the Lord and he's older in years. 16:00 No one lives forever but he said 16:02 sometimes we read scriptures for right here and now. 16:05 Yeah. 16:06 That well, why didn't this happen. 16:08 Then all of a sudden, I say, okay, God, 16:10 Your faith says there must be. 16:13 And let me reread this. 16:15 Because you didn't lie to me, let me reread, 16:17 then I reread it, the light goes on, 16:19 I was too close to the situation. 16:20 Yeah. 16:22 Now I get back precious in the sight of the Lord 16:24 is the death of His saints. 16:26 I get back from this and I say, okay, he was suffering. 16:29 He was in a lot of pain. 16:32 He's at rest. He's at peace. 16:34 You know, so now he says, "Praise the Lord." 16:37 You know, basically so I'm paraphrasing 16:39 what I just read a little bit ago, 16:41 but that's the difference, 16:43 I think is peace in the midst of that storm. 16:46 Yes. Yeah. 16:47 Now, that's really good, I mean, the disciples, 16:52 they walked with God. 16:53 Right. 16:55 They spent time with God. 16:57 They were in the boat with God. 17:00 But yet when a couple winds blew, 17:03 and waves rocked, 17:07 they got scared. 17:08 Yeah. 17:09 And they didn't, they, like you said, 17:11 they took matters into their own hands. 17:13 They almost missed the boat. 17:14 They did. They did. 17:17 They sure, I like that. 17:19 We have to remember too, He didn't come out and say, 17:21 "Hey, I'm your Creator, I'm your God." 17:24 You know, He didn't say that, they were getting to know Him. 17:26 Yeah. 17:28 In fact, let me put these on so I can see what verse it was, 17:31 verse 41, that this history on read, 17:34 and it was a different version. 17:35 But my version is King James, 17:37 it says and they feared exceedingly. 17:40 They feared exceedingly, and said to one another, 17:43 what manner of man is this 17:45 that even the wind and the sea obey Him? 17:49 You know, so they were thinking, 17:51 whoa, who is this? 17:54 Who is this? Yeah. 17:56 You know, so that's amazing. 17:58 You know at peace. I'm sorry, go ahead. 17:59 No, no, no. 18:01 I just think about peace, what really destroys peace? 18:04 The sin. 18:05 The sin issue, you find people in the world, 18:09 you know, and you read the Scripture, 18:10 there is no peace, saith my God to wicked. 18:13 So, the sin in the world 18:14 people doing things they shouldn't do, 18:15 they understand 18:17 that they shouldn't be doing it. 18:18 And you find they have no peace in their life, 18:20 even when it come to the time here when Christ stood up, 18:23 you know, He, you know, He said, what is it? 18:25 John 5, He said, "Of myself, I can do nothing." 18:29 "Of myself, I can do nothing." 18:31 Well, we thought it was Himself, 18:33 we thought it was Jesus that stood up and said what? 18:35 You know, be still, 18:37 but who was He doing that through? 18:38 Who really calmed those waves? 18:41 Who really stopped that storm? 18:44 It was Jesus' faith no doubt it, 18:46 but it was His Father's, right? 18:48 Because He, yeah, His Father because He's of myself, 18:51 I can't do any of these, He's saying, every healing, 18:54 everything that took place while He was here, 18:56 nothing about Him. 18:57 Self was gone. 18:59 God was living inside of Him revealing Himself. 19:02 I thought that to me, 19:03 that was just an exciting aspect of it. 19:05 Yes. 19:06 And God can say to you and me 19:08 and those who are going through situations 19:10 you don't understand right now, 19:11 He can say peace be still. 19:13 That's right. Okay. 19:14 And I need to hear that myself sometimes. 19:15 Oh, yes. 19:17 Peace be still when we look around the world 19:18 and we see so many things that are happening. 19:21 And I don't want viewers or anyone here to think. 19:24 And people do sometimes, they just say words, 19:26 you know, like, just, just getting the word. 19:30 This is real stuff. 19:31 This is things, don't you believe that we, 19:34 we all deal with on a daily basis, 19:36 but maybe in a little different way. 19:38 Because, you know, 19:40 we say we know who holds, right? 19:41 We know who holds. 19:43 You know, it's all in His hands. 19:44 But it still, doesn't we mentioned, Danny, 19:46 about concern. 19:48 We still have concern of what's going on, 19:50 and there we're not concerned, 19:52 that sound like take it to the Lord in prayer 19:54 and leave it there and not pick it up 19:57 and take it back with you. 19:58 So, you know, this thing we talked about, 20:00 really this one passage will go on for the whole hour. 20:03 Yeah. 20:04 And then you'll have to do another one. 20:06 You can do part two and part three, 20:08 saving a little time. 20:09 We've had a little experience in that. 20:11 I see how you developed the whole sermon. 20:12 But there's, there's joy to me. 20:14 Oh, yes. There's joy in this. 20:15 You know, we read this as a child, did we not? 20:19 We heard umpteen sermons on it. 20:21 And it's, it just, it just never gets old. 20:24 No. It just doesn't. 20:26 It's true. Because we always have storms. 20:30 You know what I mean? 20:32 It never gets old because it's always applicable 20:35 to our lives. 20:36 Yes. Yes. 20:38 You know, it just hit me on this, 20:39 and maybe I should think and then talk about it. 20:42 I've never thought about this before. 20:44 But people will look at 20:47 whether it's those crucifying Jesus 20:50 or those in the boat or the Doubting Thomas and say, 20:53 how could they do that? 20:55 They were with Him. 20:57 How could they do that? 20:58 If I were there, I would have believed. 21:00 If I were there, 21:02 I would have did this or that in some ways. 21:05 And it just occurred to me a few minutes ago 21:07 while we're talking. 21:08 In some ways we have the advantage. 21:10 Yes, yes, that's right. 21:12 Because we have the history of everything that went on 21:16 and they were acting on the spur of the moment, 21:18 Peter drew the sword, right then. 21:21 Now that we're able to read the whole story 21:24 and say what Jesus said, we'd say, 21:26 "Okay, we should act a lot better than Peter," 21:28 right? 21:29 We should not be afraid in the storm, 21:31 because now we have studied it, 21:33 we've seen it God gave His Word through the Holy Spirit. 21:37 So for us to say, 21:38 well, you know, it's so tough now 21:39 and I'm so remote. 21:41 Back then I would have been no, you wouldn't have been, 21:44 we'll be the same as we are now. 21:45 But how great that God gave us His Word and the Holy Spirit, 21:50 so that we can be prepared 21:52 and we can learn from these others. 21:54 So next time we're in the storm, 21:55 let's don't get ready to bail out or start screaming 21:58 or crying instead of except Lord and save me. 22:01 Yeah. That's right. 22:02 That's right. That's a good word. 22:04 I did call her for the life jacket 22:05 once in the while. 22:07 But we know who the life jacket is. 22:08 That's right. That's right. 22:11 Let's go on over to Matthew Chapter 14. 22:13 Even though, Jay, even though, Jay, 22:16 on the jet ski when you threw Kenny the keys, 22:19 who threw him the keys? 22:20 Oh, man I almost had a heart attack. 22:22 Yeah, we threw him the keys, Kenny sitting on the jet ski, 22:25 you remember and so. 22:26 Oh, yeah. 22:28 But to hand him the keys and it went over him 22:30 and he reached and last we saw down he was, 22:33 out he was going into the water 22:34 but he bought just like a little cork 22:37 he popped right back, he got in. 22:41 Sorry to bring that up. 22:42 And he came up rejoiced in the hand. 22:43 With the keys in the hand. Yeah, he caught the keys. 22:46 You had to focus. 22:48 There was a disaster and the way out, 22:50 it was off balance. 22:51 Thank you. Oh, yeah. 22:53 This will begin our spiritual, I was off balance, 22:54 I was knocked off balance but whoever, 22:55 whatever threw him out there, but we have to stay focused. 22:58 Yeah. 22:59 You know, when you focus on the object 23:01 in which we are wanting to attain, which is heaven. 23:03 Okay. 23:05 So don't lose sight, 23:07 even though you're going into the water. 23:09 Yeah, I might let go a little bit. 23:11 I might have just looked and said, 23:12 Jay, that was a bad throw. 23:14 You know, if somebody, 23:15 I would have blamed somebody else. 23:16 I don't remember if you were or Mark, was you. 23:19 I threw it. 23:20 Yeah, even if it's right to me and you miss it. 23:22 You might say that was a bad throw 23:23 and the keys disappears and got stuck in the water. 23:25 I'm not mistaken. 23:27 But Kenny, literally, like slow motion up 23:29 and lean and lean to get in, 23:32 you know, and all of a sudden it's gone. 23:33 I knew it was too late. 23:35 Off of it in the water but back up, 23:37 the first thing he showed us was the key. 23:39 Yes. 23:41 Thing I noticed when I was going over 23:44 was, it about four men standing on and I thought, 23:46 I heard somebody say jump in and help him. 23:48 I don't think anybody did. 23:50 We jumped, we jumped in but by the time we jumped in, 23:52 you came back yourself fast. 23:54 Oh, yeah. 23:55 He bounced back up like a sport. 23:57 But what an allegory. Yes. 23:58 'Cause how many of us 24:00 who know we're reaching out in faith 24:02 for what we know is right, 24:03 but we don't know that end result. 24:05 And we lose balance. And we lose balance. 24:08 We lose focus. Yeah. 24:10 Come on, Kenny, you got a sermon out of everything. 24:12 He does. 24:14 There is a song and I used to think 24:16 that Melody Dawn, 24:17 in fact, I even asked her one time 24:18 'cause I thought when she was really young, 24:20 she had sang this at the Marion Adventist Church. 24:23 He's still working on me, 24:25 you know, to make me what I ought to be. 24:27 And I kind of thought of that during this lesson. 24:29 Because, you know, it's not always 24:32 our first response to be peaceful 24:35 in the midst of stress or storm or someone sick. 24:39 You know, but it's something I've had to learn, 24:41 it's something he's teaching me and reteaching me. 24:44 I think of one case 24:45 where we were having a storm financially. 24:48 And I had fear just absolutely gripped me 24:51 to the point I was shaking. 24:53 And he lives what he just said, he came in and I was, 24:56 I needed consoling, 24:58 I was ready for him to say honey, 24:59 it's going to be all right, 25:00 you know, give me a hug, he's like... 25:02 Oh, honey, this is something good. 25:03 Where's your faith? 25:04 Oh, ye of little faith. Okay. 25:06 I mean literally and I just had to stop. 25:09 But, you know what? 25:10 He was right. Make it positive, honey. 25:12 He was right in the long run 25:14 because I did not exude faith at that time. 25:17 You know, you have get somebody's attention sometime, 25:19 there have to be rebuke. 25:21 It was a loving rebuke. It was. 25:24 Better than the slap. True. 25:26 I didn't feel real loved at that time. 25:29 You don't want to see your loved ones, 25:31 you know, your family. 25:33 Anybody go in that get in that condition 25:36 to where they're really, it's hurting them mentally 25:38 and spiritually and so on and so forth. 25:40 Sometimes you just say, hey, hey, 25:43 pointing back to the Scripture. 25:44 Yes. 25:45 Pointing back to that we serve a God, 25:47 He's sitting on the throne. He's working in our behalf. 25:49 Yes. 25:50 And even in the midst of everything. 25:52 I mean, we look at right here anytime, 25:54 I think you mentioned, Sister Yvonne, 25:56 anytime you call, even if you're late. 25:58 That's right. Yes. 26:00 You know, Danny, I think you mentioned that too even, 26:02 He still answers. 26:03 Amen. Amen. 26:05 See, we wouldn't do that. What we would say? 26:07 I told you so. Yes. 26:09 You've done this three times, you swim for yourself. 26:11 I mean, that's not the way God operates. 26:13 So keep that in mind. 26:15 You know, the viewers' mind, 26:16 that if you haven't called on Him in a while, 26:18 call on Him. 26:19 He's still going to hear regardless of what you've done. 26:21 He's going to answer. 26:23 That's right. That's right. 26:24 Another just minute little point is... 26:26 I'll be quiet. 26:27 No, no, don't be quiet. 26:28 It's, you made me think of this 26:30 is because these are God's workmen. 26:32 You know, this is what, He does not allow anything 26:35 to touch the apple of His eye unless He okays it. 26:38 Amen. And He's okayed it. 26:40 And so, when these things come, 26:42 then that's His workmen to help to build our character, 26:45 to build our faith. 26:47 You know, we're going to get into faith more. 26:49 And I was, I remember when I was studying, 26:50 I thought, wow, faith is so powerful. 26:53 It is so powerful. 26:55 We need to be building that faith that we hold on 26:57 no matter where we're going with the key. 27:00 This is the key by the way. 27:01 And what a great example talking about the disciples 27:04 in a boat and Kenny in mud. 27:05 That's, yeah, that's true. 27:08 And he went out hanging on. 27:09 He did, he did. 27:11 Good catch. Yeah, that was a great catch. 27:14 Yes. 27:15 All right, let's look at Matthew 14:26. 27:18 We're going to deal with some more water here. 27:20 And we're gonna look at verses 26 through 31. 27:25 Now, actually, let's start in 25, verse 25. 27:28 "Now in the fourth watch of the night, 27:30 Jesus went to them walking on the sea, 27:33 and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, 27:35 they were troubled, saying, it is a ghost. 27:38 And they cried out for fear. 27:40 But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, 27:42 'Be of good cheer. 27:44 It is I do not be afraid.' 27:47 And Peter answered Him and said, 27:48 'Lord, if it is You, 27:50 command me to come to You on the water.' 27:53 So, He said, 'Come.' 27:54 And when Peter had come down out of the boat, 27:57 he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 28:00 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, 28:04 he was afraid and beginning to sink, 28:06 he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me.' 28:10 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand 28:12 and caught him and said to him, 28:14 'Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?' 28:19 " It seems like we keep seeing that. 28:20 Yes. 28:22 Oh, ye of little faith, why did you doubt? 28:24 And if you notice, he took his eyes off of Jesus. 28:28 That's it. 28:29 You know, and that's and that was his downfall. 28:31 Yes. That was his downfall there. 28:34 And it's all of our downfalls. 28:35 When I mentioned the money, my focus was on bankruptcy. 28:40 And what was about to happen and what are we gonna do? 28:44 But my focus was not on, you know, Christ. 28:48 I wasn't seeing Him at that time. 28:50 I didn't see Him in the midst of the storm. 28:53 So, it makes sense, it makes sense. 28:56 But isn't it beautiful? 28:57 'Cause all it, like we just said, 28:58 you know, He's there, He answers when we call. 29:02 And Peter asked and He said, calm. 29:04 And that's what He says to each and every one of us 29:07 that invite Him and He just says, calm. 29:10 He wants us to come to Him. 29:12 And He's gonna, 29:13 He's gonna make us welcome water. 29:14 He's gonna, you know, just give us heavenly power, 29:18 heavenly wisdom, heavenly faith. 29:19 I love it. Let me throw... 29:21 Go ahead. 29:22 Well, I was just gonna say, and whoever comes to Him, 29:24 He will in no wise cast out. Hallelujah. 29:26 So, when we come to Him, 29:28 we can expect that He will be there. 29:32 And He's not going to turn us away. 29:33 So many people think, "Oh, I've done this, 29:36 I've done that, I'm too bad to go to God." 29:39 I hear that a lot. 29:40 Yes, people feel so laid down with guilt and shame 29:45 that they can't come to God. 29:47 No, that's what, He wants you to come. 29:49 Amen. He invites you to come. 29:51 Yes. Whosoever will, let Him come. 29:53 If I walk into the church, the rafters enthralled. 29:56 Yeah. You heard that one? 29:58 You've heard that one? I heard that one. 29:59 But they think that they've done something 30:02 too bad and that's why again, 30:03 the Word of God is so powerful 30:05 because they've been murderers, adulterers. 30:07 That's right. 30:08 All of these people who've done different things 30:11 in this world whom God loved, 30:15 He loves all of us and so there's no sin. 30:18 There's no sin too great or too heavy for God 30:24 to say My blood covers, Jesus' blood covers every sin. 30:30 Even things we don't want to think about 30:32 like a pedophile or the, you know, things that are just, 30:35 you know, we just think are so awful. 30:37 God loves everyone 30:41 and His blood covers and He can fix it, 30:44 He can fix it. Amen. Amen. 30:47 Yeah, it is, you know, 30:49 it's, it's interesting too Jesus' response time. 30:52 Yes. 30:54 Lord, save me. 30:56 Immediately He's right there to help him. 30:58 Yeah. Right there to help him. 31:00 And that's the same with us. 31:01 You know, we call on His name, He's right there that, 31:04 He never went anywhere. Come on. 31:05 He's always been there. Yes. 31:08 But we went in the wrong direction. 31:10 Oh, that's good too. 31:11 But one thing, we think about reading, 31:13 studied or more about that 31:14 I was trying to put it in my mind. 31:16 I thought, I think Jesus, 31:18 somebody, correct me if I'm wrong, 31:20 Jesus was on the shore this time. 31:23 He knew the storm, He knew what was taking place. 31:27 I think the Desire of Ages brings out 31:29 not for one moment 31:31 did Jesus take His eyes off of that boat. 31:35 I mean, that's awesome. 31:36 They're going through a mess, 31:38 but not for one moment 31:39 did He take His eyes for a second. 31:40 Hallelujah. 31:42 But notice, again, 31:43 we're looking salvation by works 31:44 and so on and take it back and think about this. 31:46 As long as they were working hard 31:48 to save themselves. 31:50 He stayed on the shore. Wow. 31:52 It wasn't until, 31:54 Lord, save us we perish, Lord, help me, 31:58 you see, when they gave up on self. 32:01 And they call on His name. 32:03 Then you see all of a sudden, a bright light as it were on, 32:07 here comes Jesus walking. 32:08 And then the other point I thought was so fascinating. 32:11 He, I don't want to say pretend, 32:12 Jesus didn't pretend. 32:14 But He, as though He was going to walk by them, 32:17 they needed Him desperately but He was gonna... 32:20 It said, He was gonna get ready to walk by and then 32:22 they reached out and they started crying, 32:24 Lord, you know, save us. Now what they were saying? 32:26 We're lost. 32:28 When you say and I say, I'm lost. 32:30 Yes. 32:31 That's when He finds. Amen. 32:33 That's when He walks on the water. 32:36 See, that's it, but He couldn't do it 32:38 as long as they were struggling, 32:39 and kicking, and fighting like some of us, 32:41 in our Christian experience we're fighting, and kicking, 32:43 and trying to, it didn't work out this way, 32:44 I'll make it work this way instead of just turning it 32:46 over to the Lord. 32:48 So, I think just a good point is Lord we're lost, you know. 32:51 That's right. 32:52 See, it's when they had given up, 32:54 when they quit fighting, 32:55 and just said they can't see, they don't know the direction 32:58 which way they're going and they're just lost. 33:00 And He said, now I can help you. 33:02 Yes. His timing is perfect. 33:05 Yes. His timing is perfect. 33:06 Our friend Aaron Wilburn wrote a song 33:09 called four days late, 33:11 you know, and it was about when the disciples 33:15 and He went to Lazarus and they said, 33:18 You come too late. 33:20 You know, had you come, you know, You came too late, 33:24 You're four days late. 33:25 But when Jesus is four days late. 33:28 He is right on time. Come on, He's still... 33:30 Right on time. Still on time. 33:31 That's right. 33:32 That's right. Right on time there. 33:34 He goes to the grave and shows them, 33:36 Creator of the universe. 33:40 Yes. He says, Lazarus, come forth. 33:43 Peter said, if he hadn't said Lazarus, 33:45 all the graves would come alive. 33:48 Think about that. 33:49 He's always on time. 33:50 So when we are discouraged or Lord, where are You, 33:54 it's not where are You, it's where are we. 33:56 Where are we? Yes. 33:57 Where are we 33:58 that we've separated ourselves from you, 34:01 but when you sincerely cry out, Lord, save me. 34:05 Amen, amen. Immediately He worked, right? 34:07 Look it in verse 27, 34:10 where Jesus says be of good cheer it is, 34:13 I do not be afraid. 34:16 Like, I've got you. 34:18 I'm here. Your champion is here. 34:22 Your hero is here. 34:23 Your God is here. 34:26 Be of good cheer. 34:27 Don't, be happy, like don't worry about it. 34:30 I've got you. 34:31 And that's to me, 34:33 knowing that no matter what we go through 34:36 that we can, 34:37 that Jesus is saying be of good cheer, 34:40 I'm here, I've got you. 34:42 I'm here with you. That's beautiful. 34:45 Another thing that Uncle Kenny said, 34:49 that really made me think too 34:51 was he said that from Desire of Ages 34:54 as she said, He never took His eye off the boat. 34:59 And I thought immediately, 35:00 He never takes His eye off of us. 35:03 That's right. 35:04 How often we feel so alone, we feel hopeless. 35:07 We don't know what to do. 35:09 You know, I know all of us have question, 35:11 what are we going to do 35:12 if there really is a big lack of food? 35:15 You know, 35:16 how are we going to start growing gardens? 35:18 Many of us haven't, you know, I have a little garden, 35:20 but I've never grown enough to sustain us. 35:23 And then you have to preserve it, 35:25 then you've got to have heat. 35:26 You know what I'm saying? 35:27 All these things go through your mind. 35:30 But he's never taken His eye off 35:32 and He gives us these things. 35:34 He says, "Get ready, get ready." 35:36 And I like, you know, 35:37 when we come to Him, Matthew 11:28 says, 35:40 "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden." 35:44 Many of us feel heavy laden right now. 35:48 Many of us feel, but Jesus gives us promise. 35:51 And I will give you all of us rest, 35:56 rest in the midst of a storm. 35:58 Yes. 35:59 Peace in the midst of a storm. 36:00 That's right. Ah, have mercy. 36:02 Or His eyes on the sparrow. 36:05 And I know He watches me. 36:08 He watches every sparrow that falls. 36:10 That's right. 36:11 He's the lily of the fields. 36:13 You don't have to worry about is He keeping His eye on us. 36:16 Yeah. Beautiful. 36:17 Yes, it's good. Right. 36:19 You know, as I read this passage, 36:21 I start thinking about like, 36:23 how cool is it 36:24 to even be able to walk on water. 36:27 I see Peter, you know, 36:29 getting out of the boat and he said, 36:32 "Lord, if as You call me to You, 36:34 like, like, 36:35 as I stepped out of the boat, 36:37 he's walking on water towards the Lord. 36:39 And then I can only imagine like maybe 36:43 if he was feeling himself for a second like, 36:45 wow, I'm really, like I'm walking on water. 36:47 Yeah. 36:48 You know, and then he just bloop, bloop, bloop, 36:52 start sinking. 36:53 Maybe he looked back to see if everybody was watching him. 36:56 That's right. That's right. 36:58 And, you know, in modern times 37:00 how many of us have been blessed 37:02 with gifts and talents that the Lord has given to us 37:06 where, you know, then we're like, 37:09 oh, look at what I can do. 37:10 Wow. 37:12 And we take our eyes off of the prize who gave us 37:15 these gifts and talents to glorify Him. 37:17 Yes. 37:19 But we use it to glorify ourselves. 37:21 Oh, that's good. So I kind of saw it in there. 37:24 I was like, that's pretty interesting. 37:26 Yeah. Peter had problems. 37:29 And again, I had to ask, you know, posed the question, 37:31 why did Jesus allow Peter to get out on the water. 37:36 He knew what was going to happen. 37:38 But yet He was wanting to reveal to whom, 37:40 like He does to me. 37:42 He's wanting to reveal those things 37:43 that need to be improved to Peter, 37:45 and so one of them was unbelief 37:48 and the other was self-exaltation. 37:51 When he looked back, 37:52 did you notice he took his eyes off. 37:54 When we take our eyes off of Christ, 37:55 we automatically lose faith. 37:57 Yeah. 37:58 Automatically unbelief comes in and we become afraid. 38:02 Yes, yes. 38:04 I thought that was just awesome to think about this Peter. 38:06 He wanted Peter to recognize, now how did Peter, 38:10 the boys in the boat we would say it 38:11 didn't say this could have chuckled, oh. 38:14 But as soon as that wave come up, 38:15 he lost sight of Christ, 38:17 he looked back to see how everybody was saying, 38:18 look at me what I'm doing. 38:19 And then when he got, notice, how he got back to the boat 38:23 was he had to put his hand in the hand of Jesus. 38:25 Yes. 38:26 Jesus took his hand after sign of unbelief 38:30 and showing himself to be what He was. 38:32 But He led Peter back 38:34 and stepped into the boat with him. 38:36 That is just awesome to me. Yes. 38:38 I mean, just awesome. Yes. 38:39 That's the only way 38:41 he'd be able to get into that boat. 38:42 Yes. 38:44 Those two things he just about, 38:45 he lost his life if it hadn't been for Christ. 38:47 We can lose our life spiritually. 38:50 Number one is unbelief and self-exaltation, 38:53 trying to be self and elevate it. 38:55 And hey, Peter said, look at me. 38:58 Put your hand in the hand of the man to still the water. 39:00 That's right. Yes. 39:02 Can sing it. Remember that song? 39:04 Yes. Hand of the man from Galilee. 39:05 Yes. 39:07 Look at yourselves 39:08 and you look at others differently. 39:09 Yes, yes. 39:11 Yeah. Wow. 39:12 You're about to say something? 39:14 Well, the other thing was, when in verse 30, it says, 39:19 but when he saw that the wind was boisterous, 39:21 he was afraid. 39:23 and beginning to sink, he cried, Lord, save me. 39:26 So, again, in the midst of a trial, 39:30 when the trial gets harder than we could bear, 39:33 and we start beginning to sink under, under its weight. 39:38 Yes. 39:40 That's when we call out too, Lord, save me, help me. 39:44 And that's what happened to him. 39:46 I think it got not only had he taken 39:49 his eyes off of the Lord but the wind was worse. 39:54 Yes. Yes. 39:55 And so, he was thinking like, 39:56 oh, I'm out here on this water. 40:00 Lord, save me, I'm getting ready to sink. 40:02 Yes. 40:03 So, I just feel like there's so many great things 40:07 that we can recall. 40:08 Yeah. How did he sink? 40:10 You know, it just crossed my mind 40:12 you're talking about this. 40:13 How did he sink? Was it like a slow motion? 40:14 They gave the Lord time to react 40:16 and time for Him to think. 40:18 How does anyone's sink when they're in the water? 40:20 I mean, everything went under pretty quickly. 40:25 Shouldn't have head for that one. 40:28 But you came up quickly. He did, he did. 40:30 That's right. 40:32 Yeah, coming up in a split second. 40:35 No matter what happens, 40:37 God is, is there 40:38 through the power of the Holy Spirit, 40:39 just like that... 40:41 Amen. When you're going down. 40:42 Yeah. 40:44 You look like you're about to say something. 40:45 Yes. I was, but I got sidetracked. 40:46 I don't remember that. 40:48 I don't know, it's good. Okay. 40:50 I'm just, with us 40:52 it's never what I wanted people to understand 40:55 it's never too late. 40:57 Because when you're sincere... 40:58 Yes, that's right. 41:00 You know, now things happen, 41:02 this COVID thing comes and all of a sudden, 41:03 oh man, I'm so sorry, we've seen it before, 41:06 whether it's pandemic, 41:08 whether there's whatever coming, 41:09 you know, Y2K, whatever, 41:11 everybody starts going to church, 41:12 everybody's 41:13 suddenly needed things smooth out 41:15 and then all of a sudden we're gone again. 41:16 Right. 41:18 Then it's like, well, Lord, 41:19 how come you didn't take care of me? 41:20 But one of the things that I was thinking 41:22 it's another whole program 41:23 but it's interesting what the devil will do 41:27 to deceive people. 41:28 For instance, we can see 41:30 all of these trials through storms 41:34 and we can go through probably hundreds more 41:37 to see that whereas gold tried in the fire. 41:39 Yes. 41:40 And we learned our dependency, 41:41 then you got the popular theology. 41:43 Oh, don't worry about it when times get tough, 41:46 we're gonna be raptured to heaven 41:47 and we're going to, 41:48 all the rest of these people going to be down here, 41:50 suffering all this. 41:52 Not true. 41:53 And we got to do some programs 41:54 about that different people's understanding. 41:56 Just to understand, no, that's living in the time, 41:59 be prepared for the time of trouble 42:01 because that may be only then 42:04 that we really find out how dependent 42:07 that we need to be in order to be saved. 42:09 That's the truth. That's a good point. 42:11 So, it's really like in the midst of the storm, 42:14 we find out who and what we really are, 42:16 who we really belong to, isn't it right? 42:19 Not in the good times, not the high times. 42:20 That's right. 42:22 Sometimes when things really hit, 42:24 we know we can do nothing. 42:25 You know. I fail several times on that. 42:27 I understand in my life but God's been good. 42:29 Yeah. He's been good to me. 42:30 Yeah. 42:32 You know, in spite of and He's there to lift us up 42:33 and to encourage us always. 42:35 Yes, yes. It's a good lesson. 42:36 It is. Talking about, yeah. 42:39 Let's, let's... 42:40 I like what you said about the fiery part. 42:42 We're gonna transition into Daniel. 42:44 We're gonna go to a fiery trial in Daniel Chapter 3. 42:49 We're going to look at verses 23 through 25. 42:53 And these three men Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fell down 42:57 bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 43:02 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, 43:04 and he rose in haste 43:06 and spoke saying to his counselors, 43:08 'Did we not cast three men 43:10 bound into the midst of the fire?' 43:12 They answered and said to the king, 43:14 'True, O king.' 43:16 Look, he answered, 43:17 'I see four men loose 43:19 walking in the midst of the fire 43:21 and they are not hurt. 43:22 And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.'" 43:25 Ooh. 43:27 So who stands with us in our trials? 43:28 Yeah. God does. 43:31 God does. 43:32 And I mean, as we looked at the other trials, 43:34 as we looked at the other storms, 43:36 Jesus was in the boat or Jesus was on the water, 43:39 and He, I mean, He's with us throughout it all. 43:42 It's good. 43:43 And that again goes back to the point 43:45 if I think I'm not going to go through trials. 43:48 Now what happens when I go through them? 43:50 I tend to doubt God. 43:53 Where is God when I need Him? Yeah. 43:56 He's been there all along. Yeah. 43:57 You just haven't depended on Him, 43:59 you're dependent on yourself. 44:00 That's right. 44:02 But God is always going to be there 44:03 but sometimes it takes us 44:05 going through to say, you know what? 44:07 I can't fix this one. 44:09 There you go. There's nothing I can do. 44:10 That's right. 44:12 That's why people kill themselves 44:13 so many times, 44:14 kill themselves because they say, 44:16 I can't get out, this is so bad, 44:19 there's no way out. 44:21 So the way out, they feel like, 44:24 but when you have the Lord, and you know, He's there, 44:28 and that's when He's waiting. 44:29 Yeah. 44:30 That's when, that's when we're at time 44:32 is gonna be the most sincere to finally say, you know what? 44:35 I don't care how much money I have, how much power I have, 44:37 how much influence I have in this whole world. 44:40 When it comes right down to it, we all can't do nothing, 44:44 I can do nothing on my own, 44:45 but I can accomplish all things through Christ. 44:47 Amen. Amen. 44:49 You know, I just heard, I heard on the news, 44:51 this is recent, that a nurse, 44:55 they call heroes 44:56 which they are is working with the sick and so on. 44:58 So, but now a doctor, I'm sorry, a doctor. 45:02 Busy laboring and working during this, 45:04 you know, COVID-19, I mean, it just like too much. 45:08 And she contracted, you see. 45:12 And she committed suicide. Oh. 45:15 See? 45:16 Maybe seeing everything what's going on 45:18 and her dad is doctor. 45:20 So, and he just simply said, you know, it was just too much. 45:23 He's so involved 45:25 with trying to help and save others, 45:27 you know in bringing them out 45:29 that there's just like once you got it, 45:30 it's just like there's just no hope, 45:32 this is a bad deal. 45:33 So today we want to encourage, there is hope. 45:35 Amen. Yes. 45:37 We need to look outside of ourselves. 45:39 Yes. 45:40 Every time I looked at myself, it's like total disaster. 45:43 Like it's failure. 45:44 But when we look to Christ, 45:46 there's victory and you wish that could change. 45:49 You know, I don't know this person. 45:51 But when I heard it touched my heart, 45:53 and there's thousands of going through this today 45:55 but just like, 45:56 here's one who's a doctor who is saving lives 46:00 then with all of the stress and the strain 46:03 and not maybe looking to Christ, 46:05 I don't know the situation but you know 46:06 would find hope to just I've got it now, 46:09 so I'll just take the easy way out. 46:11 Yes. Yeah. 46:13 You know, God have mercy on us, we live, 46:15 like say for a curious time of earth's history. 46:18 People are looking for answers, 46:20 thank God for 3ABN and places like this 46:22 where it can get into the homes 46:23 and get into help somebody along the way. 46:26 Yes. And give some hope. 46:28 Amen. We need that, yes. 46:30 One of my favorite and this is like my... 46:32 I don't know, it might be my favorite passage 46:36 is I don't want to rely on my memory 46:40 'cause I might misquote it. 46:41 But it's Isaiah 43:1-3. 46:45 "Fear not for I've redeemed you, 46:47 I've called you by name, you are mine. 46:49 When you pass through the waters, 46:51 I will be with you and to the rivers 46:53 they shall not overflow you. 46:55 When you walk through the fire, 46:57 you shall not be burned 46:59 nor shall the flames scorch you." 47:01 And in the King James, it says, "Kindle upon you. 47:04 For I am the Lord your God, 47:06 the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." 47:09 So when we're in the fire, 47:11 like each thing is a, an increase 47:15 in the intensity of the trial. 47:19 So first it's through the waters, 47:21 then it's through the rivers, then it's through the fire. 47:24 Yes. 47:26 But at each juncture God is with us. 47:29 And He says, "I've called you by your names. 47:34 You are mine." 47:35 That means that of all the billions of people 47:37 on planet earth, 47:39 He knows your name, He knows my name, 47:42 He knows our names, He knows everything about us. 47:46 And every trial at every point in that trial, 47:51 He's with us. 47:53 Amen. 47:54 You know, we can think about death 47:57 and how, I don't want to go. 47:59 Oh, well, now. 48:00 How death can impact your life and how you can, 48:06 you can ask the Lord to hear, 48:08 you can ask Him 48:09 to raise the person up, you can ask... 48:10 Yes. 48:12 But you have to trust that if the answer is no, 48:16 that there is a reason for that. 48:19 And that's where our faith comes in I believe, 48:21 because we have to know that we are finite, 48:24 He is infinite. 48:26 We deal in the temporal, He deals in the eternal. 48:30 He deals in the eternal. 48:32 And so, we might not know why God allowed someone 48:36 to go to sleep when we begged Him 48:39 to let them live. 48:41 But we do know that God's emphasis 48:44 is on saving people. 48:46 So maybe that was a time 48:47 when that person could be saved. 48:49 We don't know that, 48:50 what we know is that we serve a God 48:53 who's with us, who will comfort us, 48:56 who will bring us through every storm 48:59 and every fire. 49:00 Amen. 49:01 We have a little book that we put together, 49:03 it's called "After COVID-19, What's Next?" 49:07 So, for our viewers, you can get it free, 49:09 you can simply go to our website, 49:12 and you can download it, 49:13 it'll show you how to do it and you can read it. 49:15 And hopefully it'll be a help to you 49:17 if you're questioning, 49:19 it answers things like 49:21 why do bad things happen to good people. 49:24 You know, wider, you know, babies are, 49:27 why are innocent people, 49:30 you know, so many terrible things 49:31 happen to them. 49:33 If there's a God, where is He? 49:35 And so why are we separated from Him? 49:38 Why doesn't He show His face? 49:40 So it talks about the character of God 49:42 and talks about sin and where sin came from 49:44 and why when we look at the whole picture 49:48 that sin comes from rebellion through Satan 49:51 and has each of us, we live in a sinful world. 49:54 So until Jesus comes back the second time, 49:58 we're going to reap the result. 49:59 So yes, the rain is going to fall 50:01 on the just as well as the unjust. 50:03 So if you go to 3ABN's website, 50:06 you can just look it up there and it'll say, 50:08 go to COVID-19 50:09 and you can digitally download that 50:12 and read it for free because we want you to, 50:15 to see it and understand that maybe you have friends, 50:18 you have family that don't understand it. 50:20 That's why I think it's so important for people 50:24 to understand 50:25 death is a part of life on this earth. 50:28 That's right. Death is a part of life. 50:29 That's not the worst thing that can happen to us. 50:32 Sometimes we pray for people selfishly 50:35 that would be much better off resting in Jesus, 50:38 you know, but instead wait for 50:40 because we don't want to lose them. 50:42 We're praying no matter how much pain, 50:43 no matter what they're going through, 50:45 we're praying. 50:46 Oh, why didn't God save this person? 50:48 Well, actually it's a blessing when you know 50:51 that you're asleep in the Lord. 50:54 So, no, is death fun? Not for any of us. 50:57 Do we hate it? Absolutely, we do. 50:59 Well, it happened to all of us. 51:01 Should the Lord teary a few more years? 51:02 Yes. 51:04 But the peace is in the midst of the storm, 51:07 knowing this is just the beginning, 51:09 not the end. 51:10 That's right. That's right. 51:11 You know, I'm glad you said that 51:13 because here on this earth, in our life, death is a sting. 51:17 It hurts. It breaks our heart. 51:20 But heaven looks at death differently. 51:23 You know, especially as you mentioned the scripture 51:25 in Revelation, you know, 51:26 blessed are those who die in the Lord from here on now. 51:30 And you can see as these things continue to grow worse 51:33 where death may be a blessing for many of us. 51:37 But you go back to the story we're looking at, Shadrach, 51:42 Meshach and Abednego, 51:43 they could have easily said, hmm. 51:46 They were facing a death decree. 51:48 Right. 51:50 We're going to someday face a death decree. 51:52 We've got challenges ahead of us with, 51:55 you know, vaccines and all these things 51:57 that are being broadcast daily in the news, 52:00 what are we going to do? 52:02 How are we going to stand? 52:04 And they could have easily said, 52:06 "Well, Lord, you know, my heart, 52:08 I'm not really bowing down, I'm not really worshiping." 52:11 Oh, come on. 52:13 But what example did they set to all the other meek as well? 52:16 Yeah, because if I don't, 52:17 I be around to be a witness to others later. 52:20 Yeah, yeah. 52:21 I'll just pretend to do this, and you can justify why did, 52:25 you didn't do what he asked you to do. 52:27 And I don't think they could have stood 52:30 if they didn't have peace with God. 52:33 Oh, absolutely. 52:34 They have to have, it's a different, 52:35 not just our physical peace 52:38 but peace knowing 52:39 that our lives are saved in Him, 52:42 that we are in a saving relationship 52:44 with our Lord and Savior. 52:45 That's where all of us need to be trying 52:48 to attain at this very time 52:50 'cause we know not, we're not promised tomorrow. 52:52 That's right. 52:53 We don't know what tomorrow holds 52:55 for any of us. 52:56 And they were willing and they went in peacefully. 53:00 Oh, yeah. Yeah, good. 53:02 If it's God's will, He can save us but if not, 53:06 they were willing to give up their lives for truth, 53:11 to stand for truth. 53:12 We're to worship God in what? 53:14 Spirit and in truth. 53:16 That's how important truth is. 53:18 I found this one quote from Stephen Haskell, 53:22 the story of Daniel the prophet, 53:24 it said, would they allow, 53:25 and this hit me hard when I was thinking about it. 53:28 Would they allow an unsanctified emotion. 53:32 Remember, we're to control our emotions, 53:34 not allow emotions to control us. 53:36 That's a tough one. 53:38 But that's when we need to overcome. 53:40 Would they allow an uncertified emotion 53:42 to have possession of their lives 53:45 and compromise their faith? 53:49 Their emotion could have done that right then and there. 53:51 Our emotions can do that if we don't control them, 53:56 and say, and you know, just give them up to the Lord, 53:58 allow Him to give strength in that. 54:01 What could a religion be worth 54:03 which admitted is admitted of compromise. 54:07 In other words, if we continue to compromise 54:10 truth with air, 54:11 what good is our faith? 54:14 What good is what we're standing for? 54:17 You know, and I hear that a lot on the news, 54:20 you know, in one respect you hear him praising God 54:23 and uplifting the Bible and the next thing 54:26 they're uplifting a lifestyle that's so totally against Him. 54:31 You know, God is calling people to be a peculiar people 54:35 to separate from the sin that is separating us from Him. 54:39 Yes. 54:40 We are to come out of Babylon, three angels' messages. 54:42 Yeah. Amen. 54:43 You always hear about, it's interesting 54:45 that they're always three Hebrews, 54:47 and then the fourth was Jesus in there. 54:49 You know, Jesus came and He, you know, He rescued. 54:53 You know, He stood for the three Hebrews 54:54 but also Jesus is what? 54:56 He got the attention of the king of Babylon 54:59 by the glory and what took place 55:01 and it changed his heart, restore the God of heaven. 55:04 So just more than three, 55:05 but God has something in mind for all of us. 55:07 Yes. 55:09 A lot more than what is I understand, 55:11 you mentioned a while ago, the answers like, 55:13 I'm trying to come to, 55:14 I don't have to understand God's plan, 55:17 all the things that are, 55:18 you know, laid out there to understand it. 55:20 I just need to be willing to be obedient. 55:21 Yeah. 55:23 'Cause He asked us to do things, 55:24 sometimes we don't understand the whys, 55:26 might be five years down the road 55:27 or ten years or maybe never in this life. 55:28 Yes. 55:30 But God help us to just know what He says in His Word 55:32 and then be willing to just follow by faith. 55:35 Yes. That's all He ask us to do. 55:37 I love in verses 17 and 18 of Chapter 3. 55:41 And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said, 55:43 "If that is the case, our God whom we serve 55:46 is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace 55:49 and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 55:52 But if not..." 55:54 Oh, it's... Isn't that true? 55:55 It's a truth to power. 55:57 They were not afraid to stand up to the king. 56:00 But if not, let it be known to your king 56:02 that we do not serve your gods 56:05 nor will we worship the gold image 56:07 which you have set up. 56:09 We will, we must be willing to take a stand 56:13 but what you know is right. 56:15 Absolutely. Yes. 56:16 And stand up to anyone 56:19 who was going to question our God. 56:21 That's right. 56:22 We have to be willing to take a stand. 56:24 Amen. Amen. 56:25 Amen. That's powerful. 56:27 We only have like a short time left, 56:29 let's talk about real quick how to obtain peace. 56:33 What do you think? 56:34 How can we go about obtaining peace? 56:39 Well... 56:40 Making the call and let them share with God 56:42 to have peace with Him. 56:44 Yes. Yes. 56:45 That's what was on my heart even as I was studying this, 56:48 we can't have peace in the midst of a storm, 56:50 we can't be like Christ, have His character 56:53 unless we're connected with Him. 56:55 We have to surrender self... 56:56 Good. Yes. 56:58 Yeah. To Jesus. 56:59 Yeah. Surrender yourself. 57:00 Then He'll be 57:02 in the midst of that fire with us. 57:03 Amen. 57:04 Spend time with Him, so we learn to trust Him more. 57:06 Yes. Amen. 57:07 Amen. Amen. 57:09 So in other words, we need to be consistent. 57:10 Yes. All right. 57:11 We need to go the distance. 57:13 We can't just open the Bible 57:14 and read Jesus wept and be content. 57:17 We got to spend some time, right, quality time, 57:20 we need to maintain a healthy lifestyle, 57:22 so we can digest 57:24 the bread of life and all of those things. 57:27 Well, thank you so much for this discussion 57:30 and your wonderful input. 57:31 And thank you for joining us. 57:33 Till next time, God bless. |
Revised 2020-05-21