Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW210003S
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:13 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 00:41 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:52 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello, friends. Happy Sabbath. 01:11 And welcome to Family Worship. 01:13 I'm so happy to be here with you tonight, 01:16 especially Sabbath, don't you love Sabbath, honey? 01:18 That's right, honey. 01:19 It says to the body slow down, relax. 01:21 Yes. 01:23 And while you're doing the slowing down and relaxing, 01:25 get your Bibles to join us. 01:27 We're talking about building up your defenses. 01:30 Now we talk about immunity right now. 01:32 That's a big word. 01:34 Herd immunity is an amazing phrase, 01:36 right now we're dealing with diseases of every kind, 01:39 not just the pandemic but so many others, 01:41 but immunity. 01:43 And it takes a while for the body 01:44 to build up immunity. 01:45 It sure does. 01:47 And well, we're gonna be talking 01:48 about a line of... 01:51 Line of defense. Defense. 01:52 Yeah, your immunity to sin, your immunity to trials, 01:56 your immunity to difficult things. 01:58 But let's go ahead and introduce our family. 02:00 Why don't you do that for us, honey, 02:01 'cause we are not by ourselves. 02:03 Oh, I'd be happy to. 02:05 Right here, we have Jan and Donald from, 02:10 well, they go to our church also 02:12 and we're all in the way. 02:14 So happy to have you here. 02:15 You work in the Publishing Department 02:17 and you're in pastoral. 02:19 Yeah it's been a blessing. Yeah. 02:21 We've just been thankful 3ABN accepted us 02:23 and brought us in and loved us. 02:25 And it's just been an amazing journey. 02:27 We've been so thankful. 02:28 And you also personal ministries leader 02:29 at our church. 02:31 Aren't they a wonderful couple, honey? 02:32 Oh. Very inspiring. 02:34 Thank you. God has been good to us. 02:35 He's very patient. Yes, yes. 02:38 And I don't know if to call him our nephew now 02:40 because he always calls me Uncle Lomey. 02:42 Oh, we just love our sweetie over here. 02:44 Jason Bradley, welcome to Family Worship. 02:48 You're not a stranger to Family Worship. 02:50 No, it's great to be here. 02:52 Looking forward to diving into the topic. 02:54 And yes, you are Uncle Lomey and Auntie Angela. 02:56 Amen. Always will be. 02:58 That's right. That's right. 02:59 Just love our J. 03:01 That's right. That's right. 03:02 And for those of you that are joining us 03:04 from your living room or wherever you may be, 03:06 whether with your family or by yourself, 03:09 we always like to begin with prayer. 03:10 So, honey, would you lead us into prayer tonight? 03:12 Let's bow our heads. 03:14 Our precious Heavenly Father, 03:16 we come to You in the name of Jesus, 03:18 giving You all praise, honor, and glory 03:20 for You are worthy. 03:22 We thank You for this opportunity 03:23 to uplift Your name 03:25 through this wonderful family worship. 03:28 It's a privilege and honor to represent You here on earth. 03:32 And we ask for Your presence to be here 03:34 through your Holy spirit, to lead and guide us 03:36 as we study this vital topic, 03:39 as we are truly in the last days. 03:43 We thank You. 03:44 We praise You, and we honor You always in Jesus' name. 03:48 Amen. Amen. 03:50 Thank you, honey. 03:52 I've heard that voice many nights praying for me 03:55 and many mornings praying for me, 03:56 and every Sabbath morning, my wife prays for me. 04:00 It's become not a tradition alone 04:02 but something that I look forward to. 04:03 So thank you, honey. Well, we pray for each other. 04:06 For being able to hear that voice. 04:08 And if you're a husband, you have a praying wife, 04:10 you're a blessed man. 04:11 Oh, yes. 04:12 And we praise the Lord for that. 04:14 And by the way, Donald is also part 04:15 of our prayer ministries. 04:17 You're part of the prayer ministries team 04:18 for our church. 04:19 Prayer makes a difference. 04:21 Once again, revisiting this topic, 04:23 we're talking about how to build up your defenses. 04:28 I kind of... 04:29 I don't even plan on using that as an analogy, 04:31 but we could all contribute to that. 04:33 I've heard before that, 04:35 and this is something that may be sensitive 04:37 to some people, 04:38 if you're in this category right now, 04:40 this is not intended to make you feel uncomfortable, 04:42 but I've heard that sometimes when people take chemotherapy, 04:46 it wipes away all their defense mechanisms 04:50 that the body has built up through the years, 04:52 like whatever the cold may have been 04:54 or the virus may have been, 04:56 the body builds up this map of immunities 04:59 throughout the years 05:01 so that if that cold virus comes again, 05:04 "Oh, I had that 15 years ago. 05:05 It doesn't bother me anymore." 05:07 And so I'm looking at that and thinking, 05:10 that's what happens in the Christian life. 05:13 Building up our defenses doesn't happen overnight. 05:15 Right. 05:16 It happens through years of preparation, 05:19 being exposed to things that are not good for us, 05:21 being exposed to things that could tell us... 05:24 Well, remember that don't do that the same time, 05:27 the same way again. 05:30 Curtis Akins and Paula Akins, 05:33 I just interviewed them on radio. 05:35 And he said something about building up your immunity, 05:38 your immune system. 05:39 It's like putting a key with gum at the end of the key. 05:44 And that protects you. 05:46 In other words, that gum, it protects your immune system 05:50 and that's sort of a line of defense 05:53 in your immune system. 05:54 I thought that was an interesting way 05:55 of looking at it. 05:57 And my wife has also been saying to me, 05:58 if you get more rest, you have better immunity. 06:02 Oh, yeah. 06:03 Always telling you how important rest is 06:06 'cause you need at least seven hours of sleep 06:08 at night. 06:10 Yes. Thank you. Yeah. 06:11 Thank you. 06:14 Easier said than done. 06:15 Let you wife now to go to sleep. 06:18 And let your mind rest. 06:19 Don't let your mind go over and over and over. 06:22 Turn off the phone. Turn it off. Yes. 06:24 An hour before bed. Yes, turn off your... 06:26 Device. Devices, and all that. 06:28 It's a good advice, but sometimes 06:29 how do you take your own advice. 06:31 And, Jason, you're the single guy 06:32 amongst us. 06:34 Who's given you advice? God. 06:37 Good answer. God's given me advice. 06:40 The Word of God, you know, the interesting thing about, 06:43 you know, the immune system and building up your immunity 06:46 is you can also weaken your immune system too 06:49 by what you're putting into your body. 06:50 So you're eating a lot of sugar, 06:52 if you're eating a lot of junk, 06:53 if you're taking things in 06:55 that aren't going to strengthen that immune system, 06:57 it's naturally, it's gonna weaken 06:59 that immune system. 07:00 And the same is true with our spiritual lives. 07:02 If we're taking in, 07:04 you know, a bunch of movies and television shows 07:07 that we're not supposed to be watching 07:08 and things of that nature 07:10 and listening to the wrong types of music 07:11 and all of that, 07:13 we're weakening our spiritual immunity, 07:15 whereas if we focus on the Word of God 07:18 and we take in and apply those principles to our lives, 07:21 then our immune systems, 07:23 our spiritual immune systems 07:24 will be strengthened beyond belief. 07:26 Wow, well said. 07:27 Something that you touched on made me think 07:29 about another part of we can lose 07:31 our immunity is fear. 07:33 Fear, really, especially in the world 07:34 we're in right now, fear... 07:36 I just had a conversation with a lady earlier 07:39 and I'm on the phone with her, 07:40 and she was telling me that she's been in fear 07:43 because she doesn't know how to pray. 07:44 She didn't have time to pray. 07:45 Her family is just so busy and she said, 07:47 "I just, I feel like I'm getting away from the Lord. 07:49 I want a prayer of rededication." 07:50 So she really wanted to rededicate her life 07:52 and spending that quality time, had to assure, 07:54 find those promises that God has for you, 07:57 as you can use as a weapon against the enemy 07:59 when he comes in like a flood against you. 08:01 So immunity is God's Word is immunity for us. 08:02 The Word of God. 08:04 I was gonna mention too to what Jason said 08:06 that when I've noticed that when I get too much fluff, 08:12 as far as like the videos that are really no substance, 08:16 you know, and just, you know, 08:18 like maybe Home Improvement shows, 08:19 it's not that it's like bad, bad, but stuff 08:21 that it's not enhancing my walk with the Lord. 08:26 I just, I feel kind of just like, blah, 08:28 just like you're talking about with food, 08:30 just like my brain is just like, it's just... 08:33 Jelly. It's not enhanced. 08:34 Yeah. 08:36 So, you know, that also happens, 08:38 you know, in the brain 08:40 when you don't take in enough spiritual meat 08:42 and your brain just kind of, it's just there, 08:45 there's no growth. 08:47 You need spiritual vitamin. 08:48 I just wanna say for a moment, 08:49 you've been preaching up a stone. 08:52 Your sermons have really been... 08:54 They're very timely. 08:56 Very timely. That is so true, Jason. 08:58 Because I wanna be to some degree, 09:00 as we look at the story 09:02 that we're gonna begin with today, 09:03 we are in a time of in a law. 09:05 Although there've been a lot of conflicts in America, 09:07 a lot of conflicts around the world, 09:09 for whatever reason, the reasons vary. 09:12 But for the people of God, 09:15 those things to me are distractions 09:17 from really what's coming. 09:19 Just kind of like having a backyard brawl 09:23 or beach fight when there's a tsunami coming. 09:26 Stop fighting, there's a tsunami coming. 09:28 And the devil has been so artful 09:30 and distracting the people of God 09:32 and I've been really concerned 09:34 about what I've been seeing in Christianity. 09:35 Primarily this is what motivated 09:37 this family worship. 09:38 Christianity has been presented to the world 09:41 an awful picture of Jesus, 09:42 an awful picture of what it means 09:44 to be a Christian. 09:45 You know, the anger, the hostility, the profanity, 09:47 that's just been rolling out of the mouths of people, 09:49 it's been happening here in America. 09:51 I'm not so much mindful of what's happening 09:54 all over the world, 09:55 but we've been a melting pot 09:58 of just so many different kinds of emotions here in America. 10:00 And because a lot of the church of what happens in America 10:03 influences the church around the world 10:05 and people around the world, we sneeze, they catch a cold. 10:08 It's important for us now to say, 10:10 what kind of Christian do I wanna be? 10:12 How do I wanna to build up my defenses 10:16 so that when the real test comes, 10:18 we could be ready for it. Amen. 10:19 So let's dive into, if you have your Bibles, 10:21 go to 2 Chronicles Chapter 14, 10:24 we're gonna take not that the entire life, 10:26 but we're gonna walk 10:28 through some questions and answers. 10:30 We're gonna consider this young man 10:31 by the name of Asa. 10:33 And I like to, years ago 10:36 in the book Evangelism Ellen White talks about 10:38 learning the method of teaching questions 10:40 and Jesus always asked questions. 10:42 So if you ask a question, 10:44 it kind of opens the door for the answer that is to come. 10:47 So let's kind of in a methodical way 10:50 and we're gonna interweave a lot of our own experiences 10:52 in this program. 10:53 Well, let's start with 2 Chronicles Chapter 14. 10:57 And, honey, would you begin with verse 1? 10:58 And then we're gonna... 11:00 I'll lead the question to you. 11:01 What experience 11:03 does God allow his children to enjoy? 11:05 And then go ahead. 11:07 "So Abijah rested with his fathers 11:09 and they buried him in the City of David. 11:11 Then Asa his son reigned in his place. 11:15 In his days, the land was quiet for 10 years." 11:20 What would you answer to that? 11:21 What does God allow his children to enjoy? 11:23 Peace. Rest. 11:26 Peace and rest. 11:27 That's a long time, 10 years of peace. 11:30 Yes. 11:31 And when you think about that, 11:32 I mean, he didn't get a text saying, 11:34 "It's gonna be peaceful for 10 years." 11:36 So what do you learn out of that? 11:38 Wow. 11:39 You know, what I was thinking about was really interesting. 11:41 Well, we're going to get into a little bit later, 11:42 but this idea of, you know, we come to a moment of peace. 11:45 What do we usually do? 11:47 We become complacent. 11:48 Relax, let our guards down. 11:49 Let her guard down, become complacent. 11:51 But as we see the story unfold, 11:53 we're going to see something a little different. 11:54 But yeah, that idea, those years of peace, 11:56 as you're saying, 11:58 we should be fortifying ourselves 11:59 and getting ourselves ready 12:00 because something's on the horizon. 12:02 Well, I think too Asa, 12:04 he didn't know how long that piece would last. 12:07 So he needed to have trust in God 12:10 because no matter what, 12:11 that's gonna get you through, whether it's peaceful or not, 12:14 but he didn't know how long it would last, so... 12:17 That's true. 12:18 Even though it was a good 10 years, 12:19 that's a good... 12:21 It's a long time. 12:22 Imagine peace in America or in this world for 10 years. 12:25 It's like, what we call, the blank before the... 12:27 Storm. Calm before the storm. 12:31 J, go to the second one and kind of lead into that 12:33 with the question 12:34 'cause I want to kind of set the foundation with that. 12:36 Well, I have a couple of points. 12:37 I'd like to comment on the first one if it's okay. 12:39 Okay. Great. 12:40 So when I think about what experience 12:42 does God allow his children to enjoy, 12:44 I think of Philippians 4:7, 12:46 "And the peace of God, 12:48 which surpasses all understanding 12:50 will guard your hearts and minds 12:51 through Christ Jesus." 12:52 In John chapter 10:10, 12:54 "The thief does not come except to steal 12:57 and to kill and to destroy. 12:59 I have come that they may have life 13:01 and that they may have it more abundantly." 13:03 And Psalm Chapter 16:11, 13:05 "You will show me the path of life, 13:07 in Your presence is fullness of joy, 13:10 at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." 13:12 So it really just kind of shows the contrast. 13:16 You know, when you accept Christ, 13:18 you know these things, you have peace, 13:20 you have joy, you have the fullness of joy, 13:23 and at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 13:27 So like that's what comes from God, 13:30 which is incredible. 13:31 I'm glad you brought that up because a lot of times we say 13:35 Christians go through a lot of persecution, 13:37 but the Bible does say the way of the transgressor is hard. 13:41 You wanna have peace. 13:43 That's relevant to your experience, 13:45 give your life to Christ. 13:46 And you could have peace in turmoil too in this world 13:49 where so much stress 13:50 and all this heartache is going on. 13:53 You still could have peace. 13:54 That passes all understanding, like you just said. 13:55 Yes. Yes. 13:57 And that's true peace 13:58 'cause the world offers 14:00 that fleeting feeling, you know? 14:02 Manufactured peace. 14:03 Manufactured peace. Propped up. 14:05 Yeah. 14:06 When you have to aim your guns at me 14:07 and I aim my guns at you to have peace, 14:09 that's not real peace. 14:11 That's a fierce thing, right? That's not peace. 14:15 Like there, Dora Magrath. 14:17 That's right. So number two. 14:19 All right. 14:20 In Asa's time of peace, 14:21 what did he do to prepare for future defenses? 14:24 We're gonna look at 2 Chronicles Chapter 14:2, 3. 14:29 "Asa did what was good and right 14:32 in the eyes of the Lord his God. 14:34 For he removed the altars of the foreign gods 14:37 in the high places 14:38 and broke down the sacred pillars 14:41 and cut down the wooden images." 14:43 So what would you say he did? 14:44 Actually, I had a question to that 14:46 and I asked Janelle this morning. 14:47 Actually last night, we're studying this. 14:49 So as Asa did that, which was good and right, 14:51 so how did Asa know what was good and right? 14:54 That's a question. 14:55 How did he know? 14:57 Asa, if you follow his life, 14:59 you go through a chronicle literally of kings. 15:04 And Asa having... 15:05 His dad was Abijah, 15:06 Abijah didn't do what was all right. 15:10 But so he saw his father's errors, I believe, 15:15 he saw the things that his father did. 15:17 That was right, 15:18 because there was some victories 15:20 in the days of Abijah, but it didn't go all the way. 15:23 And Asa probably said, 15:27 "I'm not gonna do like my dad did." 15:29 How many of you ever saw something and said, 15:31 "I'm not gonna follow his example"? 15:32 Yeah. 15:34 You used to say I learn from other people's mistake. 15:36 And sometimes from my own, sadly enough. 15:38 Yeah. 15:39 But I think Asa looked at his father 15:42 because his father had some victories, 15:44 but then he had some vices in his own life. 15:48 And Asa said, 15:49 "Whoa, I know what the people think 15:50 of my dad, 15:52 but they don't know this part of my dad. 15:53 I better do." 15:55 And this is the point 15:56 when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord, 15:58 that's most important because not everybody sees you, 16:01 but he did what was right in God's sight. 16:03 That means for his private life was also... 16:05 And he was paying attention to his dad's character. 16:08 Right. 16:09 And I think that's a good trait too 16:11 to pay attention to those things 16:14 that you don't want to have in your own life. 16:18 I think of sports, 16:20 you know, like, you know, basketball. 16:22 So after a game, 16:24 you know, where you have that, 16:26 you know, you're in between games. 16:28 There's no... You don't get complacent. 16:30 Now it's training time. 16:31 You're watching game tapes. 16:33 You're studying your adversaries' weaknesses. 16:36 You're talking and strategizing and all of that stuff. 16:39 And you're practicing harder 16:42 than the game might actually be. 16:44 But you're taking everything in 16:45 and you're trying to build those tools during that time. 16:49 So I think about sports, you know, you just can't relax. 16:53 You're right. 16:55 You got to keep fortifying the mind. 16:57 I have to piggyback off what you just said. 16:59 I've been doing some different workouts. 17:01 And one of these series of workouts I was watching, 17:04 they talk about time under tension 17:06 and how there's certain exercises 17:08 you can do, you don't let your muscle completely relax. 17:12 You just, you keep it engaged, 17:13 but not totally relaxed but still engaged. 17:16 And they call it time under tension. 17:18 And it kind of goes along with what you're saying. 17:19 It's engaging that muscle so that it's, 17:22 you know, ready for the next move. 17:25 I think something I see here too 17:26 that we're talking about how Asa knew 17:28 not to do what his dad did, but how did he know? 17:31 And I can always think that it had to come 17:32 from the Holy Spirit. 17:34 I mean the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. 17:36 So it had to been the Holy Spirit to say, 17:37 "Hey, Asa, this is not the way you want to be walking. 17:39 You need to walk contrary 17:41 to what your dad is doing," so... 17:42 Amen. That's right. 17:43 Don't redundantly make the same mistake. 17:46 But if you look at that verse, kind of get some feedback. 17:48 What he doing in these verses when you look at that, honey, 17:51 what was he doing? 17:52 Well, he tore down the altars, the foreign... 17:55 These altars of high worship broke down these images. 17:59 He was getting rid of these. 18:00 So if you put that in your life today, 18:02 what's he doing? 18:04 Clearing out the junk. Kick out the junk in my life. 18:08 Clean it, Lord. Amen. 18:10 He said, "Okay, that's gotta go." 18:12 That's gotta go. That's gotta go. 18:13 That's gotta go. 18:15 That, I'm not watching that anymore. 18:16 He starts reforming his own life. 18:18 We've done that too. We've done that. 18:20 We've done the cleansing, haven't we? 18:22 And I think that's why you preach in the way 18:24 you have been. 18:26 We've had a cleaning in our personal life. 18:29 We've been looking at things in our life 18:31 that should not be there. 18:32 We're not looking at this when that works, 18:34 we're not reading. 18:36 Nope. We're done with that. 18:37 Even the commercials on TV, it's kind of scares me. 18:40 It's like, Nope, nope, nope. 18:42 Turn the channel. Right. 18:43 Because we'd been doing an internal cleansing too. 18:46 And it gives you the gumption to be more intentional 18:49 in saying, "This is what God wants us to do." 18:51 Yes. And I think the... 18:53 Sorry. Okay. 18:54 I think that in the Bible, at least in my mind, 18:57 when I see the word idol, 18:58 I always replace it with the word 19:00 that I'm familiar with addiction. 19:02 And I think that they're interchangeable 19:04 because, you know, idols, sometimes it's in the Bible, 19:08 we see where it talks about physical idols, 19:11 but it might not be just a physical idol, 19:13 like a figure of, 19:15 you know, things that you might first think of. 19:18 But more, it's so much more broader 19:21 than just praying to a statue or what's in front of you. 19:26 It's so much more broader than that, 19:28 but you know what you're saying? 19:29 It makes me think of addictions and strongholds. 19:32 That's right. 19:33 The thing that gets all your attention, 19:35 that so easily besets you. 19:37 Yeah. 19:38 I was thinking something interesting too. 19:39 I find in here, and this is what 19:41 I was challenging all yesterday night. 19:42 It's like essentially, 19:44 when Solomon rose to power as a king, 19:45 his first thing was pray for wisdom 19:47 because he didn't know how to lead the people. 19:48 But you see where he went, totally down the wrong path. 19:51 And you see this gentleman Asa, 19:53 you don't see him actually pray for wisdom. 19:55 But he got wisdom 19:57 and obviously the Holy Spirit's working on him 19:58 and you see what he did, 20:00 obviously his decisions protected the nation. 20:03 Whereas Solomon started destroying a nation, 20:06 started tearing the nation down. 20:09 And we're gonna go to the next one now, 20:10 which I like Donald to go to 20:11 because not only did he do this in his own life 20:15 but look at the reach... 20:17 Right, right. 20:18 Of what he did with his own life. 20:20 And this is why, Jason, I've been just kind of saying, 20:22 Lord, lead me to lead my people. 20:24 Yes. 20:25 And I've been influenced by what I've been reading 20:26 in the Bible. 20:28 Look at the third one 20:29 and lead into it with the question 20:30 just so we can impact that. 20:32 What did Asa lead his people 20:33 to do while they experienced peace? 20:35 And 2 Chronicles, 14:4-5, tells us, 20:39 "He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God 20:41 of their fathers 20:42 and to observe the law and the commandment. 20:45 He also removed the high places 20:46 that incense altars from all the cities of Judah 20:49 and the kingdom was quiet under him." 20:51 Wow, notice once again, peace, 10 years. 20:54 And then when they started doing it, 20:57 it was not only personal peace but what else was it? 21:00 It was like national... It was national peace. 21:03 It's interesting because it's like, 21:04 you start a title life. 21:05 Right. 21:07 It's a chain reaction starts a spark. 21:08 Once you start making change your life, 21:10 like you're saying, Jason, you've been... 21:11 Pastor's been on fire, but now it's infecting you. 21:14 It's affecting your viewers. It's infectious. 21:20 So he caught on to the rest of the nation. 21:23 One of my favorite preachers Pastor Henry Wright years ago, 21:26 he says, you can't get anybody ready for the fire 21:29 that's coming 21:31 unless there's fire down in your soul. 21:32 Right. 21:33 You know, it's like trying to start a fire 21:35 in the fireplace with a wet match. 21:38 Not gonna work. Not gonna work. 21:39 Not gonna work. 21:41 So if you were to summarize this, 21:43 what else did you see Asa doing? 21:44 In the verse 4 and 5. 21:47 "I was seeking the Lord." Yes. 21:49 And, and you know, that's like Matthew 6:33, 21:53 "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness 21:56 and all these things shall be added unto you." 21:58 And who is he telling to do that? 22:00 His people. Yeah. 22:01 Everybody. 22:03 Guys, the Lord has changed my life. 22:05 He wants to change yours too, 22:07 but here's what you have to do. 22:08 I have one to add to that too. 22:10 A scripture that came to my mind 22:11 was Isaiah 55:6, 22:14 "Seek the Lord while He may be found, 22:16 call upon Him while He is near." 22:18 Yes, Amen. 22:20 "And let the wicked man forsake his ways, 22:23 and the unrighteous man his thoughts." 22:26 So the next verse after that, so you gotta get something out. 22:30 And so we're looking at this in America now. 22:33 And let's not even just keep referring to America, 22:35 in your own home and your own family. 22:36 Right. Right. 22:37 Because the whole world could fall apart around you. 22:40 There's a big word in there. 22:41 I just saw the word observe. 22:43 It was sticking out to my mind to observe, 22:45 you know, 22:47 how are we gonna observe something 22:48 if it's not being shown us an example? 22:50 You can't observe something that's not been shown to you. 22:52 So observe the law and the command. 22:54 I think that's really powerful. 22:55 Kind of where we see this world heading right now, 22:57 what are they really observing? 22:58 I mean, like you were talking about the movies, the music, 23:01 you're watching all these things 23:02 and what you put in is what you're gonna get out. 23:04 So if you observe something that's godly, 23:06 then like you were saying, you cut all that stuff out. 23:09 Like you guys are cutting all that stuff out. 23:10 Then all of a sudden, 23:11 you have a love for as long as commandment, 23:13 you're gonna do that and people are going to fall 23:15 who are listening to Jesus. 23:17 GIGO. 23:18 That's it, what does that mean? 23:20 GIGIO. 23:21 Garbage in, garbage out, right? 23:22 That's right. 23:24 And one of the things that came to my mind 23:25 when Janelle talked about idols, 23:26 sometimes we don't always idolize things. 23:29 Sometimes we could idolize people. 23:31 Oh, yeah. 23:32 When a person, 23:33 when anything becomes your idol, 23:35 God ceases to be your God. 23:37 That's very important. 23:38 Don't idolize anybody, 23:41 no matter how influential they may be, 23:44 only focus on the Lord. 23:45 "Look to Me and be saved." 23:46 Isaiah 45:22. 23:48 Let's go to the next one. Now, Janelle, number four. 23:52 When Asa was affecting change among his people, 23:55 what did they enjoy? 23:57 And that answer comes from 2 Chronicles, 14:6 24:02 "And he fortified cities in Judah, 24:04 for the land had rest. 24:06 He had no war in those years 24:08 because the Lord had given him rest." 24:11 That's right. He built those cities. 24:13 Notice what we've seen so far. 24:15 Quiet, quiet, rest. 24:17 Peace. Peace. 24:20 What do we need? 24:21 Peace and quiet. 24:23 But you notice you also see action, action, action. 24:28 He's always doing something, 24:30 working towards the cause of Christ. 24:32 I like that word fortified, that word fortified, 24:35 you think about this, it's a hedge, it's protection. 24:39 And it made me think of Nehemiah 1:3, 24:41 you know, Nehemiah is a cup bearer 24:43 and he's crying and he's just trying to figure 24:44 what's going on. 24:46 And this servant came in. I think it was a Nehemiah 1:3. 24:49 I won't go into all of it. 24:50 The servant relays in the message 24:51 that the gates are burned down and the walls are torn down. 24:54 In disrepair. 24:55 In disrepair, so you know, 24:57 anybody, it was a free for all. 24:58 Anybody could come into Jerusalem 25:00 and into the city. 25:01 So we see this word fortify. 25:02 It's like, you're fencing in. 25:04 You're guarding yourself from something 25:05 that's trying to influence or come in 25:07 and try to take over. 25:09 So this word fortify really stuck out to me. 25:11 It's important that we fortify ourselves. 25:13 And the only way we do it through God's Word. 25:15 If you were building something and you said, 25:18 I just fortified my garage or just fortified my house... 25:22 Or your body with vitamins. 25:24 Yeah. That's true. 25:26 My wife's have been doing that. 25:28 She said, "Come on, take your vitamins." 25:29 Take your vitamins, take it. 25:30 Here's your vitamin D, here's your vitamin. 25:33 You're 50 plus. 25:35 Can you relate? 25:37 Okay. 25:38 And it works. 25:40 It does really make a difference. 25:41 Fortify that body. Fortify. 25:43 And what are you building up? 25:44 My defenses. 25:49 Because we're living in a society nowadays 25:51 where if somebody around you sneezes, 25:53 what do you think? 25:56 Right away, we think like, "Are you okay?" 25:58 Yeah. Stay away from me. 26:01 Okay. Let's see what else. Honey, you're next. 26:02 Number five, let's see what happens. 26:04 As Asa and Judah did what God commanded, 26:08 what was on the horizon? 26:09 2 Chronicles 14:9 says, 26:12 "Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them 26:16 with an army of a million men 26:21 and 300 chariots. 26:24 And he came to Mareshah." 26:27 Yeah, Mareshah. 26:29 That's a lot of people. 26:31 So watch this. A million. 26:32 A million. 26:34 I'm enjoying peace, I'm enjoying rest. 26:36 And on the horizon, a million. 26:40 Help me, Lord. 26:41 All the forces of darkness are saying, 26:44 "Hmm, I'm gonna upset that applecart. 26:47 You think that family is gonna be a good family. 26:50 I'm gonna find a way to break their peace 26:52 and tear down their marriage, to tear down their children, 26:55 to tear down their relationship, 26:56 and the Lord... 26:58 and the devil doesn't send three. 27:01 What does he send? A million. 27:04 That's a lot. 27:06 That's some serious... 27:08 And not only 300 chariots. 27:11 Interesting. 27:12 We're talking about this idea of fortified. 27:13 So now they're fortified and how the test 27:15 has to come how fortified are they? 27:18 Are they ready for the test? 27:20 We'll see. 27:22 We'll see. Interesting. 27:23 What kind of doing Round Robin here? 27:25 So we'll go back to J. Okay. 27:27 Let's find out what happened. 27:30 Number six, what did Asa do 27:32 when Judah was confronted by their enemies? 27:36 2 Chronicles Chapter 14:11. 27:39 "And Asa cried out to the Lord his God 27:42 and said, 'Lord, it is nothing for You to help 27:45 whether with many 27:47 or with those who have no power. 27:50 Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You. 27:54 And in Your name, we go against this multitude. 27:57 O Lord, You are our God. 27:59 Do not let man prevail against You." 28:03 That was... 28:05 At the end, don't let them prevail against You. 28:08 Like Your name's on the line, so yeah. 28:11 Don't you like that? I love that. 28:12 I love that. 28:14 Because what do you see Asa not doing? 28:17 He's not backing down either. 28:19 He's not backing down. Okay. 28:20 What else is he not doing? He's not having a pity party. 28:23 Not having a pity party. 28:24 No fear. No fear. 28:26 What else? His trust in God. 28:28 Yeah. And he's calling on God. 28:30 Yeah. So is it about him? 28:32 No. No. 28:33 He's saying, "Lord, we can't deal with this. 28:36 This is Your deal." 28:38 I have a couple of scriptures. Okay, observations. 28:40 I had to add to this one. It's just so good. 28:42 Deuteronomy 20:1. Okay. 28:45 And then 1 Samuel, 17:47. 28:48 Deuteronomy 20:1, and let's see. 28:53 This is from New King James. I got it. 28:54 "When you go out to battle against your enemies 28:57 and see horses and chariots 28:58 and people more numerous than you, 29:00 do not be afraid of them, 29:02 for the Lord your God is with you, 29:04 who brought you up from the land of Egypt." 29:07 Excellent. Excellent. 29:08 I'm putting that right now. 29:10 I'm adding that scripture. 29:12 I'm gonna work on this sermon next. 29:14 In 1 Samuel 17: 47. 29:18 What was that? 29:19 1 Samuel 17:47. 1 Samuel 17. 29:24 47. Yes. 29:26 "Then all this assembly shall know 29:28 that the Lord does not say with sword and spear 29:31 for the battle is the Lord's 29:32 and he will give you into our hands." 29:35 I believe that was David talking there. 29:36 Yes. 29:38 And the confidence that God gave him 29:40 that he just like 29:41 what we were just talking about, 29:43 he was confident in the Lord and he had no fear. 29:46 I mean, think about little David, 29:50 I think he was like big giant. 29:52 Yeah. 29:53 Going up against Goliath, that's huge. 29:56 What's even more bigger to me 29:58 is that Goliath was wearing armor. 29:59 Yeah. That's a 9 foot giant. 30:01 I mean, does he really need armor? 30:04 Yeah. 30:05 I think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 30:08 When they had to answer to King Nebuchadnezzar, 30:10 they were faced with the fiery furnace there. 30:13 And they were basically saying, 30:15 you know, whether or not our God delivers us, 30:18 we're not gonna bow down to you. 30:19 We serve the one true God. 30:21 So I see that here it's like no matter what's going on, 30:26 Asa is following the Lord, 30:28 you know, against 1 million people or not. 30:33 He's following God. Yeah. 30:35 This is in my little blue box at the very end. 30:38 It says the prayer of Asa 30:40 is one that every Christian believer 30:43 may fittingly offer 30:45 'cause we fight in a warfare. 30:46 It's not against flesh and blood, right? 30:48 Politics, powers. 30:50 And it says, "In this life's conflict, 30:51 we must meet evil agencies 30:54 that have a raid themselves against the right. 30:57 Our hope is not man but in the living God. 31:01 With full assurance of faith, we may expect that He, Jesus, 31:05 will unite his omnipotent 31:08 with the efforts of human instrumentalities 31:11 for the glory of His name 31:13 clad with the armor of His righteousness, 31:16 we may gain the victory over every foul." 31:18 Amen. 31:19 That speaks to me 31:20 because I was talking to this lady on the phone. 31:22 She was just really struggling 31:24 and God puts like scriptures in your mind. 31:26 You'll remember things. 31:27 And so I gave her Psalm 34:6-10. 31:30 Okay. 31:32 It says, yeah, it says in verse 6, 31:33 "This poor man cries." 31:35 So obviously he's in prayer and the Lord heard him 31:36 and saved him out of all his troubles. 31:39 And verse 7 says, "The angel of the Lord 31:41 encampeth around about them 31:42 that fear him and delivered them." 31:44 And verse 8 tells us, 31:45 "Oh, taste and see the Lord is good, 31:47 blessed is a man that trust in Him." 31:49 And verse 9 says, "Oh, fear the Lord, 31:50 ye His saints, for there is no want to them 31:52 that fear Him." 31:54 You know, that's just really powerful 31:55 that God would send angels to encamp around us. 31:58 And I kind of think of Elisha with a servant 32:01 and there's thousands of this big army 32:03 and like, "Oh my, how are we gonna tackle? 32:05 We're just two people." 32:07 And then it just says, 32:08 You know, open the eyes of my servant 32:09 that he may see chariots of fire." 32:12 Like, okay, we're good. 32:17 Psalm 34 because you just... 32:19 That's beautiful the way he said, 32:21 because Elijah said, "Lord, open his eyes." 32:23 Say that again. Okay, we're good. 32:26 I love that. No worries. We're good. 32:28 In my scientific mind, 32:30 I'm just kind of sometimes animated. 32:31 I'm thinking he saw chariots of fire 32:33 and I'm thinking 32:35 these are God's angels just to hear... 32:38 The fire just crackling around these guys. 32:41 And then he looks down to these humans 32:43 that could just be, what do you call, the kindling. 32:48 We got this, we got this. 32:50 They surrounded them chariots of fire. 32:53 And he probably went... 32:54 Once again. 32:56 Oh, no problem. 32:57 We got his. 32:59 What a boost of encouragement. What a boost of encouragement. 33:02 So what are we saying then? 33:03 Sometimes the unseen forces of God 33:07 in battle array on behalf of the Lord's people. 33:12 Psalm 34:19, look at that one. 33:15 Donald, you went to Psalm 34 and that, okay. 33:17 He's going to 19. 33:19 Look at verse 17 to 18, sorry. 33:21 Psalm 34:17-18 33:23 because Asa cried out to the Lord. 33:24 Right. 33:26 Psalm 34: 17-18. 33:27 "The righteous cry and the Lord heareth 33:29 and deliver them out of all their troubles." 33:31 Just like we saw in verse 6, same thing. 33:33 Verse 18. 33:34 "The Lord is nigh unto them that are a broken heart 33:36 and save us such as be of a contrite spirit." 33:39 And there's a little blue box here. 33:40 I guess you might want me to read that. 33:42 Okay, go for it. 33:43 "Real sorrow for sin is the result 33:45 of the working of the Holy Spirit. 33:46 The spirit reveals the ingratitude of the heart 33:49 that has slighted and grieved the savior. 33:52 And it brings us in contrition to the foot of the cross, 33:55 by every sin, Jesus is wounded afresh 33:57 and as we look upon him whom we have purist, 33:59 we mourn for the sins 34:01 that have brought anguish upon Him, 34:03 such morning will lead to the renunciation of sin." 34:06 This out a Desire of Ages, Page 300. 34:09 So when we see, Asa cried out 34:11 and when the righteous cry out, 34:12 the Lord hears and delivers them out. 34:15 And how much of their troubles? 34:16 All. Praise the Lord. 34:18 All of their troubles. 34:19 So let's see how this story wound up. 34:21 Whose number seven now? 34:23 J just read? 34:24 I did. Okay. 34:25 Donald, go to number seven. 34:27 Okay. 34:28 Number seven says here, 34:30 how did God respond 34:31 in behalf of Judah and Asa? 34:33 We find in 2 Chronicles 14:12. 34:35 "So the Lord..." 34:37 He just kind of meandered, 34:38 held his breath and do anything. 34:39 It says, "The Lord struck the Ethiopians 34:41 before Asa and Judah and the Ethiopians fled." 34:46 Wow, the Ethiopians, what? 34:48 They're gone. How many of them were there? 34:50 One million. One million. 34:53 It's amazing when you look at that. 34:55 So what are we saying here? 34:56 What are we telling those who are listening 34:57 and watching this program? 34:59 Who does the battle belong to? 35:00 The Lord. God's got it. 35:04 Kind of retract on a story about Elisha and his servant. 35:06 It's interesting 35:07 because Elisha's servant was blind 35:11 and couldn't see, but he opened his eyes to see. 35:12 But then what happened with the army? 35:14 He blinded the army and he led the army 35:17 into their enemy camp. 35:18 That's why he showed this. 35:20 And, you know, the thing that I liked about that, 35:23 instead of just punishing them at that point... 35:25 Bread and water. You bring about that, Good. 35:28 Continue in that application. 35:29 What else did he do for the Syrian army? 35:31 So yeah, he said, I guess, was the king then said, 35:33 "Give them their nourishment, 35:35 give them food and bread and water 35:36 and send them on their way." 35:37 So he fed them. 35:39 He took care of him, just let them go. 35:40 And that shows the mercy of God. 35:41 I mean, it's just amazing to me. 35:43 Yeah. 35:44 This also makes me think of stories 35:46 about the Waldensians that we read about 35:47 how God would use the elements 35:51 for the Waldensians 35:52 because they were defenseless people 35:55 as far as physical weapons 35:57 and, you know, one of the stories we read, 36:00 there's actually a fog that came over the army 36:03 that was coming after them. 36:04 And a lot of the soldiers fell off the cliffs. 36:07 And so, you know, just some of those, 36:09 but how God can use the elements 36:13 to defend his people. 36:14 Nature. 36:16 So if somebody is going through difficulty 36:18 in their lives and they don't know what to do, 36:20 what do we tell? 36:21 What are we saying to them? 36:23 Go to the Lord, 36:24 trust in the Lord with all your heart. 36:26 Lean not on your own understanding. 36:28 Okay. 36:29 But what else are we saying to them? 36:31 Because we laid some groundwork, 36:33 what else are we saying? 36:34 If we looked at these questions we covered. 36:36 We're saying to them, 36:38 is there anything in your life that needs to be cleared out? 36:45 Is there some changes that you have to make 36:47 in your family 36:49 to be able to know that God can send you peace? 36:51 Because the peace that... 36:52 The Lord gave them rest. 36:55 The kingdom was quiet under them. 36:57 The Lord had given them rest, notice where it's coming from. 37:00 And what's that passage when a man's ways... 37:03 Pleases the Lord, 37:04 even your enemies will be at peace with you. 37:07 That's right and that's a promise. 37:08 Wiseman Solomon said, 37:10 "When a man's ways pleases the Lord, 37:12 He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." 37:16 His enemies ran, didn't they? 37:18 Yeah. They took off. 37:21 We're not waiting around. 37:22 They already know there's some trouble coming. 37:24 It's interesting. 37:26 I talked to a young lady a few days ago on prayer line, 37:29 she was telling me how she was kind of dabbled 37:31 with Christianity, 37:32 she doesn't really know it very well. 37:33 But anyway, she got involved in the occult 37:36 and she didn't realize that what she was doing. 37:37 She was getting involved. She was Christian. 37:38 She was always Christian. 37:40 She thought, you know, the burn sage, it's Christian. 37:42 And then something 37:43 she got into the spiritual realm 37:44 and she saw demons and demonic stuff. 37:46 And so she wasn't sure 37:47 whether she was free from that or not. 37:50 But it was just the fact that she didn't realize, 37:52 like, I know God winks at our ignorance. 37:54 He knows, you know, that, you know, we don't, 37:56 maybe we fall into something we don't totally understand. 37:58 And so God pulls us out. 37:59 Like we see, you know, the time and time again, 38:01 these armies and things that come against God's people, 38:04 but God delivers them. 38:05 So this young lady was getting into stuff 38:06 that she had no clue, 38:08 but God took his arm and pulled her out. 38:10 And realizing that she had stuff in her life, 38:12 she had to declutter in a sense to get rid of. 38:14 And she was asking a question, 38:16 "Is God going to save me and my children? 38:17 Can He really protect us? 38:19 I mean, I feel like I made a covenant 38:21 with these demons 38:22 and I need to know that God, 38:25 I can have a covenant with Him." 38:26 Yeah. 38:27 You could relinquish those things, 38:29 ask for the Lord to come into your life 38:31 because two spirits can occupy the same body. 38:34 That's right. 38:36 One would leave and the other one would stay. 38:38 But we look at these situations that they were in. 38:40 And let's go, I think Janelle maybe is the next one. 38:43 Number eight. Yeah. 38:44 With trials and difficulties around us, 38:47 what comfort do we have? 38:50 And for that one, we have Psalm 34:19, 38:55 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, 38:57 but the Lord delivers him out of them all." 39:02 Wow. Wow. 39:04 How many does he deliver? All. 39:07 But notice it also says 39:08 many are the afflictions of the righteous. 39:09 So that doesn't mean 39:11 that just because you become a Christian 39:12 that you're not going to be faced with trials, 39:14 you're not gonna be... 39:16 You know, the enemy is gonna come against you, 39:17 just like he did with Jesus. 39:19 Like he tried to tempt Jesus, but what did Jesus say? 39:23 It is written. That's right. 39:24 Even beauty in that though is like 39:26 when you're a Christian 39:27 and you know about the battle that's going on 39:29 behind the scenes, 39:31 then you understand I think a little better 39:34 why those things are happening because like sometimes, 39:36 you know, if you're not walking with God 39:38 and you have trials, you're just, 39:39 "Oh, life is over. 39:41 And you know, like, why is this happening?" 39:43 But not that we might not still wonder that, 39:45 but at least we understand 39:46 that there's a battle for our soul. 39:48 That's right. 39:49 And, you know, when we understand 39:50 the great controversy between good and evil 39:52 and we know that the enemy is trying to take us down, 39:56 but God has given us promises that we can memorize 40:00 in those times of trial that will comfort us. 40:04 And He stands with us on the trial. 40:06 You look at that fiery furnace example. 40:09 They threw three in, there was four in there, 40:12 looking like the Son of Man. 40:14 That's awesome. 40:15 One of the things I know and have discovered is 40:18 people that are not informed about what God does, 40:21 don't know who to turn to, say look for this out. 40:25 And if you're not reading God's Word 40:27 and studying God's Word, 40:29 you're not familiar with these examples 40:31 of how God fights our battles for us. 40:33 He's our line of defense. Say it again. 40:35 He's our line of defense, isn't He? 40:37 That's right. 40:38 If you notice all this, the Lord struck the Egyptians, 40:41 the Judah didn't strike the Egyptians. 40:43 The Lord did it. 40:45 Asa said, "Lord, don't let them do this to You. 40:49 Your name is on the line." 40:50 As you pointed out, Jason. Oh, yeah. 40:52 And when we recognize when these difficulties 40:54 come your way, 40:55 put it in the Lord's hands. 40:56 Say, Lord, I'm your servant, but I can't fight this battle. 41:00 I can't go against what's taking place. 41:02 Say it again. It's bigger than me. 41:04 It's bigger than me. The battle is bigger than me. 41:06 You fight it, Lord. 41:08 You promised in Your Word, right? 41:09 That's right. 41:11 Even though, what do you say? 41:12 How tall was Goliath? 9 feet. 41:14 And he had on a helmet. 41:16 Really? I think... Yeah. 41:17 Why would you come out with a helmet? 41:20 Against little David. 41:21 You have a spear and the tip of the spear 41:23 is 20 pounds. 41:24 You're 9 feet. Do you need all that armor? 41:27 Yeah. 41:29 But what does that saying to us? 41:31 What does that saying to us? 41:33 When the devil comes at us, 41:34 he wants us to look all imposing. 41:35 Yeah. I'm gonna crush you. 41:38 Say it again, honey? 41:40 Lift up a standard against him, right? 41:42 That's right. 41:43 The Lord... Like a flood. 41:44 The Lord is bigger. Right. 41:46 Like we talked about the Syrian army, 41:48 they were imposing. 41:50 They came to arrest Elijah 41:52 and to take them out 41:53 because they were tired of him revealing all the secrets 41:56 of their military movements. 41:57 And Elijah said, 41:59 "I'm having breakfast, just open his eyes." 42:02 And he saw the chariots. 42:03 Lord parted the sea 42:04 for the children of Israel, didn't he? 42:06 Yeah, look at that. 42:07 Water against them, the people coming after them. 42:09 "Where are we gonna go? Look at the water. 42:11 What are we gonna do? 42:13 Oh, the Egyptians are coming after us." 42:16 Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. 42:19 That's right. 42:20 But how would we know these stories? 42:22 We got to read them. Yeah. 42:23 How would we know? You got to read it. 42:25 You gotta read it. 42:27 And I'm discovering that people 42:28 that are uninformed 42:30 are people that are fearful because if you're thinking, 42:33 "Oh, who's gonna do this for me?" 42:35 I'm so scared. 42:37 Somebody asked on September 11th, 42:39 "Where was God?" 42:41 I said it was the same place He was on September 10th. 42:44 But if you don't seek Him while He may be found, 42:47 seek Him in times of peace. 42:49 You don't know where He is in times of war. 42:50 Let's look at the next example. 42:52 Honey, number 10. Okay. 42:54 In tracing the victories of Israel and Judah, 42:56 what did they use in battle? 42:59 This is interesting. 43:00 Joshua 11:12. 43:02 "So all the cities of those kings 43:04 and all their kings, 43:06 Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. 43:10 He utterly destroyed them 43:12 as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded." 43:15 Okay. What did he use? 43:18 The Word of God. Sounded like sword. 43:21 What did he use? The Word of God. 43:24 Okay, everybody, what did he use? 43:28 The Word of God. 43:29 He used the Word of God. Amen. 43:33 So what challenge would you give 43:35 to those listening to this Family Worship? 43:38 What's the most important thing that we, 43:40 as Christians should be doing? 43:42 Study the Word of God. 43:43 You can't use it if you don't have it. 43:46 Right. Okay. 43:47 Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I'm God." 43:49 And we now spend intentional time, 43:51 like this lady is talking to, 43:53 "I didn't have time to pray. 43:54 I don't have time to pray." 43:56 She just feels so surrounded and overwhelmed. 43:57 I said, you're gonna have to find, 43:59 something like five minutes, ten minutes, whatever it takes. 44:02 You need to spend that quality time 44:03 with the Lord. 44:04 You need that." So important. 44:06 I often say to people, if you don't have time to pray, 44:09 you need to cut something out of your life. 44:11 If you don't have time to spend with the Lord, 44:13 find out where your time is going. 44:15 What I like about these new devices, 44:17 I think Apple has been one of the ones leading 44:19 in doing this, 44:20 that production gauge. 44:23 They could tell what you're spending time on. 44:24 Oh yeah. 44:25 I looked at that the other day and I was so excited to see 44:29 that my production, 44:31 my production graph was higher than anything else. 44:33 Wow! 44:34 It was saying, you spend a lot of time 44:36 using production tools, 44:38 like your Bible app and your word processor 44:41 and my concordance. 44:43 And otherwise I'm looking at that and say, 44:45 "Wow, he's using that way more 44:48 than anything else on his iPad." 44:50 That's good to know. 44:51 So if you spend a lot of time playing games, 44:54 it will show it, right? 44:55 Right. Accountability. 44:57 Now let's think about the sneaky part of that. 44:59 Yeah. 45:00 Lord is saying, "Okay, write that down." 45:03 True. 45:04 It's been 15 hours on Instagram. 45:07 The ultimate... Facebook. 45:09 Screen time. Yeah. 45:10 Say it again. 45:12 The ultimate screen time, 45:13 what you're talking about the book of... 45:14 In the recording. In the recording. 45:16 Everything we do. 45:17 And even thoughts, even beyond that. 45:21 So how long were you on Internet today, on Facebook? 45:24 Well, I know... 45:25 It should have been in the word of God. 45:27 And where, how far was your Bible? 45:29 It's like right by my bed. 45:31 And did you open it? 45:34 No. 45:35 That's why when the Lord came to the man 45:36 who was in there without a wedding garment? 45:39 How did you come in here without a wedding garment? 45:41 What did he say? Nothing. 45:44 The Bible says he answered him not a word 45:46 because the day is coming, friends, 45:47 and we will have no excuses. 45:50 So let's look at what we need to do 45:51 because they use the sword. 45:53 What did they use, honey? 45:54 The sword, the Word of God right here. 45:56 Now, you know, we've committed ourselves to do that, 45:57 but do we ever get distracted? 45:59 Absolutely. Yeah, we do get distracted. 46:01 Yeah, things distract us, but we get back. 46:03 We have to refocus when we're distracted. 46:06 At times when we're so busy, 46:08 we're so busy doing for others. 46:10 Sometimes we forget about ourselves 46:12 and either one of us will pull our coattails 46:15 and say, "Honey, 46:16 you know, we need to get back into the Word of God." 46:20 This has happened. 46:21 It does happen. Yes. 46:23 Be more intentional. 46:24 Well, the enemy knows our weaknesses too. 46:26 He'll find those little weaknesses, you know? 46:27 "Oh, that sounds good. 46:29 I'm helping people, 46:30 but I'm doing a good thing here. 46:31 I'm helping more people." 46:33 No, you need to spend intentional time with Lord. 46:36 You need intentional time. You need to. 46:38 I like that because my wife 46:39 had just whispered something years ago 46:41 at the general conference, they had me sing that song. 46:43 "I Miss My Time with You, Those Moments Together. 46:46 I Need to be with You Each Day." 46:47 And it hurts Me when you say you're too busy, 46:50 busy trying to serve me, 46:52 but how can you serve me if your spirit's empty? 46:55 And the Lord is saying, there's a longing in my heart 46:58 wanting more than just a part of you. 47:00 It's true. It's true. 47:02 I miss my time with you. 47:03 And that is so true because here at 3ABN, 47:07 I mean, if you are at 3ABN watch, 47:08 you know you seen us in various programs 47:11 either Dare To Dream or the Parent Network 47:14 or doing cooking programs or some kind of thing, 47:17 a radio, that's right. 47:19 You know that we are people that wake up every day 47:21 and we've got a schedule. 47:24 And the thing we have to do more than anything else 47:27 is make sure that we are not substituting... 47:30 Feeding all this and we're starving. 47:31 Say it again, honey. 47:33 You could be so busy feeding others, 47:36 but we are starving. 47:38 It's kind of like the cook that died of starvation. 47:41 Oh, man. Remember that one? 47:44 Who's feeding everyone, I told that story. 47:48 They were frustrated 47:49 because they couldn't feed themselves, 47:50 the spoons are too long, but they decided, 47:53 wait a minute, if I feed you, you could feed me. 47:55 If I feed you, you could feed me. 47:56 With the long spoons, right. 47:57 The long spoons. That's a great illustration. 48:00 But you notice Joshua 48:01 as well as one of the battle armaments, 48:04 which we just talked about, is a sword. 48:06 And I'll go to number 11 48:08 because I've kind of been on the train here. 48:10 According to the Bible, what is the sword? 48:14 Is that a redundant statement? 48:17 According to the Bible, what is the sword? 48:19 Ephesians 6:17. 48:21 "Now we know the whole armor is important, 48:24 but take the helmet of salvation 48:26 and the sword of the spirit, 48:29 which is the Word of God." 48:31 I have looked that word up sword in the Old Testament. 48:35 Now I want you guys to look at that word 48:37 and tell me what two words you see 48:39 in the word sword. 48:42 Word. 48:44 Okay. And the other one. 48:46 And sword, right? Isn't that amazing? 48:49 The Lord just adds an S to his word 48:52 and it becomes a sword. 48:54 What about helmet? 48:55 Okay. Helmet... 48:57 It's the brain, your mind. 48:59 Say it again. It because it's your mind. 49:00 That's right, guard your mind. 49:03 The avenues of your soul. 49:05 Yes, yes. Right. 49:06 You have to, and your conscience. 49:08 Let's talk to our young people for a minute. 49:09 All right. 49:11 Janelle, what are some... 49:12 You and my wife made some changes in your life 49:13 not too long ago. 49:15 What were those things? 49:16 Facebook, unanimously. 49:18 I just found myself on there way too much. 49:22 And it's something that could be used 49:24 for a great use for ministry and to reach out to people. 49:29 But the enemy is so clever 49:31 because you could start out with good intentions for, 49:35 you know, before you know it, you're way down a rabbit hole. 49:38 And like, how did I get here and how much time did I spend? 49:41 And so the Lord really woke me up 49:44 and we would go places, 49:45 like at that time we were driving to our 49:48 or house that we were trying to sell. 49:49 And it was like three hours away. 49:51 So on that drive, I was constantly on my phone, 49:54 Facebook, and he's over there falling asleep with the wheel. 49:56 I need someone to talk. I need interaction. 49:59 And so, you know, like he wasn't... 50:02 And he was gently, 50:03 you know, letting me know 50:04 that I was spending too much time on there, 50:06 but it's just, it's something 50:07 that can really overtake our minds. 50:10 And so then what happened 50:12 was the Lord really convicted me. 50:13 And so then I created this really crazy password. 50:17 And then I put it in a place, 50:18 it's really hard to get to that is, 50:20 it takes too much effort to even be worth it. 50:23 And so I did a fast off of Facebook 50:25 for like a year and a half to two years. 50:27 And so now I'm gradually going back on, 50:30 but I limit myself. 50:32 And limit myself. 50:34 And if I find myself like, 50:36 you know, starting to scroll away too much 50:38 and look at things that don't mean anything, 50:41 then that's when I know that I need to get off 50:44 because if I go on there to check messages, 50:47 respond or whatever, and then get back off, 50:49 I don't need to be on there doing crazy, you know... 50:53 Reading all the posts. Oh, pictures. 50:55 Yes. Where this person went to? 50:57 This person went there. Oh. 50:58 Yeah. 51:00 So, you know, praise the Lord 51:01 for His convicting power of the Holy Spirit. 51:03 And, you know, He works through other people 51:06 to get our attention too. 51:07 That's right. And so thankful for that. 51:09 What about you, honey? 51:11 Oh, I was addicted to Facebook. 51:14 It was taking my time like you said, day and night. 51:18 Oh, who's doing what, what they're doing, 51:20 what they're saying now. 51:21 People putting their garbage on Facebook. 51:22 And I'd get mad and like and it would just anger me. 51:25 What are they saying? And how could they say this? 51:27 And I'm like... 51:29 And you'd say, "Honey, don't answer them." 51:31 And I'm like, "Oh," Oh, 51:32 her family member is saying this. 51:34 "How could she say that?" Like emotional. 51:35 Yeah. And it was so much. 51:37 And so I said I am done with Facebook 51:41 and I told you, Janelle, too. 51:42 Yeah. 51:44 We could relate on a lot of stuff. 51:45 It helped. Me too. Yeah. 51:47 And then yesterday I got something on my phone, 51:50 it says, "You need to come back to Facebook." 51:53 Facebook sent me this thing. It said you need to come back. 51:56 It says, "Just click this and you can come back." 51:59 And then Angie said, "I'm not ready." 52:01 I'm not ready. Yeah. 52:04 It's like that old man that comes out of the grave. 52:07 You're not going anywhere. 52:10 And, you know, I know people that are very serious 52:13 about their social media 52:14 that they use it as their ministry. 52:15 Right. 52:17 And I know there's one couple that we are familiar with, 52:19 that they are as a family, they have six kids. 52:22 And because they use YouTube so much, 52:25 they take a YouTube break every two weeks 52:28 and then they spend time with their family 52:29 and then they get back. 52:31 You know, they have this built into their schedule 52:33 because they're on there's so much 52:34 that they know that they need that. 52:37 And I think that that's smart and wise to use it and have, 52:41 you know, you control it. 52:42 It doesn't control you, the social media. 52:44 And I think that's important. 52:46 I think that's crucial 52:48 because if you don't use it for, 52:51 you know, to spread the gospel, 52:52 then all that's out there is garbage. 52:55 So, you know, somebody has to take that light 52:57 to the world. 52:58 So people need to be on there spreading the gospel. 53:00 Exactly. I was doing that. 53:03 I was putting a lot of quotes and things, 53:05 messages and your sermons and things like that. 53:07 I was doing that, 53:09 but I was also getting involved. 53:10 Yes, that's the hard part. 53:13 A friend of mine called me yesterday. 53:14 And she said, "Ang, I don't see you 53:16 on Facebook anymore. 53:18 I followed you all the time on Facebook. 53:20 I lived through Facebook. 53:21 I live my life through your life on Facebook." 53:24 Oh, wow. 53:27 Guard alert. 53:29 I live vicariously through you. 53:31 When you guys were so much in the public light, 53:33 sometimes maybe people are being a little nosier 53:35 than they should be. 53:37 Exactly. Just saying. 53:40 I can do all things through Christ 53:42 who strengthens me. 53:44 Don't worry about people vicariously living through you. 53:46 We're saying live through Christ. 53:48 That's why, talking about the sword, 53:50 Hebrews 4:12, 53:51 "For the Word of God is living and powerful 53:55 and sharper than any two-edged sword 53:57 piercing even to the division of soul and spirit 54:00 and of joints and marrow, " 54:02 and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents 54:04 of the heart. 54:05 If you read the Bible, 54:07 it'll tell you what you're thinking 54:09 and whether or not you need to abandon that thought. 54:12 The Bible smacks us... 54:14 That's why I know the Bible wasn't written by men. 54:17 Right. 54:18 It was not their thought, it was God's thought. 54:21 The Holy Spirit moved on them to be the pen men, 54:24 but it was not their birth child. 54:26 Because it kind of cuts you, like it literally cut you. 54:28 Like you're saying with Facebook, 54:30 "Wait, I'm going on the wrong path 54:31 or something." 54:32 Now we can move back in the past 54:34 when we used to go out and drink 54:35 and party and all stuff. 54:36 I used to go to parties that where we were invited 54:38 at people's homes and stuff like, 54:39 "Man, I just felt so agitated. 54:41 Like I don't wanna be here." 54:42 I just, I was really angry. 54:43 I didn't really understand why at the time 54:45 the Holy Spirit's like, 54:46 "You're not supposed to be here. 54:47 You need to go." 54:49 And I'm like, boom, I'm just frustrated and angry, 54:50 like get me out of here. 54:51 But I just realized now that the Holy Spirit 54:53 is working on you and respond to that call. 54:55 You need to. Amen. 54:56 I want to throw this to J. 54:57 Under number 12, read 1 Peter 4:12, 13. 55:00 And this is why we have to be ready 55:04 for what's coming. 55:07 "Beloved, do not think it's strange 55:09 concerning the fiery trial, 55:11 which is to try you 55:13 as though some strange thing happened to you, 55:16 but rejoice, to the extent 55:17 that you partake of Christ's sufferings 55:20 that when his glory is revealed, 55:21 you may also be glad with exceeding joy." 55:25 So, are we gonna have difficulty? 55:27 Yes. 55:28 There's an interesting scripture 55:30 links to this Romans 5:3-5 55:33 is really, oh, man, that's really rich. 55:35 It says... Yeah, Romans 5:3-5. 55:40 There's like a ladder here and it's for us. 55:42 And I often share this on a prayer line with people. 55:45 It says, "Not only so, 55:46 but we glory and tribulations 55:48 who wants to go through a trial." 55:49 I mean, we glory in them. 55:50 Okay. Bring them on. No. And people don't usually say. 55:53 "Knowing that tribulation work patience." 55:54 And that word patience in the Greek 55:56 actually means character. 55:58 So it's working our character, 56:00 character of patience experience 56:01 and experience hope, 56:03 so, you know, to me, 56:04 when I tell people it's like that experience 56:06 as you have a stronger bond 56:07 and a more deeper trust in what Christ will do 56:10 and then that hope that you'll have 56:11 that hope of eternal life. 56:12 That's right. 56:14 And when we think about it, 56:15 here's the number one reason why we need to be awake. 56:17 Honey, read 1 Peter 5:8, 9. 56:19 Okay. This is a good one. 56:22 We should all be this. Be what? 56:24 Sober. And what else? 56:25 Be vigilant. 56:26 Because who? 56:28 Your adversary. 56:29 Who is he? The devil? 56:30 What is he doing? 56:32 Walks about like a roaring lion. 56:33 What else is he doing? 56:35 Seeking on who to devour. 56:36 And what should we do? Resist him. 56:37 How? Step fast in the faith. 56:39 What do we know? 56:41 Knowing that the same sufferings 56:42 are experienced by your brothers in world. 56:46 Wow. They're experiencing it too. 56:47 That's right. 56:48 You're in pastoral department and you hear it. 56:50 You're in the Dream Media, you hear it, you work in radio, 56:52 you hear it. 56:54 Janelle, you work on that magazine all the time. 56:56 You were putting articles to help these people 56:58 struggling, they hear it. 56:59 Yes. 57:01 And we're saying to you, 57:02 those of you that have joined us 57:03 for Family Worship, 57:05 thank you for walking us 57:06 through this experience of life, 57:07 but you're gonna have difficulty. 57:09 You're gonna have trials, 57:10 but if you don't take the peaceful time 57:12 that you have now to build up your line of defense, 57:16 when the difficulty come, 57:17 you won't be able to do like Asa and say, 57:18 "Father, this is yours." 57:20 So here at 3ABn worship, 57:21 Jason, Donald, Janelle, my wife and I, 57:24 we wanna to bid you a happy what? 57:26 Sabbath. Sabbath. 57:28 Thank you for joining us. 57:29 We look forward to seeing you the next time. 57:33 Amen. |
Revised 2021-03-04