Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW210014S
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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 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:08 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today Family Worship 01:12 and happy Sabbath to you. 01:14 I'm Jason Bradley, 01:15 and it's always a joy to spend the Sabbath with you. 01:19 And I'm excited about our topic that we will be discussing, 01:23 which is perseverance. 01:25 Perseverance, 01:27 and with me to discuss that we have JD Quinn. 01:31 My pleasure, this is always fun 01:32 to sit around on Sabbath evening 01:34 and being able to share. 01:36 Yes, yes. 01:38 It's always comfortable. Yes. 01:39 And so it's great to hear what the Lord gives you 01:42 to share with us. 01:43 And we have Shelley Quinn, the bride by your side. 01:47 Amen, my claim to fame. 01:49 I'm JD Quinn's wife now. 01:51 We're so glad to be here. 01:53 It's always fun to open the Word of God. 01:56 And we're so glad that you are joining us. 02:00 Amen. Yes, amen. 02:01 And Donald Owen. Yes. 02:03 Just a blessing to be here. 02:04 And I'm just so thankful this concept of perseverance 02:07 and what that looks like 02:09 and the journey that we're all on 02:11 to persevere for the end goal. 02:13 Amen. I'm excited. 02:14 Amen. 02:16 Before we dive into the topic, 02:17 Shelley, if you don't mind, if you'd have prayer for us. 02:19 I'd love to, thank you. 02:22 Our gracious and loving heavenly Father, 02:25 we come before You in the name of Jesus to. 02:29 Lord, dedicate this time to You. 02:31 We thank You, Father, 02:33 for this Sabbath day that is a memorial that 02:37 You are not only our Creator, 02:39 but the one who recreates us in Jesus. 02:42 That You are our Redeemer, 02:44 Lord, that You are the one who sanctifies us, 02:50 who sets us apart from evil. 02:52 So, Father, we thank You for Jesus Christ, 02:55 for Your Holy Spirit and Your Word. 02:58 And right now, Lord, as we open Your Word, 03:01 may everyone, 03:03 us and everyone who's watching or listening to our voices, 03:07 be blessed. 03:09 Send your Holy Spirit to be our teacher 03:11 in Jesus' name. Amen. 03:14 Amen. Thank you. 03:16 I've always liked 03:17 the definitions of words, right? 03:20 So perseverance: 03:21 persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay 03:25 in achieving success. 03:28 So it's kind of like denying self gratification 03:31 or immediate gratification. 03:34 But persistence in doing something 03:35 despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. 03:38 So what comes to your mind? 03:40 And I'm just throwing this out there on the floor. 03:42 What comes to your mind 03:44 when you think of the word perseverance? 03:47 Endurance. 03:50 I've been persevering for the last 16 months. 03:54 After my surgeries, 03:56 you know, there's a time, 03:57 sometimes it seems that 03:59 circumstances can be overwhelming. 04:03 And if you don't keep your eyes on the Lord, 04:07 if you don't remember 04:10 all of His blessings and benefits, 04:13 it's easy just to give up, 04:15 you know, we need to remember who He is, 04:22 remember what He's done for us 04:24 and endure our circumstances. 04:28 We need to push forward a day at a time. 04:31 Amen. 04:33 To me, it's also means being committed to a goal. 04:37 There you go, that's good. 04:38 So I'm committed to this. 04:42 I'm committed to Jesus Christ 04:44 and it's nice to be able to state that 04:48 because it helps keep me on track 04:50 because I know sometimes 04:51 you get tired, you get worn out. 04:54 If it wasn't for a commitment, straying on a covenant, 04:58 well then you can certainly wonder. 05:00 That's good. Yeah. 05:01 I liked that when you said that, JD, 05:03 about commitment. 05:04 What came on my mind about this word perseverance is that 05:07 God persevere with us. 05:08 Amen. 05:10 God is long-suffering towards us. 05:11 I just want to share this, it's in Exodus 34:6-7. 05:14 "So then the Lord passed by 05:16 before, I'm talking about Moses, 05:17 and proclaimed the Lord, 05:19 the Lord, God merciful and gracious," 05:21 there's a big word, long-suffering, 05:23 "long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, 05:26 keeping mercy for thousands for giving iniquity 05:29 and transgression and sin, 05:31 and that will by no means clear the guilty." 05:33 So I think that word long-suffering 05:35 and that forgiving iniquity that longstanding, 05:38 I think, long-suffering to me. 05:40 Amen. 05:41 Well, Jesus certainly persevered, did He not? 05:44 He had that commitment to the goal. 05:46 He set His face determinately 05:49 and He followed the path that God out for Him. 05:52 That's right. 05:54 You know, when I think of the word perseverance, 05:55 I think of operating off of principle, 05:57 because if you're going off of feeling, 05:59 you will not persevere. 06:01 You cannot, because what happens is 06:04 when you're operating based on your feelings, 06:07 solely on feelings, 06:08 feelings have their place. 06:10 But when you're operating solely off of feelings 06:12 and not principles, 06:13 you're all over the place, you know? 06:15 And so, I love what you guys are saying 06:17 because it's standing firm on the Word of God. 06:20 Yeah. 06:21 And as you go from, 06:23 I remember a term deficiency motivation. 06:26 Deficiency motivation 06:28 was the different stages that we have in life. 06:31 And so as a young child, I had these feelings 06:34 and then I found myself going to the next password. 06:37 I didn't, I got out of diapers, 06:41 you know, and I started wearing pants. 06:43 And so now that's a different situation. 06:46 Then you go more and more, lot of, 06:48 I'm very fortunate, I still wear my belt. 06:50 There's a lot of people wear suspenders, 06:52 you know, at my age. 06:53 And I take my hat off to, 06:56 some day I might wear suspenders 06:58 and I haven't figured it out yet. 06:59 That's the reason I don't wear suspenders. 07:02 But anyway, 07:03 well, you do go through different transitions in life. 07:05 And so if it was dealt on feelings, 07:08 we would, as you just said, be all over the place 07:10 because there's so many changes in our life. 07:13 Principles hopefully don't change. 07:15 That's right. 07:16 You know, sometimes you think of perseverance 07:18 as when you've got an overwhelming schedule 07:23 and a lot of projects do persevere. 07:28 I mean, you can look at that and just go, 07:30 "Oh, I'm overwhelmed." 07:34 But perseverance is like eating an elephant. 07:38 How do you eat an elephant? 07:39 One bite at a time. 07:41 Perseverance is just putting one foot in front of the other 07:44 to reach a goal. 07:45 Amen. I like that. 07:47 I think of this champion. 07:48 Perseverance, you know, it came on my end. 07:50 I think one of the questions here is a difficult time. 07:53 And when this idea of perseverance came to me, 07:55 we, prior to coming to 3ABN, 07:58 both my wife and I lost our jobs in 2018. 08:02 And so we just had bought a house in 2001. 08:04 We're thinking, okay, Lord, 08:06 we've got $700 house payment a month. 08:08 I've got like $100 coming in a month. 08:10 I've got a week I should say, 08:12 how am I going to pay for electric bills, 08:14 the water bills, 08:15 how am I going to pay for all this? 08:17 I can't put food on the table. 08:18 By the grace of God we could go to, 08:19 thankfully in our community we had food pantries. 08:21 And we also had a place 08:23 that would help pay for electric for a few months. 08:24 So I was very thankful, 08:26 but persevering through that 08:27 and not having hardly any money at all, 08:29 but then coming here 08:31 and how God is when we moved here, 08:33 He changed everything. 08:34 Everything's paid off. 08:36 I got all my credit cards paid off. 08:37 I can easily put food in the table now, 08:40 and I'm sitting here, 08:41 but it was through that trial in my life 08:43 that God gave, got us through. 08:44 He brought us closer to Him. 08:46 It was in that trial, that difficulty 08:48 that I learned to lean and depend on Him. 08:49 So... Amen. 08:51 So in other words, 08:52 what I'm hearing you saying, say is that 08:55 there are benefits that can come out of a trial. 09:00 Right. 09:01 Yes. 09:03 So let's look at how we persevere. 09:04 Donald, if you'll take 1 Chronicles 16:11. 09:08 Sure, and it says there, 09:10 "Seek the Lord and His strength, 09:13 seek His face ever more." 09:15 This is the New King James Version, 09:16 but I also like the King James, it says, 09:19 "Seek his face continually." 09:21 Yes. 09:22 Continually really speaks to me, it's constant. 09:24 And that made me think of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, 09:27 "Pray without ceasing." 09:29 So I'm thinking about that concept of like prayer is, 09:31 it's a constant thing, a thread, 09:33 like a constant thread that just woven. 09:35 And we need to have that constant prayer, 09:37 pray without ceasing, that really spoke to me. 09:39 You know what it says to me like David, 09:43 God told King David, 09:45 "Seek My face." 09:47 And he said, 09:48 "Lord, when You said, seek my face, 09:49 Your face I seek." 09:51 I think sometimes in prayer, 09:53 we're asking for things, 09:56 we're asking for a blessing for, 09:59 you know, we're interceding for other people. 10:02 But what God wants us to recognize 10:05 is prayer is communication between. 10:07 And when he said seek my face, 10:10 to me, that's really trying to get to know God in prayer, 10:15 you let Him speak to you through the Word. 10:18 And then you speak to Him. 10:19 It's getting to know God in an intimate way. 10:22 Yes, building that relationship. 10:24 Yes. 10:25 There's a devotion we usually read in our pastoral. 10:27 We were doing this book called Our Father Cares, 10:29 which we switched now to the other one 10:31 Noble Character. 10:32 But this is our recent one. 10:33 It's just an interesting, 10:35 we were talking about the timing of this idea 10:36 of persevering 10:37 and how it got your attention. 10:39 But I read this as just recent 10:40 this idea of persevering prayer. 10:42 I won't try to take too long, 10:44 it says, the idea of prayer. 10:45 It says, "Important lessons are presented to us 10:47 in the experience of Elijah. 10:49 When upon a Mount Carmel, he offered the prayer for rain. 10:52 His faith was tested, 10:53 but he persevered in making known his request unto God." 10:56 And this is interesting, next paragraph, 10:57 "The servant watched while Elijah prayed, 11:00 six times he returned from the watch 11:02 saying, there's nothing, 11:03 no cloud, no sign of rain, 11:05 but the prophet did not give up in discouragement," 11:07 you catch that, 11:09 "but praying, he kept reviewing his life." 11:11 This is powerful. 11:12 "He kept reviewing his life to see 11:13 where he had failed to honor God. 11:15 As he searched his heart, he seemed to be less and less, 11:18 both in his own estimation and in the sight of God, 11:21 it seemed to him that he was nothing 11:23 and that God was everything. 11:24 And when he reached 11:26 to the point of renouncing self, 11:28 while he clung to the Savior 11:29 as his only strength and righteousness, 11:32 the answer came." 11:34 That's a powerful point. Yes. 11:35 "The servant appeared and said, 11:36 'Behold, there arises 11:38 the little cloud out of the sea, 11:39 like a man's hand." 11:41 This next paragraph you just touched on, Shelley. 11:42 "We have a God 11:43 whose ear is not closed to our petitions. 11:45 And if we prove His word, he will honor our faith. 11:48 He wants us to have all our interests 11:50 interwoven with His interest. 11:52 And then he can safely bless us. 11:54 We shall not then take glory to self 11:56 when the blessing is ours, 11:58 but shall render all the praise to God." 12:00 Here it is. 12:01 "God does not always answer prayer, 12:03 answer our prayers 12:04 the first time we call upon Him, 12:06 for should he do this, 12:08 we might take it for granted 12:09 that we had a right to all the blessings and favors 12:13 He bestowed upon us. 12:14 Instead of searching our hearts 12:16 to see if any evil was entertained by us 12:19 as any sin indulged, 12:20 we should become careless and fail to realize 12:22 our dependence on Him." 12:23 So I thought that was really a powerful, 12:25 that just really spoke to me this idea 12:27 of sometimes people pray 12:29 and they're not getting what they want, 12:30 but it said that, 12:32 you know, He does not always answer 12:33 our prayers the first time. 12:34 He wants us to search like Elijah did. 12:37 Yes. 12:38 Yeah, I'll tell you what I wouldn't be sitting here 12:39 if it wasn't for my mom persevering in prayer, 12:44 being persistent and fervent with her prayers. 12:47 So yes, I definitely appreciate that. 12:50 Probably true with each one of our lives here, 12:52 you know, as our praying parents. 12:55 Amen. Yes. 12:57 Shelley, you've got our next verse. 12:59 Okay. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. 13:03 Paul writes to the Corinthians saying, 13:06 "Do you not know that 13:08 those who run in a race all run, 13:10 but one receives the prize? 13:13 Run in such a way that you may obtain it." 13:16 Let me just pause. 13:19 In the city of Corinth, they had these games 13:22 and what they were competing for 13:27 was a laurel wreath, 13:30 just a little wreath that went around their head 13:32 show that they crown the winner, right? 13:35 And I just want to say this 13:37 when he says run in such a way that you may obtain it. 13:40 Winners aren't born, they train to win. 13:44 And these people would have understood. 13:47 First you have to meet the basic training requirements 13:51 to even compete. 13:52 But then there is strict training 13:56 that comes along and it's a struggle. 13:59 They strive from start to finish 14:02 for excellence, right? 14:04 Now, they are going to look at this next thought. 14:09 He says, 14:10 "Everyone who competes for the prize 14:12 is temperate in all things." 14:15 So self-control is crucial to the victory, 14:19 is it not? 14:21 Oh, very much so. 14:22 Temperance, endurance, 14:23 I mean, athletes are competing by rules 14:29 and they have a lot of rules before the game. 14:33 He says, now they do it to obtain a perishable crown. 14:38 That's the little laurel wreath, 14:41 but we do it for an imperishable crown. 14:45 That's the crown of life that we're going to get. 14:49 So if athletes train that hard, 14:51 how much more should we as Christians 14:53 is what he's really saying. 14:55 Then Paul says something interesting. 14:58 Therefore I run thus not with uncertainty. 15:04 Thus, I fight not as one who beats the air. 15:08 Have you ever seen a shadow boxer? 15:10 Yes. 15:11 Boy, they're flailing their arms around. 15:13 They don't have an opponent really, 15:15 they're shadow boxing. 15:17 But as Christians, some of us are shadow boxing. 15:22 We are the ones who talk the talk, 15:25 but don't walk the walk, 15:28 and we've got a very real opponent. 15:31 So then he says, 15:33 "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection." 15:39 We've got to discipline our bodies 15:42 under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 15:45 Be temperate in our appetite, be temperate in our lifestyle 15:49 and not overindulge. 15:51 You know, Paul persevered like a boxer. 15:55 I mean, he did everything he could to knock out corrupt, 16:00 sinful nature and bodily impulses. 16:04 And then he says, I discipline my body up, 16:07 bring it to subjection, 16:09 lest when I preached to others, I myself become disqualified. 16:14 The imperishable crown is a gift from God. 16:19 Salvation is a gift from God, 16:21 but because of covenant love and loyalty, 16:25 we should be striving to meet the high standards 16:29 that God has given us. 16:31 Amen. Amen. 16:32 You know, it's interesting 16:34 how we can get so caught up on temporary things, 16:38 you know, but keeping sight of eternity. 16:43 So, so important. That's excellent. 16:45 Thank you for sharing that, Shelley. 16:47 JD, you have Philippians. 16:50 Yes. I love Philippians. 16:52 You know, I appreciate Paul 16:54 because I played a lot of ball growing up, 16:58 and I understand working out, 17:01 I understand the discipline of getting in shape, focusing. 17:06 And Paul was, he... 17:08 Paul is one of those guys that could super focus 17:11 and he has so much wisdom. 17:14 Philippians 3:13-14 17:16 "Brothers, brethren and brothers, 17:18 I do not count myself to have apprehended." 17:21 In other words, I haven't reached that place 17:23 that I haven't obtained the prize yet, 17:26 but I am a work in progress. 17:29 "But one thing that I do know, 17:32 forget those things behind me, 17:34 reach forward to those things which are ahead. 17:38 I press toward the goal 17:39 for the prize of the upward call 17:41 of God in Christ Jesus." 17:43 Amen. Fantastic. 17:45 Because I think a lot of people spend their life looking 17:48 in the rear view mirror. 17:50 As they're driving down the road, 17:52 their eyes keep going, what's behind them. 17:55 And there's all kinds of junk that we left behind us 17:58 so that we could follow, 18:00 you know, progress toward this new trip 18:02 that we've chosen. 18:04 And if I was to pass any wisdom along, 18:08 it would stop wasting your time reliving, rehashing 18:12 what's back behind you, 18:14 keep your eyes focused, shift into another gear. 18:18 You can say this, shift into another gear 18:21 and go on down the road from yesteryear. 18:24 Amen. 18:25 You know what that reminded me of Isaiah 48:13 18:29 or Isaiah 43:18. 18:33 Isaiah 43:18, where God says, 18:37 "Do not remember the thing, the former things." 18:41 And you know, when the Bible talks 18:43 about God remembering, 18:45 it means He's going to act on it. 18:47 When it talks about God forgetting, 18:48 it means he's not going to act on it. 18:51 We can't totally erase our memory. 18:54 But when He's saying, 18:55 don't remember the former things. 18:57 He's saying, quit acting on the former things. 18:59 There are some people, like you said, honey, 19:02 who are trapped in the past, 19:04 they're constantly rehearsing the past 19:08 and they can't persevere because they're stuck. 19:11 But God says, 19:12 "Behold, I do a new thing. 19:15 Now it shall appear, do you not perceive it?" 19:18 Amen. 19:19 Right, something that you just touched on, Shelley. 19:20 I had a lady call a while back on our prayer line. 19:23 And she said that, 19:24 she did something to her daughter 19:25 when his daughter was five years old. 19:27 Daughter's now 50. 19:28 This is some 45 years later. 19:31 And she was still beating herself up for that thing 19:32 she did 45 years ago. 19:34 And I said, "Well, have you confessed that to the Lord?" 19:36 She said, "Yes, I have." 19:38 I said, "You know what 1 John 1:9 says, right? 19:41 Said, "If we confess our sins, 19:42 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 19:44 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 19:47 I said, "Do you know what that means?" 19:48 She goes, "No, I don't really." 19:49 I said, "What that means is Jesus takes, 19:51 you'd make that prayer confession, 19:52 He takes His blood and cover that over your record 19:54 is gone out. 19:56 It's wiped out.' 19:57 She went, "Are you kidding me? Are you serious?" 19:58 I said, "Yes." I said, "It's gone." 20:00 She's, "I can't believe." She got so excited. 20:02 She's like, "No way.' 20:03 I said, "Yes, it's, 20:05 you don't have to hold on to it anymore. 20:06 It's no longer you." 20:08 She got so happy. 20:09 It was just a fact she didn't realize 20:10 for 45 years, 20:12 just holding on. 20:13 Long time to be caring. 20:15 They come to be looking in the rear room mirror. 20:16 Absolutely. 20:18 Bad things happen 20:19 when you just look in the rear view mirror, 20:21 don't focus on what lies ahead. 20:24 Yes. 20:25 And we're going to look at Hebrews 12:1-2. 20:30 And it says, 20:31 "Therefore, we also, 20:33 since we are surrounded 20:35 by so great a cloud of witnesses, 20:38 let us lay aside every weight," 20:41 that 45 year old weight, 20:43 "and the sin, which so easily ensnares us 20:47 and let us run with endurance 20:50 the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus, 20:54 the author and finisher of our faith, 20:57 who for the joy that was set before Him 20:59 endured the cross, 21:02 despising the shame 21:04 and is set down 21:05 at the right hand of the throne of God." 21:09 That's powerful 21:10 because in all things 21:12 we should be looking toward Jesus. 21:14 I think about, you know, when Peter got out of the boat 21:18 and he stepped on the water 21:21 and you know, he was probably 21:23 just like, whoa, like I'm walking on, 21:27 but he took his eyes off Jesus. 21:30 And when he did that, 21:33 he started sinking 21:35 and he was like, Lord help me, Lord help me. 21:39 Ever try to visualize that here comes. 21:41 I don't know how Jesus, if He ran, 21:42 I don't know how He walks, but anyways, 21:43 a fully grown man standing on water, 21:46 pulls a fully grown man out of water. 21:48 Yes. How do you? 21:50 Visually, I can't even, I can't even see that. 21:52 I mean, how do you pull grown man out of the water 21:54 and put him on the boat. 21:57 Jesus is amazing. 21:58 That blows your mind. You can ask Him some day. 22:00 Yeah, it's amazing. 22:02 I was just thinking about this, 22:04 lay aside every weight in the sin, 22:06 which so easily ensnares us. 22:09 Once again, 22:10 that's why it's good to let go off the past. 22:12 But you know, Paul told the Romans 22:15 make no provision for the flesh, 22:18 sometimes to lay aside the weight. 22:22 If you have a problem, 22:25 let's say that you're overindulging in sweets 22:27 or if you're smoking or if God forbid, 22:31 if drugs are your problem, 22:34 we need to make no provision for the flesh. 22:37 That means clear out 22:40 what clear out your paraphernalia, 22:42 clear out your cabinets, find an accountability partner, 22:46 go to someone who can help you 22:49 because it's not that there is so much sin around us 22:54 that so easily ensnares us. 22:56 I had a friend that couldn't watch. 22:58 She was watching the soap operas 23:02 and it was creating lust in her heart. 23:06 So to make no provision for the flesh, 23:09 to lay aside every weight and the sin 23:11 that so easily ensnares us, 23:14 she quit watching soap operas. 23:15 So I think that's important. Yeah. 23:18 I think you've brought up an excellent point 23:20 because you don't want to put yourself in the position 23:23 to be tempted in the first place. 23:26 Amen. 23:27 So, yeah, no, that's, that's very, very good. 23:29 Laying aside. Yes. 23:30 And I think that, 23:32 you know, we need to be cognizant 23:33 of how wonderful God truly is. 23:35 But how do we do that 23:37 if we don't have a relationship? 23:39 We have to experience, 23:40 oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. 23:43 So, Donald, if you want to take Psalm 138:8. 23:49 Psalm 138:8 says here, 23:51 "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me." 23:55 Hallelujah. 23:56 "Your mercy, oh Lord endures forever. 24:00 Do not forsake the work of your hands." 24:02 And that word we shared in Hebrews 12:1-2, 24:05 that endurance, like you mentioned earlier, Shelley, 24:07 endurance really means to suffer patiently. 24:11 Yeah. 24:12 We're going to talk about a little later, 24:14 maybe some of the scriptures that relate, 24:15 but they are suffering patiently. 24:16 I think of a gentleman. 24:18 This is back, I don't remember what time period was, 24:19 but anyways, they threw him in a vat of... 24:21 I don't wanna go into too much detail, 24:23 but was this pit of all this nastiness, 24:26 all this junk. 24:27 And in the middle of all that 24:29 and the persecution he was under, 24:30 he prayed to the Lord, and as he prayed 24:32 this little white lily came up... 24:36 Wow. He met him there. 24:37 And he knew that God was in the midst of his trial 24:40 and he could endure this thing he was going under, 24:42 but he saw this lily just pop up 24:45 a midst all this nasty stuff he was in. 24:47 I won't go in detail, but suffering patiently. 24:50 My favorite part of that scripture is 24:54 the Lord will perfect that which concerns me. 24:58 You know, Philippians 1:6 says that 25:01 "God will complete the good work 25:04 He's begun in you." 25:06 What? To persevere. 25:08 You can't do it in your own flesh. 25:10 To persevere, 25:11 you've got to rely totally on the Lord. 25:15 And that's what His plan of salvation is all about. 25:18 It's total dependence upon Him. 25:22 And He gives us His Holy Spirit, 25:24 works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. 25:26 It's just... 25:28 God's in the perfection business, isn't He? 25:31 He does the heavy lifting. Yes. 25:33 Amen. 25:34 Cast your cares on Him. 25:36 Amen. Awesome. 25:37 Shelley, you've got Lamentations? 25:39 Oh, I'm so glad you gave me this. 25:44 Lamentations 3:22-24. 25:49 And it says, 25:51 "Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed 25:56 because His compassions fail not, 25:58 they are new every morning." 26:03 And then He breaks out and prays and says, 26:07 great is your faithfulness. 26:10 The Lord is my portion, therefore, I hope in Him." 26:15 Now, here's why. I'm glad I've got this one. 26:19 When it says through the Lord's mercies 26:23 we're not consumed, 26:24 his compassions fail not, 26:28 Real quickly. 26:29 There are two covenant terms. 26:34 That one from the old, one from the new. 26:38 In the Old Testament, the covenant term was hesed. 26:43 In the New Testament, the covenant term is grace. 26:49 These are covenant terms. 26:52 So this is hesed, that's the... 26:56 When it says His compassions 26:58 it's, this is the Old Testament equivalent for grace. 27:03 And it's used 250 times in the Old Testament. 27:06 But let me tell you something. 27:07 It's more than what we think of as grace. 27:10 The Hebrew word hesed 27:13 cannot be translated into one English word. 27:16 It envelops all the wonderful attributes of God, 27:20 so listen to this. 27:23 Hesed, if you were going to try to define it, means 27:27 love, covenant faithfulness, 27:29 mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty. 27:33 In short, God goes beyond our expectations 27:40 to meet us where we are and to help us. 27:42 Hesed is usually His loving kindness 27:45 or His compassion or His mercy. 27:47 But this is a beautiful word 27:51 because it is only by God's hesed in the Hebrew 27:57 or God's grace in the Greek 27:59 that we're ever going to persevere, that's it. 28:03 I'll tell you what? 28:04 I'm glad you got Lamentations too. 28:06 Oh, I love that word. 28:08 That is wonderful. 28:09 That is... Yeah. That's powerful. 28:13 Let me piggyback off 28:14 of what Shelley was mentioning earlier on Philippians 1:6, 28:19 and which is exactly right. 28:22 I want to take it a step further 28:23 because I think that we can both look at the church. 28:26 I think that that's what this was talking about 28:28 and individually. 28:30 And it's one of my, 28:31 it's one of my favorite promises 28:33 because He says we can be confident. 28:37 In other words, we have a choice. 28:39 Yes or no, 28:40 but we can be confident if you choose yes, yes. 28:43 In this case being choose Jesus, His assistance 28:47 that He, Jesus, 28:49 who has begun a good work in you 28:52 will complete it, 28:54 will complete it. 28:55 He will. 28:57 Hallelujah. 28:58 We step that, we take that step of faith. 29:01 I just say that I'm at a corner 29:03 and I'm getting ready to cross the street. 29:05 And the minute that I take a step on to the street, 29:08 I feel like, you know, my journey has begun 29:11 and hopefully the stoplight, 29:14 stoplight's up there, the people they are obeying, 29:16 they're not going to run the stoplight, 29:18 walk across freely. 29:21 Now in normal life, 29:26 one plus one is two, 29:29 but in here 29:30 I'm seeing it 29:32 as He's multiplying one times Jesus, 29:36 then that assistant, 29:38 He allows us to be supercharged. 29:41 And at that particular time, His timing takes over, 29:44 his taken time. 29:46 And so instead of taking baby steps, 29:47 now I can take giant steps. 29:49 Amen. 29:50 The time will go by 29:52 because we're in the center of His will. 29:54 I know in my case here at 3ABN, we've been here 16 years. 29:59 Man, I'd plucked that test if they would say, 30:01 well, what does, how long does it seem like it was? 30:04 Maybe a year? 30:06 Just because I choose to believe that 30:08 I've been in the center of God's will. 30:09 Amen. 30:11 I think each one of us can say that. 30:12 Amen. 30:13 We probably all came here broken 30:15 in some way or the other. 30:16 And we came here 30:17 to make a difference in other people's lives... 30:19 Amen. 30:20 But then He got a hold of us 30:22 and we were the ones that were cleaned up. 30:25 Right. Amen. 30:26 And which allows us 30:28 to make a difference in other people's lives. 30:30 You just touched on 30:31 what my wife and I know, Janelle. 30:32 She is like, she was kicking and screaming to come here. 30:35 I have to be honest, you know, she didn't want to come here. 30:37 But then as she reflected, 30:38 she thought, man, how God will just, 30:40 how He works so amazingly, 30:41 because He was chiseling junk off of us. 30:43 So we came here 30:45 and just like, you look back, 30:46 you're like, wow, what an amazing work 30:47 that God is doing. 30:49 You know, I was thinking, 30:50 as we're talking about this idea of grace. 30:52 2 Corinthians 12:9, I just have to share it. 30:54 And he said, and he said unto me. 30:55 He says, Jesus, of course, 30:57 "My grace is sufficient for you, 30:58 for my strength is made perfect in weakness. 31:02 Most gladly therefore 31:03 will I rather glory my infirmities," 31:04 this is Paul speaking now, 31:06 "that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 31:08 I'm thinking about that, 31:09 you know, this idea of perfection 31:11 and how God sees what we will become. 31:13 I really like that He sees in us 31:14 what we will become. 31:16 And somebody said this the other day, 31:17 if we can only see people in their spiritual nature, 31:20 not in their fleshly nature, 31:22 that was really powerful. 31:23 If we can see them in our spiritual nature, 31:25 not in their fleshly nature 31:26 because we look at the outer appearance 31:28 and not what's in here. 31:29 Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. 31:31 That's deep. 31:32 I want to open this up for discussion as well. 31:36 What's the time where you've stepped out on faith 31:40 and what happened? 31:41 Oh, boy. 31:43 Or share a few times 31:44 'cause I know it's hard to limit it to one. 31:46 Yeah, yeah. 31:47 Well, we'll just the big one we did back in 2017 was 31:50 when they had the solar eclipse. 31:52 It's going to be the longest here in this area. 31:54 And we decided to go. 31:56 Ozzy Osbourne was coming to town 31:58 and lot of people know Ozzy Osbourne is, 31:59 and we're like, we need to get there. 32:01 So God opened the door to get there, 32:03 and I'll try to make it quick in. 32:05 Our biggest prayer was that, 32:06 Lord, we're going to do this in faith, 32:07 but no other tents were allowed or nobody else, none. 32:10 We didn't have to pay a single penny. 32:12 They allowed us to put our tents there. 32:14 And our biggest prayer was 32:15 that we could get these materials 32:17 in people's hand, in their cars. 32:19 What kind of materials? 32:20 Talking about the Hacksaw, 32:22 Hero of Hacksaw Ridge, the book. 32:23 So we were thousands of them. 32:25 But so our prayer was that we could get them in the cars 32:27 'cause we figured 32:29 people just throw them all over the ground. 32:30 So my wife Janelle, 32:32 she went to the area of parking cars 32:33 and like she said, 32:35 "Can we put a table here in and have these books." 32:37 If you do that, you slow down our traffic. 32:38 We're kicking out of here. 32:40 She said, "Tell you what we're going to do. 32:41 You give our girls the books 32:42 and we'll pass them out for them." 32:44 I going, what? That's amazing. 32:46 So we go home, 32:47 we're napping at night and going to bed 32:48 and they're still passing out the books. 32:50 Praise God. Yeah. 32:51 He kept giving the books and just boom. 32:53 Yes. 32:54 I think for us, 32:55 a huge step of faith was in 1999 32:57 when I sensed God was calling me 33:00 to full-time ministry 33:02 at the end of 1999, 33:04 and JD was working out of town. 33:06 I went to see him for New Year's Eve, 33:10 and long story short, 33:14 God had told me, it had to be his decision. 33:19 We had just started a new company. 33:21 We were getting ready to launch. 33:24 It was going to be very lucrative. 33:26 I had worked for what eight months, 33:28 putting together all of the presentations 33:31 and we had all of the equipment. 33:33 So we're going down the road. 33:35 And JD says to me, "Honey, what's wrong with you?" 33:39 And I said, "What do you mean?" 33:40 He said, 33:41 "You were so excited about this business 33:43 and now you don't seem as excited as well." 33:46 I go, yeah. 33:48 And he's so long story short. 33:51 He says, "If you could be doing anything in the world, 33:53 what would you want to be doing?" 33:55 And I said, 33:56 "I would want to be teaching people 33:59 how to have a relationship with God, 34:01 not how to teach them 34:03 how to make more money in their business." 34:06 And then I told him, I said this, 34:10 "God, I know God's calling me to full-time ministry. 34:13 I don't know if it's now or later, but..." 34:15 And he said, "You do know," 34:18 that's what JD says. 34:19 And I said, 34:21 "Well, yeah, I feel like He's calling me now." 34:24 Without blinking an eye, JD said, 34:26 "Who might argue with God." 34:28 And here we invested 34:29 all of this money in this business 34:31 that was scheduled to launch. 34:34 I mean, we had all these dates scheduled. 34:37 We just stopped it 34:39 and went into full-time ministry. 34:42 I did. 34:43 And it didn't pay anything. 34:45 So poor little JD ended up 34:47 with all of the weight 34:49 on his shoulders to bring forth, 34:51 you know, to meet our payments. 34:53 But we've never regretted it. 34:55 Amen. Yeah. 34:57 That's huge. That's huge. 34:58 Tell you when, whenever talking about Jesus being in our life, 35:03 because that's the center of this, 35:04 you know, we're talking about perseverance. 35:06 We did persevere. 35:08 I mean, Shelley had a better glimpse 35:11 of what we were doing than I did 35:13 because I mean, I'm now I'm... 35:18 I'm outside our comfort zone. 35:21 And then we, and I remember talking with... 35:24 We went to a... 35:26 We went to a 3ABN function and I met Danny Shelton 35:31 and 'cause I carried Shelley's luggage. 35:33 That was my new job, you know? 35:36 And I was pretty good at carrying luggage. 35:38 You know, it didn't take a lot of sense 35:39 and I had a strong back. 35:42 And so as we're talking with Danny, 35:44 Danny says, boy, y'all need to come to 3ABN, JD. 35:46 And Shelley says, 35:48 well, you know, that's JD's decision. 35:49 So Danny talks to me, he says, "You need to come to 3ABN." 35:53 And I'm going to get to perseverance here 35:55 a little bit. 35:57 And so, so let's pray about it. 35:59 And we did pray about it and we prayed about it 36:02 and the time came whenever the time was right. 36:04 So we came and then, so Mollie Steenson called, 36:06 bless her little heart. 36:08 She says, 36:10 "JD, have you made a decision about coming to 3ABN?" 36:11 I says, "Well, we're still praying about it." 36:14 And said so, 36:17 "Have you thought what you might do 36:19 when you get here?" 36:20 Well, I mean, I had more of a business background 36:22 and so I thought, 36:23 well, I'd probably get into marketing or something. 36:25 And she said, 36:27 "JD, I think we've got the right place for you." 36:31 Now this is how God works. 36:33 Hold on to your seat. 36:34 She says, 36:35 "I think you'd fit perfectly in pastoral." 36:38 Wow. 36:40 Wow is right. Yeah. 36:42 Then let's transfer, 36:43 then of course, thank you, Jesus. 36:45 So we pack up, we moved to 3ABN, 36:48 my first day in pastoral. 36:50 And please don't hold me up for this. 36:53 I'm sure in my heart, I could barely spell Jesus. 36:57 And I'm in pastoral. 37:00 A very respected place. 37:02 And all I had was one of Shelley's books, 37:04 you know, on affirmation. 37:06 So people would call in and want to pray. 37:08 And I would pray from my heart. 37:10 I learned from my dad. 37:11 Basically, we just had a rope prayer, 37:14 let God direct us. 37:16 And I found out that 37:18 I can't spend the rest of my life 37:20 to saying let God direct us. 37:22 So help me, Holy Spirit. 37:24 Wow. 37:25 We... It's kind of like the dome just opened up. 37:29 And I said a prayer that 37:31 I just knew where that coming from. 37:34 And the Lord has blessed tremendously. 37:38 It's where I needed to be is where I am. 37:39 It's my home. 37:41 It's my... It's my world. 37:44 And, but it was, 37:46 and like I was saying a while ago, 37:48 one year, it seems like we've been here 37:50 one year when you're 16 years, 37:52 because the gift of being 37:54 where you're supposed to be, time flies. 37:57 So, you know, you look and you see that, 37:59 of course being thousand years in heaven gonna. 38:02 I mean, I can see where he's saying it 38:04 that's a day. 38:06 You know, I'm firmly convinced this. 38:09 Mollie talked to me 38:10 and she said, I know God said, 38:12 he's supposed to be in pastoral. 38:14 JD has a master's in psychology. 38:17 And he was working on his doctorate. 38:18 And then he, when he quit school 38:21 and the interesting thing was, 38:23 he's always had interest in people. 38:28 He just had the wrong information 38:30 because what he was being trained. 38:32 We first got married, I used to say to him. 38:34 He'd say something from his, all of his psychology training. 38:38 I'd say that's not what the Bible says. 38:40 He gets mad at me. 38:42 But now once he got here, 38:45 he knew he had to be dependent upon the Holy Spirit. 38:49 He became dependent upon the Word. 38:50 Right. 38:51 And I just watched him, God took him. 38:54 And he was like this in his walk, 38:56 he prayed every day, he did the right things, 38:59 but he took him from his walk 39:00 and the trajectory just went in six months. 39:03 Yes. 39:05 Because you know, 39:06 now we see you in that position 39:08 and you're an excellent fit, 39:10 like people will just want to tell you 39:11 their whole life story, 39:13 because you're so easy to speak with 39:15 and everything like that. 39:16 And you, you know, God has blessed you 39:18 to be able to share 39:19 some tremendous wisdom as well. 39:21 The bottom line is perseverance. 39:23 If you just step out in faith, Lord, I know nothing. 39:27 And let Him take over, 39:29 then supernaturally this is who He is. 39:33 And he, I'd like to think we got some of His genes. 39:37 I don't know how that all works. 39:39 You that's way above, they say above your pay scale, 39:41 I don't know. 39:42 Oh, I think 2 Peter 1:3-4, says that 39:45 it's the divine nature 39:47 that we partake of his divine nature. 39:49 So that's our new DNA. 39:50 I was thinking about what you're saying. 39:52 It's interesting how you said he had psychology. 39:55 God turned that gift 39:57 and that talent that he learned 39:58 from a secular field. 40:00 He turned it around to be able to be used for His kingdom. 40:02 Can I... I'm going to correct you on something. 40:04 Okay, what's that? 40:05 I think God gave him the gift. 40:07 He didn't learn it in psychology. 40:09 I think God gave him this gift 40:13 and that he misdirected it in his study of psychology. 40:17 And then God took it and redirected it 40:20 and made him who he is today. 40:22 Isn't that amazing? Yeah, it is. 40:23 That's an excellent point. 40:25 You know, when I stepped out on faith, 40:26 I remember getting a call from my mother. 40:28 She was telling me, said, 40:29 "Hey, Jay, you know, 40:31 I wish you would just come out here 40:32 and visit and just take a look around. 40:34 I needed an assistant in all of this." 40:37 And so I was living in Atlanta, Georgia 40:40 at the time I was managing a sports bar 40:42 and I was working about 70 hours a week. 40:45 So I said, okay, mom, I'll come out there. 40:47 I wasn't, you know, I'll take a look around and everything. 40:48 And I clearly wasn't walking with the Lord 40:51 or anything like that. 40:52 And, but she had been praying for me 40:55 and it was the day of prayer. 40:57 And I remember Mr. Danny Shelton, 41:00 I call him pop 41:01 and pop was up there. 41:02 He was speaking and he was just talking to everyone. 41:05 And he was telling a story I believe. 41:07 And he said, if you leave this place 41:09 and you can't get it out of your mind, 41:12 then perhaps this is where God would have you to be. 41:15 And I was sitting there like, you know, I live in Atlanta 41:18 and there's plenty of restaurants. 41:19 I love to eat 41:21 and there's plenty of places to eat, 41:24 things to do all of that stuff. 41:25 And where we're located is a little rural. 41:28 Okay. 41:29 And I didn't see that many restaurants 41:33 in the vicinity, 41:34 it's grown a little bit. 41:35 Yeah. 41:37 But I went back to Atlanta to my 70 hour week job 41:40 and just, I just kept thinking 3ABN, 3ABN, 3ABN. 41:45 I didn't think that I would be back in church, 41:49 let alone full time ministry, but God had other plans. 41:53 So I stepped out on faith. 41:55 I resigned from my sports bar job and... 41:58 Making a lot more money. 42:00 Yes. Yeah. 42:01 I was making a lot more money out there. 42:03 And I left that and I came out here 42:06 and it was the best decision I've ever made. 42:09 Since being here, 42:10 there was a time where I almost moved to California 42:14 and you know, I was impressed that 42:17 that was going to be the wrong decision. 42:19 And I had moved back home. 42:21 I moved back to my mom's place then, 42:24 'cause I was trying to save money 42:25 because basically wherever you move to California from, 42:29 you might be homeless in the beginning 42:31 'cause it's so expensive to live out here. 42:33 So I want to save some money. 42:36 And when I made the decision to stay, 42:39 I called my old landlord. 42:42 And she said that 42:44 it's interesting that 42:45 you should call at this very moment. 42:47 Your old apartment just opened up. 42:50 We're not going to charge you a security deposit. 42:53 And we'll also charge you the same amount of rent 42:55 that you were paying before. 42:57 So it was just God confirming that step in faith and saying, 43:01 son, if you walk with Me, I've got you. 43:07 And that was powerful. 43:09 And you know, I think about Philippians 4:13, it says, 43:13 "I can do all things through Christ 43:15 who strengthens me." 43:17 So for those difficult situations 43:19 or, you know, when we encounter things 43:21 that we're like, how are we going to do this? 43:23 What is this going to look like? 43:25 We just need to claim Philippians 4:13 43:29 and say, you know, 43:30 I can do all things through Christ 43:32 who strengthens me. 43:33 Amen. It's amazing. 43:34 You know, I was just talking about 43:36 when we did that solar eclipse thing in. 43:37 Yeah, it was just amazing 43:38 to see the number of people in there. 43:40 And these are people you would not think they got, 43:41 I'm not trying to be rude, but tattoos, no shirt, 43:44 you know, pierced ears 43:45 and funky hair color and everything. 43:47 Some would come up and they're like, 43:48 you know, we are so blessed that you're here. 43:50 We're so thankful that you're here. 43:51 This is so encouraging. 43:53 You know, I had one guy calling me, said, 43:54 "I send my kids to VBS every summer." 43:56 I said, "Really?" 43:57 You would not, you wouldn't see him 43:59 that this person sends his kids to VBS, 44:01 but you just don't know where God's going to place you 44:03 where you can be a blessing. 44:04 And if you just follow what He's asking you to do, 44:07 He's going to show, like you said, 44:08 He's going to bless you and He's going to do, 44:09 then you bless others. 44:11 It's just incredible. 44:12 So... And that's... 44:13 And I'm glad you said that 44:15 because you don't know where they've been, 44:16 perhaps that was their past, 44:17 you know, tattoos and stuff like that. 44:19 That's a permanent thing. Right. 44:21 Unless you get it laser removed. 44:23 So they could be the greatest Christian on earth. 44:25 And you have no idea. 44:26 That's why we can't judge by the outward appearance, 44:28 I love that. 44:30 God pledges by the heart. 44:31 Yeah. Okay. 44:33 Well, I get to do Colossians. 44:36 And I'm going to begin. This is Colossians Chapter 1. 44:41 I'm going to begin with verse 10, 44:42 if you don't mind, instead of verse 11, 44:45 because I think it brings this all together. 44:48 Colossians 1, we'll look at verses 10 through 12. 44:54 Paul's praying for the Colossians. 44:56 And he says, I'm praying that 44:58 you may walk worthy of the Lord, 45:02 fully pleasing Him, 45:04 being fruitful in every good work 45:06 and increasing in the knowledge of God." 45:10 To walk worthy of the Lord, He's saying, 45:14 let our life, 45:18 let the way we live 45:20 our conduct be pleasing to God. 45:24 We're supposed to follow in His, Christ's footsteps. 45:28 And he says increasing in the knowledge of the Lord. 45:31 Let me tell you something. 45:33 If all, if you have children, 45:36 if all you tell them about are the rules, 45:39 you can't do this, you can't do that. 45:42 You gotta do this, you gotta do that. 45:45 Rules without relationship result in rebellion. 45:48 What you want to teach your children, 45:51 your grandchildren, 45:52 and maybe you've never gone through this yourself. 45:56 What you want 45:58 is to have an increasing 46:01 intimate knowledge of the Lord 46:04 to understand how much He loves you. 46:06 And to when you understand how He loves you. 46:11 You know, the Bible says, 1 John says, 46:13 "We love Him because He first loved us." 46:16 Then we will walk out of love for God, 46:20 you know, in an obedience of His commandments. 46:24 But he says, increase, 46:25 he says, being fruitful in every good work. 46:29 Our faith should be ever expanding 46:32 and it should include good deeds. 46:36 But now look at verse 11, 46:39 because if you want the power to persevere here it is. 46:43 He says, "Strengthened with all might," 46:46 that's dunamis. 46:48 That's the dynamite power of the Holy Spirit. 46:54 'Strengthened with all might 46:55 according to His glorious power." 46:59 And you know, this reminds me of Ephesians 3:16 47:02 when Paul says, 47:04 "Oh, I would pray 47:05 that the Holy Spirit would be in you, 47:08 that you would be, 47:11 "strengthened with might 47:13 through His Spirit in your inner being.' 47:17 So the way to persevere is to yield 47:22 to say, I can't do it. 47:24 Oh Lord, I can't do it. 47:25 Amen. That's powerful. 47:26 Oh, Lord, help me, 47:30 fill me with Your Holy Spirit. 47:32 Because when I'm strengthened with all might, 47:35 I can walk worthy of You. 47:37 And then he says, 47:39 "Strengthened with all might 47:41 for all patience and long-suffering, 47:47 giving thanks to the Father 47:48 who has qualified us to be partakers 47:50 of the inheritance of the saints of light." 47:53 I just want to say something, 47:55 patience is enduring difficult circumstances. 48:01 I've had some difficult circumstances 48:03 this last 16 months. 48:05 Long-suffering 48:07 is dealing with difficult people. 48:11 And you know, God calls us to persevere in both 48:16 to have that's one of the... 48:19 The fruit of the spirit. 48:20 That's one of the sides of the fruit of the spirit. 48:23 Amen. 48:25 So you're touching on, Shelley, I was just reading on, 48:27 this is in Ministry of Healing. 48:29 It's a really powerful quote. 48:31 We're talking about this idea of persevering continuous. 48:33 "The Christian life is a battle and a march. 48:36 In this warfare there is no release, 48:39 the effort must be continuous and persevering. 48:42 It is by unceasing endeavor that we maintain 48:45 the victory over the temptations of Satan. 48:47 Christian integrity 48:49 must be sought with resistless energy 48:51 and maintained with a resolute fixedness of purpose." 48:53 Amen. 48:55 That's in Ministry of Healing, page 453. 48:58 Yeah. It's powerful. 48:59 You know, that unceasing endeavor. 49:01 Christian integrity must be sought with resistless energy 49:04 and maintained with a resolute fixedness of purpose." 49:06 So the purpose, 49:07 and you're saying JD about that goal, 49:09 the end goal, eternal life. 49:12 Amen. That's right. 49:13 Amen. That's right. 49:15 Okay. 49:16 You've given me this one here, Jason, 49:18 and I'll cheat a little bit here, 49:21 but don't hold that against me. 49:24 You know, it's in a good way. 49:28 The scripture that you give me is 2 Thessalonians 3:5, 49:32 I'm going to quickly take you to 3:1, 49:33 because I think that 49:35 we're beginning to get the picture here 49:36 because of the way that Paul, 49:38 the way that he teaches 49:39 because of the sportsmanship 49:42 and because of the games and everything 49:44 during that particular time. 49:45 And so he's basically saying, 49:47 hey, through life, 49:49 in your relationship with the Lord, 49:51 you will run swiftly, 49:53 but don't forget that I, Jesus is going to be there 49:56 to deliver you from those unreasonable and wicked man 50:00 that don't have the same faith as you do. 50:03 But remember that the Lord is faithful, 50:05 that He will guard you from the evil one. 50:08 And that you have the confidence 50:09 that we were talking about earlier, 50:11 to confidence in me, 50:13 that I will be there to assist you 50:14 in your time of need. 50:15 And then the verse that I've got, 50:17 and now may the Lord direct your hearts 50:19 into the love of God and to the patience of Christ. 50:23 So this is so Paul like 50:25 in saying, hey, here's your battles, 50:28 but now let's stand by the promise 50:30 that he has given each one of us, 50:32 that the Lord will direct your heart, 50:35 that He will fill your heart with love 50:38 and that with your patience, 50:41 the road's going to be a lot smoother. 50:43 And then he ends up 50:44 by stating in the last in three, 50:46 in 2 Thessalonians 3:13. 50:49 "But as for you, my dear brothers 50:52 do not grow weary in doing good." 50:56 Amen. Amen. 50:59 Could I add something 51:00 because it comes from his first letter 51:02 to the Thessalonians. 51:04 Absolutely. I love this. 51:06 When he said in 2 Thessalonians, 51:08 where were you, honey? 51:09 2 Thessalonians 3:5, 51:11 "May the Lord direct your hearts 51:15 into the love of God and the patience of Christ." 51:18 Let me read what he said 51:20 in his first letter to the Thessalonians. 51:22 This, one of my favorite scriptures. 51:25 1 Thessalonians 3:12, he says, 51:31 "May the Lord make you increase 51:35 and abound in love." 51:37 Who's doing the work here? 51:40 God is doing the work. 51:42 Abound in love to one another to all 51:45 just as we do to you 51:47 so that, anytime you see that or so that, or so, 51:52 it's a purpose statement. 51:54 So Paul is saying, 51:55 "Oh, my God cause you 51:57 to increase and abound in love for this purpose 52:02 that he may establish your hearts 52:04 blameless in holiness 52:07 before our God and Father 52:09 at the coming of our Lord 52:10 and Savior Jesus Christ." 52:13 Wow! Do you realize what that says? 52:17 Romans 5:5, says, 52:18 "God pours His love into our hearts 52:21 by the power of the Holy Spirit," 52:23 just like the priest poured the oil into the candle, 52:28 the last seven candlestick lampstand in every day. 52:34 God pours His love into our hearts. 52:37 But what he's saying here 52:39 is that he may establish our holiness, 52:44 that he says that 52:45 your hearts may be blameless in holiness. 52:49 So what it's saying is the more we love 52:55 as we grow in love, 52:57 we grow in holiness. 52:59 You know, holiness just means to be separated from sin. 53:05 When it says, be holy as God is holy. 53:08 It's being separated from sin as God is separated from sin. 53:12 And I just say it this way, love consumes sin. 53:18 When it says that our God is a God of... 53:24 How does it say it? 53:25 Our God is a fire... Consuming fire. 53:28 Thank you for that. 53:30 He's a consuming fire. 53:32 Love consumes sin. 53:34 If we were to go before God in our sinful condition, 53:38 He... Yeah, consume us. 53:40 But when He pours His love into us, 53:43 this is what the commandments were all about. 53:46 The first table of commandments 53:47 was about loving the Lord, your God 53:49 with all of your heart, soul and strength. 53:51 The second was the last six commandments 53:55 were how to love your neighbor, 53:58 and love consume sin. 54:01 If you love somebody 54:03 you're not going to sin against them. 54:05 So that's what I love how Paul's always saying, 54:09 it's God who directs you into this love. 54:12 Hallelujah. 54:14 It's interesting how there's that contrast, 54:15 because there's also that verse and I forgot where it is. 54:18 I think it's in Proverbs, 54:19 but it talks about 54:21 how soft answer turns away wrath. 54:23 And so like, it's, it's just incredible 54:25 to see those different, the contrast there, 54:29 you know, you don't meet wrath with wrath. 54:32 Unless you want to escalate things. 54:33 Exactly. 54:34 That's not going to deescalate the situation. 54:36 Right. So, yeah. 54:38 I love that. I love that. 54:39 Excellent point, Shelley. Peacemakers. 54:40 We should be peacemakers, right? 54:42 That's right. What it tells us to do. 54:44 Pursuing peace with all people 54:46 as far as it is from possible with you. 54:48 Yeah, Hebrews. Definitely. 54:50 It looks like I got Hebrews 10:23, 54:52 but before I share that 54:54 something that you touched on, Shelley, 54:55 I just read this morning. 54:56 I've been reading through the Old Testament. 54:58 Here I was in Zachariah 4. 54:59 And he's talking about what the vision 55:01 that Zachariah saw on verse 2, 55:03 he saw the candlestick. 55:05 But this is what's saying, Christ Object Lessons. 55:07 You just touched on it. 55:08 It is the love of God continually transferred, 55:11 transferred to man 55:13 that enables him to impart light 55:15 into the hearts of all 55:16 who are united to God by faith and golden, 55:19 yeah, by faith golden oil of love flows freely 55:23 to shine out again in good works 55:25 in real heartfelt service for God." 55:27 So... 55:29 And oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. 55:30 So, yeah, hallelujah. 55:32 See how that works. 55:34 But Hebrews 10:23 says this, 55:36 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope," 55:40 I like this, 55:42 "without wavering, 55:43 for he who promised is faithful." 55:46 Boy, that's, that's powerful right there, hold fast. 55:48 You know, I think about that woman 55:49 who've been bleeding for 12 years. 55:52 You know, she was looking for some type of remedy. 55:54 Nobody could help her. 55:55 I mean, think about the money she poured out 55:57 and all the promises she were given 55:58 and people aren't probably like, 56:00 yeah, we're going to give this remedy to you. 56:01 This is going to heal you and nothing for 12 years. 56:04 I'm sure the doctor's like, 56:05 yeah, we got itching kind of thing. 56:08 But for her no relief 56:09 until she heard of Jesus, of course. 56:11 And she held fast to the hem of His garment. 56:14 Yes. 56:16 That faithful hold healed her. 56:18 So I think that 56:19 he has promised, He is faithful, He'll heal us. 56:21 Absolutely. So we need to have faith. 56:23 Psalms 27:14 says, 56:26 "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, 56:29 and He shall strengthen your heart. 56:31 Wait I say on the Lord." 56:33 So often we want to take things 56:35 into our own hands, 56:36 but we need to wait on the Lord 56:37 and it's Him, that He strengthens us. 56:40 Amen. 56:41 So we see clearly perseverance, 56:47 you know, the Christian race 56:48 when Paul said run the race, 56:51 the Christian race is not a sprint. 56:54 It's a marathon. 56:55 You cannot persevere without the Holy Spirit, 56:59 without the Lord directing your heart 57:01 into His love 57:02 without holding fast to His Word 57:05 and just don't give up. 57:06 Prayer. 57:07 That's crucial. Say that again. 57:09 It's not a sprint... 57:10 Yeah, it's a marathon. It's a marathon. Yes. 57:13 And thank God that we are running the race. 57:16 Thank God that He is carrying us along. 57:19 I want to thank you for your contributions 57:21 that you've made this evening. 57:23 And we want to thank you for joining us 57:27 and wish you a happy Sabbath... 57:28 Amen. 57:30 Until we see you next time, 57:31 may God continue to bless you and persevere. 57:35 Yes. Amen. |
Revised 2021-05-23