Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW210020S
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello, friends, and welcome to Friday Night Family Worship 01:12 happy Sabbath. 01:13 Can we all say happy Sabbath? 01:14 Happy Sabbath. 01:16 Man, it's from us to you, from our family to yours. 01:19 Yeah. 01:21 Now I usually wear a jacket, my wife came up with this theme 01:25 and I actually like it, I feel lighter. 01:27 Yeah, me too. 01:29 And we are feeling blue. 01:30 We're feeling light blue. 01:33 And so sometimes I leave the decisions up to my wife 01:35 about what I wear, 01:37 but most of the time I make my own decisions. 01:39 And that's what we're talking about tonight, decisions, 01:42 decisions, decisions. 01:43 Oh boy. 01:45 At the very outset, let me make it very clear, 01:46 we're going to give you some decisions 01:48 and guidance from the Bible. 01:50 But indelibly, we're gonna also talk 01:52 about some not so good decisions 01:54 we've made and some great decisions we've made 01:56 and some decisions we wish we did make. 01:58 And so we're going to share some of our experiences, 02:00 the ones that we know 02:02 won't cause a firestorm around the world. 02:04 But decisions is what everybody does every moment of every day. 02:10 And when you are facing decisions 02:11 that can make your life amazing, 02:14 make your life horrendous, 02:16 can be the difference between getting that house 02:18 or losing that house, 02:19 the person you choose to marry, 02:22 or the person you wish you never married. 02:24 Everything in life is about decisions. 02:26 Yeah. 02:28 So we decided our program is called Decisions, 02:29 Decisions, Decisions. 02:31 Yeah. 02:32 You don't need a Bible. 02:33 But if you have one, that's going to be a blessing. 02:35 We're going to have prayer and dive into this, Honey, 02:37 because I am excited 02:38 about Decisions, Decisions, Decisions. 02:41 And I wanna say at the very outset, 02:42 I'm so glad I decided to marry this young lady. 02:44 Oh honey... And going on. 02:46 I feel the same. Praise the Lord. 02:48 Yeah, best decision I made. 02:50 Well, first one is serving the Lord. 02:52 I would think so. 02:53 Next one is my husband. That's right. 02:54 The Lord knew I needed a wife from England. 02:57 I want to say, He didn't see anybody in America 03:01 that I was supposed to marry. 03:02 So He sent her from England. 03:04 And the Lord made the decision for me. 03:06 So we'll stick with us for the best decisions 03:09 that are yet to come from the Word of God. 03:11 But, Honey, would you begin with prayer? 03:12 Sure. 03:14 Let's bow our heads. 03:15 Our Father in heaven, 03:16 the privilege is ours come in before Your presence. 03:19 And we give You so much praise, all of our praise, 03:23 every praise goes to you. 03:25 And, Lord, we are grateful for this worship 03:28 that we're going to be talking 03:30 about, this family worship about decisions. 03:33 We know that, yes, people do make decisions, 03:36 sometimes not good, sometimes good. 03:38 But the best decision is to serve You 03:41 and to follow You. 03:43 And as Joshua 24 says, "As for me and my house, 03:47 we will serve the Lord." 03:49 And I pray that will be the choice of everyone 03:52 that is watching today. 03:54 And we invite Your Holy Spirit to come into our midst 03:57 to lead and guide in Jesus' name. 04:00 Amen. 04:01 Amen. 04:03 And very quickly, even though our panel said happy Sabbath, 04:06 right across from me is the incomparable, 04:10 undeniable only one version, Dee Hilderbrand. 04:13 Good to you have here, Dee. 04:14 As my mother would say amen to that 04:16 'cause there's only one of me. 04:18 Good to have you here. 04:19 Great to be here. Thank you so much. 04:21 Yeah, you becoming a regular. 04:22 We can't... Yeah. 04:24 You know, Dee has great energy. 04:25 She really knows how to interact. 04:26 And matter of fact, Dee said, when you were visiting Arizona, 04:30 someone said to you, what do they like to watch? 04:32 Was it? 04:33 Oh, they liked Family Worship. 04:34 Yeah, they really liked Family Worship. 04:36 So I had several people comment about that. 04:38 So they enjoy, our viewers love Family Worship. 04:42 And so, we're kind of all together as a family, 04:44 it's wonderful. 04:46 Right. Well, we pick topics that affect our lives 04:49 and affects their lives. 04:50 How to make it practical and relevant. 04:52 It's not about prophecy and all that, 04:54 it's about practical things 04:55 that make family worship relevant. 04:59 Donald Owen, Donald, Bible worker, 05:01 our head Bible worker at our church, 05:03 and he also work in pastoral department 05:04 is sometimes you do floor directing. 05:06 Used to. 05:07 Used to. 05:08 Yeah, I'm in pastoral mostly now. 05:10 But thank you for making the decision to having me. 05:15 I'm glad to have you. 05:16 And Ricky Carter, Mr. Graphics 05:18 animator, he works for Dare to Dream. 05:20 Great Christian man and wonderful husband, 05:24 and I'm so appreciative that you're here at 3ABN, 05:28 and anything else that you may want our audience 05:31 to know about you. 05:32 Oh, I'm just happy to be here. 05:35 Yeah. 05:36 And let's get right into the program. 05:37 Okay, we have a lot to cover. 05:39 Yeah, we sure do have a lot to cover. 05:41 So I'm just gonna go ahead and dive into... 05:42 I wanna begin with a question, 05:44 because I heard Dr. Subodh Pandit, 05:48 a gentleman that I really appreciate very much, 05:50 you may not have ever heard about him. 05:52 He's a Seventh-day Adventist who has done a 25 year research 05:57 on all the religions, the major religions of the world. 06:00 And I love one of the questions he asked. 06:02 He says, when is a bad decision a good decision, 06:05 and a good decision a bad decision. 06:07 And I thought when is a bad decision 06:09 a good decision, 06:10 and a good decision a bad decision. 06:12 It was a quandary for me until I heard what he said. 06:15 He said a bad decision is a good decision, 06:17 when it could have been a worse decision, 06:19 or it could have been the worse decision. 06:22 So a bad decision is not the worse or the worse. 06:26 And so he says when could a good decision 06:27 be a bad decision? 06:29 I thought when could a good decision 06:30 be a bad decision? 06:31 He said, when a good decision 06:33 could have been a better decision 06:34 or the best decision. 06:35 So try to put that together in your head as you think 06:38 about that good decisions, better decisions and best, 06:42 bad, worse and the worse. 06:45 Good, better, best. 06:47 So let's dive in and put the question, 06:49 what does the Bible direct us to do 06:51 when faced with a decision? 06:53 And we're gonna walk through that question 06:54 in various ways tonight. 06:56 So let's begin by going to James 1:5, 06:58 and I'm gonna start with Dee across the river here. 07:01 James 1:5. 07:03 Outside there. 07:04 Yeah. 07:06 If and I'm reading out of New King James. 07:10 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, 07:14 and who gives to all liberally and without reproach, 07:18 and it will be given to him." 07:21 So what's the first thing we're told? 07:23 To go, turn to the Lord. 07:25 Yeah. 07:26 And that, to me, 07:27 I divide my life up into two areas. 07:31 When I decided to give my life to the Lord, 07:34 and life before I gave myself to the Lord. 07:36 And the good decisions, the bad decisions, 07:39 and the best decision I ever made was turning my life 07:42 over to the Lord. 07:44 And everything before then 07:46 might not have been a bad decision, 07:47 but it wasn't a good one either. 07:50 But it wasn't the worst, but it sure wasn't the best. 07:52 No. 07:54 And after that, I haven't always made the best decision 07:56 but by turning to the Lord, yes, if any of you lack wisdom. 08:00 I've always admired Solomon. 08:02 And I pray that to Lord give me wisdom. 08:06 That's the most important thing. 08:08 You know, Solomon, we admire Solomon 08:11 till he lost his mind and he regained it again. 08:14 Because Solomon, the reason why he's able to give us 08:16 so much wisdom is because I tell you, 08:19 anybody that finds himself with 1000 women 08:25 to learn something from. 08:27 But he lost his wisdom. 08:28 Yeah. 08:29 But I love that this says 08:31 that God gives to all liberally. 08:33 Exactly. 08:34 Generously. Generously. 08:36 Yes, yeah. 08:38 And without reproach. 08:40 How many times have we said, 08:42 I didn't ask you about this Lord. 08:45 We found out it's like, oh, 08:47 I should have come to you first, Lord. 08:49 So He doesn't reproach us. 08:50 He gives us wisdom. 08:52 Right. 08:53 Grace. 08:55 Liberally. 08:56 And just go ahead and just read Philippians 4:6, 08:57 because that kind of goes along with it. 08:59 This kind of encourages you while you're asking 09:02 God to give you wisdom. 09:03 There's something else that you need to do after you ask. 09:05 This played into my life greatly 09:07 after I lost David 09:08 because you know, when there's two of you, 09:11 when you have a spouse, 09:12 you can lean on each other a little bit. 09:15 You may not always be as dependent on the Lord 09:17 as you should be. 09:19 But when you are alone, Philippians 4:6, 09:23 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer 09:27 and supplication with thanksgiving, 09:29 let your requests be known to God." 09:32 So I had no one to lean on but God after that. 09:37 And I, as long as I leaned on Him, I wasn't anxious. 09:42 And He showed me over and over again. 09:45 He was there. 09:46 I liked it. 09:48 I was gonna talk about that idea of wisdom too. 09:49 In Proverbs 4:6, it says that wisdom, 09:52 wisdom will preserve us. 09:53 Yes. 09:55 So I really liked that, that wisdom will preserve us. 09:57 So you know, where do we get wisdom from? 10:00 Where did it come from? 10:01 I mean, God is with me, so we need His wisdom. 10:04 And I was thinking of Isaiah 1:18, 10:06 kind of goes along with the same thought. 10:08 He said, "Come, let us reason together." 10:10 And He wants to reason with us. 10:11 Amen. Amen. 10:12 Yeah. That's right. 10:14 He wants to talk it out. Right, right. 10:15 Exactly. Yeah. 10:17 And I've always said to people, if you have a conversation 10:18 with God, do when no one else is around, 10:21 so that people don't think you're talking to yourself. 10:23 But there are times when I'm driving. 10:24 Oh, yeah. 10:26 I would have an open conversation with God. 10:28 And sometimes I'd say God, 10:30 this is not about me, this is about you. 10:32 I remember once I was just so adamant about something 10:34 that had happened that was just totally ridiculousness. 10:37 I said, Lord, this is about honoring Your glory. 10:41 This is about vindicating Your character, 10:43 send Your Holy Spirit ahead of me 10:44 so that will be easy when I get there. 10:47 It was amazing. 10:48 When I got to where I was going, 10:50 the pastor who had been so recalcitrant 10:52 and headstrong the day before was like a kitten 10:55 when I got there and I said, thank you Lord. 10:57 Amen. 10:59 So make the decision to ask God to go before you. 11:02 I love the first four words there hidden in Philippians, 11:06 be anxious for nothing. 11:09 You know, there are times when we're worried about thing 11:13 that we're stressed about it. 11:15 And God says, Hey, 11:17 don't be anxious, don't be worried about. 11:18 And then he goes on to say, but in everything by prayer 11:21 and supplication with thanksgiving, 11:23 let your request be made known to God. 11:25 So through prayer, 11:27 through humbly presenting our requests 11:31 or challenge, we can present it to God. 11:34 And this is part of where I can see here this verse, 11:36 this is part of the a biblical process 11:39 of what we should do when we're faced 11:42 with any kind of decision or challenge. 11:44 Got a little process here. 11:45 Yeah. 11:47 Even do you see where that word everything? 11:49 Yes. 11:50 See, we, most of us are very... 11:53 It's easy to take all those big things, oh, Lord. 11:56 We know we've got to make the right decisions, 11:58 spouse or buying a house or something. 12:01 The little things is what can make 12:05 a difference in our life. 12:07 Those little things. 12:08 And sometimes we don't think 12:10 that we need to take little things to the Lord. 12:12 And often I've taken little things to the Lord. 12:16 And maybe ideas or thoughts came up, 12:18 but He allows us to make certain decisions. 12:22 But we've discussed them with Him. 12:24 And I think He brings thoughts to our minds 12:26 that we make better decisions even on those little things, 12:30 and then we're ready for the big things. 12:31 Even when I go shopping, I do that. 12:33 I'll say, Lord, help me to get a good deal, a good sale. 12:36 I'll pray about even shopping or a grocery store 12:39 or something like that. 12:40 I'll pray and asks the Lord, please help me 12:42 with these little things. 12:44 Help me find the right... The right. 12:45 Yeah. 12:47 We find what I'm supposed to for the right price. 12:48 Groceries, whatever. 12:49 Sometimes I ask Him for wisdom not to impulse. 12:53 Right. 12:55 You noticed, and I don't know 12:56 if you've experienced any of this, 12:57 but nowadays, isn't it strange 12:59 how every time you look at something that's on sale, 13:02 the sale is going to end today. 13:04 Last day of the sale. 13:05 So we'd be anxious, 13:06 they want you to be anxious and get, 13:08 well, I don't know if it's gonna be there tomorrow 13:09 was last one. 13:11 And we've found a way to disarm salespeople by saying 13:14 every decision we make we pray about it first. 13:17 They're not been trained to respond to that one. 13:20 But I want to add verse 7, Honey, read verse 7 here, 13:22 because after we, 13:24 after let your requests be made known to God, 13:25 something happens. 13:27 Verse 7. 13:28 Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God, 13:31 which surpasses all understanding, 13:34 will guard your hearts and minds 13:36 through Christ Jesus." 13:38 So you have peace. Right. 13:39 You have a peace about it. Yes. 13:42 Because the opposite of anxious is peace. 13:44 Okay, I prayed about it. 13:46 Yeah, leave it alone. 13:47 It's in God's hands. 13:49 You have peace, right? 13:50 And I've made some, you know, remember when I was dealing 13:53 with books situation? 13:55 Angie said, we have a deadline, what are we going to do? 13:57 I said, I'm not even worrying about, it is God's problem. 14:00 It's His message, it's His problem. 14:02 And I got a call the next day. 14:04 And somebody said, 14:05 there's something happened today 14:07 and the stock market exploded and went up. 14:10 And the Lord told us that you had a need. 14:12 And it was one we're getting out 14:14 three angels' messages booklet. 14:15 And they said, The Lord told us you needed this amount. 14:18 Yeah. We were immediately in tears. 14:20 We said, "That amount." 14:21 That's the amount we needed, so the Lord told us. 14:24 And so we're sending you a check 14:26 for this amount for 3ABN to get those booklets out. 14:28 Amen. 14:30 Because she said, "What are you going to do? 14:31 You have a deadline." 14:32 I said, "I'm not even worrying about it. 14:34 I'm putting it in God's hands." Amen. 14:35 And next day he came through and I was just blown away. 14:38 He's on time God. 14:40 On time God. Amen. 14:41 There's so many times when I've just said, okay, 14:43 I prayed about this. 14:45 I'm gonna let it and I let it lay, 14:47 and God took care of it. 14:49 And I saved myself from all that worry and stress, 14:53 and that's on little things. 14:55 You know, I think sometimes we can stress ourselves out 14:57 on little things more, even more so than the big things. 15:00 Yeah. 15:02 So how many times do we take it back though, 15:04 on the big things? 15:06 Especially if it's our children. 15:07 Right. 15:08 Parents struggles so much with that. 15:11 Here's my child. Yeah. 15:12 Oh, whoops, I took him back. 15:17 Let's go to number two. 15:18 I'm gonna have Donald read the question for number two, 15:20 because this is really interesting. 15:22 You know, sometimes God says, okay, 15:24 ask me, I'll help you make decisions. 15:27 But we have to understand 15:29 that there are other components to this. 15:31 Read the second question there, Don. 15:32 Says, what does the Bible reveal as a hindrance 15:36 for getting divine guidance? 15:38 That's a big question there. 15:40 Actually, something that came to my mind when reading this. 15:43 I know we get this scripture from Psalm, but Proverbs 29:23. 15:48 Okay. 15:50 Kind of spoke to me. 15:51 Let's go there. 15:52 Yeah, you know, there's something 15:54 that can get in the way. 15:56 I think we all may struggle with this. 15:58 I'm pretty sure we all do. 16:00 Pride. 16:01 29:23, says in there, so I can find it. 16:06 Oh, yeah. 16:07 "A man's pride shall bring him low, 16:10 but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit." 16:13 So I think one thing I see 16:14 that hinders us from divine guidance 16:16 is that we have pride in the way, 16:19 you know, and I was thinking on that and more in depth, 16:21 and it's sometimes for us, like for myself, 16:24 we have brokenness inside of ourselves. 16:26 And worse, we don't want to come to God 16:27 and let Him heal us. 16:29 It's like we can handle or manage us on our own. 16:31 And that's where that pride comes in, 16:32 you know, we don't want Him to come and fix us 16:34 or heal us that we can do of ourselves, 16:37 or we can lean on other folks to help us to heal. 16:40 So for myself, I've had that struggle. 16:43 And I just talked to an individual on one 16:45 of our prayer lines. 16:46 And she was going through a struggle, 16:48 a real big struggle with her co-worker 16:50 and just realize that she's repeating the same thing, 16:53 and it's a bit of pride was in the way. 16:55 And, you know, then you got to pull down 16:56 those blinders to see 16:58 that you've got to let God take that pride away. 16:59 So it can hinder, it'll hinder us 17:01 from getting divine guidance. 17:03 But look at, read that text, Psalm 66:18, 17:05 because one of these this, this hindrance. 17:08 Right. Psalm 66:18. 17:10 It says there, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, 17:15 the Lord will not hear." 17:17 Wow. 17:18 So is that a condition that God won't hear us? 17:22 Yeah. 17:24 Because iniquity places a block between me and God. 17:29 What is iniquity? 17:30 A cherished sin, something we refuse to let go. 17:33 The dark like sin. Yeah. 17:35 And so, it's like, you're like the little kid 17:37 that is holding on to his little teddy bear, 17:39 when his dad has a huge teddy bear behind him. 17:41 And he says, give me your teddy bear. 17:43 No, no, no. 17:44 He only know, if you just give me that little one, 17:47 I'll give you a huge one. 17:48 That could be our iniquity, the things we refuse to let go. 17:51 Also trying to tell God, how to answer. 17:55 Yeah. 17:57 This is I want wisdom, I want, I'm praying for a decision. 18:01 But this is a decision that You should make. 18:04 This is what you should make happen. 18:06 Okay, this is what I want, Lord. 18:07 Yeah, this is quite the box. 18:08 Yeah. 18:10 In reading this text, one of the first thing 18:11 that came to my mind is that when praying 18:16 before I want to make a request, 18:19 or before we make a request of God, 18:22 we should ask Him to forgive us of our sins. 18:25 That's right. 18:27 Bring to mind any unknown sin that we haven't confessed. 18:31 And because I know I don't want to have anything 18:35 that's going to impede me 18:38 from the Lord hearing my request. 18:40 I think it's important that we, in bringing our requests 18:43 before the Lord is that we ask for forgiveness. 18:45 Yeah. 18:46 I have something really major going on. 18:49 I'm going to come before the Lord with praise 18:51 and thanksgiving. 18:52 Yes, then, exactly. 18:54 Lord, is there anything blocking us? 18:56 Is there anything I need to fix or change in my life? 19:00 My request is going to be last in the prayer. 19:05 Amen. 19:07 Okay. Make it right. 19:08 That's right. Let's go to number three there. 19:10 Number three, how important are our motives 19:13 in getting answers from God? 19:17 James 4:3 says, 19:21 "You ask and do not receive 19:24 because you ask amiss, 19:27 that you may spend, spend it on your pleasures." 19:33 So I don't think that this question is saying 19:36 that you can't ask God for a new house 19:40 or for a new car, you know? 19:43 If you're asking it, though, because you want to keep up 19:45 with the Joneses, let's say. 19:47 Right. 19:48 That's, that's where it's talking 19:50 about he has the issue here. 19:52 So you want to make sure that you're asking something 19:56 that's according with Scripture, 20:00 and you don't want to ask a miss 20:01 or though the word there is not quite right, that word amiss. 20:07 That motive. 20:08 Assess your motives. 20:11 Because if you ask Him for the wrong motives, 20:12 it's like asking the parents, can I borrow the keys? 20:18 Really? 20:19 Are you really asking me that question? 20:21 Because I know you worried 20:23 about the neighbor's kid who has a car? 20:25 I told you not yet. 20:26 So the motives are very important 20:28 when it comes to making decisions. 20:29 What are your motives? 20:31 Are your motives in harmony with God's will? 20:33 Because if they are not, 20:35 then you could ask all day long, 20:38 like a sky that's brass, 20:39 you're not going to get any answers. 20:41 God is not going to give us anything 20:43 that's going to hinder us just because we ask. 20:46 And He knows our motives, because He knows 20:48 the thoughts and intents of our heart. 20:50 And He also knows what's going to happen in the future. 20:52 Because I know one time when I needed a job very much, 20:57 it was after I was a Christian, 20:58 and Dave and I were in a new place. 21:01 And I got this job. 21:03 And then something happened. 21:04 And I lost a job and I didn't understand. 21:07 And then later I ran into the... 21:10 I went back to work at the same place because of my attitude. 21:14 When I got fired, they hired me back again 21:17 in a different position. 21:18 And way down the line, when David got cancer, 21:21 all of a sudden, it all fell into place. 21:24 It all made sense. 21:25 It was the perfect plan. 21:28 But when you can't see the plans, 21:31 and you don't understand and you can't see His hand, 21:34 trust God's hearts that His love. 21:36 So we, sometimes 21:38 when we're trying to make decisions, 21:40 sometimes it does, His answer doesn't make sense to us, 21:45 but we've got it. 21:46 That's where that trust and relationship comes from. 21:49 If you ask Him for a decision, accept His decision. 21:53 That's right. 21:54 What we're talking about here says 21:56 that you may spend it on your pleasures, 22:00 your pleasures, you know, as it, is it, was it profiting, 22:02 does it profit the gospel, does it profit with God's Word 22:05 is in getting the gospel 22:06 or does it profit yourself personally? 22:08 You know, it's hard because we, 22:10 you know, a lot of people ask, what is God's will for me? 22:13 A lot of people want to know that what is God's will 22:15 and like you said, should line up with Scripture, 22:17 we should be able to find where lies in Scripture. 22:19 So I think that spending on your own pleasure 22:21 and there's so much that can be said there. 22:23 But the closer that relationship comes, 22:26 the more your desires are what God desires. 22:29 Exactly, exactly. 22:31 You come into reading these things reminds us 22:34 to check them. 22:36 Has my motives changed? 22:38 Why am I? 22:39 How am I asking? 22:41 So these biblical scriptures that we're reading, 22:44 gets us to think about our relationship with Him. 22:48 That's right. That's right. 22:49 That's why number four is really important, Honey, 22:51 it's your turn, Babe. 22:53 How does the Bible give assurance 22:55 that God is interested in our decisions? 22:59 Psalm 32:8. 23:01 I like this. 23:02 "I will instruct you and teach you 23:06 in the way you should go. 23:07 I will guide you with my eye." 23:10 It's like that search light, right? 23:11 Right beam, remember, 23:13 we used to have one on top of our car. 23:15 We could see anything, you know, a real bright. 23:18 It was very bright light. 23:20 I mean, like the million candle watt Yeah. 23:24 It was a handheld one and when it was like dark, 23:26 I put it out or we go visiting people 23:28 that are on a dark road. 23:30 Okay, that's the house 23:31 they probably think the police were out. 23:33 Yeah. 23:34 You know, I could yell to myself, 23:35 well, come outside, but it was very bright. 23:37 And what I like about that, notice, 23:40 whose eyes is God gonna use to guide us? 23:43 His eye. 23:45 That search light, that search is the heart. 23:47 He sees. 23:48 He sees. 23:49 You know, this is such a wonderful promise to think 23:51 that God, the Creator of the universe, 23:57 I mean, He's got more than a few things to do, 24:01 okay, that He's doing, 24:03 but Yet he finds time 24:05 and is interested in us 24:08 that He's willing to instruct us. 24:12 What a wonderful God we serve. 24:14 Can we see, can God's eyes see over the horizon? 24:17 You better believe it. 24:19 Plus He also wants was for a benefit for our best. 24:22 You know, I think about in Psalm 139:23-24, 24:25 it says, "Search me O God and know my heart. 24:27 Try me know my thoughts, 24:29 see if there be any wicked way in me 24:30 and leave me in the way everlasting." 24:31 So His guiding and instruction 24:34 is to get you to go on a way everlasting. 24:36 That's what He wants. 24:37 He wants to see in that way. 24:38 Yeah, I remember years ago in New York City, 24:40 just before I was a pastor. 24:41 I worked at Bank of America 24:43 on Broad Street in Wall Street area. 24:45 And there was this game called Three-card Monte. 24:49 I don't know if you ever saw this 24:50 where they have three cards flipping. 24:51 Yes. 24:53 And this is back in the day. 24:55 It was always, it was very popular around payday Friday 24:59 and people put down $20 or $40 was instant gambling, 25:03 but you had to just follow the red card. 25:05 And these guys were very quick with sleight of hand. 25:07 And you think I could tell you how many times I've lost 25:11 but I thought man like I got, I gotta see what he did. 25:14 When I learned it, I realize you can't see what he did. 25:18 And that's how life is. 25:20 We don't have the kind of eyes to see as God does. 25:23 We're looking at the fastness of his hand, 25:26 God would look straight through the card. 25:28 Yeah, I can tell, you don't have to turn it over, 25:30 I know exactly what it is. 25:32 God is not into gambling. 25:33 That's not what I'm saying. 25:34 But God has eyes that we will never have. 25:37 And that's why Isaiah 58:11, Honey, read that one also. 25:41 "The Lord will guide you continually 25:44 and satisfy your soul in drought 25:47 and strengthen your bones. 25:50 You shall be like a watered garden, 25:52 and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail." 25:56 Amen. 25:58 That's a wonderful promise. 25:59 So when God is guiding, will there ever be abundance? 26:01 They'll always be... 26:03 Oh, He loves us. 26:04 Things will always be met. 26:05 I think about when we even first came to 3ABN 26:07 before we came here, like I said we only had, 26:09 had $10 to get from here to Indiana back and forth, 26:13 that was it. 26:14 For gas, that was it. 26:16 I was like there's no way we're gonna get back, 26:17 but the Lord supply but you know, 26:20 when we surrender our lives to Him and as you said, 26:22 Dee, earlier, you know, your best decision 26:24 was to give your life to Lord. 26:25 He's gonna just bless you abundantly 26:28 you know, now we're completely out of debt, 26:30 I mean, for most part. 26:32 I still have school loans, but anyways mostly out of debt. 26:34 And we got our house is sold. 26:36 So everything is just God is blessing us to bloom 26:39 because we're, you know, busy doing His work, 26:41 what He's called us to do, and just, God will do that. 26:45 He loves you first, He wants to, 26:48 His love wants to give you the best life possible. 26:52 We only have to submit to it. 26:54 And then keep asking Him, 26:55 what those decisions are for that best life. 26:59 That's right. 27:00 I want to throw the next one to Ricky 27:01 because we talked about this prior to it 27:03 and I thought you had a really good angle on number five. 27:05 Oh, yeah. 27:06 Number five. 27:07 In what way does the Bible show that decisions 27:10 and obedience are connected? 27:14 The scripture here is Psalms 119:10-11, 27:20 "With my whole heart, I have sought you, 27:24 oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 27:28 Your word I have hidden in my heart 27:30 that I might not sin against You." 27:33 And the other text there's, we have here as well. 27:36 Psalms 119:105, 27:38 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." 27:42 Yes. And one other text. 27:44 Psalms 119:133, 27:48 "Direct my steps by Your word, 27:52 and let no iniquity have dominion over me." 27:55 Beautiful. 27:57 When I was going through this question, 28:00 I was thinking about, 28:01 there's some situations that people may have, 28:06 Christians may have which they may wonder, 28:08 okay, should I do a certain thing? 28:12 How should I handle a certain situation? 28:15 Especially with what is God's Word saying? 28:20 And that's where I think is what's interesting 28:23 about it is that when God's Word 28:25 gives clear instruction 28:27 on how we should handle a situation, 28:30 there really shouldn't be any guesswork. 28:31 For example, someone may be wondering, 28:34 well, should I? 28:36 Should I return tithe considering 28:39 my financial situation? 28:42 Well, first of all, I want to encourage this person. 28:44 Yes. 28:46 You should always return tithes. 28:47 Okay. Amen. 28:49 Malachi 3:10 says, "God says to prove him..." 28:53 That's right. "He says to test him." Yes. 28:57 Or another version says to try Him. 29:00 And when you do this, He promises, God can't lie. 29:04 Amen. 29:06 He promises that He will open up 29:08 the windows of heaven, 29:10 and pour out a blessing 29:11 that you won't have room enough to receive it. 29:15 So here's God's Word giving us 29:18 the instructions on what we should do. 29:20 And, you know, I think about this 29:22 and where we are to be obedient to God's Word. 29:27 And when we are, we'll be blessed 29:30 the Scripture says here. 29:32 And you go further on, if you read it, 29:34 when you don't return, you'll be cursed. 29:38 You don't want to be cursed. 29:39 No, no. 29:41 The Ten Commandments to me is my commandments of freedom. 29:45 Yeah. 29:47 So when you talk about how do you handle the situation. 29:50 If I have to handle a situation by telling someone a lie, 29:56 that's sin against the Lord, not against them, 29:58 because the commandments tell me not to lie. 30:02 I have freedom because I don't lie. 30:06 If I don't covet something, oh, the freedom I have from that. 30:11 And when you, 30:12 when you don't follow God's commandments, 30:16 it binds you some way. 30:19 And then also it takes away your freedom. 30:21 And it also puts something between you and Him. 30:23 Yes. 30:24 So that you don't have all this freedom, 30:26 you don't have all this richness of life. 30:29 It just takes so much from you. 30:32 And yet people look at Him just the opposite. 30:35 And yet, with your whole heart use you, you. 30:40 It's just your obedience 30:42 and His love and joy and happiness 30:46 and in what He gives to you is just overwhelming. 30:51 That's why I go to Him with questions, asking, 30:55 what is the decision I should make? 30:57 Yeah. I think that enriches my life. 31:00 And listen, I was gonna say that I think 31:03 that when you're talking about that, you know, 31:05 just talking to an individual today 31:06 that they brought some people in their apartment. 31:08 I asked myself, well, 31:09 did you tell the landlord about that? 31:11 No, they don't know. 31:12 You're kind of keeping it hidden 31:13 and their conscience was not at peace 31:15 that I couldn't sleep. 31:16 I was bothered all night. I'm not feeling at peace. 31:18 I'm like... 31:19 And if they get caught, they might get thrown out 31:21 and they'd be homeless. 31:22 So, you know, I think that there's something 31:23 that's bothering us. 31:25 There's something we're dying, we're not trusting 31:26 there's something, there's a problem. 31:27 We need to check that with what the Word says, 31:29 because we're not at peace. 31:30 We should be at peace with this when we're doing 31:32 what God's Word says. 31:33 I'm going to read the number six here. 31:35 Okay. 31:36 Why is consulting those of spiritual experience 31:39 a blessing in making decisions? 31:42 Proverbs 11:14, 31:44 "Where there is no counsel, the people fall. 31:49 But in the multitude of counselors, 31:52 there is safety." 31:53 This is really interesting, because I remember, 31:56 the Bible's talking about Jeroboam. 31:58 He says he made priests of the lowest of the people. 32:02 And because Jeroboam received counsel from men of experience, 32:05 and he didn't want. 32:06 He didn't want it. 32:08 So he chose men of no experience, 32:10 he chose the younger men. 32:12 And the Bible says, he made priests 32:13 to the lowest of the people. 32:15 And his fault, the people that counseled and they said, 32:17 now your father did this. 32:19 But if you would do this, 32:20 if you would be nice to the people, 32:23 they would really serve you. 32:24 Jeroboam said, I'm not going to be nice. 32:26 I'm going to make doubly hard, 32:28 and the young folk agree with him. 32:30 Yeah. 32:31 Be careful. 32:33 And I'm not saying this, 32:34 because young people don't have wisdom. 32:37 But let me make a point that I think is factual. 32:40 Well, I'll just tell a story. 32:42 Okay. 32:43 We were in New Guinea, 32:44 you know, the story I'm telling. 32:46 I love it. 32:47 And there was a gentleman, 32:49 older gentleman sitting in the center of a circle. 32:50 And I'd never seen this before. 32:51 And then they had rings around the different circles 32:54 about four other circles. 32:55 And I noticed that the closer the ring, 32:59 people sat at different distances, 33:02 and I asked, what is that? 33:03 And one of the people standing by said, "Oh, you have to earn 33:07 the right to sit close to the older person. 33:12 If you earn that by respect and by receiving his counsel." 33:16 And so I noticed on the outer circle 33:18 was all the young people, 33:20 they had to earn the right because he said, 33:22 he is the head of the village. 33:23 He is the one that's a head of the wisdom of this village, 33:26 you have to earn the right. 33:27 And I thought to myself, wow. 33:29 And so many people sometimes think I asked a girl 33:34 that's a teenager who didn't want 33:37 to listen to her mother. 33:39 But she want her little sister to listen to her. 33:41 I said, "Is your seven year old sister 33:43 wiser than you?" 33:44 She said, "No." 33:46 I said, "What makes you think you're wiser 33:47 than your mother?" 33:48 She said, "Oh." 33:51 So experience is a huge teacher, can, 33:53 let me just ask you, Dee, are there decisions 33:55 you made in your life that you could give a young lady 33:57 good guidance? 33:59 Oh, there's decisions I made 34:00 that I should have asked an older person about. 34:02 And I would have made better decisions. 34:04 Let me bring this really home close to home 34:07 that happens on a daily basis. 34:08 You're talking about spouses. 34:10 How many people have we met ran into 34:14 that after they ended up divorced, said, why didn't you? 34:18 You know, your friends go to you and say, 34:21 well, we knew there was a problem. 34:22 Well, why didn't you tell me? 34:24 We did. 34:25 You would not listen. 34:29 So how many couples do you know 34:31 that people saw these red flags, 34:34 tried to warn them and they didn't want to listen 34:37 and then they end up in so much pain. 34:41 So much unnecessary. 34:43 So realistically, listening to your friends, 34:46 listening to your parents, checking with your pastor, 34:49 when you start dating someone 34:51 is when you should be asking questions 34:53 not after you fall in love with them. 34:55 Exactly. 34:57 And even about work or movie be, when... 35:02 Yes, you need to make your own decision, 35:04 you need to go to the Lord with it. 35:05 But sometimes you need to ask people their opinion. 35:09 And then take that opinion to the Lord 35:12 and see if it brings you peace or understanding. 35:16 When we put our will above God's, 35:21 there is a price to pay and it's not a happy one. 35:25 Wow. 35:26 You know, there's some times in life when you, 35:29 you're gonna have a challenge. 35:30 And you, you, you there's a desire, 35:33 we want to talk to somebody about that, 35:36 that challenge or a decision that you want to make. 35:39 And God allows that, I mean, 35:42 especially good to talk to someone that's God fearing. 35:45 And yes. 35:47 That's really important. 35:48 Who you choose. 35:49 Yeah, I mean, you, we can get the decisions 35:51 from the Word of God, we already established that. 35:54 But in gospel God has put, placed God fearing people 35:58 around us to help us to get the answers for our challenges. 36:03 Scripturally I can think of a few. 36:06 I think about Moses. 36:08 You know, Moses had Jethro to go, 36:10 a God fearing man, Jethro. 36:13 Timothy, he had a God fearing man 36:15 that he went to, 36:16 which was Paul, and then Nicodemus, 36:19 a God fearing man, Jesus, right? 36:24 So perfect examples there in Scripture. 36:26 People of experience, it makes a difference. 36:28 And so, young folk, if you think 36:30 that somehow you have enough wisdom 36:31 to overlook your parent's wisdom. 36:33 And let me just make a point. 36:34 Not all parents make the best decisions. 36:36 Right. 36:37 But when it comes to the basic things of life, 36:39 because it could be a spiritual decision 36:41 where I know the young lady, 36:42 remember, we were in New Guinea. 36:44 And this young lady she just hit 20. 36:47 And she was making the decision a couple years earlier 36:51 about giving her life to Christ. 36:52 And her parents said, "No, you cannot be baptized yet." 36:56 And so, she was struggling 36:57 and she came to both of us in tears. 36:59 She says, "I asked my parents, could I get baptized? 37:01 And they told me no." 37:03 I asked first, "How old are you?" 37:05 She says, "I'm 20". 37:07 I said, "It's now your decision. 37:09 You have to make the decision before the Lord." 37:11 So while the pastor was baptizing people, 37:13 we're so glad your family is rejoicing with you today. 37:16 We're so glad your parents are rejoicing with you today. 37:18 She looked up at us to kind of like say, 37:20 my parents don't even know. 37:22 But I'm giving my life to the Lord 37:24 because it's my decision. 37:25 So on those spiritual notes, 37:27 when God is guiding a heart to make a godly decision, 37:31 the Word of God will confirm what needs to be done. 37:33 And in those cases, 37:35 don't allow people to override that. 37:37 And some people put their lives on the line. 37:39 I remember when we were about to join Heritage Singers. 37:41 Oh, yeah. 37:43 And my mother said opportunity knock once. 37:46 Go. 37:47 Because I said, "What should I do, Mom? 37:49 I don't want to leave. I don't want to go." 37:50 She said, "Angie, opportunity knock once. 37:53 Go. 37:54 And from that word go, 37:56 our life has never been the same. 37:58 I listened to my godly mother. 38:00 If we had ignored her advice... 38:02 Yes, yes. 38:03 We would, aren't we? 38:05 I don't think anything that has happened 38:06 from that point on would have ever happened. 38:09 But that was a scary decision for you. 38:11 You were stepping out with no idea 38:14 of not being able to achieve it. 38:15 Not even married a year yet. 38:16 Yeah, we don't. 38:18 You would not see the future. 38:19 No. But a godly woman... 38:21 Yes. My mother. 38:22 Told you to jump. 38:23 Yes. 38:25 Go and we're going to California 38:26 is like another country. 38:28 You know, we're coming from the east coast. 38:29 We're coming from, we're in Florida at the time. 38:32 And when she said go 38:34 and the old lady around us, how she said. 38:36 Oh, yes, because I just rebuilt my... 38:39 I had an old Toyota Corolla 1976, station wagon. 38:44 And I blown the engine not too long before that. 38:46 And I rebuilt the entire engine 38:50 by buying a Chilton's auto manual. 38:53 Young folk, don't even think about that. 38:55 But it was an auto manual 38:56 that was so written to guide you detail by detail 39:00 how to rebuild an engine. 39:01 I've never done that before. 39:03 So I bought this book. 39:04 And I thought, man, my engine's blown. 39:06 So it told me what to do, how to do it. 39:09 I literally put a piece of tape on everything. 39:11 I took off that engine to put where it came from. 39:14 This is the second screw on the left side of the engine. 39:17 And my friend and I took the whole engine out 39:20 and when Angie came by to look at the car, 39:22 she said, "Where's the engine?" 39:23 I said, "It's everywhere." 39:25 And it was. 39:26 And it was everywhere. 39:28 And then I bought the rings because I blew the on the rings 39:31 a piston rings and the timing chain was stuck 39:34 and I'd buy a new timing chain. 39:36 Finally put it back together two weeks and two days later. 39:39 And that engine started. 39:42 And I thought, God gave me two lessons. 39:44 He said, "If your life seems to be in pieces, 39:49 follow the book. 39:51 And then that is when the family 39:53 was doubting us because now we have to take 39:55 that same car and drive 3028 miles from Central Florida 39:59 to Northern California to Placerville 40:01 to join the Heritage Singers. 40:03 And everybody said, here's my phone number 40:04 just in case it breaks down. 40:06 Old Southern black lady said, "If God could take Moses 40:11 through a desert with one slipper, 40:13 He can take you all the way to California. 40:15 Amen. 40:17 And we had no air conditioning, it was July. 40:18 Can you imagine driving highway 10 40:20 and you know route 10. 40:21 Oh, yeah. 40:22 It's hot from Florida to California 40:25 through Arizona through Texas. 40:26 Yeah. 40:27 The only way you got air condition 40:29 with driving fast. 40:30 The air blowing up. 40:31 But you ask the right person the right question. 40:35 When you ask the wrong person, the wrong question, 40:38 you get the wrong answer. 40:39 And people do that today. 40:41 That's why you start with the Lord. 40:43 Beautiful scripture it goes along as you guys 40:44 are talking about. 40:46 Yeah, Proverbs 27:9. 40:47 Okay. 40:48 The key in there, it says, ointment and perfume, yes, 40:52 it's Proverbs 27:9, "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: 40:56 so doth the sweetness of a man's friend 40:58 by hearty counsel." 41:00 Amen. Wonderful. 41:02 You know, yeah, I'm just thinking back 41:04 when I was young, 41:05 I made a lot of stupid mistakes, 41:07 dumb mistakes. 41:08 Join the crowds. 41:10 But I'm just thinking what if I had somebody 41:11 that could counsel me. 41:13 I'm just thinking about the young people 41:14 that might be watching right now. 41:16 I'm thinking about you out there. 41:17 You know, we're talking about young people. 41:19 Find a good mentor. 41:20 We talked about godly people, find some in your community, 41:22 a good, also I mean church or whoever it is 41:25 that you can trust that you can talk 41:27 to because you need that hearty counsel. 41:29 I didn't have it. 41:30 I wish I did. 41:31 And I would have made a lot more better decisions 41:33 had I had that counsel, 41:35 so I want to just encourage somebody 41:36 that you will be rejoicing, you'll rejoice your heart 41:39 'cause you have wisdom. 41:40 Sometimes you have good counsel and you don't listen. 41:42 Right, right. Well... 41:43 Few times as a teenager, I wouldn't listen to my mother. 41:45 My mother said, boys and books don't mix. 41:47 Oh, yeah, Mom. 41:48 You know, I would just wouldn't listen sometimes. 41:51 But I was the boy. 41:53 I was just kidding. 41:55 Behave. 41:57 Boys and books don't mix. 41:58 I'm like you. 42:00 I wish I had had a godly counsel. 42:04 And maybe I could have done something sooner. 42:07 You would make different decisions. 42:10 God in His time, He brought me out. 42:13 He makes all things beautiful in His time. 42:15 Donald, let's go to number seven. 42:17 Okay. 42:18 Read that question. Let's walk through that. 42:19 How else does the Bible indicate 42:21 that we should recognize God's guidance? 42:25 See, Proverbs 23:26. 42:28 This is the New King James Version. 42:30 "My son," while it's kind of intimate, is it? 42:33 "My son, give me your heart, 42:35 and let your eyes observe my ways." 42:38 Amen. 42:39 Wow, observe my ways. 42:41 Then we got Ecclesiastes 8:5 says, 42:45 "He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful. 42:51 And a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment." 42:54 Wow. 42:56 I like that. 42:57 When the time is right, and what decision to make. 43:00 That's about a wise man's heart. 43:01 And the heart gets wise because God is the one speaking 43:03 and you're the one listening. 43:05 Yeah, we had something incident happened over the weekend. 43:08 And last weekend, I was talking to this individual, 43:11 this individual got upset. 43:13 And it was just real negative. 43:14 And everything was really heavy. 43:15 It was so amazing because God how He works, 43:17 He shows that He loves and cares for you. 43:19 He had somebody I hadn't talked 43:20 to in months call me out the blue. 43:22 And this individual Tony said, "Donald, 43:23 I'm so thankful for your wife, 43:25 you and Janelle, you just, you made it, 43:27 you inspired me." 43:28 He said, "You inspired me so much. 43:29 I just want to call and thank you." 43:32 Here I just had this whole negative tirade 43:34 of this individual and then this person calls and like, 43:37 Janelle just looked over me in tears. 43:38 She said you realize what God just did for you. 43:40 Right. 43:42 Somebody was dogging you and somebody else called you 43:44 and encouraged you. 43:45 Oh, man. 43:47 What a wonderful God we serve. 43:48 We confirm that you were on the right path. 43:49 We confirm that you were doing what God called you for. 43:52 Yeah, not to quit, not to give in. 43:55 So that you kept making a good decision 43:57 in following and doing what God led you to do. 43:59 God cares. 44:01 Right, right. It's amazing. 44:02 And sometimes just the word in due season. 44:04 Right. 44:05 Because we've received emails that way too. 44:06 I mean, when you, 44:08 when you are a public personality 44:10 as we are here, we live in a fishbowl. 44:12 And there are things that I preach about 44:14 that people hear one way and the other person hears 44:16 the way I intended, 44:17 the other person hears 44:19 what I didn't say or put what I, 44:21 what they thought I said and it just gets all mixed up. 44:23 And I respect all the emails that come through. 44:26 And I say well, I got to go back 44:28 and listen to that, did I say that. 44:30 And sometimes I go back and say, I did say that. 44:32 And sometimes I say I didn't say that. 44:33 How did they get that from that? 44:35 And sometimes you get an email where people will simply say, 44:39 "We want you to change your entire program. 44:41 We want you to get rid of that set. 44:43 We want you to do." 44:44 And I'm thinking, 44:46 I'm thinking what actually is going through their mind 44:48 did that sermon activate all those thoughts? 44:52 And you feel so crushed and like maybe an hour 44:55 and a half later somebody calls me and say, 44:56 Pastor Lomacang, I needed to hear word 44:59 from the Lord and this Sabbath your sermon opened my eyes. 45:01 Thank you. 45:03 And I'd say, Lord is saying this, 45:04 don't worry about it, 45:05 I understand what it feels like. 45:07 Direction of the storm. 45:09 So many that's our sermon direction of the storm. 45:12 Direction. 45:13 So many people need that direction. 45:15 Following God's decision, following His advice. 45:20 He is stronger than Satan. 45:22 Satan is very busy. 45:24 He is going to be trying to take you down. 45:26 Yeah. 45:27 But when you lean up on the Lord, 45:29 and you give Him your heart and you let your eyes observe 45:32 what the Lord does and your ears hear, 45:35 then he's going to overcome Satan. 45:37 Yes. 45:39 That's right. 45:40 It goes right into Romans 8:20. 45:41 Okay, pretty good segue. 45:43 Go ahead, Donald. 45:44 We know that all things work together for good 45:46 to those who love God, 45:49 to those who are called according to His purpose. 45:51 Amen. 45:52 Perfectly, we're just talking 45:53 about, it's amazing how it tied right down, it's beautiful. 45:55 You know, sometimes people think that that saying 45:57 that everything is good. 46:00 There's bad things that happened. 46:01 But God takes it and works it around, 46:05 Satan does his worse. 46:07 And God is, not that everything that happens is good, 46:10 is that God takes it uses it to His good purpose 46:14 when Satan meant it evil. 46:16 Your thinking make me think of the story of Joseph. 46:18 Boy, you want to talk about... 46:20 Evil. 46:21 Anyways, you know, 46:23 his brothers threw him in to slavery. 46:25 And of course, he gets in prison, 46:27 all the stuff just fast forward. 46:28 Genesis 50:20 said, what you meant, 46:30 "What they meant for evil, God meant for good." 46:32 So God used that to deliver His own family, 46:36 they were starved. 46:37 And so God, I mean, that's incredible. 46:39 You just, you look back, 46:40 and you see how God maybe lead your life, 46:42 and can use you to impress somebody 46:43 or to inspire to encourage somebody else. 46:45 That's right. 46:47 Anything, Ricky? 46:48 I was thinking about the wheat and tares when you mentioned, 46:52 the, how Satan is the one that did that. 46:57 And we have a perfect example with the wheat and the tares. 47:00 It's the when Jesus says, well, who did this 47:02 and says it's an enemy that did this. 47:06 And so no matter what challenge that we can kind of go through, 47:12 if we, we could bring it on ourselves. 47:16 There's times when Satan is actively doing it. 47:20 Sometimes, though, there's a challenge 47:22 that we come to in our life, and the Lord leads us into it. 47:26 I think about the Red Sea, you know. 47:30 The Israelites didn't go wandering 47:32 to the Red Sea by themselves. 47:33 God led them there. 47:36 But even through that experience, 47:37 you know, God definitely worked that out for good. 47:39 Because He had an answer. 47:41 Right. 47:42 He had a plan. 47:43 Number eight, Dee? 47:45 Oh, number eight. 47:46 Oh, I love this one. 47:47 Good question. 47:49 What is one of the best guidelines 47:51 in making a timely decision? 47:53 And in Psalms, I love Psalms, I love Proverbs, 47:55 they're just... 47:57 Psalms 90:12, "So teach us to number our days 48:01 that we may gain a heart of wisdom." 48:05 What does that mean to you, Dee? 48:07 That means that praise the Lord, 48:10 I am wiser than I was when I became a Christian. 48:14 I sometimes can already know God's decisions 48:18 because I know His Word. 48:20 He's led me in the past. 48:22 So I already know how to make the right decision, 48:26 the best decision through His Word, 48:30 and I also being wiser in His way number our days 48:35 that we gain a heart of wisdom. 48:37 We don't fight against the bad stuff so much anymore. 48:43 I embrace the good decisions now. 48:46 I want them and I don't look backwards at the bad ones. 48:50 And I don't see how close I can walk away. 48:55 How can I still be close to the Lord 48:56 but how far away can I get? 48:59 But we learned from our mistakes, don't we? 49:02 Our choices? Yes. 49:03 Her decisions she never wanted to share. 49:05 He always say, don't say mistakes. 49:07 You know, when you hit the wrong key on the keyboard 49:09 or wrong color in the font, that's a mistake. 49:12 But when you make an intentional left decision, 49:14 left turn or you choose the wrong flight 49:16 or you make impactful decisions, 49:20 say I made the wrong decision. 49:22 Mistakes are things that are incidental, 49:24 decisions are I chose that. 49:26 Okay, Honey, speak to them. 49:27 But a heart of wisdom. 49:29 Yes. 49:30 A heart of wisdom get you go in the right decisions. 49:31 Yes. Okay. 49:33 Remember Joel your Mollie's little girl. 49:34 Oh, yeah. 49:36 Please tell this story. 49:37 I absolutely love it. 49:38 A good friend of mine. 49:40 We were visiting in California at the time. 49:41 Yes. 49:42 And I was visiting with him. 49:44 Actually, I was working on my second CD. 49:45 And I was visiting at his house. 49:47 So he said, let's just go have some lunch. 49:48 And he, his wife and he and their daughter, 49:50 a little girl at the time. 49:52 We went to a restaurant and mom said, 49:54 "Do you want some dinner?" 49:56 She said, "No. 49:57 I want dessert." 49:59 She said, "You got to wait. 50:00 We're gonna all have dessert together." 50:02 So no, I want it now. 50:04 She said, "No, you don't get it now. 50:06 You get it when we all have dessert together. 50:08 So you don't want any dinner?" No. 50:11 Okay, so we all got our meal and she's sitting there 50:13 and watching us all eating, she said, Mommy, 50:16 I made a bad decision. 50:19 I'm hungry. It was so cute. 50:22 And I bet that was beautiful, the mother didn't give in, 50:25 the teaching that made you right. 50:26 She said, "You did what?" "I made a bad decision?" 50:30 She's going on four years old, five years old. 50:32 And I thought, wow, what an amazing thing. 50:35 In fact she had learned. 50:37 She knew how to say that. 50:39 She had learned from her parents to understand 50:42 the difference between a good decision 50:44 and a bad decision. 50:45 But Mommy, I made a bad decision. 50:48 But I'm glad she's now growing with the word mistakes. 50:50 Honey, read number nine for us. 50:52 Okay. 50:53 How do we know that God is interested in choices 50:57 that affect our destiny? 50:59 Psalm 37:23, "The steps of a good man are ordered 51:04 by the Lord, and he delights in his ways." 51:07 It's ordered. That's right. 51:10 Good man or woman. 51:11 Good man. That's right. 51:13 And what's it saying is when the Lord is guiding you, 51:14 and you know the Lord is guiding you. 51:16 Yes. 51:17 And you know that these are steps 51:19 that God is telling you to make. 51:20 You say, I am happy to walk that way. 51:23 Amen. 51:24 I'm glad that God is guiding me that way. 51:26 That's why it says... 51:28 Choose you this day whom you will serve. 51:30 The gods of Baal, for me and my, you now, what it says? 51:33 Go on the right or the left? 51:35 You hear a voice behind you see, 51:36 this is the way walk in it. 51:38 And so when you know that God is guiding, you say, 51:40 I'm glad to go that route. 51:41 Amen. 51:42 The danger comes in when some people know 51:44 that this is God's way. 51:45 And they don't want to go that way. 51:47 They don't delight. 51:48 But he put before you two roads. 51:50 Life and blessings. 51:51 That's encouraging somebody to say... 51:53 Choose life. 51:55 Making decisions. 51:56 Yes, yes. 51:58 There's a good scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14. 52:00 Oh, yeah. 52:01 That's a good one. Yes. 52:03 It says, "If my people which are called by my name 52:05 shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face 52:08 and turn from their wicked ways. 52:11 Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin 52:14 and will heal their land." 52:15 Amen. I thought that's the destiny. 52:18 See, destiny will change 52:19 if we make the decision to listen. 52:21 What's the first word? 52:22 Yeah. Yeah, if. 52:24 Yeah, the little word if. 52:27 But you end up he delights in his way. 52:31 I have such joy in my life that I never would have, 52:35 that I never had before Jesus. 52:38 Amen. 52:39 And it doesn't mean my life is perfect. 52:42 But there's joy and delight in my life. 52:45 And even if I make a mistake, He forgives me. 52:48 So I could not imagine 52:50 going back to the life before Jesus. 52:52 No. 52:54 It was dark and painful and... 52:56 Right. 52:58 Now you have delighted. 52:59 I'm pleased and delighted. 53:01 Yeah, peace in your heart. 53:02 Thankful to, you know, years ago, of course, you know, 53:03 when you're in the dating scene, 53:05 you're not sure what to decide. 53:07 As far as what a good virtuous woman looks like, 53:10 because you're not you don't really, 53:11 you're learning. 53:12 But anyways there's women I dated 53:14 in the past horrible decisions, 53:15 horrible decisions. 53:17 But the Lord did bring it a young lady in my life. 53:21 And I told my mom, said, mom, this is the one, 53:24 she's the right one. 53:25 So you say about every girl you go and meet. 53:27 I'm like, "No, I'm telling you, Mom, this is the one." 53:30 And it turned out she was the one 53:31 and she's the one in a sense brought me to the Lord. 53:33 But then interesting enough that God had used me to bring 53:37 her back to Seventh-day Adventism. 53:38 So making the right decision is just incredible 53:41 how God will definitely... 53:43 I don't know just how He does it, 53:45 it's just incredible to. 53:46 Neither my husband and I 53:48 were Christians when we married. 53:49 We were both way out there in the world. 53:52 That he had an Adventist background 53:54 and an Adventist mother. 53:56 Yeah. 53:58 And when it was time, that God wooed us... 54:00 Right. Amen. 54:02 To go down the right path. 54:03 And both y'all came back? 54:05 Absolutely. 54:07 So God is interested in our destiny. 54:09 I want you to read Isaiah 30:21, Ricky, 54:12 because this shows you that God is interested in your destiny. 54:16 Absolutely. 54:17 Look at this. This is a powerful. 54:19 I love this. Yes. 54:20 "Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 54:23 this is the way walk in it. 54:27 Whenever you turn to the right hand, 54:29 or whenever you turn to the left." 54:31 Isn't that powerful? 54:33 God is saying, you think I'm not concerned 54:35 about your destiny. 54:36 I'm gonna tell you which way to go. 54:37 I am going to tell you which way to walk, 54:39 and no better person because we live in a life, 54:42 this world is like a maze. 54:44 There was a place in Vacaville, California called a Maze. 54:47 And we went to one in Hawaii, you remember that? 54:50 We went to this maze in Hawaii? 54:51 Who would do that to themselves to put yourselves in a maze? 54:55 Well, life is like a maze. 54:57 So the whole thing is you have to find your way in this maze 54:59 and out of the maze. 55:00 Some people that got in there 55:02 got frustrated and yelled to help 55:03 because they couldn't find their way out, 55:04 and some people just walked straight 55:06 through the bushes there, 55:07 of course because they were frustrated. 55:09 You get all beat up. 55:10 Yes, yes, scratch. 55:12 And we made our way out of this maze in Hawaii. 55:14 Yeah, we did, we did. 55:15 Get all the hints and say, okay. 55:17 There's a little bit map, little bit guidance. 55:19 But it doesn't show you how to get up, 55:21 it's just little clues. 55:22 We followed clues and we made it out here beside. 55:25 But life is like a maze. 55:27 Your last question has diverse in it that I have at home. 55:32 It's one I'd love forever. 55:33 Okay, I'll let you read, Dee. 55:35 Read that. Dee. 55:36 Oh, you can read it, I just... 55:37 No, you read it. 55:39 It's what way, in what way does God make it simple for us 55:41 to lean on Him? 55:43 And Proverbs again, 55:45 Proverbs 3:5-6, 55:49 "Trust in the Lord, with all your heart, 55:52 and lean not on your own understanding. 55:57 In all your ways acknowledge Him, 56:00 and He shall direct your path." 56:02 Amen. 56:04 Decisions, decisions. 56:05 From the moment I started trusting Him, 56:08 from the moment I started saying, 56:10 Lord, what is Your decision? 56:12 Life changed. 56:13 Life changed. 56:15 You know, and of course, right now I have a short prayer 56:16 because I know there's somebody watching they probably said, 56:19 while I'm faced with a critical, critical decision, 56:21 I don't often do this. 56:22 But I'm impressed to have a word of prayer. 56:24 Let's just do that before the program ends. 56:26 Loving Father in heaven, 56:27 there's somebody watching this program tonight 56:28 that's faced with a critical decision. 56:30 It could be medical, financial, relational, I don't know. 56:33 But, Lord, You impressed me to pray for them right now. 56:36 That they'll listen to Your voice 56:37 because every decision can have a major impact. 56:39 That's right. 56:40 Give them wisdom and may these scriptures 56:42 we shared with them, 56:43 open their minds and eyes to say, I'm listening 56:46 for that voice, Lord, tell me to go left or right. 56:49 I can't make the next step without Your guidance. 56:51 May their hearts sense that they can trust You 56:54 and know that You will. 56:55 They won't lean on their own understanding. 56:57 They'll acknowledge 56:59 You and You will direct their paths. 57:00 So give them the ear to hear, Father, 57:02 that this next decision they make 57:04 will bring them into abundance 57:06 and bring comfort to their hearts. 57:08 We pray in Jesus' name. 57:10 Amen. 57:11 Well, friends, thank you for joining, 57:14 decisions, decisions. 57:15 I'm glad that we made a decision 57:17 at end of the program. 57:18 Yes, all of you. 57:20 And we always enjoy coming into your home, 57:21 especially on Friday evening. 57:23 We want to say happy Sabbath again. 57:25 Happy Sabbath. 57:26 And, friends, next decision that we're asking you to make 57:29 is invite the Lord to make the Sabbath a blessed Sabbath. 57:32 And until we see again, God bless you. |
Revised 2021-07-01