Category: Podcasts (Page 56 of 80)

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Have you ever been faced with the reality that what you have dreamed for, hoped for and prayed for will never happen? Has the giving up reaction in this one event spread into every corner of your life, effectively killing your faith in the unfailing love of God? Have you been seduced into believing that life is a series of situations over which you have no control? So why not just be satisfied with the good things that you do have, finding contentment in the things that satisfy most people? In other words, mediocrity!

Maybe you have not been there as many of us have. If not, these words and truths we are about to share might still be useful to you in encouraging others to reach for the stars! Did not Jesus give us this dream? Did not He set hearts on fire to believe the unbelievable? Did He not teach us to attain the unattainable? Did He not plant the seed in us through which we would do greater works than He?

Hope is the expectation of the overwhelming Goodness of God.

We must first of all realize that He is the author and finisher of our faith. Then we can be settled in our minds as to what the Creator of the Universe desires for us. It is His intention to stretch our imaginations and expand our horizons to begin believing for and working towards great and wonderful possibilities! It is time to forget the failures of the past and begin walking into a new day! Look around you for just a few minutes. In a short time you can easily see the immediate need for miracles everywhere! Then, if we lift up our hearts and arise into Him we can be the channel through which Jesus wants to bring these wonderful solutions!

The Lord might not be interested in formulas and rituals, but He does desire a relationship with us. From that relationship we can cultivate a faith, hope, and love-filled life. Behold Him! His beauty! His Power! His unconditional Love! Become overwhelmed with the compassion that He has for all mankind! Realize from this that He thrills in opening His hand to those in need, and in using us to deliver them.

Jesus taught us to pray without ceasing and not to faint. Realizing there are situations that are beyond our understanding, we must come before Him in humility. Never giving up in prayer does not mean insisting on our own way. It means we are persuaded by God that the best interests of all of us are in His heart. We must never yield to thoughts that His love will fail us.

Hope is the expectation of the overwhelming goodness of God. Sometimes we have the substance of that hope in a specific situation, and we can cling tenaciously to it until the final outcome. Other times we can only trust in that goodness, the trusting being our only participation. The poorer choice is to fail to participate at all. This cuts us off from the life of God as it flows out to meet the needs of others. Far too many of God’s people have made this wrong choice. Today, however, He is giving us the understanding that there are so many more positive and creative options than before were realized!

Prayer is a petition for the well-being of ourselves and others, and it can be expressed in a number of ways. When there is an opportunity to directly affect a situation to bring it into God’s perfect will, the greatest prayer we can offer is our service to God. Obedience to Him in itself is a very powerful option. Other times we can only offer supportive thoughts and words as we enter into our spiritual communication with Him.

Miracles are God’s pleasure. When the conditions are right in us, He is pleased to demonstrate His power in this earth. This is what He instructed us to pray for, that His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. Believe me, this does not ordinarily happen. It happens when we pray and never give up. Will the son of man find faith in the earth? That depends upon how you and I respond to Him in our present circumstances. He has freely given us His Word to rely on, and in that trust we obtain the power to walk in it.

In recent years a general dissatisfaction with present conditions in our lives and the world around us has developed in many. This is a good sign! Now we can come before God in repentance and faith towards His ability to save us! Sometimes even in weeping and brokenness we must approach Him, that we might find His desire. From the scripture as well as personal experience we know that His desire for us is good, but we have too often interfered with His will by enforcing our own. By realigning ourselves with Him, we enter into His Kingdom, and the blessing and power that only He can offer. Here is a dimension wherein an abundance of all that we need most is found!

A dangerous condition develops when we become so preoccupied with the positive things that are happening, that we become overly content and satisfied. If Jesus was as positive as some believers are today He would not have found it necessary to die on the cross! He would only have needed to instruct His followers to look for the good and ignore the bad. Then those who were in a position to lift up the poor, sick, oppressed and ignorant would not have taken on the challenge. Having found their own personal peace and contentment, why should they risk their lives and their reputations? After all, they were the chosen of God — weren’t they?

You are probably thankful that this was not the case. Jesus did die on the cross. The apostles did give their lives to share the good news of the kingdom to the world. And you and I are going to continue in this great tradition! Hear the Word of God as it penetrates into your heart and shakes your very being! Tremble at His Voice as it calls you to a deeper and more intimate walk with Him. Awaken to the great purpose He has called you unto and move into it one step at a time, with every fiber of your being devoted to it! Listen intently as He lovingly and patiently directs your footsteps in the Way, the Truth and the Life!

This is a time that cries out for miracles. The world needs to see a demonstration of God’s power, but no more than we do. Our friends and families are in crises. Our cities, our nation, and our world need to find hope. That hope is in Jesus Christ, and He has chosen you and me to be distributors of it! This is not a time to reminisce of the great healing evangelists of past and present generations, or conjure up images of ourselves following in their steps. If we can obtain inspiration from others and their walking with God, that is helpful. But we must never become distracted from the specific purpose He has chosen for us. As each one stands in his place in Christ, holding on to the promise of His Life, miracles will happen.

Today there is someone near you that you can help. Perhaps just a phone call or visit is all that is needed. Maybe an hour in prayer for that person will be more effective. The point is: nothing will happen if you do not make yourself available to God. All He needs is your willingness. You will be amazed with what He is capable of doing through you when you simply present yourself to Him for His service!

Some of us carry a burden for broken families. Others feel the pain of those who suffer physically. If God puts a desire in you to defend the helpless, respond to it. All of us must work in our own circle of influence, with our own unique spiritual and natural gifts. In this way we can answer to the overall need, giving Jesus Christ to others.

Never give up in your desire to see the righteousness, peace and joy of the Lord revealed in everyday circumstances. Cling to His promise and thank Him for choosing you to participate with Him in the transformation of your generation! As part of the living Body of Christ, you are a vital force to be reckoned with. When faith, hope and love begin to spring forth, the walls of sickness, death, hopelessness and injustice will be driven back. Those who have chosen to lay down their lives unto His will, shall have the thrill of seeing the impossible accomplished. Their reward will be the satisfaction of knowing that they believed in their God and never gave up.

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Over 40 years ago I experienced a life-crisis through a failed marriage which I did everything in my power to save. This was the most painful time I had ever experienced in my life. Feelings of helplessness brought me to my knees before the Lord, and I rededicated my heart to Him one night in my home. Amazingly, I awoke the next morning feeling light as a feather! The whole world seemed fresh and new, even though my troubles had in no way been dissolved.

The only change was in me. In fact, I experienced the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that I had never known before. It was then that I realized how God could work all things, even heart-breaking experiences for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28).

Before I go any further, let me say that I do not enjoy difficulties and hard times any more than anyone else. Sometimes I can take them in stride, other times I literally despise them. I do not always know when it is appropriate to accept situations and when they should be challenged and resisted. For this reason I have found that the only safe thing to do is to trust in the Lord with all my heart, to lean not on my own understanding, to acknowledge Him in all my ways, knowing He will direct my path. (Proverbs 3:5-6).

However, the Word of the Lord is clear. There are times in which our suffering is the will of God. Those who do not believe that examples of Old Covenant believers like Joseph, David, Daniel and Job apply to us today cannot deny the lessons of Jesus, Peter and Paul in the New Covenant. All of them portrayed the inescapable fact that some times of suffering in the life of the child of God are His will for us, and are even of great value.

In an earlier podcast, I spoke of prayer, thanksgiving, and rejoicing as being activities that reflect the will of God for the believer. While we can maintain a general attitude of rejoicing, there is a time, however, to weep with those who weep, and morn with those who morn. (Romans 12:15). There is also a time when a state of distress or heaviness becomes necessary. (1 Peter 1:6).

There is even a time to rise up in righteous anger against situations that oppose the advance of the righteous Kingdom of God. Jesus surrendered to the plans of evil men, in order to fulfill the will of God. But He always challenged their oppressive tendencies, and championed the needs of those sick and oppressed of the devil and his workers.

Today I would like to challenge certain beliefs that are prevalent today in many Christian circles. We seem to be divided into two camps. One group seems to be saying that everything that happens, every sickness, every disease, every crime, every war, every rape and murder is the will of God, for He is sovereign. They say that we are to praise Him FOR everything that happens, whether good or bad. We do know that God has brought good out of some horrible circumstances, but nowhere are we taught in Scripture to draw this fatalistic conclusion. In fact, it is plain that many tragedies happen because people reject the good will of God for their lives.

On the other hand, there are those who believe that suffering is never in the will of God for any believer. They believe that perfect health, personal comfort, and an abundance of material possessions is always God’s perfect will for those of us who love Him. To this point I ask, “Is God not able to perform His will?” The reason often given for why so few obtain this state of perfect physical bliss is that we simply don’t believe like we should. Again, that puts God in a state of helplessness, as if even He cannot overcome our evident lack of faith.

God is our Heavenly Father. As a father myself I will always have ideals for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I want what is best for them. Of course I want them to be happy, healthy and prosperous, but more than that, I desire for them to know Christ and to reflect His character. When my children were in my home and under my care, I had to sometimes tell them “no” for their own good. I do not like saying no. Sometimes I had to withhold from them things that were not wrong or hurtful, simply to teach them obedience. Other times I even had to use forceful measures to teach them, not because I enjoyed it but because they needed it. I am sad to say that my distaste for discipline was behind some of my failures as a father and they ultimately suffered because of it.

The Kingdom of God is a picture of an ideal world pressing against a corrupt and sin-ridden world. We must never let God’s ideal of “Shalom” — peace, wholeness, well-being, safety, and His ideals of justice, holiness, and love fade in our minds. His ideals press us forward toward the goal of becoming the express image of Jesus Himself. No amount of suffering or sacrifice can compare to that marvelous end! When necessary, He will use unpleasant circumstances, that are even unpleasant to Him, in order to bring forth His ideals in us.

We must learn to be passive towards the dealings of God our Father, and at the same time active and aggressive in our resistance to sin and to the pressures of the culture and values of fallen humanity.

1 Peter 4:19:
“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”

Romans 12:1-2:
“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
NASB

Romans 8:28-29:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

It is not the time to choose up sides on this issue. It is the time to re-evaluate our assumptions and listen to the whole counsel of God. You may find several flaws in the considerations I have put forth here. I only ask you to consider them, and seek the Lord for yourself in every situation in order to determine His will for you. His will and intention for you is more wonderful, more glorious, more joyous than anything you could ever imagine for yourself!