The devil may try and entice you to sin, but arm yourself with God's Word and you'll win every time.
In this captivating episode, Liz Franzel sits down with Nick Vujicic, a motivational speaker and founder of Nick V Ministries, to explore the profound impact of human trafficking in America. With his personal triumph over physical and mental obstacles as a backdrop, Nick calls upon listeners to recognize and combat the insidious issue of modern slavery. Discover how you can contribute to protecting vulnerable communities as we reveal the frightening truth behind the statistics, and learn tangible steps you can take to make a difference.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is Liz Franzel with Crawford Media Group, and today we are privileged to have Nick Vujicic with us today. He is the founder and CEO of Nick V Ministries, renowned speaker around the world and best-selling author. This month is National Human Trafficking Month, and we'll be talking about his mission to end this horrific crime against humanity. Nick, it's an honor to have you here with us today.
SPEAKER 01 :
Liz, thank you so much for having me on.
SPEAKER 02 :
Nick, you have such an amazing testimony and for our listeners that might not know, you were born with no arms or legs and you have overcome what some would say are impossible circumstances, but we know that all things are possible with God and you are a testament to that. Can you tell us a little bit about your story and how you overcame incredible challenges?
SPEAKER 01 :
Look, thank you so much for asking. I am so blessed at 42 years of age to be able to always let everyone know that first and foremost, having no limbs sounds pretty difficult. But I always tell people that it's not about the physical difficulties as much as the disabilities of the heart and the mind. And for me, you know, people could look at me at school and judge me or decide if they interact with me, isolate themselves from me or even bully me. And I think it was around age six that I knew that I was different than everyone else. And for the first time, I thought, well, that might be an issue. I was raised in a beautiful, loving home, went to church every week. My dad was a pastor, and I was asked by many people, why were you born this way? I did not know why. My brother and sister were born with limbs. People then asked me, what do you want to be when you grow up? I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. And I really felt like I was a burden to my parents. I had ups and downs at school as any student, but obviously had a lot of unwanted attention and definitely fears about my future. The Bible says that God has a hope, plan, and future, and I didn't understand if that verse would really be for me ever. I thought I'd be a burden to everyone around me, never get married, never be happy, never have children, never even get a job. And so I premeditated and planned a suicide attempt at age 10. I attempted in my bathtub and tried to drown myself because all I could see were broken pieces. And by the grace of God, I was stopped by one thought, imagining my parents at my grave wishing they could have done something more. And I didn't want to leave them with that pain. And I just am so glad I decided to stay by His grace. Age 15, I read John chapter 9, a man was born blind. No one knew why he was born that way. And Jesus was asked, why was he born with his disability? And I very much, as you can imagine, related to that story. The blind man gets the fingers of Jesus that are sticky and icky from the mud, and then he sees. And the blind man didn't ask any questions. And I realized, God, if you had a plan for a blind man, And you have a plan for me. And the blind man didn't ask for your plan, but he trusted you. And so, God, today I trust you with my greatest disability of death, of sin, that both you conquered on the cross, Jesus. And so I gave my life to Jesus at 15. At 17, I became vice president of my high school. I did a speech. And the janitor pulled me aside later, and he said, God's going to use you to go around the world. and share your story. And I actually said, I have no story. I don't know what you're talking about. And by the grace of God, started ministry at age 19. I've now gone to 84 countries, met 34 presidents and prime ministers. A billion people in China know who I am, and a billion people in India know who I am. And then out of the story, obviously not preaching, preaching. But then outside of those two closed countries, We've been in many others preaching the gospel to 10% of the whole world.
SPEAKER 02 :
That is absolutely an amazing testimony and I thank you for sharing that. I know who you are and that's why it's such a privilege to be able to talk with you today and I'm so thrilled that we can share you with our listeners. Today we are talking about human trafficking because this month is National Human Trafficking. You know, it's getting more attention but it's still not really being acknowledged a lot by the media. Give us some insight on what it is and how this even happens.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, look, there's so many different things that I needed to learn. I really want people to go to nickveeministries.org, find out the champions for the Brokenhearted series, click on human trafficking. For two years, we've been actually interviewing experts in different fields, including human trafficking, to really understand where this really is in our own backyard and For about two decades, everyone thought that this was more of an international problem. But more so, people are realizing it's actually happening in our own schools, in front of our own children. They don't need to be as violent kidnapping people for sex slavery in our own backyard. They just get lured in from social media, actually, by peers of their school now. People don't understand that a lot of media attention is not really going down to the root issue. People don't still know that there are $100 million worth of lobbying money for bills to pass continually pornographic material in our country. People don't understand that 67% of all teenagers are actually producing sexual images of themselves on their cell phones. People don't understand that one in three girls by age 17 have been raped in America. One out of five boys by age 17 raped in America. What's devious of all these things and other things that, I mean, it's very dark, very heavy to also understand the CPS and foster care system. I have had many friends in the foster care, incredible opportunity to help these children. and they ask these three siblings who are two, four, and six, hey, let's take a photo together as a family. And one of them says, okay, and comes back naked. And so there's a ton, ton, ton of foster kids waiting to go into a loving, protected home. There's a lot of corruption in our country, a lot of fragmented systems between county to county, and it's pretty disgusting as we learn these things. But What's most devious is no one who actually is being trafficked will say that they're being trafficked because they don't think they're being trafficked because they actually get brainwashed. And so what's crazy is, well, that's just what we do. This is who we are. And this is my new circle. It's unbelievable. And this is actually infiltrated to coaches, teachers and even parents in America.
SPEAKER 02 :
When you say infiltrated, what do you mean by that?
SPEAKER 01 :
Actually, softball coaches, basketball coaches, teachers of different tutorials, and even parents actually being part of the pimping and sexual acts. And more of that is going to be revealed here in America. Yaku Boyens is the tip of the spearhead of this issue. And as a church, you know, as a Christian... We need to go to what we really—I mean, no one's really talking about this in the church at all. No one's really bringing this in in education. Louisiana's done a great job in bringing education for adoption and helping unexpected pregnancies with teenagers to know about adoption on just the precipice. It's the first of its kind. It really needs to be mandated. That needs to be mandated. What also needs to be mandated is the real danger to parents as well to warn what human trafficking really is, to know the signs of your own child going through that. But what's crazy is this. There are surveys out there that say that one in five men who go to church on a weekly basis are actually addicted to pornography. And we're not talking about pornography. We're not talking about, you know, just to Gen Z to keep your pants on. to understand the sexualization of a generation. And when we now look at, I mean, even Christian schools, go to the football little team there and hear their conversations. And if you overhear some conversations, you'll actually probably hear someone asking their peers, how many trophies do you have? And that actually means how many girls have you slept with? And so the whole way that the enemy has come in and infiltrated and sexualized and debilitated our young people and attacking them without any buffer because they're on their phone seven hours straight a day. And this is now, this is real. And there is a lot of work to do, a lot of work to do. And I think the church needs to be aware of it. educate their schools, every charter school, every Christian school, every public school, every home, but also in the church to start talking about this as, hey, how many foster kids can we get out of that risk?
SPEAKER 02 :
You had mentioned some of the training you do. What are some of the signs that we can look for that would kind of alert us to something that's off?
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, look, it's really peer-to-peer and really isolation and even some emojis. If you actually do some audits on your teenagers, as far as I'm concerned, everyone has their own house rules. But there are expert curriculum and signs of the types of emojis that pimps use, how they go trolling. You know, they're meeting people that they've never met before or they're being coerced in the school. There are signs of isolation. There are signs of even eye contact when they're lying. And just to have an atmosphere at home of saying, don't do this, don't do that, don't meet strangers, to actually sit down and have discussions with your family about what this really is. It is absolutely not surprising to me that 330,000 children are missing, with 3 million that have come over the border completely missing. But even before the border crisis that we have had in recent years, there's hundreds of thousands of people. In DFW alone, there are estimated 400. I'm from Dallas-Fort Worth. estimated 400 active slaves being pimped every single night in Dallas. And it's really interesting to know that those clienteles are normally people who earn more than $150,000, who have two children, and who are aged between 45 and 55 years of age. And you just would never believe that those are the people that are having sex with minors, And so even Native Americans, people don't understand right now, Native Americans are seen as exotic. And so we've been to Native American reservations, and they're taking, the Mexican cartels in Montana are taking daily children and women. And because of the jurisdictions, guess what? The federal government still has not been able to stop this kidnapping right in front of their eyes. And as soon as they get off the reservation, they actually can get away with it. It's happening on a daily basis. Tons of missing kids from Native Americans. People have no clue what's really going on.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, that is tragic news. And such, you know, the statistics are so, so huge. We're visiting with Nick Vujicic, founder and CEO of Nick V Ministries. renowned speaker and best-selling author, and we've been talking about the work his ministry is doing to help end human trafficking. Nick, would you tell our listeners where they can go to find out more about your ministries and actually get involved in this tragic crime against humanity?
SPEAKER 01 :
Please, thank you very much. nickveenministries.org is where you go. Go click the tab of Champions for the Brokenhearted. you will see then 12 topics that we've chosen, and one of them that we deep dive into is human trafficking. We have been doing that intentionally for two years. Check out Jacob Boyan's ministry. Check out A21, Christine Kane. Check out other people out there that we have shown free resources for all churches, all families, and teenagers alike to just Help them understand we need to address this. We need to address this now and do all that we can and not rest until it's done.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. Thank you for bringing this to light, Nick, and so much for joining us today.
SPEAKER 01 :
I love you so much. Thank you so much.
Discover the transformative principle of learning to be content in all situations as discussed in today's podcast. Charles Stanley delves into the profound implications of Philippians chapter 4, explaining Paul's wisdom on finding true contentment and inner peace amidst life's chaos. This episode is an invitation to understand and apply the biblical approach to bringing God's unlimited power into personal struggles, enabling listeners to emerge stronger, more resilient, and deeply fulfilled.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, January 31st. Does your life resemble a roller coaster? Well, the good news is we don't have to be at the mercy of circumstances. Today, you'll hear a simple principle from the Bible that can help you overcome the ups and downs of life.
SPEAKER 02 :
I'm afraid that for most of us and most Christians, the idea of living a roller coaster up and down life, off and on, hot and cold, in and out, has been accepted as the normal Christian life. This is just the normal Christian life. But I don't believe that's what Jesus taught. It's certainly not what the Apostle Paul taught. It is not the teaching of the Word of God. Does this mean that somehow we'll be able to stretch it all out and balance it all out? No. Does it mean that things will ultimately get better? No. Could get worse. But you see, here's the difference between the believer and the unbeliever, that you and I have tapped into the inexhaustible resource of a supernatural somebody who is God in the person of Jesus Christ to make it possible for us to live in the midst of these ever-changing circumstances without that. So Paul says, here's the secret. So I want to say, first of all, that overcoming these ups and downs of life is a learning process. Paul said it was true for him. It's true for us. Secondly, it is a learning process that will ultimately lead us to peace and contentment in our life when we learn to respond in the right fashion. And the apostle Paul is saying, I've learned the secret. He says the secret is very simple. In fact, it's so simple, most folks are going to just trip right over it. So I want to give you that as a little warning right now that when I show you and when I share with you what Paul is saying, don't say, oh, It can't be that simple. Let me ask you a question. Why would God want to make it hard? Why would God want to make it difficult? It's amazing to me how many principles people think they've tried because they've heard. Listen, because you've heard something doesn't mean you've applied it. And because you've applied it once doesn't mean it works or it doesn't work. Listen, there are many spiritual lessons that we go through over and over and over again before we really grasp the truth. Because we listen to them against the grid of our own thinking. Well, you know, I know some folks who've tried that. That's mind over matter. That's just confession. And, you know, life just isn't that simple. You don't know my circumstances. You don't know where I'm coming from. And if you lived in what I lived in, if you'd been where I'd been, and you'd faced what I faced, then you wouldn't say it's so simple. Well, you don't know what I faced. You don't know where I've been. And you don't know what God's had to work in my own life. But I can tell you this, that Philippians chapter 4, Verses 10 through 13. And what I want to share with you today, I'm here to tell you it works. The reason I know it works is that God has thrown me in the fire enough in my life that I know it works. And he had to bring me to the place where I had to say, God, it looks like my circumstance is not going to change. No matter what I do and how hard I try, they're not going to change. And so I had to come to the conclusion of God, all right, if you never change anything, if nothing ever changes and the circumstances remain the same, it's okay. It's all right. And that's what Paul is talking about. Writing out of a prison, he says, I want to tell you, it works. Now, what is it? Well, look, if you will, to what he says again. I want to keep reading these verses because I want you to get familiar with the idea. Listen. Verse 11. Not that I speak from want, for I've learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am. I know how to get along with humble means. I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Now, how many of you can say this? I'm content with being weak. I'm content when I'm insulted. I'm content when I am rejected. I'm content when I'm falsely accused. I'm content when I'm persecuted. I'm content when I'm misunderstood. I'm content when I don't have all my desires fulfilled. I'm content when I don't have all my needs met. Can you say that? Listen to what Paul says now. Verse 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Look at that. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now, I want you to see what he does not say. He does not say I can do all things. Paul would never boast of that. This sounds like a very arrogant statement, especially when in his own epistle in Romans chapter 12, you remember what Paul said in the 12th chapter? He said, for through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That sounds rather prideful and arrogant to me. Then you recall what Jesus said. He said, apart from me, you can do nothing. Paul says, I can, he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now, is Paul just boasting or is he giving us a secret? Here's the secret. The secret to facing all of those up and down ever-changing circumstances of life is this. I want to just state it and then I want to explain it. Here's the secret. Learning to bring God's power into my weakness. That's the whole key. Learning to bring God's power into my weakness enables me to be content and With weaknesses, persecutions, insults, trials, difficulties, hardships, rejection, bringing God's power into my weakness. Now, I want you to learn a simple little phrase that's right here in the scripture. You can't miss it. Here is probably one of the simplest and most profound secrets, principles to be learned in the whole Christian life. It's four words. I can through Christ. Now, that's very simple. Here's what Paul says. We can bring the power of God into our ever-changing circumstances that seem to absolute overwhelm us and defeat us. He says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And to narrow it down, the whole key here is I can through Christ. Now, what is he saying? Here's what he's saying. Remember, before Jesus left, he said to his apostles, it is expedient for you that I go away. But if I go, I'll send the Holy Spirit. He'll be in you, with you, and upon you. So the Holy Spirit is living within us. And Jesus Christ is residing within you and me through the Holy Spirit. He says, I'm abiding in you and you're in me. So we have the life of Christ within us. Absolutely essential for everything that God wants for our lives. And here's the key. Bringing God's power into my weakness enables me to function out of the power of God, not out of my weakness. And what Paul is saying in this passage here, that his presence in us enables equals His power through us. His presence in us equals His power through us. His presence in us equals His power for us. His presence within our personality means His power for our problems. Paul said, I have learned this simple principle. I can through Christ. That is based on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, whereby we receive him as our personal savior and whereby he begins to live his life in us. We begin to respond to life circumstances on the base of truth, not on the basis of my feelings. Listen, we learn to respond to life circumstances based on the truth. What is the truth? The truth is that Christ is living within us. The truth is that God intervenes, that God releases His power in you and me to face every single circumstance of life, no exception. The promise is that God will enable you and me in our deepest, most trying times, when we feel the very weakest in our life. When we think that God we cannot handle anymore, he says that we have the privilege of bringing God's supernatural power into our weakness. And the moment we bring his power into our weakness, God enables us to face, to stand, to be quiet, to be true, to be strong, to be established. to be patient, to be confident, to be bold, to be conquering, to be victorious over any and every single circumstance of life, no exception. Listen, if there were a single one that could defeat us, If there were a single circumstance for which God is not sufficient and will not provide adequate power for us to overcome, then God is not omnipotent. God cannot be trusted. He is not faithful. He is not reliable. And therefore, our faith is in vain. There is not a single one. Now, this is why Paul says, look. Verse 11, not that I speak from one, for I have learned to be content. The next phrase is very important. I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am. You say, but wait a minute, Paul never went through what I went through. Then my friend, all you need to do is to read the 11th chapter of 2 Corinthians. When this man says, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I'm in, here's the man who's speaking from experience. He knows it works. Paul says, I've learned the secret of bringing his power into my ever-changing circumstance. And therefore, no matter what's going on, he says, I have learned to be content. Now, how do we do that? That is, how is it that you and I, in these circumstances that we can't control and can't change, how is it that you and I can be quiet and How can we be quiet and strong and stable and immovable and at peace and confident when everything around you is blowing sky high? And you are being attacked verbally from every direction imaginable. Paul says, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I'm in. You see, here's the problem. We don't understand the biblical basis. Here's the biblical basis. Here's the foundation truth. When you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, He came to live in your life. The Son of God is living within you in the person of the Holy Spirit. So you have the power of God in you. So it's not a matter of having to get something you don't have. It's a matter of learning to to use what you have. It's a matter of learning to respond to life on the basis of your position in Him. Now, think about this. Paul says, I've learned the secret, but how is it that I get the power of God in a matter of changing circumstances? Two very simple words sum it all up. Number one, first requirement is I must submit my will to His will. And friend, what that means is, listen, not that you give up to your circumstances, but that you give in to Christ. You don't give up on your circumstances, you give in to Him. You say, well, why submission, the first step? For this reason, now listen carefully. If it is, and it is the plan and purpose of God to conform us to the likeness of His Son, Then some of my ever-changing circumstances may be sent to me straight from God. Some of them will come from the devil. Some from others. But you see, when I submit to him and say, Lord, I yield my life to you. Whatever you choose to send is all right. Now listen, you say, but let me tell you something. You don't know what I've been through. Hasn't got anything to do with it. Has nothing to do with it. If you want contentment, the first step is surrender. You say, you mean to surrender to my circumstances? I didn't say a thing in the world about surrendering to your circumstances. I said, surrender your life to him. Lord, I yield to you. Whatever you choose to allow is all right. Now, what's your alternative? Your alternative is to fight your circumstances. Your alternative is to resist and to be anxious and upset and worried and fretful and hostile and angry and bitter and resentful and manipulative and maneuvering and weaseling your way around, none of which is going to work. So, you see, God sometimes gives us what is difficult, but when you compare it with the other, it's the easiest. Just go ahead and surrender to him, Lord. I yield to you. Whatever you choose to send is all right. The second step is just as simple. And now, Lord, I'm going to trust you. I'm going to trust you to control all these circumstances in my life for your purpose. Now, think about it. You know what's happened? You've stopped fighting. You've stopped resisting. You've stopped running. You've stopped manipulating. You've stopped maneuvering. You've stopped weaseling around. You have laid down the old attitude of bitterness and resentment and hostility and anger and defending yourself. And you know what you've done? You've said, Lord, I just turn it all over to you. And now I'm going to rest in you. Now, let me ask you a question. Last night when you went to bed, how many of you kept one leg off the bed and your foot on the floor? Well, if you had, I don't think you would have rested. You may have slept a little bit, but you probably wouldn't have rested very well. How many of you loaded a gun and laid it by your bedside and all night long you heard something in the hallway and downstairs and upstairs that you didn't rest very well? But last night if you went to bed and you lay down and stretched out and covered up and just relaxed, what did you do? You just rested. You trusted the bed to hold you up. You trusted God to take care of you through the night, and you slept good all night long. Am I saying to you that life is like a good night's rest? No. But I am saying this, that our heavenly Father, who's living on the inside of us, has enabled every single one of us by His indwelling, available power to face every single circumstance, not in our weakness, but in his power. When we learn to get God's power into our circumstances, then what happens? We were able to rest in him. And we do that by trusting him. Lord, listen, I get on my face before God and remind him of how weak I know I am, how incapable and inadequate I know that I am. How insufficient to do what He's called me to do and to remind Him that it is only by His power and His strength, by His wisdom and by His will, I yield to Him. Lord, if making a mistake is part of building me up, then I'm willing to make one. Lord, whatever You choose to do, I choose Your will and Your way. I can walk out here, not only in the presence of God, but in a relationship with Him whereby the power of the Spirit of God is within me to enable me to do what I know I could never do. Now listen, that isn't limited to a pulpit. It isn't limited, thank God, to anything. Paul says, I've learned the secret. What's the secret? I've learned to get his power in on my weakness. And where does that begin? It begins with submitting my will to him that no matter what, it's all right. And then trusting him to supply the power, the energy, whatever's necessary to face that circumstance without wringing my hands and fretting and fuming and blaming and becoming hostile and angry and bitter and resentful and all the rest. Paul says, here's the secret. He says, I learned it. He didn't say I've always known it. He said, I learned. You know how he learned it? By being defeated. You know how he learned it? By coming to his wits end. You know how he learned it? He learned it the same way many of us learn spiritual principles. When we fail and fail and fail and fail and fail and we don't know the answer. And finally, God shows us. Here's the answer. Now, listen, one of the purposes of a pastor is to teach the word of God. And my goal for you is that God would teach me the truth in order to share it with you. Now, my sharing it with you doesn't make it work in your life. My sharing it with you makes it possible for you to pick up on it maybe earlier in life. And then you have to decide whether it's going to work or not. It's not going to work unless you apply it. I wish somebody had told me that a long time ago, that I don't have to fret and theme and live on a roller coaster and live like a sailboat in a storm. that God will enable me to walk moment by moment, day by day, in the inner quietness and peace and stability of His presence in such a fashion by faith that I can get His power in on whatever is going on in my life, every moment, every day, no matter what, if I'm willing to submit and willing to trust Him.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to part two of Overcoming the Ups and Downs of Life. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
Join us as we delve into Job 42, the final chapter that wraps up our 30-day venture through the compelling story of Job. Witness the restoration of Job's fortune and the renewal of his life after unspeakable trials. Job's sparking repentance and acknowledgment of God's sovereignty serve as eternal lessons for us to remain steadfast in our own life challenges. As we explore reflections from over three decades of journaling, gain valuable insights into maintaining faith and trust in the divine, even when life's trials feel insurmountable.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Alan J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today we reach Job chapter 42, the last chapter of the book of Job, and the last of our 30-day adventure through this book. We'll see Job respond to God one more time, we'll see God speak, and we'll see God restore everything to Job. Let's listen in to the last chapter of the book of Job, chapter 42. Job 42
SPEAKER 04 :
Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me which I did not know. Hear and I will speak. I will question you and you make it known to me. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.
SPEAKER 05 :
After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite,
SPEAKER 03 :
My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly." for you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has.
SPEAKER 05 :
So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them. And the Lord accepted Job's prayer. And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first daughter, Jemima, and the name of the second, Keziah, and the name of the third, Karenhapik. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years and saw his sons and his sons' sons four generations. And Job died an old man and full of days.
SPEAKER 02 :
We'll take a look for the last time at those journals I've been using through the book of Job. We'll begin with 1984 as I finished the book of Job with chapters 41 and 42. And I wrote, Job repents. God restores him. 41.11 says, Who has given to me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. And 42.2 says, I know that thou can do all things. Thirteen years later, in 1997, I finished the book of Job. With chapters 35 through 42 on the last day, I wrote, God speaks to Job and his friends. Prepare yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me. God puts Job in perspective. He never ever addresses Job's issues but declares his sovereignty. Everything under heaven is mine. When Job has a chance to answer, he laid his hand over his mouth. I will not answer. There is no answer or question to God. He simply repented for ever questioning God. Lord, forgive me for whining or ever questioning you. Give me strength to live in your sovereignty. And 18 years later, in 2015, I finished the book of Job by reading chapters 40 through 42 on the same day. And I wrote, God calls those who question him fault finders. Job desired, waited for the opportunity to present his case before God. He now has the chance to do so and he says nothing. We are so small before God, our articulation is babbling. Doubtful if any of us are going to question God or present our futile case before him. God never answers Job. He never explains what happened to Job. He reminds Job of how big he is. Job responds, God restores the fortunes of Job. after he prayed for his friends. Job lives 140 years, so his suffering may have been a very short trial in his life. How am I handling my trials? In this last chapter of the book of Job, Job does speak to God. Let's go back and see what he had to say. In verse 2, I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. In verse 3, he says, Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. Job never argues his case before God, does he? Nor will we. Job understands he has no case before God, nor do we. So Job never does understand what happened back in chapter 1, in the book that carries his own name. God does not need to explain himself. After Job successfully faces his trial, this test from God Almighty, Then the Lord restores everything back to Job. Verse 10, And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Verse 12, And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. Verse 16, And after this Job lived 140 years. And verse 17, And Job died an old man and full of days. Notice too, the restoration of Job only came after he was restored to his friends. He had to pray for them, and God said he would hear that prayer from Job. How do you feel after completing the book of Job? Do you feel a little let down that God never tells Job what really happened? Do you feel challenged by your own personal trials and how Job was handled his and he remained faithful? And are you questioning whether you can remain faithful during the trial that God has you in? Or do you feel like you're on the way out of a trial and that you will be restored? Has Job helped build your faith and trust in God? Do you feel sorry for your questioning of God through your life? And do you feel like repenting? Like Job did. Again, look at verse 6. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. Job repented. Do you need to? When we started Job, we said the theme of Job is can God be trusted? It responds to our heart's desire to question God, to wonder about our faith in a sovereign God when things don't appear to be going right. We said Job questioned God, but while demonstrating unshakable faith... Has our journey through Job given you unshakable faith? Let's close out our journey through the book of Job in prayer. Father, we thank you for this book, a book of despair, a book of trial, a book of trouble, a recap of a life much like our own. Job suffered. He lost it all, but his faith never wavered. As you put us through the tests of life, may we be like Job. May our faith never waver. Thank you for strengthening us through this book. Thank you for reminding us the trials will come in our lives. Thank you for reminding us of who you are. You're bigger than any trial we will ever face. And thank you for the promise of restoration. You restored Job. May you restore us as well. Thank you for the lessons of life in the book of Job. Holy Spirit, apply them to each of our journeys. as we continue our sojourn on the earth. Job had many more years to live after this trial. We may too. So thank you for the promise of restoring us. We give you all the praise and the glory. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. Our radio programming is set for 2025. We will cover 44 of the 66 books of the Bible using the Ezra Project day by day through the Bible 11 book series. We start at January 1 with the writings of the Old Testament historical books beginning with Job. We will cover seven more historical books until spring when we jump into the New Testament writings of Mark, Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews. By summer, we will go back to the Old Testament writings of all 13 of the minor prophets. We'll finish 2025 with the writings of Paul. Maybe you don't want to follow the Ad Bible Radio programming in your daily quiet time. Okay, I offer you an alternative plan. Read the Bible chronologically starting any day you want. The Bible is not organized the way things occurred. You can order an Ezra Project Chronological Bible Reading Journal and experience an amazing journey through the Bible in the order things actually occurred. The first time I read the Bible chronologically, it was an aha experience. While reading Kings and Chronicles, I read the prophets who were alive at the time. In the New Testament, you read about a miracle or a parable by all four gospel writers on the same day. It was a very educational and inspiring way to read the Bible. One user said this about our chronological Bible reading journal. Some years ago, I used a couple of spiral notebooks for my journaling. I've attached pictures of the book, the first edition of the Ezra Project Bible Reading Chronological Journal. That was the picture he sent. I live in Phoenix now, and I cannot find any place that has this type of journal. I've used many types of journals recently, but this seems to work the best for my needs. Please let me know if these are still available. Yes, they are. In fact, it is our number one best-selling product of all time. Visit azureproject.net and order a chronological Bible reading journal today and start your chronological journey through the Bible. I know you're going to enjoy it and want to share it with others. To support AddBible, visit EzraProject.net, the donate button. For a one-time gift of $39 or more, we will send you a free copy of one of our day-by-day through the Bible books. And for a gift of $100 a month, we will send you the entire 11-volume series covering all 66 books of the Bible, chapter by chapter. You will get a book a month for the first 11 months of your $100 a month contribution. So support the Ezra Project today by going online and hitting the donate button at ezraproject.net.
Join Sharon Knotts in an insightful exploration of the profound impact of whispers that the enemy plants in our minds. She discusses the role of fear as a crippling emotion first felt by mankind and how subtle differences in truth can lead to significant spiritual consequences. Gain wisdom on discerning between right and almost right, see how Satan's MO of stealing, killing, and destroying can be tackled with the faith in God's unwavering truth.
SPEAKER 01 :
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to The Sound of Faith. I'm Sharon Knotts, thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message is a true eye-opener and ear-arrester, the whisperer. In Genesis and Revelation, Satan is called a serpent. The Hebrew word is nakash, and its verb form means to whisper like the hiss of a snake. From the moment he beguiled Eve in the garden, Satan has been whispering his cunning lies and accusations against God and his true people because he is the whisperer. He whispers fear. I think everyone is more powerful than the other. Now that I'm going along here, fear is so powerful. It can cripple people. It can cripple people till they can't even hardly function. It can cripple them till they cannot enjoy the blessings God has in their lives. They are so afraid of everything. And I'm not surprised because it was the first negative emotion that mankind ever felt when Adam and Eve sinned. You know, the story goes on to tell us. And then they went and hid and God came walking in the day and he said, where are you, Adam? And he said, well, I hid because I was afraid. I tell you, saints, I don't know how many times through the years that people have come to me and their prayer request is, A spirit of fear. And I can identify with it. I understand it because I was under it. I came under it very strongly. And I've told those testimonies before how I got delivered, so I won't do it today. But I understand how strong a spirit of fear is. I had it from a child. As a little child, I had it. And then as I grew up, I seemed to overcome it. And I didn't have it for many, many, many years. And then it hit me again hard when I had the back issue. So I understand the fear, the things that the devil says to you. Sometimes he'll tell you, you're going to die. You're going to die. And it can become so real to you that you start having symptoms in your body you never even had before. I know that that is true. I know it. So slander, whispers of slander. And this is blasphemy. And, you know, people always think that blasphemy can only be done against God. They always connect blasphemy against God. But you read the New Testament. You read Paul. He says you can blaspheme against other people. And a lot of times they are outright lies. And the thing about it is he is so clever and crafty, he has the ability to make it sound true. To make it seem so plausible, to make it seem true. We looked at Greek, so now we see the Hebrew word for subtle. It means to be shrewd, crafty, cunning, and sly. Again, the word here in the Hebrew, the idea is that it's hard to distinguish between two things. The difference is so subtle that it's hard to differentiate between the two of them. The distinction between them is not obvious immediately. A subtle difference. And, you know, it happens a lot of times in a good way. You know, you're going to paint your bedroom a new color. Okay, we're going to make it a blue bedroom now. And so now you have bought your bedding, and so now you've got to go to the store and get paint, and you want to make sure that it blends. So you're pretty sure you know what color you want, or vice versa. You've already painted the room. Now you're going to go look for bedding, whichever way. And you go into the paint store and you think, okay, we're going to get a light blue. There are 4,235,000 swatches of light blue. And you're like, this is just blue. Put it next to your bedding and they clash. One after another. One after another. You know, you think that it is the same color. But when you get them next to each other, there's a subtle difference. Amen. It's that subtle difference. See, sometimes, saints, it's not a matter of discerning between right and wrong. That's not subtle. It's discerning between right and almost right. Amen. That's where the devil gets in and whispers in your ear. Amen. He uses words of reasoning to camouflage his true intent. So what is the nature of HaSatan? Jesus said in John 10, 10, the thief personifying Satan is come, but, and that means the only thing he's come for to kill and to steal and to destroy. That is his MO. That is his agenda. And everything he does is to the fulfillment of those things. Amen. That's what he's come to do, to steal, to kill and to destroy. And I want you to know that you might say, well, kill and destroy. If you're dead, you can't be destroyed. Here's what you've got to understand. The word destroy there means to ruin. ruin see kill means what it means he would like to actually kill you but if he can't kill you if he can't take you out then he wants to ruin your life he wants to ruin your life with bondage and lies and fear and torment amen That's his nature. And as I've told you before, the word Satan, Satan in Hebrew, if we look at its root, remembering the original Hebrew language was written in word pictures that later became letters. And when we look at the three consonants in the word Satan, because they did not write vowels in ancient Hebrew. So we would spell it S-T-N. So when we look at the Hebrew letter S, it's shin. It's a picture of teeth or fire. Either way, it means to devour. When we look at the word T, it's tet in Hebrew, and it's a picture of a snake. And it means a snake. And when we look at the word en, it's nun in Hebrew. It's a picture of a fish swimming in water. Not just a fish, but swimming in water. And it means life. Put the three together. Satan is a snake that comes to devour life. That is the hidden layer in the name of Satan in the Hebrew. Amen? And so he comes often in whispers. And I correlate Satan's whispers to what I call white noise. Now, our ears are bombarded all day long, everywhere we go, with sound. Everywhere. Sound, sound, sound. If it's not the TV, it's the radio. If it's not that, it's machines that are running. If it's not that, it's traffic that you can hear in your home as well as if you're in your car. It's kids making noise. Everywhere we go, it's... Noise. And I dare say that a majority of people have the habit of having their TV on even when they're not watching it. It's in the background. They can be doing something completely different, but they put the TV on and they're not even paying attention to it, but it's on. And they're accustomed to noise at all times. Amen? And so we're bombarded with all of this noise. But I tell you, if at night... When everyone is asleep and you turn off the TV, you don't go to bed with the TV on and you turn off the radio or whatever else and completely silent. And you happen to live on a street where there's not traffic out there and everything is completely silent and you're laying there. I tell you, you will hear a low level of A very low level of some kind of buzz in your ear. How many have ever done that? And you know what I'm talking about? Because we're so used to sound. We're so used to be bombarded with it that when we're totally, completely quiet. And hopefully if you're married, your mate doesn't snore. If your mate snores, you won't hear the white buzz. The little white noise. Amen. But you will hear that. It is like this low level of noise. And saints, that noise, that sound is not coming from external stimuli. From external noises. That sound is coming from inside your own head. How many know what I'm talking about? It's not outside. There's not something on in your home or in your bedroom that's making this noise. It's coming from inside your own head. And you see, this is how the serpent whispers to your mind. Now, that is a physical illustration that I gave you. But can we connect it and go in the spirit and see that that's how Satan whispers to your mind? And he knows when to whisper. For you to hear him. And that's why we've got to learn to drown out the whispers with the word of God. We've got to cast them down with God's word. And for me, it means sometimes I've got to completely go to speaking out loud. I have to answer out loud. I might in my mind think of a verse or of a song or something. But you know what? I find out when I start singing. I don't hear those whispers anymore. When I start quoting the word of God, I don't hear them anymore because I'm resisting the devil and he has to flee from me. Amen? And I have learned not to wait. See, a while back before I learned all this, I would wait a while. And the thoughts kept coming. And I would just wait a while. And before I would finally, you know, because I was under a spirit of fear to a point. But I have learned now, I don't wait until he tells me two, three, four, five things. As soon as I hear the hiss. As soon as I hear it and my spiritual ears are sensitized to know that is not the voice of my shepherd. That is not the voice of my beloved. That's not the voice of my Holy Spirit. Immediately I begin to speak against it. Immediately I rebuke it. I block it before it can become a fiery dart to go from my mind to my heart, my spirit. Amen. That's what you have to do. You've got to take scripture and counteract it at the very first whisper. So many times when I pray for people, they'll say, Sister Sharon, the devil told me. And I mean, they got this long drawn out story about what the devil told them. And after a while, I have to stop them because they're going to affect my ability to pray for them. You know, tell me, give me the gist. Give me the gist. Don't tell me everything he said. Amen. Why are you repeating it? I know you're trying to explain to me, but I don't need to hear you give me that whole big long thing. I need you to just tell me the main points because I'm getting ready to rebuke the devil. I'm getting ready to command him to back off of you and leave you alone. And I don't need to hear whatever he said because whatever it is, it's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie. And you know when you're telling me that it's a lie, you know it. So why are you letting the devil beat you up with it? Now I'm not fussing at you. I'm telling you what I know because I know what he did to me. And I know God gave me the victory and he's not a respecter of persons. He'll give it to you. So when it's just a notion, a suggestion that you know is wrong or you know that it's untrue, you cannot let that thing develop. I'm going to go one further. Let's suppose it's not a whisper. Let's suppose the devil's got bold enough to send somebody to you and tell you something about someone or something that immediately your spirit says, that's not right. That's not true. I don't believe that you need to tell that person right then you need to say, you know what? I don't think that's right. i don't believe that it doesn't witness with my spirit and i don't believe it and you better be careful what you're saying about that person because if it's a lie you may be touching god's anointed now if the person they're speaking of is a godly person a godly person then they need to be careful i mean if it's a hypocrite and everybody knows they're a hypocrite you know you just say well you know the bible says you'll know by their fruits So let's pray about them. But when they speak against someone that is a godly person that you have never had any reason to think anything about them, then you need to be careful because it's probably the slanderer. And if it's not and it's true, it will come out. It'll come out. They'll either get right with God. And if they get right with God, then that's the good thing. If they don't get right with God and persist in whatever this thing is, it's going to come out anyway. Be sure your sin will find you out. You know, it reminds me of when they'd already beaten Peter and John and threw him in prison. Amen. And they wanted to keep doing things to him. That's how they were. And then finally, Gamaliel stood up and said, you know, if this thing is not of God, it's going to all fall apart just like he named other things. But he said, if it be of God, you may find yourself fighting against God. See, he wasn't sure. He didn't know. And he was afraid that just in case they were wrong, they would be fighting against God. So we need to proclaim God's word over our mind. And here's the thing. You may have to repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. You may have to repeat it, but you keep doing it until you've drowned out that whisper. And you will. Eventually you will. But don't let the whispers accumulate. Because then they can become a stronghold. Let's go back to 2 Corinthians. And this time let's look at chapter 10. Looking at verse 4 and 5. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or they're not of the flesh, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now, here is what the Lord moved on my heart for myself, and it's helped me, and I will share it with you because I think it will help you. I like to reverse the order. In other words, I start with bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Because if you will capture something when it's a thought... When it's a whisper. If you will catch it when it's a thought and cast it down and bring it into the obedience of Christ, make it line up with the word of God. If it doesn't line up with the word of God, then immediately. You cast it down. If you do it when it's just a thought, it will not become an imagination. And that's a stronger because now it has become this thing of reasoning in your mind that now is actually hostile and fights against God and the knowledge of God. It's going up a step. And if you continue to have those imaginations, then they will begin to be one on upon another upon another. And then it becomes a stronghold. And a stronghold is like a fort that is surrounded with walls. So the enemy cannot get in. But in this sense, it's your mind and your mind now has these walls and the truth. cannot get in the enemy has built up walls around your mind he's so filled you with these thoughts and these imaginations and then imagination means fallacious reasoning fallacious reasoning oh you reason this to be true it's not it's false but you do so that allows you then to reason this and reason that and reason the other till it's built up this big thing amen And Satan has successfully put this wall around your mind until it's hard for truth to get in. Then what do you got to do? You got to pull it down. It's a lot easier to take one thought captive than to pull down the walls of a stronghold. I'm not saying it's not possible. Obviously it is, but it's harder and you will suffer much in the process. Amen. So that's how the Lord dealt with me and it really helped me and hopefully it will you. So we have been talking about don't listen to the whisperer. Learn how to resist him and rebuke him. Now I might step on more toes about this time because I'm going to say not only don't listen to the whisperer, don't become a whisperer. Because you know there are whisperers in the church. I'm going to prove to you. Let's look to Romans 1 29. Now in Romans 1, we have a whole catalog of deadly sins. But we're zoning in on our subject. So let's look at verse 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness. Now that's a very key description. Being filled with all unrighteousness. And here is the symptoms, the outgrowth, the fruit, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, whisperers. Now, several of the traits that we just read here are synonymous with words we've already looked at in connection with the serpent Satan. For instance, malicious and then envious and the murderers. These are all Satan's nature. Deceitful. Malignity here is the same word as craftiness that we've read in the other verses. It's the same word. But the last one is one of Satan's titles. The whisperer. So let's look at the Greek word for whisperer, whisperings and whisperer. What is the Greek word? I'm not even going to say it because it's a little tough. Not that you really care, but here's the meaning. This you do care about. A secret slanderer. Because the devil is a coward and he's like a snake in the grass. He does all his things. He tries to do secretly incognito. So you don't realize it's the devil. Amen. Slander to speak false charges, which defame and damage another's reputation to assassinate their character. That's what Satan does. revelations 12 10 names him one of his titles the accuser of the brethren amen accused means to charge someone with an offense to claim they have committed something wrong or bad and this is what satan's mo is he's always slandering someone slander is a direct connection to satan And I hate to say this to you, but he's got some saints in the church he can use to do his dirty work. I'm not saying just faith tabernacle. I'm saying the church. Amen. The body of Christ. You know, the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 2 that there are vessels of honor and there are vessels of dishonor. And the enemy knows who he can use, that he can whisper to them, accuse godly people to them, and get them to do his work of starting to slander them. Amen? Back in 2 Corinthians 12 and looking at verse 20. For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as you would not. But here's the point. Lest when I come, there be debates, envians, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings. swellings, and tumults. So here we have that word again. I fear less when I come. This is what I'm going to find. I'm afraid when I come to see you again, Corinth. And I want you to know that this would be his third trip there. He's already been there twice. He's saying, I'm afraid, even though I've been there two times already, I'm afraid when I come back, this is what I'm going to find. Debates and envies, raps and stripes and backbiting, whispering, swellings and tumults. Saints, there was a lot of bad stuff going on in this church at Corinth. It's even all the more remarkable when you consider they are the ones to whom he wrote all about the gifts of the Spirit. But he also wrote to them the chapter on love.
SPEAKER 1 :
Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. What a bondage breaking word of the Lord, the whisperer. One of Satan's most dangerous and effective tactics is not just to lie against God, but to subtly whisper his accusations like the hiss of a deadly serpent. He is called the serpent and the accuser of the brethren. He could also be called the whisperer. Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. There are five significant Greek words in this verse that tell the story of Satan, the whisperer, and reveal how he whispers thoughts to the mind that accuse God and godly members of the body of Christ. If they are not taken captive when just a thought, a notion, or suggestion, they can become mental strongholds of deception. Whisperers can tear up a church with jealousy, slander, suspicion, and lies, maligning leadership and wounding members. Learn how to discern the whispers of the enemy and take captive every thought. Make sure not to allow the hedge of protection around your life to be broken down because Proverbs says, where the hedge is broken, the serpent bites. Order The Whisperer on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request SK208. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Order online at soundoffaith.org, where MP3s are available. To order by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK-208. Till next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
