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Dr. Stanley reveals what it means to be a soldier for Jesus.
In this episode of the In Touch Podcast, we delve into the profound wisdom shared by Charles Stanley on understanding and accepting the burdens that life may place upon us. Explore how certain loads, designed to shape and form us, remain with us despite our prayers and petitions. Join us as we examine the reasons behind these enduring challenges and what it truly means to experience God's grace when relief seems far away. Discover the deeply impactful lessons drawn from 2 Corinthians chapter 12, where Apostle Paul learns to find contentment in his weaknesses, insults, and persecutions for Christ's sake. A must-listen for anyone grappling with lingering questions about their personal suffering and seeking God's strength.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, February 3rd. God promises that His followers will have enough grace to carry any burden He allows. Stay with us to learn how to live with life's loads.
SPEAKER 02 :
There are some loads that God allows in the human life that all the praying and And all the fasting and all the pleading and all the begging in the world will never force God's hand to remove that load. There are some things God will not remove. There are some loads that He has no intention of removing. And what we have to distinguish is... What is it that God is willing to remove and what is that He's not willing to remove? What is the purpose of God by allowing us to walk through life with some loads that seem to be heavier than we ought to have to bear? And sometimes we tell God it's not fair. It's not just. Look at him. Look at her. They don't have to bear things like that. And I don't know what the circumstance is in your life today, but this I'm sure. That many of you have already come to the place in your life where you've said, if there is a God, He wouldn't put up with this. If there's a God of love, He'd release me from this. If there were a God of kindness and mercy like you Christians talk about, God wouldn't allow me to go through this. You're telling me that for the rest of my life, this is the way I've got to live? You mean my circumstances won't ever change? You mean that God... says this is my circumstance for the rest of my life, and this is the way I'm to look at life, and this is the way I'm to suffer. You mean He won't change my physical situation? You mean the emotions that I'm facing right now, the situation that I'm in, that I can't believe that God's going to change it if I pray? You mean to tell me there's some things God's going to force me to live under the rest of my life? Yep, that's what I'm telling you, because it's the truth. And let me give you an example in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. If you'll notice in verse 7, "...because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, to keep me from exalting myself. Concerning this," that is, this particular situation, "...I I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. Now, that doesn't mean he got down and said his prayers three times at night. He entreated the Lord more than likely in fasting and praying, waiting upon God. And the Lord's response was, My grace is sufficient for you. My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will boast about my weakness that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, Paul says, I've learned that I'm well contented with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Let me ask you a question. Is there something in your life that you've entreated God to remove that He won't remove? Are you bearing a load of that you'd like for God to release you from? And sometimes it seems the more you pray, the heavier it gets and the more pressure you feel. Is there something that God is dealing with you in your life and all you can talk to Him about is the pressure and the unfair circumstance and the unjust situation by which you have been trapped? And so you're having to respond. Well, listen to what Paul said, because I want us to notice two or three things. You see, some of these loads come from different directions. Sometimes we do what? We load up ourselves. We carry loads because we bring them upon ourselves. Sometimes they're loads that come because of somebody else's reaction in life. And we oftentimes suffer. Sometimes it's straight from the devil. And sometimes it's straight from God. Sometimes it's from God through others. And as Paul said, there was sent to him a messenger of Satan to buffet me, to keep me from exalting myself. Now, Paul understood why God allowed him to suffer. He says, because God knew that what I received If God didn't deal with me in this fashion, I would be useless. The pride and the egotism and the knowledge and the wisdom. He said, I'd be useless to God. So Paul's explanation was that God allowed it into his life in order to keep him a useful vessel. Let me ask you a question. If you had to have the choice of having the burden and the pressure and becoming the person God wants you to be, or having it released and doing your own thing, which would you honestly rather have? Usually in the present, we want it released. We want freedom. We want victory from any kind of burden that God... In fact, He always responds when you and I pray in one of three ways. What are they? Yes, no, and wait. And usually we want what? Yes, we want it done right now. And God doesn't always do it right now. Paul understood why God had allowed this in his life. He says, Now, God is under no obligation to always tell me why he keeps it there. You say, well, if I just knew what God was up to. Yeah, all of us would like to know exactly what God's. If I just knew what God was up to, then I believe I could take it. You know what God wants us to do? Learn to bear it even when we cannot reason why God allows it there. And my friend, I'm aware that some people are hurting very deeply, hurting far deeper than I could fully understand. with situations that appear to be hopeless and helpless. And as they look down life, they look down this long tube and look so black at the other end. And their response to life is, why keep trying? Why keep going when things just don't ever seem to change? And the truth is, when I look at my circumstances, they can't seem to change. So for me to reason, figure, and try to manipulate God, to work it into my theology so that I'll have a nice little pat answer for every little thing, that's not the way life is, friend, because all of life experiences do not fit into my little theological pocket over here that explains everything. There's some things you can't explain. And you see, there are some people who must explain everything or they feel that something's wrong with their faith. Oftentimes the believer who cannot explain what God is doing says the problem is you don't have faith. If you had enough faith, God would correct this. When that is not the solution. But look at the response that Paul had here. He said, God having shown him this... that God said to him in response, my grace is sufficient for you, for power, strength is perfected. It reaches its maximum point of potential when I feel the very weakest. He says, therefore, I've learned to gladly boast about my weakness. He says, I'm tickled to death about that because that's when the power of Christ dwells in me in the very fullest. Now, let me ask you a question. When you and I experience some load in life, and they're not all permanent for sure. Sometimes they're temporary. What is our response? First of all, we want to reason, why are you doing this, God? If we can't figure that out, then we pray, Lord, would you please release me from this? Remove this from me. And God doesn't remove it. So at least, Lord, you can release the pressure so I don't feel what I feel. So He doesn't do that. So what happens? Now, watch this, because unbeknowing to us sometimes, when God allows us in circumstances and situations, and we pray and we plead, and the pressure's there, He doesn't release it. Right beneath the surface of all this, there begins to be this little thin layer of resentment that begins to grow. We pray with our lips and we tell him how much we love him. But deep down inside of us, we think, but God, why not? And then that resentment keeps growing. And if we're not careful, a little thin layer of bitterness grows so that you could even preach the gospel or sing the gospel or serve the Lord and you may be publicly successful. But my friend, if there's a little layer of that deep down inside, resentment and bitterness, God, why don't you change my circumstances? Why have you allowed me to be in this situation? Why can't you do something? Why don't you do something? What happens if we're not careful and we want God to have a quick solution to all of our problems and do it right now and let's get rid of all the circumstances and let's start all over again, real fresh and real new. And God, if you will, here's what I'm going to do for you. You know what God's not interested in what you and I are going to do for Him? He's interested in what He is in the process of doing in us. And his response to the Apostle Paul, and listen, if you put it on the line of deserving, and more than likely Paul may have begun his prayers like this, You know this thorn in my side? If you just release me, I'm telling you, God, listen, there won't be a square inch of the known world I won't cover. I'll preach the gospel to everybody who crosses my path. He could have made God a thousand promises and God just writing all those down, so to speak, and said, yes, Paul, that's right. You know what? You know what's going to make all that come true? I'm going to leave the pressure there. And because I leave it there, you're going to be able to do everything you promised to do. We think taking the pressure off will make us more successful, and God knows keeping the pressure on will make it possible for us to accomplish what He wants us to accomplish. You can't manipulate God and make God do anything. He does what He chooses to do. So you can't come to Him saying, Okay, God, I've resigned to Your will. No. That's a verbal resignation. But we come to Him in our heart and say, Lord... I don't know that you're wiser than I am. And so I accept what you have placed into my life. And if you never remove it, fine. And if you choose to remove it, fine. But while I'm in the process of bearing the load, all I want to know, God, is that the pressure is molding and shaping and making me the man, the woman you want me to be. That's the important thing. Listen to God's reaffirming, reassuring word in this one simple passage. Verse 9, Paul says, this is the way God responded to him when he said, Lord, sometime this load gets a little heavy. He said to him, my grace is sufficient. So God said, Paul, I am personally involved in helping you bear that load. He said, not heavenly grace, my grace is sufficient for you. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been under the load that God wasn't under there with you? What did Jesus say? Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavily laden down. You're carrying a big load, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. I'm meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. He didn't say, I will remove the load. He said, I'll teach you how to live. under the yoke, under the load. But I remember this, he says, I'll be there, under there with you. In the Old Testament, the Psalms, when the Bible speaks in this beautiful, beautiful affirmation of what God is willing to do in your life and my life, if we'll just trust him and lay it all before him, listen to what he says. In Psalm 55, 22. Now watch this. I want you to see the word. Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you. That word burden is also translated, it can be translated gift. Now think about this. What turns God's burdens into God's gifts? My right response. When I respond properly to God's pressure, then God's burden becomes my gift. God's load becomes an expression of God's love. He says, my grace is sufficient. Now listen. He says, I'm personally involved in what you're suffering. Secondly, he said... I am presently involved in that. He said, my grace was sufficient, shall be sufficient. What? My grace is sufficient. When you and I feel the load the very heaviest, he says, I am personally and presently doing what? Powerfully involved in energizing you, strengthening you, undergirding you, equipping you, empowering you, making you sufficient that you can take one more step. When you think it's all over and I can't go one more day and I can't say it one more time and the last step has been taken, God says... My grace is sufficient for you to take one more step. My grace is sufficient for you to live one more hour. My grace is sufficient for you to see the situation through one more day. There will never be a time when God's sufficiency runs out. He says, cast your burden, which when he gets through becomes a gift. He says, cast your burden upon the Lord. What does Peter say? Does he not say almost the same thing? Cast your cares upon the Lord for he cares for you. Listen. He says, my grace is sufficient. That means there's always plenty of it. Let me ask you a question. Could you ever come into any kind of a situation in life that God proves inadequate to help you through it? You say, but I feel so inadequate. That's the whole key. Paul says, when I find myself feeling the most inadequate... The most helpless, and I don't have any other way to turn, when I thank God, I can't bear this load another day, and I give up in absolute desperation and hopeless failure. He says, I become energized with the supernatural power of the sovereign God who put this universe together. And when I think I can't, that's when I seem to take the longest leaps. And when I think it's all hopeless, that's when my hope gyrates the most. When I think every last bit of energy has been expended and there's no more to expend, my reservoir is all filled instantaneously once again. Here's the problem, friend. In the society in which you and I live, it's strength that implies success. In the kingdom of God, it is weakness which is the avenue of God's power. And you see, I don't know what kind of load you're living under, but I can tell you this. I know who's under there with you. My grace is sufficient for you. Listen to what he said. He says, because the power of God is perfected. That is, it reaches its summit. It reaches its zenith. It reaches its pinnacle when? Not when I am exercising my strength and bearing up in my understanding and my knowledge and my wisdom, but when it's all over with me and it's done and I'm flat out and there's no place to go and no place to turn. That's when he says the supernatural power of God reaches its pinnacle of expression. If that be true, let me ask you a question. When are we the most valuable to God? Upright, strong, moving, or flat out? Helpless and hopeless. Paul said, I learned that in those moments when I've been knocked down and the count's already been taken. He said, I've learned that in that moment, that's when I start shouting. Hopelessly and helplessly, down and out, I begin to shout. He says, because I've learned that That's when I experienced the greatest demonstration of the strength of God. What is it that God has allowed in your life that you'd like to get rid of? Somehow He won't release you from it. You've prayed, cried, begged, pleaded, fasted. You've gotten your friends to do the same, and somehow it's there. Whether it's in your body or in your family or in your business. What is it that somehow he just doesn't seem to release, but he keeps saying to you, my grace is sufficient for you. I don't know where you are and what you're facing, what you've been through, and the trials and the heartaches and the burdens that you feel today are absolutely beyond your comprehension or your help. I want to tell you, Whatever it is, it is matched with the grace of God. And if you will allow Him into your life, my friend, He will not only see you through it, He will be with you in and through it. There's a little song somebody wrote a long time ago, and there's a phrase of it that I want you to listen to. It's real simple, but it describes so perfectly what we're talking about. And listen to these words and see if you ever felt like this. When we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength has failed ere the day only be half done, we're only half the way through, when we reach the end of our hoarded resources, there's nothing else left, our Father's full giving is only begun. Amen. Because you see, his love knows no limit. His grace knows no measure. His power knows no boundaries. Has no boundaries known unto man. And then he concludes it by saying, but out of his riches, out of his infinite riches in Christ Jesus, he giveth. And he giveth, and he giveth again. God's grace will always match the load you have to carry.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to Learning to Live with Life's Loads. 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 for a compelling discussion on the essential principles of discipleship. Through the insightful narratives and teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, Charles Stanley brings to light the unavoidable call for detachment from worldly attachments. We analyze the stories of three individuals faced with the decision to follow Jesus and what their stories teach us about the obstacles believers may encounter. Explore the transformative power of detachment and learn how to experience the ultimate freedom in obedience to God's higher purpose.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to this weekend's In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley. Today, we continue our series on discipleship with a reminder that every call to God is also a call away from lesser things.
SPEAKER 02 :
Would you turn please to Luke chapter 9? We've been preaching a series on discipleship and the ninth chapter of Luke beginning in verse 23. And he said to them all, if any man come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? Now, verse 57. And it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said to him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said to another, follow me. And he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Discipleship is not a matter of choice. It is mandatory. Jesus said, Follow me, and I will make you disciples. And when you and I think in terms of discipleship, it is clear as you look at the scriptures that Jesus distinguished salvation from discipleship. That he invited all men to be saved. He commanded all men to be disciples. That salvation is the door into discipleship. That God's goal for every believer is discipleship. It is interesting when he dealt with the rich young ruler. And the young man came to him and said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And he talked about keeping the law and so forth. And then Jesus said to him, as if to carry him beyond salvation to discipleship, he said to him, sell what you have, give to the poor, die to yourself, and come follow me. And I believe what he said to that rich young ruler is what he is saying to every believer, that salvation is the beginning, but God's goal for the believer is discipleship. Now we said discipleship means a person who is a disciple is one who has accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior, yielded to Jesus Christ as his Lord, and one who has made himself available for Jesus to reproduce his life through us into the life of someone else. And as he is reproducing his life in the life of someone else, the one whom God has used is working in the life of that other person. building him up, strengthening him, pointing him to the word, praying with him, showing him how to find the will of God and the purpose of God for his life. Now, when you examine the scriptures, it is interesting to notice that every single passage on discipleship, with no exception, demands the disciples' detachment from something. Now, by detachment, I simply mean what the dictionary means by detachment. That is a severing of a relationship, a parting, a disentanglement with something, the separation of something. disengaging yourself from something or someone. Detachment is found in every single passage where discipleship is mentioned. And we noticed in this very chapter here, in the 23rd and 24th verse, he speaks of denying oneself. In the 14th chapter, as we discussed, the dedication... that is demanded for a disciple. He again says, whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple and also must forsake all lest he cannot be my disciple. Every single passage on discipleship, there is the idea of detachment. That is, in order to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, I must sever myself from something. I must disentangle my life with something. Now that something is what I want us to talk about this morning. And it's interesting also to notice that each time Jesus began to talk about detachment in discipleship, that his casualty list just skyrocketed. Because when you begin to talk about detachment, That means the severing of old ties, the severing of relationships, the disentanglement of our lives with those things which often we cherish and desire and have intense desire for. When you start speaking of disentangling yourself with that, something happens deep in the heart because there is suddenly a tremendous dropout among God's people. Many who are believers who say, yes, I received Christ as my Savior. Yes, I want to be a disciple. Oh, yes, I'm willing to suffer for Jesus. Yes, I'm willing to follow him. I'm willing for him to conform me to his likeness. But me disentangle myself, detach myself, sever my relationship, part from this or that. No, wait a minute. That's something entirely different. But there is no such thing as discipleship without a decision concerning detachment. Now, let's look at these three men who came to Jesus. The first one, the fellow came to the Lord Jesus Christ and he said, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Can't you see him walking up and saying, Lord, here I am. I knew you were looking for disciples and I am reporting for duty. This man came to him and here's the reason he came. He believed him to be the Christ. He believed him to be the Messiah. And so he began to calculate. He said, well, if he's the Messiah, the Messiah is going to bring in a kingdom. And that kingdom is going to be absolutely fantastic. It is going to be a kingdom where he rules the world. Rome will be put out of the picture. The people of God will rule the world. And therefore, there'll be lots of security. And after all, anybody who's got any sense at all wants to join that kind of man I'm reporting for duty. But what he did not realize was that though God would bring in his kingdom, he would not bring it in by gold and silver and affluence and acceptability to a Roman world. He would bring it in by pain and suffering and shame and death. And Jesus said to him, if you're going to follow me, I just want to warn you. Listen, if you are attached to the comforts of your life, You better get ready to give them up, because if you follow me, you may not even have a decent place to lay your head. I wonder how many people this morning have already begun to think about this matter of what discipleship means, and you've looked around, and if you were honest today, you'd have to say, preacher, I'll tell you, if the Lord asks me to give up this, this, this, and this, I just have to be number one dropout. Because I can't do it. You know why you can't do it? Now watch this. An attachment. An attachment is anything or any person that has a grip on your life to the point that it is hindering your wholehearted devotion and walk with God. Anything, anybody, and one of those things are the comforts of life. You see, there are lots of people today who would follow Jesus if... if he could guarantee them this and guarantee them that and guarantee them the other. Now I want to say this again because this needs to grit and grind and irritate and probe a little bit. You cannot be obedient to God, impossible to be obedient to God, if the limitation of your life is that you are willing to obey until it becomes uncomfortable. You say, what do you mean by that? I mean simply this. That you cannot say, Lord, I'm willing for you to have all of my life except this. But these comforts of life, and here's what we do, we say, well, after all, I've worked hard. I've been working a long time. I've worked for these things all of my life. That's the problem. I've worked for these things all of my life. You mean to tell me that I've got to give this up? My friend, I do not mean that in order to be a disciple, you must go home and empty your house of all the easy chairs. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about this, that at any single point in your spiritual walk, that comfort, whether it may be the comfort of your bank account, of the security you have, whatever comfort you enjoy, hold on to that keeps you from obeying God, you need to detach yourself from it. Is there something in your life that you've got your grip on this morning and God says to be a disciple? Open that hand. You said, Lord. He says, open that hand. You said, Lord. He says, open that hand. That's as far as you'll go. He says, I want all of your life. This man's desire for the comforts of life would not allow him to be a disciple. Secondly, he said, that is, Jesus said to a man, follow me. But he said, now, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury the dead, and then I will come follow you. Now, let's get the picture of what's happening here. In those days, the eldest son had the responsibility of taking care of the family. And because he did, he did have the responsibility of burying his father when his father died. But his father wasn't dead. That was not the problem. But here's how he was thinking. He said, well, now I'm willing to follow Jesus, but, and probably having heard what just went before, no place to lay his head. Hmm. Well, if when my father dies, being the eldest son, I will reap the richest reward and I'll be pretty well off. Therefore, I will go back to my father, stay in his household until he dies. When he dies and the will is settled, then I'll have my inheritance. Then after I get my inheritance, I'll have some security. After I have my security, I'll be willing to follow Jesus anywhere he wants me to go because when his supply runs out, I'll have mine. And my friend, that's exactly what people are saying today. They are so attached to their security. Listen, did you know one of the greatest things that could happen to this country is for God to wipe all the security of all men out? Then in desperation, you'd see the saints of God grow up like giants before God. We have to depend upon Him. And listen... Man, because of his misinterpretation and because he has embezzled God. Now listen, an embezzler takes that which has been entrusted to him and uses it on himself. And you see, an embezzler is a believer who has taken God's gifts and goodness and love and mercy and blessings and instead of investing it in the kingdom of God, he's invested it in himself and uses it for himself. So that a second thing we notice is this. And that is not only do men drop out of discipleship because they are unwilling to be detached from the comforts of life. Second, they're unwilling to be detached from the cares of life. And those cares could be many things. And I want to ask you this morning, what is it in your life materially that you would not want to give up today to be obedient to God? Now, I'm not talking about your money. I don't want your money. But what I do want is this. I want you to examine your heart to see if in living reality you are willing for God to detach you from that which you have placed your security in. He says the man who is unwilling to detach himself from the material things of life in order to follow the Lord Jesus Christ is not worthy to be a disciple. Now, that detachment may include many things. It may not be just money, but it may be an idea that you're holding to. It may be jealousy in your heart towards someone else. It may be pride. Why? If I just gave over everything to the Lord and I began to serve him, what would so-and-so think? It doesn't make any difference what but one person thinks, and that's God. You see, detachment means I am willing for God to pull that out of my life by the roots, whatever it costs. Discipleship means that I must be totally and wholly and completely His. Now watch this. My friend, as long as anything, anybody has an attachment upon your life, you are not free. Detachment means I am willing for Him to pull out of my life by the roots anything and everything that would hinder me from being totally and completely and absolutely yielded to Him. Now listen, God is looking for disciples, men and women with the courage, men and women with the courage and the faith to believe that what God says He will do. Now listen, I believe He wants to disciple enough of us that He can trust us to trust Him absolutely and completely for all of our security, all of our dependence, and that He would destroy any sense of independence from God. Now listen, As long as a man is depending upon this which he has accumulated, that which he has accumulated, what these people think, what those people think, then he's not free. He's not dependent upon God. He is dependent upon something else. The detachment of discipleship means I am willing to step on an island, get out there with God and say, Lord, sink or swim, here I am. You are my future. You are my security. You are my life. And without you, there is nothing. You see, you don't mean to tell me you believe that's what he said. That's exactly what he meant. Listen, we've been colored by the system, saturated by its philosophy. We've been engulfed by the idea of having security. We've been baptized and immersed and beaten down and shattered and shaped and remolded by a system that is so completely antagonistic to what God said, we can't hear the truth for believing a lie. He said, no dependence upon the world, total dependence upon him. Listen, brother, it doesn't get sweet till you get out there where he saws you off and you just drop right into his arms. Nowhere in the world to be dead for security. That's what he's talking about. He says, one man said, nope, drop out number one. I am too attached to the comforts of life, can't do that. A second fellow says, I am too attached to the cares of life, my security, sorry, can't go. The third man Another said to him, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell with your home at my house. Now, the third man was attached to people, his father, his mother, his sisters, his brothers, his friends, whoever they might be. The attachments of the world. Listen, now God has given a mother a wonderful love for her children and a child a wonderful love for his father. But there comes a time when what God demands supersedes all else. Now someone say, well, how do you reconcile that with following the chain of command? I see no problem there. Jesus says, accept them and hate his father, mother, wife, children, brother, sister, and his own life also. He cannot be my disciple. Now we saw, if you'll remember, he did not mean by that animosity, hatred, but that love and loyalty and devotion and obedience to him supersedes obedience to all else. Now God will never call us to disobey. But his call to obedience may seem to loved ones as if we hate them. That's exactly what he's saying. Discipleship. That means to follow him without reservation, period. That's difficult for us because we live in a world system that has colored us, shaped us, molded us, made us. And friend, what God is looking for is a fellowship of people who are willing to shatter the mold, who are willing to break out and be what God wants them to be, whatever the price may be. He said, I can't go. There's my father. There's my mother. They're my sisters and brothers and all of my friends. How can I do that? You see, discipleship means that I am willing to turn my back upon every attachment in my life and walk right off and leave it, separate myself from it, disentangle myself from it, detach myself from it. Move away from it. And I want to ask you this morning, what is it? Who is it in your life? What is that thing, that desire, that attitude in your life, something that has an attachment to you? You just know that it's there. And once you pull away, it is still there. And when you think you've just about gotten away, there it is. You somehow cannot escape the attachments of the world. And here's the reason. because you look about you now watch this you look around you and you see what other people are doing and then you see what god requires of you and you say if i do that what in the world are they going to think which says your gaze is in the wrong direction as long as you look like that You're going to have a problem. When you're beginning to be willing to look up, then what you're saying is, God, I'm throwing everything, all of my dependence, all of my security, all of my future on you. Praise God. If I sink, I sink. If I swim, I swim. It'll be your responsibility. You are responsible for the consequences of my obedience. My friend, you'll never be a free man until you're willing to do that. You'll never be free until you tell God, here I am. As obedient as I know how to be, the consequences are totally yours. Only then would you experience discipleship.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to The Detachment of Discipleship. 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.
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.
