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Reap the benefits of the Holy Spirit's role in your life, which serves as a magnificent source of blessing.
In this enlightening episode, we delve into the formidable power of praise, especially during life's tumultuous storms. With heartfelt insights, Adrian Rogers draws from the narrative of King Jehoshaphat to illustrate the potent force that worship holds in overcoming adversities. As adversaries loom large, infusing intentional praise between strategic actions becomes a beacon of hope and a source of divine energy that confuses and defeats enemies.
SPEAKER 01 :
Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here's Adrian Rogers.
SPEAKER 02 :
Second Chronicles chapter 20. The message tonight is a serious message, but a helpful message, and it deals with praise. It deals with praising God IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE. THE TITLE OF THE MESSAGE, THE POWER OF PRAISE. NOW PRAISE IS A VERY POWERFUL THING. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU CAN ENJOY THE CHRISTIAN LIFE WITHOUT PRAISE. IT'S PRAISE THAT JUST INFUSES THE JOY AND LETS THE JOY BEGIN TO FLOW. IF YOU'RE HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH JOY, IT IS PROBABLY BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT PRAISING THE LORD. NOW BE HONEST, HOW MANY FOLKS ENJOY SPORTS, FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? LET ME SEE YOUR HAND. THAT'S MOST OF US, MOST OF US. IF THAT'S A SIN, I PLEAD GUILTY. I REALLY DO, I ENJOY WATCHING SPORTS. I ENJOY WATCHING FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL, ESPECIALLY FOOTBALL. BUT YOU KNOW, WHEN MY FAVORITE TEAM IS PLAYING, AND, AND SOMETHING WONDERFUL HAPPENS, I MEAN, THERE'S A SPECTACULAR CATCH OR SOME INCREDIBLE PLAY, SOME, SOMETHING THAT IS JUST STUPENDOUS, I HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING. I MEAN, EVEN IF I'M WATCHING BY MYSELF, JOYCE CAN HEAR ME IN THE OTHER END OF THE HOUSE. I JUST HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING. UH, I, IF, IF, IF WE SCORE OR WHATEVER, I HAVE TO SAY, ALL RIGHT, OR THAT'S GOOD, OR WOW, OR, YEAH. YOU KNOW, YOU'RE LIKE, DON'T YOU DO THAT? DO YOU DO THAT? YOU JUST, AH. IF YOU DON'T SAY ANYTHING WHEN IT'S HAPPENING, YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THAT GAME IS GOING TO BE GREATLY DIMINISHED. TRY IT SOMETIME. JUST TRY SITTING THERE AND WATCHING A BALL GAME AND DON'T EXPRESS YOURSELF. JUST WATCH IT. DON'T SAY ANYTHING AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. YOUR JOY, YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THAT GAME WILL DIMINISH. SOME FOLKS SIT HERE IN CHURCH, BLESS ME IF YOU CAN. THEY DON'T GET ANYTHING OUT OF IT. IF THEY DO, IT'S GREATLY DIMINISHED. YOU GET INTO IT. BEGIN TO PRAISE. BEGIN TO LAUGH. BEGIN TO SAY AMEN. BEGIN TO NOD YOUR HEAD. PARTICIPATE. GIVE GOD THE GLORY. THE JOY WILL START TO FLOW. QUIT JUST BEING A NON-ENTITY IN A SERVICE LIKE THIS. YOU KNOW, IT, IT HELPS TO PRAISE IN TIME OF JOY AND, AND, UH, PRAISE BRINGS JOY. AND IT HELPS TO PRAISE IN TIME OF HELP. WHEN YOU'VE, WHEN SOMEBODY'S DONE SOMETHING FOR YOU, LEARN TO PRAISE THEM. GIVE HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE. THERE'S POWER IN THAT.
SPEAKER 1 :
HUH.
SPEAKER 02 :
A WOMAN TOLD A PREACHER, SHE SAID, THAT WAS A WONDERFUL SERMON. He said, well, praise the Lord. She said it wasn't that wonderful. Just praise one another. And praise God when God has done something for you. Give Him thanks. But one of the ways and things we need to do, one of the things we need to do and one of the ways that we need to praise is to praise in time of trouble. AND I WANT YOU TO SEE HERE IN A CLASSIC PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE THAT FROM TIME TO TIME WE'VE LOOKED AT, BUT WE MUST NEED TO LOOK AT IT AGAIN, SECOND CHRONICLES CHAPTER 20, SECOND CHRONICLES CHAPTER 20. AND I, FIRST THING I WANT YOU TO SEE IS WHAT I'M GOING TO CALL A POWERFUL FOE, A POWERFUL FOE. LOOK, VERSES ONE AND TWO, AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THIS ALSO THAT THE CHILDREN OF MOAB, and the children of Ammon, with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. And there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side, Syria, AND BEHOLD, THEY THAT BE IN HAZARZON, HAZARZONTAMON, WHICH IS ANGEDDON." NOW HERE IS KING JEHOSHAPHAT, A GOOD KING. HE LOVES THE LORD AND HE'S TOLD, YOU'VE GOT SOME ENEMIES OUT THERE. THERE ARE THREE POWERFUL KINGS THAT ARE COMING AGAINST YOU. THE INHABITANTS THERE OF AMAM AND MOAB AND MOUNT SEIR HAVE COME AGAINST YOU. WE MIGHT AS WELL MAKE UP OUR MIND AND REAFFIRM THE, THE TRUTH THAT WE HAVE THREE MIGHTY KINGS THAT COME AGAINST US ON A REGULAR BASIS, SIN, SORROW, AND DEATH. THESE ARE THE CHRISTIANS' THREE GREAT FOES, THE WORLD'S THREE GREAT FOES, SIN, SORROW, AND DEATH. AND WE'RE FACED WITH THEM TIME AND TIME AGAIN. SO NUMBER ONE, A POWERFUL FOE. EVERY ONE OF US WHO LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE WILL MEET OPPOSITION FROM TIME TO TIME, AND SOMETIMES THE OPPOSITION WILL BE FIERCE. NUMBER TWO, NOT ONLY WAS THERE A POWERFUL FOE, BUT THANK GOD KING JEHOSHAPHAT MADE A POSITIVE FOCUS. LOOK IN VERSE THREE, AND JEHOSHAPHAT FEARED AND SET HIMSELF TO SEEK THE LORD AND PROCLAIM TO FAST THROUGHOUT ALL JUDAH. HE SET HIMSELF TO SEEK THE LORD." NOW GOD FOR JEHOSHAPHAT WAS HIS FIRST THOUGHT, NOT HIS LAST RESORT. JEHOSHAPHAT SAID, THE ENEMY'S OUT THERE, BUT GOD IS UP HERE, AND I AM GOING TO SEEK THE LORD WITH ALL OF MY HEART. A POWERFUL FOE CAUSED HIM TO HAVE A POSITIVE FOCUS. HE SET HIMSELF TO SEEK THE LORD. AND NOT ONLY WAS THERE A POSITIVE FOCUS, BUT THERE WAS A PROCLAIMED FAST. LOOK IF YOU WILL IN VERSE THREE, THE LAST PART, AND HE PROCLAIMED A FAST THROUGHOUT ALL JUDAH. AMERICA IS SICK. IT IS TIME FOR THE CHURCH OF THE LORD GOD TO SHARPEN HER FOCUS and proclaim a fast to seek God. It is not that by fasting we buy God's blessings. God's blessings are always by grace, but yet God does business with those that mean business. And when we have a positive focus, fasting just simply sharpens the focus. It causes us to think about God in a way that nothing else that I know of does. NOW THE NEXT THING I WANT YOU TO SEE IS A, A PURPOSEFUL FELLOWSHIP. LOOK IF YOU WILL IN VERSE FOUR, AND JUDAH GATHERED THEMSELVES TOGETHER TO ASK HELP OF THE LORD. EVEN OUT OF ALL OF THE CITIES OF JUDAH THEY CAME TO SEEK THE LORD. EVERYBODY CAME TOGETHER TO SEEK GOD. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN AMERICA IF IN ALL OF THE CITIES OF AMERICA PEOPLE JUST GOT TOGETHER TO SEEK THE LORD, BLACK AND WHITE, BAPTISTS, ASSEMBLY OF GOD, METHODISTS, PRESBYTERIAN, LUTHERAN, PENTECOSTAL, WHOMEVER WANTS TO, WHOMEVER WILL, TO COME TO SEEK THE LORD, A PURPOSEFUL FELLOWSHIP. AND WHEN WE COME TO SEEK THE LORD, HE SHOWS UP. FOR OUR LORD SAID, WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED IN MY NAME, THERE AM I IN THE MIDST OF THEM. AND WHEN WE COME TOGETHER, NOT TO TRY TO HEAL RACISM, NOT TO TRY TO SOLVE POVERTY, NOT TO ENTERTAIN OURSELVES, NOT TO, UH, GET AMERICA DELIVERED FROM HER ENEMIES, BUT WHEN WE COME TO SEEK THE LORD, TO SEEK THE LORD, TO SEEK THE LORD, WE WILL BE IN ONE ACCORD AND THEN WE WILL BE FAR ABLE, FAR BETTER ABLE TO ATTACK ALL OF THESE OTHER PROBLEMS THAT NEED TO BE DEALT WITH. BUT WE CANNOT BYPASS THE ONE THING THAT WE MUST DO AND GOD HELP US THAT WE WILL DO IS TO COME TOGETHER TO SEEK THE LORD, TO SEEK THE LORD. LOOK AT IT, LOOK AT IT. VERSE THREE, AND JEHOSHAPHAT FEARED AND SET HIMSELF TO SEEK THE LORD. THE LAST PART OF VERSE FOUR, THEY CAME TO SEEK THE LORD. IT WAS A PURPOSEFUL FELLOWSHIP TO SEEK THE LORD. NOT POLITICAL, NOT SOCIAL, NOT RACIAL, BUT SPIRITUAL, COMING TO SEEK THE LORD, A PURPOSEFUL FELLOWSHIP, VERSE FOUR. AND THEN THERE WAS A, A PRAYERFUL FAITH. AND NOW I WANT TO READ ON THROUGH VERSE 13, LOOK AT IT. AND JEHOSHAPHAT STOOD IN THE CONGREGATION OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD BEFORE THE NEW COURT, AND SAID, AND I WANT YOU TO LISTEN TO THIS PRAYER. BEFORE I READ THIS PRAYER, I WANT TO SAY THIS. THAT WHEN YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, WHEN I HAVE A PROBLEM, IT IS VERY, VERY, VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU PUT YOUR EYES UPON GOD, THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE CHARACTER AND THE NATURE OF GOD. AND IN THIS PRAYER THAT WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE, WE'RE GOING TO FIND FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NATURE OF GOD. AND WHEN A PROBLEM COMES, YOU NEED TO GLANCE AT YOUR PROBLEMS AND GAZE AT YOUR GOD. I WANT YOU TO SEE THE PRAYER THAT JEHOSHAPHAT PRAYED. NOW DON'T JUST GLANCE OVER THIS. DON'T JUST GLAZE OVER THIS. DON'T JUST GO THROUGH THIS CARELESSLY. BECAUSE THERE ARE FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NATURE OF GOD THAT ARE IN THIS PRAYER THAT GREATLY ENCOURAGED ME WHEN I LOOKED AT IT. FIRST OF ALL, JEHOSHAPHAT SAW GOD AS A SOVEREIGN GOD. LOOK IN VERSE SIX AND SAID, O LORD GOD OF OUR FATHERS, NOW LISTEN TO THIS, ART THOU NOT GOD IN HEAVEN? AND RULEST NOT THOU OVER ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE HEATHEN? AND IN THINE HAND IS THERE NOT POWER AND MIGHT, SO THAT NONE IS ABLE TO WITHSTAND THEE? QUESTION, CAN THE PORNOGRAPHERS WITHSTAND GOD? CAN THE LIQUOR DEALERS WITHSTAND GOD? CAN THE BABY BUTCHERS WITHSTAND GOD? CAN THE SODOMITES WITHSTAND GOD? NO. THERE IS NONE. THIS IS WHAT HE SAYS, YOU RULE OVERALL. THERE IS NOT POWER AND MIGHT SO THAT NONE IS ABLE TO WITHSTAND THEE. AND IT'S ABOUT TIME WE BELIEVE THAT. PEOPLE GOING AROUND WRINGING THEIR HANDS, SAYING, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? WELL, I CAN TELL YOU THERE'S NO PANIC IN HEAVEN. AND I CAN TELL YOU ALSO THAT THE HOLY TRINITY NEVER MEETS AN EMERGENCY SESSION. YOU SAY, WELL, PASTOR, I HAVE A BIG PROBLEM, ALL RIGHT? I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM YOU HAVE. I MEAN THE VERY BIGGEST. THEN I WANT YOU TO DOUBLE IT. THEN I WANT YOU TO DOUBLE IT AGAIN. THEN I WANT YOU TO CO, COMPARE IT TO ALMIGHTY GOD AND TELL ME THAT YOUR PROBLEM IS TOO BIG FOR GOD. LISTEN, JEHOSHAPHAT BEGAN TO PRAY, AND FIRST OF ALL, HIS PRAYER WAS ADDRESSED TO A SOVEREIGN GOD. SECONDLY, VERSE SEVEN, IT WAS ADDRESSED TO A STEADFAST GOD. NOW LOOK AT VERSE SEVEN, ART NOT THOU OUR GOD, WHO DIDST DRIVE OUT THE INHABITANTS OF THIS LAND BEFORE THY PEOPLE ISRAEL, AND GAVEST IT TO THE SEED OF ABRAHAM THY FRIEND FOREVER? WHAT DOES HE SAY? HE SAID, GOD, YOU MADE A PROMISE TO ABRAHAM. YOU SAID TO ABRAHAM, I AM GOING TO GIVE YOU THIS LAND AND IT IS YOURS AND IT IS YOURS FOREVER. AND NOW, LORD, THIS BUNCH IS COMING TO TAKE AWAY FROM US THAT WHICH YOU GAVE US. AND, LORD, WE ARE STANDING ON YOUR WORD AND WE'RE PRAYING ON THE BASIS OF YOUR PROMISE. YOU ARE A STEADFAST GOD. YOU DON'T CHANGE WHAT YOU SAID TO ABRAHAM. YOU'RE SAYING TO US AND WE'RE STANDING ON YOUR WORD. GOD IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVERMORE. AND THE GOD WHO HAS WORKED MIRACLES IN THE PAST IS THE GOD WHO CAN WORK MIRACLES TODAY. AND DON'T YOU INSULT GOD BY SAYING, WE CANNOT HAVE REVIVAL IN THIS DAY AND IN THIS AGE. IT'S AN INSULT TO GOD BECAUSE GOD IS STILL POWERFUL. HE STILL HAS POWER TO SAVE MULTITUDES, TO SHAKE CITIES, AND TO SEND REVIVAL. STUDY THE HISTORY OF REVIVAL. AND GOD HAS SENT REVIVAL IN DARK DAYS BEFORE, AND GOD CAN AND GOD WILL, IF WE WILL TRUST HIM, SEND REVIVAL TODAY. HE IS A SOVEREIGN GOD, HE IS A STEADFAST GOD, AND HE IS A SYMPATHETIC GOD. LOOK IN VERSES EIGHT AND NINE AS WE CONTINUE TO READ, AND THEY DWELT THEREIN, AND HAVE BUILT THEIR SANCTUARY THEREIN FOR THY NAME, SAYING, IF, WHEN EVIL COMETH UPON US, AS THE SWORD, JUDGMENT, AND BY THE WAY, AMERICA IS UNDER JUDGMENT, JUDGMENT OR PESTILENCE, AMERICA HAS PESTILENCE, IT'S THE AGE PESTILENCE, OR FAMINE, WE STAND BEFORE THIS HOUSE AND IN THY PRESENCE, FOR THY NAME IS IN THIS HOUSE, THAT IS, THEY'RE PRAYING ON THE BASIS OF GOD'S GLORY, AND CRY UNTO THEE IN OUR AFFLICTION, THEN THOU WILL HEAR AND HELP. IS THAT UNDERSCORED IN YOUR BIBLE? IT IS IN MINE. THEN THOU WILL HEAR AND HELP. I LOVE THAT. THE GOD WHO HEARS AND THE GOD WHO HELPS. HE IS A SYMPATHETIC GOD. IF WE CRY TO HIM, HE WILL HEAR AND HE WILL HELP. HE WILL HEAR, HE WILL HELP. HE IS A SOVEREIGN GOD. HE IS A STEADFAST GOD. HE IS A SYMPATHETIC GOD. THE BIBLE SAYS IN ALL THEIR AFFLICTIONS HE WAS AFFLICTED. HE'S TOUCHED WITH THE FEELING OF OUR INFIRMITY. Then next, He is a seeing God. Look, if you will, in verse 10, "'Now behold,' that is, Lord, take a look. "'Now behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, "'whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, "'these, Lord, that you protected "'when they came out of the land of Egypt, "'but they turned from them and destroyed them not. "'That is, we showed mercy to them. "'Behold,' I say, how they reward us.' TO COME TO CAST US OUT OF THY POSSESSION WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN US TO INHERIT." NOW WHAT'S HE SAYING? HE'S SAYING, GOD, TAKE A LOOK AT ALL OF THIS. JUST BEHOLD IT. YOU SAY, DO I HAVE TO TELL GOD TO LOOK AT WHAT HE ALREADY SEES? YES. DO I HAVE TO ASK GOD FOR WHAT HE KNOWS I ALREADY NEED? YES. BUT THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT OUR PRAYER THAT GETS GOD'S ATTENTION AND CAUSES HIM IN A VERY SPECIAL WAY TO FOCUS ON WHAT WE FOCUS ON. HE IS A SEEING GOD. AND TWICE, GOD IS ASKED TO BEHOLD THIS. VERSE 10, AND NOW BEHOLD. VERSE 11, BEHOLD I SAY. HE IS THE SEEING GOD. GOD KNOWS YOUR SITUATION. HE KNOWS YOUR ENEMY. HE KNOWS YOUR DANGER. HE KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW. HE KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE THINKING THIS VERY MOMENT. AND THAT HELPS US WHEN WE PRAY. THERE'S NOTHING THAT ESCAPES HIS NOTICE. NOT ONLY IS HE A SEEING GOD, BUT HE IS THE SAVING GOD. LOOK, IF YOU WILL, IN VERSES 12 AND 13, O OUR GOD. BY THE WAY, THESE ARE TWO OF THE GREATEST VERSES IN THE CHAPTER. O OUR GOD, WILT THOU NOT JUDGE THEM? FOR WE HAVE NO MIGHT AGAINST THIS GREAT COMPANY THAT COMETH AGAINST US, NEITHER KNOW WE WHAT TO DO. BUT OUR EYES ARE UPON THEE. AND ALL JUDAH STOOD BEFORE THE LORD WITH THEIR LITTLE ONES, THEIR WIVES, AND THEIR CHILDREN. OH, GOD, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. WE DON'T HAVE ANY STRENGTH. BUT, LORD, OUR EYES ARE ON YOU. HERE ARE OUR WIVES. HERE ARE OUR CHILDREN. HERE ARE OUR LITTLE BABIES. LORD, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. THEY'RE COMING AGAINST US. GOD, WE DON'T HAVE ANY MIGHT. WE DON'T HAVE ANY STRENGTH. HOLLYWOOD IS GREATER THAN WE ARE. THE LIQUOR PEOPLE HAVE MORE MONEY THAN WE HAVE. THE MEDIA SEEMS TO BE AGAINST US. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. BUT GOD, OUR EYES ARE ON YOU. HMM. IF WE GO DOWN, WE'RE GOING DOWN WITH OUR EYES ON YOU. IF THEY KILL US, THEY'RE GONNA KILL US WITH OUR EYES ON YOU. LORD, YOU ARE THE GOD WHO CAN DELIVER US. YOU ARE THE SOVEREIGN GOD. You are the steadfast God. You are the sympathetic God. You are the seeing God. You are the saving God. AND SO WHAT THEY DID, FRIEND, THEY JUST CAME TO A PRAYERFUL FAITH AND BEGAN TO PRAY, NOT ON THE BASIS OF WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, BUT ON WHO GOD IS. NEXT THING, NOT ONLY A PRAYERFUL FAITH, BUT A PROPHETIC FACT. NOW THEY'RE PRAYING, AND WHEN THEY PRAY, GOD BEGINS TO SPEAK AND ANSWER. BEGIN NOW IN VERSE 14. And upon Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. And the Lord said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat. Thus saith the Lord unto you, BE NOT AFRAID NOR DISMAYED BY REASON OF THIS GREAT MULTITUDE, THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS BUT GOD'S. OH! OH! THAT'S IT! THAT'S IT! THAT'S IT! THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS BUT GOD, A PROPHETIC FACT. NOW THEY'RE PRAYING. THEY'RE SEEKING GOD. THEY'RE SAYING, GOD, WE HAVE NO MIGHT. WE HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. BUT WE'VE, WE'VE, WE'VE SET OURSELVES TO SEEK YOU. WE'VE GATHERED TOGETHER TO SEEK YOU. WE'VE PROCLAIMED TO FAST TO SEEK YOU. AND GOD THEN BEGINS TO MOVE. AND GOD BEGINS TO SPEAK. AND GOD TAKES A SPIRIT ANOINTED PREACHER TO BRING A MESSAGE. THANK GOD THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DOES ANOINT. THANK GOD FOR SPIRIT-FILLED MESSENGERS. AND THE MESSENGER SAID, HERE'S THE MESSAGE FROM GOD. HERE IS THE PROPHETIC FACT THAT WE NEED TO SEE ONE MORE TIME. VICTORY BELONGS TO GOD. THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD'S. NOW, THE PROPHETIC FACT BRINGS US TO THE POTENT FORCE. AND WHAT IS THE POTENT FORCE? WELL, BEGIN NOW IN VERSE 16 AND READ THROUGH VERSE 22. HERE'S WHAT THE MAN OF GOD SAID. HERE IS WHAT THE PROPHET SAID. TOMORROW GO YE DOWN AGAINST THEM. BEHOLD, THEY COME UP BY THE CLIFF OF ZIZ, AND YE SHALL FIND THEM AT THE END OF THE BROOK BEFORE THE WILDERNESS OF JAPAN. Ruel, and ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem, FEAR NOT, NOR BE DISMAYED. TOMORROW GO OUT AGAINST THEM, FOR THE LORD WILL BE WITH YOU.' AND JEHOSHAPHAT BOWED HIS HEAD WITH HIS FACE TO THE GROUND. AND ALL JUDAH AND THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM FELL BEFORE THE LORD, WORSHIPING THE LORD. AND THE LEVITES OF THE CHILDREN OF THE KOTHITES AND OF THE CHILDREN OF THE KORHITES STOOD UP TO PRAISE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL WITH A LOUD VOICE ON HIGH. BY THE WAY, IF YOU DON'T LIKE LOUD MUSIC, YOU WOULDN'T LIKE IT HERE. THEY BEGAN TO PRAISE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL WITH A LOUD VOICE ON HIGH. AND THEY ROSE EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND WENT FORTH INTO THE WILDERNESS OF TO, UH, TECHOA. AND AS THEY WENT FORTH, JEHOSHAPHAT STOOD AND SAID, HEAR ME, O JUDAH, YE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, BELIEVE IN THE LORD YOUR GOD. AND BOY, THERE'S ANOTHER ONE OF THESE GREAT STATEMENTS IN HERE. BELIEVE IN THE LORD YOUR GOD, SO SHALL YOU BE ESTABLISHED. BELIEVE HIS PROPHETS. SO SHALL YE PROSPER. GOD RAISED UP A PROPHET AND GOD SAID, BELIEVE HIM IF YOU WANT TO PROSPER. AND WHEN HE HAD CONSULTED WITH THE PEOPLE, HE APPOINTED SINGERS UNTO THE LORD, THAT THEY SHOULD PRAISE THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. AND THERE'S ANOTHER GREAT PHRASE. SINGERS UNTO THE LORD, THAT THEY SHOULD PRAISE THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS, AS THEY WENT OUT BEFORE THE LORD, AND TO SAY, PRAISE THE LORD, FOR HIS MERCY ENDURETH FOREVER. AND WHEN THEY BEGAN TO SING AND TO PRAISE, THE LORD SET AMBUSHMENTS AGAINST THE CHILDREN OF AMMON, MOAB, AND MOUNT SEIR, WHICH WERE COME AGAINST JUDAH, AND THEY WERE SMITTEN. FOR THE CHILDREN OF AMMON AND MOAB STOOD UP AGAINST THE INHABITANTS OF MOUNT SEIR, UTTERLY TO SLAY AND TO DESTROY THEM. AND WHEN THEY'D MADE AN END OF THE INHABITANTS OF SEIR, EVERY ONE HELPED TO DESTROY ANOTHER. AND WHEN JUDAH CAME TOWARD THE WATCH TOWER IN THE WILDERNESS, THEY LOOKED UNTO THE MULTITUDE, AND, BEHOLD, THERE WERE DEAD BODIES FALLEN TO THE EARTH, AND NONE ESCAPED." NOW WHAT IS THE POTENT FORCE? THE POTENT FORCE IS PRAISE. NOW, THE PROPHET OF GOD SAID, THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT THE LORD'S, BUT YOU HAVE A PART, AND YOUR PART IS PRAISE, AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HIDE UNTIL IT'S ALL OVER. NOW A LOT OF US WOULD HAVE SAID, NOW GOD, WHEN IT'S ALL OVER, HUH, WHEN WE HAVE THE VICTORY, THEN WE'RE GOING TO PRAISE YOU FOR THE VICTORY. BUT GOD SAYS, OH NO, THE BATTLE IS MINE, THE BATTLE IS, IS NOT YOURS, BUT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HIDE UNTIL IT'S OVER, AND, AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PRAISE, ON THE FRONT END, NOT AT THE REAR END. BUT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PRAISE AT THE BEGINNING, NOT AT THE CONCLUSION. YOU CAN'T PRAISE AFTER IT'S OVER, BECAUSE IT WON'T BE OVER UNTIL YOU BEGAN TO PRAISE. I WONDER, HAVE YOU LEARNED TO PRAISE GOD IN YOUR PROBLEMS? YOU SAY, I CAN'T PRAISE GOD IN THE MIDST OF MY PROBLEMS. WELL, THEN GO AHEAD AND LIVE WITH HIM. LET'S GO AHEAD AND LIVE WITH HIM. BUT FRIEND, IF YOU WILL DO WHAT THIS WONDERFUL TWENTYTH CHAPTER OF SECOND CHRONICLES TEACHES US TO DO, YOU CAN PRAISE AND SEE GOD MOVE. DID YOU KNOW WHAT PRAISE IS? PRAISE IS FAITH EXPRESSING ITSELF. THAT'S ALL PRAISE IS. PRAISE IS JUST FAITH TURNED INSIDE OUT. NOW, WE, WE COME TO GOD, WE MUST ASK GOD. THAT'S WHAT THESE PEOPLE DID. THEY CAME AND THEY ASKED GOD, THEY SAID, GOD DELIVER US, OUR EYES ARE ON YOU, HELP US. THAT'S PETITION. BUT PETITION MUST BE MARRIED TO PRAISE. PETITION SAYS PLEASE, PRAISE SAYS THANK YOU. BUT PRAISE SAYS THANK YOU ON THE FRONT END. SEE, PRAISE BRINGS GOD INTO IT. DO YOU REMEMBER THAT PASSAGE OVER THERE IN PSALM 22 VERSE 3, WHERE GOD OCCUPIES THE PRAISE OF HIS PEOPLE? WHAT IS GOD'S ADDRESS? WHERE DOES GOD LIVE? PRAISE IS GOD'S ADDRESS. WHEREVER THERE'S PRAISE, GOD SHOWS UP. GOD OCCUPIES THE PRAISE OF HIS PEOPLE. THE TWO WINGS OF POWER ARE PETITION AND PRAISE. NOW, LET ME TELL YOU TWO THINGS PRAISE WILL DO. I LOVE IT. AND IT'S RIGHT HERE IN VERSES 16 THROUGH 22. HERE'S TWO THINGS PRAISE WILL DO. PRAISE INFUSES THE ENERGY OF GOD. NUMBER TWO, PRAISE CONFUSES THE ENEMIES OF GOD. PRAISE INFUSES THE ENERGY OF GOD. PRAISE CONFUSES THE ENEMY OF GOD. WHEN YOU BEGIN TO PRAISE, GOD'S ENERGY JUST BEGINS TO FILL YOU. IT INFUSES YOU WITH ENERGY AND POWER BECAUSE GOD IS IN THAT PRAISE. AND WHEN YOU BEGIN TO PRAISE, NOT ONLY IS THAT PRAISE VERY HEALTHY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT, IT IS THE AMBIENCE, THE ENVIRONMENT THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT OCCUPIES, BUT SATAN IS ALLERGIC TO IT. SATAN BREAKS OUT WITH HIVES. When you begin to praise God, Satan gets confused. Now here are these enemies. Here are the inhabitants of Ammon and Moab, Mount Seir. And they're all coming against one enemy, against Israel. And here goes the army of God. And they're just going against the enemy. And they're singing the battle hymn of the Republic. And they're singing victory in Jesus. And they're singing what a mighty God we serve. AND SATAN GOES BANANAS. I MEAN, THEY TURNED ON EACH OTHER. THEY BEGAN TO KILL ONE ANOTHER AND DESTROY ONE ANOTHER. THEY GOT IN ABSOLUTE CONFUSION. PRAISE FRACTURES THE UNITY OF THE ENEMY. AND PRAISE FORMULATES THE UNITY OF THE BELIEVER. Oh, how we need to be bound together, praising the Lord God. What a potent force is praise. It infuses the energy of God. It confuses the enemy of God. And so there's a potent force. And now what happens? Well, look, if you will, in verse 25. There is a provided fortune. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, THEY FOUND AMONG THEM IN ABUNDANCE BOTH RICHES WITH THE DEAD BODIES, AND PRECIOUS JEWELS, WHICH THEY HAD STRIPPED OFF FOR THEMSELVES MORE THAN THEY COULD CARRY AWAY. AND THEY WERE THREE DAYS IN GATHERING OF THE SPOIL." IT WAS SO MUCH. NOW HOW ABOUT THAT FOR A SWITCH? HERE THEY HAVE AN ENEMY. THIS ENEMY LOOKS LIKE IT'S GOING TO DESTROY THEM. YOU SAY, OH GOD, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO. THEN GOD, AS THEY SEEK THE LORD IN FASTING AND PRAYER, GOD SENDS THEM A MESSAGE. THEY OBEY THE MESSAGE. THEY BEGAN TO BELIEVE GOD AND PRAISE GOD. THE ENEMY IS PUT INTO CONFUSION. AND NOW THEY'RE LEFT WITH ALL THIS BOUNTY, THESE SPOILS. TREASURE. FOR THREE DAYS THEY'RE TRYING TO LOAD IT UP AND CARRY IT OFF. IS GOD'S MESSENGER BOY. YOU SAY, WHY DOESN'T GOD KILL THE DEVIL? DID YOU KNOW THAT GOD USES THE DEVIL? IF WE WILL BEGIN TO PRAISE THE LORD, THE DEVIL WILL BECOME OUR SERVANT TO ENRICH US. I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THE TIMES THAT I'VE BEEN IN SPIRITUAL BATTLE, AND I GUESS I'VE BEEN IN SPIRITUAL BATTLE ALL MY LIFE. SOMEBODY ASKED ME THE OTHER DAY, HE SAID, ARE YOU UNDER PRESSURE? I SAID, I DON'T KNOW. I don't know, I've never been any other way. It's like the woman didn't know her husband was drinking until one day he came home sober. I mean, I've just been under pressure, I guess. I don't know whether it's pressure or not. I just live this way. I'll tell you one thing. There have been some times when I've been under pressure, pressure. There have been some times when, I mean, it's really, really, really been tough. EVERY ONE OF THOSE TIMES WHEN I'VE TURNED TO THE LORD, NOT ONLY HAS HE BROUGHT ME THROUGH, BUT HE'S MADE ME RICH EVERY TIME, EVERY TIME. I HAVE COME OUT WITH BOTH HANDS FULL OF RUBIES AND DIAMONDS AND EMERALDS AND GOLD. AND THOUGH I WOULDN'T CHOOSE IT, I WOULDN'T TAKE ANYTHING FOR IT, For the way that what the enemy meant for evil, God used for good. And David cut Goliath's head off with Goliath's sword. And God takes that which the enemy means against us for evil. AND GOD USES IT FOR HIS GLORY AND HIS GOOD. GOD WANTS TO DO THAT FOR BIBLE BELIEVERS IN AMERICA. AND WHAT WE THINK ARE CALAMITOUS THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN THESE DAYS, IF WE WILL SET OURSELVES, SET OURSELVES, SET OURSELVES TO SEEK GOD IN FASTING AND PRAYER AND PRAISE, WE'LL SEE GOD DO A MIRACLE IN AMERICA. AND I'M, FOR ONE, I'M HUNGRY TO SEE IT HAPPEN. AND WHEN IT HAPPENS, HUH, NOBODY'S GONNA GET THE PRAISE BUT JESUS. AS A MATTER OF FACT, YOU'LL HAVE TO GET TO PRAISE BEFORE IT HAPPENS. AND IT'S JUST, IT, IT'S A PROVIDED FORTUNE. VERSE 25, AND THEN VERSES 26 THROUGH 30, A PEACEFUL FUTURE. LOOK IF YOU WILL IN VERSE 26 HERE, AND ON THE FOURTH DAY THEY ASSEMBLED THEMSELVES IN THE VALLEY OF BARAKA, FOR THERE THEY BLESSED THE LORD. THEREFORE THE NAME OF THE SAME PLACE WAS CALLED THE VALLEY OF BARAKA UNTIL THIS DAY. THEN THEY RETURNED EVERY MAN TO JUDAH AND JERUSALEM, AND JEHOSHAPHAT IN THE FOREFRONT OF THEM, TO GO AGAIN TO JERUSALEM WITH JOY. FOR THE LORD HAD MADE THEM TO REJOICE OVER THEIR ENEMIES. AND THEY CAME TO JERUSALEM WITH SALTRIES AND HARPS AND TRUMPETS UNTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD." WHAT A DAY THAT MUST HAVE BEEN. AND THE FEAR OF GOD WAS ON ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THOSE COUNTRIES. WHEN THEY HAD HEARD THAT THE LORD HAD FOUGHT AGAINST THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL. SO THE REALM OF JEHOSHAPHAT WAS QUIET, FOR HIS GOD GAVE HIM REST." ROUND ABOUT, A PEACEFUL FUTURE. DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE ENEMIES LOVED HIM, THEY STILL HATED HIM. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS? THE BIBLE SAYS, WHEN A MAN'S WAYS PLEASE THE LORD, EVEN HIS ENEMIES WILL BE AT PEACE WITH HIM. DOESN'T MEAN THEY'LL LOVE HIM, THEY'RE JUST AFRAID OF HIM, JUST AFRAID OF HIM. WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL AGAIN IF, IF, IF THIS WORLD WERE AFRAID OF THE PRAYERS OF GOD'S PEOPLE? WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL AGAIN IF THEY SAY, DON'T TOUCH THEM, THEY'RE HOLY PEOPLE. DON'T MESS WITH THEM, GOD IS WITH THOSE FOLKS. THEY DON'T HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR US TODAY, THEY LAUGH AT US, THEY MOCK AT US, AND WELL THEY OUGHT BECAUSE WE DESERVE IT. BUT FRIEND, I WANT US TO COME TO A PLACE WHERE THEY SAY, DON'T, DON'T MESS WITH THEM, GOD IS WITH THEM. AND WHEN A MAN'S WAYS PLEASE THE LORD, HE MAKES EVEN HIS ENEMIES TO BE AT PEACE WITH HIM. WELL, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED A LONG TIME AGO. WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO SEE IT HAPPEN AGAIN? I WOULD. NOW, I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO GET FRIGHTENED NOW, BUT I WANT TO GIVE YOU TEN FACTS. I KNOW THAT'S A LOT. I'M JUST GOING TO, THEY'RE GOING TO BE SHORT. BUT IF YOU'VE GOT SOME PROBLEMS, HERE'S WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO. LISTEN TO ME NOW. NUMBER ONE, YOU NEED TO LEARN TO SEE ALL SATANIC OPPOSITION AS OPPORTUNITY. GOT IT? SEE ALL SATANIC OPPOSITION AS OPPORTUNITY. THAT'LL PUT A DIFFERENT FOCUS ON IT. NUMBER TWO, SEEK GOD, SET YOURSELF TO SEEK GOD BEFORE YOU TAKE ANY ACTION. NUMBER THREE, REMEMBER THOSE TIMES WHEN YOU SEEK GOD THAT HE HAS SHOWN HIMSELF FAITHFUL IN THE PAST AS JEHOSHAPHAT DID. THINK BACK ON OTHER TIMES WHEN HE DELIVERED YOU. NUMBER FOUR, BEGIN TO STUDY THE WORD OF GOD FOR A PROMISE ON WHICH TO STAND. NUMBER FIVE, LET THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD MAKE THAT PROMISE REAL AND LIVE IN YOUR HEART. NUMBER SIX, REFUSE ANY CONFIDENCE WHATSOEVER IN THE FLESH. NUMBER SEVEN, GIVE YOURSELF TO FULL, FREE, UNRESTRAINED, OPEN WORSHIP AND PRAISE OF THE ALMIGHTY. NUMBER EIGHT, BEGIN TO PRAISE GOD IN THE FACE OF OPPOSITION AND IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY. NUMBER NINE, EXPECT GOD TO SEND CONFUSION TO YOUR ENEMIES. NUMBER TEN, GET READY FOR A BLESSING. GET READY FOR A BLESSING. THAT'S WHAT THIS CHAPTER IS TELLING US.
SPEAKER 01 :
If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with Him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.
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.
Listen as Dr. James Dobson and Mary Crowley discuss the challenges women face, such as low self-esteem and the quest for self-fulfillment in a world full of distractions. Mary emphasizes the importance of confidence and a supportive community, sharing insights on finding personal success beyond societal norms. Through personal anecdotes and scripture-based wisdom, this episode aims to inspire women to discover God's plan for them and to thrive in every area of life.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome everyone to Family Talk. It's a ministry of the James Dobson Family Institute supported by listeners just like you. I'm Dr. James Dobson and I'm thrilled that you've joined us.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, welcome to Family Talk, the broadcast division of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. I'm Roger Marsh. And whether you're listening at home or on the go, you are in for something special today. We are bringing you a classic conversation featuring Mary Crowley, author of the book Women Who Win, Who We'll be right back. $400 million in business, powered by thousands of women working from their homes. The company became so successful that when they held a celebration, they filled an arena with 10,000 of their top saleswomen, and they featured Bob Hope and Billy Graham as special guests. But Mary's secret wasn't just business savvy. It was putting priorities in the right order. Mary started every company meeting by reading Scripture, often turning to the Proverbs for wisdom about leadership. And here's an interesting connection. Mary Kay Ash, who co-founded Mary Kay Cosmetics with a similar home party business model, was actually Mary Crowley's sister-in-law. Now, in her book, Women Who Win, Mary addresses a challenge many women still face today, and that is a lack of self-confidence. Her message is both simple and powerful. You are designed for fulfillment, and God has a plan for your life. Mary Crowley believed that by honoring God and serving others, women could find success both at home and in business. So let's listen now as Mary talks about those timeless principles with our own Dr. James Dobson on this special edition of Family Talk.
SPEAKER 03 :
I would like to say this is one of the most generous women I have ever met. She supports Christian causes all across this country. And your generosity is legendary, Mary. So you have taken what God has given you and shared it with so many causes that you believe in. But where did all that start? How did you get into business?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I got in business 27 years ago. Actually, I'd been in direct selling business before that, but now my kids were grown and I saw a need. There was a need for American women to decorate their homes with excitement and with care. And from a coordinated line of accessories, I found that women were not sure what to do. And I'd worked for furniture companies before. And so we started the business to give women an opportunity to work from their homes, be there when the kids got home from school, and still use their creative genius, which God gave every woman. Every woman is a genius. Some just don't know it yet or haven't developed yet. And this is the idea of the business, and we had twin goals. One was to honor God, because I knew by then that if we didn't honor Him, we would not be successful. Now, that doesn't mean that people who do not belong to the Lord, and there are lots of successful people, quote, in the world, they can be successful. But if I've made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Master, that I cannot be successful if I do not honor Him. Somehow along the line, he'll let me fall flat on my face. And I've done that a few times, too. I believe that's true. Absolutely. So it had to honor him. And then it had to bless and serve people. The whole world wants service. They can buy products. They can buy merchandise. They can buy lots of things. but we want genuine, caring, personal service. And that was our goal, to do that. And in so doing, to help the woman who was showing and selling our accessories to find fulfillment in herself and to have a fellowship of her sisters. You know, America needs places where people can go to belong, to find a support team. When our great-grandmothers came across the prairies, They had quilting bees and canning bees, and they had support teams for one another in their difficult times and in their joyous times. So we have built support teams all across America. And the fellowship is as important as the salesmanship. And so that's how we started. We started from our garage, very, very small. My son and my daughter and myself and a few friends, people that invested and believed in us. And it's grown beyond my wildest imagination, and it's pretty wild.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let's address some comments to the woman who is at home, where you were when you started. I don't know what your circumstances were, but let's suppose that she feels somewhat unfulfilled and somewhat frustrated. She wants to do something significant with her life. Maybe the kids now are in the teen years, and she knows they're going to be gone before too long, and she's wondering what now. What do you say to her? How does she begin to put it all together and find out who she is? Does that necessarily mean she's got to be successful in business like you are in order to find yourself?
SPEAKER 02 :
No. Again, I come back to the measure of success for each person. Success is a moving target. When you've got little kids at home, sometimes it's just getting through the day. You know, and then as they go into school and you begin to have other time, and then it may be reading good books and getting yourself, your mind activated again. Maybe it's starting an exercise program, whatever it is, that the measure of success that makes you feel fulfilled, it's different for everybody. And each person has to learn to define their own. Otherwise, they are always trying to
SPEAKER 03 :
Why do you think that moving target is so difficult for American women to hit? Why do you think so many American women are frustrated?
SPEAKER 02 :
Because they are trying to find their measure of fulfillment in what they're hearing, either on TV or maybe radio or reading in some magazine, instead of trying to find out what God's game plan is for them. I heard a wonderful interview with Walter Payton not long ago, and he defined something that was so great. The interviewer asked him, is your measure of success 100 yards gained in a game, as is the measure of success for a ball game for a running back? And he said, no, my measure of success is following the game plan consistently. designed for that game to the very best of my ability. And I thought that was a wonderful way to illustrate what everybody, God has a game plan for my life, for your life, for every woman out there with little kids or big kids or no kids. And if somebody tried to just copy mine, they might get very frustrated. I have a high energy level, and I can do a lot of things. Others might not. We're all made differently. Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Could it be that God's game plan for a particular woman would be to stay home and take care of three little kids under six years of age for this period of her life? Society is telling her that that's nobody's game plan. Could that be God's game plan for some people?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, he says that in his word, and then he also says that older women should help the younger women. And I think this is where, again, I was talking about a support team. A lot of young women with little children are feeling so alienated and so unsupported because maybe her parents or his parents do not live close. Society has not built a support team around them in our today's world. that's where they need to find a support team. They have to have fellowship with other women, and maybe it's a Bible class, maybe it's a home interior show, maybe it's coming in part-time, or maybe it's simply finding other group of women who have uplifting, motivating things to do. put in their hours otherwise sometimes we do recruit mothers with young kids because she's sitting there watching the daytime dramas and living in a fantasy world and that is no good for her and so if we can enlighten her and lift her up and give her something to do part-time that will fulfill her desires and create you know we try to develop her creative talents women want to be accepted understood and developed They don't want to stay static. They want to be developed. So whatever. If you're sitting out there and you're thinking, well, I'm not being developed, then you find something that develops your mind, your spirit, your being. And don't sit there and get caught in that daytime drama trap of fantasy world. That's the worst thing.
SPEAKER 03 :
You're talking about soap opera.
SPEAKER 02 :
I am, I am. Well, that's terrible.
SPEAKER 03 :
It really is.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, but that's what happens to a lot of women who are home with little kids, Dr. Dobson. That's what happens to them. And so then just being at home with the children does not minister to their spirit or does not even help them to be good mothers unless they must have a plan to be a successful mother and a successful wife and woman.
SPEAKER 03 :
Mary, what do you say to the person who is very frustrated in their present job? Do you have any advice to a person who just feels they're in a dead-end trap? Change it. Absolutely. But it costs money. I'm making more money than I could make someplace else. Yeah, but it's not making you happy, so what good is it? But I've got to feed my family.
SPEAKER 02 :
Find another way to feed them. No, it isn't really worth it if people are frustrated in their jobs unless there is a real way that they can change the frustration in that job. If it's their attitude, then they better change the attitude. But if it's the job itself and there is no hope of fulfillment, then change the job. Life's too short and too wonderful to waste it on frustration. Now, we'll have frustrations in all jobs. People need to realize that. There are days of frustration in any job, and you can't expect a frustration-free job. But at the end of the day, there must be something that you feel that you've accomplished in the lives of other people. or in going forward in your measure of success or something that you have done that is an accomplishment at the end of every day. Oh, there'll be days you think, well, what did I accomplish today? I've just not even gotten through the mail. I didn't get through the dishes. I didn't get through there too many. You know, we live in the day of distractomania. But you can find something, some life that you touched, something that you did that made the doing worthwhile.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think you've put your finger on really the critical issue having to do with the support team. I've tried to write and talk about that because I find many women know they need that but don't know how to go and get it. I was counseling with a young mother just the other day in my office, and she said, I don't have anybody. I don't have any close friends. The one I had turned her back on me. And this is a very bright woman who's a schoolteacher and is very capable, very verbal, very able to get out and meet the world. Oh, I need to recruit her. And yet I find many women like that don't know how to take the first step. There is a lack of confidence perhaps to go outside that front door and maybe somebody will hurt me or reject me and it's just easier or seems easier to pull in and let the four walls collapse. I guess you're really addressing that problem.
SPEAKER 02 :
We do. We address that problem a great deal. And you hit it when you said lack of confidence. One time I took a poll all across America from thousands of women, asked them what were their three greatest problems personality-wise, society-wise, business-wise, or family-wise. And north, south, east, and west, there was no names on the papers. It was lack of self-confidence, low esteem. I was just floored. Here's the greatest nation in the earth, the highest educational level for all women, the greatest opportunities. So I set about my goal is to help every woman I meet or that hear the sound of my voice to feel better about herself, to realize you are designed for life. God has a plan for your life, but I fully believe that they cannot find it till they find that absolute, till they realize that God is their creator, he is their maker, and then they begin to understand what is the character of God. He loves, he cares, he's just, he's fair, he has great things for us. And once you find that, you see, people often say to me, well, haven't you been discriminated against as a woman? Well, maybe I just didn't have sense enough to know it. But you see, if somebody tries to put me down, it diminishes them, not me. My self-worth is tied up in the character of God himself. And once any woman finds that out, she's redeemed. She's free to be herself and then free to have the confidence to say to somebody, look, I need some help. I want to get to know some people. And how do you turn people with low self-esteem into good salespeople? Well, first of all, they have to learn what selling really is. They have an idea that selling is going out and talking and convincing people. No, it is not. True selling is serving a need in that person. And women are very good at understanding that once you find what this person needs and help them fill the need. Women are in the habit of filling needs of children, of husbands, of You know, they're nurturers by very nature. And once they realize that it's a natural for them to be able to find the need and to fill it and to help the person in a serving way, they realize that it isn't something big out there that they have to learn, but it's something that they already have, a natural opportunity. ability to do. We just need to develop that ability and help them see what it really is. It's a matter of learning what selling really is. Most people think of it as something that you talk and that you convince. No, it's finding out person to person what her needs and desires and likes are, what she needs in her life, what she needs in her home, and then I can help you find that. I can help you Express your love for your family on the wall or in the figurines or the way that you even arrange a bouquet of flowers. And women are natural nurturers and natural helpers in this area. So once she finds out that she already has the natural ability, we just help her develop it.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, my book, What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women, is based on this same thing we're talking about here, where I ask over 10,000 women to rank order the sources of depression in their lives. And it blew me away, too, that the number one source of depression in young, middle-class, seemingly happily married Christian women was low self-esteem, 50%. of the original test group that I based this little study on put that number one, and 80% put it in the top five. So this pervasive lack of confidence, lack of self-worth, is extremely widespread in our culture. And I think, again, it comes back to television to some degree, where every woman feels like she's got to be beautiful and young and successful and the object of somebody's great romantic love and attention in order to feel acceptable and to feel the confidence necessary to cope with life. And unfortunately, that support system just often isn't there.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, and not everybody is young and slim and gorgeous.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, unfortunately. What do you do, Mary, when you're looking eye to eye with a very powerful male corporate executive who has the authority to move great numbers of people and so on? You being a woman, do you look eye to eye with him?
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, absolutely. Oh, I thoroughly enjoy him. I'm on lots of boards where I'm the only woman. But I don't come in and try to be a pushy female. Let me be sure that I do say that. I am there to make a contribution, not to compete. And with that complete positive attitude, I never have any difficulty there. Because God made us to have special roles and special talents and special abilities. And I can greet and meet and deal with people Corporate executives are presidents. Well, that's now.
SPEAKER 03 :
You've got 39,000 people on your staff. What about when you had one? What about when you were beginning? Did you have that kind of confidence, or did it grow through the years?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, part of it has grown through the years, but I always had a lot of confidence. Well, the good Lord born me on April Fool's Day. That was wonderful, because most people worry about making a fool of themselves, and they won't do things that are going to make a fool. I didn't have to worry about that. You'd already gotten the title. I'd already gotten the title, yeah. So... But part of it comes from the fact that, well, my grandparents taught me to... place the bible as one of you know our priorities not long ago i gave a speech to young people and i took a tv guide and a bible with me and i held them up i said all of you have these two books in your home which one do you refer to the most next week dr alan redpath from england recently spoke and he said in england we used to base our morality on the bible now we base it on tv And I thought, you know, that's exactly what's happening in America, really. And so in looking at the Bible, God is who he says he is in his book. I am who he says I am in his book. And since he's who he is and I'm who he says I am, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
SPEAKER 03 :
Who does he say you are, Mary?
SPEAKER 02 :
He says that I am a child of his. If I believe in Jesus Christ, I'm joint heirs with him. Wow! Wow! What kind of a promise that is. And then, oh, you know, many, many places he says, you talk about giving. Over in Thessalonians where he says, if you will give and share that all grace will be given in all situations and all your needs will be met. Now, that is a pretty powerful promise. And I've been claiming those for years. Tithing to me is the secret of it. You see, what I can make is not for me to be hoarding. It's a channel. It's a channel. It's kind of like forgiveness. Forgiveness is not given to us in a cup. It's given to us in a pipeline. So what I receive is to be given. You can't out-give God. He just multiplies it. I am just amazed at Him.
SPEAKER 03 :
What do you say to the people who just feel like they can't tithe? Mary, they just can't pay their bills now, and they are $75 short every week, and just isn't enough to go around, and the kids need shoes, and there's a hole in the roof, and we're trying to put our oldest boy into Christian schools. How in the world am I going to give any money to the Lord's kingdom?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I go back to when I started tithing, and it was about 40 years ago. And I was in just that same situation. I had two kids. I was a single parent. I was raising two kids. The war was on. I was working for an insurance company. My income had not risen like other people's had. It was pledge time at the First Baptist Church in Dallas, and I always pledged and gave, but I didn't think I could tithe. So, particularly night, though, the kids were asleep, and I was wrestling with that, and I was telling the Lord all the reasons I could not tithe. Hmm. And I thought of that verse in Proverbs, you know, but is the Lord convinced? He speaks to us through our creative genius mind that he gives us. Well, Mary, you're not doing such a hot job of it yourself. Why don't you give me a chance? I said, okay, Lord, I check tithe. It's your problem. It's your management of my life. I'm going to bed. So then I had to explain to our housekeeper and the kids, you know, we had to take it out first because if you don't take it out first, it won't be there. And we ate oatmeal quite a bit there in the beginning, and some of them would grumble and everything. Something happens. I can't explain it. I don't understand God's mathematics. But within two months' time, I was able to get out of debt. Behind the eight ball wasn't debt per se, but just get caught up. From that day till this, we didn't suddenly have a lot of money. But something did happen. And I can guarantee that if you give God's management of your money, he has management of your life. Things change. It really is true. I cannot explain it. It really is true. I challenge people. I've challenged. I teach classes. I told you of people, 150 people single by death or divorced. A lot of them have aging parents and a lot of problems. I challenge them every year. I say, okay, you tithe for six months. And at the end of six months, if you're not better off than you are now, I'll pick up the tab for the difference.
SPEAKER 03 :
You just said that to three million people.
SPEAKER 02 :
That's right. And I have never yet anybody take me up on it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Jesus spoke more about money than any other subject. So it must be extremely important to our spiritual welfare as well as to our financial welfare.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, it's exciting.
SPEAKER 03 :
Mary, we have a great deal of love for you, as I've said, for the kind of person you are, what you represent, not what you give, but who you are. You love the Lord, and it shows in everything that you do. And it's been a pleasure meeting your staff. Some of your people came with you today, and they're sitting in the gallery over there watching us broadcast today. And I just hope that you'll come back, continue doing the great work that you're doing. And I just trust the Lord will be very close to you in this coming year.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you. It's been a joy to be here. And I guess I would like to say to every person out there, trust Him, try Him, prove Him. He will never let you down.
SPEAKER 03 :
You really mean that?
SPEAKER 02 :
I really mean that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Have you found that true of your entire lifetime?
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. See, I've learned that Christianity is not a way of doing certain things. It's a certain way of doing all things. And I can absolutely say, without any doubt at all, if you really trust Him... He has a better plan for your life than you can have for yourself. And I am amazed at what he's done with one little orphan gal.
SPEAKER 03 :
Bless you, Mary. Our prayers and our thoughts will be with you. Thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Christianity is not a way of doing certain things. It's a certain way of doing all things. What a great thought to wrap up today's classic program featuring the late Mary Crowley here on Family Talk. Now, you've been listening to Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk and a timeless conversation between Dr. Dobson and his guest, Mary Crowley, about finding purpose, building confidence, and trusting God's plan for your life. Mary's remarkable journey from a single mother to building a multi-million dollar business, all while putting God first, continues to inspire women even today. By the way, if you missed any part of this classic program, or if you'd like to share it with someone who really needs a word of encouragement today, visit drjamesdobson.org, or you can find the program easily on the Family Talk app. Here at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, we are committed to helping you and your family grow closer to God and each other. But these daily broadcasts and resources are only made possible through the generous support of friends like you who share our vision for strong, faith-filled families. Your tax-deductible donation today will help us continue broadcasting messages of hope and practical wisdom to millions of listeners in America and all over the world. To make a secure donation online, go to drjamesdobson.org. Or if you prefer, you can send your donation through the mail. Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk, P.O. Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, the zip code 80949. And for more daily inspiration and biblical guidance, I encourage you to explore our reading plans in the Bible app by YouVersion. You can choose from 48 different plans, 24 on marriage and 24 on parenting. Each one contains three lessons to encourage growth in your relationships. These brief devotionals are perfect for busy parents or couples who want to grow together in their faith. Just open the Bible app on your phone or mobile device, search for Dr. James Dobson, and start your first reading plan today. Well, I'm Roger Marsh and from all of us here at Family Talk, we are so grateful that you've joined us for today's classic program. Be sure to join us again next time for another edition of Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk. This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
