Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired August 18, 2002.
In the beginning, when God created all things, there was God the Father Who was present, there was God the Word Who was present, and there was God the Spirit Who was present, and when you talk about having a love relationship with God, you are talking about having a love relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit. And Jesus came that you and I could know the fullness and the depth of that love…
[Spiritual] life begins when you enter into relationship with the Word, and I’m not just talking about reading your Bibles, but I am talking about entering into a relationship that is living and vital and dynamic with the Person Who is the Word, because He is the life and He became a Light…God loves it when we stand up and are a testimony to His love to other men. All He asks for us to do is share with others what we believe. He doesn’t ask us to save anyone. He just simply asks us to share what we know and what we believe about Him, and leave the rest to Him…
[Do] you know what else I find as a believer? That you and I are not the answer. You and I are not the light. You and I do not save anyone. We are the tools, the instruments in which God uses. God loves to use those that He created. He loves to speak through us. He loves to indwell us with His Spirit, but He simply asks that we, ourselves, be a witness concerning Him, concerning His light.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired August 25, 2002.
Jesus came and stepped on [the Pharisee’s] tradition. He didn’t care about the length of a man’s hair. He didn’t care if a man’s clothes were clean or dirty. He didn’t care what you looked like on the outside. Jesus cared about what was on the inside of a man. He knew there was darkness there… He came into the world because of the darkness and He was looking as a Light shining directly into the darkness of men’s hearts. He was exposing us for who we are, and let me tell you something. I don’t like it when I’m exposed. I don’t like it when men know who I am. I have taken great care to make myself look like a good person. I have taken great care to make myself act like a proper human being. But then Jesus comes along and He exposes me for the rat that I am. This is what He did for the Pharisees. He began to expose men for who they really were. Men living in darkness, struggling in their hearts, struggling in their minds… Jesus comes along and exposes who men were, and they didn’t like it, so they did not receive Him. They wanted nothing to do with Him…
The rights that you and I have been given are the rights of an adopted child. When we receive, when we believe that Jesus came to this world to deal with our darkness, and we believe that it was Jesus Who cared enough to deal with that darkness, and we receive Him because of what He’s done, we become children, adopted children with all of the rights and privileges of a child that has been adopted into a family. He gave us the right to live as His children. He gave us the right to dwell in heaven. He gave us the right to partake of all that heaven has to offer. And I know there’s many people out there who would say, “Yes! Now that I’m a child of God, I can name it and claim it!” But that’s not what I’m saying. We have the rights of a child and with rights comes responsibility to know what our Father wants for us; to understand the direction He would have us to go. It’s not about me just walking out into the world and claiming things for myself, but knowing that the Father wants me to have those things and waiting for Him to make it happen in my life. Not rushing ahead. Not using that same lust of possession. And I believe that’s where many people who claim to be Christians find themselves. Now they just think they have some legal right to claim things for themselves. But it’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s about what the Father wants. Does the Father want you to have a nice, new home? Does the Father want you to have a nice, new car? If you believe that that is the proof of God working in your life, then I would say it is a sad commentary, then, on the rest of the world who finds themselves suffering, some in prison, some having had everything stripped away including their right to live because they face execution simply because they themselves believed Jesus and received, and now they are made to suffer. They don’t have a nice, new car. They don’t have a nice, new house. They don’t have a good job. They don’t have a good income. They spend their time in prison waiting for an executioner to come and lop off their head… [Some people think] they must not be very good Christians because they’ve had to live this life that does not “prove” how much God loves them. It has nothing to do with what we have. It has to do with what the Father’s will is, and the rights that we have as a child of God. Once I’ve received, once I’ve believed, then I step into rights that bring responsibility. Do you realize that with rights comes responsibilities, and sometimes those responsibilities ask of us very difficult things instead of me receiving good things. Sometimes that responsibility requires me to give good things, and to be part of making sure that everybody else is comfortable when I’m not comfortable…
It’s not about mycomfort. It’s not about myheaven. It’s not about myto, and He has called you to a life that is in relationship to Him. Do you want to know what it is to be a child of God? To be a child of God means that you have rights. You are given the right to become children of God. Children born supernaturally through the Spirit of God in you to live out, then, the responsibilities that God will give you. To know God’s will. To know the Father’s desire for you. To be led by the Father’s Spirit. To go into whatever situation He may lead you into. And it may not be fun, and it may not be pretty, and it may not even involve wealth, but if the Father has called you, understand, He is going to work out for you all that you need in order to live as a proper child of God…
[Jesus] came because He was full of grace and truth. Truth is something that we don’t know much about these days. We live so much for ourself, for the lie that we’ve created in our life, that we don’t understand truth, but as we walk in Jesus we being to understand that the truth is God the Father loves those that are lost. Jesus came to prove that love to us. He dwelt with us. Therefore, we need to dwell with those who would also be rejected and hurt, who are separate from the Father.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired September 1, 2002.
I see the abundant life in Jesus Christ as being something other than having material wealth. An abundant life is one that is lived! An abundant life is one that is experienced. An abundant life is one that is walked each and every day, every moment of that day, in the excitement and fervor in the Person and life of Jesus Christ. That is abundance. Taking the good with the bad. Taking the hardships when they come your way and overcoming them. Taking those times when you haven’t got a penny in your pocket and still being grateful because God is on the throne in heaven. Being thankful each and every day for the food that He’s blessed you with, and those days that there’s not very much food, being just as thankful. Having a heart that cries out every day, “God, I need You! I need Your Spirit. Jesus, I desire You. I want You walking with me today because I’m going to go out into this world today, and I am going to face a world that hates me because it hates You. But guess what? If You’ll walk with me, I’m heading out.” And as Jesus walks with you through that day, that, my friends, is the abundant life. He came that you can have abundance in all that you do in Him, and especially when that abundance comes in the form of sharing Him with those around you…
[Do] you want abundance in your life? You want that verse to be real in your life? Don’t seek the Cadillac, don’t seek a million dollars in your bank account, don’t look for a nice, new home, but look for whatever Jesus brings your way today, tomorrow, the next day. See what it is that He wants for you. And if it’s a struggle, then work through the struggle with Him… That’s the abundant life. That’s the life that you and I want to live; should want to live…So often people will come to me desiring counseling, desiring help, wanting money for this, wanting help with that, and sometimes I fall into that trap where I start living as though I am the Christ. I have the answers. I have the ability. I have the power! Until, of course, my help fails. They don’t get exactly what it was that they wanted. The complaints start, the counseling doesn’t work, peoples’ lives are still a mess, they’re still in turmoil, and then it reminds me. You know what? The problem is I wasn’t the Christ to start with. If you’re having struggles, it’s okay to find a brother or sister to go and talk to, but understand something. They are not the answer. Jesus is the answer. You and I are not the Christ. We do not have the ability to make each other’s lives right. Now, we may be able to help give some direction, but that direction should always be pointing to Jesus as the answer, because He isthe Christ. I am not.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired September 8, 2002.
If you have a desire to be right with God, if you have a desire to walk in eternity with the Father Who created you, if you want to know that One Who was in the beginning and was the beginning, and created all things, if you would like to have a relationship with Him, then you have to overcome this one issue. And the fact is, you and I will never, ever overcome the issue of sin in and of ourselves. It is virtually impossible…
Jesus came for the single purpose of dealing with that issue of sin… This is the issue. This is what keeps you and I separated from heaven. This is what keeps you and I separated, oftentimes, from each other. This is why there is bickering and fighting in the world. This is why people hate each other, even within the church. People stab each other in the back, not because the person deserves it, not because they’re wicked and horrible, but because I have a seed of sin. And even though Jesus can forgive that sin, and in fact, when He died on the cross He dealt with, before God the Father for all time, the issue of sin. In God’s eyes, sin is no longer the problem. Choice, now, is the problem. Do you want to walk away from that sin and walk in relationship with Him?… We have been given the right to be born anew, but while we’re in this flesh, we’re going to struggle with the things of the flesh. While we’re in this flesh, we’re going to struggle every day because the flesh harbors sin, but Jesus came to deal with it…
What could possibly be greater than Jesus knowing what’s in your mind? What could be greater than Jesus understanding your deepest desire and telling you about it? Guess what? That’s nothing. Jesus has much greater things in store. If you want to walk with Jesus, if you want to have a right relationship with Jesus, John tells us, “To all those who receive Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right” to have all those things: to live and dwell in freedom; freedom to be the servant of God, the child of God, in fellowship with God… One day, you and I, too, will see God attending to, working with, and blessing all that Jesus does, because one day, if you receive Him, if you enter into that relationship, you will be there with Him to watch as God blesses the work that Jesus does on this world.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired September 15, 2002.
One of the things in life that we struggle with: we want everything right now. We live in a fast food society. We want fame and glory yesterday. We want everyone to recognize us for who we are supposed to be, not what we are today. We want people to be able to look at us and be our best friend today. We want to encounter life and have life give us everything we deserve without ever having to be challenged by that life. We think somehow we deserve everything we want, when we want it, because we want it… Jesus gives a great example of what it means to be patient in life; to wait on the things that God has for us. Do you realize that there is a time set for us in everything that we do? That God in His perfect time, if we will just allow Him, will raise us up and use us in a mighty way if we will allow Him to…
Do you realize that the greatest blessings that you can have in life are often the blessings given to you when you have served God in secret? When it’s just between you and Him…
Do you realize that the more you endeavor to trust and believe God’s Word for what it says, the more you put your faith in God’s Word, understanding that His Word is literal, that you can believe every word of it, that you can trust every word of it. When you’ve dug a little deeper, when there’s something that you don’t understand, I believe the more literal you take God’s Word, the closer to God you’re going to walk, because it begins to make sense to you then… If you endeavor to obey God’s Word, let me tell you, there is blessing waiting for you…
If you are stepping out to honor God, if you are stepping out to see and be part of the miracle that God does, don’t step out to try to bring attention to yourself. Allow the Holy Spirit to do it through you. As Jesus is our example, let Him be the One Who gets the glory, let Him be the One Who receives the honor, and then let Him be the One that blesses you and I as we step out to serve and honor Him…
I want God to be able to look into my heart — and I’m not perfect, I make a lot of mistakes, I do stupid things sometimes — but every day I endeavor to look into God’s Word and dig a little deeper, and when I’m wrong, God’s Word lets me know that, and then I can confess my sin before God and He deals with it, and then I am found approved before Him, and He is the only One that I am concerned about impressing. He is the only One that I am concerned about allowing to see inside my heart… God knows my heart. God should know your heart. Study to show yourself approved to Him and dig a little deeper.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired September 22, 2002.
Do you know how many people I encounter…that demand that God prove Himself by showing them a miracle? You know what? Jesus does miracles every day. Every day that you get out of bed, you walk through your day, and you end up in bed and are still alive, God has done a miracle in your life. Life outside your door is hazardous… And the very fact that you make it from morning to night and you can crawl back into the safety of your own bed…shows that God is watching and doing a miracle in your life… So when you say, “If God would just do a miracle in my life! If God would just prove Himself then I would believe in Him.” Let me tell you, He’s done more than enough miracles. He doesn’t need to do another one…
Let me ask you a question. What temples have you built that you would find it impossible for God to build in a very short amount of time if they were destroyed? Do you realize that there is nothing about your life that God can not rebuild if it is destroyed?… God wants to destroy the walls in our life. He doesn’t want to leave them standing…
So I have to ask the question again: what temples have you built that you do not believe that God can rebuild? But the other question I have to ask you: are there temples in your life that God would just like to destroy, to be done away with, to get rid of a wall that blinds you from putting your trust in Him? And this is where faith comes in… We hide behind our walls. We say, “God, show me a miracle,” and then when He shows us a miracle we explain it away… He didn’t create you to be His servant. He doesn’t need slaves. He just simply calls us to a task: to mention the miraculous that He does in our life.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired September 29, 2002.
If you’re struggling with sin, if you’re struggling with something in your life, don’t hide it. You know what? We all have the same struggles. We all have the same shortcomings. We have the same problems in life. We need to be open about it. In fact, we encourage one another and are a strength for one another when we can share openly who we are, and I know that’s not very popular with many people who believe that we have to act like we’re prefect all the time. After all, we are Christians, and Christians are perfect, aren’t they? Well, I hate to say it, but I’ve not yet been made perfect, and I make lots of mistakes, and I do many stupid things, and guess what? God knows each and every one of them, and so the fact is, I’m better off if I share those things with you; if I tell you who I am; what I am, up front. I’m not trying to disillusion you about what a Christian should be. I’m just telling you what a Christian truly is. The fact is, we are men and women who have been brought from a world where we were lost, where sin ruled our life, and brought into a love relationship with a God Who can, and desires to, forgive us. He already knows what He’s forgiving. There is nothing that we’re doing that is taking Him by surprise, so don’t hide, and don’t think that you are pulling anything over on God. You’re not. Jesus knows all men…
You and I today are in search of truth. The problem is, we just don’t like the truth when we hear it, because the truth oftentimes, if we believe the truth, dictates to us that we need to change…
Jesus, so often in our lives, will tell us the truth, and the problem is, we don’t want the truth. We want to hear what we want to hear. We want to believe what we want to believe. We want all of the fun things in life. We want all of the easy things in life. We want all the pleasures in life. And we want to believe that all of those things are our divine right to have. And so often, even within Christendom, we make that what we look for. You know, I know a lot of Christians that if you were to tell them, “Jesus is returning tomorrow,” they would be depressed about that because they just bought a new home, they just bought a new car, they just got a nice, new bank account, and now they’re going to have to give it all up? Well, guess what? It’s not about those things. It is about a love relationship that we can have with the God of this universe, and Jesus comes to tell us the truth. It is not about our petty issues. It is not about our assumptions. It’s not about ourknowledge of God. It is about His knowledge of God. It is about His ability to share the love of God with man…
When God tells us the truth, because we don’t want the truth, we start questioning… “How can this be? Oh, God, You must have meant somebody else. You can’t have meant for this bad thing to happen to me, God! You can’t really expect for me to have to do that, God!… God, You must be talking about somebody else…” And we argue with Him because we do not want to know the truth…
And this is, so often, our attitude, and we come to Jesus because we want something from Him, but Jesus knows the truth of what we truly need from Him. We can come to Jesus all day long with our wants and our desires, but Jesus is going to address the real issue with us. The real issue is, what is it that we truly need? Who is it that we truly need to be seeking?…
If you are approaching Jesus, He is going to tell you the truth, and the truth of the matter is, no one can see the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired October 6, 2002.
Have you ever in your life looked at someone who was a godly person, watched them for a while, and after a while said, “I want what that person has”? You see the life that they live, you see the joy on their face, you see how they overcome trials and tribulations in their lives, and they seem to handle it just a little different than you do. And even though you may have been raised in a church, and even though you may have read the Bible your whole life, there’s just some people you look at and you say, “You know what? That person has something that I don’t have.” This is the case with many thousands and thousands of people in our world today. They were raised in religion, they were raised with knowledge, but somehow, something was left out of the equation…
The real issue here is not, what is Jesus doing on this planet, but what is Jesus doing in your heart?…
This is what it boils down to: the only reason you do not come to Jesus, the only reason that you do not believe in Jesus is because you love living in evil, you love living in sin, and you reject that that is light because you do not like being exposed… The question is: do we truly want to be in heaven? Jesus has laid out the plan for us. That plan is a simple one: being born again. Born of the Spirit.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired October 13, 2002.
[Jesus] has taken every step, gone to every length, to make sure you and I understand His love for us. He has gone to such extreme lengths for us to understand that love that He was even willing to die so that you and I would understand that love, and He did it in such a way that He did not condemn us for who we were though, yes, He also says we must change who and what we are to become who and what it is that He desires for us to be. But He gives us the formula on how to do that. He doesn’t leave that up to us to figure out on our own, but He tells us that He will give us His Holy Spirit Who will become our Teacher, Who will become our Comforter, Who will be the One Who instigates the change within us. He’s not leaving it up to us. And if we should choose, from that point, to ignore Him and ignore the Holy Spirit that’s given and to not receive Him, then we choosethe separation…He did not come into the world to condemn the world. The world was already condemned. We condemned ourselves by not being true to God’s Word. By not being true to God’s Law. And let me tell you, if you’ve broken that Law even once, you have not been true to it because that Law dictates perfection for us to stand in the presence of a Holy God. We choose. It is not His desire for us to be separated from Him, so much so that He came to us with a message of love, and He was so determined in His love that He sacrificed the most precious part of Himself, that that was the most valuable to Him. He sacrificed it in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ, that you and I might know what salvation was. And yet, somehow, that’s not good enough for most people, and even many people who call themselves Christians and go to church every day will look at me and say, “Well, of course, Dave. God has to accept me into heaven. I go to church. I’m a good person.” But that is not the standard that He’s laid out…
We can choose to be with Him now and we can accept His gesture of love and receive His Son, Jesus Christ, into our life, or we can stand condemned, rightly condemned, because we refuse the truth, and we refuse the light, and we refuse the life that He offered to give us…
You know what? It’s not about you and I. It is about the love of a Father for the people He created, and it is about the love that His Son also has for these people because He was the vital part: the Word that was spoken that brought us into being. He loves us, and it is about Him, and letting a lost and dying world know of the love that He had and the lengths He was willing to go to, to share that love. And some days, He uses me. Some days I’m out there and my mouth is just going a million miles an hour, and I’m sharing with everybody I meet. And other days, my mouth is silent… It’s not about me. It’s not about the points I can make for “saving” anybody. It is only about me allowing for Jesus to increase, and if by His increase, I have to decrease, praise God for it.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired October 20, 2002.
We struggle in our lives today because, like this Samaritan woman, we do not know the gift of God and we don’t know — as much as we would like to think we know — we don’t know Who it is that is offering that gift. Do you realize that if you truly understood the nature of God, if you truly understood the power and the love and the compassion of Jesus and you understood that gift of salvation that He offered you, you would not ever have another struggle in your life; that you would see Him as the Great Healer; that you would see Him as the Great Provider…
As Christians, we scheme as much as the world does to get what we want because we don’t truly understand Who Jesus is, and we don’t truly believe that Jesus will give us those things that we want. Well, let me tell you something… Jesus is not going to always give us the things we want, but Jesus will always, if we belong to Him, provide for our needs. It doesn’t mean that He’s always going to fill your belly. It doesn’t mean that He’s always going to give you a nice home. It doesn’t mean that He’s always going to give you those things that you think you need… But yet Jesus gives them all that they need. He gives them the ability to stand firm, He gives them the ability to be strong, and He gives them the ability even to face death and be excited that they were counted worthy by Him to go through this trial…
If you’re struggling and you want to know how to overcome the struggle, get to know the One Who has brought the gift to you. It’s not just enough to know about Jesus…
I think some of us should be trembling because I see, oftentimes, within the church we who call ourselves believers sit in direct rebellion to what we know is right within God’s Word, and we justify it, and we excuse it, and we blame others for it, but we are in these situations in our life because we do not know the gift of God or Who it is that is offering that gift to us, and it is so simple. All we need do is ask, and He will give us water that will bring us life… And I know most of us have heard that, and most of us say we believe that, but do we live our lives as though we believe that? Do we truly show from day to day, moment to moment, to those that are around us that we really believe that God is going to provide for our needs? And that the water that He has poured inside of us is welling up to salvation, and are we excited about that salvation? When was the last time you shouted to heaven, “Yes! I’m saved!” just because you’re saved? Not because you were in a pep rally. When was the last time you were walking down the street and was all of a sudden overcome with joy because you understood the great salvation that God has brought you? To our shame, more often, we walk down the road with the list of things that God has not yet done for us. We recount over and over again in our mind all those things that we have desired that God has not given to us…
God is never going to give you [selfish] desires. Those are not desires that come from God and I don’t believe that God is going to give you the things that we desire but God will put the desires on your heart that He wants you to have when you are truly walking right with Him. When you have trusted Him and believed Him and have seen His great provision and have trusted that great provision, then He begins to put desire in your heart that He is more than happy to fulfill because then the desires are godly desires. The direction is godly direction, but so often we live within our own imagination. We find ourselves wandering around in a dry, arid land, struggling and suffering because we do to want to believe God’s Word. We want to believe parts of God’s Word, and we so often trust parts of God’s Word, and we will even claim parts of God’s Word when it’s to our benefit.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired October 27, 2002.
“We worship God in our own way.” [Do] you know how many times I’ve heard people say that? “I believe in God in my own way…”
Do you want to know what a true worshipper is? Do you want to know what it is truly, in God’s eyes, in God’s heart, for you to be worshipping Him? And I don’t care what church you’re sitting in, I don’t care what denomination you belong to, I don’t care whether you have a tie on or not, you may or may not be worshipping Jesus the way He wants to be worshipped because He says that the true worshipper will worship in Spirit, first and foremost…
First and foremost, to be a true worshipper, you must truly be filled with the Spirit of God. Your heart and your mind must be directed by the Spirit that only comes from the One Who loved us enough to leave us His Spirit. And then there’s the truth part. The part, I believe, that most of us fear the most: having to be truthful with who we are, having to be truthful with Who God is, and having to be truthful about our shortcomings when we compare ourselves to that God. The fact is, Jesus is looking and desiring and expecting for you and I…, not to argue with Him, not to fight with each other, but simply to look to His Father, receive His Spirit. And whether you raise your hands, whether you wear a suit and tie, or whether you show up in cut-off shorts to church, or hide in the woods, for that fact, if you’re doing it because you are filled with the Spirit of God, and you are honoring the God Who created you because of that Spirit, and you’re being truthful with Him, you are a true worshipper.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired November 3, 2002.
The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter what church you go to, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve gone to church, it doesn’t matter if you wear robes or you wear a suit or if you wear blue jeans. God is not impressed with the size of our building or the size of our Bible. God is not looking on the external. God is not looking at the good works that we do. God is not looking at the places that we choose to worship. God is looking deeper. He is looking for the true worshipers. The worshiper that worships Him in Spirit — His Spirit, filled with His Spirit, directed by His Spirit — and truth. The truth of the matter is, you and I deserve death. You and I deserve separation, and it is the blessing of God that we are allowed, now, to come into His Presence. It is His blessing to us, and the more we can say that, the more we can come to grips with that, the closer we draw to that place where we are worshiping Him in Spirit, and that’s what He’s looking for: truthful, Spirit-filled worship… Understand what I am saying: worship that is done in the Spirit is done because the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you, and you have allowed Him to come into your life, and then He will display His fruit, and He will give you His gifts however He chooses to do that. But the truth of the matter is, we have to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that it is by His blood that we have that salvation; that we do not deserve that salvation, but is given to us as a gift. That’s truth, and if you try to convince yourself otherwise, if you think that religion is going to do it, if you think that suits and ties is going to do it, if you think that robes is going to do it, if you think that crawling on your hands and knees and begging God is going to do it, it’s all false, and you worship what you don’t know…
Stop using these social, politically-correct things to hide behind. I don’t care if it’s politically incorrect. You know what? I’m going to tell the world the truth, if they like to hear it or not, it’s the truth… I don’t care if you like it or not. The fact of the matter is, the truth hurts, if it’s politically correct for me to say it or not. God’s Word has already said it.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired November 10, 2002.
Whose will are we doing? Are we doing the will of a denomination? Are we doing the will of a church doctrine?… Or are we doing the will of Him Who has sent us?.. What [spiritual] food do we eat? Do we only worry about our own belly in the flesh or do we fill ourselves up by accomplishing the work that God has brought before us?…
And sometimes, sometimes, Jesus has to get blunt with those who claim to love Him. Oftentimes, Jesus has to get blunt with me. I close my eyes, I close my ears, and I close my heart because I don’t like the circumstances in which He’s asked me to dwell in, and then He has to get blunt with me, and He has to smack me upside the head…
Are you truly a man or woman of God that loves to serve the Lord Who saved you? Do you love telling people about Jesus?… So often, because we are afraid we might step on someone’s toes, because we are afraid of what their response to us might be, we keep our mouths shut or we approach it from the politically correct position…
We have nothing to brag about, but we have everything to be glad about. We have everything to be grateful for. Jesus has done the work, His Spirit has continued the work, and His Father has equipped us, now, to do the work, so let’s get out. Let’s do the work that Jesus has asked of us and reap a harvest and stop using excuses and stop being like the disciples who have no clue what’s going on. Stop trying to impress Jesus, and trust Him, and step out and serve Him, and obey Him…
How many people are there alive on the face of this world today that would benefit from your testimony regardless of whether or not you ever get the credit? They’ll benefit because their hearts may be spurred to the point of seeking after the Living God, that they might finally hear the truth of His Word and become acquainted with Him because of your testimony. I believe that it is so important that we share who we are in Jesus Christ, regardless if anyone ever recognizes the work we’re doing, whether or not anyone ever gives us the credit… And it is amazing the response that comes when we simply step out in that truth…
Jesus is the place we need to turn for a miracle. Jesus is the place we need to be when a miracle is needed. Jesus is the One we need to know in order to have a miracle… You know, people oftentimes use Jesus as their own personal magic spell. They believe, somehow, that Jesus is at their beck and call, and that Jesus must do everything that they command Him to do… And this is where the rubber hits the road for the church, for the believer in the church, where are you at in your walk with the Lord? Do you simply believe Jesus or His Word for where He is at? Or are you one of those that is going to demand to see the miracle before you believe?…
Jesus was about drawing men into love relationship with Himself, and bringing them to that place where they would be able to spend eternity with His Father. He showed them the love of the Father, and He showed them the power of the Father, but there are some people who only expect to see magic and not the power of God. And once again, I have to ask the question, where do you find yourself tonight? Do you find yourself only hoping to see a little bit of that spiritual magic, or do you truly hope to walk right in Jesus Christ?
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired November 17, 2002.
It is faith that grows in us as we hear the Word of God. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” And in no way in our salvation by grace through faith or by reading His Word does it imply…that we’re going to have those ailments or injuries healed, but yet there are people who would say that you are not living by faith unless you have that healing, unless you have that proof from God that He actually loves you. Well, the fact of the matter is, it may be God’s proof to you by allowing you to go through what you’re going through that He actually does love you. It is a greater miracle, in my mind, for a man to be inflicted and rather than turn away from God, turn toward God and say, “I will trust You through my ailment. I will trust You through my hardship. I will trust You through my financial disaster. I will trust You, God, regardless of what this world does to me in my flesh,” because, guess what? It’s not about this flesh or the comfort of this flesh or the building up of this flesh. It is about what God can do to revive and strengthen and build that spirit that we have within us to draw us into that love relationship with Him. And I have found, even in my life, that the times I am closest to God was when He allowed me to go through my hardest times, and that’s where the miracle is found, and I actually turned to Him and that He actually received me when I turned to Him…
He’s a loving God! He loves us! He loves us desperately! And He performed the greatest miracle of all when He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross. He performed the greatest miracle of all when Jesus, knowing the death that He was dying, was going to take our sin onto Himself, that He would suffer the consequences of that sin and be separated from His Father. He performed the greatest miracle of all by looking at His Son, Jesus Christ, separated, in disgrace with our sin and then forgiving our sin through His Son because of His Son’s blood, and you and I today will not have to suffer the consequence of the sin you and I commit almost daily, but Jesus gladly bore it Himself and took the consequences Himself. If that’s not enough of a miracle for you, I do not believe that anything else that God can do for you will ever be enough. It doesn’t make you super spiritual because you can speak in tongues… God doesn’t want our “show.” God wants us to look at Him for the love that He has for us and just simply be in love with Him, and not make a show of it but just simply come to Him… We don’t have to make out that we are some super spiritual beings because we’ve asked Jesus into our life…
We need to look for the miraculous in those common things that we experience every day. We need to start looking for what the Holy Spirit is doing in our life. In the struggle and the turmoil we’ll see the miraculous. We’ll see the Hand of God working in our life, if we’ll just open our eyes and look. But when we start demanding, “God, You have to do this,” or “God, You have to do that,” or “God, unless I have this experience from the Spirit or that experience from the Spirit, then how can I know that my faith is real?” Let me tell you something. You’ll never know. You’ll never know because the miraculous, then, is never enough. No matter what God does, you’ll always be challenged in your heart by your flesh and by His enemy to doubt what you’ve just seen…
I have the tendency to believe that we need to expose Jesus in every miracle that happens in our life to as many people as we possibly can because that’s where people come to know the love and the saving power of Jesus Christ.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired November 24, 2002.
Sometimes, if we are going to walk right with Jesus and be blessed by Him and grow in Him, we need to understand His grace, and we need to understand that just having Him in our lives is sufficient, and what makes us whole is not that we can walk again or that we can see again, but that we can interact with God again the way He meant for us to from the very beginning…
God is going to do amazing things through His Son: things that we may not understand, things that we may not agree with, things that may go against our construct, our way of thinking… Well, you know what? I happen to believe that God still is God… It is about, what is the Father doing, and what has the Father always been doing? And what has Jesus come to tell us and prove to us what the Father is doing? And do our rules and our regulations negate what God is trying to do in us? Does it take away the miraculous that Jesus would try to accomplish in our life?… So often…we take away the power of God to suit our own rules and regulations…
We need to be very careful about how we study God’s Word and what we’re claiming to be from God and what is not from God. But if it’s from God, and it can be explained in His Word clearly, and you happen to be blessed by it, then guess what? I will be excited with you and for you even if I have not received that same gift or blessing…
And that’s my next question: are we truly doing, in this world today, what the Father is doing, or are we doing our own work? Have we established institutions and organizations that make us feel good and make us look good, that fill in our lives some need to be recognized, or are we truly doing what we see and know the Spirit is doing in us, Who sees what Jesus is doing, Who sees what the Father is doing?…
Do you want to see great things happen in your ministry? Do you want to see amazing things happen, great things happen in your life? Do you want to see the supernatural happen around you every day? Look at Jesus. Look at Him in His Word. Understand His Word, and look to the Father for what He’s doing, and allow Him to accomplish in you what He desires, and that’s where the great and amazing things happen.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired December 1, 2002.
One of the things that Jesus is about is telling the truth. You know, part of our problem within Christendom…is that we have developed rules and regulations, we have developed traditions that have nothing to do with truth, and then we try to bind people to our rules and regulations…and our way, most of the time has very little to do with truth… It’s not about our rules and regulations. It is not about our traditions. It is not about what makes us feel comfortable. I don’t care if you’re hearing the sound of my voice tonight and feeling like your toes are stepped on. Once again, it is not my place to care about that. It is my place to care about what God’s Word says…
Honoring God is not about doing good things. Honoring God is not about showing up at church. Honoring God is not about carrying your Bible…. It’s not about any of those things. Honoring God is about honoring the Son. Looking at Jesus for Who He was, and giving Him that place within our lives that is rightly due Him, because that’s the place the Father gave Him. The Father gave Him the place of judgement. The Father gave Him the place of respect. The Father gave Him the place of honor. And if you want to honor the Father, then you must honor Jesus because the Father sent Him…
[Jesus] desires for us to live in Light. He desires for us to live in Him. He desires for us to know the Father, and the only way you can truly know the Father is to know the Father through Him… You want to be right with God? I don’t care if you’re living in sin or not, you can be right with God. You get right with God, first and foremost, by understanding the truth. The truth doesn’t come with tradition. The truth doesn’t come in buildings. The truth doesn’t come because of our religion. The truth comes by knowing and receiving Jesus Christ as the Son of God sent by the Father.![When was the last time you...said, "You know what? It's not about me. It is about the love of God for that [other] person. I will do what it takes to not please myself, but please...God the Father."](http://mariaelkins.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/john05_30-600x600.jpg)
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired December 8, 2002.
Part of the problem was, the religious hypocrisy did not know the truth any longer. God’s Word had become a nebulous. It was a bunch of rules and regulations. It had been reduced to, rather than lived up to, and we do the same thing still today in the church. Rather than reading God’s Word and living to God’s Word, we take God’s Word and we reduce it down into principles — steps to live by — but in doing that we eliminate a lot of information. We try to make God’s Word easy for us to live. Well, let me tell you something. Sometimes, because of our flesh, God’s Word is not easy to live, and we need every part of it, not just some principle, not just some good idea that some man came up with because he read God’s Word once. We need to be in an in-depth study of all that God has given us, of all that we have. To research, to understand what that truth is, and Jesus came to tell these people [and us] the truth…
Jesus is just in all that He does. I don’t know what you’re going through today. I don’t know why you’re going through it, but if you are a believer, and Jesus is allowing you to be challenged in your life with a struggle or a trial, He is just in allowing you to go through it, either to strengthen you and bring you out on the other side as one who can then stand up and lead others through their hard times, or because of some sin in your life that you’ve committed that He is now trying to deal with to get you to humble yourself and admit that, “I am in the mess that I’m in because of who I am, not because He’s unfair to me.” And you know how many people I hear on a regular basis say how unfair God is because He’s done this or He’s done that, and He’s made their lives miserable? If you’re miserable, it’s not because Jesus is unjust and unfair. It is because you misunderstand Who God is and what He’s trying to accomplish in you. He tells us the truth…
And then [Jesus] says, “For I seek not to please Myself, but Him Who sent Me.” It may just be me, but I believe that if each and every one of us who are part of the body of Christ took this single verse and dwelt on what it means to not please ourself but please Him Who has sent us, I believe most of the problems that we experience within Christianity today within the body of Christ — as Jesus is the Head and we are the different parts — I believe that we would not have the problems and divisions that we have within the church today. I believe they would be eliminated. Many of the problems that we have in the church, many of the problems that you and I may find in our lives is not because the church is unfair or because God is unfair or because the Holy Spirit has ignored us. It is because we — and I’m sorry if I’m stepping on toes once again — but we are selfish. We want to do it for ourself. “If I can’t be in charge of it then I’m not going to do it. If I don’t get credit for it then I’m not going to do it… If I can’t be pleased in what I’m doing, and if you can’t be pleased with what I’m doing because you know what? It’s all about me. It’s all about what makes me feel good. It’s all about what makes me look good. It’s all about what makes me sound good.” And this is where the world is, and this is where much of the church is. and this attitude, the “me first” generation has now become the “me only” generation!…
When was the last time you looked out beyond your own flesh and said, “You know what? It is not about me. It is about the love of God for that person. I will do what it takes to not please myself but please Him, God the Father, Jesus His Son, and His Holy Spirit Who indwells us. I will please Him and go out and bring that lost one to know the Lord…” It needs to cease being about me, it needs to cease being about you, and it needs to be about pleasing the One Who sent us…
Salvation is not found in the study of God’s Word. Salvation is found in responding to what you have studied within God’s Word, namely the Person of Jesus Christ… It’s not about clever teaching. It’s not about filling church pews. It’s not about building big, nice, comfortable buildings. It is simply and only about coming to Jesus Christ.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired December 15, 2002.
[Do] you realize that if you are not in fellowship, if you are not getting out of your bed at sometime during the week, leaving your house or opening your home at some time during the week — you may do it every day or you may do it one day a week — but you need to, some time through your week, find yourself gathering together with other believers and having an opportunity to learn with them what God’s Word has to say, and you need to build up and encourage one another. Paul tells us, “Do not forsake the fellowshipping together with other believers”…The one thing I’ve learned in my life through the years, no matter how sinful I’ve been, no matter how wicked others have thought I was, no matter what my condition in life… The one thing I’ve learned about Jesus and know about Jesus is He’s always shown compassion toward me, and in fact, I’ve known many believers in my life that have struggled with issues that they believe that they deserve the situations in life that they’re in, and maybe so. If you’re living in sin, let me tell you something: there are consequences to that sin… Regardless of what your sin is, there is going to be consequences, and there is always a God Who shows compassion to you because He does not like the fact that you are suffering the consequences of what you’ve done and where you find yourself in life…
One of the things that we often fail to look at when life begins to challenge us is that sometimes it may simply be Jesus testing our heart; offering to us a challenge that is so overwhelming that we begin to ask the questions ourself… And I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my life where I feel like Jesus is asking me…, “Well, Dave, how do We deal with this? There it is. The impossible. Look at your bank account. Do you have the money that it’s going to take to solve their problem? Do you have the wherewithal to help them through their hard time? Are you able to solve, for this group, the problems of their life? Well, Dave, what do you think? How are you going to do it?” Sometimes I have to stop and say, “Even if I worked for a year, Lord, I could not solve the problems of these people that I’m looking at. It can’t be done.” …And I don’t believe there’s a scenario that you and I will ever find ourselves in, if we are truly trusting in Jesus, that He will ask of us the impossible — that He does not already have in mind how He is going to resolve the impossible — but He’s going to test us to see where our faith will take us; to see what kind of answer we’ll give.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired December 22, 2002.
You know what? God doesn’t need a lot from us. God does not require a lot from us. He just asks that we make available to Him what little bit we have. And we, like Phillip, oftentimes find ourselves in a crisis of faith because this scenario of life that faces us is overwhelming. There is no possible way that we can accomplish the work that needs to be done; to do the things that need to happen; to bless and meet the needs of the people that God brings our way; and we find ourselves scratching our heads, overwhelmed. And sometimes we find ourselves facing that crisis of faith over a job, over a marriage, over a wayward child. We find ourselves struggling with illness, and we find ourselves struggling with financial problems. We find ourselves facing odds that overtake us and overwhelm us, and like Phillip, we come to the conclusion that there is no possible way. We can’t do it. And you know what? When you find yourself in that place, you are actually in the best place to be. When there is no other direction that you can go but to Jesus…
“Oh God, we’re so few and we’re insignificant. We have nothing to offer you, God. I don’t see what we can accomplish.” How many times have you found yourself sitting within your fellowships, facing a struggle to go out and evangelize, facing a struggle to help those in need in your community, facing the struggle of going to hospitals and praying for those who are sick and in need, and have come to the conclusion, “How will that do any good? I am so small. I am so insignificant.”
Jesus is King already. There is nothing we’re going to do to physically put Him on the throne that is already rightly His, but you know what that King will do? He will judge our hearts. He knows our thoughts, and He, He, will do the blessing, and He will equip you and I to be part of that blessing. All He asks is that we make available to Him what little we have in order to see the great things He can do with it. Be encouraged. Family of God, be encouraged! I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done. I don’t care how good you are or how bad you are. I don’t care what some have told you [that] you deserve or don’t deserve. Jesus looks at you with eyes of compassion. He desires to bless you. He desires to take the loaves and the fish that you have in your life and use them to bless everybody else around you, if you are willing to allow Him to have that place in your heart.
![It's not that God isn't mighty... You don't succeed in the Lord because you have doubt... [Jesus asks,] "Why did you doubt?"](http://mariaelkins.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/john06_20-600x600.jpg)
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired December 29, 2002.
I also find this problem in the church. The church is either filled with, “Lord, but…” or “Lord, if…” The Lord will ask us to do something, and we automatically go into a bargaining mode. “Okay, Lord, I’ll do it if… If You want me to go there then You must do this for me. Lord, if You want me to help that person then You’ve got to help me with this. Lord, if You want me to serve You, the You’ve got to do this.” and we go into the bargaining mode, or we’ll just go into the argument, “But Lord, I can’t! But Lord…” You know what? If He is Lord and He is God then there are no buts or ifs…
“Lord, ifit’s You, then You’ll do this miracle in my life so I can serve You. Lord, ifYou’ll give me a million dollars, then I’ll build you a great church. Lord, ifit’s You… Lord, what You’re doing right now does not seem reasonable to me, what You’re doing right now, in fact, seems impossible to me, and Lord, I know You’ve done a miracle in my life already, and I’ve seem Your power and ability to do that miracle, but Lord, ifit’s You, then You’ll make me part of that miracle…”
You know how many people use the word if, and then God comes through and gives them the “if” in abundance. The “if” is fulfilled, and they still do not crawl out of the boat… and the “if” is blown away completely…
I’ll ask you the question: are you bargaining with God? If you’re bargaining with God, are you committed to your “if”? When God does what you’ve asked Him to do, if God gives you the things that you command of Him, are you committed to your “if”?…
You know, one of the problems that we have: God does miracle after miracle after miracle in our lives, but we take our eyes off of the miracle that He’s done. We take our eyes off of the fact that we’ve stepped out into the “if.” We’ve committed ourself to the “if.” We’ve said, “Lord, if,” and we commit ourself to it, and we’re doing good, but then we take our eyes off of the miracle that the Lord is doing, and we look at the trouble around us. We look at the storm. We look at the hard times. We look at the bank account. We look at the broken down automobile. We look at the roof falling down. We look at everything but the fact that the Lord is standing right in front of us doing a miracle once again in our life, even though we “iffed” Him, and He has given us the strength to stand even in the “if.” And then we have to cry out to Him once again… You see, that’s where our problem is: it’s not that God isn’t mighty. It’s not that there are troubles in the world around us. It’s not that we don’t have enough money in our bank account… You don’t succeed in the Lord because you have doubt, but He knows how to deal with even those things. You didn’t stay true to your “if” even though He did. He loves us, though sometimes has to reprimand us because of our lack of faith. “Why did you doubt?”
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired January 5, 2003.
Jesus is going to tell you the truth. We don’t like to hear the truth, though. We don’t want to know what’s really in our heart. I mean, “I’m all dressed up here in church. God, isn’t that good enough? I sacrificed and got out of bed at 8:30 to be here. It’s Sunday morning, after all.” Jesus knows our hearts. He knows why we got out of bed… Stop playing the games because He knows the truth, and He’ll tell you the truth. And let me tell you, too, you may not always like the truth…
Why are you serving the Lord today? Why do you seek after Jesus? Why do you carry your Bible? Why is religion important to you? Have you asked yourself these questions?… How many of us would serve Jesus today if we didn’t have the nice home to live in, if we didn’t have the bank account to sustain us, if we didn’t have the transportation to get us there, and if we found ourselves cold and hungry huddled in a cardboard box? How many of us would name the name of Jesus on our lips and say, “I serve Him still”? You know what? I encounter people everyday who have it so good: nice homes, reliable transportation, but because something didn’t happen exactly the way they thought it should happen, they walk around moaning and groaning as though some great disaster has happened. They’re not following Jesus because they love Jesus, and Jesus has allowed them to participate in the miraculous. They’re following Jesus because Jesus fills their bellies, and if you think that seeking Jesus to get wealthy is what Jesus is all about, you’ve got another thing coming. If you think it’s about claiming prosperity, claiming wealth, claiming the nice home and the nice car is what Jesus is about, let me tell you, you are part of the crowd that is only following Jesus to get your belly filled, and He’s going to tell you the truth. You’re not after Him because of the miraculous. You’re after Him for what you can get from Him to fulfill your flesh…
Why does Jesus do miracles? Because He loves to do miracles, and His Father approves of the miracles that He does. Why does Jesus interact with your life? Why does Jesus draw you into salvation? Why does Jesus feed you and clothe you and give you the nice home? Because He loves you, and His Father approves, but guess what? Those are not things that you have to demand of God. You’re not even supposed to be seeking Him for those things. Those are the things that spoil. “Do not work for food that spoils.” But you know what? So often in our society today we are caught up in this thing of having and having more: bigger bank account, bigger automobile, bigger home, because somehow that supposed to prove the strength and the character of God? Well, let me tell you what it proves: it proves your greed and your selfishness. It says, “Do not work for those things, but work for the food that endures to eternal life.” …If you are seeking the right food, the Son of Man is going to give it to you. Jesus, the One Who came to live as a man through the power of God proving that, even though you’re in the flesh, you can still honor God with your life… He’ll give us what food we need because on Him, God the Father has placed His seal of approval…
Do you want to know what you can do to truly please God? Simply believe in the One that He sent. Believe in Jesus. Trust in Jesus.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired January 12, 2003.
Sometimes, I believe, we sometimes live in wrong motives within the church; that the body of Christ needs to wake up and understand why they are following Jesus. Are you following Jesus just so you can have more food in your belly? Or are you following Jesus because He is the Miracle Worker; because He is the God Who created you; because He is the God Who loves you and desires love relationship with you?… If you are following after Jesus simply and only to obtain something from Him in the form of material possession then you are working for things that spoil…
God loves Jesus because God the Father and Jesus are One, and they have invited us into that love relationship to be one with Them, and the Father has put that seal of approval through His Spirit on Jesus, and Jesus has come to this world to tell us, “I am here to love you. You don’t have to seek after me to get those basic needs of life”…
Jesus answered them, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” And you know what? That’s the bottomline; that’s where our hearts are challenged and tested every day. Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Do we believe that Jesus is the One that God has sent? Do we believe that when Jesus left here that He left us His Spirit as He promised He would? Do we believe that when He said, “To those who receive Him, to those who believe in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God”? Do we believe Him? Have we received Him? Or are we just working to impress God…or are we truly seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness?…
You know, the problem is, so often within the body of Christ we find ourself in this dilemma: we wantt he things of the world, we want the bread that fills our stomach, we want the automobile that looks good, we want the house that is going to give us status, but you know what? It’s never been about those things. The truth is, God blesses us with those things because He’s put us on this world to live, but His intention is not for us to be on this world to live. His intention is for us to be with Him in eternity. This is just the testing ground to prove to us what our hearts truly are, and if your heart is about having bread that you can fill your belly with, if your desire is to have a bank account, if your desire is to look good in your three-piece suit, if your desire is to impress those people around you with how wealthy you are, the guess what? You’re not seeking after the true bread…
Jesus has offered us everything we need to survive. He blesses us with food, He blesses us with clothes, but if that is our focal point in life, then we’re not looking at Him and we miss the real blessing. He says, “Iam the bread. I am where you stop going hungry and I am where you stop being thirsty.” It has nothing to do with fleshly hunger and thirst. It has to do with that spiritual hunger and thirst… We are told to hunger and thirst for righteousness, not for the bread of our belly… Many of the problems that we have in our life, many of the times in our life that we find ourself lacking is not because there’s real lacking in our life for the physical, but it is because we do not believe that Jesus can meet our need. We think somehow we have to do it…
Whose will are you doing? Why are you here? Why are you in the position that you are in in life? Why do you have the job that you have? Why do you have the car that you have? Why do you have the home that you have? If you believe those are things that you have earned, and you have the right to, then you already have the wrong attitude. It’s not about you. Jesus could have had all of those things. He could have been living in a palace, and He could have had horse-drawn chariots made of gold if He wanted, but He did not come down from heaven for Himself. He did not come into the position that He was in, in order to impress people. He came down simply and only to fulfill the will of His Father. “It’s not to do My will, but to do the will of Him Who sent Me.” Whose will are you hoping to accomplish? Why are you chasing after Jesus? Why are you where you are today? Are you in love with Jesus so much so that you would be willing to say, “You know what, Lord? I have striven after the goal for far too long. I have desired the bread that fills my belly for far too long. I am willing to step outside of my will, of my desire, of my comfort. Lord, I am willing to step out of the palace that I think Ideserve, the one that You definitely deserved, and like You, I’m willing to do Your will, just as You were willing to do the Father’s will.” …Well, that’s something we need to stop and consider. That’s where we need to dwell this week, and especially as we think about Who Jesus is to us and what Jesus has done in our lives.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired January 19, 2003.
So often we’re not looking for Jesus. So often we’re not looking for the will of the Father to be done in our lives, and so many times I find within Christendom, that we don’t care what God’s will is. We care what my will is. What’s going to get me ahead? What is going to make me look good? What’s going to cause my brothers and sisters around me to sit up and take notice of who Iam? And so often we forget the reason we’ve been placed here. We’re not placed here just to search for Jesus. We’re placed here to find Jesus, and then come to know the will of the Father, and that will of the Father is not to do our will, and even Jesus Himself, Who came from heaven, Who is the Son of God, the embodiment of God in the flesh, tells us, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but to do the will of Him Who sent Me”… Any time you read within God’s Word those words — the will of God is — it should make you sit up and take notice. If the question has ever popped up in your heart, if you’ve ever been in a conversation where you’ve said to someone or heard someone say to you, “How can I know what God’s will is?” And you know what? We use the excuse of ignorance way too much. You know what? We’re not ignorant. We play ignorant. We have God’s Word, especially in this nation, so readily available to us that there should never, ever be an excuse for us to not know the will of the Father…
God’s will is simply for you to have salvation; to have that place in eternity before Him. And this is Jesus’s desire to fulfill the Father’s will in Him to bring you to that place. His Father’s will for you and I is that we would believe in Him, in Jesus, and that you and I should have eternal life…
I do believe, personally, that God the Father speaks to the heart of every man through His Holy Spirit, that He draws all men and gives them the opportunity to choose “yes” or “no” where Jesus is concerned, but He also lets men decide because of the hardness of their heart whether they’re going to receive, and those that are listening to God the Father and are drawn because of that Voice that they’re hearing will give their lives over, and Jesus tells them this. There’s only one way for it to happen. “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to Me.” Do you realize that if you say you believe in God, and you go to church, and you read your Bible, and you do good things, but you don’t believe in Jesus that you have ignored everything the Father has tried to teach you… And this is where the rubber meets the road. Do you believe it? Are you going to choose to believe? And this is what Jesus has said, “Those who believe will be raised up. Those who do not believe,” Guess what? There’s only one other place for you to be…
And we tell kids, and we tell adults, that you can’t help being who you are. Jesus has just told us. You can help it. It’s a matter of faith. It’s a matter of choosing…
“I tell you the truth.” You want to know the truth? So often we don’t want to know the truth, and Jesus, just in this chapter has repeated it over and over again. “I tell you the truth.” And He’s saying this because we do not like to hear or know the truth.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired January 26, 2003.
If you are one of those that are simply, only following Jesus, thinking that somehow by following Jesus long enough He’s going to take pity on you and open the gates of heaven to you, that you’re doing it all wrong. Jesus doesn’t want us just as followers. He wants us as partakers. Partaking with Him. Enjoying Him. Believing in Him. Trusting in Him. Taking Him into our lives. Not just watching what He does. Not just being impressed with the things that He said or the things that He did. Not just going to church on Sunday morning to fulfill some kind of social need in our life…
I believe that within many of the church buildings within this nation, within the institution of the church today within this nation, I believe that if Jesus walked in the door, He would be tossed right back out again because His very presence would be offensive to the hearer, and the statements that He would make would offend their hearts, and men might have to call themselves sinners and repent. They might have to take Jesus seriously, rather than just as a feeling or a figure of speech. But I guarantee…men would argue and fight over the fact that Jesus was there teaching…
The problem isn’t just believing it. The problem is being able to accept it… And this is the problem. We’re told to receive and believe. We’re told to accept. But many of His disciples did not want to hear the hard teaching. They wanted nothing to do with a teaching that challenged their hearts…
Do you want to know what the truth is? So often you and I are only looking for what makes us feel good and what fills our belly. We’re not looking for Jesus to return. We’re not looking for Jesus to speak to our hearts. We’re not looking for the will of the Father in our life. Oh, we use all of those terms because it sounds so good. It sounds so religious. We’re searching for some spiritual feeling. We’re looking for something that’s going to make us feel good about us. And Jesus tells us it’s not about that. It really has nothing to do with you. It really has nothing to do with me. It has nothing to do with the numbers I find sitting in the seats on Sunday morning. It has nothing to do with how good you think I preach or how good of a person I think you are. It has only to do with what we’re filled with, and Paul, as I’ve said before, tells us what we’re to be filled with. Not drunk on wine, but be filled with the Spirit… We can fill ourselves up with all of the things of this world and not leave room for the Spirit of God. When you are looking to look good, when you’re looking to feel good, when you are looking to stand out in the eyes of men, you are not looking for the truth, and just like Judas, you may be a follower, but a follower who will eventually betray and turn away from God the Father and not believe that Jesus is Who He said He is, and then the will of God is never going to be revealed in your life. You want the will of God in your life? Take Jesus in. Believe in Him in your heart. Trust Him. He’s telling us the truth.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired February 2, 2003.
Part of what I see as a problem within my life, as well as the lives of many other believers, we don’t struggle with faith. You know what? There’s a lot of things I can believe, but there’s a lot of things I do not want to accept. There’s a lot of things that I know that God’s Word says it, but you know what? I don’t particularly care to do it. And many of the issues that Jesus deals with in our lives are hard teachings. They are things that we have to struggle with inside ourselves: issues of sin, issues of faith, issues of just being trustworthy to God. And I admit that there are things in my life that I like to do, there are practices in my life that I’ve had since childhood that have become part of me, and then I study God’s Word, and God’s Word sometimes indicates that I may need to see a change in my life…
The first step in growing in the Lord is being able to admit openly, before God and man, what it is you’re willing to accept and what you’re not willing to accept… There are things in my life and things in your life that you will not change, not because you can’t, not because God’s Word doesn’t address it, and not because His Spirit isn’t strong enough, powerful enough, to cause you to change, but the bottomline is, you just don’t accept it. You don’t want to do it… But yet when it boils down to it, what are we willing to do to fulfill God’s Word in our life? That’s a whole different question. I know a lot of people who are willing to serve God as long as they don’t have to change too much, as long as they don’t have to give too much up, as long as they don’t have to leave too much behind… “That’s too hard for me, God! It’s hard to accept it. It’s a hard teaching. Me, having to give up of myself! Me, having to submit to You! Me, having to give up me to allow You in! It’s a hard teaching, Lord. I don’t accept it. I don’t want anything to do with it. Oh, but God, I’m more than happy to show up on Sunday morning… But Lord, don’t ask me to give up the lifestyle that I’ve chosen to live…”
You know, one of the reasons, I find, that people do not give their lives to the Lord, why they do not come to know Jesus, is because of fear of what their peers are going to think, fear that their friends at high school might tease them, fear that their friends at work might put them down, fear that an employer might even fire them. When you look at how screwed up our world is today, anything is possible, but let me tell you something. The employers of the world, the schools of the world, the people in the world, are already talking about Jesus. They already know that there is a difference between Christians and themselves. We just need to take Jesus’s example. Walk the way He did. Open our mouth when He says to open our mouth. Share when He says to share. Go where He says to go. And you know what? People, then, are going to be ripe and ready. If we try to force ourselves on people, if we try to cram the Bible down people’s throats, they’re going to reject…
Jesus knows where He’s taking us. Jesus knows what He’s doing and how He’s doing it. We just need to be sensitive and pay attention to what He’s doing, and don’t worry about the other people. But again, part of the problem is, you and I have to decide what is it that we believe about Jesus. Are we going to live our lives to bring change, to accept what He teaches?
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired February 9, 2003.
The matters of this world, the matters of our neighbor, the matters, oftentimes, of our own life are not ourresponsibility to deal with. They are God’s Holy Spirit that Jesus left with us to deal with. His responsibility. You and I have a responsibility to believe in Him, to trust in Him, to have faith in Him, to bend our knee — to bend my knee — to Him and allow change to come to my life. But so often, we want want the change to come for everybody, and we want people to have wealth, and we want people to have health, and we want people to have all of the good things that webelieve are good in this world. But sometimes…those good things we see are not what God calls good because they only feed the selfish flesh within our nature. And Jesus sees this, and Jesus knows how to deal with this…
What is the motive of our hearts? Why do we do the things that we do? Do we do it in order to gain glory and honor for ourself? Why do you serve in the church that you serve in? Why do you serve in the job that you serve in? Why do you help your neighbors the way you help your neighbors? It’s all about motive. Are you doing things to bring honor to God Who also sent you, or are you doing it to bring honor to yourself? Are you doing it to get noticed? …If you are serving your God with right motives, then there is truth in you. If you’re doing it out of a heart that says, “This is God’s desire, not mine; this is God’s leading, not mine,” then men will see you as a man or woman of truth. But if you’re doing it to bring honor to yourself, if you’re doing it so people will notice you, then there is a heart-attitude problem, and Jesus will deal with that…
Jesus desires for you and I to be whole. He’s not concerned about just one part of our body… He’s concerned about the whole person, and He’s going to take a step at a time to heal those things in your life that matter, that are going to make the change that is going to make you totally whole. And you know what? We need to stop being angry with Him and allow Him to do the healing so that the whole man can be healed, whether it’s within our structure and mindset of what the law should be. Stop judging by mere appearance and make a right judgement.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired February 16, 2003.
[Some] will judge and even determine Christianity, determine faith in God, based on what a man looks like, and Jesus says stop. Stop doing it. You can’t look into a man’s heart. You can’t know what his desires are to know the God Who created him, and after all, have we not already studied “For God so loved”? Who did He love? You, me, and that man that’s in the world… God loved them so much that He gave His Son to die. How dare we, how dare we look at one of those that God loved and tell them that there is no way that they are welcome into our church, no way that they are welcome into our life, no way that they are welcome into ourJesus Christ, until they’ve cleaned up their act. Until they’ve gotten rid of all those outward appearance things that we’re looking at and judging them by. It has nothing to do with what they’re wearing on the outside. It only has to do with what the Holy Spirit is doing on the inside… Stop judging. You don’t understand the man’s heart. “Stop judging by mere appearances and make right judgment.” What is the right judgment? That God loved the world. That Jesus was there to save those that were lost and dying; those that were lost in those things of life that you and I would not be part of, but guess what? When Jesus died, He saved us from those things in life that we were part of that we needed saving from, and He did not tell us that He did not like us or love us or accept us in those things. Yeah, sometimes He does ask us to change. Sometimes with issues of sin He asks us to change, and He will point out those issues of sin. That’s right judgment…I’m to love the sinner as he comes to me and help him through God’s Word to understand that he’s living in sin, but I’m not to turn him away because of what he looks like on the outside or what he’s done on the outside, but what he’s doing on the inside. That’s making a right judgment. Seeking out the knowledge of who a person is and what they believe in Jesus Christ. That’s making a right judgment. Seeking knowledge to know where people are at in their walk with the Lord and how that walk is affecting them in their life as they live day to day. That’s making a right judgement…
You know, we get little glimpses as believers. Because of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we get little glimpses of Who God is, and we do know God because of the power of His Spirit, in a very small way, but I would venture to guess that most Christians would tell you, when it came to God the Father, if you were honest, that you really don’t know Him; that God is a mystery. And I talk to people all the time who will demand of God, and will give you this picture of God as though He is some kind of galactic Santa Claus, and His whole purpose for existing is to give me what I want, when I want it, how I want it, and when God doesn’t provide the way we think He should provide, we deny His very existence… If you knew God the Father, if you truly have the relationship with God the Father, you’re going to understand that God is love, and that His sole purpose for reaching out to you and for reaching out to me is because of His love for you and for me, and that’s what Jesus came to accomplish, was to share with us the fullness and excitement that comes in a love relationship with God the Father…
Do you know where the heart of God is truly and mostly revealed? It’s revealed in the love relationship that you can have with Jesus Christ…
If you want real knowledge, if you want to understand the love of God, if you want to know Who the Father is, then get to know Jesus. Spend time with Jesus. Study Who Jesus was within His Word, and the more you get to know Jesus, the more you’ll know the Father, and then you’ll stop judging by mere appearance and start making right judgments when it comes to the people around you, because once you understand the love relationship that you can have with the Father, then you want everybody else…to have that same love relationship.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired February 23, 2003.
Just because you have head knowledge doesn’t mean that you really have knowledge. Knowledge is born from the wisdom that comes from God. The true knowledge that God would have us to dwell in, to understand Who He is. It’s only found in His wisdom through the power of His Spirit…
There are times in our life that Jesus just simply asks us to respond without having all of the information. God does not explain to me every time He wants me to do something. He does not give me all of the facts and all of the details about what He’s hoping to accomplish. He just says, “This is what needs to be done. Now do it.” And whether I like it or not, if God has asked me to do it, it needs to be done. But yet…we respond in this way, “Well, what does He mean by that?” And all of a sudden, we become bitter, and we become sarcastic…
We try to assume upon what Jesus was telling us. You know, if God asked me to help someone, that means I’m to pour out my life to them. I’m to give of who I am and what I have, and that’s a foreign concept to most of us. If it’s inconvenient, if it’s out of our way, then God can’t be asking me, and so we have to build a scenario in our mind to help us to understand what He possibly could have meant, and if it means sacrificing too much, we become bitter and sarcastic…and we begin to accuse rather than trust…
It concerns me, within so many churches, that we have reduced God’s Word to a few simple standards that are supposed to tell us all there is to know about God, and pastors will stand before their fellowships week in and week out and say, “I will give you the knowledge you need to have.” And people buy into it week after week, rather than searching the Scripture themselves. I’m never going to tell you to believe what I’m teaching you. I’m never going to tell you to take what I’ve said to you simply because I’ve said it to you. I expect you to open up your Bible. I expect you to search out God’s Word. I expect you to be true to God through His Spirit, to get to know Jesus on your own… But so often we use church, we use the pastor, as the substitute for responsibility that we have to dig, to find out Who the Christ really is; Who this Man named Jesus truly is…
And this is the other warning I would give: just because you don’t like or don’t understand a verse, don’t give up on it. Dig deeper…until you’ve come to some idea, and you know what? It is okay, it is okay, for you to come to the place of saying, “I simply do not understand. I’m not eliminating it, and I’m not going to come to conclusion on it. I’m just going to tell you I do not understand at this point. I do not have all of the knowledge that I need to have to come to conclusion.” And that’s valid… We’re asked to live by faith, we’re asked to trust God, and we’re asked to dig.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired March 2, 2003.
So often that is where we have our problem: we see people sin, and we fail to look at our own sin…
“Wow, I’ve lived a long time on the face of this planet, and you know what? I should have been stoned a number of times. I deserve to be convicted for my crimes that I’ve committed against humanity.” How often do you find yourself saying those words? Standing in front of a mirror and looking at the heart of God and saying, “God, I deserve to die for my sin. Thank you, Lord, for dying in my place.” See, it is not about whether we should be condemned for our sin. It is simply about us admitting that we have the sin…
I think sometimes we allow emotion and circumstances to overrun us, and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a little emotion. I think God gave us emotions for a reason, but I think that God also gave us the ability to reason clearly through our life. We have men and women living in this world today that want to call themselves believers, but do not want to admit that they have sin and issues of sin in their own life. And Jesus would take the time to point out that we do have issues of sin…
If we had people today who would simply admit their lifestyles of sin to Jesus, I think we would have a greater move of God within the church, but see, we have whole churches, organizations, that are set up so that men can feel good about themselves and not have to even admit that they have sin in their life. We don’t want to tell the sinner that they’re a sinner because they might become offended, and if they’re offended then they won’t come back. Well, you know what? Sometimes we have to be offended. We have to be offended with ourselves, and we have to be offended by those that are around us because sin, to God, is offensive, but He doesn’t ask us to go and stone ourselves to death. He asks us to admit it, to be open about it, to let people know that, yes, in fact, I am sinning against God in this way, and I want to be right with God. I don’t want to condemn and judge everybody else around me. And in general, not always but in general, what I see happening is those who have sin in their life are the ones who condemn others the most, and it becomes a vicious cycle. You begin to condemn them, they begin to condemn others, and pretty soon you have a church filled with nothing but condemnation, rather than one where it says, guys, just look into your heart. If you’re without sin, then cast that stone.” But guess what? If you have sin in your life, then put the stones away. Stop judging those that are around you, and start loving those that are around you…
We tell people that their lifestyles are okay, when in fact they are sin. What we need to be doing is saying, “I don’t condemn you for that lifestyle of sin, but it is sin nonetheless, and you need to leave it because Jesus loves you and died for you and would desire to forgive you.” That’s how Jesus would have us approach. Not dragging people into the street because of their sin, not having gossip sessions because of sin, but simply to go to those that we know to be in sin and say, “Brother, I’m a sinner, too. Can we get this right together?” Let’s love one another. Let’s be right with God because of Jesus’s love and forgiveness for us. Let’s begin to look at each other as Jesus did: with eyes of loving forgiveness.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired March 9, 2003.
Don’t mistake Jesus’s love for us as meaning that we do not have to deal with sin, because this is what He tells this woman [caught in the act of adultery]. “I don’t condemn you…but go, now, and leave your life of sin.” Make change in your life, and that would be my encouragement to anybody who hears me speak, just as it is encouragement to me to change those areas in my life that I know are sin. And I freely, willingly sit here, telling you today, that I, Pastor Dave, have sin in my life from time to time that needs to be dealt with. You know what? I don’t like the fact that God’s Word points it out, that I can read God’s Word and find it clearly in His Word…
But that’s what we do so often: we see the verse that we don’t like, we see the thing that would condemn us, and rather than hearing Jesus’s Word say, “I just want you to change. Confess your sin. Deal with it”…we take the page and we tear it out. We don’t want to deal with God’s Word. But Jesus, Jesus wants to deal with it. Jesus wants usto deal with it, and He wants us to bring change into our lives… “Go, but leave your life of sin.” And sometimes that’s hard to do…
Do you want to know the truth in your life? Do you want to be able to deal with what is there that holds you away from that victorious relationship with God? Then walk with Him, and see those things in your life that need to be changed…
“Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness.” It’s a choice we have. That we will be able to walk and have that Light of life in us… We can walk in the brightness of God’s love.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired March 16, 2003.
So here Jesus lays it out to them. As so many people try to ignore or try to change what Jesus said, Jesus lays it out clearly, that it is about believing in Him and believing what it was that He came for. You know what? Jesus does not care about the fact that we are sinners. He cares about the fact that that sin that we live in is keeping us separated from the Father, and it is keeping us away from that place where He would go to and would love to have us come with Him to… In order to not die in your sin, in order to be right with God the Father, and in order to have that love relationship with Jesus into eternity, all you need do is confess the fact that you have sin in your life, understanding that it is not the sin that is the problem, it’s the refusal to deal with the sin that’s the problem; and understand that it was Jesus, the Person of Jesus, the Name of Jesus, the Child of God that God sent; that God the Father sacrificed for us; that it was through His sacrifice that our sin and those issues of sin are dealt with, that then brings us to that place of being right with God the Father. But so often we don’t want to come to that place. So often we want to believe ourselves to be good and holy and right because we do good things, because we do good works. But the fact is, there is none of us who are good. There are none of our works that are good enough. We need to believe that Jesus is Who He claims to be…
Part of the problem is that men do not want to believe that they are in need of salvation. So many people that I talk to, so many people that I encounter, refuse to accept the fact that they are in need of a Savior; that they are desperately lost and in need of salvation. Now, they’ll tell you that they feel the separation from the Father, and they don’t quite understand why. They don’t understand why God the Father would reject them. “After all, I do good things… I’m a good person.” But it is not about being a good person because none of our goodness is good enough, because it does not meet the mark of perfection that God lives by…
One of the problems that we have in our lives: we’re bound in sin. The bondages, the chains of sin hold us tight. We’re not free. We’re slaves [to sin], and we need to be set free from those chains of sin, and the only way that that can happen — and sometimes it comes very slowly, a chain at a time, an issue at a time — but as we remain in Jesus’s Word, as we hold fast to Jesus’s teaching, then…the truth reveals our issues of sin to us, and then we are, chain by chain, step by step, confession by confession, set free.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired March 23, 2003.
One of the things that I hear — and I hear it time and again from those that say they believe in God — they’ll say, “I love God in my own way.” Well, you know, there’s a problem when you say that I love God in my own way; that Jesus came to tell us how He, as part of the Godhead, desired to be loved…
No matter how hard you work, no matter how hard you try, no matter how many good things you do, you will never, ever be set free from the flesh that binds you, from the issues of sin in your life that hold you bound. Jesus, in His teaching, walking with Him, holding to that that He’s taught us, is the only thing that will set us free. Then, then when we are in the truth of God’s Word, when we are in the truth that Jesus laid down for us, then we’re set free…
Many who come to church week in and week out don’t believe because their ears are closed. Their hearts are heard. They’re born of the flesh…
This is an exciting thing! This is amazing! That simply by putting our faith and our trust in the Word that Jesus gave us that we can overcome death, that we can have that desire of our heart that brings us into a place of immortality. So often, though, our problem is that we want immortality while still in this flesh, but this flesh is not meant now to see eternity. It’s meant to die and turn back into the dust from which it came. It’s the spirit that God has put inside, that this flesh houses… And it is at that point, when we give up the flesh, when we give up the flesh desire, when we give up the need to fulfill the flesh, we put that behind us [and] we begin to understand the language of heaven, we being to understand the language of God’s love. we begin to understand the words, the truth that Jesus brought to us, and then we hold to His teaching. We keep His Word. We do not deny His Word because we want to feel good about ourself and deny major portions of His Word. It’s not about whether or not I feel good about myself. It’s about the love that Jesus has for me and the truth that He gave us from His Word, and He is doing this that we might not have to stand before the Judge and be declared guilty and sent away from heaven for that eternity…
See, it is about keeping the Word of God the Father. It is about keeping the Word of Jesus, His Son. If you’re not in God’s Word, if you’re not studying God’s Word, how can you honor Him? How can you be right with Him? We need to be about studying and knowing and living within God’s Word and then rejoicing.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired March 30, 2003.
What might God be doing in your life right now? Are you having struggles? Are you suffering? Are you challenged in your life? But you have gone through the list in your heart of the things that you’ve done wrong to sin against God, and you’ve confessed them, and you’ve done what you believe the Bible has told you to do to get your life right, but yet you still find yourself struggling and facing hardship. What might God be doing in your life? What is it that the Holy Spirit might be doing or wants to do in and through you or for you?… Sometimes God simply wants to display His work in you, through you, because of you…
Sometimes, the work of God means that we have to step into people’s lives whether they’ve asked us to or not. Sometimes, we need to just stop and lend a helping hand… And I can’t help but believe that sometimes the work of God is presented to us in these ways: people who are not asking for the help, people who are just simply there on the side of the road, people who do not expect the help… What is the work that God has called you to do? Who are those on the side of the road that God has called you to stop and be part of their lives?…
You know what? Oftentimes, when you do the right thing or you are involved in circumstances within God’s Word that are right, you will be challenged and division will happen. For every good thing that you do or every good thing that you encounter, there will be some there that will tell you why that good is really bad; why you should ignore the good that is happening to you, because it wasn’t done by their standard. There will be division.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired April 6, 2003.
Let me tell you something. I go verse by verse through the Bible. I teach that way but I still expect you to follow along in your Bible. I still expect you to challenge me if you find error in my teaching, because I’m a man and sometimes I make mistakes. Sometimes I might even misread something… It’s not about what Iknow. It’s about what God’s Word says… It is up to you to dig, to seek, to read, and to study; to study together with me that we could come to conclusion, not to punish those that don’t agree with us. I’ve got a lot of very good friends, those that fellowship with me all the time, that I do not always agree with in their conclusions about the Scripture, but we get together, and we butt heads, and we learn together, and those areas that we can not decide on, we still decide to love each other, not throw each other out of fellowship…
You know what? If you nothing else about our Lord Jesus Christ, if you were ever blind spiritually, emotionally, if you were lost spiritually and emotionally, and you had an encounter with Jesus, there is not much more you need to know than that Jesus came to you, and you encountered Him…
And this is the problem within the church today: “good” men and women who have spent their life going to church are only “good” by a standard set by the church, and they don’t want to hear the truth. They don’t want to hear about the power of God, they don’t want to hear about the love of God, they don’t want to hear about the forgiveness of God, because if they hear those things then they, themselves, might have to admit that for all of the good that they surround themselves with, that there might be bad inside of them that still needs to be dealt with…
One of the things I find so often, men who believe they have all of the answers, when they are confronted with the truth, they become rude and belligerent. They begin to accuse… But so often it’s not the man who is physically blind that has the problem. It is those who are spiritually blind that have the problem…
And, you know, so often this is how we respond to God. We think we’ve got it figured out, we think we have the answers, but yet we’re suffering, but we would much rather be left in our suffering than to trust God…
God has used many, many, many, many men who once had sin in their life, may still have sin in their life, but yet is godly in their approach, living by faith, trusting by faith, stepping out in faith, to believe that God can and still wants to do the miracle… Jesus knows what He’s doing, with or without a faith in a man’s life. Jesus knows what He’s doing when He calls you to step up and to teach or to be part of a person’s life. Jesus knows what He’s doing when He tells you to go out to those sinners lost in the street that you don’t want to have anything to do with. Jesus knows what He’s doing. He wants you to step out so that they can step up and have faith and have the opportunity to say, “Lord, I believe,” and then worship.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired April 13, 2003.
I hear people say all the time, “God doesn’t judge me for the things I do.” Understand something. God is judging every day, every person on the face of this planet for who he or she is and what they do. He’s judging, but He judges differently than you or I judge. He is looking at the heart of a man. He is looking at the inside of a man, not at the outside, not to see the sin issues that we look at, but to see the heart attitude that will bring that man to a place of understanding his need for repentance. That’s blindness, when you understand your need for God because you’re lost in sin, and you turn to Him, and He says, “I have come into this world so that the blind will see,” speaking about you and I, not just the physically blind. “And those who see will become blind,” those who believe they’re okay, those that believe that they have not sinned against God, those that believe that somehow by their good works, by their going to church, by their putting their token in the offering plate, they think that somehow this is enough to get them into heaven, and Jesus says they’re the ones that will become blind…
The guilt and the blindness truly come from having issues of sin that are unresolved in your life, not willing to deal with those issues of sin, and that’s why they remain unresolved. Jesus came to let us know that we can resolve the issues of sin; those things that cause us to be separated from God the Father. He says they can be resolved, but so often we do not want to say, “That is sin in my life,” and we hide it, and when we hide it, it blinds us. It blinds us from seeing the truth. It blinds us from understanding the truth. It blinds us from walking in the truth… See, it’s not the sin that blinds us. It is the refusal to deal with the sin that blinds us. Sin brought death. The refusal to deal with the sin brought blindness…
The church is where the body of Christ gathers, here and there and everywhere. It’s not a building. It’s not an institution…
[Jesus says,] “If you could truly see, then you would see your need for Me. You would see your need to deal with the issues of sin. You would see your need to be right with God the Father and accept Me for Who I am; the Shepherd that comes and goes by the gate and leads the sheep…out into a place where they can be fed.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired April 20, 2003.
If we are true watchmen, when those sheep come through the door, all we are about is taking God’s Word that He has given to us and laying it out in such a way that, when the sheep hear, they know they’ve heard the truth from Jesus, and they follow Him…
This is what Jesus was about: leading the sheep to a place where they can eat; leading you and I to a place where we can feed on the truth. He’s given us His Word, and He desires that we would be in His Word, that we would be led by His Spirit to understand His Word, and we feed, we find pasture, in His Word. We find pasture in fellowship in areas where the Word is being taught. We become saved when Jesus speaks to our heart, and we respond by saying, “Yes, Lord Jesus. I’m coming in,” or “Jesus, You’re allowed to enter into me. You’re allowed to have me…”
Understand something. Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Jesus does not abandon those that He loves. Jesus does not leave behind those that are hurting or those that are weak or those that are in distress. He’s the Good Shepherd. He is not going to abandon you. He lays His life down…
Jesus is the way in, and Jesus is the way out. It doesn’t come by rules and regulations. It doesn’t come by going to church. It doesn’t come by doing good things. Salvation and strength and growth and health and life in abundance comes when you give your life into the hands of the Shepherd Who loves you.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired April 27, 2003.
If you took stock of your life, if you look at the time you get out of bed to the time you go to bed, through your day, you would find many times that it was God Who brought you through, and miracles happened for you, and I’ve seen blatant miracles happen to many who still choose not to believe. So, those who would say, “If God would just show me a miracle, then I would believe,” hogwash. Miracles do not make us believe. Reading and searching God’s Word is what causes faith to begin to grow in us. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” is what Paul concludes…
There are many men giving testimony about Who Jesus is and what Jesus can do. We have been given, in writing, from men who walked with Jesus and saw these great miracles. They give us the Word, and that is what causes us to believe…
Do you want to represent the power and the strength of God? Do you want to be part of the miracles that happen in other people’s lives? Pick up God’s Word. Take the Bible that you’ve been blessed in this nation to have and open it up and begin to share it with people…
The only thing that will bring us to the place of believing is studying and coming to the conclusion that Jesus is Who He said He was through His Word.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired May 11, 2003.
We, so often, will call on God. We will approach Jesus. We will use the name of Jesus almost as an incantation for magic, thinking that somehow, because we call on Him, He has to give us the thing that we desire, that weconjure up for our own flesh’s pleasure…
I am speaking to those of you who have the Holy Spirit indwelling you, who have walked with Jesus Christ, who have been Jesus’s friend, and you have now been disappointed because you didn’t get something that you felt you wanted or needed. Sometimes when Jesus tries to speak to our hearts, we are so disappointed that we try to explain to God what it is that we trulyneed, to tell God how to accomplish what it is that we truly need…
Jesus in approaching us, comes to us with the truth. You know, Jesus does not have expectation of us. Jesus asks only one thing of us, and that’s that we believe. That we believe Him for what He says. That we believe Him for what He’s doing. That we believe Him for His power. That we believe Him for His authority…
He’s not asking for a lot from us as believers. He’s not asking for you or for me to do backflips off of the Golden Gate Bridge and land on our feet and walk on the water. This is so often what we believe we have to do for God. Jump through hoops and do all kinds of good things to impress Him. He’s not asking for us to impress Him because guess what? He is not impressed with anything that we can do forHim, but what He desires is what we do withHim. Simply believing in Him. It says, if we believe, we will live it. Even though He dies. So if some of us, you or I, after this moment, should find ourself or a family member in death, understand: if we go to that place of physical death believing that Jesus is Who He said He was, then we’ll live. And whoever lives and believes, those of us who are still walking with Jesus, that day that He chooses to bring the church into the clouds with Him, will not die. “And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” We’ll be translated. In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye, as Paul tells the Thessalonians…
And the bottom line is, do you believe this? Most of the problems that we have within Christianity, most of the problems that we have within the church, most of our problems that we struggle with in fellowship with one another, is that we do not truly believe everything that Jesus says. We do not believe that Jesus is the life. We do not believe that Jesus is the resurrection. We want to believe. We want to understand, but so often we live in ignorance because we do not search God’s Word to find out about the character and the Person of Jesus, to find out about the character and Person of God the Father, to search the Scriptures to find out about the Person and the character of His Holy Spirit that He left here with us. If we understood God, then we would come to a place of believing that He an accomplish whatever it is He chooses to accomplish, not what I expectHim to accomplish…
A simple statement of faith. One that I believe that Jesus desires for each of us to make. “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God.” And it is that place of receiving, that place of accepting, that place of choosing, to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the One Who has Lordship and authority over us, that a change begins to happen in our life, that faith begins to grow…
You and I live our lives every day believing that Jesus should give us something, do something for us, be a part of our lives in a way He’s not going to do, but Jesus willraise us from the dead. He isour Lord and our Savior. He does havea plan for our life, in honoring His Father, bringing glory to His Father. And I guess the question is…and I will leave you with this question: do you believe this? I think this is something that we need to struggle through this week, something that we need to go through in our hearts and bring answer to. Do you believe that Jesus is Who He claims to be? Is Jesus your life? Is Jesus your resurrection? Is Jesus your Lord and Master? Do you believe this?
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired May 18, 2003.
Did you ever wonder Who Jesus truly was? Has it been a question in your mind? Is He just a good teacher? A good man? Someone Who did good things on this earth? He is far more than that, and He claimed to be far more than just good. In fact…Jesus said…”I amthe resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” And then Jesus asks the question. The question that I left you with last week. The question that I left myself with last week. One that I know is a difficult question to answer, but it is one that I believe we should all grapple with daily: when we study in God’s Word; when we encounter circumstances around us in life; when we walk in the grocery store and we don’t have enough money to pay for what we need; when our bills are coming due and we’ve been out of work; when we’re struggling with a relationship problem with someone in our fellowship; when the dog needs his shots and the baby needs his diaper change and life just seems out of control. Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? This is a problem I find so often. We wantto believe it. We want to trust it. But we have now heard Jesus say it…
Do you believe this? Do you believe that it is going to happen in yourlife when Jesus desires for it to happen? Do you believe that He is going to give you the things that you need, do for you the things that you need, a preserve your life when your life needs to be preserved, when He chooses to? Do you believe this? And I guess the other question I have to ask, is it okay? Is it okay for Jesus to choose to use you in a way that you do not expect? Is it okay for Jesus to do, in and through you, what He needs to accomplish in this world, whether it suits you or not?…
I fear, all too often, we accuse God because God does not give us the things that we want, that God does not do for us the things that we desire. We tell God how He is supposed to allow for us to live, giving us this, giving us that, doing this and that for us. Making sure that life is comfortable for us…
Jesus doesn’t ask for us to do good works. Jesus asks for us to believe in Him. What arewe accomplishing? Are we accomplishing faith in Jesus?
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired May 25, 2003.
There are two things that we have to consider. First and foremost, God is powerful. God can do all things. God can sustain us through all things. The second is that we need to know His Word. We need to know what His Word says; why He gave it to us; how He gave it to us…
Are you looking for ministry? Are you looking for something you can do to serve Jesus? Open your eyes and look around you. I guarantee you, there are those within your community, there are those within your neighborhood, there are those within your churches, there are those within thischurch, who are poor, who are struggling, who are suffering financially and emotionally. They have needfor you and I to have involvement in their life… If you want to do ministry, look out your back door. Look out your front door. Look just about anywhere around you, and you can find ministry waiting. You will always have the poor among you…
If you are arguing against God, if you are fighting against what God is trying to do — and I know there are many of you, many of you here tonight that are fighting against what God is trying to do in your life. Things have been done. Hardships have happened. You have every excuse why you should be able to argue and fight with God, but let me tell you something. Just like the Pharisees, your fighting with God, your arguing with God, your trying to put God in a box, is going to get you no where.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired June 8, 2003.
When Jesus went away, he went away for a short time. But He didn’t leave us alone. He gave us a light to dwell in us through the power of His Holy Spirit, so today we are without excuse as we live in this world. And I see so many Christians that live as though they are still lost in the darkness. They make decisions based on the flesh; they make decisions based on the things that make them feel good; make decisions based on what their friends are doing; make their decisions based on what their enemies are doing; make their decisions based on the standards of this world. But, they are proving their blindness…
This is what we hope to accomplish: to not only see the Light, not only to relate to the Light, but actually become sons of that Light. Have a life that exudes Light because the Spirit is indwelling us and shining actively through us so that in this dark world, even though the sun is shining, the deeds of mankind are exposed for what they are: sin against God…
I hear people say, “Well, Pastor Dave, if God would just show me a miracle, I would believe. If God would just prove Himself to me, then I would believe.” Well, let me tell you something. If God shot to this earth right now in a bolt of lightning, did backflips in front of you, and produced a car out of thin air, you would look more at the car than the God Who just presented Himself. You don’t believe because of miracles. It is not miracles that develops faith… And let me tell you something. If that’s what you’re looking for, it’s not going to be good enough for you because you’ll still doubt His motives. You’ll still question the direction He would have you to go. Our brother Paul tells us, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” We need to be into the Word of God. We need to be trusting the Word of God. If you’re not studying God’s Word, if you’re not hearing God’s Word in your heart, if you’re not mulling through the Word of God in your mind, if you’re not experiencing the Word of God as you’re walking out in the world each day, then guess what? You’re not growing in faith. You faith is not being strengthened. And it is only when you are growing and being strengthened in faith because of God’s Word that when you see the miracle, you can then accept it as a miracle. Otherwise, it’s just another one of those coincidences that happen in life. It’s another one of those “lucky” moments, which I despise when I hear people say it. It is not by luck that we live. It is by God’s blessing and God’s love that we live…
Jesus came for a purpose: as a Light that shines on Who the Father is. He came as the representation of the Father. That doesn’t mean that God the Father looked like Jesus physically, but everything that Jesus did in His ministry represented the love of the Father, represented the kindness of the Father, represented what the Father wanted to do in involvement with us. How He cared for us. Jesus became that representation. He illuminated; became a Light shining on all that God wanted to do, and He did that so that “No one who believes should stay in the darkness.” He wants us to step out of that darkness.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired June 1, 2003.
It just drives me crazy when I hear people say, “Well, I like God. I love God in my ownway.” You know what? It’s not about how youwant to love God, but it is about how God has loved you and how God has asked you to love Him, and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ…
Devotion to God is an individual thing. If you love God, and you’re sitting…in one of these chairs today, you are there as an individual. You may be surrounded by thousands of people, but I don’t care what those thousands of people are doing. You are called to a personal devotion and love relationship with God. This is what Jesus came to accomplish…
Are you a servant of Jesus today? Are you one who believes and trusts and hopes in eternal life in Christ Jesus? One of the things that we are not often faced with in this country is fear for our life because we love Jesus, but every day, all over this world, there are men and women who are offered this choice, and they follow… But I have to serve and follow and be what Jesus asked me to be, and then the Father honors the one who serves. If you are serving Jesus, and you’re willing to give up your life for Jesus, in eternity God the Father will honor you. I can’t tell you what that honor will be. I’ll tell you what. I’m just hoping to hear those words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant…”
When was the last time you found yourself in hardship and said, “Thank you, Lord. It was for this hour You created me. It was for this moment that You put me here. Lord, use me. God, make me an example to the rest of the world in how I love You, and how You love me.” Forget the circumstances. Have you ever thought of your life as being one that was created for a specific purpose, and that purpose being to glorify God the Father, and maybe even just for one single moment in your life to bring glory and honor to the Father…
Father, glorify Yourname, and if by glorifying Your name it means taking myname from the face of this planet the, Lord, go ahead. I’m Yourservant…
You know what? So often, God speaks to us, and it goes right over our head. We have no clue, even though the things that Jesus has said to us, the things that God the Father has given to us in His Word, is for our benefit so that we will understand His heart…
And I don’t know what you’re going to choose to believe, but if you’re listening to this message this evening, you are called to make a choice because Jesus is speaking to you. This message is not for my benefit, but it is for yourbenefit, so that you can know that it is time to choose. Are you drawn, because of God’s Word, to the heart of Jesus? Are you drawn, because of the interaction that the Holy Spirit has had with your life, to the heart of Jesus?…
So often, we walk in darkness. We walk in darkness by choice. We sin against God, we do the things that wewant to do, we don’t ask guidance from the Holy Spirit, we don’t trust God and His Word, and then we wonder why our lives are in such turmoil. We wonder why we spend our lives fallen, rather than walking in victory in the Person and Name of Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us, it’s because we must put our trust in the Light. You have access to the Light… The Light is the Person and relationship of Jesus Christ. You’ve got to choose. You haveto put your trust in Him so that you may become sons of Light…
I suggest that you do not allow for yourself to be tempted in any way to walk away from the relationship of Jesus Christ.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired June 15, 2003.
You and I are called to love as Jesus loved. You and I are called to live as Jesus lived… When was the last time you showed the full extent of God’s love to those around you? Or, do you find yourself commanding that people meet your needs? That people look after you? That you have the right of way. That the road is yours, not theirs…
This is the response that I see in the world so often. We want to hang around Jesus, and we want the benefits that come from Jesus’s power. We like to be involved when the miracles are happening, and we like to be involved when the big decisions are being made. But, when it gets down to the nitty gritty of having to wash feet and have our feet washed, when it comes down to having to finally understand what the true power base is, where you and I need to be dwelling, we want no part of it. “What? Me humble myself? Oh, that’s the job of a servant!” Jesus is saying that you and I are servants…
Clever words and clever messages mean nothing, but the living example of God’s Word, when we take someone’s needs in our hands and help them to see the need met, the fulfillment in their life of making the clean, giving them some real purpose by our involvement with them, is what proves God’s love, not our sitting at home clutching our Bible to our chest and sounding all spiritual when we pray…
What is it that the church is clamoring for the most? To be blessed by God. To have their lives filled with blessing. And this is what I hear in many of the movements in the world within Christendom; why people are naming it and claiming it and why people are doing backflips off of chairs and why people are doing all of these things that are experience-oriented. Because they want to feel blessed. Well, take some time to stop flipping off the chair and go out and meet someone’s need, and guess what? You’ll be blessed! Wash your brother’s feet, and you’ll be blessed. See that their needs are met in the meal, see that their needs are met in clothing, see that their needs are met in however you can, and you’ll be blessed. Blessing doesn’t come through feeling. And I’ve heard people say it, “I don’t feel very spiritual. That church service left me feeling dry.” Your dryness isn’t because of the church service. Your dryness is because you’ve no reached out and exercised what Jesus has called you to exercise; to use His example and be blessings to other people. [Do] you want to be blessed? You want to feel fed? You want to feel really, truly spiritual? Wash someone’s feet. Take the servant’s role. Be like Jesus and take the initiative to reach out first to help those around you. Blessing does not come because we’re good enough. Blessing doesn’t come because we’ve earned it. Blessing doesn’t come because we’re spiritual. We are spiritual because we are blessed when we do the things that Jesus gave us the examples to do. “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed.” Do you hear that? You will be blessed if you do them. This is Jesus’s desire for us. This is what Jesus wanted His disciples to know.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired June 22, 2003.
We understand servanthood to be what other people do for us, not what we must do for everyone else around us…
I hear people all the time talking about how they want to be blessed, and they’ll name off a list as long as your arm about the things that they would like to have in their lives that they would consider blessing from God, but what are you willing to do to get that blessing? To what lengths are you willing to honor God to receive the blessings that you want? And, truly, what do you consider real blessing from God? Is it only when He gives you what you consider to be the good things in life? Or, do you look inwardly at what the Holy Spirit does in you, when you’ve stepped out in trust and faith and have served others, realizing that they could care less what you’ve done for them. Probably never even noticed your act of kindness. Even, possibly, have shunned you as soon as you did the good for them, but you’ve done the service not because they’ve asked or deserved it, but you’ve done the service because you know it is what Jesus would have done if He was here, and then, inside, regardless of what the outward responses are, regardless of what the outward rewards are, you get this feeling inside. A feeling of the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” That in itself is the greatest blessing you can have. And, in fact, it is the one blessing that I truly desire, the one reward that I continually work to acquire within my eternity…
Everything that you do in the kingdom of God has significance and is important, and God loves it when you do it, and you do it to serve Him. And when you show these acts of love and service to others, He loves it because you’ve done it for Him. And Jesus says, that’s where the blessing comes from. You will be blessed if you do them. You will be blessed because you have served others…
Just because you call yourself a believer, just because you go to church, just because you don your finery and get up on Sunday morning and make the great sacrifice to make your way to church, does not necessarily mean that you are there with right motives. If you’re there to impress people, if you’re there to make a name for yourself, if you’re there to get out of it what youcan get, you’re there for the wrong reason.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired June 29, 2003.
What is it that you fear most? What is it in life that you avoid like the plague? Who are those people who you want nothing to do with?… Do you ever stop and wonder if, in avoiding these things, that you’re actually glorifying God? Or, is God glorified in your boldness to stand firm and face these things you fear? This is what glorified God the Father through Jesus: that Jesus allowed for a scenario to happen that He knew would result in His death. We go out of our way to stop the scenario, we go out of our way to stop the bad guy, we go out of our way to make sure the authorities are alerted, but what is it that glorifies God the most? That we stop the bad guy or that we trust God to work through the bad guy? See, God isn’t concerned about the bad. God is concerned about our hearts and what the results of our actions are concerning Him. Are my actions showing faith in Jesus Christ and what He’s done for me [and] Who He is in me? If I run away from everything that scares me, if I fail to step up and witness to the man on the street corner because he’s big and he’s ugly and a different color, will that glorify God? I think not. So often, that’s what we run away from. We run away from those things that are different than us that we fear and, in fact, fail to glorify God as Jesus did…
Peter [answered], “Lord,…I will lay down my life for You.” Such a common answer for most of Christendom. “Lord, if You will give me what I want, I’ll follow You. Lord, if You will do for me what I want You to do for me, then I’ll follow You. Lord, You meet my need first, and You make my life comfortable, and You fill my pockets with all of the good things, and then I will follow You.” Well, what about following Him beforeHe does those things? What about following Him even when it is inconvenient? What about following Him when your neighbor is obnoxious and spiteful and does the nasty things to you and kicks your dog? You still have to love them because Jesus loves them. And that’s why we don’t want to be here. And that’s why we say, “But Lord, why can’t I follow You now? Lord, why can’t I have what I want now? I’ll lay my life down for You, if You’ll give me what I want.” And this is the amazing thing about Jesus, and this is what keeps me in fear and trembling all the time. This is what causes me to walk the line, because Jesus knows our hearts. He knows me intimately… [Jesus says,] “I know you. I know your heart. I know what your desire is. But I also know what you will and will not do… Will you really follow Me?” And I believe those words ring true still today to each and every one of us. “Will you really follow Me?… Or, are you really following [to get] the things that you want? Are you still really following your ownheart rather than My heart?”
But…brothers and sisters, don’t let your hearts be troubled. You know what? Jesus knows you… He knows your heart. He knows your desire for comfort. He knows your desire to have your needs met. He knows, really, what lengths you would go to to honor Him. He says, I am going to my Father’s house, and in my Father’s house are many rooms and there’s one with your name on it. I wouldn’t have told you that unless it was true.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired July 6, 2003.
Chapter 14 gives us this amazing statement from Jesus directly to you and to [me], that we do not have to be troubled in heart, but that we should and could put our trust in God, also putting our trust in the Person of Jesus, because He tells them, this is for a purpose…
Was Jesus only a good man and a good teacher?… Either He is lying to us, or He is Who He says He is… It amazes me that people still…say, “But we don’tknow the way! Oh, but, yeah, Jesus is a good man. I believe that. And Jesus is a good teacher. Yeah, He was nice and moral and all that, but how can we know? How can we know how to get to heaven?” Jesus answers, verse 6, “Iam the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except though Me. If you really knew Me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” Does this sound like the words of a “sane” man? Does this sound like the words of a man that is “good”? He has just told us He isthe way. There is no other way to heaven. If you don’t go through Jesus, if you do not see Jesus as the Father, then you will not see the Father. Jesus has just told us.
There are many pastors that I know that try to apologize for having to teach that Jesus is the only way. Well, you know what? It’s not my fault. I’m not the one who said it. You can believe it or not. That’s not up to me to do in you…
Salvation comes through Jesus, and Jesus is the One Who said it. No one— this is an all-inclusive statement. And this is where men struggle. Well, what about those men lost in Africa who never heard the Word of God? What about the babies who died? “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” What about those people in Africa, those people in South America, those people who died 200 years ago who weren’t exposed to the teaching of Jesus? I’ll let Jesus reconcile that when they stand before Him. You know what? It is not up to me and it is not up to you to reconcile that, but Jesus is the One Who said it. No onecomes to the Father except through Him. He will deal with those people and their salvation when they get there, just as He will deal with your salvation and my salvation when we get there, based on what knowledge we chose to believe. He’s the One Who set the standard. He’s the One Who laid it out for us…
To say that you believe in Jesus, that you accept Jesus, that really you are accepting His teaching, you’re accepting what He says about Himself and the responsibility, then, that we have to that teaching…
Trust comes through conflict and working through that conflict and developing relationship. A child learns to trust Mom and Dad, and that child knows that Mom and Dad generally have its best in mind… Trust in God. Trust in the Name of Jesus. Look for that mansion that He’s building in His Father’s house. Don’t look to the things that you can have on this earth. And then knowthat Jesus isthe way, Jesus isthe truth, and Jesus isthe life. It’s His idea, not mine. Name it and claim it if you want, but all you’re going to end up with is a bunch of rusty, decaying, falling apart junk while those who truly believe are going to display the love of God the Father.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired July 13, 2003.
Just as Jesus had the function of being the Son that came to this earth to save you and I, you and I now have a function to represent the Father and the Son through the Spirit to the rest of the world, even in our hardships, even in those struggles and those hard times that we’ll face, we put our faith in Him. Back to verse one: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in Me.” That is the bottom line. It is a trust issue. God does not want us to dwell here on our own. He does not want us to believe that we are empty and only here in and of ourselves, but we are here with His indwelling, we are here representing Him, and that we are in Him and He in us because of what Jesus did; that we have a very intimate relationship. One that should be fulfilling completely…
Loving Jesus boils down to: what did He tell us? How would He have us live? What areHis commands? I know a lot of Christians who have no clue what Jesus’s commands are. They never get beyond those parts of God’s Word where it talks about Jesus loving us. Now, all of a sudden, Jesus is talking about us loving Him, and if we love Him, it comes with this display: that we obey His commands…
See, this is the problem. The world has no obligation to obeying the teachings of Jesus because the teachings of Jesus are foreign to them. We can obey the teachings of Jesus because He indwells us. His Spirit produces through us the fruit that comes from the gifts that the Father gave Him. We are expected to display that love that comes from God the Father through Jesus by obeying what Jesus teaches…
See, this is part of the problem. People hear God’s Word, but outside of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God’s Word seems like gibberish to most people… Sometimes, the only way to understand God’s Word is to allow the Holy Spirit to teach you. We’re told faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, so faith isn’t going to be born until you’ve heard the Word of God. Faith is only going to grow when the Holy Spirit enters into a man. And you’re not going to understand God’s Word by starting with “begats.” You start with the knowledge of Who Jesus is and what it is that Jesus taught and then decide whether or not you believe that, and then everything else falls into place. Then the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send, will teach you all things. What I’m telling you today is not my teaching. I’m reading to you directly from His Word. And if you are understanding this today, it is not because Iam teaching you, but it is because the Holy Spirit is teaching you. I just happen to be blessed to be a vessel with a big mouth and am able to pour a lot out, but it is the Father Who gets the credit because He gave us the Counselor, the Holy Spirit Who teaches us all things…
So, I encourage you: get into God’s Word. Read it completely through at least once. Don’t start in Genesis. The beginning is actually in John. That’s where you learn Who Jesus is. Then you read the other gospels and you find out about what Jesus did. And then you read the rest of what’s given to us, New Testament and Old Testament, and the knowledge that you’ve gained is phenomenal.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired July 20, 2003.
What is it that the Father is looking for? The Father is looking for fruit. Fruit that you are truly a part of the vine. If you are a part of the plant the produces fruit, then it is reasonable to assume that fruit will be produced in you…
You know what? I have people ask me all the time, “How do I know that the Spirit is working in my life?” Well, you look for fruit. And what constitutes fruit? If you can look in your life and even see one little piece of fruit, it proves that you are a fruit-bearing branch. You don’t need a lot of fruit to prove that. You just need one little piece. And this is what the Father is looking for. He sees the little piece of fruit growing there and He says, “Ah! A fruit-bearing branch.” And so, what does He do? He prunes it! He brings the shears and He starts cutting. The way I see that is He brings sometimes pain to our life to cut away those parts of us that are going to hinder the fruit from growing. And sometimes the process is very painful. But once you clear away the junk, guess what? It leaves the branch open to produce many times more fruit, because the junk that would be taking the nutrients from the vine are gone, and now those nutrients are free to flow to that part that will bear fruit. And this is what the Father does. He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful…
There is a cleansing that comes. When you engage Jesus in His Word, when you start studying not just to have head knowledge, but when you start studying God’s Word to knowthe Person of Jesus a little better, even if you’re an unbeliever right now, there is a cleansing that begins to happen. God’s Word washes you. It begins to cleanse you…
There’s a lot of people I see in the church who believe they can be Christians in and of themselves. “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian. I just need to know Jesus.” Well, true, you need to know Jesus, but if you were the only branch that was growing on that vine, that vine does not have much chance at living. A vine that is healthy has many leaves to produce food, to draw in sunlight. I mean, look at nature around you. You look at a tree that has only one branch growing off of it and a few leaves. If that tree does not produce more branches and more leaves, eventually that tree dies. Just as you will die as a branch by yourself. And Jesus is saying this. You can not bear fruit by yourself. If you are a believer, I firmly believe that you need to be a part of a fellowship;. Planting yourself. Becoming involved with the body of Christ. Stepping into a place where you can be encouraged and where you can encourage. Where you can interact and where that fruit that is being produced in you can be displayed. If you’re out there on your own, if you think you’re going to play lone Christian, guess what? You’re looking for a slow, painful death. “It must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.”
Do you see the progression here? When you are remaining in the vine, when you are remaining with Jesus, when you are bearing the fruit that from a life of walking with Jesus, thenyou can ask whateveryou wish. But the things that you’re going to wish for are the things that He would wish for, because the fruit that you’re bearing comes from Him, not from yourself. Why is it that we desire fruit that only is for ourselves? When we name it and claim it, why is it that we’re claiming those things that are only good for meand not for the health and the welfare of the body of Christ?…
Do you want to show yourself to be a disciple of Jesus? Then ask!
Father, I know that if Jesus were here, He would show Himself to be Your disciple by asking You for the things that would glorify You, so Lord, let meask for those things that would glorify You through Jesus, because Jesus did it. This is the point of being a disciple of Jesus. It is belonging to the vine. It is knowing that you are a branch and that you must produce fruit. And what is that fruit that you’re producing? It’s not your own selfish gain. It is fruit that proves the Father’s character. It is fruit that proves Jesus’s character. It’s fruit that proves that the Holy Spirit is indwelling and interacting with you from inside out.
Vintage message from our 2002-2003 radio program called “Perspective” aired July 27, 2003.
Have you ever felt like there was no joy in your life? The one thing Jesus hoped to accomplish in His disciples by encouraging them to remain in Him is that His joy may be in them and that His joy may be in you. “I have told you this.” The whole reason He just laid out this vine and branch and fruit scenario is so that you and I and His disciples would understand what it means to be filled with joy. You can not have joy outside of Jesus. Not real joy.
And isn’t it amazing that one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy. It comes as a byproduct of knowing and dwelling in and remaining in Jesus. It doesn’t happen because you read your Bible. It doesn’t happen because you go to church. It doesn’t happen because you raise your hand in church. It doesn’t happen because you do “things.” It happens because you’re dwelling in the Person, the relationship of Jesus Christ.
You may be home on your sickbed, you may be away from your friends, your brothers and sisters in Christ, you may be forced into separation for some reason or other, but it doesn’t mean you’re separated from the vine and it means, then, that your joy does not have to die. That if you’re truly a part of the vine, there will be joy…
He desires for us to have completeness when it comes to joy. Joy isn’t giddiness. Joy isn’t being happy and smiling all the time. Joy is an inward feeling that we have knowing that we are fulfilled in Christ Jesus, even in our hard circumstances. Even in those times when the Father prunes us to get rid of the dead weight. There’s joy there still, and that joy is what causes that real fruit to be produced…
This is His command. Do you want to prove that you love Jesus? Do you want to have your joy complete? And do you want to be filled with fruit and displaying fruit? Then obey His command, “Love each other as Ihave loved you…”
What is the criteria for asking for whatever we want? That it involves loving others! Not involves loving meand my household and my car that I want to drive and my bank account. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with how I interact with you, how you interact with me, how we present ourselves to the rest of the world as part of the body of Christ. Do you want God to give you what you ask for? Then ask for what Jesus would ask for. If you’re asking for things of the flesh, if you’re asking for things in selfishness, if you’re asking for things to make you look good and to add to your bank account, guess what? The Father does not have to give you those things because you’re not truly asking in Jesus’s name. The name of Jesus is not a magic formula. It’s not just a word that we throw out there. But Jesus, the Person, lived a life, and He displayed within His like how He would have us to live and interact with Him and each other. And when we ask for those things in His name, we’re not using a name. We are using an entire life…
Do you want to be successful in ministry? Do you want to be successful in life? Do you want to be successful in all that you do and with all of those that you encounter? Step out and love. Don’t step out to display your gold necklaces and your thousand dollar suits, because you’re not displaying the love of God when you’re displaying those things…