The Radio Teaching Ministry of Pastor Malcolm Wild
When a lifeguard saves someone from drowning, it's necessary for that person to completely submit his or her life into the hands of the lifeguard. It makes it nearly impossible for a lifeguard to rescue someone who is thrashing and flailing and just altogether uncooperative. Pastor Malcolm urges you in today's message to submit your life fully to God. How will God work His Will in your life if you're just thrashing and flailing? The key is to submit to Him and cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit.
Think of a small child who just got hurt. Who would he look for first? His mother or father, of course, and with tears rolling down his cheeks, what does he do? He lifts his hands up to his mother or father to be lifted up and find comfort from his pain. Today, Pastor Malcolm points out that the psalms often mention lifting hands toward the Lord as an act of faith. Where do you turn when you go through painful situations? Do you turn to your heavenly Father and reach up your hands to seek His comfort?
Have you ever had a moment when a song caught your ear and you felt instantly moved by it? Somehow, music has a way of doing that. There's something about not really being able to express yourself, but then somehow there's that song that really helps you get out what's in your heart. In his message today, Pastor Malcolm encourages you to look to the book Psalms in the Bible to help you express yourself in prayer to God. There's something about the Psalms that just resonates with your heart.
If today was your final day on this earth, where do you envision your journey leading? Do you think you would enter a void, as some suggest, or perhaps you believe in the possibility of being reborn, shaped by the choices of your past life. Today, Pastor Malcolm mentions that when you leave this world, you will encounter God. Salvation won't hinge on how many good deeds you accomplished, or whether you consider yourself a good person, but only through Jesus Christ. Place your faith in Him.
When we look at the lives of Jesus' followers, it's clear they faced many challenges. Despite spending time with him and witnessing His teachings, the disciples struggled with their expectations of what the Messiah should be. Their understanding of His purpose was limited, impacting not just their lives, but every Christian who lived and ever will live. Today, Pastor Malcolm emphasizes that even when you can't see the full picture of what Jesus is doing, He's continually working on your future.
As parents, you know that your children often ask a lot of questions. They aren't trying to annoy you. They genuinely want to learn more about the world they live in. That sense of wonder exists in everyone. Haven't you ever wondered about your purpose in life? Haven't you ever asked yourself, what else is out there? Today, Pastor Malcolm wants to remind you that life is not random, it is meaningful. The God of the entire universe created you with a significant purpose and He loves you.
Have you ever been in a situation where it seemed like you were miraculously saved from an unsolvable predicament? How did you perceive it? Did you ascribe it to God, or did you see it as just a lucky coincidence? Today, Pastor Malcolm provides the perspective that everything is provided by God. Whether what happened seemed ordinary or not, God's eye is always upon you, and His hand is always working for your good. Don't be embarrassed to say, God help me out in this situation.
When you read about all the gods in the Old Testament, you see a lot of names. And of course, we would never set up an altar to one of them in today's modern culture. But as Pastor Malcolm insightfully points out in today's message, each of those gods represented something, whether it was pride or power or pleasure, those gods were worshiped for what people thought they could provide. So you may not be worshiping that god by name, but you still may be worshiping what he represents?
Have you ever felt like God has forgotten about you? Maybe you've been praying to Him, or maybe not. But it just seems that He must be preoccupied with more important matters or more important people. If so, you need to hear Pastor Malcolm's message today as he delves into the deep feelings experienced by David. Yet, as always in David's psalms, there is more to the story. David trusted that despite how it seemed to him, God was always there for him. And God is always here for you too.
No matter how much scientific knowledge we've gained over the past few millennia, we've only scratched the surface. The vast expanse of space, cannot truly be comprehended. And the design of the simplest living creature still surpasses all human knowledge. Today, Pastor Malcolm marvels at two things: One, the vastness of God's creation; two, that God cares about people. You are made in God's image, and therefore you are more important than anything else in all of His great creation.
There's a lot of discussion today about what constitutes a life worth living. What's the good life? Where do you find meaning? And is happiness possible? Today, Pastor Malcolm contrasts the viewpoints of the cynic and the faithful. And those viewpoints will determine the direction of your life, Living in the light of the knowledge of God will give you truth and peace. Living without God will leave you with nothing truly worth living for. It's as simple as that. So what will you choose?
To say that there are millions of voices speaking in the world today is no understatement, never before in history have so many ideas been available to us. But today, Pastor Malcolm reminds us from the first psalm that the voices we listen to determine who we become. If you start with walking in the council of the ungodly, you'll proceed to standing in the way of sinners, and you'll end up sitting in the seat of the scornful. But if you delight in the law of the Lord, you'll be a fruitful tree.
Wouldn't it be great if we understood all the reasons for all the suffering in the world? Much of it seems pointless, and try as we may, we can't even find a partial answer, let alone a complete and satisfying explanation. Today, Pastor Malcolm explains why this is the case. If God were required to explain everything to you, that would be like you putting God on trial. And you can't do that. You don't have the perspective that God has. And so you're not qualified to judge him for what he does or doesn't do.
A lot of people want to believe in God today, but they want to construct their idea of God out of their own values. In terms of their goals for society and the way they live their individual lives, they have decided for God how God should run things. But as Pastor Malcolm points out today, telling God what to do is like putting him on the witness stand and making him answer to you. But that's not your place in the scheme of things. God can't and won't hold himself accountable to your judgment.
As the centuries have passed, we humans have understood more and more of the mysteries of the physical universe from the vast scales of space to the tiny details of the subatomic level, our knowledge has increased dramatically. Yet as Pastor Malcolm proves today from the Book of Job, we're still infants in our abilities compared to the wisdom of God. So, when you're tempted to question God about why and how he runs the universe, remember who he is and trust in his wisdom.
There are people who manage to live this life really well. From an earthly angle, they appear to be a saint. They're kind to everyone and constantly giving of themselves to others. They may appear to be flawless, but they're not. And any goodness they do have should only be attributed to God at work in and through them. As Pastor Malcolm examines the story of Job today, we will be reminded of the danger of pride. When we start to see our own righteousness as enough, we are in a dangerous place.
We serve a loving, benevolent father. As Pastor Malcolm will illustrate in today's message, God does allow hardship in our lives. Often it's of our own making, when we stubbornly cut a hole in the wall after God closed every window and door to a certain path. The beautiful thing about our God is that his pride isn't hurt and his love isn't hindered by our mistakes. It saddens him to see us suffer, but he'll allow it when he knows it's the best way for us to learn to trust him more.
Sin does have natural consequences. A lifestyle of sin will generally bring hardship in some form. But in this world, sin can also be used to attain wealth, comfort, pleasure, and power. It's often used for these end-goals, and these things can feel good and look good in the moment. As Pastor Malcolm will warn in today's message, we can't assume that those who are doing well by man's standards have the approval of God, while those that suffer have invited his wrath because of their personal sin.
It's good to strive after integrity in your life. But as Pastor Malcolm will clarify in today's message, integrity as the world measured it is a far cry from the purity and righteousness of God. His son, Jesus, was perfect. He was tempted and did not sin. None of us could say that. Even if you've done pretty good at resisting sin, you can't say you've never given in or fallen short. Our only hope is to trust in Jesus. He was perfect, yet he took the punishment we deserve for our sin, making us right.
There's much to be learned from the story of Job. In the scope of scripture, it's the only time we see Satan and God in this kind of encounter. Job's righteousness was enough to catch the attention of the prince of darkness. He must have been an impressive man. Why would God allow the cruelty that Satan wanted to inflict on him? As Pastor Malcolm will explain in today's message, God has a deeper purpose than winning a bet against Satan. He allowed this for Job's growth and our own.
God is not against fun or pleasure. He is against death and destruction. He designed us and gave us the capacity to experience wonderful things in this life. He doesn't tell us not to do things out of some selfish desire to deprive us of pleasure, quite the opposite. He knows that the ultimate pleasure is found through faith and communion with him. As Pastor Malcolm will point out in today's message, we are called to trust and obey God, believing that he is all-knowing and benevolent.
While God's Word wasn't written as a science book, it's inspired by the creator of all things, including science. Mankind has made a God out of reason in the sciences. Many have determined that only things we can touch and measure can be trusted. Yet each of us has a deep sense that there is something outside of the physical realm. As Pastor Malcolm will point out in today's message, God's word needs to be our foundation for how we look at the physical and spiritual world.
Faith doesn't come naturally. Because of our sinful nature, fear is much more natural. Much of our lives are built around protecting ourselves from the things we are afraid of. As Pastor Malcolm will explain in today's message, faith is something that must be purposefully tested and grown. If you never experience an opportunity to test your faith, it won't have a chance to grow. It's in those moments you can choose to follow God's voice or to cower back and cling to your comfort and safety.
Faith isn't a feeling or an evidence based conclusion. Those things may shore up our faith over time and through experience, but ultimately, faith is a choice to lean in and trust God, even in moments where the evidence isn't there. Most of us, if we experience what Job did, losing everyone in his family, we would likely feel justified in walking away from our faith. As Pastor Malcolm will explain in today's message, it's in those moments we must choose to believe God is who He says He is.
God is not bound by our limited understanding of who He is. What a powerful truth to remember. We like to create boxes of doctrine and theology to fit God into, but He exists beyond the scope of our understanding. As Pastor Malcolm will point out in today's message, we need to be very careful not to expect others to fit our mold of who God can use to accomplish His will in this world. He used the broken, the marginalized, and weak all throughout scripture, and He still works that way today.
Following Jesus will require faith and perseverance on a supernatural level. You are incapable of persevering without faith and you'll have to persevere at times when your faith is lacking. As Pastor Malcolm examines the story of Job in today's message, we'll see a man who endured hardship and suffering that few of us can even imagine. The only way Job made it through was by faith in God. He submitted himself to God's sovereignty, trusting that He would be faithful to him.
Have you ever been around someone who thought they could decide who should or shouldn't receive God's grace? This has been a struggle since the beginning of the church. God did something incredible when Jesus died on the cross. He tore the veil of the temple into. This eliminated the barrier that had stood in between us and his holy presence. As Pastor Malcolm will remind us in today's message, it's not our place to decide who gets access to this grace. No one is out of its reach.
Have you ever tried to capture the wind? It can't be done. We can use its power to move sailboats or create electricity, but we can't control it. It decides when it blows or when it stops or how strong. As Pastor Malcolm will illustrate in today's message, seeking after peace and fulfillment through the things of this world is just as futile as trying to grasp the wind. It's a never-ing quest running out after this new thrill or passion, just to find that it isn't enough to satisfy that deep longing in your soul.
Even as Christians, fully aware that our position in life does not reflect our performance in God's sight, we still tend to fall into this way of thinking. As Pastor Malcolm will warn in today's message, just as Job's friends assume that his bad fortune must have been a result of some sin or personal failure, we tend to do the same when we look at the struggles in our own lives. God allowed these trials because of how righteous Job was. Trials will come even when you are faithful to God.
Everything on planet Earth pales in comparison to knowing Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. While there are many things to take responsibility for in your life, the most important one is to make sure you live for God and trust in his Son for salvation. Pastor Malcolm is going to remind you today that even when Job lost all the material possessions he had, he knew where to keep his focus. He never took his eyes off who is most important. He kept God always at the forefront of his mind.
A life without God is one devoid of joy and true inner peace, but a life dependent on Jesus and serving God is one of eternal blessing and peace on earth. Today, Pastor Malcolm will show you that Job knew that God's ways were the best. Even despite losing everything he had, including his family, Job still knew and remembered that anything outside of living for God is futile and ends in destruction. Even through his great loss, he knew pleasing God was still most important and remained faithful to him.
When the hardest trials of Job's life came his way, he was left with nothing. His family, his flocks, his riches, they were all destroyed. Around him in those days were his friends who were eager to offer supportive words. However, as Pastor Malcolm is going to point out in today's message, their advice wasn't right. It wasn't of God. Job knew this, but it serves as a lesson for you today. Beware of those who false doctrine, even if it's disguised as well advice. What God says is most important.
When Job was going through the testing that God allowed to happen to him, his friends said that he must have done something sinful to deserve it. They incorrectly thought that God was punishing him or simply abandoning him because of his shortcomings. Today, Pastor Malcolm is going to walk you through why that simply isn't the case. The Christian life isn't guaranteed to be easy, and it's not a sign of sin when you see bad things happen. What's important is to stay faithful to God during those times.
Have you ever felt like God has abandoned you? Like too many bad things have happened to you for God to possibly be there? As you look at Job today with Pastor Malcolm, you'll learn that you're definitely not alone. Job lost everything in his life and wondered why it could have happened. He didn't know why God would let so many bad things come to pass, and his faith was tested. But despite his sorrow and questions, he didn't turn his back on God, and he was eventually rewarded for his faithfulness.
Sometimes when the trials and tribulations come in life, there's no end in sight. Life can be overwhelming from sin, to responsibilities, to mental health; but through it all, God is there. Today, as you'll hear from Pastor Malcolm, God will bring about the hard times in your life for good. Just stay faithful to doing God's will. Don't turn your back on Him. It might seem like God has abandoned you or left you to deal with life on your own, but he's still there. You'll come out on the other side stronger and wiser.
Be careful who you consult for your spiritual guidance. Even the most well meaning people can tell you something that fundamentally is against Christian doctrine. So what do you do? Learn God's Word, and study it, Know it more and more. Spend time with God in prayer, seeking to know will for you. Today, Pastor Malcolm is going to show you good and bad examples of counsel in the life of Job when he was going through the hardest time of his life. God's ways are always superior to man's.
Haman, consumed by ambition and a desire for the throne, devises a plan to honor Mordecai, the Jew, in a humiliating manner. However, the king, unaware of Haman's true intentions, orders Haman to carry out the honor himself, leading to a shocking turn of events. Haman's downfall is foreshadowed as his wife and wise men warn him of his impending defeat against Mordecai, highlighting the power of God's providence and the futility of worldly ambition.
Esther, after fasting for three days, invites the king and Haman to a banquet. Haman, initially delighted by the invitation, becomes enraged when he sees Mordecai refusing to bow to him. Meanwhile, the king, unable to sleep, has the royal records read to him, leading to a series of events that will ultimately change Haman's fate.
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