Podcasts about one who

Today on LEADING THE WAY ?' Dr. Michael Youssef offers biblical keys to access your eternal destination . . . and the One Who holds the keys. (Matthew 16) Support the show: https://au.ltw.org/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Leading The Way – Dr. Michael Youssef offers biblical keys to access your eternal destination . . . and the One Who holds the keys. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/155/29

What does it mean to live with true contentment? For many, contentment feels just out of reach—always tied to the next raise, the next purchase, or the next season of life. In Scripture, we are called to a deeper, lasting contentment, one that doesn’t depend on circumstances but on Christ Himself. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West talks about trusting God, the One Who provides. Then, it’s on to your calls. That’s Faith & Finance Live, where biblical wisdom meets today’s finances—weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio. Faith & Finance Live is a listener supported program on Moody Radio. To join our team of supporters, click here.To support the ministry of FaithFi, click here.To learn more about Rob West, click here.To learn more about Faith & Finance Live, click here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's Topics: 1, 2, 3, 4) Gospel - Luke 12:1-7 - At that time: So many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot. Jesus began to speak, first to His disciples, "Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees. "There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you Whom to fear. Be afraid of the One Who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that One. Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows." Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr Saint Ignatius, pray for us! Bishop Sheen quote of the day

Send us a messageIn 2 Corinthians 4:1-4, the Apostle Paul gives confirmation to why not all will come to the Saving knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord. He writes:“Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God.”The tragic truth is that in this hour of great deception, not only are the minds of the unbelieving of the world being blinded from Salvation's Truth – but more frighteningly this blindness has fallen upon a certain portion of the Church – by way of “wolves” who have crept in and are spreading their apostate teachings.God's contenders of Truth are being called to rise up in the Light of that Truthand to herald it as His Watchmen on the Wall that man's blindness may be healed. And that they may see the One Who alone is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life  - while there is yet time to do so.For Jesus Comes Quickly!Support the showVisit our website: https://agapelightministries.com/

Good Morning Beloved! Happy First Fruit Monday... The Lord Has Been Good To Us. Let's Worship Him, The ONE Who has No Contenders!   God Bless 

Lesson 3 - The One Who has the VictoryMark 4:35 – 6:6. This lesson pictures the complete victory Jesus offers us. He rules over nature, over demons, even over death itself. He is Lord over all. But Mark reminds us it's also about what do we do with the claims of Christ. We can accept them like Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood, receiving what He promises and more. Or we can reject them like the Gerasenes and the people of Nazareth and miss out on everything. As always, we get to choose.To learn more about Michele or to support this international ministry please visithttps://intheword.com

October 19 2025 Sunday Your Words Matter / Week 37/ T. Stacy Hayes #findoutwhoyouare My Vision My vision is to teach the world Who They Are In Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior! To Teach them what the Bible says about them and who they have been made to be in the promises of God's Word. This changed my life years ago and completely transformed me from a person full of doubt, fear and unbelief to a strong confident Christian that knows I can do anything through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. And I'm determined to teach the world what God has taught and commissioned me to teach and that is His Word.  That commission takes me to jails and detention centers weekly along with other open doors at many churches and ministries that are wanting to teach these important truths to the world. My podcast goes out 6 days a week to help the people I am ministering to grow in the truths that God has taught me for many years now. This podcast is free to all that want to listen and grow strong in who God has made them to be in Christ Jesus their Lord and Savior. Isaiah 53:5  Healing… Matthew 18:19  Agree with God's Word… Mark 10:29-30  100 Fold Return… Acts 10:34  God is no respecter of persons “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:14-15 KJV “Because God's children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT “Since, therefore, [these His] children share in flesh and blood [in the physical nature of human beings], He [Himself] in a similar manner partook of the same [nature], that by [going through] death He might bring to nought and make of no effect him who had the power of death–that is, the devil– And also that He might deliver and completely set free all those who through the [haunting] fear of death were held in bondage throughout the whole course of their lives.” Hebrews 2:14-15 AMPC “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:18 KJV “Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.” Hebrews 2:18 NLT “For because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able [immediately] to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and tried [and who therefore are being exposed to suffering].” Hebrews 2:18 AMPC “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 KJV “So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT “Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him]. For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning. Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].” Hebrews 4:14-16 AMPC “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest: (for those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchisedec:) By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.” Hebrews 7:19-22 KJV “For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God. This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron's descendants became priests without such an oath, but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You are a priest forever.'” Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.” Hebrews 7:19-22 NLT “For the Law never made anything perfect–but instead a better hope is introduced through which we [now] come close to God. And it was not without the taking of an oath [that Christ was made Priest], For those who formerly became priests received their office without its being confirmed by the taking of an oath by God, but this One was designated and addressed and saluted with an oath, The Lord has sworn and will not regret it or change His mind, You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. [Ps. 110:4.] In keeping with [the oath's greater strength and force], Jesus has become the Guarantee of a better (stronger) agreement [a more excellent and more advantageous covenant].” Hebrews 7:19-22 AMPC “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” Hebrews 8:6 KJV “But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.” Hebrews 8:6 NLT “But as it now is, He [Christ] has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is as much superior and more excellent [than the old] as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, [because] it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher, and nobler) promises.” Hebrews 8:6 AMPC Romans 10:9-10  Salvation… Romans 10:17  Faith in God comes from hearing His Word… Matthew 11:28-30  Jesus'Yoke is Easy… John 3:16  God gave Jesus to pay for our Salvation… God Loves The abortion dr As Much As He Loves The Babies They Are Killing… Philippians 12:2  Work out your own Salvation… Romans 8:1  No condemnation in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior…  Luke Chapter 15 The Story Of The Prodigal Son… Philippians 4:19  God will supply all your needs let Him… Romans 4:20  Don't Stagger at What God Is Saying In His Word… John 15:5 We can't do anything aside from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… 2 Corinthians 5:17  We are new creatures in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… 2 Corinthians 5:21  We are The Righteousness of God In Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… Mark 10:29-30  100 Fold Return… Ephesians 2:8  We are Saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior… Believe God's Word Above All Opinions God Loves The abortion dr's As Much As He Loves The Babies They Are Killing… Mark 10:29-30  100 Fold Return… Share This Podcast On Your Social Media… Website https://the-prodigalson.com Email tstacyhayes@gmail.com  YouVersion Bible App https://my.bible.comi iOS App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prodigal-son/id1450529518?mt=8 …  Android App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.wizzard.android.prodical  Social Media https://www.facebook.com/The-Prodigal-SON-209069136315959/ https://www.facebook.com/noreligion1511/ https://twitter.com/noreligion1511 https://www.instagram.com/noreligion1511/ https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCPx4s1CLkSYef6mp4dSuU4w/featured

Resting In the Promises (1) (audio) David Eells, 10/15/25 Today, I'd like to encourage you and remind you about the rest of God and to trust in His promises so we can see His salvation come to pass completely. We need the Lord to help us understand how deep and broad His precious promises of the Real Good News are, and what His power is to those who believe them. Jesus said, (Mat.9:29) According to your faith be it done unto you. And in (8:13) As thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. It's important what we believe and know because faith is based on knowledge, and you can't believe for something that you don't know about. So we need to be familiar with the Word. The promises of God are for our salvation in personal (soul) salvation, healing (body) salvation, and also deliverance, protection, and provision. We know that all these promises are past tense. (1Pe.2:24) Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree ... by whose stripes ye were healed. (Col.1:13) Who delivered us out of the power of darkness.... (Rom.6:18) And being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. (22) But now being made free from sin and become servants to God... They are all past tense so that we can enter into His all-inclusive, New Testament rest. The rest mentioned in Hebrews speaks of ceasing from our own works through faith in His promises. We need to walk in that rest and in that peace so that we are not condemned by the devil, separated from the faith of God, separated from the things that God wants to do through us. All provision has been made in our New Testament Sabbath rest. Our sabbatismos, as it is called in Hebrews 4, means “a continual rest.” The Sabbath is no longer one day that we rest; we have to cease from our works and enter into His rest through faith every day. That's His promise. The Lord has been bringing individuals through their own personal wilderness so that they can learn how to live by faith. (Heb.10:38) But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. (39) But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul. Now, your soul is your mind, will and emotions; it's your nature, your character. Jesus Christ is an example of a saved soul, and walking in His steps is something that He has provided for us to do. (1Jn.2:6) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. And we can see from His life that Jesus walked by faith, completely trusting the Father in everything. The Lord is using our time in the wilderness to work the same thing in us. We understand that we are living in the latter days, and Jeremiah said in (Jer.30:23) Behold, the tempest of the Lord, [even his] wrath, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked. (24) the fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it. And continuing in (31:1) At that time (still talking about the latter days), saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Romans 11 tells us about all those who are grafted into the olive tree, which is called “all Israel” by faith. The Lord broke off the unbelieving Jews concerning the new Kingdom and He grafted in the Gentiles as the Church, and then He said, (Rom.11:26) And so all Israel shall be saved. “All the families of Israel” is a very large group of people around the world, not just natural Israel. (Jer.31:2) Thus saith the Lord, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The wilderness is a sparse place with very little worldly provision for man. There, the Israelites had to have their salvation, provision, and protection from God. He brought them to a perfect place to learn to trust in Him for His provision. He made this an opportunity for them where God, in His mercy, had to ultimately save them after they ran out of all their provision from Egypt (a type of the world) and there was no natural provision around them. So, when you believe these past tense promises from God, you automatically enter into a wilderness because there is no help from man. I have seen God's wonderful stored provision for His people headed to wilderness.  God's already delivered you, healed you, provided for you, fed you, housed you, already protected you, and saved your soul. He's already done all these things; therefore, you can't do anything to bring them to pass. Since He's already done them, you just have to rest. (Heb.4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. In other words, God is saying, “Why shouldn't you rest? The works are already finished!” The problem is that people don't walk by faith and the promises are quickly taken away from them. Here's one instance: (Heb.3:18) And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? (19) And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief. So if you want to know where disobedience comes from, it comes from unbelief because when you believe the promises, you are at rest. You are at peace. You are trusting in God to bring it to pass and you are ceasing from your works. Now, your works of the flesh are disobedience and they're sin. Your works of the Law, which are of the Old Covenent, are sin in the New Covenant. So you see, unbelief brings disobedience, and the Greek word apeitheia means both “disobedience” and “unbelief.” It can be translated either way. How can that be? Let's read (Heb.4:11) Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience (apeitheia or “unbelief”). (6) Seeing therefore it remaineth that some should enter thereinto, and they to whom the good tidings were before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience (apeitheia or “unbelief”). If you have unbelief, you will be disobedient and one reason is that you cannot cease from your own works when you don't believe God's already done it. You always want to help Him out, or you get your eyes on the world and your problems. When that happens, people fall victim to fear, doubt, discouragement, and all those things because of what they see with their physical eyes, rather than what they see in the Bible. If you walk by sight, you will not walk by faith. You'll be like Israel in the wilderness, who looked around and saw lack on every side. They didn't believe that God was able to meet their every need out there, and the devil agreed with them, so they became full of fear, discouragement, and disobedience, and they spoke against the Lord. You will do that too if you don't have faith. Let's read some of that story and look at a few points. (Num.21:4) And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. (5) And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this light (or “vile”) bread. They were speaking about the manna and calling it “this vile bread.” The bread of life is sweet to the taste but is bitter in the belly. In other words, the flesh does not like it because it demands your life, and that you give up your thinking and your ways. It demands submission. Well, these people were walking by sight, having their eyes on the problems around them, instead of on the promise, so they became discouraged and they spoke against the Lord. But God has already taken care of every problem that you could possibly have or imagine. It's all been covered by the blood. It's already been covered by the Lord on the cross. He's already taken it away; it's already solved as Jesus said in (Joh.19:30) It is finished. Jesus told His disciples in (16:33) Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. If we keep our eyes on those promises, they bring us rest. If we get our eyes on the problem, we stumble and fall. When that happens, we go back to walking by sight and speaking against the Lord. Do you know what speaking against the Lord can be? It can be anything that is contrary to the Word, anything that is not confessing the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. (Rom.10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Our salvation in every form comes not only by faith, but the works that come from that faith, and the biggest work that comes from faith is what we say. We have to learn to confess the Lord in the midst of the situations around us. The Lord brought the Israelites into the wilderness on purpose to try them, to see if they would walk by sight or by faith. Jesus tells us this, too. (Mat.10:32) Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. (33) But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven. We believe His promises and they give us rest, and then what naturally comes out of our mouth is in agreement with the Word of God. And when you confess Him before men, He confesses you before the Father. The word “confess” here is the Greek homologeo, and it means “to speak the same as.” When we are in the tribulations of our wilderness experiences, we see our need, our lack, our sickness, and our sin; we see our problems, which as we have discovered the Lord has already taken care of. Are we going to agree with the Good News? “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” It's very important that we're careful to confess faith in the promises. This brings the salvation that we're believing for. With our confession, we're “calling the things that are not as though they were.” It's very important that we confess Him before men, that we say before men what His Word says. (Heb.3:1) Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, [even] Jesus. Jesus is the “High Priest of our confession,” Who offers an offering before the Father and that offering is what we say; it's the words of our mouth. And if we speak the same as Jesus, then He confesses us before the Father and before the holy angels. (Luk.12:8) And I say unto you, Every one who shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: (9) but he that denieth me in the presence of men shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God. I also like this verse: (Mat.12:36) And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Thank God that we come into days of judgment so that we don't have to come into the Day of Judgment! The Greek word translated as “idle” here means “unfruitful.” There are unfruitful words that don't give us any help in the day of judgment. (Mat.12:37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified (that means “accounted righteous”), and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. When you come into judgment you want to be justified, so that you come through and overcome it. (Rom 3:4)  God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.  He tells us in order for that to happen, we have to confess Him before men. (Mat.15:18) But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man. (19) For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings: (20) these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man. When we think thoughts that are contrary to God, when we speak what we see, feel and hear, we're like the spies who went into the Promised Land and brought back a bad report. They reported what they saw, what they felt and what they heard, so they were condemned by God. They made the hearts of the people fearful and that made the people fall away (Numbers 13,14). The spies died in the wilderness because they brought a bad report and the rest died because they believed what they heard and not what God said. Our report, the good witness that we're supposed to give before men, has to be what “thus saith the Lord.” What did the Lord say about our circumstances and our situations? By your words you are going to be justified or accounted righteous, and by your words, you are going to be condemned. When these Israelites in the wilderness began to look at the problems around them and became discouraged because they didn't have their mind on the promise, they “spoke against the Lord.” (Num 14:28) … as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. They spoke about what they saw, what they felt, what they heard, and what their fears told them would happen. They cried the whole time to go back to Egypt because they loved the fleshly rest of trusting in the world to supply their needs. God wanted them to rest in the promises in the wilderness, and He had to bring them through the wilderness to get them to the Promised Land of rest. We see here that the people, walking in flesh, “spake against the Lord,” and that's what comes from the disobedience caused by unbelief. They spoke against the Lord, saying that He was going to cause them to die in the wilderness and they spoke of how much they hated the bread, which brought a curse upon them. (Num.21:6) And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. They said they hated the “light bread.” They hated the Lord! Did you know that if you don't love the bread of the Word, you don't love the Lord? Many people say they love the Lord, but what did the Lord Himself say? (Joh.14:15) If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. If you love the Lord, you will love the Word. Now the “light bread” that they reviled was the manna, but what was the manna? (Exo.16:31) And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers [made] with honey. Some Bible versions have a footnote that the word “manna” is actually the Hebrew word “man.” Wow! And Who is the Man? The Man is Jesus. (Joh.6:33) For the bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (34) They said therefore unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. (35) Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. They hated the manna, which represented the Word of life. It represented He Who is the Word, Jesus Christ. They hated the Lord, but the Lord is these promises. (Joh.1:14) And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. “The Word became flesh,” or to state it another way, the Word manifested in flesh. The Word became flesh in order for us to be like Him, bearing His fruit, because we also have to be the Word become flesh. God's plan is that He might reveal Himself through the body of Christ today, like He revealed Himself through the first body of Christ. The Israelites in the wilderness hated the Lord because they had their eyes on the problems instead of the promises, and they became discouraged. They hadn't entered into the rest. They hadn't ceased from their works and so they were under the curse. (Num.21:6) And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. (7) And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. They sinned because they spoke against the Lord. Do you know it's overwhelmingly common for God's people to speak against Him? That's because their tongue is connected to their physical sight and their physical hearing. It's also common that God's people live under the curse, but the Lord did not ordain us to live under the curse. He ordained us to live above the curse. God told Joshua (Jos.1:8) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: (Notice: You will be able to do what is written if you speak in agreement with the Word.) for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous (Hebrew: “to push forward”; this has nothing to do with the worldly “prosperity” doctrine.), and then thou shalt have good success (Notice: Christian success comes from speaking and acting in agreement with the Word.). To state it another way, when we speak in agreement with the Word, although not necessarily quoting the Word, “then thou shalt make thy way prosperous.” This is how we “prosper” in going to the Promised Land and what else did He say? “That thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.” You see, faith makes us obedient; unbelief makes us disobedient. If we never cease from our works, then we will never enter into the rest. That's what the Lord exhorted in (Heb.3:11) As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. Why? (12) Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God. They couldn't enter into the rest because they had “an evil heart of unbelief” that made them speak against the Lord. When they realized this was sin, they asked Moses to pray for them and Moses prayed for the people. (Num.21:8) And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. What does the serpent represent? We came out of this world and into the Kingdom of God, into what is called “the body of Christ.” So what body were we a part of before we came to the body of Christ? The body of antichrist. Anti means against. Jesus said, (Mat.12:30) He that is not with me is against me.... He talked to the Pharisees and said, (Joh.8:44) Ye are of [your] father the devil.... They were members of the body of the devil, which is antichrist! And we used to be in the devil's body, too. We were created to be in his image but we were actually full of the poison of the serpent. We had that poison in our heads, just like the serpent does. Remember what Revelation says. (Rev.12:9) And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.... And yet the Lord called us to be a part of His body. The Bible says that Jesus became like that serpent on the pole. (Joh.3:14) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. From now on, when we look at Jesus upon the cross, we can see our curse put there upon Him. We can see our sin and our sickness put upon Him. We can see our lack and whatever our problem is put there upon Him because of this. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.... “Redeemed” is the Greek word exagorazo, and it means “to buy out or to purchase a slave with a mind to set him free.” Christ bought us. He delivered us from the bondage of slavery to sin, the devil and the curse. The “curse of the law” is all of the evil things that came upon mankind for disobeying God's Law (Deuteronomy 28). (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.... Jesus became the curse! We know that the devil administers the curse and he's been given that authority by God to do it so that people would be humbled, repent and turn to Him. (13) Christ… having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Now we see that Jesus became cursed on that cross; He became like the serpent, like us.): (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The Bible says that Abraham was blessed in all things. (16) Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. God made all these promises to Christ. He made all these promises to just one seed and now we must abide in Him. And we abide in Him by accepting the same promises, by speaking the same promises, by walking in faith in the same promises. And we receive the benefit of Abraham because Jesus became cursed for us. God put our curse, the whole curse that's partially enumerated in Deuteronomy 28, upon Jesus. No matter what problem you have, you should be able to see this problem upon Jesus. (Num.21:8) And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. We were snake-bit and Jesus took the venom. I'd like to point out something else: (2Co.5:21) Him who knew no sin he made [to be] sin (Jesus became the curse and He became the sin.) on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Do you have a problem with sin? Do you have a problem with the curse that comes from sin? We see the serpent on the cross and that the Lord has put all of this upon Jesus. Now we confess what the Bible says: (2Co.5:17) Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. All of that curse and sin has completely passed away. We are new creatures by faith in this. When you look at the serpent on the pole, you're supposed to see your curse, your sin, upon Him. The curse is very broad. If you read Deuteronomy 28, you'll find it's all sickness, it's all lack, it's all bondage to your enemies, etc. We're speaking against God if we're not speaking in agreement with His promises. We must repent. We must “change our mind,” which is what “repent” means. We are new creatures in Christ. Christ has been raised up on the pole for our salvation and we are to get our eyes upon Him because Moses said, (Num.21:8) ... every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. (9) And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived. So when the Israelites got their eyes on the Son, which in this case is represented by the serpent, and on what the Son had accomplished, they were healed. Many years ago, I had a vision in which I saw myself walking to a stream and when I got into the stream, I received a revelation that as long as I lay on my back and looked at the sun, I could stay floating up the stream. As I meditated on that, the Lord gave me the understanding that this stream represents the Word of God. God told Moses, (Deu.11:26) Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. He was talking about His commandments because they represent both a blessing and a curse. They represent the blessing of God's Good News, and they represent the curse of death to those who disobey it. So I realized that the water represented the Word of God (Eph.5:26) having cleansed [the church] by the washing of water with the word, and that it could either kill me or give me life. I could go upstream, contrary to nature, if I kept my eyes on the sun and I would always stay afloat; in other words, I would always stay above the curse. Water will kill you if you go beneath it, but if you stay on top, it's a blessing like Noah in the ark. We have to keep our eyes on the Son in order to stay above the curse that's upon this world because He's the One Who promised and He's the One Who bore the curse. We should be able to see our curse upon Him. If you can see your problem having been put on Jesus, you can be free of it; that's His method. It's very, very simple. If you get double minded you sink into the curse like Peter when he walked on water. That's what faith is all about; faith is believing that you have already received on account of the promises that God has already given. Continuing with my dream, as I was lying on my back with my face to the sun, I was floating upstream, contrary to nature and to the laws of this world. If you keep your eyes on the Son, it's supernatural. It's above the laws of this world. The supernatural takes precedence over the laws of this world. For instance, healing comes to people who believe that they have received it, but healing comes very hard to people who are always seeking it. It works the same way for deliverance from sins and all of the curse. (Mar.11:24) All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received them, and ye shall have them. That's very simple and an awesome benefit that the Lord has given to us. So I'm floating upstream and I looked around me and saw there were a few others who were doing the same thing. As we floated away, I noticed that there were people on the left side of the stream who floated up under a tent that was stretched over about half the stream. Whenever any of these people who were floating with me went under the tent and the shadow fell upon them, they sank to the bottom of the stream, for they lost sight of the Son and His salvation. I quickly got out onto the bank and cut the ropes holding the tent up. It fell into the water and the water carried it away. Then I made these floats to float the people up off the bottom. As soon as they saw the sun again, they started floating once more. I realized that the tent represented man's religion. The religions of man like to take credit for what God has already done. They like to tell men, “God does not do it that way anymore.” They have their fleshly ideas and their way of leading people is, “Let's go back to Egypt and do it the way of the world. Let's have God's salvation through man's provision. Let's go back by the fleshpots.” They don't teach people to walk by faith with their eyes on the Son, but they bring them into darkness. They block the light of the Son and the people sink. They're under the curse and think it's normal to live that way because everybody around them lives that way. God did not ordain us to do that. If we keep our eyes on the Son, we will stay above the curse; that's what the Lord revealed to me about this. Also it was those on the “left” that fell away. Jesus put the goats on the left. Many “Christians” are self-willed and rebellious like goats and must be taught better. Another revelation I want to share …   Resting in Jesus to Do the Work Missy Pollock - 04/11/2012 (David's notes in red) A couple was ministering to me concerning something I've been going through for about four years. The husband said he sensed in his spirit that soon things would come to light. Then, that same night, the Lord gave me the following dream to encourage me and build my faith. I believe that this dream can be encouraging and faith-building for other members of the body of Christ. In the dream, my husband (representing Jesus) was driving to work and I was with Him (the Lord doesn't do anything without me; He needs my cooperation). (Missy here represents the bride of Jesus, who is learning to let Him lead and do the work.) There was a car (representing circumstances and situations in my environment, or in my life) in front of us with a baseball glove attached to it by about 6 feet of string (my flesh) on the back bumper. (Getting ahead of the Lord's works.) My husband (Jesus) said that the baseball glove (the hand of God) was His. I said, “No, that's not your glove” (not recognizing God's hand in things). Then there was another car in front of us with a string attached to it with a baseball glove on a power line (Doing our work by)(the power of God's kingdom) and the car eventually pulled the string tight to the point that it came off and the glove stayed on the power line (God is using the circumstances in my life to cause me to let go and let God). This same thing happened again (the process of transforming me into His image through dying to self and taking up my cross and following Him) with another car and ball glove attached. The next time it happened, when the string was pulled tight, it wasn't a glove but a bird attached to the string, and it flew away and landed in a tree. (I am the bird in the Spirit, in resurrection, one with the Lord, free from the flesh [the string], resting in the tree from the works of the flesh. Amen. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!) (Also, a bird can represent God's Spirit who enables His works with gifts.) Then my husband was driving fast (doing a quick work in my life) and I asked Him to slow down (a quick work is hard on the flesh. Amen; it's dying! (1Pe.4:1) ... for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin). He made a comment that the road was a dirt road (an earthly, temporary journey: (2Co.4:18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.) and I said, “No, it wasn't.” My husband made a turn without even looking and a car almost hit us (Psalm 91). I said to him, “That car almost hit us.” My husband was annoyed with all my comments (because I wasn't trusting in Him). At some point, I saw that the road really was a dirt road and there were a lot of curves in the road (finally seeing that it was just a temporary (earthly) journey). My husband made another reckless turn. (This is just the perception of my carnal man. I need to make sure I set my mind on the things that are above and not on the things that are on the earth.) These are the verses the Lord gave me to go with the dream: (1Ki.12:33) And he went up unto the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth (rest) day in the eighth (the number of circumcision, the cutting off of sowing flesh) month, even in the month which he devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel and went up unto the altar, to burn incense. (Serving God our own way in the flesh. The wife gave the meaning of the numbers. She said, “Step away from the matter now; it's in God's hands. Rest in all that God has shown you. The end of the matter is at hand. Be patient in spirit!”) Also (Joe.3:17) So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your god, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. We start out serving God in the flesh, but learn to rest through all the trials and tribulations He takes us through. Eventually, there are no strangers (man in the flesh) in God's Kingdom and His bride. (Ecc.3:14) I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it, that men should fear before him. Amen.

Can you have peace in the insanity of the Sandwich Season? Ruthie Gray, author and host the podcast, Sandwich Season Sanity, joins me to today to talk about the struggles we may face when juggling several difficult and time-consuming roles. We are never alone because God knows the way that we take, and you will be encouraged and maybe challenged from our conversation. Our peace comes from daily laying down our lives, our plans, our "To-Do Lists" to the One Who really is in control. "Pray your list," Ruthie says. And when we do, we will have peace in any life-season. SIGN UP FOR THE PEACEFUL MOM COLLECTION WITH RUTHIE GRAY Let's trade not-so-helpful stress for encouragement that hits right at home. Some gems from our podcast today: Laying down our past roles doesn't come easy because we can wrap our identity in those roles instead of who we are in Christ. There's a grief in releasing our kids and their kids into the Lord's control instead of hanging on to them for dear life. I can't afford to not spend time in God's Word, journaling, praying Scripture back to God and giving him my "to-do list" for the day. Our peace can only be as big as our faith, clinging to God no matter what the day brings. If you want a good relationship with your adult kids, ask open-ended questions instead of telling them what they already know about you and your well-laid out plans for your life (and their's!) I can idolize my title like "mom" or "grandma" so when they change, I go through an unnecessary identity crisis. We need to allow time for our own soul care to be healthy and ready for the next challenge life offers, welcomed or not. Ruthie Gray's book, Empty Next Awakening may be just what you need currently and it also makes a great gift for a friend. Find out more from Ruthie at ruthiegray.com and you can get her 5 short podcasts on getting peace in your insanity seasons HERE .  

Calling God a Liar Speaker: Michael Shockley, ReCreate Church Scripture: 1 John 1:8-10 Episode Summary In part 4 of our 1 John series, Pastor Michael shares a ballad about a chili cook-off between the devil and a humble cook to illustrate pride's greatest danger: self-deception about sin. When we claim we don't need forgiveness, we make God out to be a liar. True redemption begins when we stop making excuses and honestly confess our need for Jesus. Key Points - Human beings are masters of self-deception, especially when it comes to sin - We create elaborate excuses and fig leaves to cover our failures rather than face them - Confession isn't earning salvation - it's aligning with reality and admitting we can't save ourselves - When we deny our sin problem, we call God a liar and reject His truth Main Takeaway God isn't looking for people who pretend to have it together. He's looking for people humble enough to admit they don't. The only people God can't forgive are those who think they don't need forgiveness. Memorable Quotes - "Redemption begins with the honest confession that we cannot save ourselves." - "If we say we have no sin, who are we trying to deceive? Ourselves." - "Jesus doesn't ask you to be perfect; He asks you to be real about your brokenness." - "Confession doesn't change His view of you; it changes your view of Him." - "As long as you think you can fix yourself, you'll never go to The One Who can truly heal you." - "You can't fix what you won't face." Reflection Question What "fig leaves" - excuses, distractions, or denials - have you been using to cover up what you don't want God or others to see? Tune in to hear Pastor Michael's hilarious original ballad "The Devil Went Down to Dugspur" and discover why pride is the biggest spiritual roadblock we face. Connect & Give Learn more about ReCreate Church at www.recreatechurch.org Give online easily and securely through Tithe.ly

התוכן האושפיזין העיקריים דיום הושענא רבה הם דוד המלך ואדמו"ר מהורש"ב נ"ע. הקשר ביניהם: ידועה שיחת אדמו"ר (מהורש"ב) נ"ע בקשר להתייסדות ישיבת תומכי תמימים בענין "כל היוצא למלחמת בית דוד כותב גט כריתות לאשתו", שתכלית ומטרת התייסדות הישיבה היא להעמיד חיילי בית דוד שיהיו "נרות להאיר" בכל העולם כולו ויצאו ל"מלחמת בית דוד" וילחמו נגד אלו "אשר חרפו אויבך ה'", וגם נגד אלו "אשר חרפו עקבות משיחך", דוד מלכא משיחא, שלא רוצים שיצעקו "משיח נאו!". ומכיון ש"דברי צדיקים קיימים לעד", שהדברים עצמם הם באופן של "פעולה נמשכת", מובן, שההוראה ד"כל היוצא למלחמת בית דוד וכו'" היא בתקפה גם בימים אלה. כדי לפעול ביאת המשיח בגלוי ה"ז ע"י לימוד פנימיות ונגלה דתורה (שזהו עיקר חידושו של ישיבת תו"ת – חיבור נגלה ופנימיות התורה באופן שנעשים "תורה אחת"). ויש להשפיע על כל יהודי שיהי' בכלל אלו היוצאים ל"מלחמת בית דוד", ע"י ש"כותב גט כריתות" לעניני הגוף וגשמיות, ובודאי שיצליח במלחמה זו וחוזר לביתו בשלום – שלם בגופו, בנפשו ואפי' בממונו. וזהו הקשר לשישי דפ' וזאת הברכה שמתחיל עם "מעונה אלקי קדם ומתחת זרועות עולם", ומפרש רש"י "מתחת מעונותו (של "אלקי קדם") כל בעלי זרוע שוכנים.. לעולם אימת הגבוה על הנמוך", ומסיים "והוא שהכח והגבורה שלו – בעזרך" של כל יהודי. ובמילא מובן שכל יהודי יוצא למלחמת בית דוד.ב' חלקים משיחת יום ה', אור להושענא רבה ה'תשמ"ג ל"הנחה פרטית" או התרגום ללה"ק של השיחה: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=13-10-2025 Synopsis The primary Ushpizin for Hoshana Rabah are Dovid Hamelech and the Rebbe Rashab. The connection between them lies in the famous sichah on the teaching of our Sages, “Whoever goes out to a battle of the House of Dovid writes a bill of divorce for his wife,” where the Rebbe Rashab explains that the reason he founded Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim was to raise soldiers of the House of Dovid who will illuminate the entire world, and who will go out to the “battle of the House of David” to fight against “Your enemies, Hashem, who have abused” and against those who “have abused the footsteps of Your Moshiach,” Dovid, King Moshiach, those who wish to prevent people from crying out, “Moshiach Now!” Since “the words of tzaddikim endure forever,” it is understood that the lesson from “Whoever goes out to a battle of the House of Dovid…” remains in full force even today: The revelation of the coming of Moshiach requires studying the inner and revealed dimensions of Torah (and fusing them into “one Torah,” which is the main novelty of Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim). One must influence every Jew to be among those who go out to the “battle of the House of Dovid,” by “writing a bill of divorce” to bodily and physical matters, and they will surely succeed in this battle, and return home in peace, intact in body and soul, and intact financially as well. This is the connection to shishi of V'Zos HaBrachah, which begins, “The abode for the G-d Who precedes all, and below are the mighty ones of the world…”: As Rashi explains, “all the strong people live below His abode…the fear of the higher one is always upon the lower one,” and as he concludes, “thus, He, to whom power and might belong, is the One Who comes to your aid” – to the aid of every Jew. Thus, it is understood that every Jew goes out to the battle of the House of Dovid.2 excerpts from sichah of Leil Hoshana Rabah 5743 For a transcript in English of the Sicha: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=13-10-2025 לזכות חי' מושקא בת דבורה לאה שתחי' ליום ההולדת שלה כ"א תשרי - לשנת ברכה והצלחה‏, ואריכות ימים ושנים טובות

Lesson 2 - The One Who is Lord of All Mark 2:13 – 4:25. Mark continues recounting the miracles, the confrontations and the teachings of Jesus as His ministry spreads and grows. The Pharisees move front and center in this lesson, angry at Christ's association with “sinners” and His total disregard of their rules and traditions, especially regarding the Sabbath. Christ openly challenges their stubbornness and pride, ending with a warning about the need to listen carefully to what He says, because everything hangs in the balance.To learn more about Michele or to support this international ministry please visithttps://intheword.com

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Brett Deal. Before the start of my Senior year, I had a surprise chance to come to the States, so I set out from the island of Bioko in Central Africa for far off middle America. The whole way across the Atlantic, I had almost exclusively one thing on my mind: new music! I was barely settled in my room at a small hostel for missionary kids in college, and I was looking for a ride to record store. It might be hard to remember what it was like in the days before streaming and clouds and the digital revolution we're currently in, but back then, unless I wanted to buy grainy knock off cassettes in Nairobi, the land of music was America. Barely had my feet touched the ground and I was loading up sample CDs at the store. One of those CDS has become one my favorites, one I go back to time and time again. It's Purpose by Design by Fred Hammond & Radical for Christ. This album sprints out the gate on the first track, with "I Want My Destiny." You can feel the theology of the song as much as the funky slap bass. This song is a time capsule in my journey of faith. It sings of a life redeemed by Christ. It rejoices in a life recreated for purpose. It shouts of a passion to serve the One “Who brought me and is able to keep me” and to follow Jesus “to the place where He has need of me.” These lyrics provide the surround sound of Apostle Paul's album to the Philippians. His entire epistle, according to G. Walter Hansen is Paul “urging them to join with him in his own journey to know Christ.” Hearing his epistle, set to this soundtrack, we are challenged to recognize, in Christ, our eternal citizenship has current blessing bearer responsibilities. Our salvation is fire insurance. It's calling. It's purpose. We must start living out our citizenship now. Enthusiastically awaiting Jesus' return, “with the time we have / Let's waste not all on selfish reasons / But we must seek to please Him first / Find His will upon the Earth” so that “When they look back from death to birth / They'll say they've seen Him.”

Do you hear that sound? Can you feel it? The cool ocean breeze in your hair, the salt on your tongue. It's the smooth crash of KVGM "The Last Wave", with your host, Hammock. A biweekly VGM podcast bringing you the jammiest video game music from all your favorite composers and consoles. Sit back, relax, and get ready to catch...the Last Wave. October is here, which means pumpkin spice everything and giant lawn skeletons and government shutdowns and the ongoing collapse of western civilization but we're jamming out with our yams out and pretending everything is fine...everything will be okay...let's just jam, together. Playlist Radio Waves - Tremolo Vibration (Denpa no Dorei, PC) ACT 3 - Hirokazu Koshio (Fashion Dreamer, Nintendo Switch) BGM 1- Yumi Kinoshita (New 3D Golf Simulation: Devil's Course, Sega Mega Drive) Menu - Scott Lee (BASS Strike, Sony PlayStation 2) The One Who's Fashionable - Yoshihiro Kawagoe (Dark Rose Valkyrie, Sony PlayStation 4) Investigation - Unknown (Team Batista no Eikou: Shinjitsu o Tsumugu 4-tsu no Karte, Nintendo DS) Slideshow - Minamo Takahashi (We Ski, Nintendo Wii) At Last - Naotoshi Nishino (Last Escort 2 -Shinya no Amai Toge-, Sony PlayStation 2) Drinks A - Unknown (Switchy Road DeluX, Nintendo Switch) Staff Roll - Yoshinori Hirahara and Katsuhiro Hatano (Saisoku Densetsu Racer X, PC-98) Special Request Stage 5 (Devastated Present 1993) - Tsukasa Masuko (Time Diver: Eon Man, Nintendo Famicom)

James writes this truth about God that every follower of Jesus should read every day. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Beloved, read that verse again prayerfully and slowly. Our Heavenly Father is The One Who blesses us with everything that is good and perfect. Brother James told us in verse 16 to not be deceived about that, because it is very easy to slip into the depths of despondency and despair whenever we get our eyes off of God and onto other things.Beloved, do not allow social media, news agencies, current events or negative, fault finding people dictate to you what the true character of God is like. David, the man after God's own heart was a man that suffered many trials and hardships in life, some being the result of his own doing, but through it all he wrote in Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.Maybe you are struggling today with health or relational issues. Perhaps your finances have taken a turn for the worse. Satan capitalizes on fear and will not waste any “opportunity” that we give him to speak ill of God. Do not listen to his lies. He is the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10.10). He is the one who depresses and oppresses people (Acts 10.38). Trust in God and know that He is good.Yes, our circumstances may be difficult and indeed be gloomy, but it is when we are feeling low that we need to look up to heaven and look to The One from where our help comes from (Psalm 121). Psalm 118.1 says, O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. The very heaven are opened when the people of God lift up their hearts and voices to Him with praises (Psalm 22.3) and thanksgiving (Luke 17.15-19).If you are a child of God, all of your sins have been forgiven! Your eternal soul is destined to be your Lord Jesus forever. That alone is worthy of praise and thanksgiving. All that awaits us in glory stems from the loving heart of our Father Who sent His Son Jesus Christ to redeem us and deliver us from this present evil world according to His will (Gal 1.4). May the love of God for you give you cause to worship The One Who declares in Mal 3.6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Heb 13.8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

Today's Topics: 1, 2, 3, 4) Joshua Charles joins Terry for Friday with the Fathers: Saint Irenaeus Gospel - Luke 10:13-16 - Jesus said to them, "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, 'Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.' Whoever listens to you listens to Me. Whoever rejects you rejects Me. And whoever rejects Me rejects the One Who sent Me." Bishop Sheen quote of the day

Faith for the Coming Wilderness (7) (audio) David Eells – 9/28/25 Father, we ask You in Jesus' name that Your power, Your anointing, Your wisdom be in this study, and not only that, Lord, we ask that You would bless the people who are reading and hearing this will have eyes to see and ears to hear. We ask that You would bless them and that Your anointing will go into their heart, that the Word and the truth will go into their heart to put the courage of the Lord in them. We thank You, Father for this opportunity to share with the brethren, and we thank You so much for blessing all who are studying with us, in Jesus' name. I'm going to continue with our study on faith for the coming wilderness, and I want to share with you how you can prepare yourself for this wilderness. Let's start in (Heb.12:22) But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, (23) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. The text here is about going to Zion, going to the City of God, and becoming a member of the “just men made perfect.” (25) See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned [them] on earth, much more [shall not] we [escape] who turn away from him that [warneth] from heaven. Some people think they're going into a great escape. They think they're going in the rapture, but obviously, the escape here is not talking about their kind of escape. You see, they're refusing the warning of God and they are not getting prepared. I learned a long time ago that whether you go or whether you stay, you have to do the same thing: you have to prepare. Even if your theology is wrong, if you're walking in the steps of Jesus Christ, then you'll be ready for what is coming because God has prepared tribulation for His people. Tribulation is coming upon the whole world, people. We have to be careful to accept His warning from Heaven. He is going to shake this world. Even right now, as a matter of fact, we are in a pre-tribulation shaking that God is going to use to bring in the New World Order. Some people insist that God doesn't have anything to do with that, but He does. He is the One Who is uniting the whole world against apostate Christianity, just as He has always done throughout all the Scriptures. Every time God raised up a new world order, it was to persecute His people who had fallen into apostasy. We know this is so because (Ecc.1:9) That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. God just repeats history and He always takes the credit for it. (Ecc.3:15) That which is hath been long ago; and that which is to be hath long ago been: and God seeketh again that which is passed away. In Isaiah, the Lord takes credit for raising up the Assyrian Empire against His people. (Isa.10:5) Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation! (6) I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (7) Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. The Lord put it in their hearts to come against His people and plunder them. Today, since His people are worldwide and not just little, natural Israel, God is raising up a worldwide Beast to come against His people. It's God, saints! God is behind all of it! (Eph.1:11) In whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will. God works all things after the counsel of His Own will, and “all things” doesn't leave out much, does it? Just because He uses vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor, some people like to give credit to the vessels of dishonor, but no, it's the Lord; it's all the Lord. He's working all things together for our good. (Rom.8:28) And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, [even] to them that are called according to [his] purpose. And what does He say here in the rest of this text? (Heb.12:26) Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. (27) And this [word,] Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. Listen to me, God is going to shake everything so that only His Kingdom remains. The reason for the shaking is to break all of the strength of man, to break all of the power of man's ability to save himself. Do you know why so many people are going to run to the Lord in these days? It's because they've always depended upon their own power in the past, but God is going to take away the ability of people to save themselves. I've mentioned some of the judgments that have already come to the Gulf Coast of America. Hurricane Katrina in 2005, for example, flooded New Orleans and killed over 1,800 people but it also knocked out about 80% of the oil production, which really hurt the trucking industry and the farmers. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 and its use of Corexit oil dispersant was a great catastrophe that poisoned the Gulf and destroyed the fishing industry, but we're just seeing the beginning of these things. It's going to get a lot worse. Places in this country that never see hurricanes have seen hurricanes, but some of those that don't see hurricanes are going to see earthquakes. There are going to be nuclear attacks, there are going to be biological attacks. It will come to the point where there won't be jobs, there won't be gasoline. It will come to the point where the water is poisoned, and the air is poisoned. It will come to the point where there's nothing that man can do to save you, and you won't be able to do anything in the flesh to save yourself. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that men will turn to the only Savior because it is in our weakness that God's power will be made manifest. (2Co.12:9) And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. His power is made perfect in our weakness. (Heb.12:28) Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: (29) for our God is a consuming fire. So, not only is He shaking the earth, He's burning up the wood, hay and stubble of our lives. He's a consuming fire. Back when I was a very young Christian, my wife had a dream in which she saw me standing on a rock in the middle of a vast ocean, and it seemed that this was the only thing that was above the water. I was standing on this rock with leg braces on, like those a polio victim would have. At that time, I didn't know much about the ways and the work of the Lord, but the Lord really spoke to me through that dream. He showed me that the waters represented the curse of the Word on this world, just like the flood waters in the time of Noah represented the curse of the Word upon the world. The flood waters were the curse of the Word upon the wicked who had disobeyed God's Word, but at the same time, the waters were salvation to Noah and those who were in the ark floating above. God said through Moses, (Deu.11:26) Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: (27) the blessing, if ye shall hearken unto the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day; (28) and the curse, if ye shall not hearken unto the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. The Word of God is a blessing to those who are humble and submitted to it; it's a blessing to those who are walking in it, but it's a curse to those who rebel against it. And the curse is coming to take away everything that God's people have depended upon other than Him. He's a jealous God (Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:15; Joshua 24:19; etc.) He wants to be our only Savior, which is why He's bringing us to a place of great weakness. Being weak to save ourselves is a part of God's salvation; it's not just faith. (Php.4:13) I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me. We can do all things through Christ; He's the One Who strengthens us. The problem is that we're used to working things out ourselves, rather than trusting in the Lord. We're used to working things out ourselves, rather than putting our faith in Him and resting in Him to bring it to pass. We, ourselves, are the biggest hindrance to receiving the benefits of God. This shaking that's coming is for the purpose of judging all the “gods of Egypt,” as God said about His people who were in bondage in Egypt, in bondage to the old man. (Exo.12:12) For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. That represents Christians today and their gods, which are the things and demons they serve and God wants to rid them of in their wilderness experience. Christians today have been in bondage in Egypt. They've been in bondage to the old man, the Egyptian. The old man was the one who died in the baptism of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:4; Acts 7:36; Psalm 106:9; etc.) and the new man, the Israelite, is the one who came up on the other side. (Hebrews 11:29; Nehemiah 9:9-10; etc.). Well, the Lord brought those judgments upon Egypt to set the Israelites free from bondage to their worldly lusts. You realize that this is now us. That's the people of God. We've been in bondage in Egypt but now we're coming to our wilderness and the wilderness, of course, is the Tribulation (Revelation 12 and 17). We're coming to the same point in time as Israel when they were about to start their wilderness, and I was given a revelation about those braces I was wearing in my wife's dream. I learned they represented an external strength that was going to come to me, a strength from God that would enable me to stand on the Rock of Jesus Christ when the curse is everywhere around us. You know this is what God's going to do. (Zec.4:6) Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel (meaning: born from Babylon), saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. This is what God's going to do for a people who cannot save themselves, who cannot provide for themselves, in a wilderness experience. God Almighty is going to do it. He is going to be our strength. When our strength is worn out, He's going to be there. And He is a consuming fire. He's going to burn up all the wood, hay, and stubble through the Tribulation that we're going through, until only the gold, silver, and precious stones will be left of those who are truly His elect. (1Co.3:10) According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. (11) For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble (the last three, which burns in the fiery trial, leaving only what is valuable in the Kingdom.); (13) each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is. (14) If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. (15) If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire. Many years ago, I used to work for the Exxon Refinery in Baton Rouge, and one day, I got a little revelation, and I'm going to share it with you: it's pretty neat. When I was a machinist, I worked on a lot of pumps, drivers, turbines, jet engines, and things like that. It was interesting to me because I was a very mechanically minded person. Now, a pump is basically a shaft that goes through a housing, and inside the housing there are impellers to pump the fluid, but the fluid needs to be sealed somehow to keep it from coming down the shaft and out of the pump. Well, usually it's a seal, but sometimes it's what we called “packing.” Packing is something that's kind of like rope with different substances mixed in with it and we would pack that rope around the hole. Then we would use a gland with bolts to pull the packing up in there to seal between the shaft and the housing of the pump. So, anyway, the shaft might be turning at 3,600 rpms or 3,700 rpms, or even more, in some cases. The shaft is running very, very fast, and depending upon the size of the shaft, there's a lot of friction there, but no matter what kind of packing we would use, if we tightened up the gland too tight to try to seal off the leak, the friction would cause that packing to get very, very hot. In some cases, it would smoke, and in some cases, it would even catch on fire. You had to loose the packing just enough to have the right amount of fluid come through there so that it wouldn't leak out, but at the same time would lubricate the packing. It was a ticklish situation because, if the packing got a little old, sometimes you couldn't tighten up on it at all. It would smoke and leak. We continually had a problem come up where a pump that had been running for a while, and we had to try to tighten the packing up, and it would start smoking, but if you didn't tighten it up, it would leak, so it was kind of a catch-22 situation. Finally, we had a salesman come by who brought some packing that they called Graphoil, and I tried it one day in a pump that was very ticklish. It didn't matter what kind of packing you put in there; if you tightened it up very much, the packing we had would just start smoking because it was a hydrocarbon. And if it got hot enough, it would catch it on fire; the fire would literally be coming out of the hole of the shaft of the packing. So we bought this new product, this graphoil, and I was going to test it for them. I shoved that stuff up in there, and I tightened down on it, and I found I didn't have to tighten down on it very much until it sealed off the leak. The salesman said, “Well, tighten down on it some more.” I said, “I don't want it to catch on fire and burn up.” But he insisted, “No, don't worry about that and just tighten down on it some more,” so I did. I tightened down on it some more, and I told him, “Man, this is pretty good stuff. It doesn't catch on fire.” And he said to me, “Tighten down on it some more.” So, again, I tightened down on it, and nothing was leaking out, but it still wasn't smoking or catching on fire. I asked, “What's the deal here? How come it doesn't burn?” And do you know what he answered me? He said, “It doesn't burn because it's already burned; it's totally burned. It's all graphite; there's no rope in there. It's all totally burned graphite, so it can't burn because it's already totally burned when you put it in there.” Do you remember when they burned up all the diseased cattle over there in England during the Mad Cow Disease outbreak? They did that because that was the only way to destroy the prions that caused the disease. A fire purifies any contaminant, and what's left can't really be destroyed; it's already burned, it can't be burned anymore. It was as if that salesman was comparing our God to being a consuming fire. Ashes are pure, and that's the revelation! We're going into the fire, saints, to be purified, so that this world can't touch us and so that we won't ultimately go in the big fire. By His grace and by His power, God is going to make us able to go through this consuming fire until there's nothing that the world can do to us, until there's nothing but His fruit and His life in us. Hallelujah!! Paul called it a “baptism” when the Israelites went through the Red Sea and into the wilderness. (1Co.10:1) For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (2) and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Do you know what we're doing in our baptism? We're celebrating the victory of the death of the old man because he died at the cross, just like the Israelites celebrated the victory when the old man was put to death at the Red Sea. (Exo.15:1) Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The “horse and his rider” represented the old man who was coming after them to bring them back into bondage. The horse was the beast, the flesh that had been harnessed to serve the old man, and this is what went down in the Red Sea. I'm not talking about the body; I'm talking about the appetites of the natural man to serve the mind of the flesh. The rider and the strength of the flesh that was harnessed to serve that rider, who was the old man, died in the Red Sea, died in the baptism, and they were celebrating the victory. It's the same thing we do at baptism: (Rom.6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. We reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin but alive unto God, or in other words, we reckon that the old man can no longer do us harm and we continue to walk by faith in that. Many people believe the devil, or they believe the old man, or they believe the world, and by doing that, they give authority to the old man to bring them back into bondage. You need to believe what the Bible says: (Rom.6:1) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (2) God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? (3) Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (4) We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have become united with [him] in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of his resurrection; (6) knowing this, that our old man was crucified with [him,] that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin; (7) for he that hath died is justified from sin. (We reckon that old man to be like the graphoil packing; he is already burned up; there is nothing left for the big fire at the end.  The valuable stuff left doesn't burn. We consider the old man to be dead and the new man to be alive. If you walk in that faith, you'll find you have power when you are in the trials and tribulations of life, and the old flesh wants to take over. You'll have power when the devil tells you that you don't have authority. You'll have power when the devil tells you that you don't have more power than him. You'll have power when the devil tells you that he's the giant in the land and you can't overcome him. By faith, if you will celebrate the victory that you were given when you became united with Christ in the likeness of His death, you'll find that you have power over the old man. The Israelites always kept forgetting this fact and they kept giving authority back to the old man and his devil. (Exo.15:2) The Lord is my strength and song, And he is become my salvation.... What does it symbolize when the horse is put to death? It means you're no longer counting on the flesh of the beast any longer; you're no longer trusting in his power. The Lord then becomes your strength and your salvation. The people who live in Egypt trust in the Egyptians for their salvation. They trust in the strength of the flesh to save them in any situation, which is the reason God wanted to bring these Israelites into the wilderness. He wanted them where they could no longer trust in the power of man, no longer trust in their old man, their flesh, to save them. (Exo.15:2) The Lord is my strength and song, And He is become my salvation: This is my God, and I will praise him; My father's God, and I will exalt him. Yes, we're going back to our “father's God”! Paul said, (1Co.4:15) For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel. I'm talking about the apostolic fathers. We're going back to our fathers' God, not the god of apostate Christianity to which so many Christians are in bondage. We're going back to our fathers' God and we're going to trust in His salvation. You see, even after you've been baptized and you believe the Good News, the Gospel, that the old man is not a problem anymore because the Lord has already dealt with him, and you believe that sin's not a problem anymore because the Lord has already dealt with that, and you believe that sickness is not a problem because the Lord has already dealt with that, the enemy still comes after you. And sometimes you become convinced by him that he still has power over you. (Exo.15:9) The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. But God had another plan, didn't He? The Egyptians followed the righteous into the Red Sea and were destroyed. You see, the waters of God's Word are meant to fulfill what baptism gave us by faith as a type and shadow. The waters of God's Word will put to death your old man and take away his power. Whenever you remember what the Lord did for you and you celebrate the victory, you take away the power of the old man. Don't ever believe what your flesh is telling you. Don't believe it when the devil tells you through your flesh that he still has power. No! That old man's dead and he has no power anymore. Now the Lord is your Savior; continue to trust in Him. (2Co.5:17) Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. Old things have passed away and all things have become new; you're a new creature in Christ. Remember the Good News because, if you get talked out of the Good News, you'll make the same mistakes that the Israelites made in the wilderness. They wanted to go back to the power of Egypt because God brought them to places and positions where they knew they had no strength to save themselves. Do you know what happens when you get into a position like that? Your flesh cries out to go back to Egypt because its tired of the manna of the Word. It tells you to go back to the flesh pots, go back to a place where your flesh will be sure to be fed more flesh. Where you serve the flesh and don't have the fiery trial that makes you fit for the Kingdom. But the Lord is not going to let that happen, saints! He's not going to let us go back to Egypt. In these coming days, He's going to keep us in the wilderness until the old man's dead because the world will be a wilderness. Of course, at baptism, we know the old man's dead, but when you go past your baptism, you're going into the place where what you received by faith at baptism must now be manifested. And the way it's manifested is you let the water of the Word put to death the old man. You hold fast the confession of your hope that it waver not. (Heb.10:23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised. You reckon the old man to be dead. He made you free from sin. Don't forget it. It says that twice in Romans 6: (Rom.6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. (17) But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; (18) and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. Remember, this is the way we overcome sin; it's by faith. It's not by works, not by self efforts, not by our power. If you're trusting in your ability, you're going back to the old man, back to the horse and rider. Legalism does that; it causes you to go back to the self-righteousness of religion in Egypt, but God wouldn't let His people sacrifice in Egypt. (Exo.8:25) And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. (26) And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? When they sacrificed in Egypt, they sacrificed the abomination of the Egyptians. So God is going to keep His people in the wilderness until everything that needs to be burned up is burned up. This really is a joyful thing, because the people of God are once again going to walk in the steps of Jesus Christ. They're going to take up their cross and follow Him. Now, Miriam, the sister of Aaron and Moses, said, (Exo.15:21) Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously (This is a revelation of our victory that was given to us through Jesus Christ. He conquered the old man.); The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. (22) And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. Here's one of the first trials that God was going to use to put to death the old man and to cause them to learn to trust in the power of God. He was going to manifestly put to death what died symbolically at the Red Sea. You may have heard the saying, “Well, He got them out of Egypt but He had to get Egypt out of them,” and that's so true, isn't it? We come out of the world through faith in Jesus Christ but then God has to get the world out of us. You see, He wants us to walk totally in the Kingdom. (23) And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah (“Bitterness”). (24) And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? (25) And he cried unto the Lord; And the Lord showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. I believe that this “tree” represents the cross, where God gave us new life. The old man died there, and Jesus Christ, the new man, was given to us. 2 Corinthians tells us the same parable but in a slightly different way. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. What happened at the cross, what happened at the Red Sea, what happened at our baptism, was that the old man died and the new man came to life, and that new man is Jesus Christ. He is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col.1:26) [Even] the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints, (27) to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: (28) whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ. We are to believe that, (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. That's the Gospel. If you begin to confess that, you will see the power of Jesus Christ in you to overcome these things. We sometimes have a failure attitude, an attitude of unbelief, when it comes to trials and the ability of the Lord in us to overcome in our trials. It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” We now have everything that He was. Well, when the Israelites came to their trial where they didn't have any water, God showed Moses a particular tree to cast into the waters and the waters were made sweet. In the wilderness, “water” represents life and we know from James that the sweet and the bitter “waters” are talking about the tongue. We've taught that part of the Gospel is “confession”; it's confessing what the Gospel says is ours. (Rom.10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Murmuring in the wilderness is the opposite of the sweet waters. (Jas.3:8) But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] a restless evil, [it is] full of deadly poison. (9) Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God. This is not talking about speaking what the world calls “curses”; this is talking about speaking what the Bible calls “curses.” The Bible calls it a “curse” when you don't speak in agreement with what the Word says. The Lord told us in the last four verses of the Bible, (Rev.22:18) I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: (19) and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. If you add to His Words or take away from His Words, the curses of this Book are upon you, and He'll take away your part from the tree of life! We bring ourselves under a curse with our own mouth when we disagree with God's Word. We bring ourselves under a curse when we agree with the world and with the devil, and with what the old man says, but he's dead. He doesn't have a right to talk anymore. So we bring ourselves under a curse because we have disagreed with the Gospel. The Gospel is the Good News. (Rom.1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. The Gospel is the power of God to save the one who believes it, but we prove whether we believe it by our actions. When they went into the wilderness, the Israelites proved they didn't believe it by their actions, their complaining and murmuring. We need to pray what David said in (Psa.141:3) Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; Keep the door of my lips. He wanted to be careful about what came out of his mouth. We're also told, (Pro.18:21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. We need to agree with God; we need to be proven to be believers. We need to have the sweet waters that the cross has given to us, not the bitter waters that bring the curse. As he goes on to say here, the tongue is a restless evil, a deadly poison. (Jas.3:10) Out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. (11) Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet [water] and bitter? (12) Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? Neither [can] salt water yield sweet. If we back up a little bit, in this same text, James talks about the great power of salvation that comes from the tongue. (Jas.3:2) For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man.... Mature people don't stumble in their words, and that's how you get to maturity. You don't agree with the world; you don't agree with the devil; you don't agree with the curse because Jesus bore the curse. You agree with what God said, and you agree with His promises. You “hold fast the confession of” your “hope that it waver not; for He is faithful that promised.” Anybody who doesn't do that will die in the wilderness. (Jas.3:2) For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. The sweet water of the tongue has the power to bridle the body, to bring it under control, to make it serve the Lord. The horse represents the very opposite. The horse represents bridling the flesh to serve the old man, bridling the beast to serve the old man. (3) Now if we put bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also, (4) Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth. (5) So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things.... In other words, the tongue can turn about your body; the tongue can bring repentance. People think repentance is crying to the Lord about their sins, but “repentance” just means “turning around and going the other way.” The Greek word for “repentance” is metanoeo and it means “to change your mind or purpose ... involving a change for the better.” The tongue is able to turn us around. When you change your mind and you speak in agreement with the Word, power is given to you. You already know we are justified through faith; we are counted righteous through faith. (Jas.2:18) Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from [thy] works, and I by my works will show thee [my] faith. So when you speak in agreement with the Word by faith, you are justified. Also, (Rom.3:4) God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment. If you want to be justified in your words when you come into judgment, let God be true and every man a liar. Now, why do we have to be justified? It's because without justification, you don't get grace, which means “favor.” If you want to be justified before God, if you want God's favor upon you, then say what God says. Don't say what the world says. If you will do that, you will find God's favor upon you. When the Israelites murmured in the wilderness, it was because they disagreed with God. Instead, they sided with the devil, and they sided with his son, which is the old man, the flesh. They didn't receive grace from God and they died in the wilderness. He goes on to say here, (Jas.3:5) So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire! Your tongue can destroy you. Every time you open your mouth, you are speaking faith. Every time you open your mouth, you're showing that you believe in the devil and the curse by agreeing with them, or you're showing that you believe in God and the blessing He gave you at the cross by agreeing with Him. You're always speaking faith and showing what you believe; therefore, you're giving authority to someone every time you open your mouth. (Mat.18:18) Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. You're “binding” and “loosing” every time you open your mouth, without ever saying “I bind” or “I loose,” as some people like to do. When you agree with the devil, you're giving faith to him, and giving him power. When you agree with God, you give faith to Him and you give Him power. You ask, “How do I give God power?” Well, if you remember, Jesus went to His own hometown (Mat.13:58) And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. He was powerless and it was because of what they believed. Jesus said, (Mat.9:29) … According to your faith be it done unto you. And He told the centurion, (8:13) … Go thy way; as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee.... You give power to God because God has given you authority to give Him power. He said, “What you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and what you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.” Now, of course, God always has power, but He's not going to use it for you if you're not justified, and you're not justified if you disagree with Him. You have to agree with Him; otherwise, you are destroying yourself. The lost people out there destroy themselves with their own words and actions; they have all the faith in the world, in the devil and in the curse, which Jesus bore. (Jas.3:6) And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body.... The tongue defiles the body; did you know that? Jesus said, (Mar.7:14) … Hear me all of you, and understand: (15) there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. (16) If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear. (17) And when he was entered into the house from the multitude, his disciples asked of him the parable. (18) And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him; (19) because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? [This he said,] making all meats clean. (20) And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man. (21) For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, (22) covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: (23) all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man. There are a lot of people with religious spirits who are pretty legalistic about what they can eat and what they can't eat, but “This He said, making all meats clean.” That's the Word of the Lord, saints. He rebuked Peter about that: (Act.10:11) And he beholdeth the heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth: (12) wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the heaven. (13) And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat. (14) But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common and unclean. (15) And a voice [came] unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common. (16) And this was done thrice: and straightway the vessel was received up into heaven. The Lord told Peter, “What I've made clean, don't you make unclean,” so we can see that was also being used as a parable of the Gentiles that He'd made clean. (Act.10:28) … [Yet] unto me hath God showed that I should not call any man common or unclean: ... (35) but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him. (Jas.3:6) And the tongue is a fire; the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature (or, in other words, “cycle of life”).... How can your tongue set on fire the cycle of life? Well, the cycle of life is like sowing and reaping. What you sow, you later reap, then you take out of what you've reaped to sow again; it's a cycle. For instance, if you plant corn, after it's grown and you've harvested the corn, you save some of the corn so you can use it to plant the corn again. You sow, you reap. It's the exact same way with our nature. When you're filled with holiness, it comes out of your mouth, and what do you do? You reap what you've sown and then you sow it again. (Mat.12:35) The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. (36) And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. It's the same with the wicked tongue: you agree with the curse and you get the curse, so then you're living a cursed life, and what comes out of your mouth is more curses. And so what you receive back again is more of the curse, which is what you're sowing and reaping. (Jas.3:6) And the tongue is a fire; the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell. We have to learn to agree with God. When the Israelites went into the wilderness, their big mistake was that they agreed with the curse. They walked by what they saw, what they felt, and what they heard. They didn't walk by “thus saith the Lord,” and listen to me, this is a revelation for us. What we need to do from the time when we first enter into our wilderness is to walk by “thus saith the Lord.” We all need to learn to live supernaturally and there's only one way you can do that: you have to walk by “thus saith the Lord.” You have to accept and speak the Word. I'm reminded of Peter, when he stepped out of the boat: he lived supernaturally, and he stepped out on only one word. (Mat.14:28) And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the waters. (29) And he said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus. (30) But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. (31) And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Well, the Lord said “Come” and Peter stepped out of the boat, but when he got his eyes off of the Lord, when he got his eyes off the Word and onto the waves, he started sinking. When Peter started walking by sight in the desolation of the wilderness, so to speak, he started sinking. We have been given the power to walk supernaturally through faith in the Gospel and the Gospel needs to be coming out of our mouths in the situations where we don't have any strength to save ourselves. As God told Paul, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” When you have no way to save yourself, you will turn to the Lord. Everybody who is called of God, everybody who is the elect of God, turns to the Lord. That's why the wilderness is there; it's bringing us to the place where the horse and the rider no longer have power, and we need to remember that. We can live supernaturally. We can live above this world, even in a wilderness where there is no provision; we can live there by faith in the Word of God. The cross made sure of that for us, which is what Exodus 15:25 is saying. Moses cast the tree into the waters and the bitter waters became sweet. Do you know what happened at the cross? That old man died. The one who spoke the bitter waters died. The one who gave faith to the devil died. The one who brought the curse upon that life died. The cross crucified him and that old man is dead. (Rom.6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. If you will do this, you will be united with Christ in the likeness of His death, and if you will do this, you will be justified before God. He will give you His grace, His favor, and so you will be able to walk out that life in the wilderness. Returning to our text in (Exo.15:25) And he cried unto the Lord; And the Lord showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute (“law”) and an ordinance (“penalty for breaking the law”), and there he proved them; (26) and he said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice.... We don't need to hear any other voice in this coming wilderness; we need to “hearken,” which means “hear and obey,” the voice of the Lord. If we will do that and not walk according to the ears of this world nor the sight of this world, if we let that voice be our voice, then we'll have this benefit. (26) And he said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. Why did He make this promise to them at the very beginning of their wilderness? (1Co.10:11) Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. He made this promise at the very beginning of their wilderness because they are a type and a shadow for us. This promise is for us because we are about to go into a wilderness, and one of the judgments that is falling upon the world is that all of the diseases that man has made are spreading but so will be the cure. “He sent His Word and healed them.” Mass healings like the world has never seen will come to glorify God. I had a vision like that one time. In the vision, my wife and I were resting in lawn chairs in front of our house, and we were looking at this power line going from pole to pole across in  the front of the house. This power line was sagging in the middle until it almost touched the ground, and we were studying this sagging power line when suddenly a tornado came over the top of that power line and just picked us up and carried us away. And the Lord explained this little vision to me. He said, “That power line represents the power of man and the reason it was sagging and almost touching the ground is because it's coming to an end.” The power of man is coming to an end. And when the tornado came and picked us up, that represented the power of God, like that which carried away Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). Shortly after that we were moved to Pensacola, Florida from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and God paid the whole bill. Many miraculous things happened, including that He found us the very house He'd shown us in visions. He gave us the house, He gave us the new car; everything we'd asked for in faith, He did. The power of man came to an end, too, because it was nothing I did to bring it all to pass. God doesn't want to share His glory with the old man, with the flesh. While you're working, He's not. When you stop and believe, He will. God is not going to share His glory with the horse and rider; they have to die at the edge of the wilderness. Where we're going, saints, the works of the horse and rider won't save us. The Israelites lost faith in God walking by sight and they wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted to go back to the salvation of the flesh pots, to trusting in the arm of the flesh, to trusting in man. That's not going to work for us anymore. It's not even going to work for the world, but it definitely won't work for us because God has called us to something higher. The truth is, this whole world is going to be polluted; this whole world is going to be poisoned. There are going to be both natural and weaponized diseases loosed on this world from God and man that are just beyond imagination, and yet we have a promise, right here at the beginning of the wilderness, that God won't put this upon us. “For I am the Lord that healeth thee.” He said He would put it upon the Egyptians and not upon us. The wicked will feel His wrath but we're supposed to walk by faith in this Good News; this Good News is the Gospel, and it's God's salvation to everyone who believes it. We've received revelations at UBM about the air and water being poisoned all throughout this land. Multitudes of people will die of manmade diseases, and we're already seeing it happen. A brother over on the East Coast was given a vision in which he saw biological weapons being smuggled into this country by terrorists who loosed them and killed 80 million people; he was a prophet, and he saw a vision of that happening. Truly saints, only faith in the Gospel is going to save you from the judgments that will be going across this land. The only thing that is going to save you is faith in the Gospel; no strength of man will do it. Nothing will keep us alive through this wilderness like lessons from Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 14:30, 26:65), who held fast to the confession of the Gospel of their time. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and everything that can be burned will burn. Something that's stuck with me for a long time is Dumitru Duduman's vision of seeing the earth catch on fire and God speaking to him, “Dumitru, quick! Get on the mountain or you will burn!” That mountain is Mount Zion. It's “the spirits of just men made perfect.” It's the only place that won't be shaken. Everything in this world will be shaken, but those who abide in God's Kingdom, through faith and through their confession, will be saved, and they will endure this wilderness. In fact, multitudes of them will endure until the end. They will live through everything that's coming upon this world because of their faith that Jesus has already borne this curse. God is going to deliver them. We need to get prepared and the way to do that is to put the “manna,” which is the Word of God, in our heart. That's the very next parable we see in Exodus. (Exo.16:4) Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not. (31) And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Jesus is the bread that came down from Heaven to give life to the world. (Joh.6:51) I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: yea and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. But those Israelites said that they hated the manna and they called it “vile.” (Num.21:5) And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this light (or “vile,” as the footnote says) bread. They didn't like the manna, they were tired of the manna, and many Christians today are just tired of the manna. They're tired of the Word. They'd rather go please themselves with the world, instead of preparing for the things that are coming upon the world, but life to God's people in the wilderness is the manna. Life to God's people in the wilderness is Jesus, Who was that manna and Who is the Word (John 1:14). God commanded those Israelites to partake of the manna for the whole time they were in the wilderness. (Exo.16:35) And the children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat the manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. The manna supernaturally preserved them all the way through the wilderness until they came to the Promised Land. So when they became tired of the manna, they cried out for flesh and what did God do about it? He said, “Alright, I'll give you flesh. I'll give you flesh until it comes out of your nose.” What does “flesh” represent? It represents living after the lusts of the flesh. (Num.11:18) And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. (19) Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days, (20) but a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you; because that ye have rejected the Lord who is among you.... That was the manna. They rejected the manna because they wanted to live after the flesh. God wanted to give them the Word, but they wanted the flesh and God brought judgment upon them. (33) While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. (34) And the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (“the graves of lust”), because there they buried the people that lusted. It pleased them to live after the lusts of their flesh, instead of partaking of the Word, which was life (John 6:63), and God gave them over to the lusts of their flesh. Multitudes of so-called “Christians” are going to go berserk in the coming times because they are crying out for something besides the Word of God, which God provided for them to preserve them through this wilderness. And while they are calling out for it, just as He did with the Israelites who lusted, God's going to be giving it to them. The whole world is going to be demon-possessed in the coming wilderness, saints. The only people who are going to be preserved are those who have eaten the bread of life, Jesus Christ. Do you know what it is to “eat” something? You chew it, you swallow it, you digest it and it becomes who you are. Some people study the Word and they talk about the Word in Church, but they don't walk according to the Word. They don't live it out. In the days to come, the lusts of the flesh are going to kill people. The only thing that's going to preserve us is to digest the Word of God. (Exo.15:26) And he said, If thou wilt diligently hearken (meaning “to hear and obey”) to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments (meaning “keep these commandments”), and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. Our God will give supernatural provision to His people to live through the wilderness, but remember what He told them in (Exo.16:4) ... I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not. He was going to try them with a day's portion every day to prove them, to see whether they would keep His law or not.

The Rambam writes that although teshuvah and tefillah are powerful all year long, during the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah they are even more potent and accepted immediately. As the pasuk says: דִּרְשׁוּ ה׳ בְּהִמָּצְאוֹ, קְרָאֻהוּ בִּהְיוֹתוֹ קָרוֹב — seek out Hashem when He is closest, which is right now, in these days leading up to Yom Kippur. The mitzvah of this time is repentance: feeling regret for the sins we have done and sincerely accepting upon ourselves to improve going forward. Hashem desires our teshuvah even more than we do. He is called haRotzeh b'teshuvah — the One Who longs for repentance. There are many people we know whom we wish would be more observant. We try to encourage them, but they aren't interested. Yet tefillah can help bring them back to Torah and mitzvot. When we pray for others to make teshuvah , they receive more heavenly assistance to return. And if at this time of year our prayers are more readily accepted than any other time, we must seize the chance not only to pray for ourselves but also to pray for others to come closer to Hashem. Hashem has countless ways to awaken someone. In one simple act of hashgachah peratit , a person's life can change forever. A man named Reuven related the following story. Every summer, he and his family go up to the mountains for two months. They rent a truck to bring up their belongings, then drop it off at a return location and take a taxi back to their bungalow. One year, the return point was in a far-off place, completely devoid of Jews. Reuven arranged with a friend who was also returning his truck that day to share the same taxi. He returned his truck and waited. But his friend called to say he was delayed. As Reuven stood there waiting, a car pulled up. The driver asked if he knew of any shuls nearby. Reuven answered, "There are no Jews in this area. What brings you here?" The man explained that he had driven over four hours from his hometown to see the house his grandmother had lived in 85 years ago. Recently, he had been introduced to Torah and mitzvot and had begun putting on tefillin every day. But he hadn't yet put them on that day and was hoping to find a shul. Reuven immediately realized: This is hashgachah peratit. He told the man, "I should have been gone twenty minutes ago, but due to an unexpected delay I'm still here. Hashem wanted us to meet." He directed the man toward his bungalow colony, where thousands of Jews lived. Just then, Reuven's friend arrived in the taxi. Reuven excitedly told him what had happened. The friend replied, "I was so annoyed by the delay — but now I understand why it happened." He explained that when he went to return his truck, the clerk overcharged him. He argued for a long time until the clerk admitted it was a mistake. That delay was exactly what allowed Reuven to meet the searching Jew. Even a clerk's mistake is from Hashem. When they returned to the bungalow, they saw the man again and brought him to their rabbi. A relationship was formed, and over time this man became fully observant, now living a life of Torah and mitzvot. Hashem can give people extra help to return to Him. Especially now, we must pray for it. The Arizal said that one who has a child or relative off the derech should add at the end of the berachah Hashivenu Avinu l'Toratecha , before concluding, the following yehi ratzon : יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה׳ אֱלֹקֵינוּ וֵאלֹקֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁתַּחְתֹּר חֲתִירָה מִתַּחַת כִּסֵּא כְבוֹדֶךָ לְהַחֲזִיר בִּתְשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵמָה לְפָנֶיךָ כָּל פּוֹשְׁעֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּבִכְלָלָם תַּחֲזִיר אֶת בְּנִי ______ בֶּן ______ בִּתְשׁוּבָה לְפָנֶיךָ, כִּי יְמִינְךָ פְּשׁוּטָה לְקַבֵּל שָׁבִים . Then conclude: " בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ הָרוֹצֶה בִּתְשׁוּבָה ." May Hashem help us return to Him fully, and may He help all those who are distant to come back as well.

Psalm 130:1-7 O Lord, I have cried to You out of the deep places. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears hear the voice of my prayers. If you, Lord, should write down our sins, O Lord, who could stand? But You are the One Who forgives, so You are honored with fear. I wait for the Lord. My soul waits and I hope in His Word. My soul waits for the Lord more than one who watches for the morning; yes, more than one who watches for the morning. … hope in the Lord! For there is loving-kindness with the Lord. With Him we are saved for sure.David has worked through a great deal in his life. He has literally worked out his relationship with God to live in a state of security and blessing once again. He does not claim to be without sin now, but rather, he knows where to go when he does and to go quickly! Being aquatinted with our shortcomings produces humility and a correct posture of dependency on God for His grace and Power.David confesses that God is the only One who forgives, He is loving and kind, and the path to certain salvation. Can you confess with same assurance that the same God that David is talking about here from thousands of years ago is active and available today to you in real time.How would it change the way you approach your day, your relationships to live in the full acceptance of God's loving and kind forgiveness?Also, If God has forgiven you, isn't it time to let the weight of toxic shame go - and be empowered by the grace forgiveness and acceptance that the God of the universe extends to you.A free life is fully available every day, all the time, with God.Let's turn Psalm 130 into our prayer today:O Lord, I have cried to You out of the deep places. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears hear the voice of my prayers. You are the One Who forgives. I wait for You, Lord. My soul waits and I hope in Your Word. My soul waits for You, Lord, more than one who watches for the morning; yes, more than one who watches for the morning. I put my hope in You, Lord! For there is loving-kindness with You, Lord. With You, I am saved for sure. … As above, so below.

We all want to enjoy good things, and we want to be satisfied with them. But we also know the feeling of disappointment, too. To make our problem worse, our standard for defining goodness is flawed as well. Our hearts are never filled, and we can never satisfy their deepest longings; we are continually plagued with never-ending desires. Life without this satisfying goodness is an evil affliction. Jesus was the perfect embodiment of goodness, and the Holy Spirit is the One Who helps us to see Jesus for Who He really is. Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. He is the solution for the dissatisfaction of this earth. Wake up to the dissatisfaction of this life by finding your true satisfaction in the goodness of God!

After playing the Canon Press (Man Rampant) clip of Charlie Kirk discussing boldness and persecution, I discuss his death and legacy from a number of different angles (0:35). Then we dive into Charlie’s China podcast from last week (17:25). Later, after a brief interlude where Charlie berates the “king” (LeBron) for being a China “toy” (32:53), we finish with a sobering clip of him discussing his upcoming Utah trip (52:39). I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben. Follow me (@chinaadventures) on Twitter/X where I post new/unique Chinese city prayer profiles every single day. Also, you can email me any questions or comments (bfwesten at gmail dot com) and find everything else, including my books, at PrayGiveGo.us! Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary No Reserve, No Retreat, No Regrets www.BordenofYale.com Pray for China places of the week (Or, follow @chinaadventures daily…) https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-sep-15-21-2025 Charlie Kirk Podcast re: China: America Must Shape Up, or China Wins (Sept 3, 2025) https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-d8vyq-274dd443 2:42-3:28 - Audience of One (Who?) 3:28-3:35 - Not Xi, but Trump!? 3:35-4:31 - Comparing China and America’s military expenses (and size) 4:58-5:34 - What is China? Rival? Enemy? Internationalist ambitions. 5:34-6:08 - Chinese “Friendly” Neighbors. Kirk Meets China’s Vice. 6:09-6:48 - Tougher than the Cold War. China is far more pragmatic. 7:06-8:36 - China’s Moment in Empire vs America’s 8:37-9:09 - Trump Criticizes China (and comparing military $ again) 9:09-10:13 - Who is going to win the 21st Century? Installing a gate in the USA. 10:13-10:42 - US Department of Interior selling Made in China 11:44-13:40 - “The End of History and the Last Man” (Peak Neo-Liberal Ignorance) 13:40-15:49 - Bill Clinton celebrated China’s entrance to the WTO 15:50-17:15 - We are facing the consequences of 1990s pride and cockiness 18:40-21:23 - Charlie talking with Senator Mike Lee about his upcoming visit to Utah Puppet LeBron: https://www.newsweek.com/lebron-james-oped-china-ccp-nba-basketball-2126431 Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform. Follow us on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures), and find much more @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

After playing the Canon Press (Man Rampant) clip of Charlie Kirk discussing boldness and persecution, I discuss his death and legacy from a number of different angles (0:35). Then we dive into Charlie’s China podcast from last week (17:25). Later, after a brief interlude where Charlie berates the “king” (LeBron) for being a China “toy” (32:53), we finish with a sobering clip of him discussing his upcoming Utah trip (52:39). I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben. Follow me (@chinaadventures) on Twitter/X where I post new/unique Chinese city prayer profiles every single day. Also, you can email me any questions or comments (bfwesten at gmail dot com) and find everything else, including my books, at PrayGiveGo.us! Borden of Yale: The Millionaire Missionary No Reserve, No Retreat, No Regrets www.BordenofYale.com Pray for China places of the week (Or, follow @chinaadventures daily…) https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-sep-15-21-2025 Charlie Kirk Podcast re: China: America Must Shape Up, or China Wins (Sept 3, 2025) https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-d8vyq-274dd443 2:42-3:28 - Audience of One (Who?) 3:28-3:35 - Not Xi, but Trump!? 3:35-4:31 - Comparing China and America’s military expenses (and size) 4:58-5:34 - What is China? Rival? Enemy? Internationalist ambitions. 5:34-6:08 - Chinese “Friendly” Neighbors. Kirk Meets China’s Vice. 6:09-6:48 - Tougher than the Cold War. China is far more pragmatic. 7:06-8:36 - China’s Moment in Empire vs America’s 8:37-9:09 - Trump Criticizes China (and comparing military $ again) 9:09-10:13 - Who is going to win the 21st Century? Installing a gate in the USA. 10:13-10:42 - US Department of Interior selling Made in China 11:44-13:40 - “The End of History and the Last Man” (Peak Neo-Liberal Ignorance) 13:40-15:49 - Bill Clinton celebrated China’s entrance to the WTO 15:50-17:15 - We are facing the consequences of 1990s pride and cockiness 18:40-21:23 - Charlie talking with Senator Mike Lee about his upcoming visit to Utah Puppet LeBron: https://www.newsweek.com/lebron-james-oped-china-ccp-nba-basketball-2126431 Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your preferred podcast platform. Follow us on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures), and find much more @ PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

Faith for the Coming Wilderness (2) (audio) David Eells – 9/7/25 We need to understand that the natural has to bow to the spiritual; it's not the natural that runs this world. Presidents think they run this world, but the truth is God runs this world. This world bows to Him. And nothing can stop a person who believes in the living God and believes in His promises! We have an Almighty God Who loves us. He's made these promises and He's not a liar (Num.23:19). He will take care of us. He will provide for our needs. I know there is a big emphasis on getting prepared because many people realize that we are headed for trouble and lack, including some of the churches out there. Those churches are preparing their people, but they're doing it mostly in the natural, in the flesh. And, of course, those churches that teach and believe that they're going to fly away are not getting prepared for anything, but they're going to have a sudden shock. The Church is going through the wilderness, just like the Israelites did in type and shadow. (Ecc.1:9) That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. There is nothing in the Bible about the Church escaping that wilderness. The best thing you can do is to be like Moses and like Jesus, and go through it first. Then, when you get out there with the Israelites, it won't be a problem. You've already been there, and you'll be calm and peaceful, since you know that God is faithful. Most of the church leaders are men who have never been through the wilderness, and they are teaching a lot of fear because they are fearful themselves. Those men whom God chose to bring His people through the wilderness had already been there themselves. Like Jesus, like Moses, they weren't afraid of anything. The church leaders in our day are like the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who have never been in the wilderness and don't know how to go there. They are teaching people to store up their treasures on the earth. What did Jesus say about storing up treasures on the earth? (Mat.6:19) Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: (20) but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: (21) for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. Jesus said, “Don't do it!” So, who are you going to obey? What happens if you don't store up provision for yourself and you go into a wilderness? I'll tell you what happens: you are suddenly being thrust into a place of weakness because of your obedience to the Word! Now you won't be able to save yourself, but God will never ever fail you. If you put your faith in Him, your weakness is a place of power to God. (2Co.12:9) … For my power is made perfect in weakness.... You see, “Man's extremity is God's opportunity” (English Clergyman John Flavel, 1627-1691). God waits until you give up trying to save yourself before His power is made manifest. Israel always seemed to be in the minority when they won a war, and if they weren't, God would make sure they were in the minority, as with Gideon's army. (Jdg.7:2) And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. (3) Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. I.e., Get the unbelief out of the way. (4) And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. (5) So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. (6) And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. (7) And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand ... Its not numbers but faith that is needed. (16) And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers ... (19) So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. (20) And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands wherewith to blow; and they cried, The sword of the Lord and of Gideon. (21) And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight.  Now that's the weakness and faith needed. (22) And they blew the three hundred trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the host; and the host fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. God said, “You have too many men. You'll brag on what you've done.” He whittled them down to 300 and sent them out with trumpets, not swords. Trumpets! The Hebrew word for “breath” is ruwach, and it is also translated “spirit,” so a trumpet represents making the Spirit's Word audible. Well, they blew those trumpets and the enemy stumbled all over each other and killed one another. Gideon probably didn't even need 300 men. God's awesome! He wants to prove to us His mighty power in our weakness, and that's why He says, “Don't store up your treasures on earth. You just go out there and I'll take care of you.” When the Israelites went into the wilderness, they took everything they could with them, including the gold and silver and precious jewels that they plundered from the Egyptians (Exo.12:31-39), but then they made a golden calf out of it, an idol (Exo.32:1-5). They thought it would save them. That's what a lot of apostates are teaching today. Do you think your gold and silver will save you in the days to come? No, the Israelites started running out of their own supply in only three days (Exo.15:22). Their golden calf was just an idol, which God proved wasn't going to save them. (Exo.32:19) And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. (20) And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. You ask me, “David, if we don't store up our treasures on earth, how do we store them up in Heaven?” Well, the Bible is very plain about that: (Luk.12:15) And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness (or “desiring more”): for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (16) And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: (17) and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits? He meant upon himself. (18) And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods. (19) And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. In other words, if you have all of this supply, you are trusting in it; you are resting in it. You have peace because of what you've stored up, instead of trusting in God. God doesn't want that. He doesn't want idols. (20) But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? (21) So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Now I've had some people say, “Well, David, storing up food is not treasure.” I beg your pardon? In verse 18, it reads, “and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods.” God called food “treasure.” What God wants of us is our weakness and faith. He's going to bring us to a place where there will be no visible, worldly means of support, but He's Almighty God, and believers will have no difficulty whatsoever in the place where He is bringing them. He's doing this to prove to them how great He is and how great His provision is. (22) And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for [your] life, what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. We are to be anxious for nothing. Paul said, (Php.4:6) In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Don't worry about what you are going to need in the wilderness, because God is going to be there when you get there. (Luk.12:23) For the life is more than the food, and the body than the raiment. (24) Consider the ravens, that they sow not, neither reap (In a wilderness, you may not even have anything to sow or you may have 3 mites; if so sow it.); which have no store-chamber nor barn; and God feedeth them: of how much more value are ye than the birds! Listen, if God feeds the birds and they don't store up, won't He do it for you? Yes, He will. (25) And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit unto the measure of his life? (26) If then ye are not able to do even that which is least, why are ye anxious concerning the rest? Isn't that awesome? We really can't save ourselves and He's trying to convince us of that. He's trying to convince us to put our trust in God Almighty. (27) Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. The Israelites were well-dressed in their wilderness (Deu.8:4; 29:5; Neh.9:21). (28) But if God doth so clothe the grass in the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more [shall he clothe] you, O ye of little faith? Yes, He will take care of you. He will feed you. He will clothe you. (29) And seek not ye what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. An unbeliever, a doubter, is somebody who's worried about these things. (30) For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: but your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. That's all you need. God knows about it, and He will take care of you. (31) Yet seek ye his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you. He's telling us to seek first His Kingdom. (Mat.6:33) But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. If you do that, then everything you need will be given to you. That is the truth and I have proven it! Many years ago, I had a ministry and I worked. I told the Lord, “Lord, I don't have time to work anymore. I'm asking You to make a way.” He did and He's provided ever since. (Luk.12:32) Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (33) Sell that which ye have, and give alms.... He didn't say to store it up for a rainy day. I learned that if you store up something for a rainy day, the rainy day always comes. But if you don't have it stored up, that rainy day never comes, or if it does, God has to do a miracle because He is contracted with you to be your supplier in all things. (Php.4:19) And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He's your Jehovah-jireh, your provider. So it really doesn't make any difference whether a rainy day comes or not. (Luk.12:33) Sell that which ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.... If you have anything extra, do what they did on the day of Pentecost and shortly thereafter: (Act.4:34) For neither was there among them any that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, (35) and laid them at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto each, according as any one had need. (2Co.8:13) For I say not this that others may be eased and ye distressed; (14) but by equality: your abundance being a supply at this present time for their want, that their abundance also may become a supply for your want; that there may be equality. Anything extra was used to meet the needs of the rest of the body so that there would be equality. That's what He preached in the New Testament. He said it was like the Israelites who gathered the manna. (15) As it is written, He that gathered much had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack. Some gathered more than they needed, some gathered less, and whoever had extra met the needs of those who didn't. It was equality. God loves that! (Luk.12:33) Sell that which ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which wax not old (Meaning you're not storing it up or keeping it for a long time.), a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth. Give alms. Meet the needs of people around you. That's what He calls “a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.” Any treasure you store up on earth is going to fail. The world is going to plunder you, and if not the world, the devil will plunder you by the curse, but you're going to be plundered. Let me tell you how not to get plundered: Give! Meet the needs of the brethren around you. Give and then it will be coming the other way because (Luk.6:38) Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. That's how it works. You can make a living by giving. It works. (Luk.12:34) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Some people tell me, “It's okay to have it. Just don't set your heart on it.” That's not what Jesus said. He said, if you have it, your heart will be on it. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” If you store up on this earth, you are disobeying Jesus. It's only good for spending, and then you learn to walk by faith. (Jas.2:5) Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him? God chose those who are the poor of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom. A person who is rich in faith will never go without. God always provides for them. How do you store up your treasures in Heaven? You do that by giving alms, by making yourselves purses that wax not old, by meeting the needs of the brethren. You give and it will be given unto you. When you get out in that wilderness, don't you want to have something stored up in the Bank of Heaven? He said, “A treasure in the heavens that faileth not.” If you pack food out there into that wilderness, it will fail you. If you pack gold out into that wilderness, the world will plunder you. But if you store it up by giving, God said He will give unto you. The way of God is to give what you have, and then God will multiply it back. It's happened to me many, many times that when I did not have enough money to take care of my needs, I would just take what I had and give it. And God has never failed me, not once. I walked by faith and raised five children, and God always met our needs. Now, one time we were forced into a fast as a trial of our faith, and that's the only time we were ever put in that position, but we got in a position many times where God literally multiplied food, multiplied money, and even multiplied gas in our tank. We got to see wondrous miracles from God, and we're still seeing them today! Now I'm not asking for anything; I'm just sharing with you how to get prepared for what's coming. And we give: nobody charges anybody for anything from our ministry. The volunteers who supply the materials on our site are people of faith. They supply those materials as their ministry, and other people bless those volunteers because the volunteers are giving. God sees to it that His Word is fulfilled. (Jer.1:12) Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it. He stands behind His Word, and He will never fail you. He cannot fail. One thing I've learned about God is that He can do everything but fail. He will supply your every need according to His riches in glory. Don't fear the wilderness. God designed and ordained this wilderness. He's even ordained the Beast that's going to cause this wilderness. He's ordained Pharaoh's army to get behind God's people and force them out there into that wilderness. God is not going to fail you. Learn to walk by faith because the wilderness will be nothing for the people who walk by faith. In fact it can be joyful. But for those who are fearful and murmur and complain and walk by sight, they are not going to make it through (Num.11:1; 1Co.10:10, etc.). God is doing all this because He's raising up believers. (Heb.10:38) But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. Listen, we are children of the last Adam, Jesus Christ. We are a new-creation man, meant to live above this world, meant to walk in His ways and His steps, and that includes going into the “wilderness” as He did. (Mat.4:1) Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. (2) And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterward hungered. (3) And the tempter came and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. (4) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (5) Then the devil taketh him into the holy city; and he set him on the pinnacle of the temple, (6) and saith unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and, On their hands they shall bear thee up, Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone. (7) Jesus said unto him, Again it is written, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God. (8) Again, the devil taketh him unto an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (9) and he said unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (10) Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (11) Then the devil leaveth him; and behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Jesus went through a 40-day wilderness trial before He overcame and then He brought God's people in His day through their wilderness. In our day, those who are in the First-fruits corporate body each go through their individual wilderness first. There, they learn to walk in the principles of the Kingdom, which is the purpose of the wilderness. Moses was a First-fruits. He went through a 40-year wilderness before he overcame (Act.7:30-34) and then he went on to bring God's people through their own wilderness (Num.14:34). Many people don't understand that the wilderness is available to every Christian worldwide because the wilderness is not some physical location to which we go; it's a place in the Spirit. It's a place where we no longer depend upon the world and the principles of the world. It's a place where we are, instead, ruled by the principles of the Kingdom. We no longer trust in the world for our sustenance, our salvation, our healing, our deliverance, and so on. Scripture tells us that most of the Israelites who left Egypt never learned that lesson: (Psa.78:19) Yea, they spake against God; They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? When they could no longer depend upon the flesh-pots of Egypt, they murmured continually. They found it hard to trust in the living God. The Israelites are just a type and a shadow for us. They went into a literal wilderness, but our wilderness is spiritual. Everybody who walks by faith goes into the wilderness. Everybody who walks by faith in the commands and principles and promises of God automatically gives up salvation by works. The promises of God are for the whole man. They are meant to save us completely in spirit, soul, body, and circumstances, and they are meant to do that totally outside the principles of this world. As a matter of fact, He even gave us all-inclusive promises: (Mar.11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received them (The original Greek word there is past tense.), and ye shall have them. Why does Jesus tell us to believe we have already received them? It's because everything that has to do with the salvation that the Lord gave us has already been accomplished. (1Pe.2:24) Who his own self bare our sins (that's past tense because it happened behind us) in his body upon the tree, that we, having died (that's past tense) unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed. Again, the word there is past tense. All of the promises that have to do with the sacrifice of Christ on the cross are past tense. (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved (That's what it says in the original; it's past tense.) through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory. You have been saved! (Col.1:13) Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love. You have been delivered out of the power of darkness. (Rom.6:18) And being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. (11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. You were made free from sin! You see, when you realize that the Lord has already done all this, there is nothing you can do of yourself to bring it to pass. You have to walk by faith in the fact that it is already accomplished. You are already healed, you are already delivered, you are already blessed, you are already provided for and so on because all these things were accomplished at the cross. We enter into the New Testament “rest,” which many Christians erroneously think is a Saturday or a Sunday, but let's take a close look at what Scripture says about this “rest.” (Heb.4:1) Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. You see, the promises cause us to enter the rest because the promises are past tense, and when you believe them you have to stop your own works to try to bring them to pass. (3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest; even as he hath said.... When you believe these promises, you enter into the rest. For instance, you cannot do anything to get healed if you believe you were healed. The reason men run to man to get healing is because they don't believe Jesus has already healed them, but I'm telling you something that I know. For the past 55-plus years, I've been receiving healing because I realize that I don't have to do anything to bring it to pass. All I have to do is thank God for it. (Heb.13:8) Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday and to-day, [yea] and for ever. He still heals everyone who comes to Him by faith (Mat.4:24; 6:19; 12:15; 14:36; Mar.3:10; Luk.4:40; etc.) If you accept that you were healed at the cross and you are not harboring unforgiveness or in any willful sin, then there's nothing that can keep you from receiving your healing. Hold fast to the confession of your hope that it waver not, for He is faithful that promised. (Heb.4:9) There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God. The word “sabbath” there is the Greek word sabbatismos and it doesn't mean “a day of rest.” It means “a continual keeping of rest.” This is the true Sabbath that remains for the people of God. We have to cease from our own works every day. (10) For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. God doesn't want our works; He doesn't believe in salvation by works. Whether you are talking about your spirit, your soul, your body or your circumstances, salvation is not by self-effort. As the apostle Paul taught us, (2Co.12:9) And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. You see, when we stop trying to save ourselves, God's very powerful to do it for us, just as He did for Paul, who went through a lot of trials because of the “thorn in the flesh” that was given to him. (7) And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch. People like to say that the “thorn in the flesh” was a disease of the eyes or some other disability, but the Scripture plainly tells us that it was “a messenger of Satan to buffet” him. Paul lists for us these “buffetings”: (2Co.11:23) Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft. (24) Of the Jews five times received I forty [stripes] save one. (25) Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; (26) [in] journeyings often, [in] perils of rivers, [in] perils of robbers, [in] perils from [my] countrymen, [in] perils from the Gentiles, [in] perils in the city, [in] perils in the wilderness, [in] perils in the sea, [in] perils among false brethren; (27) [in] labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. (28) Besides those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches. He was brought into all those situations through weakness, and in Paul's weakness God was made powerful. (29) Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is caused to stumble, and I burn not? (30) If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weakness. We need to do the same thing; we need to be weak to save ourselves. Many Christians today don't receive the deliverance they need because they keep trying to save themselves by their own efforts. Yet, what did Paul say? (2Ti.3:10) But thou didst follow my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, patience, (11) persecutions, sufferings. What things befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. God delivered Paul because he was weak to save himself. He gave himself into the hands of God because he believed the promises of God; he believed the Lord would always deliver him. (2Ti.4:17) But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. (18) The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom [be] the glory forever and ever. Amen. And when Paul said the Lord would “save” him, he meant he would be saved like the Bible uses the word for “saved,” which is the Greek sozo. The word sozo is used for every manner of salvation of spirit, soul, body and circumstances. Sozo is used for deliverance from demons, for healing the body, for salvation of the soul, provision for the body, and so on. It's the same word the disciples used when they cried out to Jesus as their boat was sinking: (Mat.8:23) And when he was entered into a boat, his disciples followed him. (24) And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. (25) And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Save (that's the word sozo), Lord; we perish. (26) And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. (27) And the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him? They said, “Save, Lord,” and He saved them. “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work.” Do you believe that? We're supposed to be going into a wilderness now, saints. You can choose to enter into it by faith, by trusting in the promises of God, because God cannot fail you if you believe in His promises. Or you can be forced into it, along with the Church, in the coming Tribulation. If you walk by faith now, then you are walking into that spiritual wilderness, and I want to tell you that the wilderness is not as bad as you've heard. The Lord told me many years ago, “I'm sending you through a wilderness, so that you can tell My people that I still supply there,” and He has proven that to me over and over by putting me in a position of weakness. For instance, the disciples never took up offerings for themselves; they only took up offerings for other people, so the Lord wouldn't let me take up offerings. He wouldn't let me tell anybody my personal needs. He wouldn't let me store up my treasures on earth. He wouldn't let me borrow money. He wouldn't let me sell things. He wouldn't let me take any government benefits. When after many years, just recently, I received Social Security I have given it all away. And through all of that, I haven't worked for man, and I haven't taken any worldly benefits. God has faithfully sustained me; He's paid for everything all along the way. He put me in a wilderness, but it has nothing to do with a physical wilderness, and He's never failed to meet our needs. I shared with you previously how I raised five children: they didn't know doctors, they didn't know medicine, they didn't know anything but the power of God. And God always fed them, except for one time when the Lord put the trial of a fast on them. For all of these years, God has faithfully fed us, paid our bills, made sure our lights stayed on, made sure our gas stayed on and so on. He's been totally, 100% faithful. I was made capable to do this by His grace of unmerited favor. Even faith is a gift of God; ask for it. Yes, we are all going into a wilderness, but it's one that God made, and He made it for our good. You will see the world economy crash to create for God's chosen a wilderness. He is separating us from the world. He is behind the Beast kingdom and He is bringing the mark of the Beast (Rev.3:17) to force us into this coming wilderness. The whole world is going to hate us. We won't have the help of “Egypt,” just as Israel didn't have the help of Egypt. We are going to be thrust upon the mercy and grace of God, and the only thing we really need to be sustained is to repent of our sins and believe His Word. And when we do that, we also should expect that we will be tried. Even Apostle Paul talked about hungering and thirsting, but notice, he didn't starve to death. He overcame in the trial. God did the same thing with the Israelites. He brought them to one place of lack after another, to see if they were going to walk by faith or if they were going to complain. Sadly, they failed God, as the natural man always does, but we have something new in the New Testament. We have a born-again experience; we have the power of the Holy Spirit. Some people are going to go through the wilderness just like Joshua and Caleb. They are going to be walking in the steps of Jesus Christ and they are going to be victorious. When you are tried over and over, and you see each time that God is faithful, you enter into the rest. You just hold fast to your confession and hold fast to the Word. You don't even worry about your trial anymore. You just rest in Him because you become hardened to your flesh, you become hardened to the world, you become hardened to temptation. (Rom.5:3) And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness (“patience”). As a matter of fact, I've enjoyed the tribulation. The tribulation is a trial on the flesh, but it's so neat to see God being a personal God and loving you enough to look after everything. That's what He really wants to do. He doesn't want to share His glory with man, which He's been having to do because His people always run to the world. They run to Egypt and its methods and its ways. Well, the Lord put me and my family in the wilderness, and I'd like to share some testimonies of how the Lord has been faithful to sustain us. One time in particular, the Lord actually multiplied food for us. We had run out of everything in the house, except for some spaghetti, so my wife cooked up a pot of spaghetti and we prayed over that pot because we didn't have anything else. But I want you to know that we weren't even considering that God wasn't going to bring any more for us to eat because He had been doing this for us for quite some time. Anyway, my wife cooked up this fairly big pot of spaghetti, and it was about three-quarters full when we blessed it, and we started eating. We probably ate that pot down to lower than halfway, and when we were done, we didn't think about it; we just shoved that pot into the refrigerator. The next day, when we took it back out and my wife lifted the lid, we saw that God had refilled the pot! She said, “David, do you remember that the spaghetti was down to here?” And she made a mark on the side. I said, “Yes, I remember.” Saints, the Lord had replaced everything we had eaten. God is awesome! You can't get anywhere where He can't supply. Think about those Israelites. He brought those Israelites water out of a rock. God can bring you water in the middle of a wilderness (Exo.17:1-7; Num.20:2-13), He can pay your taxes out of a fish's mouth (Mat.17:24-27), He can bring you flesh out of the sky (Exo.16:1-13; Num.11:18-20; 31-34) and bread out of the sky (Exo.16:14-36; Num.11:7-9). Now, if our God can bring several million Israelites through a wilderness like that and feed them, just think what He can do with us, who are actually filled with His Spirit! Another experience we had, which I thought was even more awesome, made me realize that you really cannot get anywhere God can't feed you. (Php.4:19) And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. If our God will supply our every need according to His riches in glory, then it has nothing to do with the economy and nothing to do with our surroundings. Even if you're in a desert, it has nothing to do with any of that. God made the promise; He's the One Who stands behind it and He will take care of you. On one occasion, we came to another situation where we had run out of everything in the house to eat and my wife asked, “What are we going to do?” I said, “Well, the Lord sent us here,” and she agreed. She said, “Yes.” So I told her, “You set the table and we'll go sit down at the table, and we'll eat.” So she did that, and then she and I and our five children sat down around the table with these empty plates in front of us. Next, I prayed a simple prayer, really the only kind I know. I prayed, “Father, You sent us here and we're asking You to please fill these plates or fill our tummies.” That's just the way it came out of my mind and I'm sure the Lord put it in there because He wanted to show us something. (Php.2:13) For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. And so the prayer had no sooner come out of my mouth when my oldest son said, “Dad, I'm full. I don't need to eat.” It wasn't long before another one said it, then another, then another one, and then I realized I was full, too. I thought, “Isn't that something!” You know, the Lord didn't have to multiply anything. If He multiplied anything, He multiplied it in our stomachs. He filled all of us while we were just sitting there at the table. Then there was one time I decided I wanted to grow tomatoes. It wasn't the Lord; I made that decision on my own. God didn't call me to grow tomatoes; He called me to study the Word of God and and share it with His people. But I just decided, “Well, I'll take on this hobby. I'll plant some tomatoes.” Now, the house we lived in at that time was under big oak trees and we had very little sunshine in my yard, except for one place, so I planted the tomatoes in five-gallon buckets. That way, I could move them to keep them in the sun as the season went on. Soon, lots of little tomatoes popped out, but they hardly got to be any size at all before the birds came and took them all away. And I asked, “Lord, why did You let that happen?” The Lord answered, “I didn't call you to plant tomatoes; that was your idea. I have other things for you to do. Now get about what I told you to do.” So, of course, I told Him, “Yes, Sir!” and I never said anything to anybody about trying to grow my own tomatoes. Well, the very next day, a lady who was acquainted with us was going to a local tomato farm to get tomatoes for her family, and while she was out there picking these monster tomatoes, the Lord spoke to her and said, “I want you to pick a bag of these for David Eells.” She said, “Okay.” And she brought me a big bag of the largest, most luscious-looking tomatoes I'd seen in a very long time. You know, the Lord was kind of rubbing my nose in it when the lady brought me those tomatoes the next day and I thought to myself, “I really couldn't have grown anything like those, Lord.” I had to come to that place of weakness before He would do this miracle. We've also often prayed for very specific things, and the Lord has always done miracles for us. One morning, we prayed for Him to send us poultry, mayonnaise, and cheese. We asked Him for those three things and we didn't tell anybody, not a soul. This is the way God gets the glory. I remember a brother many years ago, who was an elder in the Church with me. He used to be a part of the prosperity movement, where the people would brag out in public about what God was going to do. They would tell everybody, “I'm believing God for this,” or, “I'm believing God for that,” so eventually someone else in the congregation would feel like they had to have compassion on their brother in “need” and they would bring it to them. God doesn't get any glory from that. When you ask God for something, just believe Him. Then, when it comes, He gets the credit. So we didn't tell anybody about our needs, but that day and the next day, all three of those things came. We had a friend who was going out of town, and she had this large jar of mayonnaise that she didn't want to leave in her refrigerator until she came back, so she brought it over to us. And then another person brought us a turkey and the cheese. It was exactly what we asked from God. You may wonder, “Would God do that for me, David?” I guarantee you He would. God is no respecter of persons. (Act.10:34) And Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: (35) but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him. God is a respecter of faith, but He's no respecter of persons. He won't do anything for me that He won't do for you. I'm just trying to teach you how to be weak and to exercise faith at the same time, so that you are in this ideal position in the wilderness to see miracles from God. We've received so many over the years, I've forgotten most of them, but I can tell you that He consistently met our needs and we saw many, many miracles. Sometimes, even if we had money, we would believe God for clothes and shoes and toys for our children and they would come. I like to share this next story because it tickles me. My children all wanted to go camping one day, but when I was a kid, I did so much camping, I've had enough of it. I like my bed and I was making excuses. Well, I'd been back there before, walking through the woods where they wanted to go, and finally I told them, “There's nothing there to start a fire with and, really, we don't have any permission to cut down any of those trees back there,” but they were begging me, “Awww, Daddy, please.” So I gave in and we packed up our tents and other gear, and we took off into the woods. Now, there was a downed tree in the little opening in the woods that we picked for our campsite, and I want you to know that downed trees were hard to find in those woods. We set up our tents and I sent the kids out to gather firewood, but everything they dragged back was either rotten, or little twigs and branches, or pieces of tree bark. I told them, “That stuff just makes smoke; it doesn't really make fire.” And I sent them out again, and while I was waiting, I walked about 20 feet away from the tent but still in the clearing. I was kind of praying, asking the Lord to provide for us, and I had told them earlier that there was nothing to use for a fire, and we couldn't cut down other people's trees. Well, I had walked maybe 20 or so feet away from the tent when I came across this little lump on the ground. The floor of those woods was completely covered with leaves, and this was just a lump in the leaves, but when I kicked it as I walked through it, I hit something solid. So I backed up and raked all the leaves off, and there was a pillowcase on the ground. I pulled the pillowcase back, and there was a Poulan chainsaw on the ground. I thought, “Wow! Wouldn't it be something if this would crank?” because we had a downed tree right there by the campsite. Sure enough, it cranked. I cut up enough wood to have a really good fire the whole time we were there. I tell you, when that chainsaw cranked and I cut up that wood, I was thinking, “I'm sorry, Lord! Forgive me! I repent, because I said You couldn't supply us with wood back here.” My boys said they probably knew the kid that had that saw and that it probably was stolen so we gave it to the police who said if no one claimed it within 90 days we could have it. Well they called us to come get it. I didn't need it so I sold it to a Poulan dealer. And I ended up paying a bill with the money. Father has it all figured out. God had somebody plant a chainsaw out in the middle of the woods so it would be there waiting for us because God sees the end from the beginning. He doesn't dwell in time; He has no problem meeting your needs. He will have it there when you get there. (Isa.65:24) And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. See, He answers before we call, and He can have our provision already there, or He can manufacture it. It makes no difference to Him. When Jesus brought the disciples into the wilderness, He multiplied the food there. (Mat.14:15) And when even was come, the disciples came to him, saying, The place is desert (The Greek word there is eremia and it can be translated as “desert,” “wilderness” or “uninhabited place.”), and the time is already past; send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food. (16) But Jesus said unto them, They have no need to go away; give ye them to eat. (17) And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. (18) And he said, Bring them hither to me. (19) And he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. (20) And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. (21) And they that did eat were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Jesus was raising up disciples. He was their teacher and He was showing them, “This is how you do it.” Then they went off into their tribulation, the Book of Acts, and they repeated what they saw. The Man-child, Who was Jesus, was God's provision in the wilderness, and nothing has changed. God's going to do it again; He's just going to repeat it with a larger group of people. Since we didn't have a big worldly income, we prayed for everything and God brought it. Back before I started full-time in ministry, we decided we were going to stop using money for the things that we needed. Instead, we started praying for what we needed, and we saw God just do miracles. Things we would normally buy with money, we prayed, and God would bring them. Any money we had, we would use for His Kingdom. There are different ways you can enter into the wilderness, but all of them give you confidence. You'll find that God's going to be there and He's going to supply your needs. If you need something, pray for it. Put faith in God. It honors Him, and it builds your faith. My youngest daughter came to me one day with a Sears catalog and she said, “Daddy, I need a swimming pool.” Her small wading pool would not hold water anymore because the vinyl was cracked from the sun. She started looking in the catalog, and I said, “Well, baby, you know where we get everything like that, don't you?” She answered, “Yep! Will you pray for me for one like this?” So we looked at the one from the catalog and we prayed and agreed in faith that God was going to bring that swimming pool. Well, you know God can give you something better than what you pray for, can't He? I think it was only about a week or so later that we were all in the house when there came a knock on the door, and when my wife went and answered the door, I heard a lady's voice. She said, “I'm looking for two little boys who came down and cut my grass. I live about five blocks from here, on the other end of the golf course, and I'm looking for those boys who cut my grass.” Then she happened to look past my wife. She saw one of my boys, and she said, “Oh, I see I've found the right place.” It's actually amazing she found us because the boys didn't give her a good description of where we lived, but the Lord led her right to our door. She went on, “I'd like to make a proposition with you boys. I have this 3-1/2 foot, above-ground swimming pool that's still in the box. It has a filter, ladder and pump. Everything that goes with it is still there. I was going to set it up in my garage and exercise in it, but I've decided I'm not going to do that. So if you'll cut my grass a couple of times, I'll give that pool to you.” And they were just so happy to cut the grass for her. Then they set up the pool and had a good time in that thing for several years. Of course, Jennifer, my daughter, was just overjoyed to see God answer her prayer that quickly. Children remember that, even if they go out into the world, they remember that God is real. They remember that He keeps His Word, and one day God will use that to bring them back. We had a tremendous life like this. We didn't have a lot of money, but the very fact that we didn't have a lot of money made us depend upon God. And in depending upon God, we got to see these awesome miracles. Another thing God did to put us into a position of weakness was we never borrowed money because the Bible promises, (Deu.28:12) The Lord will open unto thee his good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And Paul said, (Rom.13:8) Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. So we took God at His Word. We figured if we didn't borrow, we would be weak, but God would be strong on our behalf, and I have some tremendous miracles to share with you later concerning not borrowing and seeing God answer. The Bible teaches against “suretyship.” (Pro.11:15) He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it; But he that hateth suretyship is secure. The Hebrew word there actually means “to be a guarantor of an agreement; to give or to be security”; in other words, “to mortgage.” It means guaranteeing to pay back what has been borrowed, but we can't even guarantee that we're going to be here tomorrow. And the Bible warns us against making promises, pledges or guarantees of any sort. (Mat.5:33) Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: (34) but I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; (35) nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. (36) Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black. (37) But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil [one]. (Jas.5:12) But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; that ye fall not under judgment. Who do we think we are to promise or pledge anything? (Pro.17:18) A man void of understanding striketh hands (That's the way an agreement was legally sealed.), And becometh surety in the presence of his neighbor. “A man void of understanding” is someone who does this; in other words, it's not a wise thing to do. I know it's a principle of the world, but the economies of the world are all going to crumble because they are not obeying God's principles. How much faith God's people would have if they were put into the position where they couldn't run to the world to borrow money. They would see miracles, but most people don't want to wait on God to see a miracle; they're too quick to run back to Egypt. You're probably wondering, “How could it be that we would not mortgage and God will answer? How would we receive homes?” Well, the home I had, God gave to me because I believed Him and I refused to borrow money. That's why I have it and it didn't cost me a thing. God is sovereign! Amen. (Pro.22:7) The rich ruleth over the poor; And the borrower is servant to the lender. When you borrow money, you're no longer a steward of what you have because what you have actually belongs to someone else. Jesus said, (Luk.14:33) So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. We renounce ownership; we are only stewards. But a steward who belongs to a bank is not a steward for the Lord. The borrower is a servant to the lender and the rich rule over the poor. The rich are running this world, folks, because they have everybody's money. (Pro.22:26) Be thou not one of them that strike hands, Or of them that are sureties for debts. (27) If thou hast not wherewith to pay, Why should he take away thy bed from under thee? A poor person's bed or outer clothing was commonly used as their collateral of last resort (Exo.22:27; Deu.24:13). Proverbs has a lot to say against suretyship and it's ignored by a lot of people, but I never would have seen the miracles that I have seen if I had borrowed the money instead of learning to just ask God. (Mar.11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received them, and ye shall have them. When God gives us such awesome promises, why would we borrow money and have to pay it back with interest for years and years in bondage? The Israelites were forbidden by God to participate in usury (interest), or in suretyship (mortgaging), or in any such things, but when they went into bondage in Babylon, they were caught up back into it. We only need to ask God and wait on Him. He said, “Believe you have received.” If you think, “Well, God might not answer,” that's not faith! The Bible doesn't teach borrowing to get money; it teaches giving to get money. (Luk.6:38) Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. I've proven that many, many times. When you give, God will give it back to you multiplied, just as the Scripture teaches, but notice it doesn't teach going under the Law. (2Co.9:6) But this [I say], He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. People want to reap but they don't want to sow. The Bible teaches that first you have to sow! You “give and it will be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom.” (7) [Let] each man [do] according as he hath purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity (not under law): for God loveth a cheerful giver. (8) And God is able to make all grace abound unto you (That's awesome!); that ye, having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound unto every good work (Isn't that something? Just for giving bountifully, God will make sure that you will always have all sufficiency in everything and will abound in every good work.): (9) as it is written, He hath scattered abroad, he hath given to the poor; His righteousness abideth for ever. (10) And he that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness. People who don't really believe this are stingy and they hoard, but that's not the way for God to multiply. You need to sow. Think about sowing one little seed and how it brings forth. It brings forth multiplied, and even if you are poor in the eyes of the world, you will have all of your needs met. In the eyes of the world, Jesus was poor, but according to the Kingdom, Jesus was rich because He had His needs met everywhere He went. It was the same for His disciples, too. Their needs were met wherever they went. The riches of the world were just distractions to them, but their needs were met wherever they went because they were givers. Borrowing just puts you deeper in debt; giving gets you out of debt. From my own experience, there have been many times when I saw that what I had would not meet my need, and the money that I had would not cover my bills. And I would just take the money that I did have, and I would give it, and in giving it, it would come back multiplied. People worry, “Well, if I give it, maybe it won't come back in time!” God doesn't dwell in time; He answers before we call. (Isa.65:24) And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. When you ask Him to do something, He's going to do it, so don't worry about it. For instance, many times I have put what money I did have into the mailbox to send to somebody in need, and then gone to the same mailbox only to find that what I sent out had been multiplied back to me. You might think, “But, David, we don't give in order to receive.” That's a moot point. That has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. If you do give, you will receive because that's God's promise. God will see to our needs if we meet the needs of the brethren to the best of our ability, even if we don't have a lot of money. I've taught before how the Egyptians stored up under Joseph in the seven years of plenty for the seven years of famine (Genesis 41). In type, Joseph was Jesus. Both were sold out by their brethren, lied about by the harlot, and turned over to the Beast, etc,. Jesus said we should store up our riches in Heaven, and He told us how to do that. (Luk.12:33) Sell that which ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth. (34) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. He said, “Give alms, meet the needs of the brethren,” and you will have “a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.” So, give and God will give to you. You can't out-give God, folks. You just cannot do it.

Pastor Jason concludes a two part series based on Tim Keller's book, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness. In these messages, he focuses on how we break free of self idolization when we focus on the ONE Who created us. To stream the whole service go to www.youtube.com/@ecfchurch

Pastor Jason begins a two part series based on Tim Keller's book, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness. In these messages, he focuses on how we break free of self idolization when we focus on the ONE Who created us. To stream the whole service go to www.youtube.com/@ecfchurch

Faith for the Coming Wilderness (1) (audio) David Eells – 9/3/25 Father, You say in (Eph 2:8)  for by grace (unmerited favor) have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. 9  not of works, that no man should glory. Interpretation: By unearned favor God gives us His gift of faith to be what we should be. And He tells us that we don't have anything that we didn't receive from Him so how could we be proud of anything that we are able to do? With that in mind I ask     in the name of Jesus, you would let Your anointing be in our midst and to bless us all to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Give us all discernment from Your Spirit, Lord. We thank You that everything that You have done for us through Jesus Christ has all been accomplished at the cross, and we praise You for it, Father. We thank You, Lord, for using this unworthy vessel to share with the brethren a little bit more of the Word. Amen. I want to talk to you about the First-fruits and encourage you about how you can be part of that ministry. One major question that people have concerns the difference between those who will be in the First-fruits and those who will be in the in-gathering. In Exodus 23, the Bible speaks of two harvests. (Exo.23:14) Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. (15) The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep: seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it thou camest out from Egypt); and none shall appear before me empty: (We cannot bear fruit except by the unleavened bread of the pure Word. If we have done this the proof will be in the harvest.) (16) and the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labors, which thou sowest in the field: and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labors out of the field. The first-fruits are the first harvest and the rest are harvested at the end. The harvest is being brought into the Kingdom through the unleavened bread. We've learned that the First-fruits harvest is the Man-child ministry, and the ingathering harvest is those who are brought in later. Jesus was called the First-fruits who raised up His two witnesses who went out two by two to continue the harvest. (See Hidden Manna for the End Times, Chapter 7, “Maturity and Harvests,” which is available in PDF at ubm1. org), but what people want to know is, “How can I be in the First-fruits?” We'll find our answer if we examine the different types and shadows of the First-fruits. Two of the major types, of course, are Moses and Jesus. One thing we can see immediately from Moses and Jesus is that they went through a common experience, which prepared them to bring the people of God into the wilderness and teach them how to be overcomers. Moses went into the wilderness for 40 years (Act.7:30-34) and he overcame to lead the Israelites in the wilderness. Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days (Mat.4:1; Luk.4:2) and He overcame to teach the disciples. The number 40 represents “trial” or “tribulation,” so both Moses and Jesus overcame in their own trials. (Rev.2:26) And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations. (Rev.3:21) He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. In other words, dominion is given to the people of God who overcome in their wilderness trials. So where is this “wilderness” and what does it entail? Well, the wilderness is everywhere there is a Christian. We're not looking for a literal, physical desert somewhere to go into, so don't be thinking that! (2Co.3:6) Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. Anywhere God's people are, there is a wilderness available to them. Why do I say “available”? That's because God's people are like Israel when they were in Egypt, and they don't necessarily want to go into that wilderness. In some cases, God even has to force them into that wilderness. Israel had to be forced into that wilderness by Pharaoh's army behind them and by God parting the Red Sea before them. But both Moses and Jesus each went out into their personal wilderness first; first they overcame their own temptations and trials before God used them to bring others there. The wilderness is a place where you are tempted and tried, and if you want to be used to bring others there, you first have to pass the test. Let me share with you some things the Lord has taught me about this wilderness. Not long after I became a Christian, by the Lord's grace and mercy, I started going out into the wilderness because I began getting the revelation of what it entailed and what it meant. To put it very simply, in the New Testament, a “wilderness” is any place and any trial in which you are believing and acting upon the Word of God. For instance, there is a mark of the Beast coming, and most Christians know that they won't be able to buy or sell with the world anymore, unless they take that mark. They will be put into a wilderness experience where they can't go back to Egypt, just like the Israelites out in the wilderness. The Israelites were tested to see if they were really going to believe in the promises of God, which was the only thing that would sustain them in their wilderness. We're coming to the same situation in our day. If you want to be like Moses, or if you want to be like Jesus, or if you want to be like Joseph, if you want to be like these different types and shadows of the First-fruits, you have to go out into your wilderness now. These men didn't wait for the crowd to go; they led them where they had already gone. I want to tell you quite frankly that if you are not living in the wilderness, you are not living as a believer. You are rebelling against the Word of God. If you are satisfied to go along with whatever the other religious people around you are doing, that won't put you in the First-fruits. You have to act upon what you see in the Word. Let me explain this wilderness to you a little bit more before I share a few testimonies. The Word of God says that our salvation has been accomplished. It's done. The Lord has already healed us. He's already delivered us. He's already perfected us. (Joh.19:28) After this Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the scripture might be accomplished, saith, I thirst. (29) There was set there a vessel full of vinegar: so they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop, and brought it to his mouth. (30) When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit. Jesus said, “It is finished.” (Joh.16:33) These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. You see, the Lord has already overcome the world for us, and He did it by His sacrifice. He gave His Life for us. (1Pe.2:24) Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed. Notice, these are past tense. (Heb.10:14) For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. This was all accomplished at the cross! (Joh.1:29) On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world! He was the Lamb of God Who took away the sins of the world and there is a reason for that. The Bible says that God chose the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are. (1Co.1:27) But God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; (28) and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, [yea] and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are. The “things that are not” are these promises that we don't see manifested in this physical realm. God says you are healed, you are delivered, you are perfected, and your sins are all taken away, but you say, “Well, David, I don't see that in this physical realm.” That's exactly right, but the Word of God is still true! When you hold fast to these past-tense promises, you will definitely see them come to pass because that's what faith is. Faith is believing and acting on these promises. God gave awesome promises to the Israelites when they went into their wilderness, and He was very much offended that they did not believe those promises. Let's look at what He said to them, since it was basically His whole problem with Israel in the wilderness. (Num.14:11) And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them? (12) I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they. (23) Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me see it. (Because they did not believe in Him.) So, the Lord swore He would bring them into that land, but He changed His mind because all the promises of God are functional and based on our part of the Covenant, which is faith in the promises. We have to believe! (Mar.9:23) And Jesus said unto him, If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth. (24) Straightway the father of the child cried out, and said, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Jesus taught that we are supposed to believe that we have received everything that we pray for. For instance, (Mar.11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever (What does “all” leave out? Nothing!) whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received them (This is past tense in all the ancient manuscripts. It's just that the translators didn't understand why you should believe you have received something when you don't see it.) believe that ye received them, and ye shall have them. God expects us to believe before we see; He expects us to believe we've received everything the Bible promises us. (Heb.11:1) Now faith is assurance of [things] hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. If you believe you received something when you prayed for it, what are you going to do to try to bring it to pass? If you say, for instance, that you believe by the stripes of Jesus you were healed, yet you continue trying to get healed by some worldly means, what you are proving is that you don't believe the good news that Jesus already healed you at the cross. For many years, I've never missed receiving a healing. I've raised five children and they have all received healing from the Lord. They were born at home (except for my oldest) and received healing for anything they ever needed. It didn't matter if it was broken bones, diseases, or whatever. They were always healed because I acted on what I saw in the Word of God concerning healing. His Word says that you don't have to accomplish healing; you have to receive it as a free gift, just as you receive every other form of salvation as a free gift. Since “God chose … the things that are not” to bring to nothing “the things that are,” how does He do that? (Rom.4:17) … God … calleth the things that are not, as though they were. Well then, how do we do that? We just speak it as done. Every miracle that Jesus ever did, He spoke it first. Nothing was there. He spoke it first, and it came to pass. And what the Lord wants us to do is speak in agreement with the Word. (Amo.3:3) Shall two walk together, except they have agreed? We need to speak in agreement with the Word of God. If the Bible says we're healed, we need to agree with that. If we have to call for the elders to anoint us with oil so we can put our faith together to agree with that, then that's what we should do, but we need to agree with that. (Rom.6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. You are delivered from sin. Consider it done. Why are so many people anxious and troubled about their sins? It's because they don't believe the Gospel! Why are so many people anxious and troubled about getting a healing? It's because they don't believe the Gospel! Why are so many people trying to deliver themselves? It's because they are not believing and acting upon the Gospel. Salvation in any form is a free gift. You accept it by faith. You speak it by faith. It is yours. (Col.1:12) Giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; (13) who delivered us (past tense) out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. If you are attempting to save yourself and not accepting that you were delivered at the cross, then what you are proving is that you don't believe the Gospel. You believe in salvation by works. All of your self-efforts are hindering God from giving you what He wants to give you because He chose the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are. The “things that are not” are these promises. The “things that are” is the curse. Look around you; God says He healed you and sometimes you don't look healed. He says He delivered you from sin and sometimes you don't think you are delivered from sin. He says He delivered you out of the power of darkness and sometimes you think you might have demons. Apostle Paul said, (Php.4:19) And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Every need! Wow! That's awesome! “My God shall supply every need of yours.” Think about that. You need to know and confess that all of God's promises are true anywhere you are. When you get into that wilderness, God is going to be there. God told Paul in (2Co.12:9) And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. His power is true power when we are weak, when we give up our own efforts to save ourselves. In the wilderness, there was no visible means of support for the Israelites. There was no lush land or a wondrous place to raise sheep and goats and crops. It was a desert. God brought them there to prove to them that He was Jehovah-jireh; the Lord my provider. (Gen.22:14) And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. He brought them there to prove that He was their provider in all things, but they moaned, and they complained, and they wouldn't believe God, and so they fell in the wilderness because they walked by sight and not by faith. God is about to send us into a wilderness. We are coming to a place where the world will no longer cooperate with us, but will turn against us, persecute us, and separate us from their benefits. They will blame us for the judgments that are falling upon the world. There will be a brief recovery of the economy and then a collapse and wilderness.  The governments are going to look for whomever they can blame and cut off because their resources will be gone. Remember that Egypt was completely ruined by the time the Israelites went into the wilderness (Exo.10:7). But before the Israelites went into the wilderness, they had already eaten the Passover lamb. Then they came out of Egypt and passed through the Red Sea, which Paul called a “baptism.” (1Co.10:1) For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (2) and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; (3) and did all eat the same spiritual food; (4) and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ. So they were saved, they were baptized, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and went right into the wilderness. If you believe the Word of God, that's exactly what you do! You go immediately into the wilderness, even if you are a baby Christian. You walk into that wilderness, you walk into that place where you receive your sustenance out of Heaven from God and you no longer receive your sustenance from man by his methods, by the works of the flesh. When the Israelites went into their wilderness, they carried all of their provisions out there with them, but in only three days, they started running out (Exo.15:22). In spite of their own efforts, they found themselves still dependent on the hand of God. Many Christians today think that we're going to store up all these things and get prepared for the coming wilderness, but God said that “My power is made perfect in weakness.” God is bringing us into a wilderness to multiply the food (Mat.14:13- 21; Mar.6:30-44, etc.), to bring the manna out of Heaven (Exo.16:31,35; Num.11:7,9, etc.), to bring the water out of the rock (Exo.17:6; Num.20:8, etc.) He's going to do all these miraculous things and more to provide for His people, yet His people are still of a mind of salvation by works. They think, “We don't have to walk by faith! We are going to save ourselves!” Well, I can tell you that exactly what happened to the Israelites is going to happen to the Church. In the wilderness, they are going to run out of everything, and they are going to be back depending upon God because that's His plan! We have to learn to use those promises, we have to learn to use the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are. Even though we see that the promises are not yet fulfilled in this physical realm, we have to use them to provide ourselves with the things that we need. Jesus already provided us with everything right there at the cross, and only through our weakness is God's power going to be made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9). Many years ago, I was driving down the interstate and I passed over the River Jordan, except it was spelled “Jourdan” instead of “Jordan.” And when I passed over it, the thought came into my mind, “Oh, boy! Thank You, Lord! I'm going to the Promised Land!” But God immediately corrected me. He said, “No, you're not. I'm sending you through a wilderness so that you can tell My people that I still supply there.” That's what happened, and at the time, I was in a wilderness. I had been in it for many years, but the Lord helped me to explain it better. My wilderness was simply that I believed the Word of God when I was a baby Christian. I didn't have any religious background; I was raised a Catholic, but I didn't know anything about the Bible, so at home I started reading the Bible. I was just consumed with a love for the Bible! I knew that this was the truth, and so I began to act upon those awesome, precious promises that God has given us, and I began to see some wondrous miracles before I ever became mixed up with any religion. I just knew that those promises didn't pass away with the apostles. The Lord taught me in this wilderness how to receive provision from Him, and He taught me that so that I can teach it to you. It's exactly as He told me: “I'm sending you through a wilderness so that you can tell My people that I still supply there,” because we are going into a wilderness. The Tribulation period is the wilderness (Rev.12:6, 17:6). And we have to prepare for this wilderness, but not in the way that carnally-minded Christians have been teaching. I can tell you right now that how they are getting prepared is not going to last. To get prepared to walk through this wilderness, you need to walk by faith in the promises of God. You need to act on what you read in the Word, and if you will do that, you will be weak. That's because you can do nothing to bring to pass a promise that God says He's already given you. If He says that He has healed you and you go running to man for healing, then you prove you haven't believed that verse yet! And you are not in the wilderness because, when you are in the wilderness, you are in a place of weakness to the flesh. The flesh cannot save itself in the wilderness; it has to turn to God. God started teaching me these principles of just acting upon the Word, and before I knew what a wilderness was, I was going there. So you don't have to wait to go into the wilderness. In fact, if you go there and you overcome now, you will be one of those whom God will use to bring others there and teach them the ways of the Lord. (Isa.55:8) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. (9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. The ways of the Lord are not our ways. He has methods that are not our methods. You don't have to read the Gospel very far before you realize that. Jesus didn't use the methods of the world to bring about the deliverance of God's people. When did Jesus send anybody to a psychiatrist or a doctor? He spoke the Word of God! He called the things that are not as though they were. We're going to do the same thing! If you make it through that wilderness, you are going to do the same thing. Some of what God began to teach me about living in the wilderness had to do with my finances. For instance, I have been ministering for 55 years now, and I've never taken an offering. “Taking” an offering is an oxymoron! You can't “take” an offering; it's supposed to be freely given! Now, I have preached in other assemblies where people have taken up offerings for me.  And some of them, I'm sorry to say, were use to their preacher's “beatings” to make them give through condemnation. But the Lord taught me at the beginning, (Mat.10:8) … freely ye received, freely give (Deu.15:10; Psa.112:9, etc.). God wanted me to give everything that He gave to me, to just give it freely, knowing that He is Almighty God and that He will take care of me. And when I ministered, I never asked for an offering, nor do I talk about money in our local assembly. I know that in most churches, they talk about money every time they meet, but I don't talk about money because God puts it in people's hearts to meet the needs of the brethren. So I freely give and for the past 55 years, God has freely given to me. Truly, if you prove God's Word, you will be very impressed with God. I'm very impressed with God! I know He watches over me, I know that He knows my needs, I know that He provides for my needs and I know that I don't have to stand around and beg Him or beg men. I've never taken an offering and I continue to freely give of my ministry to people. We freely give away our materials and our books on our website, but God puts it in people's hearts to give back. (Luk.6:38) Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. Wow! That's awesome! And I've never had to condemn people into giving to me, either. I don't even have to mention it. I have taught on giving, of course, but I've never taught on giving to me, and I've never taught on putting people under the Law to give to me. The disciples never took up an offering for themselves but for saints who were suffering elsewhere. For instance, you can't find the command to tithe in the New Testament. Jesus said that tithing was of the Law. (Mat.23:23) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done (under the Law), and not to have left the other undone. There's no place in the New Testament where God commanded Christians to be tithers. That was a law that was given in the Old Testament to the Old Covenant people. If a preacher drags it over into the New Covenant, it's because he's not obeying Jesus. He's not freely giving and freely receiving. What he's doing is condemning people into supporting him because he has no faith. When Jesus sent out the disciples, they were men of faith, or He would not have ordained them, and He would not have sent them out. And when He sent them out, He told them, “Freely ye received, freely give,” and that's what they did. They didn't take up any offerings. They didn't throw any pity parties. They didn't cry about all of their needs. They trusted in Almighty God! He can take care of us and, by the way, He is not poverty-stricken! I learned very quickly that tithing was something that churches used because they didn't trust God, so they were putting God's people under the Law, which was pronounced to be a curse. (Deu.28:15) But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. (Jas.2:10) For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one [point,] he is become guilty of all. I learned that Jesus said, (Luk.14:33) So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. We are not stewards of 10% and owners of 90% anymore! Read the New Testament! We are called “stewards” of 100%!  We handle it for God. We've been bought with a price (1Co.6:19-20; 7:23). We are not our own and neither is anything that we have. We are bondservants, and everything that we have belongs to our Master. He's the One Who tells us what to do with it, how much to give, where to give and to whom. Yes, we do in type and shadow, bring our tithes into the storehouse (Mal.3:10), which in the Old Testament was in the middle of the temple, but in the New Testament, God's people are the temple. When Jesus returns to judge the nations, He's not going to say anything about the tithe. (Mat.25:34) Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (35) for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in (Notice its all about how we treat the temple.); (36) naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (37) Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? (38) And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? (39) And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? (40) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me. You see, you bring your “tithes” into the storehouse by how you treat the temple. At times, God has even called on me to give away my car and my house, but anything that I gave away, He always gave back to me and, in most cases, even better. He has never failed me! When I've been to minister as an invited speaker at other assemblies, I always appreciated it if they chose to give me an offering, but I never asked for one. I also learned that it pleased God if I didn't tell everyone my needs. I just told Him my needs. There's not one instance in the Bible where an apostle took up offerings or told anyone their own needs. The only time they took up an offering was for someone else; they took up an offering for the saints in Jerusalem who were in desperate need, because when they came to Christianity, the Jews around them were plundering them. (Heb.10:34) For ye both had compassion on them that were in bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions, knowing that ye have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. And so Paul had the churches take up offerings for the saints (1Co.16:3; 2Co.9:5; 12:16-18; Php.4:15-19), but he never took up an offering for himself and nobody else did, either. They were men of faith, and they walked by faith. They knew they were working for the Father and that the Father would pay them. You get to see the glory of God if you don't do things in the flesh. I'll give you one little instance. But first please remember that we have nothing to brag about. Everything comes from our awesome God by unmerited favor through faith which is His gift to us. When my children were young, I was impressed that I needed to go to Louisiana to visit some relatives. Well, this was at a time when I didn't have any money whatsoever. Even my children asked, “How are we going to Louisiana?” It was a pretty good drive, four-and-a-half hours from where we lived, and I told them, “We are going to go by faith.” I never let on to anybody in our assembly, “Well, I'm going to Louisiana and I don't have any money.” The next day, we all piled into our car, which was out of gas, and we headed out to Louisiana. Now, as I was going out of the door, I saw where a sister had left her Bible on the table, so I picked it up and I said, “We'll drop this by on our way.” You know, I was convinced that God was just going to put gas in my car because He had done it many times before. And when we stopped by this sister's house, I knocked on her door and I handed her the Bible when she answered. I said, “You left this at our house and I didn't want you to go through the weekend without having the Word.” I turned around to leave, but she said, “David, the Lord is telling me to give this to you,” and she handed me a $20 bill. Now, in those days, a $20 bill would fill up even a big station wagon, which is what I had with five kids in it. So I thanked her and I turned around and went back to town, and I took that money and filled the tank up with gas.  We were excited because the pump clicked off at $20. Folks, you never saw a tank of gas in a big gas hog car like mine go as far as that tank of gas went! And when we took off for Louisiana, we still didn't have any money because we had put it all in the gas tank. After we got to Louisiana and were visiting, an assembly over there somehow found out I was in town. They decided to invite me over to preach and, sure enough, they took up an offering and blessed me. I came back with a whole lot more money than when I left. Praise be to God! I remember taking my kids to the beach when we didn't have any gas in the car and God put gas in the car. And I remember one time a friend called me to come and pick him up because he had run his car off the road, and he was stuck. That was when my car was empty. It had been empty for days, and I had been driving it that way for days, and he was on the other side of town. I said, “Lord, Your Word says, ‘Give to him that asketh of thee' (Mat.5:42; Luk.6:30), and he's asking, so I'm going!” I got in my car that I'd been driving for several days without any gas in it, and I went over there and I picked him up where he was stuck alongside the road. I dragged him out and came back home. You know, I drove that car for a week and it never ran out of gas. There was another time I actually did have plenty of money, but the gas stations were closed. When I lived over in Baton Rouge, I once had to go to work very, very early in the morning, and I didn't realize that all those stations weren't open that early. I went to a couple of them, and they were closed, but I decided, “Well, Lord, nothing is stopping You from putting gas in my tank. I'm going.” So I jumped up on the interstate, and before I had gone anywhere, I saw that gas tank needle start climbing; I think it climbed up about a third of a tank while I was driving down the interstate, and then it stopped. I asked, “Well, Lord, why didn't You just go ahead and fill it up?” And I heard Him answer, “Well, I always give you what you need.” I said, “That's right!” It didn't matter to me if I ran out because I've seen my car run without any gas in it. It makes no difference to God. We must become as a child in trusting our Father. To such belongs the Kingdom of heaven. God bless you to believe and trust in His promises you find in the Word of His provision and care for you!

How do you get into the family of God? The answer is through the Person and work of Jesus Christ, the One Who is full of grace and truth. Our call is to point people to Jesus, the Light of the world, so that they can join His royal family and experience His never-ending grace.

Scores of people today, even in many of our churches, walk around aimless. They work their jobs and take care of their families, but they struggle to understand what it is that God wants them to do.He's told us! As with every other situation, His Word speaks directly to our circumstances.Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”The Lord requires of us that we have the mind of Christ. That we aim for showing justice and mercy to those we encounter. And notice: we are to love doing these things, not just go through the motions. And finally, we are to remember to be humble. There's only One Who is perfect, and that is the Father. In our present state, we are to emulate the qualities that caused His Son Jesus to turn the world upside down for good.If you ever wonder what your purpose is, start with these awesome words from the prophet Micah.Let's pray.Lord, help us to keep in front of us at all times the simplicity that is in Christ. He shows us the way. In Jesus' name, amen. Change your shirt, and you can change the world! Save 15% Off your entire purchase of faith-based apparel + gifts at Kerusso.com with code KDD15.

 (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) We're in control of very little in this life, but the One Who is, cares even more about us than we do.  

LESSON 242This Day Is God's. It Is My Gift To Him.I will not lead my life alone today. I do not understand the world, and so to try to lead my life alone must be but foolishness. But there is One Who knows all that is best for me. And He is glad to make no choices for me but the ones that lead to God. I give this day to Him, for I would not delay my coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to God.And so we give today to You. We come with wholly open minds. We do not ask for anything that we may think we want. Give us what You would have received by us. You know all our desires and our wants. And You will give us everything we need in helping us to find the way to You.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

LESSON 242This Day Is God's. It Is My Gift To Him.I will not lead my life alone today. I do not understand the world, and so to try to lead my life alone must be but foolishness. But there is One Who knows all that is best for me. And He is glad to make no choices for me but the ones that lead to God. I give this day to Him, for I would not delay my coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to God.And so we give today to You. We come with wholly open minds. We do not ask for anything that we may think we want. Give us what You would have received by us. You know all our desires and our wants. And You will give us everything we need in helping us to find the way to You.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

Send us a messageAs the world spirals into more chaos with each passing day, and the Prophetic Word of Truth unfolds with dramatic “pay attention” warning, it is important for the people of God to stay in a position of confidence – grounded in His Word and the guaranteed assurance of His Salvation Security.Knowing the personal names of God provides a deeper understanding of Who our Awesome Savior is, while underscoring His Love, provision, and protection over us.When we come to the full realization that we are now “one” with the God of all Creation – the Great I AM – the Alpha and the Omega – the One Who is with us and for us – who shall we fear, and of what shall we be afraid!Support the showVisit our website: https://agapelightministries.com/

If we are going to make vows and promises before the Lord, He does not let us take them lightly. We are to approach the Lord in a spirit of worship and reverence, as Jesus taught His disciples to do – not using Him as a bargaining chip. How do you view God? What is your attitude when you worship? Do you see God as a tool to help you achieve your own ends? Or do you love Him as the all-glorious One Who is worthy of all praise, honor, and reverence?

Today's Topics: 1) Gospel - Matthew 19:16-22 - A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask Me about the good? There is only One Who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to Him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2) Two aspects of the Catholic Church, divine and human https://spiritdailyblog.com/church/two-aspects 3) 10 powerful Saints every student, teacher, and parent needs for going back to school https://www.churchpop.com/10-powerful-saints-every-student-teacher-parent-needs-for-going-back-to-school/ 4) Five things to do when your teen says being Catholic is boring https://catholic-link.org/catholic-boring-teens-parents/

In this week's episode, Dennis Jernigan shares the story behind his song,  “I Will Trust In You” from the recording, Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1." That mp3 is available at https://www.dennisjernigan.com/store/product.php?c=24&p=2353 The lyrics can be found below. You can join Dennis and the people of All In All Church for live-stream worship on the first Wednesday evening of each month. Just go to https://www.facebook.com/therealdennisjernigan at 7 PM CST. Mark it in your calendar. Worship with All in All Church - First Wednesday of each month. Daily Devotions for Kingdom Seekers, Vol. 3 is available at https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Devotions-Kingdom-Seekers-Vol-ebook/dp/B081K8TZLX Check out my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/DennisJernigan and read through the various tiers of support and discover the myriad of benefits you will receive based on the level of support you choose. If you're willing, go ahead and sign up! You will find the show notes and lyrics below: Hello and welcome to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast. I'll be honest with you. I sometimes find it hard to believe God has blessed my life the way He has blessed it through music. I honestly have no idea how many songs I have written through the years, but they number in the thousands…most of which you will never hear on this earth. I do not share that as a boast, but I share it to show you how God has led me through my life. I have gone through much blood, sweat, and tears to receive and write down each of those songs. I have endured so much pain during certain periods of my life that put so much pressure on me that songs like Wounded Soldier or Atom Bomb or If I Could Just Sit With You Awhile were literally like lifelines sent from God's heart to mine. Even as I record this podcast I am in a great deal of physical pain and suffering due to Parkinson's. My attitude is one I have learned simply by living my life in relationship with Jesus. I believe God can and will use Parkinson's for my good and for His glory. That's honestly what I believe. I learned how to put off the old way of thinking and to put on the new way of thinking by simply meditating on Romans 8:28 NIV, which says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” There are still naysayers in my life who try to negate this attitude by putting down my faith in Jesus. I have heard people say things like ‘If God is so loving, why does He allow bad things to happen to good people' or ‘How could you trust a God who allows such horrible things in your life?'. The answer to that is actually quite simple. As of the release of this podcast episode, I have been on this planet for over 66 years and have been walking intimately with Jesus through my faith in Him…and He has never given me one reason to not trust Him. He is trustworthy and He is Faithful and He is True…especially when bad things happen to me or someone I love. Mankind allowed sin into the world and sin is the source of all suffering and pain. I don't know how else to say it. This week I am sharing the story behind a song of mine called I Will Trust In You. This particular song came on May 9, 2010, which happened to be day seven of a 40 Day Fast I was doing as a means of cleansing my soul, mind, and body in order to draw closer to Jesus. As another means of helping me keep my eyes and mind focused on Jesus, I was meditating daily on Psalm 40 and on Isaiah 40. This song came as I meditated on Psalm 40 verse four part ‘A' in the NIV Bible. which says, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD…” For far too many years I had placed my trust in all the wrong places and in all the wrong people, in my own performing to help make people like me; basically trying to save myself. In the process, I went through many times of betrayal and many times of emotional wounding and discovered, ultimately, that I could not even trust myself. I especially could not trust myself. To make a long story short, after all was said and done, I found myself at the rock bottom of my life having nowhere to look but up, and in that moment of utter pain and unending shame, I recognized the love of God; that God himself had been pursuing me my entire life. All those I had put my trust in for all those years, had let me down in one way or another. But the only one left standing with me and for me and beside me when I hit the bottom was the God of the universe. Jesus met me right in the depths of my depravity, loving me enough to reach as far as I could fall but also loving me enough to not leave me there in that dark and dreadful place. They say trust is earned and if that is the case, Jesus has earned it and then some! Think about it: Jesus endured pain and sorrow and suffering and torment and had the entire weight of my sin, plus the sin of the entirety of all mankind, all because He wanted to know us…and to make way for us to know Him. When I was left high and dry by others or by my own selfish thinking, He was there for me. Always has been. Always will. SONG Proverbs 3:5-6 in the New International Version of the Bible says it this way:  5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. I trusted in the Lord as a young man over 40 years ago and I find myself approaching the age of 67 and I can look back and honestly say the Lord has been more than trustworthy. Knowing him has been worth all the heartache and suffering and pain. He is worth our trust. He is worth our life. Let's trust him this next coming days.  Before I say goodbye for this week, I would humbly ask you to consider getting a copy of my brand new book titled Parkinson's & Recreation 2 - No Walk in the Parkinson's. I bare my soul in this book as to how I am dealing with Parkinson's and I believe it will encourage you whether you have Parkinson's or not. I really do. It's available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook. And if you wouldn't mind doing this for me: once you have read the book, would you consider going back to the place you purchased it online and leaving me a five star review? I have to share a couple of quick reviews from those it has already received reviews from on Amazon.com. GT writes: loved this book! It was a great mix of humorous stories and anecdotes, history, reality checks, and just an overall good reminder of how crazy life can be. We all struggle and deal with difficulties, but it is how we face those and choose our attitude that makes the difference. A meaningful quote from the book “My God wastes absolutely nothing. Not even my failures. That should speak volumes to us all.” And my favorite review so far - I will only share the first sentence - because it's a bit longer. I actually found myself wanting to read the book again after reading just the opening sentence. PC writes: I laughed, I cried, I think I peed once or twice! That just made my day and then some! Please consider reading the book,Parkinson's & Recreation 2 - No Walk in the Parkinson's, and please consider telling others about it, if you don't mind. That would help me out tremendously. Thank you for tuning in to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast! For more about my journey, music, and updates, visit dennisjernigan.com. Stay connected by following me on Facebook, Instagram, and enjoy my music on various streaming platforms. If you'd like to support this podcast's creation or the many various ways I still seek to minister the life and love of Jesus to others, consider joining my team at www.patreon.com/dennisjernigan. If you're looking for the mp3 of the song “I Will Trust In You" from the album "Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1," head over to the store at dennisjernigan.com or find it on your favorite streaming service. Remember this from today's episode: we can trust the One Who has always been there with us…the One who took our sin and shame to the cross on our behalf…the One Who fills us with resurrection power…the One Who never leaves us and never forsakes us. We can trust Him…even with something like Parkinson's thrown into the mix. My plan? To minister to the needs of others in spite of Parkinson's by continuing to trust in the Lord. Now, go forth and embrace the truth of who your heavenly Father says you are. I Will Trust In You Words & Music by Dennis Jernigan Received on May 9, 2010 Psalm 40:4a Verse I have made it this far by no help of my own There is only one, there is one help alone And I will trust in You I have put to much trust in the things that I see Sending my hope crashing down around me So I will trust in You Chorus I will say of the Lord, He is the rock where I stand Every other hope is merely sinking sand So I will trust in You For I know blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust Any other hope just blows away like dust So I will trust in You Verse I once promised myself, in myself I can trust But my broken promises left me in shame and disgust So I will trust in You There is only one name that I know I can trust And whatever it takes to find I know that I must So I will trust in You Chorus I will say of the Lord, He is the rock where I stand Every other hope is merely sinking sand So I will trust in You For I know blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust Any other hope just blows away like dust So I will trust in You I will trust in You I will trust in You Chorus I will say of the Lord, He is the rock where I stand Every other hope is merely sinking sand So I will trust in You For I know blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust Any other hope just blows away like dust So I will trust in You I will trust in You I will trust in You I will trust in You I will trust in You I will trust in You Chorus I will say of the Lord, He is the rock where I stand Every other hope is merely sinking sand So I will trust in You For I know blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust Any other hope just blows away like dust So I will trust in You Yes, Chorus I will say of the Lord, He is the rock where I stand Every other hope is merely sinking sand So I will trust in You For I know blessed is the man who makes the lord his trust Any other hope just blows away like dust So I will trust in You Yes, I will trust in You ©2010 Shepherd's Heart Music, Inc./Dennis Jernigan

From Sunday 17 August 2025 Pastor Jason Clark continues the Sermon Series, "The Coming of the Son of Man" from the book of Luke. Today's message is “Are You the One Who is to Come, or Shall We Look for Another?" Luke 7:18-23fbcmw.org

LESSON 228God Has Condemned Me Not. No More Do I.My Father knows my holiness. Shall I deny His knowledge, and believe in what His knowledge makes impossible? Shall I accept as true what He proclaims as false? Or shall I take His Word for what I am, since He is my Creator, and the One Who knows the true condition of His Son?Father, I was mistaken in myself, because I failed to realize the Source from Which I came. I have not left that Source to enter in a body and to die. My holiness remains a part of me, as I am part of You. And my mistakes about myself are dreams. I let them go today. And I stand ready to receive Your Word alone for what I really am.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

While We Are Waiting ReCreate Church | Michael Shockley | July 10, 2025 Esther Series, Part 5: Esther 5 ---------- EPISODE SUMMARY Ever feel like you're waiting forever for God to answer your prayers or bring clarity to your situation? Through Esther chapter 5, Michael Shockley explores what happens in the gaps between our prayers and God's answers. Using the analogy of waiting for a Polaroid picture to develop, discover why our impatience often leads us to "shake" our circumstances instead of trusting God's perfect timing. When Queen Esther finally approaches the king uninvited, her unexpected delay in making her request teaches us that what looks like wasted waiting time might actually be God orchestrating the perfect setup for His plan. From Haman's overconfident scheming to the king's sleepless night that's coming, learn why delays aren't denials and how God works behind the scenes even when He seems silent. Core Message: While we are waiting, God is working. ---------- KEY TOPICS COVERED The Tension of Esther's Approach - Persian law requiring death for uninvited royal visits - The cultural context of absolute royal authority in ancient Persia - Esther's three days of fasting and prayer before approaching the king - The golden scepter as the sign of royal mercy and acceptance - Courage and faith required to risk everything for others The King's Generous Response - "What do you wish? Up to half the kingdom!" as royal hyperbole - God's behind-the-scenes work in moving the king's heart - The unexpected favor Esther receives despite the risk - How divine providence positioned her for this moment Esther's Puzzling Delay - The first banquet invitation instead of an immediate request - Missing the opportunity at the "banquet of wine" discussion time - The second banquet invitation when pressed again by the king - Possible reasons: fear, strategy, or divine timing - How delays can actually be part of God's perfect plan Haman's Overconfident Scheming - Bragging about wealth, power, and exclusive royal access - One man's refusal to bow ruining all his success - Mordecai's continued defiance at the palace gate - The 75-foot gallows constructed overnight for Mordecai - How the enemy always overplays his hand God's Invisible Hand at Work - The peculiarity of God never being directly mentioned in Esther - Divine orchestration behind seemingly random events - Setting up the perfect reversal while everyone waits - The coming sleepless night that will change everything - How God is never rushed and never outplanned The Waiting Room Experience - Our modern impatience with God's timing - "Shaking the Polaroid" instead of letting things develop properly - Why delays don't equal denials - Trusting the process when we can't see the outcome - The masterpiece in progress during waiting seasons ---------- MEMORABLE QUOTES "While we are waiting, God is working." "A delay is not necessarily a denial." "Just because we can't see God doesn't mean He isn't working." "The enemy always overplays his hand. God is never rushed. God is never outplanned." "Stop shaking the Polaroid and trust The One Who can bring things into focus." "A delayed answer does not equal a denied purpose." "What feels like wasted time of waiting might be a masterpiece in progress." ---------- BIBLICAL FOUNDATION - Primary Text: Esther 5:3-4 - Key Verse: "What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!" - Supporting Context: Esther's approach to the king and the two banquet delays - Theme: Divine timing and God's behind-the-scenes orchestration - Parallel Examples: Noah's decades of building, Joseph's years in prison, Jesus's three days in the tomb --------- PRACTICAL APPLICATION If You're Waiting for Answers: - Stop "shaking the Polaroid" by trying to force faster results - Trust that God may be setting things in motion between your prayers - Remember that delayed answers don't mean denied purposes - Let things develop in God's perfect timing rather than your preferred schedule If You Feel Like Nothing Is Happening: - Recognize that God works behind the scenes even when invisible - Trust that apparent delays might be divine orchestration - Remember biblical examples where waiting preceded breakthrough - Focus on faithfulness during the waiting rather than demanding results If You're Tempted to Give Up: - Know that a masterpiece may be in progress during your waiting season - Trust the same God who came through for Esther, Noah, Joseph, and Jesus - Believe that your breakthrough may be closer than it appears - Keep praying and trusting even when you can't see movement If You're in a Position to Help Others: - Don't let comfort or fear keep you from taking necessary risks - Remember that your obedience may be key to someone else's rescue - Trust God's timing for when and how to act on others' behalf - Prepare through prayer and fasting before taking significant steps If You're Facing Overwhelming Opposition: - Remember that enemies often overplay their hand - Trust that God is never outplanned or outmaneuvered - Know that apparent victories for evil may be setting up divine reversals - Wait for God's perfect timing rather than rushing into battle ---------- THE ULTIMATE INVITATION Maybe you're in a waiting season that doesn't make sense. Maybe you've prayed, fasted, and taken steps of faith, but nothing seems to be happening. Maybe you're tempted to "shake" your circumstances to try to speed things up. This much is true: while you are waiting, God is working. The same God who orchestrated Esther's story behind the scenes is orchestrating yours. The answers you're waiting for may already be in motion. Trust The One Who can bring things into focus in His perfect time. And remember, the greatest wait in history - three days in a tomb - resulted in the greatest victory ever won when Jesus rose from the dead to give us eternal life. ---------- CONNECT WITH RECREATE CHURCH - Website: recreatechurch.org - Support the Ministry: Give through the Tithe.ly app or offering boxes ---------- What are you waiting on today? A phone call, healing, direction, or breakthrough? Trust that while you're waiting, God is working. The next chapter of your story is being written, and the same God who came through for Esther will come through for you.

The Tabernacle, where God dwelled in the center of the nation of Israel, points to the One Who tabernacled among us, the Lord Jesus Christ. Are He and His dwelling, the church, at the center of your life?

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Friday morning, the 1st of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Psalms 18:32: ”It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.” Then we go to a very well-known scripture, 2 Corinthians 12:10: ”Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” I want to say to you today, if you are feeling weak, maybe you are feeling I just can't go on anymore, lock into God. It's a good place to be. Sometimes it's a dangerous place when you think you've got it all together, you've got it all tied up. That's when the fall normally comes, but I tell you what, when you are on your knees and you are weak, you can't fall any further. I don't know how many times I've had to speak at a big open-air meeting, where there are multitudes of people. I go up the steps onto that platform, and I'm being honest with you, I feel absolutely weak and powerless, and that's when I cry out to God. ”Lord, please, please, help me.” And you know something? Every single time, He helps me and He'll do it for you too.It doesn't matter what you're going through at the moment. Remember, when you are weak, then He is strong. That's why Paul can say, ”I rejoice in my tribulation. Tribulation worketh patience, patience character and character hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)I want to say to you that humble people are normally people who have been through fiery trials. I get fearful sometimes with some young people who are out there, and they can do it all and they name it and they claim it. It's almost like they're getting ready for a fall. So folks, I want you to understand one thing. The Lord is our strength, and He is the One Who will see you and me through if we put our total trust in Him.May God bless you, especially when you're feeling weak, because that is when you will be strong,Goodbye.

Today's Topics: 1) Gospel - John 11:19-27 - Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to Him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, the One Who is coming into the world.” Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, pray for us! Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2) How to become Catholic in 2025: A step-by-step guide https://www.ncregister.com/cna/how-to-become-catholic-in-2025 3) Four things young people need to defend their Catholic faith in today's world https://catholic-link.org/catholic-young-adults-defend-faith/ 4) Firing was "a shock" for theologian, Ralph Martin, who says he didn't get a full explanation for his termination from Detroit seminary https://www.ncregister.com/news/firing-shock-for-theologian-ralph-martin

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Do you feel like you’re running on empty—striving, pushing, juggling it all—and still feeling stuck? In this heartfelt Christian devotional on Matthew 11:28-30, Hannah Benson invites us to pause, breathe, and fall into the arms of Jesus. Through a personal moment of burnout and breakthrough, she reminds us that true rest isn't found in finishing the to-do list, but in trusting God’s timing and leaning into His presence. If you're craving soul-deep peace, this is your gentle invitation to come as you are—and find the rest your soul longs for. What You’ll Learn (Highlights): What it means to truly rest in Jesus, not just physically—but spiritually and emotionally Why doing things “for God” can never replace simply being with God How trusting God’s plan brings freedom from burnout, anxiety, and overachievement Practical encouragement for letting go of control and leaning into His embrace A reminder that your value isn’t in your productivity—it’s in being His beloved child

by Elder John Morgan Owens (preached on June 29, 2025) In the Gospel of John, we read about some Greek disciples who came seeking Jesus. The goal of their journey was not to find knowledge, or even truth, but to find the One Who is THE Truth! Join us as Elder John Morgan Owens preaches...

Read OnlineThe Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. Matthew 12:14–16This passage goes on to say that Jesus withdrew to a more deserted place to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah the Prophet (Isaiah 42:1–4). That prophecy is the first of what is referred to as “The Songs of the Suffering Servant.” In these songs or poems of Isaiah, the Messiah is presented to us as one who would be sent on a mission from God, would suffer injustice for the sake of others, would be rejected, and ultimately be vindicated and exalted. The mission of the Suffering Servant was to bring justice and salvation to all, including to the Gentiles.At that time, the idea of a messianic king was still prominent in the minds of many. They anticipated the coming of a messiah who would be a political leader and would lead the people of Israel out of oppression, making them a free, prosperous and powerful nation. But Jesus acts in the opposite manner. Instead of raising up an army to combat the evil intentions of the Pharisees and to overthrow the Romans, Jesus withdrew from them and invited people to come to Him for healing and to receive His teachings.Jesus perfectly fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah by becoming the Suffering Servant. And because His messianic role was much different than what many people had anticipated, Saint Matthew points us to the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah as a way of clearly showing that Jesus truly was the promised Messiah. He was just not the form of messiah that many expected. He was One Who was humble and gentle of heart. He was One Who would redeem people by the Blood of His Cross. And He was One Who would extend salvation to all people, not only the people of Israel.One lesson this teaches us is that even today we can have false expectations of God. It is easy for us to set forth our own idea of what God should do and what true justice demands. But we also read in Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:8–9).Just as it must have been difficult for the people of Israel to come to accept the promised Messiah as a servant Who suffers and Who redeems all people through that suffering, so it is often difficult for us to accept our Lord as He is. It is difficult to shed our own ideas of what we want God to do and this is especially difficult when He calls us to share in His own suffering and servanthood. To serve, suffer, sacrifice our lives, and the like can be difficult to accept. But this is the way of our Lord—it is the way of the Suffering Servant of God.Reflect, today, upon your own expectations of God. Do you have a long list of things that you think God should do? Do you pray for that list of your ideas, thinking that if you only ask enough, God will grant your requests? If your requests flow from His perfect will, then praying for them in faith will bring them about. But if they flow more from you and your own ideas of what God should do, then all the prayers in the world will not bring them to be. If this is your struggle, then try to start anew by turning your eyes to the Servant Who Suffers for the salvation of all. Reflect upon the fact that God's thoughts and ways are most often very far above your own thoughts and ways. Try to humble yourself before the Suffering Servant and abandon all ideas that do not flow from His Heart. My Suffering Servant, I thank You for Your suffering and death and for the redemption that flows from Your sacrifice of love. Help me to shed all false expectations that I have of You, dear Lord, so that I will be guided by You and Your mission of salvation alone. Jesus, I trust in You.Image via Pixabay.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

When the unexpected circumstances of life catch us by surprise, it's easy to morph into “go-mode” - an analogy today's storyteller knows all too well.   Allyson Mouron, from our community group in Mountain Brook, Alabama, shares her journey of faith and trust in Jesus as she struggled with infertility and then the sudden loss of both her father and her best friend.  Through brokenness, hardship, and pain, Allyson reminds us the importance of learning to let go of control and find rest in surrendering to the One Who controls it all.   IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: - The safest and easiest place to be is a place of surrender. - Rest and peace are found in refocusing your mind. - You are called to only do two things - love God and love others.   Links: Want to hear more from Allyson about her infertility?   Give to StoryTellers Live in honor of Allyson and our past storytellers!!   Become a Patreon Insider to access bonus content ~ including an interview with Katie Dunn.  This is the second bonus episode of our “Meet the Hosts” series on Patreon!   Register for our Finding God in the Details: A Guide to Discerning His Voice and Discovering Your Story workshop being offered in-person on September 10th, 9:30 AM -12:00 PM CST. Shop for our When God Shows Up Bible Study series.   Check out all of our live speaking engagement opportunities on our website. Sign up to receive StoryTellers Live's weekly newsletter for updates and details on our live gatherings!

Today's Topics: 1) Gospel - Matthew 10:34—11:1 - Jesus said to His Apostles: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household. "Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. "Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One Who sent Me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple– amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." When Jesus finished giving these commands to His Twelve disciples, He went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns. Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin Saint Kateri, pray for us! Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2, 3, 4) Terry shares stories from 40 years of bringing people back to the Catholic Faith, bringing others to the Catholic Faith, and others to the priestly and religious life

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Read OnlineWhen Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. Matthew 7:28–29These lines conclude the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew's Gospel chapters 5–7. In that lengthy sermon, Jesus touches on many topics and presents us with a summary of all we need to know in our lives of faith. In these concluding lines of His sermon, the words “astonished” and “authority” should stand out. Why were the crowds astonished at Jesus' teaching? Because His teaching was new and relied upon a new authority that the people hadn't experienced before.The authority with which the scribes taught was based upon their knowledge of the traditions handed down to them from earlier teachers. The scribes studied long and hard and then presented what they had learned. This was the form of religious teaching that the people were used to receiving.Jesus, however, arrived on the scene and astonished the crowds, because He spoke with a new authority that they had not seen before. Jesus' authority came forth from His very Person. It was not based upon what He had studied and learned from those who preceded Him. Instead, when He spoke, it was He Himself Who was not only the mouthpiece of the New Law of grace, He was also the Author of the Law and its source.Try to ponder the idea of authority. For example, a child knows that a parent has authority over them. They may not like it at times, but they understand that they do not set the rules of the house but must abide by the rules set by their parents. Or consider the authority of civil leaders. Law enforcement officers, for example, have an authority entrusted to them by their office. They are not only well versed in the rule of law, they can also enforce it and everyone knows it.Similarly, Jesus did not just know about the new and glorious truths He taught. He did not simply learn them from the Father in Heaven and then pass them on verbally. Instead, when He taught, He did so as the One Who knew the New Law of grace, the One from Whom it originated, and the one and only Person sent to enact and enforce this New Law.Reflect, today, upon the New Law of grace and mercy taught by our Lord, especially as it is contained in the lengthy Sermon on the Mount. Reading those words is much more than something we study and learn. The words themselves are alive; they are the Word of God. Reading them makes present to us the same authority that the crowds experienced in Jesus' time. Everything Jesus taught was and is new, deep, profound, transforming and alive. And when He teaches it, He also establishes His divine authority to enforce it upon the world. This is good news, because His New Law is not an imposition; it is the one and only source of freedom and new life.Reflect upon this New Law of our Lord and pray that you will more fully come under its authority. My glorious Lawgiver, You taught as One with authority. Today, as Your holy Word is read and proclaimed, You continue to exercise Your new and glorious authority of love and mercy. Please help me to listen to You and to always submit myself to Your authority so that I am governed by Your New Law of grace. Jesus, I trust in You.  Image via Adobe Stock Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.