January 12, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
For many single people, what they don't need is a mate.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
What they need is the miracle.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Doctor Tony Evans is faith can allow believers to ride
the wave of God's will to a relationship breakthrough.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
They literally need the divine and intervention of God to
address the problem because the natural processes of connecting have
become damaged.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. A person's character
shapes many aspects of their life, and doctor Evan says
it's one of the most important qualities to consider in
a prospective mate. Let's join him as he discusses the
dangers of lowering your standards and describes how God works
(00:48):
to guide the relationships of believers to remain patient and faithful.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Today, we are faithing a crisis of singlehood. It is
not because people prefer to be go or feel called
to be single. It is because we have a generation
of people with no one to marry. The natural processes
of mating, the natural processes of connecting, have become damaged,
(01:17):
and so that which would be normal boy meets girl,
girlfather's love of boy vice versa. They get married has
been interrupted by sin, circumstances, and secularism. So for many
single people, what they don't need is a mate.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
What they need is a miracle.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
They literally need the divine intervention of God.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
To address the problem because the natural.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Processes do not allow for it, and that problem will
become worse.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Before it becomes better.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Might I suggest to you today that if you desire
to be married, and you do not feel that your
singlehood is related to calling a preference, that because the
natural processes have been interrupted by sin, secularism, and circumstances,
(02:27):
that what you need is fasting in prayer in Genesis
twenty four, revead in verse thirty one, and he said,
come in, blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside?
Since I have prepared the house and a place for
the camels. So the man into the house, layban, unloaded
the camels. He gave straw and feed to the camels,
(02:48):
and water to wash his feet and the feet of
the men.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Who were with him.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
But when food was set before him to eat, he said,
I will not eat until I have told my busines.
I will not say as far my body until I
have seen my prayer. Answered Isaac is forty years old
(03:17):
and either has not found any wife, or most certainly
has not found the right wife.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Isaac is forty years old.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
And missus right as far as he can see, has
not yet come along.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And like any good mother and father.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Who sees their forty year old who thinks they ought
to be married by now not married, Abraham is ticked.
This leads to a process that I offer you those
who are single, in particular, because the Word of God,
(03:56):
as we have seen in this series, teaches that when
you need a breakthrough, when the normal processes do not
work and you need a miracle, fasting in prayer is
the road to take.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
If you are.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Going to fast for a mate. It will involve four
things that need to come alongside of your fasting as
you wait for your miracle. First of all, fasting involves
commitment to God. Abraham at the beginning of chapter twenty
four calls his servant, who is going to send out
(04:37):
to look for a wife for his son. He says,
at the endiverse two, please place your hand under my thigh,
and I will make you swear by the Lord, the
God of Heaven, the God of Earth, that you shall
not take a wife for my son from among the
daughters of the Canaanites, who among whom I live. You
shall go to my country and to my relatives and
(05:00):
take a wife for my son Isaac.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
He says, I want you to swear by God.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Abraham recognized that finding a wife and finding the right
wife was gonna take God, and so he says, I
want you to swear by your commitment to God.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Now, this commitment to God was covenental.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
God had made a promise to Abraham, the Abraham and Covenant,
that he was gonna make of Abraham a great seed. Well,
the question is, how can I have a great seed
if my son doesn't even have a wife. So his
concern was God's person, swear by God and God's program.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Many people get married.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
For a lot of reasons, but often unconnected to the
Kingdom of God. He says, I want a wife to
fulfill the Covenant, the promise of God. I want a
wife so that I can have if I would put
it in everyday language today a Christian home. I want
(06:20):
a maid so I can establish a model of the
Kingdom of God on the street where I live. He
connected the miracle to the program of God. Secondly, fasting
involved not only commitment to God, but when you fast
for a mate, it involves confidence in God.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Look at verse seven.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
The Lord, the God of Heaven, who took me from
my father's house and from the land of my birth,
and who spoke to me, and who swore to me,
saying to your descendants, I will give this land. He
will send his angels before you, and you will take
a wife for my sons from there.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
You know what he says.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
He says, if you follow God, He's going to lead
you to the lady. I don't know who she is.
I don't know the exact location. All I know is
that the Lord will lead you. Guess what he assures
him of. He assures him of divine guidance. He assures
him to march out looking for a mate with the
(07:25):
conviction that God will supply. And so how do we
know the servant had faith Because he didn't stay home.
His faith was exercised, that is, he began the process
(07:46):
of looking for the leading of God. When you are
committed to God, and when you step out on faith,
you're positioning yourself so that the wave of God's will
can carry you the where he wants you to go.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Thirdly, fasting for a maiden involves.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Character before the lord, not only commitment to the lord
confidence in the lord, but character before the lord.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We look at the.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Story came about before he was finished speaking, Oh, I
like that. Rebecca court to verse fifteen. Rebecca was one
of Bethiol came up, and the girl was very beautiful.
No man had relationships with her. She went down to
the spring and filled her jar, came up, the servants
ran to meet her. Please let me drink a little
(08:33):
water from your jow, she said.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Drink my lord.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
When she had finished giving him drink, she said, I
will draw also from your camels until they had finished drinking. Now,
I want to show you four things from this passage
about this woman's character. If you want to find the
right person, you must be becoming the right person. Number one,
(08:59):
we just she was a virgin, so she was committed
tomorrow purity. She was not compromising sexually in order to
hook up with the right one. She was not sleeping
around hoping that one of the folks she slept with
would ask her to marry him. She was committed tomorrow purity.
(09:27):
She was beautiful, though she wasn't like nobody was looking
for her.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
A text lets us know she was beautiful. Purity has
a way of showing itself.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
For you know how they have these detergent commercials and
they show you how one detergent cleans another detergent. They
do the washing, then they put out the different laundry
and they can always show you the one that was
washed by the particular detergent that they're advertising, because it's
real clean.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
It's real clean. There was a commitment of purity.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
You cannot ask God to lead you to a mate
if you're swimming in the mud. You cannot ask God
to lead you to a mate if you have no standards.
If you're only good to be picked up, then let
Satan find somebody to pick you up. But if you
are a woman of dignity, of class, and of character,
(10:28):
then you're not a piece of cloth to be used.
You are a daughter of the king to be honored.
What Satan has done, though, is he's taking the one
tree God says you can't have and cause you to
miss the one hundred trees you can have.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
That's what he did with Eve.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
He's so focused on the one thing you can't do
that she missed all the other stuff she could have
been enjoined that.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
She could do.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Don't let Satan and the second crave culture that we're
in get you so focused on the one thing got said.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Don't do that. You don't get to.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Enjoy all the privileges, on all the freedoms, and all
the experiences of what you can do on the God.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
We'll get back to more from doctor Evans in just
a moment. First, though, if you're ready to dig deeper
into the biblical principles he's been presenting today, be sure
to request a copy of his two volume series Fasting
the Key to Spiritual Victory. It explains how saying no
to your physical appetite can sharpen your spiritual one, creating
(11:34):
a hunger for God that the Lord is only too
happy to satisfy. Right now, we are offering all fourteen
full length messages in this series on CD or digital
download as our gift when you support the Ministry of
the Alternative. Along with the complete audio package, we'll also
send you a special bonus, the Cultivating a Year of
(11:55):
Kindness perpetual flip calendar, your three hundred and sixty five
day companion into becoming contagiously kind. These reflections will help
you develop a deep passion for kindness in your daily
life as you're motivated and encouraged with insights from doctor Evans,
along with short prayers and inspiring Bible passages. Visit us
(12:16):
today at Tonyevans dot org or call us at one
eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two to take
advantage of this special resource package. Again, that's Tonyevans dot
org or by phone one eight hundred eight hundred three
two two two. Well, Doctor Evans will come back with
more of today's lesson right after this.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
If you're like most Christians, there are people in your
life who know you but may not know Jesus. You
really want to do something about that, but don't feel
it quick to share your faith effectively. In other words,
maybe if you knew more, you could do more. Well,
that's where the Tony Evans Training Center comes in. It's
an online Bible school with classes that'll take you deep
(13:00):
into the most important poor concepts of the faith. You
can start with our free introductory course on evangelism, then
move on to subjects like spiritual warfare, marriage building, maturing
in the faith, and many more. The content is challenging,
but you can move through it at your own pace
anytime you're online. There's also lots of custom content from
Tony and an online forum where you can get your
(13:23):
specific questions answered. Go to Tonyevans dot org and follow
the link to the Tonyevans Training Center. It's like having
a seminary on your smartphone.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Secondly, of all, she offered to feed the camels as
well as to feed him. There are two things there. Actually,
Number two is she was kind. She was kind, She
was a sharing person. She was not selfish.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
This is my water, you get yours.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Anybody married to any woman like that cooking dinner and
asking you what you're gonna eat.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
He one of the kind of woman who was going to.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Be kind, sharing, unselfish.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
That's why he asked her who would offer the drink.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
But not only was she kind, she was also Thirdly, industrious.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Camels can drink.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Twenty five gallons of water a shot. There are ten camels,
so that's a whole lot of work. This woman was industrious,
or to put another she was productive. And he says
in verse twenty three, please tell me, is there room
for us to lodge in your father's house? She says
(14:47):
in verse twenty five, we have plenty of both straw
and feed.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
And room to lodger. She was hospitable.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
He said, this is a woman of character, This is
a woman of dignity. This is a woman of kindness. Finally,
fasting for mate involves confirmation by God.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
He goes to the place. He tells them, I'm not
gonna eat till.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
This matter is settled, and then he outlines in verse
thirty four, and following the.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Story that led him to her house, that.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
God within the process of working this out. And when
they hear the story, because they too believe in the
same God, Laban and Bethiel verse fifty answered and said,
this matter comes from the Lord. Behold Rebecca. Verse fifty
one is before you take her and go in other words,
(15:44):
when the Lord is in it, somebody else is gonna
see it. If you're the only person that sees she's
the right one, something's wrong. You always want other people
who love the Lord to confirm it, especially other people
who are part of the family who love the Lord.
The people don't love the Lord, they don't have the
same criteria. But if they loved the Lord, look for
confirmation by other people who loved the Lord, as a
(16:07):
way of confirming to you is right, which is why
in the Bible, the father, a godly father, always was
involved in the marriage and the giving away of his daughter.
It was a way of confirming it. It was confirmed
by the families. But he had also said it was
confirmed by the circumstances, you know, the camels and all
(16:28):
of that, and how he wind up meeting at the well.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Now, let me tell you something here.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
There is no word from God in this story, no
direct word from God. There are no profet prophecies in
this story. There are no unusual circumstances in this story.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
This is the quiet leading of God. Sometimes God will
may do something graphic. But this just came because he
met her at a well, and he happened to ask
a question.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
About a drink, and she happen to ask him to
answer it right. And in other words, it was just
doing the movement of the walking.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
The servant says, I would like permission to take her back,
and they said take her. In Gold verse twenty four,
her brother and her mother said, let the girl verse
fifty five stay with us a few days, say ten,
then she can go. But he said, do not delay me.
Since the Lord is in this. The Lord is prospered
(17:16):
in this is God work. Don't delay it verse fifty seven.
We shall consult the girl and ask her her wishes.
You see, because you never get so involved in the
marriage of somebody you love that you skip what they want.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
And they called Rebecca and said, will you go with
this man?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
And she says, I will go. Now, what's the problem
in this story? Help me somebody? She had not met
the man. She doesn't know who Isaac is. But because
she knows God, and because she's close to God, and
because she knew God was in it, she said, I
(17:55):
will go. And Isaac went out to meditate in the
fields toward evening. What does this tell us about Isaac?
He's spending time with God. If he's meditating in the evening,
he's spending time with God. He's forty years old, not
marriage yet, but he's spending time with God.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
In the field twenty evening.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Lifted up his eyes and behold, camels were coming. And
Rebecca lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac,
she dismantled from her camel woo. Isaac looked up and
sighs said, oh, Lord doesn't know who she is. She
(18:36):
sees Isaac said, I got to get off this beast
when she sees him. And she said to the servant,
who is this man walking in the field to meet us?
Because she doesn't know that's the man she's come to marry.
And the servant said, here is my master. Then she
(18:59):
took her veil and covered herself a statement of humility
and honor, and the servant told Isaac all the things
that God had done. Then Isaac brought her into his
mother's Sarah's tent and took Rebecca and she became his wife.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
And he loved her. Oh watch it, how you gonna
love her? You don't know her, You just met her.
Can let me ask a question?
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Then?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
It is? Watch this now I get asked this all
the time. Let me give it to you. Is there
such a thing as love at first sight? Let me
give you something better.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
There is such a thing as love before first sight.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
There's a new one. I'm just telling I love at
first sight.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
I'm talking about love before first sight because God has
gotten so involved in it that all the preparation is
made so that when the first sight occurs, what God
has prepared automatic. He jumps out. She jumps off for camel.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
How many of you ladies just saw somebody walking down
the street.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I'm in love.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
It's a love before first sight.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Ruth committed herself to the Lord in Naomi, and God
gave us supernaturally boass, let me tell you another true story.
Then we'll wind it down to a conclusion. Look, we
call him a bum hitchhiking in an, Arkansas. There was
some men who drove by the guy and said, well,
we pick him up. He said, where you go? Well,
he says, I'm just going as far as you're going.
Where you're going, We're going to Texas. We're going to
promise keepers in Dallas, the one I spoke at. So
(20:37):
they picked the bum up and drove him to Texas
because he was just trying to find a new place
to live. On the way, he told him his story,
how he had become a Christian early in life, how
he walked away from his Lord, from the Lord, and
when he walked away from the Lord, he lost his family.
He lost his children, hadn't seen his family in ten years.
He rededicated his life to Christ. To the influence of
(20:58):
the promise keeper guys and went to the Promise Keeper event.
He was on fire and they asked him, well, what
do you want to do now? He says, well, well,
I have some relatives in Alabama and I just want
to know if there's a way I can go to Alabama.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
They said, well, that probably some guys.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
He'll going to Alabama, he said, because I've committed my
life back to the Lord. I want to find these
relatives and try to get my life back on track.
He committed his life to the Lord. And they ask around,
is anybody going to Alabama? And I said way to
promise keeper his due sometimes And as the guy says,
I'm going to Alabama, would you have room for somebody else?
He says, yeah, I drove the promise Keepers by myself.
(21:34):
I will be glad to take the man back sold
the man true story. Got in the car with this
younger man and they are driving to Alabama. One committing
his life to the Lord and one who's already committed
to the Lord, and they're just driving along. As they
drive along, the bum begins to tell his story.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
The young man.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Says that that's interesting. I'm from Arkansas too. They begin
to exchange information and halfway between Dallas and Alabama, he
has discovered his own son is.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Driving in Pome.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
That is the supernatural sovereign loathing of God.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Doctor Tony Evans encouraging us to put our trust and
our relationships in God's hands and stay with us because
he'll be back in a moment to share some final
thoughts to wrap up this message before he does.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Though.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Today's lesson is part of a two volume series called
Fasting the Key to Spiritual Victory, and as I mentioned earlier,
you can own this collection on CD or digital download
when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's
teaching on this station. As an added bonus, we're also
including our inspiring Cultivating a Year of Kindness perpetual flip calendar,
(22:54):
good to be used for any year. Be sure to
take advantage of this unique resource package while you still can,
just visit Tonyevans dot org to get the details and
to make your contribution and request. That's Tonyevans dot org,
or call our twenty four hour resource Request line at
one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two and
(23:17):
let one of our team members help you the number
again one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two.
Marriage is a divine tool God uses to fulfill some
of our deepest needs. But doctor Evan says there's more
to it than that, and tomorrow he'll talk about how
to strengthen your connection with God and with your spouse.
(23:39):
Right now, though, he's back with these final comments for today.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
I know you're tired. I know it's haw.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
There's a social problem going on, But you don't need
to just slit all over the place. Just rage your
spiritual antenna so you can pick up the God network
and get in on what he's doing. Yeah, but just say,
I'm in a hairry. I'm getting older. The clock is ticking.
That's like the man who told a business man that
he was in a harry. He was rushing. The man said,
(24:08):
where you're going? He said, I'm rushing to catch my plane.
The man looked at him and said.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Don't rush. Plane's not going anywhere. I'm the pilot.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
As long as God's the pilot, the plane's not going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Don't rush.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
If you're looking for me, you don't feel called a singlehood,
nor is it your presence because of sin and society
and secularism.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Fast and pray, tell your change coming,
For many single people, what they don't need is a mate.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
What they need is the miracle.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Doctor Tony Evans is faith can allow believers to ride
the wave of God's will to a relationship breakthrough.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
They literally need the divine and intervention of God to
address the problem because the natural processes of connecting have
become damaged.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. A person's character
shapes many aspects of their life, and doctor Evan says
it's one of the most important qualities to consider in
a prospective mate. Let's join him as he discusses the
dangers of lowering your standards and describes how God works
(00:48):
to guide the relationships of believers to remain patient and faithful.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Today, we are faithing a crisis of singlehood. It is
not because people prefer to be go or feel called
to be single. It is because we have a generation
of people with no one to marry. The natural processes
of mating, the natural processes of connecting, have become damaged,
(01:17):
and so that which would be normal boy meets girl,
girlfather's love of boy vice versa. They get married has
been interrupted by sin, circumstances, and secularism. So for many
single people, what they don't need is a mate.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
What they need is a miracle.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
They literally need the divine intervention of God.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
To address the problem because the natural.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Processes do not allow for it, and that problem will
become worse.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Before it becomes better.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Might I suggest to you today that if you desire
to be married, and you do not feel that your
singlehood is related to calling a preference, that because the
natural processes have been interrupted by sin, secularism, and circumstances,
(02:27):
that what you need is fasting in prayer in Genesis
twenty four, revead in verse thirty one, and he said,
come in, blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside?
Since I have prepared the house and a place for
the camels. So the man into the house, layban, unloaded
the camels. He gave straw and feed to the camels,
(02:48):
and water to wash his feet and the feet of
the men.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Who were with him.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
But when food was set before him to eat, he said,
I will not eat until I have told my busines.
I will not say as far my body until I
have seen my prayer. Answered Isaac is forty years old
(03:17):
and either has not found any wife, or most certainly
has not found the right wife.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Isaac is forty years old.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
And missus right as far as he can see, has
not yet come along.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And like any good mother and father.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Who sees their forty year old who thinks they ought
to be married by now not married, Abraham is ticked.
This leads to a process that I offer you those
who are single, in particular, because the Word of God,
(03:56):
as we have seen in this series, teaches that when
you need a breakthrough, when the normal processes do not
work and you need a miracle, fasting in prayer is
the road to take.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
If you are.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Going to fast for a mate. It will involve four
things that need to come alongside of your fasting as
you wait for your miracle. First of all, fasting involves
commitment to God. Abraham at the beginning of chapter twenty
four calls his servant, who is going to send out
(04:37):
to look for a wife for his son. He says,
at the endiverse two, please place your hand under my thigh,
and I will make you swear by the Lord, the
God of Heaven, the God of Earth, that you shall
not take a wife for my son from among the
daughters of the Canaanites, who among whom I live. You
shall go to my country and to my relatives and
(05:00):
take a wife for my son Isaac.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
He says, I want you to swear by God.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Abraham recognized that finding a wife and finding the right
wife was gonna take God, and so he says, I
want you to swear by your commitment to God.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Now, this commitment to God was covenental.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
God had made a promise to Abraham, the Abraham and Covenant,
that he was gonna make of Abraham a great seed. Well,
the question is, how can I have a great seed
if my son doesn't even have a wife. So his
concern was God's person, swear by God and God's program.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Many people get married.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
For a lot of reasons, but often unconnected to the
Kingdom of God. He says, I want a wife to
fulfill the Covenant, the promise of God. I want a
wife so that I can have if I would put
it in everyday language today a Christian home. I want
(06:20):
a maid so I can establish a model of the
Kingdom of God on the street where I live. He
connected the miracle to the program of God. Secondly, fasting
involved not only commitment to God, but when you fast
for a mate, it involves confidence in God.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Look at verse seven.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
The Lord, the God of Heaven, who took me from
my father's house and from the land of my birth,
and who spoke to me, and who swore to me,
saying to your descendants, I will give this land. He
will send his angels before you, and you will take
a wife for my sons from there.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
You know what he says.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
He says, if you follow God, He's going to lead
you to the lady. I don't know who she is.
I don't know the exact location. All I know is
that the Lord will lead you. Guess what he assures
him of. He assures him of divine guidance. He assures
him to march out looking for a mate with the
(07:25):
conviction that God will supply. And so how do we
know the servant had faith Because he didn't stay home.
His faith was exercised, that is, he began the process
(07:46):
of looking for the leading of God. When you are
committed to God, and when you step out on faith,
you're positioning yourself so that the wave of God's will
can carry you the where he wants you to go.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Thirdly, fasting for a maiden involves.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Character before the lord, not only commitment to the lord
confidence in the lord, but character before the lord.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We look at the.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Story came about before he was finished speaking, Oh, I
like that. Rebecca court to verse fifteen. Rebecca was one
of Bethiol came up, and the girl was very beautiful.
No man had relationships with her. She went down to
the spring and filled her jar, came up, the servants
ran to meet her. Please let me drink a little
(08:33):
water from your jow, she said.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Drink my lord.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
When she had finished giving him drink, she said, I
will draw also from your camels until they had finished drinking. Now,
I want to show you four things from this passage
about this woman's character. If you want to find the
right person, you must be becoming the right person. Number one,
(08:59):
we just she was a virgin, so she was committed
tomorrow purity. She was not compromising sexually in order to
hook up with the right one. She was not sleeping
around hoping that one of the folks she slept with
would ask her to marry him. She was committed tomorrow purity.
(09:27):
She was beautiful, though she wasn't like nobody was looking
for her.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
A text lets us know she was beautiful. Purity has
a way of showing itself.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
For you know how they have these detergent commercials and
they show you how one detergent cleans another detergent. They
do the washing, then they put out the different laundry
and they can always show you the one that was
washed by the particular detergent that they're advertising, because it's
real clean.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
It's real clean. There was a commitment of purity.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
You cannot ask God to lead you to a mate
if you're swimming in the mud. You cannot ask God
to lead you to a mate if you have no standards.
If you're only good to be picked up, then let
Satan find somebody to pick you up. But if you
are a woman of dignity, of class, and of character,
(10:28):
then you're not a piece of cloth to be used.
You are a daughter of the king to be honored.
What Satan has done, though, is he's taking the one
tree God says you can't have and cause you to
miss the one hundred trees you can have.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
That's what he did with Eve.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
He's so focused on the one thing you can't do
that she missed all the other stuff she could have
been enjoined that.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
She could do.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Don't let Satan and the second crave culture that we're
in get you so focused on the one thing got said.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Don't do that. You don't get to.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Enjoy all the privileges, on all the freedoms, and all
the experiences of what you can do on the God.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
We'll get back to more from doctor Evans in just
a moment. First, though, if you're ready to dig deeper
into the biblical principles he's been presenting today, be sure
to request a copy of his two volume series Fasting
the Key to Spiritual Victory. It explains how saying no
to your physical appetite can sharpen your spiritual one, creating
(11:34):
a hunger for God that the Lord is only too
happy to satisfy. Right now, we are offering all fourteen
full length messages in this series on CD or digital
download as our gift when you support the Ministry of
the Alternative. Along with the complete audio package, we'll also
send you a special bonus, the Cultivating a Year of
(11:55):
Kindness perpetual flip calendar, your three hundred and sixty five
day companion into becoming contagiously kind. These reflections will help
you develop a deep passion for kindness in your daily
life as you're motivated and encouraged with insights from doctor Evans,
along with short prayers and inspiring Bible passages. Visit us
(12:16):
today at Tonyevans dot org or call us at one
eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two to take
advantage of this special resource package. Again, that's Tonyevans dot
org or by phone one eight hundred eight hundred three
two two two. Well, Doctor Evans will come back with
more of today's lesson right after this.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
If you're like most Christians, there are people in your
life who know you but may not know Jesus. You
really want to do something about that, but don't feel
it quick to share your faith effectively. In other words,
maybe if you knew more, you could do more. Well,
that's where the Tony Evans Training Center comes in. It's
an online Bible school with classes that'll take you deep
(13:00):
into the most important poor concepts of the faith. You
can start with our free introductory course on evangelism, then
move on to subjects like spiritual warfare, marriage building, maturing
in the faith, and many more. The content is challenging,
but you can move through it at your own pace
anytime you're online. There's also lots of custom content from
Tony and an online forum where you can get your
(13:23):
specific questions answered. Go to Tonyevans dot org and follow
the link to the Tonyevans Training Center. It's like having
a seminary on your smartphone.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Secondly, of all, she offered to feed the camels as
well as to feed him. There are two things there. Actually,
Number two is she was kind. She was kind, She
was a sharing person. She was not selfish.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
This is my water, you get yours.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Anybody married to any woman like that cooking dinner and
asking you what you're gonna eat.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
He one of the kind of woman who was going to.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Be kind, sharing, unselfish.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
That's why he asked her who would offer the drink.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
But not only was she kind, she was also Thirdly, industrious.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Camels can drink.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Twenty five gallons of water a shot. There are ten camels,
so that's a whole lot of work. This woman was industrious,
or to put another she was productive. And he says
in verse twenty three, please tell me, is there room
for us to lodge in your father's house? She says
(14:47):
in verse twenty five, we have plenty of both straw
and feed.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
And room to lodger. She was hospitable.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
He said, this is a woman of character, This is
a woman of dignity. This is a woman of kindness. Finally,
fasting for mate involves confirmation by God.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
He goes to the place. He tells them, I'm not
gonna eat till.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
This matter is settled, and then he outlines in verse
thirty four, and following the.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Story that led him to her house, that.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
God within the process of working this out. And when
they hear the story, because they too believe in the
same God, Laban and Bethiel verse fifty answered and said,
this matter comes from the Lord. Behold Rebecca. Verse fifty
one is before you take her and go in other words,
(15:44):
when the Lord is in it, somebody else is gonna
see it. If you're the only person that sees she's
the right one, something's wrong. You always want other people
who love the Lord to confirm it, especially other people
who are part of the family who love the Lord.
The people don't love the Lord, they don't have the
same criteria. But if they loved the Lord, look for
confirmation by other people who loved the Lord, as a
(16:07):
way of confirming to you is right, which is why
in the Bible, the father, a godly father, always was
involved in the marriage and the giving away of his daughter.
It was a way of confirming it. It was confirmed
by the families. But he had also said it was
confirmed by the circumstances, you know, the camels and all
(16:28):
of that, and how he wind up meeting at the well.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Now, let me tell you something here.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
There is no word from God in this story, no
direct word from God. There are no profet prophecies in
this story. There are no unusual circumstances in this story.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
This is the quiet leading of God. Sometimes God will
may do something graphic. But this just came because he
met her at a well, and he happened to ask
a question.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
About a drink, and she happen to ask him to
answer it right. And in other words, it was just
doing the movement of the walking.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
The servant says, I would like permission to take her back,
and they said take her. In Gold verse twenty four,
her brother and her mother said, let the girl verse
fifty five stay with us a few days, say ten,
then she can go. But he said, do not delay me.
Since the Lord is in this. The Lord is prospered
(17:16):
in this is God work. Don't delay it verse fifty seven.
We shall consult the girl and ask her her wishes.
You see, because you never get so involved in the
marriage of somebody you love that you skip what they want.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
And they called Rebecca and said, will you go with
this man?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
And she says, I will go. Now, what's the problem
in this story? Help me somebody? She had not met
the man. She doesn't know who Isaac is. But because
she knows God, and because she's close to God, and
because she knew God was in it, she said, I
(17:55):
will go. And Isaac went out to meditate in the
fields toward evening. What does this tell us about Isaac?
He's spending time with God. If he's meditating in the evening,
he's spending time with God. He's forty years old, not
marriage yet, but he's spending time with God.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
In the field twenty evening.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Lifted up his eyes and behold, camels were coming. And
Rebecca lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac,
she dismantled from her camel woo. Isaac looked up and
sighs said, oh, Lord doesn't know who she is. She
(18:36):
sees Isaac said, I got to get off this beast
when she sees him. And she said to the servant,
who is this man walking in the field to meet us?
Because she doesn't know that's the man she's come to marry.
And the servant said, here is my master. Then she
(18:59):
took her veil and covered herself a statement of humility
and honor, and the servant told Isaac all the things
that God had done. Then Isaac brought her into his
mother's Sarah's tent and took Rebecca and she became his wife.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
And he loved her. Oh watch it, how you gonna
love her? You don't know her, You just met her.
Can let me ask a question?
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Then?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
It is? Watch this now I get asked this all
the time. Let me give it to you. Is there
such a thing as love at first sight? Let me
give you something better.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
There is such a thing as love before first sight.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
There's a new one. I'm just telling I love at
first sight.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
I'm talking about love before first sight because God has
gotten so involved in it that all the preparation is
made so that when the first sight occurs, what God
has prepared automatic. He jumps out. She jumps off for camel.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
How many of you ladies just saw somebody walking down
the street.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I'm in love.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
It's a love before first sight.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Ruth committed herself to the Lord in Naomi, and God
gave us supernaturally boass, let me tell you another true story.
Then we'll wind it down to a conclusion. Look, we
call him a bum hitchhiking in an, Arkansas. There was
some men who drove by the guy and said, well,
we pick him up. He said, where you go? Well,
he says, I'm just going as far as you're going.
Where you're going, We're going to Texas. We're going to
promise keepers in Dallas, the one I spoke at. So
(20:37):
they picked the bum up and drove him to Texas
because he was just trying to find a new place
to live. On the way, he told him his story,
how he had become a Christian early in life, how
he walked away from his Lord, from the Lord, and
when he walked away from the Lord, he lost his family.
He lost his children, hadn't seen his family in ten years.
He rededicated his life to Christ. To the influence of
(20:58):
the promise keeper guys and went to the Promise Keeper event.
He was on fire and they asked him, well, what
do you want to do now? He says, well, well,
I have some relatives in Alabama and I just want
to know if there's a way I can go to Alabama.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
They said, well, that probably some guys.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
He'll going to Alabama, he said, because I've committed my
life back to the Lord. I want to find these
relatives and try to get my life back on track.
He committed his life to the Lord. And they ask around,
is anybody going to Alabama? And I said way to
promise keeper his due sometimes And as the guy says,
I'm going to Alabama, would you have room for somebody else?
He says, yeah, I drove the promise Keepers by myself.
(21:34):
I will be glad to take the man back sold
the man true story. Got in the car with this
younger man and they are driving to Alabama. One committing
his life to the Lord and one who's already committed
to the Lord, and they're just driving along. As they
drive along, the bum begins to tell his story.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
The young man.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Says that that's interesting. I'm from Arkansas too. They begin
to exchange information and halfway between Dallas and Alabama, he
has discovered his own son is.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Driving in Pome.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
That is the supernatural sovereign loathing of God.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Doctor Tony Evans encouraging us to put our trust and
our relationships in God's hands and stay with us because
he'll be back in a moment to share some final
thoughts to wrap up this message before he does.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Though.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Today's lesson is part of a two volume series called
Fasting the Key to Spiritual Victory, and as I mentioned earlier,
you can own this collection on CD or digital download
when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's
teaching on this station. As an added bonus, we're also
including our inspiring Cultivating a Year of Kindness perpetual flip calendar,
(22:54):
good to be used for any year. Be sure to
take advantage of this unique resource package while you still can,
just visit Tonyevans dot org to get the details and
to make your contribution and request. That's Tonyevans dot org,
or call our twenty four hour resource Request line at
one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two and
(23:17):
let one of our team members help you the number
again one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two.
Marriage is a divine tool God uses to fulfill some
of our deepest needs. But doctor Evan says there's more
to it than that, and tomorrow he'll talk about how
to strengthen your connection with God and with your spouse.
(23:39):
Right now, though, he's back with these final comments for today.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
I know you're tired. I know it's haw.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
There's a social problem going on, But you don't need
to just slit all over the place. Just rage your
spiritual antenna so you can pick up the God network
and get in on what he's doing. Yeah, but just say,
I'm in a hairry. I'm getting older. The clock is ticking.
That's like the man who told a business man that
he was in a harry. He was rushing. The man said,
(24:08):
where you're going? He said, I'm rushing to catch my plane.
The man looked at him and said.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Don't rush. Plane's not going anywhere. I'm the pilot.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
As long as God's the pilot, the plane's not going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Don't rush.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
If you're looking for me, you don't feel called a singlehood,
nor is it your presence because of sin and society
and secularism.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Fast and pray, tell your change coming,
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