June 13, 2025 • 24 mins
Have you ever wondered how to stay together when your world is falling apart? On the next Treasured Truth, Pastor Ford will share some encouraging points from scripture as he continues his message from the book of Philippians. He’ll explain that God is not trying to change our outcome. He’s trying to change our outlook. Because He knows if He can change our outlook, He can then change our outcome. And if we’re filled with fret, we can’t be filled with faith. We can’t be fretful and faithful at the same time. To learn more from Pastor Ford about allowing our faith to overcome our fear join us for the next Treasured Truth.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:00):
God is not trying to change your outcome. He's trying
to change your outlook because he knows if he change
your outlook, he can then change your outcome. See? Because
if you're filled with fret, you can't be filled with faith.
You can't be fretful and faithful at the same time.
S2 (00:25):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James
Ford Jr, senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us as we continue
a message how to stay together when your world is
falling apart. And pastor, honestly, there may be things that
people are going through even today where it feels like
their world is absolutely falling apart. Um, whether, you know,
(00:47):
that's maybe a medical condition or a relationship that's breaking apart,
whatever that may be, they are absolutely rocked. And they
are fretful. In fact, they're so fretful they're having a
hard time getting their eyes off that problem, whatever that
thing is. They say, I want to have that faith,
but I'm struggling to do so right now. You have
(01:07):
a word of encouragement for them today.
S1 (01:09):
Well, uh, the word of encouragement never changes. Uh, what
deals with fret faith? How do you get faith? So
then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word
of God. You need a word from the Lord on
that particular situation, where you have the opportunity to let
(01:29):
the word override what you're going through. And, you know,
fret and faith are like oil and water. Uh, they
can't coexist. And so Hebrews 11 six says, for without
faith it is impossible to please him, for he that
cometh to God must believe two things that he is,
(01:52):
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. And what I like about that verse is,
it doesn't say, you even have to find him. It
just says you have to be seeking him and know
that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.
And so now, rather than allowing my problem to run
after me, I do a reverse and I run after God,
(02:16):
and God will take care of my problem. The first
thing he wants to do is he wants to give
me inner tranquility in the midst of outer turbulence. Remember
what he said to the disciples, the boat was in
the water and they were fearing drowning. And Jesus said,
fear not. 365 fear not. So I didn't count them,
(02:39):
but I heard Doctor David Jeremiah say, there are 365
fear nots in the Bible. Why did he tell them?
Fear not before he calmed the sea. See, he had
to calm the storm on the inside of them before
he calmed the storm on the outside. Why? Because if
he only calmed the storm on the outside, the situation
is gone. But I'm still living it. Yeah. And how
(03:01):
many people have gone through that, Steve? The issue is over.
But you're still suffering from that issue because you don't
have the calmness of heart, the tranquility of heart that
you need in order to have the peace of God
that passeth all understanding.
S2 (03:18):
Well, I think you're talking to a lot of people
who are really identifying with what you're sharing today. So
let's continue this in the book of Philippians. We're in
chapter four looking at verses six and seven as we
continue the message, how to stay together when your world
is falling apart. Here's Pastor Ford.
S1 (03:35):
Now, anytime God commands us, you know what that means.
Bad news. That means we can. That means we can.
So then notice the first part. You stop worrying. I'll
give you peace. So the converse is true. You don't
stop worrying. You can't have my peace. Now, I don't
understand it. Because, God, you know, you command me to
(03:56):
do something. I don't think I can do it. Look,
if I command you to do it, you can do it.
because in the command is inherent, the power to be
able to pull off what I'm commanding you to do.
The power is in the word that's given, and we
talk about it all the time. What's my favorite illustration?
Come on, tell me, Jerry curl juice. Because if you
(04:20):
had a Jerry curl, it wouldn't a Jerry curl till
you put in the activator juice. And so what God
says is you got to take my word. His word
is powerful. Sharper than any two edged sword. Well, how
come it ain't doing you any good? Because you ain't
activated with your faith. Because your faith activates it. Like
Jerry curl juice activated your Jerry curl. And you always
(04:44):
know when you activated your faith. Because you'll leave residue
wherever you are. Hope you got a leather couch. And
so here's my question why start here now? Now. How
many Bible students do I have in here? Because if
(05:06):
you're a Bible school, you'll say, wait, wait wait wait
wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. He says,
don't worry. Then pray. How come he didn't say pray
and then don't worry. Doesn't that make sense? Pray? If
I pray, then, then I won't worry. But he says
don't worry and then pray. Oh yeah, I see it.
You ever notice that? Most of the time Jesus talked
(05:27):
to his disciples when they have a problem, the first
thing he said is, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.
Matthew 14. Uh, they're out on the water, and the water, uh,
is doing the nay, nay, boom, boom, boom, boom, breaking
it down. Bring it back up. Boom, boom. Yeah, it's
doing the nay, nay. And these are fishermen. They've been
(05:51):
on this water a long time. Peter, James and Peter
and and Andrew and they're upset. And Jesus come walking
on the water and and they say it's Casper the
Friendly Ghost. He says, no, it's me. Do not be afraid.
In verse 27. Then verse 32 says, he shut the
wind up. Now why didn't he shut the wind up
(06:13):
so that they wouldn't be afraid? Here it is. And
you know it very well, don't you, that Jesus lets
us know. The reason he's telling us this first is
because he has to calm the storm that's on the
inside of us before he calms the storm that's on
the outside of us. Because if he calms the storm,
that's on the outside of us and leaves the storm
that's on the inside of us, that even when he
(06:35):
calms the storm on the outside of us, the storm
on the inside of us is still in us. Here
it is, here it is, here it is. Here it is.
Jesus got to deal with that emotion because you can
be out of the storm, but the storm won't be
out of you. Some of you know it. The thing
that you stressing about and and messed up over happened
(06:58):
years ago. Come The storm is still in you. The
person who did it may be dead, but the storm
is still in you. You still ain't forgiven, daddy. You
still haven't forgiven mama. You haven't forgiven that individual because
the storm is still in you. I heard a person
talking about the fact that, uh, there was a guy
(07:19):
in North Carolina or South Carolina. Uh, he went swimming.
He came back home, and, uh, he died. The coroner
said he drowned. They called it a dry drowning because
when he was there, he swallowed some water in the
pool that didn't go into his lungs until he he
(07:42):
he went to sleep and he drowned. And he wasn't
in the pool. He was out of it, but it
wasn't out of him. Whole lot of people like that.
Whole lot of people. So this text says, listen, stop worrying,
then go to prayer. Why? So that when we go
(08:02):
to God, we go as a victor and not a victim.
That you and I realize that you can't be faithful
and fretful at the same time. That that there are
some people who understand God does not respond to your need.
God responds to your faith. And you going all tore
(08:25):
up from the floor up talking about God. And he says, okay,
everybody got needs. Let me see your faith now. You
don't believe it. I hate to get the Bible in this.
Hebrews 11 six, for without faith it is impossible to
please him, for he that cometh to him must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. See, you ain't even got
(08:47):
to find him. All you gotta do be looking for him. Yeah,
and what is that? Faith. Verse one. Faith is the
substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen.
It is beyond the five senses. We walk by faith,
not by sight. Say, what are you talking about? Let
me see if I can get you to understand it.
My mama was a sure enough cook. She could put
(09:08):
her foot in it. Her boots, her shoes, everything. And, uh,
you know, mama made everything from scratch. I never saw
her with a measuring cup, a teaspoon thing. Mama, just.
Mama just said, give me a pinch of this. Pinch
of that. She did this, that and that. She just
took a couple cups of this. Cup of that. Mama,
what's the recipe? I don't know, I just do it.
I ain't had bread pudding like mama since mama died.
(09:30):
Because everybody talk to us of how you make bread pudding.
They say, well, you knead bread. I say, look at that.
You start off wrong. You don't need bread. I remember
the first time I found out, uh, this bread had molded.
So I got ready to throw it out. Mama said,
don't you throw that out. Uh, I said, what you
going to do with that? I'm gonna make bread pudding.
I don't want none of it. That green stuff all
over it. Look. Look here. My mama took that moldy
(09:52):
bread and made some bread pudding, boy, that'll make you
want to slap her. Of course, I wasn't raised that way. Yeah.
Look what she did. She took something that everybody else
throws away, and she mixed it together and made it
something that was edifying. I'm telling you, if my mama
(10:15):
can do it. What do you think God is talking about?
Don't be anxious for anything. But in everything with prayer
and supplication, let your request be made. In other words,
what God says is this. He says, listen, I'm able
to do it. Let me tell you what. Let me
tell you what we do. And so eight pair of
eyes would be looking around, uh, because mama would be
cooking pound cake, and she mixed it up, and she
(10:36):
put the batter in, and, uh, we'd be waiting on
the bowl. And so we wait on the bowl, and
we knew we better not fight, because she's right there.
And she. She made 3 or 4, uh, cake pans
of of pound cake. She put them in the oven.
Then we get the bowl, we be licking the bowl.
It'd be all over our face, all over everywhere. I
remember since I was the oldest, I used to go
(10:57):
to my brother. I said, uh, he said, man, leave
mine alone. That's for me to get, not you. And
we lick that thing clean. But let me tell you something.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence
of things not seen. See, the batter was the substance.
The batter was the evidence of that not seen. We
then switched our view from the bowl to the oven.
(11:20):
Now the batter was good. All over our face, all
over our hand. But the best was yet to come.
S3 (11:26):
Yeah, yeah.
S1 (11:31):
That's it. That's what I came to tell you. The
best is yet to come. That we won about 500
souls last year. But the best is yet to come.
We fed over 7500 folk last year, but the best
is yet to come. And so we minister to people.
(11:54):
We witness the people we gave, we sacrificed. But the
best is yet to come, because faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The things we haven't seen are what we did last year.
Can I make it plain? Say, make it plain. That
was the batter. That was the batter.
S2 (12:20):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James
Ford Jr. A message how to stay together when your
world is falling apart. And we'll continue this teaching in
just a moment. Now, maybe you've been listening to Treasure
Truth for a while now, and something that Pastor Ford
has said has raised a question. Or you have a
question about what it means to live a faithful Christian
life in this world. Well, you can always ask your question.
(12:43):
You can send a note through our website. Just come
to Treasure Truth radio.org. Click on the contact link. You
can ask your question. Maybe we'll answer that in a
future broadcast, or you can just give us some feedback. Again,
come to our website, npr.org and click on the contact link.
We'll make sure that Pastor Ford does hear from you.
Let's get back to the message once again. Here is
(13:06):
Pastor Ford.
S1 (13:07):
Now look what God is doing. Be anxious for nothing. Wait.
Have you noticed yet, my Bible scholars, that God hasn't
said anything about answering any prayer? Well, then, what's he
trying to do? Glad you asked. You ask intelligent questions.
God is not trying to change your outcome. He's trying
(13:30):
to change your outlook because he knows if he change
your outlook, he can then change your outcome. See? Because
if you're filled with fret, you can't be filled with faith.
You can't be fretful and faithful at the same time.
It's like oil and water. Jesus said it in Matthew
chapter six. He said, don't worry. Three times he said
(13:54):
the same word. Marina. Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry.
In Matthew six, beginning at 19 all the way to 33.
And you know what he did? He gave some reasons
why you shouldn't worry. I'm just going to drop em.
I'm not going to push em. I just want you
to hear it. In Matthew six, you can find these
in Matthew 619 through 33. Here's the reasons. Number one,
(14:14):
he says, don't worry, because it shows a preoccupation with
material things that divides your spiritual focus 19 through 24.
Then secondly, he says it violates the explicit command of God,
like this one where he says, don't worry, that's verse 25.
He says, life is more than just physical needs. That's
(14:35):
why you shouldn't worry. Then he says, fourthly, you are
valuable in God's eyes. Don't worry. Then he says, fifthly,
God will faithfully provide what you need. Don't worry. Then
he says, sixthly if you worry, it demonstrates a lack
of faith in God. Seventh, he said, it reveals a
pagan mentality toward life. Uh, no spiritual comprehension. Uh, then
(14:58):
he says, uh, number eight, you're bringing tomorrow's troubles into today, then?
Number nine, it demonstrates a need for your recommitment to God.
And then he says, number ten. Don't worry. Because why?
You worry about tomorrow when it ain't promised to you. Mm.
(15:22):
And so, listen, if you want Christ's peace to supersede
all your problems, listen to how Peter put it. Cast
all your cares upon him because he cares for you.
Cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.
With the word cast mean, the word cast is a
(15:43):
powerful word. I wish I had something up here, because
what I would do is I would just. I would
just sit down, almost. I just plop it, I plop it,
then I ask Pastor Green to come up and say,
plop it down to let's stand up. Let's plop it
down together. Uh, then then I, then I'd ask, uh,
Dick to come on over and I say, come on,
Deacon Merriweather, plop it down. And then we all three
(16:03):
plop it down, plop it down, plop it down. It's
going to hold us. You want to know why? That's
what it was designed to do. Cast all your cares
on him because he cared for his. Here's the next one.
Here's the next one. The requirements. You must exercise. The
requirements you must exercise. You notice what he says. He
says be anxious for nothing. But in everything, with prayer
(16:25):
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known
unto God. Now let's go back to Peter. See if
I can get you to understand this text. When Peter
was in prison, what happened? He was asleep, but he
got liberated. How did he get liberated? The angel fetched
Peter out of prison, but prayer fetched the angel. Now
(16:50):
he had to do some things. There are requirements that
had to be met. What were the requirements? You look
at the text in acts 12. I ain't got time
to go there. But here's what. Here's what the angel said.
Angel said, wake up. And then Peter had to look up.
Then the angel said, get up, dress up, hurry up.
He had to do what was necessary to be liberated.
(17:12):
His deliverance was there. He had to act on it.
I think some of you need to do the same thing.
Wake up, look up, get up, dress up and hurry up.
That's what he did. And and and listen. He does
it all the time. I, I had somebody that we're
(17:34):
going to do something for me. And I said, praise
the Lord. And they they had some requirements. They said,
before I even do this, you got to take care
of everything that's involved. You got to make ministry conducive
for my success. I said, I don't got a problem
with that. So we sat down and I said, what
does it take to make you successful? And all of
(17:55):
it made sense. And so I had Sister Goza put
it in the document and she put it in the document.
He said, okay, I'm not going to start until you
give me the document. And so I had my secretary
send the document. He called me up. He said, look,
I can't do this. You ain't send me the document.
I said, oh, man, you didn't get it, did you?
Look in your spam. Yeah, I looked in my spam.
(18:17):
I said, okay, okay, well, let me call my call
my secretary. You didn't send the document. I told you
over a week ago. I sent the document over a
week ago, the same day you told me to send it. Well,
he said he didn't get it. Well, I can show
you where I sent it. Okay. Did you get the document? No. Okay.
Send it to him again. Send it to him again
(18:39):
a week later. I still didn't get the document. What
do you mean you don't get the document? You send
the document. I send the document. He doesn't get it.
So he says, you know what? I can't start this.
The first of the year. I said, I understand, I understand.
I said, tell me your email address again. And he
(19:04):
gave me his email address. He had texted me and
I saved it because I wanted to show it to him.
He had texted me and in instead of an m.
Now get this. I had what was what he wanted
and what was necessary and what he asked for three
(19:26):
weeks before he needed it and sent it to him
before he needed it. But he didn't get it. Not
because I messed up, but because he messed up. I'm
submitting to you that maybe you'll go through this year
and not get anything you ask God for because you
didn't meet the requirements. You say they're required. Yes, there
(19:49):
are requirements. Let me give you a couple examples. Uh,
John 911 A blind man wants to be healed. Jesus
spits on the ground, makes a mud pie, puts it
on the eye. Some of y'all would have never been
healed because as soon as y'all heard him spit. Uh
uh uh uh. What are you doing with that? He
making he making a mud pie. Wait, wait. We put
it on my eyes. No, no, no. Yeah. And a
(20:10):
lot of you miss your miracle because it didn't come
like you want it to come. Mhm. And so what happens.
He says go to the pool of Siloam. Here's my question.
Did he have to do something. What. Go to the
Pool of Siloam. Okay. What about. What about Bartimaeus. He's
blind and he hollers out Jesus, thou son of David!
(20:34):
Help me! And they said, shut up, the haters. And
then Jesus said, tell them to come to me. And
then blind Bartimaeus comes to Jesus. Now, here's my question.
He could have said, is he crazy? I'm the one
that's blind. He ought to be coming to me. Now, remember,
(20:54):
was there a crowd around? Jesus. You think they parted
like the Red sea and let that man through? No.
That man had to plow his way through the crowd
to come to Jesus. He was blind. And the Bible
says he threw away his blanket. Now you think it's
just a warm receiving blanket? No, because in that day
you had to have a blanket that told what your
(21:16):
what your infirmity was. So, uh, just say hypothetically, he
had a blue blanket because blind people had to get
permission to beg and their blankets were blue, so everybody
knew they could see you far off. You were blind
or you were crippled or you were this he threw
it away, understanding that it took blind faith to believe
(21:36):
that Jesus Christ would make that blanket unnecessary. Mm. What
about Luke 1714? Ten lepers. Jesus said, go show yourself
to the priest. Here's what gets me. It says as
they went, they didn't even get there. They just turned
to go in the direction that Jesus wanted them to go.
(21:59):
and they were healed.
S2 (22:02):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message
called How to stay together when Your World is Falling Apart. Really?
A message from Philippians chapter four today. And we're going
to continue this teaching next time. But maybe you already
know that you can't be listening to the radio. For
our next broadcast, you can always hear Pastor Ford's teaching
(22:23):
each and every day by coming to our website. It's
Treasure Truth radio.org. You can download MP3. You can stream
the program through your computer or mobile device, or you
can order copies of this broadcast on CD. Again, you'll
find those links at Treasure Truth radio.org. A couple other
ways that you can listen. Well. One would be to
podcast this program. Another download the Moody Radio app. Both
(22:46):
the podcast and the app are free, and it really
makes it convenient for you to listen whenever it fits
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programs produced by Moody Radio or music streaming stations. You
can find a link to download the app when you
come to Treasure Truth Radio.com. Look for the bar on
(23:06):
the homepage that says Stay Connected. In addition to a
link to the app, we'll also link you to our
Facebook page, our Twitter feed, and a lot more. And
if you've not been to the website recently, I do
hope you'll stop by there. You can check out the
books that Pastor Ford has written, see the different titles
available as a paperback or in an e-book format by
clicking on the link that says Books by Pastor Ford.
(23:28):
There's that and a lot more when you come to
treasure Truth Radio. Well, I want to thank you for
listening today. Hope you make it a point to tune
in for our next broadcast as we continue this study
from Philippians chapter four. Thanks also to our producer, Amy Rios,
for our Bible teacher, Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure
truth is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of
(23:49):
Moody Bible Institute.
God is not trying to change your outcome. He's trying
to change your outlook because he knows if he change
your outlook, he can then change your outcome. See? Because
if you're filled with fret, you can't be filled with faith.
You can't be fretful and faithful at the same time.
S2 (00:25):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James
Ford Jr, senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us as we continue
a message how to stay together when your world is
falling apart. And pastor, honestly, there may be things that
people are going through even today where it feels like
their world is absolutely falling apart. Um, whether, you know,
(00:47):
that's maybe a medical condition or a relationship that's breaking apart,
whatever that may be, they are absolutely rocked. And they
are fretful. In fact, they're so fretful they're having a
hard time getting their eyes off that problem, whatever that
thing is. They say, I want to have that faith,
but I'm struggling to do so right now. You have
(01:07):
a word of encouragement for them today.
S1 (01:09):
Well, uh, the word of encouragement never changes. Uh, what
deals with fret faith? How do you get faith? So
then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word
of God. You need a word from the Lord on
that particular situation, where you have the opportunity to let
(01:29):
the word override what you're going through. And, you know,
fret and faith are like oil and water. Uh, they
can't coexist. And so Hebrews 11 six says, for without
faith it is impossible to please him, for he that
cometh to God must believe two things that he is,
(01:52):
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. And what I like about that verse is,
it doesn't say, you even have to find him. It
just says you have to be seeking him and know
that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.
And so now, rather than allowing my problem to run
after me, I do a reverse and I run after God,
(02:16):
and God will take care of my problem. The first
thing he wants to do is he wants to give
me inner tranquility in the midst of outer turbulence. Remember
what he said to the disciples, the boat was in
the water and they were fearing drowning. And Jesus said,
fear not. 365 fear not. So I didn't count them,
(02:39):
but I heard Doctor David Jeremiah say, there are 365
fear nots in the Bible. Why did he tell them?
Fear not before he calmed the sea. See, he had
to calm the storm on the inside of them before
he calmed the storm on the outside. Why? Because if
he only calmed the storm on the outside, the situation
is gone. But I'm still living it. Yeah. And how
(03:01):
many people have gone through that, Steve? The issue is over.
But you're still suffering from that issue because you don't
have the calmness of heart, the tranquility of heart that
you need in order to have the peace of God
that passeth all understanding.
S2 (03:18):
Well, I think you're talking to a lot of people
who are really identifying with what you're sharing today. So
let's continue this in the book of Philippians. We're in
chapter four looking at verses six and seven as we
continue the message, how to stay together when your world
is falling apart. Here's Pastor Ford.
S1 (03:35):
Now, anytime God commands us, you know what that means.
Bad news. That means we can. That means we can.
So then notice the first part. You stop worrying. I'll
give you peace. So the converse is true. You don't
stop worrying. You can't have my peace. Now, I don't
understand it. Because, God, you know, you command me to
(03:56):
do something. I don't think I can do it. Look,
if I command you to do it, you can do it.
because in the command is inherent, the power to be
able to pull off what I'm commanding you to do.
The power is in the word that's given, and we
talk about it all the time. What's my favorite illustration?
Come on, tell me, Jerry curl juice. Because if you
(04:20):
had a Jerry curl, it wouldn't a Jerry curl till
you put in the activator juice. And so what God
says is you got to take my word. His word
is powerful. Sharper than any two edged sword. Well, how
come it ain't doing you any good? Because you ain't
activated with your faith. Because your faith activates it. Like
Jerry curl juice activated your Jerry curl. And you always
(04:44):
know when you activated your faith. Because you'll leave residue
wherever you are. Hope you got a leather couch. And
so here's my question why start here now? Now. How
many Bible students do I have in here? Because if
(05:06):
you're a Bible school, you'll say, wait, wait wait wait
wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. He says,
don't worry. Then pray. How come he didn't say pray
and then don't worry. Doesn't that make sense? Pray? If
I pray, then, then I won't worry. But he says
don't worry and then pray. Oh yeah, I see it.
You ever notice that? Most of the time Jesus talked
(05:27):
to his disciples when they have a problem, the first
thing he said is, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.
Matthew 14. Uh, they're out on the water, and the water, uh,
is doing the nay, nay, boom, boom, boom, boom, breaking
it down. Bring it back up. Boom, boom. Yeah, it's
doing the nay, nay. And these are fishermen. They've been
(05:51):
on this water a long time. Peter, James and Peter
and and Andrew and they're upset. And Jesus come walking
on the water and and they say it's Casper the
Friendly Ghost. He says, no, it's me. Do not be afraid.
In verse 27. Then verse 32 says, he shut the
wind up. Now why didn't he shut the wind up
(06:13):
so that they wouldn't be afraid? Here it is. And
you know it very well, don't you, that Jesus lets
us know. The reason he's telling us this first is
because he has to calm the storm that's on the
inside of us before he calms the storm that's on
the outside of us. Because if he calms the storm,
that's on the outside of us and leaves the storm
that's on the inside of us, that even when he
(06:35):
calms the storm on the outside of us, the storm
on the inside of us is still in us. Here
it is, here it is, here it is. Here it is.
Jesus got to deal with that emotion because you can
be out of the storm, but the storm won't be
out of you. Some of you know it. The thing
that you stressing about and and messed up over happened
(06:58):
years ago. Come The storm is still in you. The
person who did it may be dead, but the storm
is still in you. You still ain't forgiven, daddy. You
still haven't forgiven mama. You haven't forgiven that individual because
the storm is still in you. I heard a person
talking about the fact that, uh, there was a guy
(07:19):
in North Carolina or South Carolina. Uh, he went swimming.
He came back home, and, uh, he died. The coroner
said he drowned. They called it a dry drowning because
when he was there, he swallowed some water in the
pool that didn't go into his lungs until he he
(07:42):
he went to sleep and he drowned. And he wasn't
in the pool. He was out of it, but it
wasn't out of him. Whole lot of people like that.
Whole lot of people. So this text says, listen, stop worrying,
then go to prayer. Why? So that when we go
(08:02):
to God, we go as a victor and not a victim.
That you and I realize that you can't be faithful
and fretful at the same time. That that there are
some people who understand God does not respond to your need.
God responds to your faith. And you going all tore
(08:25):
up from the floor up talking about God. And he says, okay,
everybody got needs. Let me see your faith now. You
don't believe it. I hate to get the Bible in this.
Hebrews 11 six, for without faith it is impossible to
please him, for he that cometh to him must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. See, you ain't even got
(08:47):
to find him. All you gotta do be looking for him. Yeah,
and what is that? Faith. Verse one. Faith is the
substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen.
It is beyond the five senses. We walk by faith,
not by sight. Say, what are you talking about? Let
me see if I can get you to understand it.
My mama was a sure enough cook. She could put
(09:08):
her foot in it. Her boots, her shoes, everything. And, uh,
you know, mama made everything from scratch. I never saw
her with a measuring cup, a teaspoon thing. Mama, just.
Mama just said, give me a pinch of this. Pinch
of that. She did this, that and that. She just
took a couple cups of this. Cup of that. Mama,
what's the recipe? I don't know, I just do it.
I ain't had bread pudding like mama since mama died.
(09:30):
Because everybody talk to us of how you make bread pudding.
They say, well, you knead bread. I say, look at that.
You start off wrong. You don't need bread. I remember
the first time I found out, uh, this bread had molded.
So I got ready to throw it out. Mama said,
don't you throw that out. Uh, I said, what you
going to do with that? I'm gonna make bread pudding.
I don't want none of it. That green stuff all
over it. Look. Look here. My mama took that moldy
(09:52):
bread and made some bread pudding, boy, that'll make you
want to slap her. Of course, I wasn't raised that way. Yeah.
Look what she did. She took something that everybody else
throws away, and she mixed it together and made it
something that was edifying. I'm telling you, if my mama
(10:15):
can do it. What do you think God is talking about?
Don't be anxious for anything. But in everything with prayer
and supplication, let your request be made. In other words,
what God says is this. He says, listen, I'm able
to do it. Let me tell you what. Let me
tell you what we do. And so eight pair of
eyes would be looking around, uh, because mama would be
cooking pound cake, and she mixed it up, and she
(10:36):
put the batter in, and, uh, we'd be waiting on
the bowl. And so we wait on the bowl, and
we knew we better not fight, because she's right there.
And she. She made 3 or 4, uh, cake pans
of of pound cake. She put them in the oven.
Then we get the bowl, we be licking the bowl.
It'd be all over our face, all over everywhere. I
remember since I was the oldest, I used to go
(10:57):
to my brother. I said, uh, he said, man, leave
mine alone. That's for me to get, not you. And
we lick that thing clean. But let me tell you something.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence
of things not seen. See, the batter was the substance.
The batter was the evidence of that not seen. We
then switched our view from the bowl to the oven.
(11:20):
Now the batter was good. All over our face, all
over our hand. But the best was yet to come.
S3 (11:26):
Yeah, yeah.
S1 (11:31):
That's it. That's what I came to tell you. The
best is yet to come. That we won about 500
souls last year. But the best is yet to come.
We fed over 7500 folk last year, but the best
is yet to come. And so we minister to people.
(11:54):
We witness the people we gave, we sacrificed. But the
best is yet to come, because faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The things we haven't seen are what we did last year.
Can I make it plain? Say, make it plain. That
was the batter. That was the batter.
S2 (12:20):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James
Ford Jr. A message how to stay together when your
world is falling apart. And we'll continue this teaching in
just a moment. Now, maybe you've been listening to Treasure
Truth for a while now, and something that Pastor Ford
has said has raised a question. Or you have a
question about what it means to live a faithful Christian
life in this world. Well, you can always ask your question.
(12:43):
You can send a note through our website. Just come
to Treasure Truth radio.org. Click on the contact link. You
can ask your question. Maybe we'll answer that in a
future broadcast, or you can just give us some feedback. Again,
come to our website, npr.org and click on the contact link.
We'll make sure that Pastor Ford does hear from you.
Let's get back to the message once again. Here is
(13:06):
Pastor Ford.
S1 (13:07):
Now look what God is doing. Be anxious for nothing. Wait.
Have you noticed yet, my Bible scholars, that God hasn't
said anything about answering any prayer? Well, then, what's he
trying to do? Glad you asked. You ask intelligent questions.
God is not trying to change your outcome. He's trying
(13:30):
to change your outlook because he knows if he change
your outlook, he can then change your outcome. See? Because
if you're filled with fret, you can't be filled with faith.
You can't be fretful and faithful at the same time.
It's like oil and water. Jesus said it in Matthew
chapter six. He said, don't worry. Three times he said
(13:54):
the same word. Marina. Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry.
In Matthew six, beginning at 19 all the way to 33.
And you know what he did? He gave some reasons
why you shouldn't worry. I'm just going to drop em.
I'm not going to push em. I just want you
to hear it. In Matthew six, you can find these
in Matthew 619 through 33. Here's the reasons. Number one,
(14:14):
he says, don't worry, because it shows a preoccupation with
material things that divides your spiritual focus 19 through 24.
Then secondly, he says it violates the explicit command of God,
like this one where he says, don't worry, that's verse 25.
He says, life is more than just physical needs. That's
(14:35):
why you shouldn't worry. Then he says, fourthly, you are
valuable in God's eyes. Don't worry. Then he says, fifthly,
God will faithfully provide what you need. Don't worry. Then
he says, sixthly if you worry, it demonstrates a lack
of faith in God. Seventh, he said, it reveals a
pagan mentality toward life. Uh, no spiritual comprehension. Uh, then
(14:58):
he says, uh, number eight, you're bringing tomorrow's troubles into today, then?
Number nine, it demonstrates a need for your recommitment to God.
And then he says, number ten. Don't worry. Because why?
You worry about tomorrow when it ain't promised to you. Mm.
(15:22):
And so, listen, if you want Christ's peace to supersede
all your problems, listen to how Peter put it. Cast
all your cares upon him because he cares for you.
Cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.
With the word cast mean, the word cast is a
(15:43):
powerful word. I wish I had something up here, because
what I would do is I would just. I would
just sit down, almost. I just plop it, I plop it,
then I ask Pastor Green to come up and say,
plop it down to let's stand up. Let's plop it
down together. Uh, then then I, then I'd ask, uh,
Dick to come on over and I say, come on,
Deacon Merriweather, plop it down. And then we all three
(16:03):
plop it down, plop it down, plop it down. It's
going to hold us. You want to know why? That's
what it was designed to do. Cast all your cares
on him because he cared for his. Here's the next one.
Here's the next one. The requirements. You must exercise. The
requirements you must exercise. You notice what he says. He
says be anxious for nothing. But in everything, with prayer
(16:25):
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known
unto God. Now let's go back to Peter. See if
I can get you to understand this text. When Peter
was in prison, what happened? He was asleep, but he
got liberated. How did he get liberated? The angel fetched
Peter out of prison, but prayer fetched the angel. Now
(16:50):
he had to do some things. There are requirements that
had to be met. What were the requirements? You look
at the text in acts 12. I ain't got time
to go there. But here's what. Here's what the angel said.
Angel said, wake up. And then Peter had to look up.
Then the angel said, get up, dress up, hurry up.
He had to do what was necessary to be liberated.
(17:12):
His deliverance was there. He had to act on it.
I think some of you need to do the same thing.
Wake up, look up, get up, dress up and hurry up.
That's what he did. And and and listen. He does
it all the time. I, I had somebody that we're
(17:34):
going to do something for me. And I said, praise
the Lord. And they they had some requirements. They said,
before I even do this, you got to take care
of everything that's involved. You got to make ministry conducive
for my success. I said, I don't got a problem
with that. So we sat down and I said, what
does it take to make you successful? And all of
(17:55):
it made sense. And so I had Sister Goza put
it in the document and she put it in the document.
He said, okay, I'm not going to start until you
give me the document. And so I had my secretary
send the document. He called me up. He said, look,
I can't do this. You ain't send me the document.
I said, oh, man, you didn't get it, did you?
Look in your spam. Yeah, I looked in my spam.
(18:17):
I said, okay, okay, well, let me call my call
my secretary. You didn't send the document. I told you
over a week ago. I sent the document over a
week ago, the same day you told me to send it. Well,
he said he didn't get it. Well, I can show
you where I sent it. Okay. Did you get the document? No. Okay.
Send it to him again. Send it to him again
(18:39):
a week later. I still didn't get the document. What
do you mean you don't get the document? You send
the document. I send the document. He doesn't get it.
So he says, you know what? I can't start this.
The first of the year. I said, I understand, I understand.
I said, tell me your email address again. And he
(19:04):
gave me his email address. He had texted me and
I saved it because I wanted to show it to him.
He had texted me and in instead of an m.
Now get this. I had what was what he wanted
and what was necessary and what he asked for three
(19:26):
weeks before he needed it and sent it to him
before he needed it. But he didn't get it. Not
because I messed up, but because he messed up. I'm
submitting to you that maybe you'll go through this year
and not get anything you ask God for because you
didn't meet the requirements. You say they're required. Yes, there
(19:49):
are requirements. Let me give you a couple examples. Uh,
John 911 A blind man wants to be healed. Jesus
spits on the ground, makes a mud pie, puts it
on the eye. Some of y'all would have never been
healed because as soon as y'all heard him spit. Uh
uh uh uh. What are you doing with that? He
making he making a mud pie. Wait, wait. We put
it on my eyes. No, no, no. Yeah. And a
(20:10):
lot of you miss your miracle because it didn't come
like you want it to come. Mhm. And so what happens.
He says go to the pool of Siloam. Here's my question.
Did he have to do something. What. Go to the
Pool of Siloam. Okay. What about. What about Bartimaeus. He's
blind and he hollers out Jesus, thou son of David!
(20:34):
Help me! And they said, shut up, the haters. And
then Jesus said, tell them to come to me. And
then blind Bartimaeus comes to Jesus. Now, here's my question.
He could have said, is he crazy? I'm the one
that's blind. He ought to be coming to me. Now, remember,
(20:54):
was there a crowd around? Jesus. You think they parted
like the Red sea and let that man through? No.
That man had to plow his way through the crowd
to come to Jesus. He was blind. And the Bible
says he threw away his blanket. Now you think it's
just a warm receiving blanket? No, because in that day
you had to have a blanket that told what your
(21:16):
what your infirmity was. So, uh, just say hypothetically, he
had a blue blanket because blind people had to get
permission to beg and their blankets were blue, so everybody
knew they could see you far off. You were blind
or you were crippled or you were this he threw
it away, understanding that it took blind faith to believe
(21:36):
that Jesus Christ would make that blanket unnecessary. Mm. What
about Luke 1714? Ten lepers. Jesus said, go show yourself
to the priest. Here's what gets me. It says as
they went, they didn't even get there. They just turned
to go in the direction that Jesus wanted them to go.
(21:59):
and they were healed.
S2 (22:02):
You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message
called How to stay together when Your World is Falling Apart. Really?
A message from Philippians chapter four today. And we're going
to continue this teaching next time. But maybe you already
know that you can't be listening to the radio. For
our next broadcast, you can always hear Pastor Ford's teaching
(22:23):
each and every day by coming to our website. It's
Treasure Truth radio.org. You can download MP3. You can stream
the program through your computer or mobile device, or you
can order copies of this broadcast on CD. Again, you'll
find those links at Treasure Truth radio.org. A couple other
ways that you can listen. Well. One would be to
podcast this program. Another download the Moody Radio app. Both
(22:46):
the podcast and the app are free, and it really
makes it convenient for you to listen whenever it fits
your schedule. And if you have the app, not only
can you listen to this Bible teaching program, but other
programs produced by Moody Radio or music streaming stations. You
can find a link to download the app when you
come to Treasure Truth Radio.com. Look for the bar on
(23:06):
the homepage that says Stay Connected. In addition to a
link to the app, we'll also link you to our
Facebook page, our Twitter feed, and a lot more. And
if you've not been to the website recently, I do
hope you'll stop by there. You can check out the
books that Pastor Ford has written, see the different titles
available as a paperback or in an e-book format by
clicking on the link that says Books by Pastor Ford.
(23:28):
There's that and a lot more when you come to
treasure Truth Radio. Well, I want to thank you for
listening today. Hope you make it a point to tune
in for our next broadcast as we continue this study
from Philippians chapter four. Thanks also to our producer, Amy Rios,
for our Bible teacher, Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure
truth is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of
(23:49):
Moody Bible Institute.
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