April 30, 2025 • 24 mins
When we face problems and pain in life, we need to understand that what we’re going through is for the future that we’re going to. That struggle is a part of making us who we’re going to become and it is designed to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives. And on the next Treasured Truth, Pastor Ford will continue to challenge us as we seek to understand what God is doing in our lives through our suffering. To learn more, make sure to join us for the next Treasured Truth.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:00):
They could have given up, but they stood. They stood.
They understood that the struggle that I'm going through is
for the future. I'm going to. That the struggle is
a part of making me who I'm going to become.
S2 (00:21):
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us today as we
continue our study of James chapter one and understand why
it's so important to see the purpose God may have
for us in our problems and in our pain. I
think that's one of the wonderful things about the Bible.
(00:42):
As Pastor Ford just said, they could have given up,
but they stood. Who was he talking about? Well, it's
the people that you read about in Scripture. I think
sometimes we may have this misperception that the people that
are written about in the Bible are holy people. Well,
they are if you say that they were set apart
for use by God, but they were far from perfect.
(01:04):
They were flawed. They were sinners. Some of them have
some pretty major baggage. And Pastor Ford points that out
in today's message. I think that can be reassuring for us,
because the Bible doesn't just gloss over the messiness of life.
It says, hey, you've made a mess of your life.
So did these people that God used. And you know,
(01:25):
that can carry forward to today. You may have made
a mess of your life, but if you stand and
if you turn to Christ, if we confess our sins,
if we grow in our relationship with him, it's amazing
how God may still use you. I think you're going
to be encouraged in today's broadcast. So if you can
join us in James chapter one as we continue seeing
(01:45):
the purpose in your problems and pain. Here's Pastor Ford.
S1 (01:50):
So God is shaping you. What's that capacity. Say capacity.
And then verse four, God supplies. Get it, get it.
Look at it. It's so well rounded. I sent this
to you. You got to see it the way I
see it. Because I'm shaping you to fill you with
something that's going to prepare you for where I'm taking you.
If you don't go through this, you will not be
(02:12):
prepared for what I prepared for you. So it's already
there and it's waiting on you. I just have to
give you capacity in order to deal with it. And God,
every time he shapes something, he fills it. Let me
borrow from a preacher I heard on TV. I ain't
going to call his name. He said. God created the
(02:33):
earth with capacity. And then he filled it. Uh, God
created the seas with capacity. Then he filled it. God
created the sky with capacity. Then he filled it. God
created man with capacity. Then he blew into him the
breath of life. That was good stuff. I shout about that.
I said, that's good stuff. And so what God's doing
(02:55):
right now? Come on, say he's shaping me. Yeah, so
he can fill me so he can use me because
I'm going somewhere and God's going to do something in
my life. Amen. Amen. Yeah. That's what he's doing. Yeah.
And so when you look at what's going on here,
(03:17):
he wants us to know. Now, let me give all
of it. Then I'll come back and just kind of
review it for you. He says four things in verse
three be. And four. He says, here's what God is doing.
He says, he says this resultant purposes in your problems
and pain. Let me clarify them for you. First of all,
God is testing our faith. What's he doing? Yeah, he says,
sixth of all, he's teaching us endurance. What's he doing?
(03:42):
He said, third of all, he's taking us to maturity.
What's he doing? He said, last of all, he's transporting
us to our future or to our destiny. What's he doing? Yeah.
So every time we look at it like God looks
at it, we ought to be saying, okay, I don't
like it. I don't understand what's going on. But bring
(04:02):
it on. Bring it on. Because I know it's not
going to make me bitter. It's going to make me better.
I know that. Hey, hey, all things are going to
work together for good to those who love the Lord
and those who are the called according to it. I'm
just happy, that's all. Because we go through some stuff
all the time, don't we, baby? Mm. You know, in
(04:25):
order to have a testimony, you gotta have a test.
Because the first four words in testimony is test. It's
amazing to me how many Christians want to be overcomers
and ain't never overcame anything. Yeah. And so here it is.
(04:50):
He says, listen, this is just a test. Now I
need to get you to Bible class. So since you
won't come meet me once again, I'm going to meet you.
And there are five sources of tests. Let me give
them to you real quick. I'm not going to push them.
There's the satanic source. The devil. Oh, yeah. He will
tempt us. He will test us. He's on us like
(05:11):
white on rice. Like a duck on a June bug.
Like stink on a hog. Uh, like grits on Al Green. Uh,
like drugs on al heard. Yeah, uh, like a body
shirt on a bishop. He's on us tight. I always
like saying that every now and then. Uh, yeah. And
(05:33):
so he's on us, and somebody said he's not bothering me.
That's probably because you ain't bothering him. Because if you
don't meet the devil as you walk this Christian walk,
it probably means both of you are going the same direction.
First Peter five eight says, be sober. Be vigilant for
your adversary. The devil walketh about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour. Oh, yeah, he's looking for us,
(05:56):
and he wants us to make God look bad. Then
there's the secular source. That's the world. Uh, now there
are three words translated world in in the Greek New Testament. Uh,
this one is cosmos, a cosmos. We get the word
cosmetics from it. Now, what is the world? Get this.
Every woman ought to have this definition down. Because what
(06:20):
do you do in the morning? You put on your base, right?
It ain't called base foundation. Okay, put on your foundation,
then what you put on next, baby. Well, you is
looking so good and you're all dolled up. I thought
maybe you help a brother out this morning, but you
(06:41):
know what I mean. It's like you went in the mirror.
You begin to look, you know, and you straighten out
the weave. If you have one, or you put the
wig on your head, you know, and you made sure
everything was arranged so that you could get those compliments.
You look good this morning. What is the world? It
is the arranged system that leaves God out. That's it.
(07:07):
Of course, I don't have to make any comments about
that because we know we're living in it. Third one.
Third one. The self source. That's the flesh. Remember, the
enemy is the enemy. The old sin nature. That's why Paul,
remember in Romans six said, who shall free me from
this body of death? And remember the the word picture.
How many remember the word picture? Let me see your hands.
(07:29):
I wasn't going to call on you. I just want
to see if you remember the word picture. Okay. The
word picture was if you committed premeditated murder, you murdered somebody.
They would strap that person on your back, and you
would have to carry that person until the putrification from
their body went into yours. And and you became diseased
and died. That was your punishment. And he says, the
(07:53):
flesh is like that. Who shall free me from this
body of death? So, so, so so the spirit says
we going to Bible study Wednesday night? And the flesh said, Uh-Uh,
empire coming on. We going to prayer. Uh-Uh scandal coming on. Yeah.
So the flesh. Here's the fourth one. Here's the fourth one.
(08:15):
The situational or circumstantial source? Natural cause and effect. Galatians
says it this way whatsoever a man soweth, uh, God
is not mocked whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.
In other words, there are natural consequences that are situational
or circumstantial that happen. It just happen because stuff happens.
(08:35):
But here's the one he's talking about here, the sovereign source,
that God will test our faith so we can know
exactly how much faith we have. See, salvation will get
us into heaven, but the test is to get heaven
into us. Y'all ain't going to pray with me, I
said it. We studied Genesis 22 recently where God said
(08:58):
to Abraham something none of us would ever want to
hear about our children. Offer up Isaac as a sacrifice.
And some of y'all saying, God wouldn't have to tell
me to do that with mine. I'll volunteer. Yeah, right. Anyway,
he says he says he says he. And so what's
he doing? Just the one question. Here it is. Here
it is. There are four, but there's only one I
(09:21):
want to focus on. In other words, do you love
me more than the pagans love their God? You say
that you will follow me anywhere. You prove that. Now
will you give me anything? Do you love the gift
more than you love the giver? And some of us
love the gift more than we love the giver. Because
he gave us the house. And we can't come to
church because we have to clean it. Uh, he gave
(09:42):
us the clothes. But Sunday, the only day I got
to wash my clothes. So I gotta go to work tomorrow,
so I gotta have some clean clothes. Well, well, you
must be pretty trifling if you don't have any clothes
to wear. And you, you you. Let me, let me,
let me just let it go. You know, it's like.
(10:02):
It's like what you do go two months without washing
anything and then does it take all day? No, it
sure doesn't. And so do you love me? Will you
serve me even when you don't like what I'm telling you?
What kind of faith do you have? Is it only
faith that the faith of the comfortable? What about in conflict?
(10:25):
You still love me as much as you said you
love me. When I took the job that I gave you.
When I took the money that I gave you. When
I took the help that I gave you. Or will
you say, yes? The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. I'm going to
bless you. I'm going to praise you in the good time,
(10:47):
but also in the bad time, in the glad times,
but also in the bad times. I am going to
serve you. This is what we need. That's what we need.
S2 (10:59):
Well, that is exactly what we need. It can be
a little tougher at times to live that out, and
I think that's why listening to a teaching like this
can be so encouraging, to just be reminded of the
fact that God is sovereign and we can trust him
not only in the good, but also in the bad.
And so maybe you want to listen to this broadcast again. Well,
you can always do so by coming to our website.
(11:21):
You can download the MP3, you can stream the program
or order copies on CD. Just stop by treasure. Truth. Radio.com. Again,
here's Pastor Ford.
S1 (11:30):
In other words, Abraham, do you love me like the
pagans love their God? Now, if you remember you were here,
what they would do is they take their firstborn, put
them in the arms of Molech, and which was a
bronze statue, and they would heat those hands up and
throw their firstborn into the hands of Molech as an offering.
And God says, do you love me as much as
(11:51):
the pagan love? Love their God? And Abraham said, I
sure do. I'm going to do this thing. And and
of course, Hebrews 11 tells us he believed God was
going to raise him from the dead. But let me
ask you some questions. Do you love your God as
much as the pagans love their God? Because the Jehovah
Witness goes out and knocks on doors and talks about
their God 15 hours a week? Uh, do you love
(12:15):
your God as much as the pagans love their God?
Mormon youth give two years of their life to missionary
work before they start their career. Do you love your
God as much as the pagan love their god? Uh, yeah.
I heard say that the Hare Krishnas remember when they
used to go to airport? Their goal was to give
$200 a day to their organization. Do you love your
(12:38):
God as much as the pagans love their God? Moonies
believe that marriage is sacred, and, uh, it's between a
man and a woman. And you shouldn't shack before you
get married. Do you love your God as much as
the pagan love their god? Uh, Muslims pray five times
a day. Do you love your God as much as
(13:01):
the pagan love? Jews pray three times a day. Do
you love the living God as much as they love
their god? Mm. Yeah. And so sometimes what happens is
that we need to understand God saying, Will you obey
me when it's not easy to obey me when it's
(13:21):
not comfortable to obey me? Now, now, I went to
Walmart and got myself a piggy bank. Now, I remember
in my early 20s I used to keep all my
change in a purple bag. Oh, okay. I can tell
(13:43):
who came out of the streets from who just laughed,
you know. So? So some of some of them weren't.
Why are they laughing? Somebody holler out what the purple
bag was. Crown royal. Yeah, but I remember in 1961,
(14:05):
I was ten years old and my mama gave me
a piggy bank. Now I got this one. This is different.
This one has a little thing on the bottom. You
can pull it out and get the coins. But but
back in the day is anybody had one like I
used to have it didn't have this on the bottom.
How many of you had had a remember that. It
didn't have that. How would you have to get the.
Because you yeah you you'd have to bust it. But
see not from my family. You didn't bust it because
(14:28):
mama paid for this. Yeah. So you don't bust nothing.
Mama paid cuz then mama would whip your behind. So
here's what you would do. You want to get some
money out of it. What you would do is you
take it, turn it upside down and you would shake
it until something came out. See, you got to realize
that God puts something valuable in every one of you.
(14:50):
Everybody la dee da dee and everybody, uh, he put
it in you, and it's not going to come out
of you very naturally. So sometimes what God has to
do is turn you upside down and shake it until
it falls out. Because God knows that unless you turn
them upside down and shake them, what he put in
(15:11):
them is not going to come out of them. And therefore,
what needs to come out of you to prepare you
for where God is taking you won't come out. And
so God takes you and shakes you, and out comes
more faith. God takes you and shakes you, and out
comes more power. And God takes you and shakes you,
and out comes mercy and love and grace and peace
(15:33):
and vision and you, you, yeah, it comes out of you.
And you think I can't make it? And God says,
oh yes you can. And it comes out of you,
I can't take it. And you say, yeah, it's in.
I didn't know all that was up in me. Come on,
tell him. Shake me Lord. Tell something come out that
(15:54):
you put in that I can use to move toward
what you have for me. Mhm. This thing getting gooder.
But then notice not just test our faith notice teach
our endurance. So he says let patience. He's used the
word twice now in chapter one the word patience is
(16:15):
hupomone say hupomone. And it literally means huppah. Under Monet
abide to, abide under. In chapter five, he uses the
other word macro to me, say macro to me, and
macro long through me or minded. Now here's what it means.
He bookends it with patience. In chapter one he says
(16:35):
you have to be patient in problems. That's hupomone. And
then he says, I gotta take you to the bigger stuff.
Chapter five. You gotta be patient with people. And so
being patient with problems and patience with people, he says,
to abide under. Why do I need to abide under?
Because some things that happen to you are actually happening
(16:58):
for you Sometimes when it looks like things are falling apart,
things are really falling in place. But you must stand
your ground. See, God wants you to hold out instead
of giving out. You gotta stay under it. Let me,
let me just quote I'd like to read after Pastor Butler.
(17:21):
Here's what he said. The old tongue in cheek adage,
I want patience and I want it now reflects the
difficulty of developing patience. Patience doesn't come overnight and it
doesn't come without tribulation. He's got book, chapter, verse. You
know what it is. Anybody know that verse in Romans
chapter six? That's right. Verse three. Tribulation worketh patience. If
(17:46):
you've ever prayed for patience, what you said is bring
me some trouble. I just I read everybody's mind just then.
I ain't never praying for patience again. Never, never. Yeah,
that's what you're praying for. four. And so Hebrews 12.
That's a powerful patient here it says, wherefore, seeing we
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us run with patience the race, that's why. Because
(18:10):
it's not a 100 yard dash. It's a 26 mile marathon.
And he's saying, listen. So. So you gotta go for
the long haul. Yeah. Mhm. See here's what we do.
We come up with all these excuses about why we
can't stay under what God is allowing or authorized for
(18:31):
us to go through. And Romans 12 when it says,
wherefore seeing we are compassed about with, you know what
it's all about people who stood, people who stood their ground,
who did not let any of their circumstances cause them
to get out from under what God was doing. Okay,
let me call the roll. Because somebody said I'm too
(18:53):
old to serve God. You know, I'm to leave it
to the young folk. I'm just too old to serve God.
And Moses said, you're never too old to serve God.
I didn't start my ministry till I was 80. And
then I served him for 40 years and served him
until I was 120. How old are you? You're never
too old. Somebody talking about. Well, well, see, I'm too young.
(19:15):
You know God can't use me. I'm just too young. And, uh,
David says I was 17, uh, when the Lord used
me to defeat Goliath. And Daniel says I was 16
when I was taken into Babylon, and and and, uh, became, uh,
a president at an early age, and, and, uh, Josiah
says I was eight when I came to the throne
(19:35):
of Israel and started revival. And Jeremiah says, I got
all y'all beat. I was in my mother's womb. Hey,
he called me hey in the womb. I gave him
praise in the womb. I guess you could call that
prenatal praise. Yeah, yeah. And so here it is. Here
it is. Somebody said I can't put myself on the
(19:57):
altar like Romans 12 one and two says, and. And
Isaac says, I did. I did somebody saying, well, see,
you don't have baby mama drama and baby daddy drama.
And Jacob said, tell me about it. Mhm. Yeah. And,
and so what's going on. I can't serve because I
(20:17):
was a thought. Mhm. Yeah. And, and Rahab says look
uh don't let that bother you girlfriend. I ran the
Best Little Whorehouse in Jericho and I'm in the genealogy
of Jesus Christ. Mhm. Yeah. And somebody says I was
too much of a player, and David and Solomon look
at each other and say wannabe. Somebody says I talk
(20:38):
too much and I can't back up my claims. And,
and Peter says, join the club. In other words, they
could have given up. But they stood. They stood. They
understood that the struggle that I'm going through is for
the future. I'm going to, that the struggle is a
part of making me who I'm going to become.
S2 (21:02):
You know, God is shaping each one of us according
to his plan. Encouraging biblical thoughts today from Pastor Ford.
You're listening to treasure Truth and the fact that you're
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(21:25):
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(21:49):
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(22:10):
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(22:30):
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(22:51):
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(23:34):
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a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
They could have given up, but they stood. They stood.
They understood that the struggle that I'm going through is
for the future. I'm going to. That the struggle is
a part of making me who I'm going to become.
S2 (00:21):
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us today as we
continue our study of James chapter one and understand why
it's so important to see the purpose God may have
for us in our problems and in our pain. I
think that's one of the wonderful things about the Bible.
(00:42):
As Pastor Ford just said, they could have given up,
but they stood. Who was he talking about? Well, it's
the people that you read about in Scripture. I think
sometimes we may have this misperception that the people that
are written about in the Bible are holy people. Well,
they are if you say that they were set apart
for use by God, but they were far from perfect.
(01:04):
They were flawed. They were sinners. Some of them have
some pretty major baggage. And Pastor Ford points that out
in today's message. I think that can be reassuring for us,
because the Bible doesn't just gloss over the messiness of life.
It says, hey, you've made a mess of your life.
So did these people that God used. And you know,
(01:25):
that can carry forward to today. You may have made
a mess of your life, but if you stand and
if you turn to Christ, if we confess our sins,
if we grow in our relationship with him, it's amazing
how God may still use you. I think you're going
to be encouraged in today's broadcast. So if you can
join us in James chapter one as we continue seeing
(01:45):
the purpose in your problems and pain. Here's Pastor Ford.
S1 (01:50):
So God is shaping you. What's that capacity. Say capacity.
And then verse four, God supplies. Get it, get it.
Look at it. It's so well rounded. I sent this
to you. You got to see it the way I
see it. Because I'm shaping you to fill you with
something that's going to prepare you for where I'm taking you.
If you don't go through this, you will not be
(02:12):
prepared for what I prepared for you. So it's already
there and it's waiting on you. I just have to
give you capacity in order to deal with it. And God,
every time he shapes something, he fills it. Let me
borrow from a preacher I heard on TV. I ain't
going to call his name. He said. God created the
(02:33):
earth with capacity. And then he filled it. Uh, God
created the seas with capacity. Then he filled it. God
created the sky with capacity. Then he filled it. God
created man with capacity. Then he blew into him the
breath of life. That was good stuff. I shout about that.
I said, that's good stuff. And so what God's doing
(02:55):
right now? Come on, say he's shaping me. Yeah, so
he can fill me so he can use me because
I'm going somewhere and God's going to do something in
my life. Amen. Amen. Yeah. That's what he's doing. Yeah.
And so when you look at what's going on here,
(03:17):
he wants us to know. Now, let me give all
of it. Then I'll come back and just kind of
review it for you. He says four things in verse
three be. And four. He says, here's what God is doing.
He says, he says this resultant purposes in your problems
and pain. Let me clarify them for you. First of all,
God is testing our faith. What's he doing? Yeah, he says,
sixth of all, he's teaching us endurance. What's he doing?
(03:42):
He said, third of all, he's taking us to maturity.
What's he doing? He said, last of all, he's transporting
us to our future or to our destiny. What's he doing? Yeah.
So every time we look at it like God looks
at it, we ought to be saying, okay, I don't
like it. I don't understand what's going on. But bring
(04:02):
it on. Bring it on. Because I know it's not
going to make me bitter. It's going to make me better.
I know that. Hey, hey, all things are going to
work together for good to those who love the Lord
and those who are the called according to it. I'm
just happy, that's all. Because we go through some stuff
all the time, don't we, baby? Mm. You know, in
(04:25):
order to have a testimony, you gotta have a test.
Because the first four words in testimony is test. It's
amazing to me how many Christians want to be overcomers
and ain't never overcame anything. Yeah. And so here it is.
(04:50):
He says, listen, this is just a test. Now I
need to get you to Bible class. So since you
won't come meet me once again, I'm going to meet you.
And there are five sources of tests. Let me give
them to you real quick. I'm not going to push them.
There's the satanic source. The devil. Oh, yeah. He will
tempt us. He will test us. He's on us like
(05:11):
white on rice. Like a duck on a June bug.
Like stink on a hog. Uh, like grits on Al Green. Uh,
like drugs on al heard. Yeah, uh, like a body
shirt on a bishop. He's on us tight. I always
like saying that every now and then. Uh, yeah. And
(05:33):
so he's on us, and somebody said he's not bothering me.
That's probably because you ain't bothering him. Because if you
don't meet the devil as you walk this Christian walk,
it probably means both of you are going the same direction.
First Peter five eight says, be sober. Be vigilant for
your adversary. The devil walketh about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour. Oh, yeah, he's looking for us,
(05:56):
and he wants us to make God look bad. Then
there's the secular source. That's the world. Uh, now there
are three words translated world in in the Greek New Testament. Uh,
this one is cosmos, a cosmos. We get the word
cosmetics from it. Now, what is the world? Get this.
Every woman ought to have this definition down. Because what
(06:20):
do you do in the morning? You put on your base, right?
It ain't called base foundation. Okay, put on your foundation,
then what you put on next, baby. Well, you is
looking so good and you're all dolled up. I thought
maybe you help a brother out this morning, but you
(06:41):
know what I mean. It's like you went in the mirror.
You begin to look, you know, and you straighten out
the weave. If you have one, or you put the
wig on your head, you know, and you made sure
everything was arranged so that you could get those compliments.
You look good this morning. What is the world? It
is the arranged system that leaves God out. That's it.
(07:07):
Of course, I don't have to make any comments about
that because we know we're living in it. Third one.
Third one. The self source. That's the flesh. Remember, the
enemy is the enemy. The old sin nature. That's why Paul,
remember in Romans six said, who shall free me from
this body of death? And remember the the word picture.
How many remember the word picture? Let me see your hands.
(07:29):
I wasn't going to call on you. I just want
to see if you remember the word picture. Okay. The
word picture was if you committed premeditated murder, you murdered somebody.
They would strap that person on your back, and you
would have to carry that person until the putrification from
their body went into yours. And and you became diseased
and died. That was your punishment. And he says, the
(07:53):
flesh is like that. Who shall free me from this
body of death? So, so, so so the spirit says
we going to Bible study Wednesday night? And the flesh said, Uh-Uh,
empire coming on. We going to prayer. Uh-Uh scandal coming on. Yeah.
So the flesh. Here's the fourth one. Here's the fourth one.
(08:15):
The situational or circumstantial source? Natural cause and effect. Galatians
says it this way whatsoever a man soweth, uh, God
is not mocked whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.
In other words, there are natural consequences that are situational
or circumstantial that happen. It just happen because stuff happens.
(08:35):
But here's the one he's talking about here, the sovereign source,
that God will test our faith so we can know
exactly how much faith we have. See, salvation will get
us into heaven, but the test is to get heaven
into us. Y'all ain't going to pray with me, I
said it. We studied Genesis 22 recently where God said
(08:58):
to Abraham something none of us would ever want to
hear about our children. Offer up Isaac as a sacrifice.
And some of y'all saying, God wouldn't have to tell
me to do that with mine. I'll volunteer. Yeah, right. Anyway,
he says he says he says he. And so what's
he doing? Just the one question. Here it is. Here
it is. There are four, but there's only one I
(09:21):
want to focus on. In other words, do you love
me more than the pagans love their God? You say
that you will follow me anywhere. You prove that. Now
will you give me anything? Do you love the gift
more than you love the giver? And some of us
love the gift more than we love the giver. Because
he gave us the house. And we can't come to
church because we have to clean it. Uh, he gave
(09:42):
us the clothes. But Sunday, the only day I got
to wash my clothes. So I gotta go to work tomorrow,
so I gotta have some clean clothes. Well, well, you
must be pretty trifling if you don't have any clothes
to wear. And you, you you. Let me, let me,
let me just let it go. You know, it's like.
(10:02):
It's like what you do go two months without washing
anything and then does it take all day? No, it
sure doesn't. And so do you love me? Will you
serve me even when you don't like what I'm telling you?
What kind of faith do you have? Is it only
faith that the faith of the comfortable? What about in conflict?
(10:25):
You still love me as much as you said you
love me. When I took the job that I gave you.
When I took the money that I gave you. When
I took the help that I gave you. Or will
you say, yes? The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. I'm going to
bless you. I'm going to praise you in the good time,
(10:47):
but also in the bad time, in the glad times,
but also in the bad times. I am going to
serve you. This is what we need. That's what we need.
S2 (10:59):
Well, that is exactly what we need. It can be
a little tougher at times to live that out, and
I think that's why listening to a teaching like this
can be so encouraging, to just be reminded of the
fact that God is sovereign and we can trust him
not only in the good, but also in the bad.
And so maybe you want to listen to this broadcast again. Well,
you can always do so by coming to our website.
(11:21):
You can download the MP3, you can stream the program
or order copies on CD. Just stop by treasure. Truth. Radio.com. Again,
here's Pastor Ford.
S1 (11:30):
In other words, Abraham, do you love me like the
pagans love their God? Now, if you remember you were here,
what they would do is they take their firstborn, put
them in the arms of Molech, and which was a
bronze statue, and they would heat those hands up and
throw their firstborn into the hands of Molech as an offering.
And God says, do you love me as much as
(11:51):
the pagan love? Love their God? And Abraham said, I
sure do. I'm going to do this thing. And and
of course, Hebrews 11 tells us he believed God was
going to raise him from the dead. But let me
ask you some questions. Do you love your God as
much as the pagans love their God? Because the Jehovah
Witness goes out and knocks on doors and talks about
their God 15 hours a week? Uh, do you love
(12:15):
your God as much as the pagans love their God?
Mormon youth give two years of their life to missionary
work before they start their career. Do you love your
God as much as the pagan love their god? Uh, yeah.
I heard say that the Hare Krishnas remember when they
used to go to airport? Their goal was to give
$200 a day to their organization. Do you love your
(12:38):
God as much as the pagans love their God? Moonies
believe that marriage is sacred, and, uh, it's between a
man and a woman. And you shouldn't shack before you
get married. Do you love your God as much as
the pagan love their god? Uh, Muslims pray five times
a day. Do you love your God as much as
(13:01):
the pagan love? Jews pray three times a day. Do
you love the living God as much as they love
their god? Mm. Yeah. And so sometimes what happens is
that we need to understand God saying, Will you obey
me when it's not easy to obey me when it's
(13:21):
not comfortable to obey me? Now, now, I went to
Walmart and got myself a piggy bank. Now, I remember
in my early 20s I used to keep all my
change in a purple bag. Oh, okay. I can tell
(13:43):
who came out of the streets from who just laughed,
you know. So? So some of some of them weren't.
Why are they laughing? Somebody holler out what the purple
bag was. Crown royal. Yeah, but I remember in 1961,
(14:05):
I was ten years old and my mama gave me
a piggy bank. Now I got this one. This is different.
This one has a little thing on the bottom. You
can pull it out and get the coins. But but
back in the day is anybody had one like I
used to have it didn't have this on the bottom.
How many of you had had a remember that. It
didn't have that. How would you have to get the.
Because you yeah you you'd have to bust it. But
see not from my family. You didn't bust it because
(14:28):
mama paid for this. Yeah. So you don't bust nothing.
Mama paid cuz then mama would whip your behind. So
here's what you would do. You want to get some
money out of it. What you would do is you
take it, turn it upside down and you would shake
it until something came out. See, you got to realize
that God puts something valuable in every one of you.
(14:50):
Everybody la dee da dee and everybody, uh, he put
it in you, and it's not going to come out
of you very naturally. So sometimes what God has to
do is turn you upside down and shake it until
it falls out. Because God knows that unless you turn
them upside down and shake them, what he put in
(15:11):
them is not going to come out of them. And therefore,
what needs to come out of you to prepare you
for where God is taking you won't come out. And
so God takes you and shakes you, and out comes
more faith. God takes you and shakes you, and out
comes more power. And God takes you and shakes you,
and out comes mercy and love and grace and peace
(15:33):
and vision and you, you, yeah, it comes out of you.
And you think I can't make it? And God says,
oh yes you can. And it comes out of you,
I can't take it. And you say, yeah, it's in.
I didn't know all that was up in me. Come on,
tell him. Shake me Lord. Tell something come out that
(15:54):
you put in that I can use to move toward
what you have for me. Mhm. This thing getting gooder.
But then notice not just test our faith notice teach
our endurance. So he says let patience. He's used the
word twice now in chapter one the word patience is
(16:15):
hupomone say hupomone. And it literally means huppah. Under Monet
abide to, abide under. In chapter five, he uses the
other word macro to me, say macro to me, and
macro long through me or minded. Now here's what it means.
He bookends it with patience. In chapter one he says
(16:35):
you have to be patient in problems. That's hupomone. And
then he says, I gotta take you to the bigger stuff.
Chapter five. You gotta be patient with people. And so
being patient with problems and patience with people, he says,
to abide under. Why do I need to abide under?
Because some things that happen to you are actually happening
(16:58):
for you Sometimes when it looks like things are falling apart,
things are really falling in place. But you must stand
your ground. See, God wants you to hold out instead
of giving out. You gotta stay under it. Let me,
let me just quote I'd like to read after Pastor Butler.
(17:21):
Here's what he said. The old tongue in cheek adage,
I want patience and I want it now reflects the
difficulty of developing patience. Patience doesn't come overnight and it
doesn't come without tribulation. He's got book, chapter, verse. You
know what it is. Anybody know that verse in Romans
chapter six? That's right. Verse three. Tribulation worketh patience. If
(17:46):
you've ever prayed for patience, what you said is bring
me some trouble. I just I read everybody's mind just then.
I ain't never praying for patience again. Never, never. Yeah,
that's what you're praying for. four. And so Hebrews 12.
That's a powerful patient here it says, wherefore, seeing we
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us run with patience the race, that's why. Because
(18:10):
it's not a 100 yard dash. It's a 26 mile marathon.
And he's saying, listen. So. So you gotta go for
the long haul. Yeah. Mhm. See here's what we do.
We come up with all these excuses about why we
can't stay under what God is allowing or authorized for
(18:31):
us to go through. And Romans 12 when it says,
wherefore seeing we are compassed about with, you know what
it's all about people who stood, people who stood their ground,
who did not let any of their circumstances cause them
to get out from under what God was doing. Okay,
let me call the roll. Because somebody said I'm too
(18:53):
old to serve God. You know, I'm to leave it
to the young folk. I'm just too old to serve God.
And Moses said, you're never too old to serve God.
I didn't start my ministry till I was 80. And
then I served him for 40 years and served him
until I was 120. How old are you? You're never
too old. Somebody talking about. Well, well, see, I'm too young.
(19:15):
You know God can't use me. I'm just too young. And, uh,
David says I was 17, uh, when the Lord used
me to defeat Goliath. And Daniel says I was 16
when I was taken into Babylon, and and and, uh, became, uh,
a president at an early age, and, and, uh, Josiah
says I was eight when I came to the throne
(19:35):
of Israel and started revival. And Jeremiah says, I got
all y'all beat. I was in my mother's womb. Hey,
he called me hey in the womb. I gave him
praise in the womb. I guess you could call that
prenatal praise. Yeah, yeah. And so here it is. Here
it is. Somebody said I can't put myself on the
(19:57):
altar like Romans 12 one and two says, and. And
Isaac says, I did. I did somebody saying, well, see,
you don't have baby mama drama and baby daddy drama.
And Jacob said, tell me about it. Mhm. Yeah. And,
and so what's going on. I can't serve because I
(20:17):
was a thought. Mhm. Yeah. And, and Rahab says look
uh don't let that bother you girlfriend. I ran the
Best Little Whorehouse in Jericho and I'm in the genealogy
of Jesus Christ. Mhm. Yeah. And somebody says I was
too much of a player, and David and Solomon look
at each other and say wannabe. Somebody says I talk
(20:38):
too much and I can't back up my claims. And,
and Peter says, join the club. In other words, they
could have given up. But they stood. They stood. They
understood that the struggle that I'm going through is for
the future. I'm going to, that the struggle is a
part of making me who I'm going to become.
S2 (21:02):
You know, God is shaping each one of us according
to his plan. Encouraging biblical thoughts today from Pastor Ford.
You're listening to treasure Truth and the fact that you're
listening right now, when you could be doing something else,
is a good sign that you want to know what
God has in store for you. You want to know
His word, and you want to apply it to your
life in a way that shows real results. Well, we
(21:25):
want the same thing for you. I mean, that's why
we're on the air here every day, and it's why
we take a great deal of care in choosing resources
that will help you go deeper into God's Word. Right now,
when you give a gift of any amount to treasure truth,
we're going to send you a book by John MacArthur
called Why Believe the Bible? Now the book is divided
into three sections. The first addresses the truthfulness of God's
(21:49):
Word in asking, can we really believe it? Then in
section two, we answer the question, what does God's Word
do for us? And then finally, there's a whole section
on how to get the most from God's Word. You know,
it's really a fantastic book that you'll want to read,
maybe talk it over with your spouse, your kids, or
even your small group. So give us a call or
(22:10):
go online and make a donation and request your copy
of Why Believe the Bible? Our phone number is 888
A644 7660. That's 86447660. You can also go online to treasure.
Org or if you prefer to write and send a
(22:30):
check in the mail, our address is Treasure Truth, 820
North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Again, remember to
ask for the book. Why believe the Bible? You know,
your individual gifts really are important to this ministry, but
so are ongoing monthly gifts. It really is the backbone
(22:51):
that keeps this ministry financially sound. It's your one time
gifts and ongoing monthly giving that allows us to cover
the production costs and the airtime to bring you this
program each day. So if God is using Treasured Truth
and Pastor Ford's teaching in your life, would you consider
becoming a monthly partner? And if you automate your giving
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(23:13):
we're going to say thank you by sending you a
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find out more about becoming a monthly partner when you
visit our website. Treasure Truth radio.org or when you call
(23:34):
us at 800 844 7660. I'm Steve Hiller, our producer
is Amy Rios. Join us again Thursday when Pastor Ford
returns here on Treasure Truth. A production of Moody Radio,
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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