May 17, 2026 • 27 mins
Learn how to pass people testing using God’s 10 problem-solving devices. Discover why believers face “people testing” and how God uses adversity to shape, strengthen, and mature us. Rick Hughes explains the purpose behind difficult personalities, how to respond with grace instead of frustration, and how the 10 problem-solving devices help you pass every people test without losing your spiritual stability. This episode offers clear, practical insight for living the Christian life with poise, humility, and biblical thinking.
Download Transcript: https://rhem.pub/1058-transcript
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Welcome to the Flat Line with your host Rick Hughes.
For the next 30 minutes you'll be inspired, motivated, educated
but never manipulated. Now your host, Rick Hughes.
Good morning and welcome to the Flat Line.
I'm your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, please
(00:28):
stay with me. Only about 30 minutes of
motivation, a lot of inspiration, a whole lot of
education, and absolutely no manipulation because we don't
con people, We're not solicitingmoney.
We're not trying to sell you a book.
We're just going to ask you to listen as I try to verify and
identify God's plan for your life.
And if that happens, you can Orient and adjust to the plan if
(00:49):
you choose to do so. It's your life.
God gives you one shot at it. And I hope you make those good
decisions because remember, bad decisions limit future options.
Our website is Rick hughesministries.org,
rickhughesministries.org. You can go to there and you can
hear any of these radio shows under the concept FLOT line.
(01:12):
FLOT. That's the name of our radio
show. The FLOT line stands for the
forward line of troops. And that's an analogy for 10
unique problem solving devices that God gives us so that we can
understand the mechanics to the Christian life.
A lot of people don't talk aboutmechanics from the pulpit today,
but they get all emotional aboutstuff.
(01:33):
But you, if you don't understandthe mechanics to the Christian
life, you never got to glorify God to the maximum in your own
personal life. So I hope you'll visit our
website free, free, free. Feel free to order any of the
books that we offer there. They're all free.
And you can even have some of them read to you by our
announcer who reads them online now.
(01:54):
Thank you for giving me a few minutes of your time this
morning. During the years 1971 to 2022,
there's a lot of years I traveled many, many miles across
the Southeast speaking in private schools and public
schools. The public schools eventually
stopped allowing speakers to talk about God in the assembly
programs. So the open doors for me were
(02:16):
mostly in the private schools ofvarious states.
Many times the administration ofthat school would request that I
do some special assemblies for the faculty.
They called that in service training and they were mostly
done after school or either on days that the students had off 1
particular public school that I spoke in.
I remember this one particularlyasked me to hold 5 assemblies
(02:40):
every day because they couldn't put all the kids in the
auditorium at one time. There would be trouble.
So they broke them down to five different classes.
So I had to give the same message on Monday five times,
the same message on Tuesday fivetimes, the same message on
Wednesday five times, but alwaysto a different group, and then
after school met with the teachers for an hour.
So that was 25 assemblies with students that week and five
(03:02):
faculty sessions. In order for me to teach
biblical principles to the staffof that school and other schools
that I spoke in, I developed a series entitled Test Teachers
Often Fail. The idea was that teachers are
always giving tests to the students, but they also are
facing tests and their own life on a daily basis.
(03:24):
The two areas of testing that I covered with that faculty and
staff of those schools were people testing and system
testing. People testing and system
testing, both areas of great concern because of the
inconvenience they create. But there was a way that those
faculty members could pass theseparticular tests and not let
(03:47):
them create stress related sins like anger, frustration, or
depression. So if you've made the decision
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're
going to be facing similar testing in your life.
No one wants to live under conflict, but you may be
surprised to learn why believerslike you and I must go through
(04:08):
various trials. The psalmist put it this way in
Psalm 119, verse 71. Listen carefully.
It's good for me that I've been afflicted so that I might learn
Thy statutes. In this passage, the writer or
the psalmist admitted that through the affliction he went
(04:29):
through, he realized more and more the value of God's laws.
As children of God, you and me both, we are under constant
molding by the Holy Spirit and by the Scriptures on a daily
basis if we stay in fellowship and study our Bible.
So when the Heavenly Father allows testing or conflict to
enter into our area of operation, I said our area of
(04:53):
operation, that's your personal life.
And it's always to teach us something about ourselves so
that we might live a life pleasing to God because our
lives are a testimony to His grace and a testimony to His
mercy and forgiveness. So if God allows adversity into
your life, and I know some of you are having it right now, He
(05:15):
also will provide the solutions.So remember this unique saying
my pastor used to always tell me.
He used to say human solutions are no solutions.
Divine solutions are the only solutions.
One of the biggest areas of testing in the Christian life is
people testing. Our Lord had to deal a lot with
(05:36):
this when He called his disciples because they sure had
a lot of things to learn. He had 12 men that made a lot of
mistakes. One of those men betrayed him.
You know him as Judas the betrayer.
One of those men denied him. That's Peter.
When he said I never knew him, never heard of him.
And two of them fought to have supremacy in the Kingdom of God,
(05:57):
That's James and John. One wanted to be on the right
hand when they got there, and the other wanted to be on the
left hand when he got there. So it's amazing how the Lord put
up with all these people and theonly way He could do it was to
use the divine solution and spiritual skills that He had as
a man. Remember this was the hypostatic
union, God and man in one body forever.
(06:18):
So as a man, He faced tests justlike you and I face, but as God,
He didn't face any testing. So He had to use the same divine
solution you and I use. He used the filling of the Holy
Spirit and He used the word of His Father.
Our Lord never sinned, He never failed, He never got frustrated,
He never got mad, He never got angry with him.
(06:40):
He never kicked them off the team like you and I might have
done. He loved them, He just loved
them. He nurtured them, He encouraged
them, and He dealt with them. Now that's one of the greatest
areas of testing you and I will ever face.
People testing. One of the greatest test
problems you will face is calledpeople testing.
(07:02):
As I said, because I have a termfor it, I'm going to introduce
you to this unique term. I'll introduce you to Mr. Woj,
you say. Well, never heard that term
before. What is a WOJ?
Well, it's short for Weird Obnoxious jerk, and you're in
big trouble if you live next door to one.
I assure you that's called a people test.
(07:25):
And some of these people have. Let's see what I call an OPD,
another keyword OPD. What is an OPD?
It's an obnoxious personality disorder.
I guess that's what I'm trying to say.
Some people are just weird. So when you're around these
weird people, they can try to occupy your time and they want
(07:46):
to occupy your space when all you want is a little freedom and
a little room. But you have to deal with these
sort of people on a daily basis.When you're in the ministry and
you're in a crowd of people, there are always those people
that want to manipulate you and control you, so you have to deal
with that. Family members especially want
to control you, especially in the death of a loved one.
(08:07):
You think about how many people lose their parents and the
siblings fight over their inheritance.
People testing. Life is full of people.
Tests. People that you work with,
people that you go to school with, people that you drive
alongside the Interstate with. And we're supposed to love them
according to Luke 1027. How do you love a weird,
(08:28):
obnoxious jerk? Well, that's the unique thing
about the 10 problem solving devices.
Personal love for God. Impersonal love for other
people, personal love for God isour motivational virtue, and
impersonal love for others is a functional virtue.
You can love a person not based on who they are, not based on
what they are, not based on whatthey say or don't say, but based
(08:50):
on who you are, your integrity. That's the same way God loved
you. God so loved the world.
That's that's what it says. And you and I were Wojs when he
loved us. We were weird, obnoxious jerks,
and yet he loved us. And you can use that same love
in your spiritual life under thefruit of the spirit in Galatians
(09:10):
5. Fruit of spirits is love and joy
and peace and long-suffering. You can love obnoxious people,
but you can only do it based on who you are, what you are, not
who they are. So the first principle you have
to learn in life is you can't change anybody but yourself.
Why is that? Because just as I talk to you, I
(09:31):
realize everybody has volition and you can only live your life
as unto the Lord. And you can demonstrate to other
people how not to worry. You can demonstrate to them how
not to be afraid. You can demonstrate to them how
how to have a perfect peace in the middle of any storm.
But whatever you do, don't preach to them.
(09:53):
Don't try to straighten them out, even if they're your own
children. That just doesn't work.
Some people are just going to swim upstream all their life,
and if you are associated with his upstream swimmers, then that
will be a test for you whether or not you can pass that test
using impersonal love, loving them on the basis of who you
(10:14):
are, your integrity, not theirs.The Bible tells us in Romans
12/21 stop being overcome by evil, but overcome evil by means
of divine good. The exact opposite of evil is
called grace. God's plan is grace.
For by grace you're saved through faith is the gift of
God, not of work. So if anyone should boast about
(10:37):
it, Satan takes that grace and puts A twist on it and then it
becomes evil. So if Satan takes grace and says
for by grace, are you saved through giving up bubble gum and
no longer drinking RC colas don't eat any more moon pies
then you maybe you can go to heaven.
That's not correct. When anybody tells you you got
to repent of your sins, That's about the dumbest thing I've
(10:59):
ever heard of. You can't repent of sin.
Your sins already been paid for and you're going to sin again
and again and again and again because you have a sin nature.
So if you promise God and you said, oh, I'm so sorry that I
sinned, I'm not going to sin anymore.
Well, you're, you're already in the trap because Satan's got to
go make a liar out of you real quick.
The grace of God supplies every operating asset we need.
(11:23):
It's all been provided for us. But under evil, how Satan takes
God's word and twisted, there are no assets.
And so if a person gets under the doctrine of evil, they swim
upstream going against the flow.They're constantly trying to
prove themselves. And eventually they have a very
(11:44):
miserable life. And they'll tell you about it
too, how miserable their life is.
But they don't want you to tell them why.
They don't want you to give theman answer and don't give them an
answer unless they ask you. I mean, if they say why do you
think I'm having such a miserable life, then you can
tell them I'll be more than happy to share it with you.
They don't have operating assets.
(12:05):
We don't have this. If you're a mature believer,
that should not be you. So be aware and be careful that
you don't lose your own integrity and you don't lose
your own spiritual strength whenyou interact with people like
this. In other words, don't let people
like this who have these mental attitude sins and verbal sins
drag you down with them. Don't let that happen to you.
(12:30):
There are several things you must possess if you hope to pass
people. Tessie, I want to give them to
you. I hope you'll make a note.
Write them down or call us and get the transcript, one of the
two. You can always call us at
800-831-0718. And I told you last week that we
were redoing our contracts for the next year and we would like
(12:53):
to hear from you. If you're listening, we'd like
to know where you are. So just give us a call or go to
our website and drop us a letter.
Let us know you're listening. So when we sign our contract for
the thousands of dollars we haveto spend every year to to have
this radio show an over 120 radio sessions, at least we know
somebody like you is out there listening.
I'd appreciate if you'll let us know.
(13:13):
Don't send us money. I'm not asking you for money.
I'm just asking you to tell us I'm listening so good.
So you need to remember these things.
If you're going to pass people testing #1 you've got to have a
foundation of humility. You've got to have a foundation
of humility because arrogance won't work.
Humility. Remember Philippians 25, the
(13:35):
verse we've quoted many, many, many times on this radio show.
Let this thinking, let this mind, this thinking be in you.
That was also in our Lord Jesus Christ who humbled himself.
That's the first thing he thought, humility.
He humbled Himself and took uponhimself the form of a servant.
(13:57):
So our Lord Jesus Christ in his humanity took upon himself the
form of a servant. He wasn't arrogant.
He took upon himself a human life, a human flesh, and became
a servant. So again, Philippians 25, let
this mind be in. You learned to think just like
the Lord Jesus Christ thought, who humbled himself and took
(14:21):
upon himself the form of a servant.
You know, having humility means you're oriented to the grace of
God. It means you're not full of
delusion and arrogance. Because you know what?
An arrogant person doesn't have any humility.
An arrogant person thinks he's something that he's not, and so
he justifies what he does. If you want to look at
(14:44):
arrogance, just go turn on your TV and watch the news and look
at some of the politicians that are working today across this
country from the United States of America.
Some of the most arrogant peopleI've ever seen are in politics
because they think that they're right and everybody else is
wrong and they try to justify the decisions that they make
based on their own arrogance andevil.
(15:06):
However, if you on the other hand, have a foundation of
humility and what is that? That's based on the number one
thing, which is called the filling of God the Holy Spirit,
and the number two thing, the residence of God's Word in your
soul. That's where humility comes
from, from the filling of God's Holy Spirit and the residence of
God's Word in your soul. If you've got that, that you
(15:29):
then learn when you're criticized and when you face
testing a people, you can pass that test using those ten
problem solving devices. Do you even know what they are?
If if I'm talking mumbo jumbo toyou, 10 problem solving devices,
why don't you go to my website and order the book Christian
Problem Solving. It lays out all 10 problem
(15:51):
solving devices for you and thena nice neat book and we have a
bookmark that goes along with it.
We'll be more than happy to sendit to you without charge.
You should know those ten problem solving devices because
those are your, your unique operating assets that God the
Father has left for you so that you can function in his plan as
long as you're in the devil's world in your own area of
(16:13):
operation. So the second thing I want you
to remember, if you're going to pass this people testing, you
got to have some professionalism.
Professionalism of understandingthe mechanics of God's will, the
mechanics of God's plan, the mechanics of God's purpose for
you. It's a shame to say that many
(16:34):
Christians go through life neverknowing what the will of God is,
never learning how the plan of God operates, and never
understanding what God's purposeis for their life.
You must know this and it startswith you learning these 10
unique problem solving devices because you will not, you cannot
ever live God's plan unless you know these things.
(16:56):
It's impossible and you might not call it.
What I call them might not be calling them the flat line.
You might not be calling them those 10 problem solving
devices. You may call them about another
thing. But if you don't understand how
to be filled with the Spirit, ifyou don't understand how to deal
with your sin, if you don't understand the faith, rest
drill. If you don't understand the
(17:16):
integrity of God, the personal love for God, and impersonal
love for others, if you don't have a personal sense of
destiny, if you don't understandoccupation with Christ, you're
never ever going to live a successful Christian life.
And you'll constantly be riding a wave of your emotions.
Fire it up, fire it down, fire it up, fire it down.
You'll be going from one meetingto another trying to feel God.
(17:38):
You can't live the God's plan unless you understand these
things. It's impossible.
So if you don't know how to be filled with the Holy Spirit, you
will never live God's plan. If you don't know how to operate
in the faith rest drill. You will never live God's plan
if you don't understand grace orientation, doctrinal
orientation. You will never live God's plan.
(17:58):
As I said, you may call it something else, but it's what it
is. So if you don't know what your
personal sense of destiny is, how can you enjoy God's plan?
If you don't have personal love for God, you don't have the
motivation to fulfill God's plan.
And if you don't have impersonallove for the weird people, then
you don't have the ability to fulfill God's plan.
And if you don't have the happiness of Christ, you cannot
(18:21):
enjoy God's plan. And finally, if you're not
occupied with Christ, well then you're never going to be in the
plan of God to start with. On our next radio show, I'm
going to make a big point out ofthis.
Being occupied by Christ, the number one important thing in
your life. So now the third thing you have
to deal with is people testing is you must have some spiritual
(18:42):
strength for you to use a shieldof faith.
That is when you get into an environment of confusion and
even disaster. Confusion and disaster are
coming quickly to this United States of America and the year
of our Lord, 2025. We're already on the verge of
(19:02):
confusion. The culture is changing so
rapidly today that many people'sconsciences are being assaulted
by the change in the culture. In other words, to prove it,
evil is now good and good is nowevil.
That's kind of the way it's happening today.
Many people have changed evil into something that's good and
good into something that's evil.So disaster is coming.
(19:28):
It's the course we've chosen forourselves, and predictably, it's
going to lead to a train wreck in this nation.
You've heard me say there's a train wreck coming in America
and the whistle is blowing rightnow.
We are facing a disaster becausewe're on a collision course with
our culture and our conscience. They do not coincide, and here
we are in America today. We have people in charge of our
(19:51):
country that are trying to change the very basis that we
live by the very premise that this nation was founded upon.
Talk about a people test. That's a test.
The biggest people test you'll face politicians.
Let me give you some additional notes here.
The environment of confusion causes stress in your life.
(20:12):
So if there's confusion in some areas of life, like in your home
or in the romance or friendship.Then there will be stress in
this area. This is the neat thing about the
Christian life. If you learn these ten problem
solving devices, you don't have to be confused.
You will have the capability to discern what is going on.
This is taught in Proverbs 210 where the Fantastic Four is
(20:35):
mentioned. Wisdom, insight, discernment,
and understanding. Wisdom, insight, discernment,
and understanding. That's the only way you're going
to get it is to learn those 10 unique problem solving devices
and to execute them in your lifeon a daily basis where there's
confusion nationally, then you if you don't think clearly, then
(20:55):
you'll be broken. Why is that?
Because a thought can make you or break you.
A thought can make you or break you.
Did you hear that Marcus Aurelius once said our life is
what our thoughts make it. But more importantly, in the
Word of God, Proverbs 23, seven says the Bible says as a person
thinks in his heart, so he is. In Galatians 63, the Bible says
(21:21):
if anybody thinks he's somethingwhen he's nothing, he's
deceiving himself. That's the arrogant person.
The arrogant person thinks he's smarter than you, thinks he
knows all the answers, has to get on talk radio and straighten
everybody out. Send me a letter, try to
straighten me out, call me, try to straighten me out, call you,
straighten you out. They know nothing.
They think they know everything.They know nothing.
(21:43):
They're deceiving themselves in your mind, in the mentality of
your soul, there's a battlefield, and that battle is
always for what you're thinking,because what you think will
determine whether you win, whether you lose.
In Ephesians 423, the Bible saysbecome refreshed by means of the
Spirit in your thinking. Become refreshed by means of the
(22:08):
Spirit in your thinking. That means that when you're
filled with the Holy Spirit in God, the Holy Spirit gives you
the insight to think as you should think, thinking the mind
of Christ. So you have to learn to think
the Word of God. It doesn't come naturally.
You have to learn to think it. That's why people read their
Bible, to think the Word of God,to learn the principles taught
(22:31):
in the Word of God. That's why you get into a good
local church where there's a qualified pastor so they can
teach you what to think, not necessarily teach you how to
act. That's your own premier.
You can act however you want to act as long as you stay out of
sin. But he's trying to teach you
what to think and you must learnto think the word of God.
You must learn to relate to the word of God.
(22:52):
You must learn to use the word of God in your life because you
cannot think what you don't know.
And that's why the Bible says Paul wrote these words.
Study to show yourself to provedunto God a workwithet needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
If you can be approved unto God,you can be disapproved unto God.
(23:14):
If you can be ashamed, you can be unashamed.
The key is rightly dividing the word of truth.
That's where the key is. If you don't have a well
qualified pastor to teach you that and you will never pass the
test of thinking correctly because you must think in your
life. You must concentrate in your
life to live your life. Your mind says OOP tie for
(23:36):
breakfast, OOP tie for lunch, tie for supper or dinner as they
say in the North, supper in the South.
So our minds tell us when to eat, when not to eat.
Our minds are supposed to tell us what to think, what not to
think. What do we get?
What do our minds do when we getin stress and we get in
confusion? Is it like a dog wagging his
(23:56):
tail going back and forth? You can't get on the solution.
You got to learn what to think. That's why it's mandated by the
Bible in Colossians chapter 2, three verse 2, Colossians 3,
verse 2. Keep thinking objectively.
The Bible says about things above and not about things on
(24:16):
the earth. That means you must put your
mind on heavenly things. You must think in terms of the
mind of Christ. And you cannot get involved in
jealousy. You cannot get involved in
bitterness. If you put these two things
together, they create a monster called vindictive thinking,
vindictive living, and vindictiveness, when it gets
(24:37):
rolling along, it leads to a lotof revenge motivation.
It feeds on this. And you cannot afford to get
into that. You cannot afford to live that
way. So listen, these are people
tests that I'm talking about andit's out there, it's real.
And I guarantee you that you're facing one right now, aren't
you? In your very own life.
(24:58):
You know what I'm talking about.I hope it's making sense in
system testing. The other side of the coin, you
must maintain your poise and your professionalism under the
pressure of unjust treatment. And you perpetuate your high
standards of workmanship during the unfair treatment.
You don't go around griping, complaining about how unfairly
(25:19):
you're being treated. Stay filled with the Holy
Spirit. Keep a relaxed mental attitude,
Respond, don't react, don't whine and complain.
Use the unfair treatment as an opportunity to grow and glorify
God because people are going to be watching you.
People are always watching. You got their eye on you.
Keep an eye on what you do. So if you're going through a
(25:41):
system test, you're working at aplace, they're asking you to do
something that's not fair, ask you to work more than you
should. A lot of these teachers did
that. They teach all day long.
Want to go home? But the principal said you got
to be at the basketball game tonight, you got to be at the
football game tonight. Maybe they didn't want to.
Maybe they just wanted to go home, but it was important to
the faculty, the students and the administration that the
teachers be there to support thekids.
(26:04):
That's system testing. And some teacher says, I don't
want to come to the game, I wantto go home.
Don't whine, don't complain. Don't call somebody up and whine
about how bad you're being treated at work.
Use it as an opportunity to glorify God because people are
watching you. I promise you, this is the word
(26:24):
of God. I hope you're listening and I
sure hope you're learning, and Ihope you will contact me if you
need some more information. So until next week, this is your
host, Rick Hughes. I'm saying thank you.
Thank you so very much for listening to the flight line.
And by the way, our website again is Rick
hughesministries.org, rickhughesministries.org.
(26:49):
If you call us on the 800 line, 800-831-0718, be sure to spank
slowly and distinctly so we can get your name and address and
get back in touch with you. OK All right, until next week,
this is your host, Rick Hughes. Say thank you for listening to
The Flood Lion. Thank you for listening.
To the Flood Lion with your host, Rick Hughes.
(27:11):
If you'd like to contact Rick, please write to him at PO Box
100, Cropwell, Alabama 35054 or online at
www.rickhughesministries.org.
Welcome to the Flat Line with your host Rick Hughes.
For the next 30 minutes you'll be inspired, motivated, educated
but never manipulated. Now your host, Rick Hughes.
Good morning and welcome to the Flat Line.
I'm your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, please
(00:28):
stay with me. Only about 30 minutes of
motivation, a lot of inspiration, a whole lot of
education, and absolutely no manipulation because we don't
con people, We're not solicitingmoney.
We're not trying to sell you a book.
We're just going to ask you to listen as I try to verify and
identify God's plan for your life.
And if that happens, you can Orient and adjust to the plan if
(00:49):
you choose to do so. It's your life.
God gives you one shot at it. And I hope you make those good
decisions because remember, bad decisions limit future options.
Our website is Rick hughesministries.org,
rickhughesministries.org. You can go to there and you can
hear any of these radio shows under the concept FLOT line.
(01:12):
FLOT. That's the name of our radio
show. The FLOT line stands for the
forward line of troops. And that's an analogy for 10
unique problem solving devices that God gives us so that we can
understand the mechanics to the Christian life.
A lot of people don't talk aboutmechanics from the pulpit today,
but they get all emotional aboutstuff.
(01:33):
But you, if you don't understandthe mechanics to the Christian
life, you never got to glorify God to the maximum in your own
personal life. So I hope you'll visit our
website free, free, free. Feel free to order any of the
books that we offer there. They're all free.
And you can even have some of them read to you by our
announcer who reads them online now.
(01:54):
Thank you for giving me a few minutes of your time this
morning. During the years 1971 to 2022,
there's a lot of years I traveled many, many miles across
the Southeast speaking in private schools and public
schools. The public schools eventually
stopped allowing speakers to talk about God in the assembly
programs. So the open doors for me were
(02:16):
mostly in the private schools ofvarious states.
Many times the administration ofthat school would request that I
do some special assemblies for the faculty.
They called that in service training and they were mostly
done after school or either on days that the students had off 1
particular public school that I spoke in.
I remember this one particularlyasked me to hold 5 assemblies
(02:40):
every day because they couldn't put all the kids in the
auditorium at one time. There would be trouble.
So they broke them down to five different classes.
So I had to give the same message on Monday five times,
the same message on Tuesday fivetimes, the same message on
Wednesday five times, but alwaysto a different group, and then
after school met with the teachers for an hour.
So that was 25 assemblies with students that week and five
(03:02):
faculty sessions. In order for me to teach
biblical principles to the staffof that school and other schools
that I spoke in, I developed a series entitled Test Teachers
Often Fail. The idea was that teachers are
always giving tests to the students, but they also are
facing tests and their own life on a daily basis.
(03:24):
The two areas of testing that I covered with that faculty and
staff of those schools were people testing and system
testing. People testing and system
testing, both areas of great concern because of the
inconvenience they create. But there was a way that those
faculty members could pass theseparticular tests and not let
(03:47):
them create stress related sins like anger, frustration, or
depression. So if you've made the decision
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're
going to be facing similar testing in your life.
No one wants to live under conflict, but you may be
surprised to learn why believerslike you and I must go through
(04:08):
various trials. The psalmist put it this way in
Psalm 119, verse 71. Listen carefully.
It's good for me that I've been afflicted so that I might learn
Thy statutes. In this passage, the writer or
the psalmist admitted that through the affliction he went
(04:29):
through, he realized more and more the value of God's laws.
As children of God, you and me both, we are under constant
molding by the Holy Spirit and by the Scriptures on a daily
basis if we stay in fellowship and study our Bible.
So when the Heavenly Father allows testing or conflict to
enter into our area of operation, I said our area of
(04:53):
operation, that's your personal life.
And it's always to teach us something about ourselves so
that we might live a life pleasing to God because our
lives are a testimony to His grace and a testimony to His
mercy and forgiveness. So if God allows adversity into
your life, and I know some of you are having it right now, He
(05:15):
also will provide the solutions.So remember this unique saying
my pastor used to always tell me.
He used to say human solutions are no solutions.
Divine solutions are the only solutions.
One of the biggest areas of testing in the Christian life is
people testing. Our Lord had to deal a lot with
(05:36):
this when He called his disciples because they sure had
a lot of things to learn. He had 12 men that made a lot of
mistakes. One of those men betrayed him.
You know him as Judas the betrayer.
One of those men denied him. That's Peter.
When he said I never knew him, never heard of him.
And two of them fought to have supremacy in the Kingdom of God,
(05:57):
That's James and John. One wanted to be on the right
hand when they got there, and the other wanted to be on the
left hand when he got there. So it's amazing how the Lord put
up with all these people and theonly way He could do it was to
use the divine solution and spiritual skills that He had as
a man. Remember this was the hypostatic
union, God and man in one body forever.
(06:18):
So as a man, He faced tests justlike you and I face, but as God,
He didn't face any testing. So He had to use the same divine
solution you and I use. He used the filling of the Holy
Spirit and He used the word of His Father.
Our Lord never sinned, He never failed, He never got frustrated,
He never got mad, He never got angry with him.
(06:40):
He never kicked them off the team like you and I might have
done. He loved them, He just loved
them. He nurtured them, He encouraged
them, and He dealt with them. Now that's one of the greatest
areas of testing you and I will ever face.
People testing. One of the greatest test
problems you will face is calledpeople testing.
(07:02):
As I said, because I have a termfor it, I'm going to introduce
you to this unique term. I'll introduce you to Mr. Woj,
you say. Well, never heard that term
before. What is a WOJ?
Well, it's short for Weird Obnoxious jerk, and you're in
big trouble if you live next door to one.
I assure you that's called a people test.
(07:25):
And some of these people have. Let's see what I call an OPD,
another keyword OPD. What is an OPD?
It's an obnoxious personality disorder.
I guess that's what I'm trying to say.
Some people are just weird. So when you're around these
weird people, they can try to occupy your time and they want
(07:46):
to occupy your space when all you want is a little freedom and
a little room. But you have to deal with these
sort of people on a daily basis.When you're in the ministry and
you're in a crowd of people, there are always those people
that want to manipulate you and control you, so you have to deal
with that. Family members especially want
to control you, especially in the death of a loved one.
(08:07):
You think about how many people lose their parents and the
siblings fight over their inheritance.
People testing. Life is full of people.
Tests. People that you work with,
people that you go to school with, people that you drive
alongside the Interstate with. And we're supposed to love them
according to Luke 1027. How do you love a weird,
(08:28):
obnoxious jerk? Well, that's the unique thing
about the 10 problem solving devices.
Personal love for God. Impersonal love for other
people, personal love for God isour motivational virtue, and
impersonal love for others is a functional virtue.
You can love a person not based on who they are, not based on
what they are, not based on whatthey say or don't say, but based
(08:50):
on who you are, your integrity. That's the same way God loved
you. God so loved the world.
That's that's what it says. And you and I were Wojs when he
loved us. We were weird, obnoxious jerks,
and yet he loved us. And you can use that same love
in your spiritual life under thefruit of the spirit in Galatians
(09:10):
5. Fruit of spirits is love and joy
and peace and long-suffering. You can love obnoxious people,
but you can only do it based on who you are, what you are, not
who they are. So the first principle you have
to learn in life is you can't change anybody but yourself.
Why is that? Because just as I talk to you, I
(09:31):
realize everybody has volition and you can only live your life
as unto the Lord. And you can demonstrate to other
people how not to worry. You can demonstrate to them how
not to be afraid. You can demonstrate to them how
how to have a perfect peace in the middle of any storm.
But whatever you do, don't preach to them.
(09:53):
Don't try to straighten them out, even if they're your own
children. That just doesn't work.
Some people are just going to swim upstream all their life,
and if you are associated with his upstream swimmers, then that
will be a test for you whether or not you can pass that test
using impersonal love, loving them on the basis of who you
(10:14):
are, your integrity, not theirs.The Bible tells us in Romans
12/21 stop being overcome by evil, but overcome evil by means
of divine good. The exact opposite of evil is
called grace. God's plan is grace.
For by grace you're saved through faith is the gift of
God, not of work. So if anyone should boast about
(10:37):
it, Satan takes that grace and puts A twist on it and then it
becomes evil. So if Satan takes grace and says
for by grace, are you saved through giving up bubble gum and
no longer drinking RC colas don't eat any more moon pies
then you maybe you can go to heaven.
That's not correct. When anybody tells you you got
to repent of your sins, That's about the dumbest thing I've
(10:59):
ever heard of. You can't repent of sin.
Your sins already been paid for and you're going to sin again
and again and again and again because you have a sin nature.
So if you promise God and you said, oh, I'm so sorry that I
sinned, I'm not going to sin anymore.
Well, you're, you're already in the trap because Satan's got to
go make a liar out of you real quick.
The grace of God supplies every operating asset we need.
(11:23):
It's all been provided for us. But under evil, how Satan takes
God's word and twisted, there are no assets.
And so if a person gets under the doctrine of evil, they swim
upstream going against the flow.They're constantly trying to
prove themselves. And eventually they have a very
(11:44):
miserable life. And they'll tell you about it
too, how miserable their life is.
But they don't want you to tell them why.
They don't want you to give theman answer and don't give them an
answer unless they ask you. I mean, if they say why do you
think I'm having such a miserable life, then you can
tell them I'll be more than happy to share it with you.
They don't have operating assets.
(12:05):
We don't have this. If you're a mature believer,
that should not be you. So be aware and be careful that
you don't lose your own integrity and you don't lose
your own spiritual strength whenyou interact with people like
this. In other words, don't let people
like this who have these mental attitude sins and verbal sins
drag you down with them. Don't let that happen to you.
(12:30):
There are several things you must possess if you hope to pass
people. Tessie, I want to give them to
you. I hope you'll make a note.
Write them down or call us and get the transcript, one of the
two. You can always call us at
800-831-0718. And I told you last week that we
were redoing our contracts for the next year and we would like
(12:53):
to hear from you. If you're listening, we'd like
to know where you are. So just give us a call or go to
our website and drop us a letter.
Let us know you're listening. So when we sign our contract for
the thousands of dollars we haveto spend every year to to have
this radio show an over 120 radio sessions, at least we know
somebody like you is out there listening.
I'd appreciate if you'll let us know.
(13:13):
Don't send us money. I'm not asking you for money.
I'm just asking you to tell us I'm listening so good.
So you need to remember these things.
If you're going to pass people testing #1 you've got to have a
foundation of humility. You've got to have a foundation
of humility because arrogance won't work.
Humility. Remember Philippians 25, the
(13:35):
verse we've quoted many, many, many times on this radio show.
Let this thinking, let this mind, this thinking be in you.
That was also in our Lord Jesus Christ who humbled himself.
That's the first thing he thought, humility.
He humbled Himself and took uponhimself the form of a servant.
(13:57):
So our Lord Jesus Christ in his humanity took upon himself the
form of a servant. He wasn't arrogant.
He took upon himself a human life, a human flesh, and became
a servant. So again, Philippians 25, let
this mind be in. You learned to think just like
the Lord Jesus Christ thought, who humbled himself and took
(14:21):
upon himself the form of a servant.
You know, having humility means you're oriented to the grace of
God. It means you're not full of
delusion and arrogance. Because you know what?
An arrogant person doesn't have any humility.
An arrogant person thinks he's something that he's not, and so
he justifies what he does. If you want to look at
(14:44):
arrogance, just go turn on your TV and watch the news and look
at some of the politicians that are working today across this
country from the United States of America.
Some of the most arrogant peopleI've ever seen are in politics
because they think that they're right and everybody else is
wrong and they try to justify the decisions that they make
based on their own arrogance andevil.
(15:06):
However, if you on the other hand, have a foundation of
humility and what is that? That's based on the number one
thing, which is called the filling of God the Holy Spirit,
and the number two thing, the residence of God's Word in your
soul. That's where humility comes
from, from the filling of God's Holy Spirit and the residence of
God's Word in your soul. If you've got that, that you
(15:29):
then learn when you're criticized and when you face
testing a people, you can pass that test using those ten
problem solving devices. Do you even know what they are?
If if I'm talking mumbo jumbo toyou, 10 problem solving devices,
why don't you go to my website and order the book Christian
Problem Solving. It lays out all 10 problem
(15:51):
solving devices for you and thena nice neat book and we have a
bookmark that goes along with it.
We'll be more than happy to sendit to you without charge.
You should know those ten problem solving devices because
those are your, your unique operating assets that God the
Father has left for you so that you can function in his plan as
long as you're in the devil's world in your own area of
(16:13):
operation. So the second thing I want you
to remember, if you're going to pass this people testing, you
got to have some professionalism.
Professionalism of understandingthe mechanics of God's will, the
mechanics of God's plan, the mechanics of God's purpose for
you. It's a shame to say that many
(16:34):
Christians go through life neverknowing what the will of God is,
never learning how the plan of God operates, and never
understanding what God's purposeis for their life.
You must know this and it startswith you learning these 10
unique problem solving devices because you will not, you cannot
ever live God's plan unless you know these things.
(16:56):
It's impossible and you might not call it.
What I call them might not be calling them the flat line.
You might not be calling them those 10 problem solving
devices. You may call them about another
thing. But if you don't understand how
to be filled with the Spirit, ifyou don't understand how to deal
with your sin, if you don't understand the faith, rest
drill. If you don't understand the
(17:16):
integrity of God, the personal love for God, and impersonal
love for others, if you don't have a personal sense of
destiny, if you don't understandoccupation with Christ, you're
never ever going to live a successful Christian life.
And you'll constantly be riding a wave of your emotions.
Fire it up, fire it down, fire it up, fire it down.
You'll be going from one meetingto another trying to feel God.
(17:38):
You can't live the God's plan unless you understand these
things. It's impossible.
So if you don't know how to be filled with the Holy Spirit, you
will never live God's plan. If you don't know how to operate
in the faith rest drill. You will never live God's plan
if you don't understand grace orientation, doctrinal
orientation. You will never live God's plan.
(17:58):
As I said, you may call it something else, but it's what it
is. So if you don't know what your
personal sense of destiny is, how can you enjoy God's plan?
If you don't have personal love for God, you don't have the
motivation to fulfill God's plan.
And if you don't have impersonallove for the weird people, then
you don't have the ability to fulfill God's plan.
And if you don't have the happiness of Christ, you cannot
(18:21):
enjoy God's plan. And finally, if you're not
occupied with Christ, well then you're never going to be in the
plan of God to start with. On our next radio show, I'm
going to make a big point out ofthis.
Being occupied by Christ, the number one important thing in
your life. So now the third thing you have
to deal with is people testing is you must have some spiritual
(18:42):
strength for you to use a shieldof faith.
That is when you get into an environment of confusion and
even disaster. Confusion and disaster are
coming quickly to this United States of America and the year
of our Lord, 2025. We're already on the verge of
(19:02):
confusion. The culture is changing so
rapidly today that many people'sconsciences are being assaulted
by the change in the culture. In other words, to prove it,
evil is now good and good is nowevil.
That's kind of the way it's happening today.
Many people have changed evil into something that's good and
good into something that's evil.So disaster is coming.
(19:28):
It's the course we've chosen forourselves, and predictably, it's
going to lead to a train wreck in this nation.
You've heard me say there's a train wreck coming in America
and the whistle is blowing rightnow.
We are facing a disaster becausewe're on a collision course with
our culture and our conscience. They do not coincide, and here
we are in America today. We have people in charge of our
(19:51):
country that are trying to change the very basis that we
live by the very premise that this nation was founded upon.
Talk about a people test. That's a test.
The biggest people test you'll face politicians.
Let me give you some additional notes here.
The environment of confusion causes stress in your life.
(20:12):
So if there's confusion in some areas of life, like in your home
or in the romance or friendship.Then there will be stress in
this area. This is the neat thing about the
Christian life. If you learn these ten problem
solving devices, you don't have to be confused.
You will have the capability to discern what is going on.
This is taught in Proverbs 210 where the Fantastic Four is
(20:35):
mentioned. Wisdom, insight, discernment,
and understanding. Wisdom, insight, discernment,
and understanding. That's the only way you're going
to get it is to learn those 10 unique problem solving devices
and to execute them in your lifeon a daily basis where there's
confusion nationally, then you if you don't think clearly, then
(20:55):
you'll be broken. Why is that?
Because a thought can make you or break you.
A thought can make you or break you.
Did you hear that Marcus Aurelius once said our life is
what our thoughts make it. But more importantly, in the
Word of God, Proverbs 23, seven says the Bible says as a person
thinks in his heart, so he is. In Galatians 63, the Bible says
(21:21):
if anybody thinks he's somethingwhen he's nothing, he's
deceiving himself. That's the arrogant person.
The arrogant person thinks he's smarter than you, thinks he
knows all the answers, has to get on talk radio and straighten
everybody out. Send me a letter, try to
straighten me out, call me, try to straighten me out, call you,
straighten you out. They know nothing.
They think they know everything.They know nothing.
(21:43):
They're deceiving themselves in your mind, in the mentality of
your soul, there's a battlefield, and that battle is
always for what you're thinking,because what you think will
determine whether you win, whether you lose.
In Ephesians 423, the Bible saysbecome refreshed by means of the
Spirit in your thinking. Become refreshed by means of the
(22:08):
Spirit in your thinking. That means that when you're
filled with the Holy Spirit in God, the Holy Spirit gives you
the insight to think as you should think, thinking the mind
of Christ. So you have to learn to think
the Word of God. It doesn't come naturally.
You have to learn to think it. That's why people read their
Bible, to think the Word of God,to learn the principles taught
(22:31):
in the Word of God. That's why you get into a good
local church where there's a qualified pastor so they can
teach you what to think, not necessarily teach you how to
act. That's your own premier.
You can act however you want to act as long as you stay out of
sin. But he's trying to teach you
what to think and you must learnto think the word of God.
You must learn to relate to the word of God.
(22:52):
You must learn to use the word of God in your life because you
cannot think what you don't know.
And that's why the Bible says Paul wrote these words.
Study to show yourself to provedunto God a workwithet needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
If you can be approved unto God,you can be disapproved unto God.
(23:14):
If you can be ashamed, you can be unashamed.
The key is rightly dividing the word of truth.
That's where the key is. If you don't have a well
qualified pastor to teach you that and you will never pass the
test of thinking correctly because you must think in your
life. You must concentrate in your
life to live your life. Your mind says OOP tie for
(23:36):
breakfast, OOP tie for lunch, tie for supper or dinner as they
say in the North, supper in the South.
So our minds tell us when to eat, when not to eat.
Our minds are supposed to tell us what to think, what not to
think. What do we get?
What do our minds do when we getin stress and we get in
confusion? Is it like a dog wagging his
(23:56):
tail going back and forth? You can't get on the solution.
You got to learn what to think. That's why it's mandated by the
Bible in Colossians chapter 2, three verse 2, Colossians 3,
verse 2. Keep thinking objectively.
The Bible says about things above and not about things on
(24:16):
the earth. That means you must put your
mind on heavenly things. You must think in terms of the
mind of Christ. And you cannot get involved in
jealousy. You cannot get involved in
bitterness. If you put these two things
together, they create a monster called vindictive thinking,
vindictive living, and vindictiveness, when it gets
(24:37):
rolling along, it leads to a lotof revenge motivation.
It feeds on this. And you cannot afford to get
into that. You cannot afford to live that
way. So listen, these are people
tests that I'm talking about andit's out there, it's real.
And I guarantee you that you're facing one right now, aren't
you? In your very own life.
(24:58):
You know what I'm talking about.I hope it's making sense in
system testing. The other side of the coin, you
must maintain your poise and your professionalism under the
pressure of unjust treatment. And you perpetuate your high
standards of workmanship during the unfair treatment.
You don't go around griping, complaining about how unfairly
(25:19):
you're being treated. Stay filled with the Holy
Spirit. Keep a relaxed mental attitude,
Respond, don't react, don't whine and complain.
Use the unfair treatment as an opportunity to grow and glorify
God because people are going to be watching you.
People are always watching. You got their eye on you.
Keep an eye on what you do. So if you're going through a
(25:41):
system test, you're working at aplace, they're asking you to do
something that's not fair, ask you to work more than you
should. A lot of these teachers did
that. They teach all day long.
Want to go home? But the principal said you got
to be at the basketball game tonight, you got to be at the
football game tonight. Maybe they didn't want to.
Maybe they just wanted to go home, but it was important to
the faculty, the students and the administration that the
teachers be there to support thekids.
(26:04):
That's system testing. And some teacher says, I don't
want to come to the game, I wantto go home.
Don't whine, don't complain. Don't call somebody up and whine
about how bad you're being treated at work.
Use it as an opportunity to glorify God because people are
watching you. I promise you, this is the word
(26:24):
of God. I hope you're listening and I
sure hope you're learning, and Ihope you will contact me if you
need some more information. So until next week, this is your
host, Rick Hughes. I'm saying thank you.
Thank you so very much for listening to the flight line.
And by the way, our website again is Rick
hughesministries.org, rickhughesministries.org.
(26:49):
If you call us on the 800 line, 800-831-0718, be sure to spank
slowly and distinctly so we can get your name and address and
get back in touch with you. OK All right, until next week,
this is your host, Rick Hughes. Say thank you for listening to
The Flood Lion. Thank you for listening.
To the Flood Lion with your host, Rick Hughes.
(27:11):
If you'd like to contact Rick, please write to him at PO Box
100, Cropwell, Alabama 35054 or online at
www.rickhughesministries.org.
Popular Podcasts
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com