Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Is God being honored by our light.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Not my schedule and my plans and my goals and
my dreams. But Lord, what do you want to accomplish today?
You see, the whole focus changes, all the priorities change.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
What a difference.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Once God breaks us, what happens is our will becomes
submissive to His will. And when our will becomes submissive.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
To his will, his purposes take priority. In our light.
Priorities begin to change.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
In John chapter twelve, Jesus said, truly, truly, I say
to you, unless the grain of wheat falls into the
earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies,
it bears much fruit. With that in mind, today's edition
of In Touch, the teaching ministry of doctor Charles Stanley,
brings us the encouraging answer to the question, after brokenness,
what then? Let's listen in to doctor Stanley.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Our greatest enemy is not from without. It is that
old self life, that spirit within us that desires to
act independently of God. And unless that spirit of independence
is broken, here's what you can expect.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And I want you to listen carefully.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
It's going to hinder your relationship to God. It's going
to dull your sensitivity to God. It's going to delay
God's purpose in your life. It's going to deny you
of the peace and joy that you're looking for in life.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
It's going to diminish your.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Effect, the good effect that you could have upon others.
And not only that, but it is going to give
Satan a greater place of opportunity in your life, for
a greater stronghold than ever before.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And it's going to.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Deprive you, deny you of the blessings that God has
in store.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
For you.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Would have had had you obeyed Him in your life. Now,
brokenness always involves repentance over sin, the sin of rebellion,
and it always involves the submission of our spirit to Him.
So therefore it is oftentimes very painful, especially if I
have held on to something or some area, some relationship,
(02:22):
something some desire, some ambition, some goal in my life
that is not of God.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Sometimes it's very painful to let that go.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
But God breaks us in order to bless us. And
I want you to turn if you will today, Chapter
twelve of the Book of John. This was the first
text in the very first message on brokenness, the principle,
the twenty fourth verse. It's all wrapped up in this
one verse. And Jesus said it this way. Truly, truly,
(02:52):
I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
You can take one grain of wheat, as long as
it lays on the barn floor.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
There it is is one grain.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
But when you take that grain and you place it
in the earth and you cover it, then its environment,
the moisture, the heat begin to work on that outer
shell of that grain. Before long, the outer shell is broken.
And when it is broken, that kernel of life begins
to protrude its way up through the earth, through the soil.
(03:35):
And before long you have one stalk of wheat on
that stalk. Let's say there anywhere from fifty to one
hundred grains. You took those fifty hundred grains laid them
on the barn floor, that only be of fifty one
hundred grains. But if you took each one of those
and placed it in the earth and let it also
die and be broken, out of each kernel will come
(03:57):
new life. And out of each kernel of new life
will become a new stalk, and more grains you could
have one hundred million bushels of grain out of one
little grain if you kept on replanning every single grain.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Notice what Jesus said in this verse.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
He says, except the grain of wheat falling to the earth
and dye, it abides alone. But if it dies, if
it's broken, it bears much fruit. God breaks us in
order to bring us the spiritual maturity and supernatural ministries
in our lives. He arranges the circumstances by which he's going.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
To break us.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
He chooses the tools with which he's going to break us,
and then he controls the pressure and the timing it'll
take to bring us into submission to his will.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
But after brokenness, what then?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So I want you to jot down three things primarily,
but there'll be many others that you might want to
jot down for your own help. The first thing that
I want you to notice it happens when a person
is broken, is.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
This, You get a new view of God's.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Purpose for your life. You get a new view of
God's purpose for your life. Now, what is the view
that most people have of their life? And I want
you to be open when I say this, because otherwise
you're going to be prone to be very defensive and say, well, oh,
I wouldn't think that at all. But here is the
most prominent view and the popular view that people have
(05:28):
and don't even realize they have it, and that is
that God really exists for us. God, I want you
to bless me here and I want you to do this,
and we send them up multitudes of requests all the time.
And the truth is we are the ones who are
at the center of our life. And for most people,
every lost person, and far far too many Christians, the
(05:50):
truth is the world revolves around me, my needs, my desires,
what pleases me, what makes me happy, what satisfies me, what.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
May makes me feel good.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
The truth is that's the way the world lives, and
that's the way many Christians live. So when it comes
to practical theology and practical interpretation for God, our attitude
is God is existing up there somewhere in our behave
and when I need him, I want him to be
Johnny on the spot to meet my needs.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Listen, when you are broken, my friend, what really matters
is what does God think?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
What pleases the Lord God?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
My focus changes, and what happens is this all of
a sudden It's not how do I feel?
Speaker 1 (06:39):
What do I think? How can I please God? What
pleases the Lord?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
What's his priority in my life of to day? What's
his schedule today? What is his will? What is his purpose?
Is my life glorifying to God? Is God being honored
by our life?
Speaker 1 (06:56):
What a difference? Priorities begin to change.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Not my schedule and my plans and my goals and
my dreams, But Lord, what do you want to accomplish today?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
You see, the whole focus.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Changes, All the priorities change once God breaks us. What
happens is our will becomes submissive to his will. And
when our will becomes submissive to his will, his purposes
take priority in our life. When his will becomes priority
in my life, is no longer what pleases me?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
But what is honorable to God.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Second thing that happens as a result of brokenness a
new freedom in our spirit, A new freedom in our spirit.
And many of you need a new freedom in your
spirit because you see, you don't realize it, but you
are bound up in all kinds of emotional bondage, guilt, fear, rejection, anxiety, hostility, anger,
(07:58):
you name it, it's all there. When God breaks you,
my friend, It's amazing what happens. Then, listen, brokenness always
involves sin.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
It is the sin of rebellion.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
It is always that if somebody walked up to you
and said, well, you just rebellious, you'd probably say, well,
who are you to say that I'm rebellious? So here's
what I want to ask you. What is that you're
holding on too that God has said you've.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Got to let that go. You've got to give that up.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
God says let it go, and you say no, I'm
not going to let it go. That is rebellion. Now,
rebellion may be very subtle, but rebellion is still rebellion.
Rebellion says I'm going to have my way, whether you
like it, or God or anybody else likes it. Now,
what we say is, oh, Heavenly Father, I want to
(08:47):
thank you in Jesus name.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Lord. You know I make mistakes.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
God, you know everybody has their problems and their little sins,
and I thank you that you understand mine, my friend.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
That won't cover up rebellion. There, it is still.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Glaring at me. Am I still going to insist on
having my way? Am I still going to hold on
to what God said, you've got to let go. That's rebellion.
I got to have it my way. Now, let me
show you what happens here. We set a new freedom
in your spirit. Remember he breaks your will, but in
(09:23):
your spirit. Here's what happens. You begin to feel this
unusual harmony going on inside of you that you never
felt before. Now let me tell you how that's true.
Remember we said we have a soul and a spirit.
This body, with its five senses, is the way we
relate to the world, to our environment, with all of
its senses, all of its desires, all of its needs,
(09:47):
all of its appetites. And then there is the soul
of man, his mind, will, emotion, his conscience, his consciousness,
and then there is his spirit. Now, before you are broken,
there is this continuous struggle and friction that goes on.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
And here's the struggle and friction.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
These five senses of ours have needs. We have a
desire for beauty, a desire for food, appetites for food,
a desire, appetite for knowledge, a desire appetite for sex.
That many desires, all legitimate. When you and I are
living in rebellion and playing God in our life and
(10:29):
living in a subtle form of idolatry, that's what it is.
Then these senses get out of control, these desires get
out of control. But when we are broken and our
will is brought into submission to His will, here's what happens.
This body takes its rightful place. That is, these desires
(10:51):
and appetites, legitimate as they are, are brought into submission
to what to the Spirit of God. Our emotions are
brought into submission of the spirit. Then the spirit within
us controls our mind, our will, our emotion, our conscience,
our consciousness, and also is in control.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Of our body.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So that the body and the whole set of emotion, mind, will,
and emotion and the spirit are all now working in
harmony into it with each other.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
What happens.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
The war's over, the struggle within is over. Why because
Romans chapter six. Notice there, if you will Romans chapter six,
one of Paul's most important chapters he ever wrote, six, seven,
and eight, says in the six chapter, verse fourteen, for sin,
that is the power of sin shall not be master
(11:48):
over you.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Listen, that is the will of.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
God, that sin would not reign over you, verse eighteen.
And having been freed, set free from sin enslaving power,
reigning power. Now listen, When you and I were saved,
the truth is now. I want you to listen very carefully.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
This is the key.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
When you were our saved, the truth is sins power
was broken. Now if I did not realize that, I'm
going to go on in my own strength trying to.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Suppress these desires to go out of control.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
And so we go on in our life struggling with them,
trying to suppress this one and trying to keep this
one down, and always trying to deal with these legitimate
appetites that God has given us. But when we come
to brokenness, and this independent will within us is humble
(12:46):
and submits to the will of God, and there is
nothing left out there that we're holding on too, no thing,
no desire, no no purpose, no plan, no appetite, no relationship.
When it's all yielded, surrendered, and my will and my
desires and my dreams are all laid down, what happens
(13:09):
is that body, soul, and spirit begin to function in
the most beautiful, harmonious way. Because now the spirit is
in control. I've made a decision to give up all
my rights and to say God every appetite, every desire,
every dream, every goal. I'm going to trust you to
(13:30):
meet those in your own time, and therefore I yield.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
There's the second thing that happens.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
We begin to experience naturally from that, and inner quietness
and peace. You know why, because I've laid down my rights,
laid down my demands. This is what I must have,
this is what it's got to be. And see, all
of that causes war and turmoil and frustration. You see,
(14:00):
once you give up your rights, once you let down
your demands, what happens. The war is over, and there's
an inner quietness and inner peace that begins to develop
in your life.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
A third thing that happens the person's spirit is this.
There is a spirit of meekness.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
That does not mean weakness, but it means your will
has been broken. You have humbled yourself before God. And
now you become teachable, You become open, You become transparent,
no longer defensive. A spirit of meekness, openness, teachableness, a
(14:40):
spirit of humility, now able to listen, now able to learn,
not spending your time defending yourself. And he says, in
this passage of scripture, if you'll notice he says, And
when this grain of wheat dies, it does what it
bears much fruit. It bears much fruit. Where's the fruit
(15:01):
coming from. It's coming from with them. You think about
the competitive spirit that exists among Christians.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
If she gets promoted, I got to get promoted. If
he has one of these, I've got to have one.
And on and on we go, a competitive spirit.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
And you know that when you let in all your rights,
you're not in competition anybody. You know why, because that's
not what you're living for. He's the center of your life.
And that war is over. You say, well, if you
lay it all down, you lost all. You surrendered, and
you threw up the white flag. And when you threw
it up to surrender, you just one. The spirit of
(15:38):
meekness says, I give up my rights. This is an
age of rights. But my friend, I don't have any rights.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
If I'm God, I do. If he's God, I don't
have anymore. You know what I discovered. It's amazing how
he can take care of all my needs. It's amazing how.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
That inner quietness and peace and the spirit of meekness
is that. You know why, because I'm not troubled, But
about well, these needs I have a metonaut These are
appetites God knows how to satisfy in the right fashion.
But as long as I'm going to have it my way, Listen,
if I insist on having it my way and living
(16:18):
independently of the will of God, these desires are going
to get out of control. And when they get out
of control this disaster God breaks us, not to destroy us,
but to protect us, to preserve us, and to accomplish
His greater, higher purposes within our life.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Then there is also the spirit of forgiveness.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It flows more quickly when there's brokenness.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
You know what happens. When you're broken, You don't demand.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Somebody to pay off their debt emotional debt they owe
you because they mistreated you. It is amazing what you
can forget. And it's amazing how you're not troubled about
forgiving it. In other words, you're not getting on your
knees and saying, God, I was mistreated lords you know
how have been hurt, But God, I'm going to forgive
him anyway. No, when you're broken, my friend, you know
(17:13):
what happens. It's like what they say and what they
do just goes right on across you, passes right on through,
and it's just like it never happened. You know why,
you belong to him. What if they do, they don't
get to him. Christ is your life, and that begins
to become a living reality. And all of a sudden,
the things that used to hurt you don't hurt you anymore.
(17:34):
The things that used to trouble you and irritate you
don't irritate you and troubled you anymore. You know why,
because you lay down your rights, and this body and
this soul and now under the control, under the submissive
control of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is now upon
the throne of your life. He's making the decisions, and
(17:57):
he's the one who's receiving and.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Giving, and it is his life. He didn't hold grudges.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
But you see, before that can happen, that old, stubborn,
rebellious will abows has to be broken. The power of
sins rain must be acknowledged, is broken. And it only
happens when I finally submit my will to him to say, Lord.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Not what I want, but what you want.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
But when he says in this passage, listen, he says,
it remains by itself alone.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
But if it does, it bears much fruit.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
What else happens there when a person has been broken
and their body and their soul and their spirit is
now working in harmony together in submission to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look how that frees us to relate to
other people much better. You see now I'm not struggling
in my relationship with someone else to get all I
(18:51):
can get out of them and to drain all I
can emotionally out of them, to satisfy myself and to
build myself up, because you see, I have all on
nad in Christ. That's not some preachers casual say that
is living reality.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Thanks for joining us on in Touch, the teaching ministry
of doctor Charles Stanley. God's goal is for you to
allow him to nourish your life so you can grow
from the soil of brokenness. Trust Him and see your
life thrive. We'll hear more about recovering from brokenness tomorrow.
Make sure to visit in Touch dot org for resources
(19:36):
that can help you focus on God and rely on
his trustworthiness. There's also a link to Today on Radio
on our homepage, so you can listen to this message
again anytime you like and order a copy of doctor
Stanley's complete message After Brokenness What then visit our online bookstore.
It's also included in his teaching set Brokenness The Way
(19:56):
to Blessing Again. Log onto in Touch dotorg to call
our text. Use the number one eight hundred in Touch
to write to us. Address your letter to in Touch
Post Office Box seventy nine hundred, Atlanta, Georgia, three zero
three five seven. As someone hurt you, there is a
way to move on. Keep listening for biblical advice and
(20:19):
encouragement coming up in today's moment with Charles Stanley.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
In places where churches have closed or never existed, the
need for discipleship beyond evangelism is urgent. Our mission is
to train people on the frontlines of ministry through Life
Principles training based on the biblical teaching of doctor Charles Stanley,
shaping people to reflect Jesus and empowering them to fulfill
the Great Commission. For more info, visit in Touch dot
(20:46):
org slash Global.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
With the thirty Life Principles Bible Study, you'll enjoy a
rich exploration of God's Word designed as a ninety day
learning experience or individual use or in a group setting.
You'll explore doctor Stanley's thirty Life Principles and learn how
to make the Bible look part of your everyday life
because we can all benefit from a closer look. To
order the Thirty Life Principles Bible Study, call one eight
(21:14):
hundred in touch or visit InTouch dot org slash store.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
This is in Touch. Recovering from the emotional trauma of
abuse is a hard road, but believers have access to
God's ability to heal. Here's a moment with Charles Stanley.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Those incidences become a part of your thinking, and so
what you have to do is you have to be
reminded of that God. I don't know why you allowed that.
There must have been some purpose. I know that wasn't
your will to do, but you allowed it. But my
trust is in you. You have to trust God. And
while there are times that are very very difficult, and
I would say to a person who's been through some
(21:57):
situation like that, this doesn't mean you're just going to
and get over it all of a sudden, because God
has to sort of drain that terror out of you
and pull it out little by little and refocus your
attention to remind you that He's still who he says
he is. And even though I don't understand why certain
things have happened to me, it doesn't mean that God's
(22:17):
left me. Because I've been through a difficult time at
some point in my life and I couldn't blame God.
I just had to say, God, I don't understand it,
but I'm going to trust you no matter what. The
things I can't change, but I'm going to trust you
to enable me through it no matter what. And especially
when a person's been abused early in life, and most
of the time most people, that affects them all of
(22:38):
their life. But by trusting God he can bring them
through it and healing. There's nothing God cannot heal. And
let me just say this, no matter what's happened, that
God loves you and nothing can change that love for you.
And even though we don't understand why these things have happened,
He's still there. He was there when it happened, He's
(22:58):
still there and He's going to.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
See you through it.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Father. I pray the healing power of the Holy Spirit
would be released at this very moment in the life
of every single person who is struggling, deeply, deeply struggling
with those past experiences that have created all kinds of
fear and uncertain of their life. You the great healer.
You just don't heal physical ailments. You heal emotional ailments,
(23:25):
and those things in our mind that seem to stick
like mud like glue in our minds. You know how
to pull it all apart and refocus our attention. That's
my prayer today in Jesus' name, the power of the
Holy Spirit to bring healing in the life of every
single person, and we thank you for it in His
wonderful name, Amen.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Prayerfully filling your mind and heart with truth provides the
foundation for emotional healing. For help studying the Bible, visit
us set in touch dot org and if you have
a personal story about what you've learned through this program,
please share it with us. Tomorrow on in Touch we'll
gain more insight into God's goal for brokenness as we
(24:08):
wrap up our series Wednesday on in Touch, the teaching
ministry of doctor Charles Stanley. This program is the presentation
of In Touch Ministries Atlanta, Georgia and remains on the station.
Through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and
gifts
Is God being honored by our light.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Not my schedule and my plans and my goals and
my dreams. But Lord, what do you want to accomplish today?
You see, the whole focus changes, all the priorities change.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
What a difference.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Once God breaks us, what happens is our will becomes
submissive to His will. And when our will becomes submissive.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
To his will, his purposes take priority. In our light.
Priorities begin to change.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
In John chapter twelve, Jesus said, truly, truly, I say
to you, unless the grain of wheat falls into the
earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies,
it bears much fruit. With that in mind, today's edition
of In Touch, the teaching ministry of doctor Charles Stanley,
brings us the encouraging answer to the question, after brokenness,
what then? Let's listen in to doctor Stanley.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Our greatest enemy is not from without. It is that
old self life, that spirit within us that desires to
act independently of God. And unless that spirit of independence
is broken, here's what you can expect.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And I want you to listen carefully.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
It's going to hinder your relationship to God. It's going
to dull your sensitivity to God. It's going to delay
God's purpose in your life. It's going to deny you
of the peace and joy that you're looking for in life.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
It's going to diminish your.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Effect, the good effect that you could have upon others.
And not only that, but it is going to give
Satan a greater place of opportunity in your life, for
a greater stronghold than ever before.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And it's going to.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Deprive you, deny you of the blessings that God has
in store.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
For you.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Would have had had you obeyed Him in your life. Now,
brokenness always involves repentance over sin, the sin of rebellion,
and it always involves the submission of our spirit to Him.
So therefore it is oftentimes very painful, especially if I
have held on to something or some area, some relationship,
(02:22):
something some desire, some ambition, some goal in my life
that is not of God.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Sometimes it's very painful to let that go.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
But God breaks us in order to bless us. And
I want you to turn if you will today, Chapter
twelve of the Book of John. This was the first
text in the very first message on brokenness, the principle,
the twenty fourth verse. It's all wrapped up in this
one verse. And Jesus said it this way. Truly, truly,
(02:52):
I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
You can take one grain of wheat, as long as
it lays on the barn floor.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
There it is is one grain.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
But when you take that grain and you place it
in the earth and you cover it, then its environment,
the moisture, the heat begin to work on that outer
shell of that grain. Before long, the outer shell is broken.
And when it is broken, that kernel of life begins
to protrude its way up through the earth, through the soil.
(03:35):
And before long you have one stalk of wheat on
that stalk. Let's say there anywhere from fifty to one
hundred grains. You took those fifty hundred grains laid them
on the barn floor, that only be of fifty one
hundred grains. But if you took each one of those
and placed it in the earth and let it also
die and be broken, out of each kernel will come
(03:57):
new life. And out of each kernel of new life
will become a new stalk, and more grains you could
have one hundred million bushels of grain out of one
little grain if you kept on replanning every single grain.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Notice what Jesus said in this verse.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
He says, except the grain of wheat falling to the earth
and dye, it abides alone. But if it dies, if
it's broken, it bears much fruit. God breaks us in
order to bring us the spiritual maturity and supernatural ministries
in our lives. He arranges the circumstances by which he's going.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
To break us.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
He chooses the tools with which he's going to break us,
and then he controls the pressure and the timing it'll
take to bring us into submission to his will.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
But after brokenness, what then?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So I want you to jot down three things primarily,
but there'll be many others that you might want to
jot down for your own help. The first thing that
I want you to notice it happens when a person
is broken, is.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
This, You get a new view of God's.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Purpose for your life. You get a new view of
God's purpose for your life. Now, what is the view
that most people have of their life? And I want
you to be open when I say this, because otherwise
you're going to be prone to be very defensive and say, well, oh,
I wouldn't think that at all. But here is the
most prominent view and the popular view that people have
(05:28):
and don't even realize they have it, and that is
that God really exists for us. God, I want you
to bless me here and I want you to do this,
and we send them up multitudes of requests all the time.
And the truth is we are the ones who are
at the center of our life. And for most people,
every lost person, and far far too many Christians, the
(05:50):
truth is the world revolves around me, my needs, my desires,
what pleases me, what makes me happy, what satisfies me, what.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
May makes me feel good.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
The truth is that's the way the world lives, and
that's the way many Christians live. So when it comes
to practical theology and practical interpretation for God, our attitude
is God is existing up there somewhere in our behave
and when I need him, I want him to be
Johnny on the spot to meet my needs.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Listen, when you are broken, my friend, what really matters
is what does God think?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
What pleases the Lord God?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
My focus changes, and what happens is this all of
a sudden It's not how do I feel?
Speaker 1 (06:39):
What do I think? How can I please God? What
pleases the Lord?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
What's his priority in my life of to day? What's
his schedule today? What is his will? What is his purpose?
Is my life glorifying to God? Is God being honored
by our life?
Speaker 1 (06:56):
What a difference? Priorities begin to change.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Not my schedule and my plans and my goals and
my dreams, But Lord, what do you want to accomplish today?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
You see, the whole focus.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Changes, All the priorities change once God breaks us. What
happens is our will becomes submissive to his will. And
when our will becomes submissive to his will, his purposes
take priority in our life. When his will becomes priority
in my life, is no longer what pleases me?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
But what is honorable to God.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Second thing that happens as a result of brokenness a
new freedom in our spirit, A new freedom in our spirit.
And many of you need a new freedom in your
spirit because you see, you don't realize it, but you
are bound up in all kinds of emotional bondage, guilt, fear, rejection, anxiety, hostility, anger,
(07:58):
you name it, it's all there. When God breaks you,
my friend, It's amazing what happens. Then, listen, brokenness always
involves sin.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
It is the sin of rebellion.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
It is always that if somebody walked up to you
and said, well, you just rebellious, you'd probably say, well,
who are you to say that I'm rebellious? So here's
what I want to ask you. What is that you're
holding on too that God has said you've.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Got to let that go. You've got to give that up.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
God says let it go, and you say no, I'm
not going to let it go. That is rebellion. Now,
rebellion may be very subtle, but rebellion is still rebellion.
Rebellion says I'm going to have my way, whether you
like it, or God or anybody else likes it. Now,
what we say is, oh, Heavenly Father, I want to
(08:47):
thank you in Jesus name.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Lord. You know I make mistakes.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
God, you know everybody has their problems and their little sins,
and I thank you that you understand mine, my friend.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
That won't cover up rebellion. There, it is still.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Glaring at me. Am I still going to insist on
having my way? Am I still going to hold on
to what God said, you've got to let go. That's rebellion.
I got to have it my way. Now, let me
show you what happens here. We set a new freedom
in your spirit. Remember he breaks your will, but in
(09:23):
your spirit. Here's what happens. You begin to feel this
unusual harmony going on inside of you that you never
felt before. Now let me tell you how that's true.
Remember we said we have a soul and a spirit.
This body, with its five senses, is the way we
relate to the world, to our environment, with all of
its senses, all of its desires, all of its needs,
(09:47):
all of its appetites. And then there is the soul
of man, his mind, will, emotion, his conscience, his consciousness,
and then there is his spirit. Now, before you are broken,
there is this continuous struggle and friction that goes on.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
And here's the struggle and friction.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
These five senses of ours have needs. We have a
desire for beauty, a desire for food, appetites for food,
a desire, appetite for knowledge, a desire appetite for sex.
That many desires, all legitimate. When you and I are
living in rebellion and playing God in our life and
(10:29):
living in a subtle form of idolatry, that's what it is.
Then these senses get out of control, these desires get
out of control. But when we are broken and our
will is brought into submission to His will, here's what happens.
This body takes its rightful place. That is, these desires
(10:51):
and appetites, legitimate as they are, are brought into submission
to what to the Spirit of God. Our emotions are
brought into submission of the spirit. Then the spirit within
us controls our mind, our will, our emotion, our conscience,
our consciousness, and also is in control.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Of our body.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So that the body and the whole set of emotion, mind, will,
and emotion and the spirit are all now working in
harmony into it with each other.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
What happens.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
The war's over, the struggle within is over. Why because
Romans chapter six. Notice there, if you will Romans chapter six,
one of Paul's most important chapters he ever wrote, six, seven,
and eight, says in the six chapter, verse fourteen, for sin,
that is the power of sin shall not be master
(11:48):
over you.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Listen, that is the will of.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
God, that sin would not reign over you, verse eighteen.
And having been freed, set free from sin enslaving power,
reigning power. Now listen, When you and I were saved,
the truth is now. I want you to listen very carefully.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
This is the key.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
When you were our saved, the truth is sins power
was broken. Now if I did not realize that, I'm
going to go on in my own strength trying to.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Suppress these desires to go out of control.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
And so we go on in our life struggling with them,
trying to suppress this one and trying to keep this
one down, and always trying to deal with these legitimate
appetites that God has given us. But when we come
to brokenness, and this independent will within us is humble
(12:46):
and submits to the will of God, and there is
nothing left out there that we're holding on too, no thing,
no desire, no no purpose, no plan, no appetite, no relationship.
When it's all yielded, surrendered, and my will and my
desires and my dreams are all laid down, what happens
(13:09):
is that body, soul, and spirit begin to function in
the most beautiful, harmonious way. Because now the spirit is
in control. I've made a decision to give up all
my rights and to say God every appetite, every desire,
every dream, every goal. I'm going to trust you to
(13:30):
meet those in your own time, and therefore I yield.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
There's the second thing that happens.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
We begin to experience naturally from that, and inner quietness
and peace. You know why, because I've laid down my rights,
laid down my demands. This is what I must have,
this is what it's got to be. And see, all
of that causes war and turmoil and frustration. You see,
(14:00):
once you give up your rights, once you let down
your demands, what happens. The war is over, and there's
an inner quietness and inner peace that begins to develop
in your life.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
A third thing that happens the person's spirit is this.
There is a spirit of meekness.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
That does not mean weakness, but it means your will
has been broken. You have humbled yourself before God. And
now you become teachable, You become open, You become transparent,
no longer defensive. A spirit of meekness, openness, teachableness, a
(14:40):
spirit of humility, now able to listen, now able to learn,
not spending your time defending yourself. And he says, in
this passage of scripture, if you'll notice he says, And
when this grain of wheat dies, it does what it
bears much fruit. It bears much fruit. Where's the fruit
(15:01):
coming from. It's coming from with them. You think about
the competitive spirit that exists among Christians.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
If she gets promoted, I got to get promoted. If
he has one of these, I've got to have one.
And on and on we go, a competitive spirit.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
And you know that when you let in all your rights,
you're not in competition anybody. You know why, because that's
not what you're living for. He's the center of your life.
And that war is over. You say, well, if you
lay it all down, you lost all. You surrendered, and
you threw up the white flag. And when you threw
it up to surrender, you just one. The spirit of
(15:38):
meekness says, I give up my rights. This is an
age of rights. But my friend, I don't have any rights.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
If I'm God, I do. If he's God, I don't
have anymore. You know what I discovered. It's amazing how
he can take care of all my needs. It's amazing how.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
That inner quietness and peace and the spirit of meekness
is that. You know why, because I'm not troubled, But
about well, these needs I have a metonaut These are
appetites God knows how to satisfy in the right fashion.
But as long as I'm going to have it my way, Listen,
if I insist on having it my way and living
(16:18):
independently of the will of God, these desires are going
to get out of control. And when they get out
of control this disaster God breaks us, not to destroy us,
but to protect us, to preserve us, and to accomplish
His greater, higher purposes within our life.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Then there is also the spirit of forgiveness.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It flows more quickly when there's brokenness.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
You know what happens. When you're broken, You don't demand.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Somebody to pay off their debt emotional debt they owe
you because they mistreated you. It is amazing what you
can forget. And it's amazing how you're not troubled about
forgiving it. In other words, you're not getting on your
knees and saying, God, I was mistreated lords you know
how have been hurt, But God, I'm going to forgive
him anyway. No, when you're broken, my friend, you know
(17:13):
what happens. It's like what they say and what they
do just goes right on across you, passes right on through,
and it's just like it never happened. You know why,
you belong to him. What if they do, they don't
get to him. Christ is your life, and that begins
to become a living reality. And all of a sudden,
the things that used to hurt you don't hurt you anymore.
(17:34):
The things that used to trouble you and irritate you
don't irritate you and troubled you anymore. You know why,
because you lay down your rights, and this body and
this soul and now under the control, under the submissive
control of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is now upon
the throne of your life. He's making the decisions, and
(17:57):
he's the one who's receiving and.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Giving, and it is his life. He didn't hold grudges.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
But you see, before that can happen, that old, stubborn,
rebellious will abows has to be broken. The power of
sins rain must be acknowledged, is broken. And it only
happens when I finally submit my will to him to say, Lord.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Not what I want, but what you want.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
But when he says in this passage, listen, he says,
it remains by itself alone.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
But if it does, it bears much fruit.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
What else happens there when a person has been broken
and their body and their soul and their spirit is
now working in harmony together in submission to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look how that frees us to relate to
other people much better. You see now I'm not struggling
in my relationship with someone else to get all I
(18:51):
can get out of them and to drain all I
can emotionally out of them, to satisfy myself and to
build myself up, because you see, I have all on
nad in Christ. That's not some preachers casual say that
is living reality.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Thanks for joining us on in Touch, the teaching ministry
of doctor Charles Stanley. God's goal is for you to
allow him to nourish your life so you can grow
from the soil of brokenness. Trust Him and see your
life thrive. We'll hear more about recovering from brokenness tomorrow.
Make sure to visit in Touch dot org for resources
(19:36):
that can help you focus on God and rely on
his trustworthiness. There's also a link to Today on Radio
on our homepage, so you can listen to this message
again anytime you like and order a copy of doctor
Stanley's complete message After Brokenness What then visit our online bookstore.
It's also included in his teaching set Brokenness The Way
(19:56):
to Blessing Again. Log onto in Touch dotorg to call
our text. Use the number one eight hundred in Touch
to write to us. Address your letter to in Touch
Post Office Box seventy nine hundred, Atlanta, Georgia, three zero
three five seven. As someone hurt you, there is a
way to move on. Keep listening for biblical advice and
(20:19):
encouragement coming up in today's moment with Charles Stanley.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
In places where churches have closed or never existed, the
need for discipleship beyond evangelism is urgent. Our mission is
to train people on the frontlines of ministry through Life
Principles training based on the biblical teaching of doctor Charles Stanley,
shaping people to reflect Jesus and empowering them to fulfill
the Great Commission. For more info, visit in Touch dot
(20:46):
org slash Global.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
With the thirty Life Principles Bible Study, you'll enjoy a
rich exploration of God's Word designed as a ninety day
learning experience or individual use or in a group setting.
You'll explore doctor Stanley's thirty Life Principles and learn how
to make the Bible look part of your everyday life
because we can all benefit from a closer look. To
order the Thirty Life Principles Bible Study, call one eight
(21:14):
hundred in touch or visit InTouch dot org slash store.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
This is in Touch. Recovering from the emotional trauma of
abuse is a hard road, but believers have access to
God's ability to heal. Here's a moment with Charles Stanley.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Those incidences become a part of your thinking, and so
what you have to do is you have to be
reminded of that God. I don't know why you allowed that.
There must have been some purpose. I know that wasn't
your will to do, but you allowed it. But my
trust is in you. You have to trust God. And
while there are times that are very very difficult, and
I would say to a person who's been through some
(21:57):
situation like that, this doesn't mean you're just going to
and get over it all of a sudden, because God
has to sort of drain that terror out of you
and pull it out little by little and refocus your
attention to remind you that He's still who he says
he is. And even though I don't understand why certain
things have happened to me, it doesn't mean that God's
(22:17):
left me. Because I've been through a difficult time at
some point in my life and I couldn't blame God.
I just had to say, God, I don't understand it,
but I'm going to trust you no matter what. The
things I can't change, but I'm going to trust you
to enable me through it no matter what. And especially
when a person's been abused early in life, and most
of the time most people, that affects them all of
(22:38):
their life. But by trusting God he can bring them
through it and healing. There's nothing God cannot heal. And
let me just say this, no matter what's happened, that
God loves you and nothing can change that love for you.
And even though we don't understand why these things have happened,
He's still there. He was there when it happened, He's
(22:58):
still there and He's going to.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
See you through it.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Father. I pray the healing power of the Holy Spirit
would be released at this very moment in the life
of every single person who is struggling, deeply, deeply struggling
with those past experiences that have created all kinds of
fear and uncertain of their life. You the great healer.
You just don't heal physical ailments. You heal emotional ailments,
(23:25):
and those things in our mind that seem to stick
like mud like glue in our minds. You know how
to pull it all apart and refocus our attention. That's
my prayer today in Jesus' name, the power of the
Holy Spirit to bring healing in the life of every
single person, and we thank you for it in His
wonderful name, Amen.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Prayerfully filling your mind and heart with truth provides the
foundation for emotional healing. For help studying the Bible, visit
us set in touch dot org and if you have
a personal story about what you've learned through this program,
please share it with us. Tomorrow on in Touch we'll
gain more insight into God's goal for brokenness as we
(24:08):
wrap up our series Wednesday on in Touch, the teaching
ministry of doctor Charles Stanley. This program is the presentation
of In Touch Ministries Atlanta, Georgia and remains on the station.
Through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and
gifts
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