Don't Stop

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Episode Transcript

(00:07):
There's been many times in my lifewhere I have seen people start off really
good in their walk with the Lord, or even in a career that I
thought they were really meant to bein, and then down the road a
couple of years later, look backand to wonder where they're at. They're
not serving the Lord, or they'renot in the same career. Something happened

(00:30):
and they've almost come to a completestop, and they've they've given up the
title of this program this morning isDon't Stop. Welcome to Healing Begins.
My name is Pastor Gale, andI have Karen. What's nis key with
me this morning? Say hi,Karen? Hello there. How are you
doing, Karen? I'm doing reallywell. Is it exciting to talk to

(00:53):
people at one am in the morning. Yes, yeah. I just sometimes
wonder who is scanning the ban andcome across our voices, and so I'm
excited about that. Yeah, metoo. And I'm excited that you all
are listening out there. I'm justhoping you're sharing this with your friends.
It's just Karen and I having adiscussion today about Don't Stop. Another four

(01:19):
thirty in the morning revelation. Sowhat are some of your thoughts on this,
Well, don't stop. It justbrings me back to when I was
running five k's and well started runningfive k's and I was in this race
and we started out, as youwere saying, as a Christian believers,

(01:42):
we stilled out fast, go andwe actually started this. I was running
with my dear friend and sister inlaw in this race, and we started
out quite fast, and you know, you get into the first three fourths
of a mile and you're like,WHOA, Okay, I'm getting tired here,
and you pushed through like yeah,we got this, We got this.
And towards the end of the race, my body just like and did

(02:10):
not feel well, and I endup stepping out of the race. And
I still have that picture so clearin my mind because I had my younger
kids who ran cross country cheering uson, and then I can't go any
further, and my friend just kepton going and I stepped out on the

(02:34):
sidelines. And after soon after Istepped out of the race, I realized
that just because it was cross country, didn't know where the finish line was
because I've never ran that course before, and I just around the corner was

(02:54):
the finish line and I think ifI would have stepped out of the race
and just walked, took one stepout of a time, and right around
the corner was the finish line,and I gave up. And I think
that with our Christian walk, asyou said Gail earlier, that we start

(03:17):
out so strong and we just wantedto throw the towel on or you know,
ta towel in, or step outof the race. And many times
in our lives as believers that right, we want to just struggles come,
hardness comes, and the enemy,right, enemy comes, and he wants

(03:38):
to kick us off the course.And so that just brings me back to
that picture of stay the course,right, don't stop. Well, I
have a similar story, just likeyou. I was running and this was
only a two mile race in Holland, but I had just become a brand
new runner, like a brain.By the way, the Christian walk is

(04:00):
a marathon, not a sprint,and you learn that really quick and if
you go into a long distance racewith a sprint mentality, you're going to
be in trouble. And so Ihad trained. I was running about three
miles a day, very slow,and I thought I was ready for this
two mile race. In Holland,Michigan. So I was all excited.

(04:23):
I got my new Tenny boppers on. I'm in the front. I'm in
the front where I'm going to callhim the big dogs run with the guys
that are really fast run. Andso we are already and the gun goes
off, bang, and the gungoes off, and man, I am
running. Now. I know thatI know what my normal speed is.
I know my normal speed back thenwas about eight minutes a mile, while

(04:45):
when I came through that first mile, I was doing six and a half
minutes, and I knew I wasin trouble because I was running off the
adrenaline of the crowd, and allof a sudden, I I was trying
to breathe and my side was hurting, and I was hanging on to my
side, and all of a sudden, my six and a half mile went

(05:06):
down. I swear ten went downreal slow, and I managed to limp
across the finish line because I reallywasn't prepared and I didn't really understand that
the Christian Walk is not a marathon, but it's a sprint. And there

(05:26):
are the Christian Walk is not asprint but a marathon. Yeah, and
there are times, boy, whenthe pain was hitting my side, I
just wanted to come to a completewalk. Oh yeah, quit yeah.
If you've ever had side paint,it don't feel fun. Ye means you're
not breathing right, your diaphragm isnot working right, and all of a

(05:51):
sudden you're not prepared for the restof the race. Now, I did
have a time where I ran aten mile race. That's the long I've
ever ran. And I will tellyou I didn't sprint, and I did
a slower jog and I managed tomake ten miles, but I got shin
splints and because I was training,what's that? Those are no fun?

(06:15):
And I was training for a marathon. I never did make the marathon.
But you know, in life,you know when you come to know the
Lord. I love Jeremiah twenty andeleven, know the plan I have for
you, to say it, theLord plans to prosper you and not harm
you, plans to give you hopein the future. When I was praying

(06:35):
about this, I just saw thepicture of some people that have just really
given up on life. I wantyou to know you're not alone, and
I want you to know that youcould make it. Maybe there's some of
you out there listening today. Youstarted out well, but you're definitely not
in the place you know you shouldbe. And I want you to know,

(06:59):
and you go to accept Christ,the enemy will do anything he can
to stop and hinder you. Yeah, Jeremiah twenty nine eleven is just it's
one of my life verses. Andif we have to keep continue on though

(07:20):
to verse twelve. Right in thirteen, it says after it says, far,
I know the plans I have foryou, declares the Lord plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans give you hope in the future.
Verse twelve. Then you will callon me and come and pray to
me, and I will listen toyou. Verse thirteen. You will seek

(07:43):
me and find me when you seekme with all your heart. So I
just think, just going to theLord, come to me, he says,
I will be found. And alot of times, right, we're
just going through or pushing through,and we were not praying, we're not
seeking God. And I think that'sthat's key, right, that's key.

(08:05):
Well, another thing the enemy doestoo, And we're going to read that
scripture in just a minute. I'mgoing to read Luke eight five is the
minute the Lord brings truth to youand revelation. The enemy tries to come
to steal that from you. Karen, you want to read Luke eight five.

(08:28):
Sure, a farmer went out tosow his seed. As he was
scattering the seeds, some fell alongthe path. It was trampled on,
and the birds ate it up.Some fell on rocky ground, and when
it came up, the plants witheredbecause they had no moisture. Other seed
fell among the thorns, which grewup with it and choked the plants.

(08:50):
Still, other seeds fell on goodsoil. It came up and yielded a
crop one hundred times more than wassown. Well, this is what do
you get out of that scripture,Karen. Well, just as you were
saying, Gail, right, whenwe get revelation, we hear God's word
and it just it goes, itjust goes away. That's a bird.

(09:11):
That's my birds sound. Maybe Ishouldn't do my bird sound over the waves.
That might scare people. But Ithink of the crow. Ah ah,
he comes, and the enemy's likethat, he'll come. I hope
the crow is at your favorite bird. But the enemy will come and try
to snatch it away, right,Yeah, And what does he use to

(09:33):
get people to stop? How aboutwhen you read this parable the interpretation of
this He uses the cares of thisworld and the trials and tribulations to choke
out the word that God has givenyou. And if you haven't taken the

(09:54):
time to get your roots down deep, when the sun comes out and it's
hot, and how our times come, you can wither away and give up
when God wants you to keep goingright, And how do we get our
roots deep? Is reading the wordright? Reading the Bible and are quiet

(10:16):
time, spend each time with theLord and listening when we're asking and we're
praying. Right, but let's notforget to listen to see what God has
saying to us. And then nowtoday Psalms chapter one said he will be
like a tree planted by the streamsof living water that yields its fruit in
his season, whose leaf does notwither, and whatever he does prospers.

(10:43):
I love that Psalms chapter one.And so you got to realize that when
you come to Christ, you needto get your roots down. You need
to get down deep. You needto find a church, a good church
be a part of it. Don'tbe church hopping, because if you're a
church hopping you can't keep roots down. I mean, you ever a transplant

(11:05):
a plant. It's not good fora plant to transplant somewhere else. So
we got to get our roots down. We got to understand the word,
and we got to get into thewater of the word and really get our
roots down deep. So I remember, I have a vision in my mind
of a willow tree. I don'tknow if you've ever seen an old weeping
willow. The wind can be howlingand blowing hard, and the willow is

(11:30):
just bent right over. But thenwhen the wind quits, the willow springs
right back up and it's just fine. So the willow is a good example
of how God wants us to be. Roots are down, flexible, and
when the wind comes, we bend, but we don't break. And that's
important. Yeah. I remember ofa lie that I used to believe that

(11:54):
that would keep me, that Iwas not a good reader, that would
keep me from the Word. AndI just would like if any of you
out there that are like I,don't I just hate reading. I'm at
a good reader. That's I believea lie that's been rooted down like we
came to believe as when we wereyounger, because as as a young kid,
I wasn't a good reader, andso I found that that kept me

(12:18):
from reading. And once I'm likeidentifying the lie that I was believing and
just pushing for reading God's word.But also, there's so many apps out
there that we can listen to.We're on the road. So maybe if
you're on the road right now,right of course, listening to us now,
but afterwards, listen to the there'sa a you version of app.

(12:41):
There's so many apps out there thatwe can actually listen to the Word of
God, and it's getting in usright, getting in us and being established
and deeply rude us well. Andthat reminds me too of the busy world
we live in today. People canbe really tired. I know, if
you're like me, you can bereally tired. And if I pick up
a Bible and try to read reallyreally tired, well, I'm going to

(13:05):
be sleeping because I get tired.So there's nothing wrong with laying back,
turning on your Bible app listening tothe Word of God being read, and
then fall asleep, because that'll justsink in your spirit. That stuff will
get in your spirits. So theBible apps are really important that you get
the Word of God in you.So yeah, really good idea with the

(13:26):
Bible apps. Then I was thinkingabout how I was reminded when I was
in Costa Rica last year working withExtreme Camp and Pastor Christian got in front
of these forty gang leaders and hesaid this statement. He said, look,
Christianity is not for cry babies.That's what he told them. He

(13:50):
said, Christianity's not for cry babies. You need to understand this. When
you become a Christian, it's afight. And while he was talking to
forty gang leaders that he pulled awayfrom the drug lords and if they accept
the christ then went back could costtheir life. If fact, out of

(14:11):
three hundred and twenty guys, amixture of men women he had rescued,
twenty had been assassinated for their faith. That's right. I go work with
him. He's fun to work with, little dangerous down there. But we're
okay. And I think today peoplebecome a Christian and they say, why
am I going through hard times?I hate to quote you a secular song.

(14:35):
I beg your pardon, I neverpromised you a rose garden instead of
the sunshine. There's gonna be alittle rain sometimes. You know that old
song, I've never promised you arose garden. I have heard. Yes,
it's for four Karen's time. Andso you know. First Timothy six

(14:56):
twelve says, fight the good fightof faith, take hold of eternal life.
To what you were called when youmade your good confession. In the
presence of many witnesses. We areto fight the good fight. And so
what are some of the ways wecan fight? Karen? Well, I

(15:18):
think of it. It's not inour own power, right, we as
we're fighting, but relying on thepower of the Holy Spirit, that who
is believers dwells within us. Rightand the Ephesians that talks about the same
power that Christ was risen from thedead lives in us. So again we
come back to the Jeremiah knowing thatGod has plans to prosper us. But

(15:39):
he's also asking us to come tohim and pray. So knowing our knowing
and seeking Him and his power withinus to fight the good fight, so
we don't grow weary. It's inhim, it's him in us. I
always thinking about fighting a good fight. Since God's word has so much power,

(16:02):
it's good for you to find ascripture, maybe like Psalm ninety one
or Psalm twenty seven or Psalm onetwenty one, and literally pray that scripture
over your life out loud great power. And then if there have been times
when people have given you words fromthe Lord that you are known they were

(16:23):
from the Lord, you can usethose in your prayer time to fight with
you. So when Jesus was inthe wilderness being tempted by the devil,
the devil would come around and tempthim and he would say, it is
written, it is written, Itis written, and it is written.
And then the Bible says that Satanleft him for a more opportune time.

(16:48):
The bad penny always tries to return. And so if you're out there today,
maybe maybe maybe you feel like givingup, or maybe you feel like
quitting, or maybe you just feellike throwing in the towel on life.
Man, you're valuable. Don't throwthe towel on life. If you're stillicidal,

(17:11):
go to emergency room, get help, because there are a lot of
people that love you a lot morethan what you think, and you're important
to God. Yeah, just asI shared earlier of the story, it
was just around the corner, wasthe finished line, right, And I
think of like the brink. You'reat the brink of the blessing and the
enemy just wants to kick you outof the race. So get mad at

(17:34):
the enemy. The enemy is atwork, right John ten ten It says
the thief comes only to steal,kill and destroy. I have come that
they may have life and have itto the full. So just recognize that
the enemy is feeding these wives andhe wants you to knock you out of
this race of life. And Godhas again plans to spree, right.

(18:00):
He wants you to have life toits fullest. So get your eyes back
on the Lord right, seek hisword community as get yours, get into
a group, a Bible study church. But just know who's at work trying
to kick us off the race.And you're at You're at the edge.

(18:22):
You're at the brink of the blessing. So don't give up. Don't give
up. You know there will willbe mountains that standing your way to try
to keep you from getting to whereyou're going. But mountains are just in
the pathway to your destination and destiny, and the Bible says that we are
to speak to the mountains and said, if you will say to this mountain,

(18:42):
be thou removed and cast into thesea, and believe in your heart
it will be done. So ifyou've got some mountains standing in your way,
to speak to them in the nameof Jesus and tell them to be
removed and casts into the sea.Yeah. Also, as Gail, as
you mentioned a little bit earlier aboutremembering what God has already said, maybe

(19:04):
through somebody's spoken words or his word. A lot of times I think the
enemy, I think of the stoneof the sea that just plucks out of
what God has already spoken to us, the plans that He has for us
maybe, or that God put dreamsin us that we lose sight of that.

(19:26):
And I think that's where journaling isreal good. And to go back
into reading what God has already spoketo you, to remember because just like
the Israelites, we right, theyforgot and remember, just remember what God
has already done, what his wordsays in his promises to us. It's

(19:47):
good to remember the victories you've hadin the past, even when they crossed
the Jordan River, Joshua told themin the middle of the river to put
up twelve stones to have a monumentto the goodness of God, to how
he got him through, so thatgenerations will say, what are those stones
are about? Then they could tellthem the stories about how God delivered them

(20:11):
through and out of situations. Becauseyou know, many times God says when
you walk through the water, Iwill be with you. He didn't say
he'd take you out, but hesaid he'd be with you. I'll love
and Joshua right, it talks aboutI'll be with you and I'll never leave
you nor forsake you. I thinkthat's in Joshua one. Well, he

(20:33):
also says in Joshua one eight tobe strong and courageous. Then he goes
on and says, be strong andvery courageous. If somebody gave me a
word like that, I would likeit because what that means is I've got
challenges ahead, but God is lettingme know that with him I can do
all things. I can make itthrough. You want to lift up a

(20:57):
prayer for those that are feeling likequitting and throwing in the towel. Yeah,
I've been there, so yeah,I just want to encourage you that
again the truth that you just heard, that God is, He's for you,
he's not against you, and thatnot to give up. So Lord,
we just ask Father God, thatyou just come afresh and a knew

(21:19):
upon on the people that are listening, Lord God, that they would just
feel your presence right now, maythey be driving, or at work or
wherever they are, Lord God,that they would feel your love, that
you have amazing plans for them,Lord, and that they would We just
come against the enemy and all ofit's lies. We say no, no

(21:40):
and fears. We say no tofear, Goodbye to fear, Lord,
goodbye to doubts, and we say, Lord, that's your perfect love.
Cast out awe fear. So Lord, yeah, just your love just pour
upon them right now, Lord God, just protect their minds, renew their
minds, renew their thinking, Lord, to alignment with your truth and who

(22:03):
you say that they are in ChristJesus. So peace, peace come upon
them, a peace that transcends allunderstanding. Guard their hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Lord, I evenpray for those that came to my mind,
Lord, that there are those thatare suffering financially right now. I

(22:29):
pray that you would be Jehovah gyrato them, that you would be their
provider, and that you would takecare of the financial need that they're facing.
Even those that are facing in needof a new job or they're out
of work. Lord, I prayfor you would provide work, and I
pray that you would provide the jobthey need. In Jesus's name. Amen,

(22:51):
thank you for joining us for HealingBegins. May the Lord bless you
and keep you. May you knowyou're never alone. May you know that
you're wanted, accepted, loved,cared for, and that you're God's precious
treasure. We look forward to hearingfrom you. May God bless you,

(23:15):
May He keep you. May Hecause his face to shine upon you and
give you peace, and may youknow He is always with you. Healing

(24:03):
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(24:26):
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(24:51):
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