August 5, 2026 • 57 mins
The Porch explores the theme of spiritual wandering, drawing parallels between the biblical imagery of sheep and believers who stray from their faith. It illustrates how believers are prone to wander, often enticed by worldly desires like the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
The faithful can fall but are always welcomed back by God's grace. The Good Shepherd seeks out and restores those who are lost, underscoring His unconditional love and commitment to His people.
Firefall Talk Radio episodes are archived, allowing you to download them for future listening or to share with others.
Feel free to share them with others as the Lord leads. Help us spread The Word. If our teachings are a blessing to you, let us know by using the contact button on our website.
If you would like to support what we do, there are ways to do so on the main page for Firefall Talk Radio. We appreciate your support and encouragement.
Follow us on YouTube at The Firefall Network.
Links for all social media and streaming platforms can be found on the main page at firefalltalkradio.com.
The faithful can fall but are always welcomed back by God's grace. The Good Shepherd seeks out and restores those who are lost, underscoring His unconditional love and commitment to His people.
Firefall Talk Radio episodes are archived, allowing you to download them for future listening or to share with others.
Feel free to share them with others as the Lord leads. Help us spread The Word. If our teachings are a blessing to you, let us know by using the contact button on our website.
If you would like to support what we do, there are ways to do so on the main page for Firefall Talk Radio. We appreciate your support and encouragement.
Follow us on YouTube at The Firefall Network.
Links for all social media and streaming platforms can be found on the main page at firefalltalkradio.com.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hello, Welcome to the Porch on Firefall Talk Radio. I'm
Richard Grund. This is when we get back to basics,
the uncompromised red letter basics of the Word of God.
By focusing on the Book of Acts Church, the purest,
most effective form of the Church, we see how they
(00:43):
serve the Lord, so that we can do the same
thing and find the Church that the Lord intended and
not the man made one. The Porch is a non denominational,
full gospel approach to the Bible. It's based on the
examples from the Book of Act Church, aiming to restore
the priesthood of the believer and regain the world shaking
(01:06):
influence that the early Church had. The Church age isn't over.
The Upper Room experience is as much for today as
it was on the day of Pentecost. It's yours if
you want it. We offer you the Word as the
Apostles would have to the Jewish and gentile believers of
their day, using both Yeshiah and Jesus when speaking of
(01:30):
the Lord. We prefer to use the term Messiah rather
than Christ, as it more accurately reflects how he was
referred to by those who knew him. Additionally, we will
provide definitions in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic when it's necessary.
Getting back to basics isn't just a motto, it's a
(01:50):
mandate from the Lord that we fulfill. Links to all
of our social media and streaming sites are on the
main page at Firefall talk radio dot com. Subscribe to
us wherever you listen so that you know when new
content is posted. To support us, go to the bottom
of that main page at Firefall talk radio dot com
(02:13):
and there will be a number of different ways to
support us, including a po box if you need to
mail your blessing. Not everybody does the digital thing. We
thank you for your support, for those of you that have,
and those of you that are, and those of you
that are considering to do so. Please do not hesitate
(02:36):
to contact us if you need additional information. Just know
we appreciate the prayers, the support, the encouragement that you
are a part of this and getting fedt each week,
and that we are all in this together. Contact us
if you need prayer, Remember we care about you and
want to pray for you. Starting out with praise I
(02:59):
praise Him from my home for my wife, my family,
which all came from my salvation, first and foremost, for
my sons, daughter in laws, grandchildren, furry kids. Everything we
have is from the Lord, is a gift from above.
I praise Him for his provision and protection over each
(03:20):
and every one of us, for the dreams and the
visions that he is pouring out upon us. I praise
him for divine health and healing for me and you,
and each and every one of us we walk in
that we believe in it. I praise him each and
every day for his abiding favor, divine abiding favor. Let's
(03:42):
be blessed and favored of the Lord. I praise him
for the continuing revelation of the Holy Spirit to walk
with us, to teach us, to guide us, and for
making me and you a new creation and allowing us
to live in these prophetic times. People that would have
liked to be here, that have gone on, we are
(04:05):
here with seeing we are a part of it. Let's
pray Psalm one twenty two, verses six through eight, say
pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who
love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces.
For the sake of my brethren and companions. I will
(04:26):
now say, peace be within you. So I pray for Israel,
pray for their leadership. I pray for their protection from
their enemies, as well as I pray for America's leadership,
and for us to be protected from our enemies, and
for this nation to turn back to the Lord fully
in heart and mind. I pray for the fatherless and
(04:48):
the widows, the innocents, and the martyr, those that are
victims of injustice. Never forget them, always remember them. I
pray for divine wholeness, hell, health and healing. And me
and my wife and my family, each and every one
of you. Let's get back to our divine design as
He designed us. Let's live, Let's walk and be healed.
(05:12):
If you're sick, are you're struggling, or something going on.
In the name of Yr Shuahamashiah, in the name of
Jesus the Messiah, through the power of the Holy Spirit,
I speak to you and whatever it is you're dealing with,
and I say, be healed, be made whole, be complete.
(05:32):
I pray for protection. That's omninety one covering we've talked
about and gone into deep deeper understanding of that He
is the shelter that we run to. Pray for inspiration
from the Holy Spirit. Let that fire burn within us.
(05:52):
Pray for the remnant to wake up. I know you're awake.
If you're here, you're the part of the Remnant. But
there are others that don't know it yet. So I
pray for them to wake up, to arise, to answer
the called action, those that have been blessed to be
a blessing so that we can go and do what
the Lord wants us to go and do. Pray against
(06:16):
the schemes of the fallen, against the kingdom of darkness,
confront the enemy with confidence and purpose and the power
in the name of the Lord. Because the day of
the Lord is at hand. I pray that Psalm ninety
one protection as I mentioned before, to cover each and
every one of us, to blanket us the homes or
lands or families, our pets are possessions. We're living in
(06:40):
very supernaturally dangerous times. I pray for and I bless
you with edification, encouragement, inspiration, rising up for the Kingdom
of God, destroying the works of the enemy, and the
provision that would allow us to do all of those things.
(07:00):
So Abbah, as your children, your sons and daughters, We
boldly approach the throne of grace and mercy. Thank you
for loving us, Thank you for healing us. Thank you
for restoring us to right relationship with you. Thank you
for your shure. You only begotten son. You sent him
to die for us, to pay for our sins, to
(07:22):
clear our debts, so that we could come home. Lord.
Thank you for choosing to answer that call. Thank you
for loving us so much, and for all that you
did and all what you're doing. We look forward to
seeing you again. We look forward to your coming. So,
(07:46):
Holy Spirit, help us help us to be ready, Help
us to stay with this word. Let this word go
forth and do what you desire it to do. Bless
the technology, Bless this time, and I pray all these
things in your Shoe's name. Amen.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
These lessons are proprietary information, except where not of the
information comes from outside sources. Combination of that information. The
manner presented is exclusive, cannot be repeated or used without permission.
The date of this broadcast serves as the registered date
of the following information.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
All right, let's get ready here. I wasn't sure, Actually,
I thought I was going to speak on something else tonight.
And I sat down yesterday to work on it, and
nothing would come. Every time I tried to do it,
I felt nothing. I thought nothing, couldn't couldn't break through.
And I figured, Okay, I'm gonna have to get up
on Wednesday and do this. And then a thought came
(09:05):
to me, A phrase came to me, prone to wander.
And the Lord spoke to me yesterday and gave me
a little, a quick, little five or six line message.
And I'm thinking, Lord, I can't get a whole Bible
study out of that. And it was almost like he said, really,
let me show you. And then I sat down with
(09:27):
him this morning and it all came out. That phrase
comes from a hymn written in seventeen fifty seven by
a man named Robert Robinson called Come Thou Fount of
every Blessing. The last stanza of that him says, prone
(09:48):
to wander, Lord, I feel it prone to leave the
God I love. Take my heart, Oh take and seal it,
seal it for thy It's above. He wrote that hymn
many years later. He's on a stagecoach. He's writing with
(10:10):
a woman, and as he's writing, he starts to think
of the hymn because she's humming it, and I know
why she was humming it. The Lord was using her.
And so she asked him what he thought of that him,
and he said, Madam, I am the poor and happy
(10:33):
man who wrote that him many years ago, and I
would give a thousand words if I had them to
enjoy the feelings that I had. Then well, he died
in seventeen ninety and we have no record that he
ever found those feelings again. He did wander. We all do.
(10:55):
We all have, But I'm not sure who this Bible
studies for could be for you. Maybe you stumbled upon us,
or maybe you've been listening hoping to regain the fire
and the feeling that you once at. Maybe you have
a loved one that you need to send this to.
(11:16):
If so, the Lord will show you and tell you.
Maybe you just need to be reminded of the dangers
that can happen when you wander. Matthew six, starting verse nineteen, says,
do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,
(11:40):
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust destroys where thieves do not break in
and steal. For where your treasure is there, your heart
will be also, So I ask you, is he is
(12:04):
the Lord? Your treasure? Is he in your heart? What's
in your heart that could lead you astray? Right now?
What if you set your heart on that it's not
his will and that the enemy can use to draw
(12:24):
you off the path? You know last week? And this
perfectly follows up with what we talked about last week,
the twenty third Psalm, and the Lord's good Like that,
the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He
makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me
(12:45):
beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me
in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. YEA,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil for you you are with me.
Your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare
(13:05):
a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely,
Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
my life, and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. A very familiar beloved Psalm right in
the middle of Psalm twenty two and twenty four, And
(13:29):
each one of those represent his person, who he is
and the things he'll do. In Psalm twenty two, the
good shepherd dying for the sheep, Psalm twenty three, the
Great Shepherd caring for his sheep, and Psalm twenty four
the Chief Shepherd coming for his sheep. And so what
(13:51):
we know is that Messiah died for us, he lives
for us, and he will come for us. Oh what
a great day that will be. I think of it often.
I know that there are things to be done, But
how could you not think about it? How could you
(14:12):
not think about the King coming back to get us
and taking us to the marriage supper of the lamb?
Ezekiel thirty four, starting verse twelve, says, as a shepherd
seeks out his flock on the day he is among
the scattered sheep, So will I seek out my sheep
and deliver them from all the places where they were
(14:34):
scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And we know
he's referring to Israel, and he did reclaim them and
put them back on their land. I will bring them
out from the peoples and gather them from the countries
and will bring them to their own land. I will
feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys,
and in all the inhabited places of the country. But
the church will experience that as well. We will meet
(14:57):
him in the air and go home with him. But
when he comes back and we come back with him,
it'll be to Jerusalem, it'll be to Israel. And then
he'll send us wherever he's going to send us. John
ten eleven. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
gives his life for the sheep. Verse fourteen. I am
(15:19):
the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am
known by my own He knows you. Do you know him?
If he called your name, would you know it was
his voice? Do you listen for his voice? Look? Fifteen
verse four. This is a parable that he's saying, what
(15:42):
man of you? Having one hundred sheep, if he loses
one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in
the wilderness and go after the one which is lost
until he finds it. And when he has found that,
he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. That's the visual.
I'm gonna stop there him holding the sheep. It's wrapped
around his neck. He's holding both front legs with his
(16:06):
one hand and back legs with his other, and he's
just smiling and he's beaming because he's bringing the sheep home.
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends
and neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I
found my sheep, which was lost. I say to you
that likewise there'll be more joy in heaven over one
(16:29):
sinner who repents than over ninety nine just persons who
need no repentance. And I believe the day that I
got saved, when I knelt at that altar and stood up,
born again, freed from the darkness, restored to my family,
I believe that there was joy in heaven. I believe
(16:49):
he told those that knew me before what had happened,
so they could rejoice with him some thirty one verse three.
For you are my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for
your name's sake, lead me and guide me. Some of
(17:09):
you may need to take that palm, write it down somewhere,
put it, Put it somewhere that every day you declare
to him, you are my rock and my fortress. Therefore
for your namesake, Lead me and guide me. Some of
us are not real good about being left to our
own devices. Why does sheep wander? Why do they do that.
(17:35):
They've got a perfect pen, they've got a shepherd that
loves them, they've got food, they've got an area outside
where they can go to. Why do they wander? Because
that's what they do. They're always looking for more than
what the shepherd is giving them. They're enticed by what
(17:56):
they see, and they just keep keep walking. That's a
dangerous thing to do. We should never ever love what's
out there more than what we have with him. First John,
chapter two, verse sixteen. Do not love the world or
(18:17):
the things in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him or her.
For all that is in the world, the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of light, is not of the Father, but is of
the world. And the world is passing away in the
lust of it. But he who does the will of
(18:38):
God abides forever. Believers Bible commentary says, we are plainly
warned not to love the world or the things that
are in the world, for the simple reason that love
for the world is not compatible with the love for
the Father. All that the world has to offer may
(18:58):
be described as the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life. The lust
of the flesh refers to sensual bodily appetites as proceed
from within our evil nature. The lust of the eyes
applies to such evil desires as may arise from what
(19:19):
we see. The pride of life is the unholy ambition
for self display and self glory. These three elements of
worldliness are illustrated in the sin of Eve. The tree
was good for food, and that is the lust of
the flesh. The tree was pleasant to the eyes, that
(19:42):
is the lust of the eyes. And it was a
tree to be desired to make one wise, and that
describes the pride of life. And as the devil Hasatan
apposed Messiah in the wilderness, and the flesh, they're both
(20:02):
hostile to the Holy Spirit. So the world is antagonistic
to the Father. Appetite, avarice, and ambition are not of
the Father, but of the world. These things do not
proceed from the Father, but find their source in the world.
Worldliness is the love for passing things, and the human
(20:24):
heart can never find satisfaction with things. So the craving
of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the
boasting of what he has and what he does, Oh,
that is so common in the church. I can spend
the rest of this Bible study naming names, but you
(20:45):
know who they are. God will deal with them. And
flesh refers to the selfish outlook that pursues its own
ends that are independent of God and pendant of one's
fellow man. The flesh not only becomes the basis for
(21:08):
rebellion against God for despising his law, but also indicates
that all that is materialistic, egocentric, exploitative, and selfish. Let
me say that again, anything to do with the flesh
is materialistic, egocentric, exploitative, and selfish. It is at the
(21:34):
root of all things racism, sexism, injustice, despising the poor,
neglecting the weak and the helpless, and every unrighteous practice.
We can't give into it. And I'm sure from both
my personal experience and ministering the people for thirty eight years,
(22:01):
we find ourselves serving two masters. We say we serve God,
but we don't who's serving ourselves and the world, which
means we're serving the devil. Look sixteen thirteen. No servant
is able to serve two masters, for either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will
(22:22):
stand by and be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Mammon is
a spirit and represents riches or anything in which you
trust on or which you rely. Now the Pharisees were,
who were covetous and lovers of money, heard all these
(22:43):
things taken together, and they began to sneer at and
ridicule and scoff at him. But he said to them,
you are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright
before men. But God knows your heart for what is
exis alted and highly thought of among men that is
(23:03):
detestable and abhorrent and abomination in the sight of God. Humility,
understanding who we are in the grand scheme of things.
That's why I don't like titles. I understand that when
people call me reverend, or some even call me a rabbi,
(23:24):
I get it. They're offering respect for the maturity, the age,
the teaching, all that I've done. But my attitude about
that is I'm just Richard. There's only one title that
means anything, and its Lord, and I'm not him, So
we can't fall into this trap. These things are what
(23:48):
make us wander These things are what entice us to
walk away. One Timothy, Chapter six, Verse ten. This is
the amplified version for the love of money, that is,
the greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain
it unethically, of all sorts of evil, And some, by
(24:11):
longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and
pierced themselves through and through with many sorrows. That's worth
reading again. For the love of money, that is, the
greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain it unethically,
is a root of all sorts of evil, and some,
(24:34):
by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves through and through with many sorrows. I
don't believe anybody who's wandered away is really happy. So,
just as surely as everything in nature reproduces after its
(24:56):
own kind harvest, being as sure as the sewings, so
every man will reap what he sews and be responsible
for his own destiny. The lust of the eyes could
be sexual or could mean anything that entices the eye,
(25:21):
and it creates a tendency to put on the outwards show.
And from there we get the greed and the desire
for things being aroused within us to be seen with
those things I mean we mentioned even Genesis three, Aiken
and Joshua seven is stealing the accursed things they were
(25:44):
told to leave alone and then trying to hide them
from God, costing him his life and all of his
family too. And David and second Samuel eleven and Bathsheba.
So the key term in that third phrase, the pride,
It means boasting. That's what it means, posting. Hey, look
(26:06):
what I have, Look what I've done, Look who I've
been with, Look where I've gone. Social media has turned
everyone into boasters. We're all influencers, even the spiritual ones.
Everybody has a word, everybody has prophecy, everybody has all
(26:32):
the things the Church warned us about. Same things that
destroyed the early Church are destroying us now. James, Chapter four,
starting verse thirteen, Come now, you who say today or
tomorrow we will go to such and such a City's
spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit.
(26:54):
Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For
what is your life? Is it even a vapor that
appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead,
you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall
live and do this or that. But now you boast
in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to
(27:21):
him who knows to do good and does not do it,
to him it is sin. So we sin when we
fall for this trap, when we fall for the schemes
of the devil, when we fall for the seduction and
the enticement. We don't know the least thing that may
(27:44):
happen to us in our life tomorrow. We're here and
then we're gone. We have to trust in the Lord,
and we can't boast about anything that hasn't happened yet,
and that He hasn't allowed to boast in anything less
boast in him. Let's not have pretension and arrogance, because
(28:08):
all of that is evil in the sight of the Lord.
So many pretentious hypocrites who glorify themselves or glory in themselves,
in their possessions, one's public image meaning more to them
than the glory of God or the well being of
our fellow brothers and sisters. Such pretentiousness of life, it
(28:32):
becomes a form of idol worship. What do we idolize celebrities, athletes,
public figures, ourselves? We can't do that. All of these
things I'm talking about right now inspire us to wander
(28:56):
away from the faith, to wander away from from Him.
You should get to the point where any of these
things that I'm mentioning that would happen would offend you,
annoy you, because they keep you from Him, They keep
you from feeling his presence, They keep you from hearing
(29:17):
his voice and that pride of life. It can be
whatever status symbol that's important and defines their identity. A vehicle,
a home, a clothing, jewelry, a look, hey, look at me.
(29:38):
If the Lord wants to give me something that fits
that category, fine, but I'm not going to go get it.
I'm not going to do it. And again, I could
name preachers with mega mansions and multiple cars and the
jets and the clothing and the money. While people in
the congregation are losing their home, maybe they get caught
(30:03):
up in their degrees honorary or otherwise, or the reputation
of the size of their church, or their annual income,
or the size of their library. Look at my library,
Look at all the books I've got. If that's what
you're glory in, then you boast them. You're taking pride
in your life. You should have had none of those things.
(30:26):
And look what he did. Go with me to Psalm
one nineteen. We're not going to read all of it
because it's one hundred and seventy six verses and the
longest psalm in the Bible. It's unattributed, but it's believed
to be King David, and we hear his words, we
can see him. It's not gonna be jumping around here.
(30:50):
Versus one through three, eighty eight, ninety through ninety one,
one oh five, one fourteen. Hike now I'm sorry, one
thirty two, one thirty five, one one seventy six. I
took sections of it to hear what David's saying. The
whole thing's important. If you want to read it. It's
a good one to read a lot of stuff there.
(31:14):
Blessed are the underfiled in the way who walk in
the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep
his testimonies, who seek him with the whole heart. They
also do no iniquity. They walk in his ways. Revive
me according to your loving kindness, so that I may
(31:35):
keep the testimony of your mouth forever. Of a Lord.
Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to
all generations. You establish the earth, and it abides. They
continue this day according to your ordinances for all your servants.
(31:57):
Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light
to my pa You are my hiding place on my shield.
I hope in your word. Look upon me, and be
merciful to me, as your customer is towards those who
love your name. Direct my steps to your word, and
let no iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from
(32:20):
the oppression of men, that I may keep your precepts.
Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me
your statutes. Let my soul live, and I shall praise you,
and let your judgments help me. And then finally the
final verse of that psalm, I have gone astray like
(32:43):
a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not
forget your commandments. You know, just because somebody has wandered
away doesn't mean they've forgotten the word. They're just ignoring it.
Something has caused them to set it aside. But his
(33:04):
word is settled in heaven. It is standing firm, it's unchangeable,
and his faithfulness to you and to me and to
all that love him continues from generation to generation. David
knew what it was like to wander. And when you
(33:24):
read the whole Psalm, not just these verses I've mentioned
to you, you see it's got to be King David
who wrote this. He understands. We see that very clearly
in Second Samuel, chapter eleven. And I won't read the
whole story to you. You kind of know what it's about. Bethsheba,
(33:48):
Second Samuel, eleven, Verse one. It happened in the spring,
at the time when the kings go out to battle,
that David sent joe Ab and his servants with him
and all the fighting men of Israel, and they destroyed
the Ammonites and besieged Rabah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
(34:09):
That's really odd, because it's when the kings go out
to battle. But this would be a mistake that would
cost David first two one evening, David got up from
his couch and was walking on the flat roof of
the King's palace and from there he saw a woman bathing.
She was very beautiful in appearance. David sent word and
(34:32):
acquired about the woman. Someone said, is this not Beptsheba,
the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
David sent messengers and took her. And when she came
to him, he lay with her, which means he slept
with her, at sect with her. And when she was
purified from her uncleanness, he returned her to her house.
(34:56):
The woman conceived, and she sent word and told Dave,
I'm pregnant. So many things there are the lust of
the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life.
He saw her bathing naked. I've always wondered that you
do that on purpose, knowing that the king could see her.
(35:16):
No evidence of that, but that's the thought that come
to mind. And he desired, desired her and had to
have her, and he took her. So what does he do?
Does he confess? Does he repent?
Speaker 2 (35:29):
No?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
He deceitfully tries to send Uriah to the front lines
to die to hide his sin. First, he tries to
get him drunk to sleep with bet Chiba. And Uriah
does get drunk, but he doesn't go home, he sleeps
with the servants. Verse fourteen. Will pick up the story.
(35:52):
In the morning, David wrote a letter to joe Ab
and sent it with Uriah. He wrote in the letter,
put Uriah in the front line of the heaviest fighting,
and leave him so that he may be struck down
and die. He made Uriah Carrie the letter of his demise,
all because David couldn't control himself. So it happened that
(36:17):
as Joeab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to
the place where he knew the enemy's valiant men were positioned,
and the men of the city came out, fought against Joab,
and some of the people. Among the servants of David fell. Euriah,
the Hittite also died. Picking it up in verse twenty six.
(36:41):
When Uriah's wife Betsiba heard that her husband Uriah was dead,
she mourned for her husband, and when the time of
morning was pasted, David sent word and had her brought
to his house. She became his wife and bore him
a son. But the thing that David had done with
batsheba evil in the sight of the Lord. I'll be
(37:04):
sure your sin will find you out. God already knew,
So what does he do? He sends the prophet Nathan
to confront David with his sin. Does it through it
about a man, a shepherd having a farm full of sheep,
(37:24):
but desires his neighbor's sheep, and that man only has
one and steals it. And David gets offended. Who is
this man? I'll draw him before me, I'll put him
in prison, all that kind of stuff. And then Nathan
does something could have cost him his life. But he's
a prophet of the Lord, a good one. Verse seven,
(37:46):
and Nathan said to David, you are the man. Thus
says the Lord, the God of Israel. I anointed you
as king over Israel. I spared you from the hand
of Saul. I also gave you your master's house, and put
your master's wives into your care and under your protection.
(38:07):
I gave you the house the royal dynasty of Israel
and of Judah. And if that had been too little,
I would have given you much more. Why have you
despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in
his sight? You have struck down your Eyah, the Hittite,
with the sword, and have taken his wife to be
your wife. You have killed them with the sword of
(38:29):
the Ammonites. Now, therefore the sword shall never depart from
your house, because you have despised me and have taken
the wife of your Eiah the Hittite, to be your wife.
And thus says the Lord, Behold, I will stir up
evil against you from your own household. And I will
(38:53):
take your wives before your eyes and give them to
your companion, and he will lie with your wives in
broad daylight. Indeed, you did it secretly, but I will
do this thing before Israel and in broad daylight. And
he did it with his own son, Absolom. David was humiliated.
(39:15):
He had a run. Absolom slept with his father's wives
and sat on the throne. And the sword never departed
from David's life. All because of the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
And what happened. The child that she bore got sick
(39:40):
and died. Now, you could say, but out of this
came Solomon, that God can use what was meant for
bad and use it for good. And that would be true.
But we do not escape the seeds we plant. We
get a crop, one that we created, some one twenty six,
(40:04):
verses five and six. Those who sow in tears shall
reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing
seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing
his sheaves with him. Simply means you're going to plant
a crop and you're going to reap it, which is
(40:27):
right out of Galatians sixth verses seven and eight. Do
not be deceived. God is not mocked. He will not
allow himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt, nor
allow his precepts to be scornfully set aside. For whatever
a man sows, this and only this, he will reap.
(40:49):
For the one who sows to his flesh, his sinful capacity,
his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses, will reap from the flesh
ruin and struction. But the one who sows to the
spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. What seeds
(41:11):
are we planning? When you wander off, you scatter seeds
all along the way that you're walking. And for the
most part, I don't think anybody does it deliberately. If
they do, then they're in full, flat out rebellion, and
more than likely have made themselves reprobate, unredeemable. Sometimes a
(41:33):
tragedy happens, something emotional, something has caused us to say,
I can't do this anymore. I don't want to wait
here for God. I don't want his provision. I want
what's over there. The grass is always greener, but then
it never is. This is important, not just for the
(41:58):
wandering person, not for the person. This is important for
all of us. It just hate me when I said
that out aloud. We're living in a fallen world with
the schemes of the enemy always looking to seduce us,
to get us to a place where we're not safe,
and we can be attacked. We can be killed, we
(42:21):
can be destroyed, or we could destroy ourselves. Two Timothy four,
starting verse one, Paul says to Timothy, I charge you
in the presence of God and of Messiah Yeshua, who
is the judge of living in the dead, and by
(42:42):
his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word as an
official messenger. Be ready when the time is right, even
when it's not. Keep your sense of urgency when the
opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable, whether convenient or inconvenient, whether
welcome or unwelcome, correct those who are in doctrine or behavior,
(43:03):
warn those whose sin, exhort and encourage those who are
growing towards spiritual maturity with inexhaustible patience and faithful teaching.
For the time will come when people will not tolerate
sound doctrine and accurate instruction that challenges them with God's truth,
(43:27):
but wanting to have their ears tickled with something pleasing,
they will accumulate for themselves. Many teachers, one after another,
chosen to satisfy their own desires and to support the
errors they hold, and will turn their ears away from
the truth, and will wander off into myths and man
(43:51):
made fictions, and will accept the unacceptable. We don't get
pulled off the path, we wander off. Wandering off simply
means no fixed course, no aim, no goal, or relaxed
(44:14):
aimless manner. Maybe it's lack of concentration. Well, maybe it's
just Wolf. I don't want to be there anymore. I
don't want to do this anymore. This is too tough.
I can't do this, so I'm going to do something else.
Oh yes, I know, I know I shouldn't do it,
(44:36):
but it feels good. He'll forgive me, grace is not
an excuse to sin, because to go astray, to go
off course, just roaming about unawares makes you ignorant of
the danger that you are in. It's exactly why the
(44:57):
enemy does it. So, like I said, I don't know
who this is, for the Lord does, and that's all
that matters. But there's another story he wants me to
bring up about someone who wandered away. Luke fifteen, verse eleven.
(45:22):
He said a certain man had two sons, and the
younger of them said to his father, father, give me
the portion of goods that falls to me. So he
divided them his livelihood, not just for the brother. The
young brother did to the older brother too, And not
many days after, the younger son gathered all together in
(45:45):
journey to a far country, and there he wasted his
possessions with prodigal living. And when he had spent all
there arose a severe famine in that land began to
be in want. And then he went and joined himself
to his citizen of that country, and he sent him
(46:07):
into the fields to feed the swine. Think about this.
He went from being in the household of his wealthy father,
and now he's working for someone else feeding them the
swine verse sixteen. And he would have gladly filled his
stomach with the carib pods that the swine ate, and
(46:29):
no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself,
he said, how many of my father's hired servants have
bred enough and to spare, and I will perish with hunger.
I will arise and go to my father, and I
will say to him, father, I've sinned against heaven him
before you, and I'm no longer worthy to be called
(46:51):
your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.
And he arose and came to his father. But when
he was still a great layoff, his father saw him
and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck
(47:11):
and kissed him and said to him. And the son
said to him, father, I have sinned against Heaven, and
in your sight, I am no longer worthy to be
called your son. And the father said to his servants,
bring out the best robe and put it on him,
and put a ring on his hands, and sandals on
(47:32):
his feet, and bring the fatted calf here and kill it,
and let us eat and be merry. For this my
son was dead, and he is alive again he was
lost and is found and they began to be married.
(47:52):
And I'll stop it there. We won't go on to
the fact that the older brother was a little bit
put out by it. But this is about the one
who wandered off. This is about the one who thought
he knew better. This is about the one that came
to himself and realized I made a mistake, and he
(48:13):
went home a prodigal one who is recklessly extravagant, bends
money wastefully. That's what he did. This particular son was
weary in his father's house. I could do better out there.
(48:37):
I don't want to be here. I don't want to
live under his rules. And he left because he couldn't
wait for the father to die and get his portion
and inheritance naturally, so he wanted it ahead of time.
And look what happened. That's what happens when we wander,
(49:00):
but it's also what happens when we come home. His
father saw him, had compassion and fell on his neck
and kissed him because he was so glad to see
him that he was home. And it's probably the only
time in the Bible where a haste is used of
(49:21):
God in a good sense, Brendan Manning said, Jesus, picture
God not wanting for this shamed child the slink home,
but standing on his dignity when he came, but running
out to gather him, gather the son who was shamed
(49:45):
and ragged and as muddy as he was, into his
welcoming arms. Doesn't matter where you've gone, doesn't matter what
you've done. If you decide I made a mistake, I'm
coming home, he will accept you. The image here of
the unconditional love and grace of God as a father
(50:08):
figure who eagerly embraces us even when we feel ashamed.
That's the compassionate nature of your heavenly father. That's why
we call him Abbah. And this goes against the traditional, distant,
(50:28):
judgmental view that some people promote. What I was raised
to believe God was this omnipotent, all powerful thing on
a throne, ready to strike me down. When that was
the furthest thing from the truth. What I needed to
know about was a father, one that loved me, one
(50:57):
that would accept me. But I found it out. Found
it out personally. We need to understand that no matter
our past or our current state, we're always welcomed by God,
and especially those who struggle with feelings of rejection and
(51:21):
shame or inadequacy. The Lord offers hope in this story
and a reassurance of divine acceptance. God's love, the thing
which has been the basis of my ministry, my teaching.
(51:43):
All people say, oh, it's spiritual warfare. No, I do
what I do out of love. Even that his love.
It's not anger, it's not violence, it's not aggression. It's love.
It's him saying, I have a son or a daughter
over here. They're in bonders. Look what the enemy is
doing to them. Okay, we'll go, we'll take care of it.
(52:07):
God's love so awesome. Oh yeah, he's a just god.
He's majestic, he's holy. But he's also a god that
keeps his covenant of personal commitment and love to his children.
(52:29):
So if you've wandered, I want to remind you of that.
If you know someone who's wandered, I want to remind
them of that. Come home. What do you think if
a man has a hundred sheep and one of them
goes astray, does he not leave the ninety nine and
(52:50):
go to the mountains to seek the one that is strayed,
and if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you,
he rejoices more over that sheep, then over the ninety
nine that did not stray. Even so, it's not the
will of your father who is in heaven, that one
of these little ones should perish Matthew eighteen twelve through fourteen.
(53:14):
It's not his will that anyone should perish. Because the
sheep know him, and they know his voice. They will
listen to his voice, they will pay attention to his call.
I see so many stories, whether it's sheep. I saw
a video of a man who had a lot of horses,
(53:37):
and he stood at the gate up at the top
of the hill, and he whistled, and all these horses
came thundering back because they knew the sound of his whistle.
They knew where food was, they knew where safety was,
(53:58):
because that's where he was wandering. Off is a slow
trek from light into the shadows that soon become darkness,
and we don't realize it until it's too late and
we're lost. You ever been in a forest going for
(54:21):
a walk, or maybe you're not paying attention, and you
just keep going and you follow the path and the
next thing, you know, you don't remember how to get back,
and getting lost is a surety. And it's the intention
of the enemy the whole time. And that's why they
entice the sheep to wander, to attack them, to destroy them.
(54:46):
Cry out to the great Shepherd, and he will hear you.
And when he does, he will call to you. Run
to his call. Lord, Even right now we run to
your call. Even when we hear the sound of the
(55:09):
show far and you snatch us away, We not only
do it willingly, we kind of lean into it because
we want to come to you. Let it be so, Lord,
And to everyone out there, whether known or unknown, that
have wandered off. They've lost the faith, they've been hurt,
(55:34):
they've had something happen in their life, they've given up trying.
We pray they'd come home, that they would no longer wander,
that they'd want to be back in their father's house,
cleaned up, redeemed, restored. Father. We love you, and we
(56:08):
thank you for letting us come home. And I pray
all this in your Shoe's name. Amen. May the Lord
bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his
face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you
(56:29):
may the Lord. I don't I your sure Hmosiah Jesus
the Messiah, lift up his countenance upon you and give
you peace. Give you shallow. I'm Richard Grund. This has
been the porch on Firefall Talk Radio Talk Fee
Hello, Welcome to the Porch on Firefall Talk Radio. I'm
Richard Grund. This is when we get back to basics,
the uncompromised red letter basics of the Word of God.
By focusing on the Book of Acts Church, the purest,
most effective form of the Church, we see how they
(00:43):
serve the Lord, so that we can do the same
thing and find the Church that the Lord intended and
not the man made one. The Porch is a non denominational,
full gospel approach to the Bible. It's based on the
examples from the Book of Act Church, aiming to restore
the priesthood of the believer and regain the world shaking
(01:06):
influence that the early Church had. The Church age isn't over.
The Upper Room experience is as much for today as
it was on the day of Pentecost. It's yours if
you want it. We offer you the Word as the
Apostles would have to the Jewish and gentile believers of
their day, using both Yeshiah and Jesus when speaking of
(01:30):
the Lord. We prefer to use the term Messiah rather
than Christ, as it more accurately reflects how he was
referred to by those who knew him. Additionally, we will
provide definitions in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic when it's necessary.
Getting back to basics isn't just a motto, it's a
(01:50):
mandate from the Lord that we fulfill. Links to all
of our social media and streaming sites are on the
main page at Firefall talk radio dot com. Subscribe to
us wherever you listen so that you know when new
content is posted. To support us, go to the bottom
of that main page at Firefall talk radio dot com
(02:13):
and there will be a number of different ways to
support us, including a po box if you need to
mail your blessing. Not everybody does the digital thing. We
thank you for your support, for those of you that have,
and those of you that are, and those of you
that are considering to do so. Please do not hesitate
(02:36):
to contact us if you need additional information. Just know
we appreciate the prayers, the support, the encouragement that you
are a part of this and getting fedt each week,
and that we are all in this together. Contact us
if you need prayer, Remember we care about you and
want to pray for you. Starting out with praise I
(02:59):
praise Him from my home for my wife, my family,
which all came from my salvation, first and foremost, for
my sons, daughter in laws, grandchildren, furry kids. Everything we
have is from the Lord, is a gift from above.
I praise Him for his provision and protection over each
(03:20):
and every one of us, for the dreams and the
visions that he is pouring out upon us. I praise
him for divine health and healing for me and you,
and each and every one of us we walk in
that we believe in it. I praise him each and
every day for his abiding favor, divine abiding favor. Let's
(03:42):
be blessed and favored of the Lord. I praise him
for the continuing revelation of the Holy Spirit to walk
with us, to teach us, to guide us, and for
making me and you a new creation and allowing us
to live in these prophetic times. People that would have
liked to be here, that have gone on, we are
(04:05):
here with seeing we are a part of it. Let's
pray Psalm one twenty two, verses six through eight, say
pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who
love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces.
For the sake of my brethren and companions. I will
(04:26):
now say, peace be within you. So I pray for Israel,
pray for their leadership. I pray for their protection from
their enemies, as well as I pray for America's leadership,
and for us to be protected from our enemies, and
for this nation to turn back to the Lord fully
in heart and mind. I pray for the fatherless and
(04:48):
the widows, the innocents, and the martyr, those that are
victims of injustice. Never forget them, always remember them. I
pray for divine wholeness, hell, health and healing. And me
and my wife and my family, each and every one
of you. Let's get back to our divine design as
He designed us. Let's live, Let's walk and be healed.
(05:12):
If you're sick, are you're struggling, or something going on.
In the name of Yr Shuahamashiah, in the name of
Jesus the Messiah, through the power of the Holy Spirit,
I speak to you and whatever it is you're dealing with,
and I say, be healed, be made whole, be complete.
(05:32):
I pray for protection. That's omninety one covering we've talked
about and gone into deep deeper understanding of that He
is the shelter that we run to. Pray for inspiration
from the Holy Spirit. Let that fire burn within us.
(05:52):
Pray for the remnant to wake up. I know you're awake.
If you're here, you're the part of the Remnant. But
there are others that don't know it yet. So I
pray for them to wake up, to arise, to answer
the called action, those that have been blessed to be
a blessing so that we can go and do what
the Lord wants us to go and do. Pray against
(06:16):
the schemes of the fallen, against the kingdom of darkness,
confront the enemy with confidence and purpose and the power
in the name of the Lord. Because the day of
the Lord is at hand. I pray that Psalm ninety
one protection as I mentioned before, to cover each and
every one of us, to blanket us the homes or
lands or families, our pets are possessions. We're living in
(06:40):
very supernaturally dangerous times. I pray for and I bless
you with edification, encouragement, inspiration, rising up for the Kingdom
of God, destroying the works of the enemy, and the
provision that would allow us to do all of those things.
(07:00):
So Abbah, as your children, your sons and daughters, We
boldly approach the throne of grace and mercy. Thank you
for loving us, Thank you for healing us. Thank you
for restoring us to right relationship with you. Thank you
for your shure. You only begotten son. You sent him
to die for us, to pay for our sins, to
(07:22):
clear our debts, so that we could come home. Lord.
Thank you for choosing to answer that call. Thank you
for loving us so much, and for all that you
did and all what you're doing. We look forward to
seeing you again. We look forward to your coming. So,
(07:46):
Holy Spirit, help us help us to be ready, Help
us to stay with this word. Let this word go
forth and do what you desire it to do. Bless
the technology, Bless this time, and I pray all these
things in your Shoe's name. Amen.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
These lessons are proprietary information, except where not of the
information comes from outside sources. Combination of that information. The
manner presented is exclusive, cannot be repeated or used without permission.
The date of this broadcast serves as the registered date
of the following information.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
All right, let's get ready here. I wasn't sure, Actually,
I thought I was going to speak on something else tonight.
And I sat down yesterday to work on it, and
nothing would come. Every time I tried to do it,
I felt nothing. I thought nothing, couldn't couldn't break through.
And I figured, Okay, I'm gonna have to get up
on Wednesday and do this. And then a thought came
(09:05):
to me, A phrase came to me, prone to wander.
And the Lord spoke to me yesterday and gave me
a little, a quick, little five or six line message.
And I'm thinking, Lord, I can't get a whole Bible
study out of that. And it was almost like he said, really,
let me show you. And then I sat down with
(09:27):
him this morning and it all came out. That phrase
comes from a hymn written in seventeen fifty seven by
a man named Robert Robinson called Come Thou Fount of
every Blessing. The last stanza of that him says, prone
(09:48):
to wander, Lord, I feel it prone to leave the
God I love. Take my heart, Oh take and seal it,
seal it for thy It's above. He wrote that hymn
many years later. He's on a stagecoach. He's writing with
(10:10):
a woman, and as he's writing, he starts to think
of the hymn because she's humming it, and I know
why she was humming it. The Lord was using her.
And so she asked him what he thought of that him,
and he said, Madam, I am the poor and happy
(10:33):
man who wrote that him many years ago, and I
would give a thousand words if I had them to
enjoy the feelings that I had. Then well, he died
in seventeen ninety and we have no record that he
ever found those feelings again. He did wander. We all do.
(10:55):
We all have, But I'm not sure who this Bible
studies for could be for you. Maybe you stumbled upon us,
or maybe you've been listening hoping to regain the fire
and the feeling that you once at. Maybe you have
a loved one that you need to send this to.
(11:16):
If so, the Lord will show you and tell you.
Maybe you just need to be reminded of the dangers
that can happen when you wander. Matthew six, starting verse nineteen, says,
do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,
(11:40):
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust destroys where thieves do not break in
and steal. For where your treasure is there, your heart
will be also, So I ask you, is he is
(12:04):
the Lord? Your treasure? Is he in your heart? What's
in your heart that could lead you astray? Right now?
What if you set your heart on that it's not
his will and that the enemy can use to draw
(12:24):
you off the path? You know last week? And this
perfectly follows up with what we talked about last week,
the twenty third Psalm, and the Lord's good Like that,
the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He
makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me
(12:45):
beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me
in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. YEA,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil for you you are with me.
Your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare
(13:05):
a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely,
Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
my life, and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. A very familiar beloved Psalm right in
the middle of Psalm twenty two and twenty four, And
(13:29):
each one of those represent his person, who he is
and the things he'll do. In Psalm twenty two, the
good shepherd dying for the sheep, Psalm twenty three, the
Great Shepherd caring for his sheep, and Psalm twenty four
the Chief Shepherd coming for his sheep. And so what
(13:51):
we know is that Messiah died for us, he lives
for us, and he will come for us. Oh what
a great day that will be. I think of it often.
I know that there are things to be done, But
how could you not think about it? How could you
(14:12):
not think about the King coming back to get us
and taking us to the marriage supper of the lamb?
Ezekiel thirty four, starting verse twelve, says, as a shepherd
seeks out his flock on the day he is among
the scattered sheep, So will I seek out my sheep
and deliver them from all the places where they were
(14:34):
scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And we know
he's referring to Israel, and he did reclaim them and
put them back on their land. I will bring them
out from the peoples and gather them from the countries
and will bring them to their own land. I will
feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys,
and in all the inhabited places of the country. But
the church will experience that as well. We will meet
(14:57):
him in the air and go home with him. But
when he comes back and we come back with him,
it'll be to Jerusalem, it'll be to Israel. And then
he'll send us wherever he's going to send us. John
ten eleven. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
gives his life for the sheep. Verse fourteen. I am
(15:19):
the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am
known by my own He knows you. Do you know him?
If he called your name, would you know it was
his voice? Do you listen for his voice? Look? Fifteen
verse four. This is a parable that he's saying, what
(15:42):
man of you? Having one hundred sheep, if he loses
one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in
the wilderness and go after the one which is lost
until he finds it. And when he has found that,
he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. That's the visual.
I'm gonna stop there him holding the sheep. It's wrapped
around his neck. He's holding both front legs with his
(16:06):
one hand and back legs with his other, and he's
just smiling and he's beaming because he's bringing the sheep home.
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends
and neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I
found my sheep, which was lost. I say to you
that likewise there'll be more joy in heaven over one
(16:29):
sinner who repents than over ninety nine just persons who
need no repentance. And I believe the day that I
got saved, when I knelt at that altar and stood up,
born again, freed from the darkness, restored to my family,
I believe that there was joy in heaven. I believe
(16:49):
he told those that knew me before what had happened,
so they could rejoice with him some thirty one verse three.
For you are my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for
your name's sake, lead me and guide me. Some of
(17:09):
you may need to take that palm, write it down somewhere,
put it, Put it somewhere that every day you declare
to him, you are my rock and my fortress. Therefore
for your namesake, Lead me and guide me. Some of
us are not real good about being left to our
own devices. Why does sheep wander? Why do they do that.
(17:35):
They've got a perfect pen, they've got a shepherd that
loves them, they've got food, they've got an area outside
where they can go to. Why do they wander? Because
that's what they do. They're always looking for more than
what the shepherd is giving them. They're enticed by what
(17:56):
they see, and they just keep keep walking. That's a
dangerous thing to do. We should never ever love what's
out there more than what we have with him. First John,
chapter two, verse sixteen. Do not love the world or
(18:17):
the things in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him or her.
For all that is in the world, the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of light, is not of the Father, but is of
the world. And the world is passing away in the
lust of it. But he who does the will of
(18:38):
God abides forever. Believers Bible commentary says, we are plainly
warned not to love the world or the things that
are in the world, for the simple reason that love
for the world is not compatible with the love for
the Father. All that the world has to offer may
(18:58):
be described as the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life. The lust
of the flesh refers to sensual bodily appetites as proceed
from within our evil nature. The lust of the eyes
applies to such evil desires as may arise from what
(19:19):
we see. The pride of life is the unholy ambition
for self display and self glory. These three elements of
worldliness are illustrated in the sin of Eve. The tree
was good for food, and that is the lust of
the flesh. The tree was pleasant to the eyes, that
(19:42):
is the lust of the eyes. And it was a
tree to be desired to make one wise, and that
describes the pride of life. And as the devil Hasatan
apposed Messiah in the wilderness, and the flesh, they're both
(20:02):
hostile to the Holy Spirit. So the world is antagonistic
to the Father. Appetite, avarice, and ambition are not of
the Father, but of the world. These things do not
proceed from the Father, but find their source in the world.
Worldliness is the love for passing things, and the human
(20:24):
heart can never find satisfaction with things. So the craving
of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the
boasting of what he has and what he does, Oh,
that is so common in the church. I can spend
the rest of this Bible study naming names, but you
(20:45):
know who they are. God will deal with them. And
flesh refers to the selfish outlook that pursues its own
ends that are independent of God and pendant of one's
fellow man. The flesh not only becomes the basis for
(21:08):
rebellion against God for despising his law, but also indicates
that all that is materialistic, egocentric, exploitative, and selfish. Let
me say that again, anything to do with the flesh
is materialistic, egocentric, exploitative, and selfish. It is at the
(21:34):
root of all things racism, sexism, injustice, despising the poor,
neglecting the weak and the helpless, and every unrighteous practice.
We can't give into it. And I'm sure from both
my personal experience and ministering the people for thirty eight years,
(22:01):
we find ourselves serving two masters. We say we serve God,
but we don't who's serving ourselves and the world, which
means we're serving the devil. Look sixteen thirteen. No servant
is able to serve two masters, for either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will
(22:22):
stand by and be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Mammon is
a spirit and represents riches or anything in which you
trust on or which you rely. Now the Pharisees were,
who were covetous and lovers of money, heard all these
(22:43):
things taken together, and they began to sneer at and
ridicule and scoff at him. But he said to them,
you are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright
before men. But God knows your heart for what is
exis alted and highly thought of among men that is
(23:03):
detestable and abhorrent and abomination in the sight of God. Humility,
understanding who we are in the grand scheme of things.
That's why I don't like titles. I understand that when
people call me reverend, or some even call me a rabbi,
(23:24):
I get it. They're offering respect for the maturity, the age,
the teaching, all that I've done. But my attitude about
that is I'm just Richard. There's only one title that
means anything, and its Lord, and I'm not him, So
we can't fall into this trap. These things are what
(23:48):
make us wander These things are what entice us to
walk away. One Timothy, Chapter six, Verse ten. This is
the amplified version for the love of money, that is,
the greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain
it unethically, of all sorts of evil, And some, by
(24:11):
longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and
pierced themselves through and through with many sorrows. That's worth
reading again. For the love of money, that is, the
greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain it unethically,
is a root of all sorts of evil, and some,
(24:34):
by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves through and through with many sorrows. I
don't believe anybody who's wandered away is really happy. So,
just as surely as everything in nature reproduces after its
(24:56):
own kind harvest, being as sure as the sewings, so
every man will reap what he sews and be responsible
for his own destiny. The lust of the eyes could
be sexual or could mean anything that entices the eye,
(25:21):
and it creates a tendency to put on the outwards show.
And from there we get the greed and the desire
for things being aroused within us to be seen with
those things I mean we mentioned even Genesis three, Aiken
and Joshua seven is stealing the accursed things they were
(25:44):
told to leave alone and then trying to hide them
from God, costing him his life and all of his
family too. And David and second Samuel eleven and Bathsheba.
So the key term in that third phrase, the pride,
It means boasting. That's what it means, posting. Hey, look
(26:06):
what I have, Look what I've done, Look who I've
been with, Look where I've gone. Social media has turned
everyone into boasters. We're all influencers, even the spiritual ones.
Everybody has a word, everybody has prophecy, everybody has all
(26:32):
the things the Church warned us about. Same things that
destroyed the early Church are destroying us now. James, Chapter four,
starting verse thirteen, Come now, you who say today or
tomorrow we will go to such and such a City's
spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit.
(26:54):
Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For
what is your life? Is it even a vapor that
appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead,
you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall
live and do this or that. But now you boast
in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to
(27:21):
him who knows to do good and does not do it,
to him it is sin. So we sin when we
fall for this trap, when we fall for the schemes
of the devil, when we fall for the seduction and
the enticement. We don't know the least thing that may
(27:44):
happen to us in our life tomorrow. We're here and
then we're gone. We have to trust in the Lord,
and we can't boast about anything that hasn't happened yet,
and that He hasn't allowed to boast in anything less
boast in him. Let's not have pretension and arrogance, because
(28:08):
all of that is evil in the sight of the Lord.
So many pretentious hypocrites who glorify themselves or glory in themselves,
in their possessions, one's public image meaning more to them
than the glory of God or the well being of
our fellow brothers and sisters. Such pretentiousness of life, it
(28:32):
becomes a form of idol worship. What do we idolize celebrities, athletes,
public figures, ourselves? We can't do that. All of these
things I'm talking about right now inspire us to wander
(28:56):
away from the faith, to wander away from from Him.
You should get to the point where any of these
things that I'm mentioning that would happen would offend you,
annoy you, because they keep you from Him, They keep
you from feeling his presence, They keep you from hearing
(29:17):
his voice and that pride of life. It can be
whatever status symbol that's important and defines their identity. A vehicle,
a home, a clothing, jewelry, a look, hey, look at me.
(29:38):
If the Lord wants to give me something that fits
that category, fine, but I'm not going to go get it.
I'm not going to do it. And again, I could
name preachers with mega mansions and multiple cars and the
jets and the clothing and the money. While people in
the congregation are losing their home, maybe they get caught
(30:03):
up in their degrees honorary or otherwise, or the reputation
of the size of their church, or their annual income,
or the size of their library. Look at my library,
Look at all the books I've got. If that's what
you're glory in, then you boast them. You're taking pride
in your life. You should have had none of those things.
(30:26):
And look what he did. Go with me to Psalm
one nineteen. We're not going to read all of it
because it's one hundred and seventy six verses and the
longest psalm in the Bible. It's unattributed, but it's believed
to be King David, and we hear his words, we
can see him. It's not gonna be jumping around here.
(30:50):
Versus one through three, eighty eight, ninety through ninety one,
one oh five, one fourteen. Hike now I'm sorry, one
thirty two, one thirty five, one one seventy six. I
took sections of it to hear what David's saying. The
whole thing's important. If you want to read it. It's
a good one to read a lot of stuff there.
(31:14):
Blessed are the underfiled in the way who walk in
the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep
his testimonies, who seek him with the whole heart. They
also do no iniquity. They walk in his ways. Revive
me according to your loving kindness, so that I may
(31:35):
keep the testimony of your mouth forever. Of a Lord.
Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to
all generations. You establish the earth, and it abides. They
continue this day according to your ordinances for all your servants.
(31:57):
Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light
to my pa You are my hiding place on my shield.
I hope in your word. Look upon me, and be
merciful to me, as your customer is towards those who
love your name. Direct my steps to your word, and
let no iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from
(32:20):
the oppression of men, that I may keep your precepts.
Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me
your statutes. Let my soul live, and I shall praise you,
and let your judgments help me. And then finally the
final verse of that psalm, I have gone astray like
(32:43):
a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not
forget your commandments. You know, just because somebody has wandered
away doesn't mean they've forgotten the word. They're just ignoring it.
Something has caused them to set it aside. But his
(33:04):
word is settled in heaven. It is standing firm, it's unchangeable,
and his faithfulness to you and to me and to
all that love him continues from generation to generation. David
knew what it was like to wander. And when you
(33:24):
read the whole Psalm, not just these verses I've mentioned
to you, you see it's got to be King David
who wrote this. He understands. We see that very clearly
in Second Samuel, chapter eleven. And I won't read the
whole story to you. You kind of know what it's about. Bethsheba,
(33:48):
Second Samuel, eleven, Verse one. It happened in the spring,
at the time when the kings go out to battle,
that David sent joe Ab and his servants with him
and all the fighting men of Israel, and they destroyed
the Ammonites and besieged Rabah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
(34:09):
That's really odd, because it's when the kings go out
to battle. But this would be a mistake that would
cost David first two one evening, David got up from
his couch and was walking on the flat roof of
the King's palace and from there he saw a woman bathing.
She was very beautiful in appearance. David sent word and
(34:32):
acquired about the woman. Someone said, is this not Beptsheba,
the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
David sent messengers and took her. And when she came
to him, he lay with her, which means he slept
with her, at sect with her. And when she was
purified from her uncleanness, he returned her to her house.
(34:56):
The woman conceived, and she sent word and told Dave,
I'm pregnant. So many things there are the lust of
the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life.
He saw her bathing naked. I've always wondered that you
do that on purpose, knowing that the king could see her.
(35:16):
No evidence of that, but that's the thought that come
to mind. And he desired, desired her and had to
have her, and he took her. So what does he do?
Does he confess? Does he repent?
Speaker 2 (35:29):
No?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
He deceitfully tries to send Uriah to the front lines
to die to hide his sin. First, he tries to
get him drunk to sleep with bet Chiba. And Uriah
does get drunk, but he doesn't go home, he sleeps
with the servants. Verse fourteen. Will pick up the story.
(35:52):
In the morning, David wrote a letter to joe Ab
and sent it with Uriah. He wrote in the letter,
put Uriah in the front line of the heaviest fighting,
and leave him so that he may be struck down
and die. He made Uriah Carrie the letter of his demise,
all because David couldn't control himself. So it happened that
(36:17):
as Joeab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to
the place where he knew the enemy's valiant men were positioned,
and the men of the city came out, fought against Joab,
and some of the people. Among the servants of David fell. Euriah,
the Hittite also died. Picking it up in verse twenty six.
(36:41):
When Uriah's wife Betsiba heard that her husband Uriah was dead,
she mourned for her husband, and when the time of
morning was pasted, David sent word and had her brought
to his house. She became his wife and bore him
a son. But the thing that David had done with
batsheba evil in the sight of the Lord. I'll be
(37:04):
sure your sin will find you out. God already knew,
So what does he do? He sends the prophet Nathan
to confront David with his sin. Does it through it
about a man, a shepherd having a farm full of sheep,
(37:24):
but desires his neighbor's sheep, and that man only has
one and steals it. And David gets offended. Who is
this man? I'll draw him before me, I'll put him
in prison, all that kind of stuff. And then Nathan
does something could have cost him his life. But he's
a prophet of the Lord, a good one. Verse seven,
(37:46):
and Nathan said to David, you are the man. Thus
says the Lord, the God of Israel. I anointed you
as king over Israel. I spared you from the hand
of Saul. I also gave you your master's house, and put
your master's wives into your care and under your protection.
(38:07):
I gave you the house the royal dynasty of Israel
and of Judah. And if that had been too little,
I would have given you much more. Why have you
despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in
his sight? You have struck down your Eyah, the Hittite,
with the sword, and have taken his wife to be
your wife. You have killed them with the sword of
(38:29):
the Ammonites. Now, therefore the sword shall never depart from
your house, because you have despised me and have taken
the wife of your Eiah the Hittite, to be your wife.
And thus says the Lord, Behold, I will stir up
evil against you from your own household. And I will
(38:53):
take your wives before your eyes and give them to
your companion, and he will lie with your wives in
broad daylight. Indeed, you did it secretly, but I will
do this thing before Israel and in broad daylight. And
he did it with his own son, Absolom. David was humiliated.
(39:15):
He had a run. Absolom slept with his father's wives
and sat on the throne. And the sword never departed
from David's life. All because of the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
And what happened. The child that she bore got sick
(39:40):
and died. Now, you could say, but out of this
came Solomon, that God can use what was meant for
bad and use it for good. And that would be true.
But we do not escape the seeds we plant. We
get a crop, one that we created, some one twenty six,
(40:04):
verses five and six. Those who sow in tears shall
reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing
seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing
his sheaves with him. Simply means you're going to plant
a crop and you're going to reap it, which is
(40:27):
right out of Galatians sixth verses seven and eight. Do
not be deceived. God is not mocked. He will not
allow himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt, nor
allow his precepts to be scornfully set aside. For whatever
a man sows, this and only this, he will reap.
(40:49):
For the one who sows to his flesh, his sinful capacity,
his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses, will reap from the flesh
ruin and struction. But the one who sows to the
spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. What seeds
(41:11):
are we planning? When you wander off, you scatter seeds
all along the way that you're walking. And for the
most part, I don't think anybody does it deliberately. If
they do, then they're in full, flat out rebellion, and
more than likely have made themselves reprobate, unredeemable. Sometimes a
(41:33):
tragedy happens, something emotional, something has caused us to say,
I can't do this anymore. I don't want to wait
here for God. I don't want his provision. I want
what's over there. The grass is always greener, but then
it never is. This is important, not just for the
(41:58):
wandering person, not for the person. This is important for
all of us. It just hate me when I said
that out aloud. We're living in a fallen world with
the schemes of the enemy always looking to seduce us,
to get us to a place where we're not safe,
and we can be attacked. We can be killed, we
(42:21):
can be destroyed, or we could destroy ourselves. Two Timothy four,
starting verse one, Paul says to Timothy, I charge you
in the presence of God and of Messiah Yeshua, who
is the judge of living in the dead, and by
(42:42):
his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word as an
official messenger. Be ready when the time is right, even
when it's not. Keep your sense of urgency when the
opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable, whether convenient or inconvenient, whether
welcome or unwelcome, correct those who are in doctrine or behavior,
(43:03):
warn those whose sin, exhort and encourage those who are
growing towards spiritual maturity with inexhaustible patience and faithful teaching.
For the time will come when people will not tolerate
sound doctrine and accurate instruction that challenges them with God's truth,
(43:27):
but wanting to have their ears tickled with something pleasing,
they will accumulate for themselves. Many teachers, one after another,
chosen to satisfy their own desires and to support the
errors they hold, and will turn their ears away from
the truth, and will wander off into myths and man
(43:51):
made fictions, and will accept the unacceptable. We don't get
pulled off the path, we wander off. Wandering off simply
means no fixed course, no aim, no goal, or relaxed
(44:14):
aimless manner. Maybe it's lack of concentration. Well, maybe it's
just Wolf. I don't want to be there anymore. I
don't want to do this anymore. This is too tough.
I can't do this, so I'm going to do something else.
Oh yes, I know, I know I shouldn't do it,
(44:36):
but it feels good. He'll forgive me, grace is not
an excuse to sin, because to go astray, to go
off course, just roaming about unawares makes you ignorant of
the danger that you are in. It's exactly why the
(44:57):
enemy does it. So, like I said, I don't know
who this is, for the Lord does, and that's all
that matters. But there's another story he wants me to
bring up about someone who wandered away. Luke fifteen, verse eleven.
(45:22):
He said a certain man had two sons, and the
younger of them said to his father, father, give me
the portion of goods that falls to me. So he
divided them his livelihood, not just for the brother. The
young brother did to the older brother too, And not
many days after, the younger son gathered all together in
(45:45):
journey to a far country, and there he wasted his
possessions with prodigal living. And when he had spent all
there arose a severe famine in that land began to
be in want. And then he went and joined himself
to his citizen of that country, and he sent him
(46:07):
into the fields to feed the swine. Think about this.
He went from being in the household of his wealthy father,
and now he's working for someone else feeding them the
swine verse sixteen. And he would have gladly filled his
stomach with the carib pods that the swine ate, and
(46:29):
no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself,
he said, how many of my father's hired servants have
bred enough and to spare, and I will perish with hunger.
I will arise and go to my father, and I
will say to him, father, I've sinned against heaven him
before you, and I'm no longer worthy to be called
(46:51):
your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.
And he arose and came to his father. But when
he was still a great layoff, his father saw him
and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck
(47:11):
and kissed him and said to him. And the son
said to him, father, I have sinned against Heaven, and
in your sight, I am no longer worthy to be
called your son. And the father said to his servants,
bring out the best robe and put it on him,
and put a ring on his hands, and sandals on
(47:32):
his feet, and bring the fatted calf here and kill it,
and let us eat and be merry. For this my
son was dead, and he is alive again he was
lost and is found and they began to be married.
(47:52):
And I'll stop it there. We won't go on to
the fact that the older brother was a little bit
put out by it. But this is about the one
who wandered off. This is about the one who thought
he knew better. This is about the one that came
to himself and realized I made a mistake, and he
(48:13):
went home a prodigal one who is recklessly extravagant, bends
money wastefully. That's what he did. This particular son was
weary in his father's house. I could do better out there.
(48:37):
I don't want to be here. I don't want to
live under his rules. And he left because he couldn't
wait for the father to die and get his portion
and inheritance naturally, so he wanted it ahead of time.
And look what happened. That's what happens when we wander,
(49:00):
but it's also what happens when we come home. His
father saw him, had compassion and fell on his neck
and kissed him because he was so glad to see
him that he was home. And it's probably the only
time in the Bible where a haste is used of
(49:21):
God in a good sense, Brendan Manning said, Jesus, picture
God not wanting for this shamed child the slink home,
but standing on his dignity when he came, but running
out to gather him, gather the son who was shamed
(49:45):
and ragged and as muddy as he was, into his
welcoming arms. Doesn't matter where you've gone, doesn't matter what
you've done. If you decide I made a mistake, I'm
coming home, he will accept you. The image here of
the unconditional love and grace of God as a father
(50:08):
figure who eagerly embraces us even when we feel ashamed.
That's the compassionate nature of your heavenly father. That's why
we call him Abbah. And this goes against the traditional, distant,
(50:28):
judgmental view that some people promote. What I was raised
to believe God was this omnipotent, all powerful thing on
a throne, ready to strike me down. When that was
the furthest thing from the truth. What I needed to
know about was a father, one that loved me, one
(50:57):
that would accept me. But I found it out. Found
it out personally. We need to understand that no matter
our past or our current state, we're always welcomed by God,
and especially those who struggle with feelings of rejection and
(51:21):
shame or inadequacy. The Lord offers hope in this story
and a reassurance of divine acceptance. God's love, the thing
which has been the basis of my ministry, my teaching.
(51:43):
All people say, oh, it's spiritual warfare. No, I do
what I do out of love. Even that his love.
It's not anger, it's not violence, it's not aggression. It's love.
It's him saying, I have a son or a daughter
over here. They're in bonders. Look what the enemy is
doing to them. Okay, we'll go, we'll take care of it.
(52:07):
God's love so awesome. Oh yeah, he's a just god.
He's majestic, he's holy. But he's also a god that
keeps his covenant of personal commitment and love to his children.
(52:29):
So if you've wandered, I want to remind you of that.
If you know someone who's wandered, I want to remind
them of that. Come home. What do you think if
a man has a hundred sheep and one of them
goes astray, does he not leave the ninety nine and
(52:50):
go to the mountains to seek the one that is strayed,
and if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you,
he rejoices more over that sheep, then over the ninety
nine that did not stray. Even so, it's not the
will of your father who is in heaven, that one
of these little ones should perish Matthew eighteen twelve through fourteen.
(53:14):
It's not his will that anyone should perish. Because the
sheep know him, and they know his voice. They will
listen to his voice, they will pay attention to his call.
I see so many stories, whether it's sheep. I saw
a video of a man who had a lot of horses,
(53:37):
and he stood at the gate up at the top
of the hill, and he whistled, and all these horses
came thundering back because they knew the sound of his whistle.
They knew where food was, they knew where safety was,
(53:58):
because that's where he was wandering. Off is a slow
trek from light into the shadows that soon become darkness,
and we don't realize it until it's too late and
we're lost. You ever been in a forest going for
(54:21):
a walk, or maybe you're not paying attention, and you
just keep going and you follow the path and the
next thing, you know, you don't remember how to get back,
and getting lost is a surety. And it's the intention
of the enemy the whole time. And that's why they
entice the sheep to wander, to attack them, to destroy them.
(54:46):
Cry out to the great Shepherd, and he will hear you.
And when he does, he will call to you. Run
to his call. Lord, Even right now we run to
your call. Even when we hear the sound of the
(55:09):
show far and you snatch us away, We not only
do it willingly, we kind of lean into it because
we want to come to you. Let it be so, Lord,
And to everyone out there, whether known or unknown, that
have wandered off. They've lost the faith, they've been hurt,
(55:34):
they've had something happen in their life, they've given up trying.
We pray they'd come home, that they would no longer wander,
that they'd want to be back in their father's house,
cleaned up, redeemed, restored. Father. We love you, and we
(56:08):
thank you for letting us come home. And I pray
all this in your Shoe's name. Amen. May the Lord
bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his
face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you
(56:29):
may the Lord. I don't I your sure Hmosiah Jesus
the Messiah, lift up his countenance upon you and give
you peace. Give you shallow. I'm Richard Grund. This has
been the porch on Firefall Talk Radio Talk Fee
Popular Podcasts
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
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.