Reaching for God

with Daniel Moyer

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'd like to introduce our speaker for today, and as
he comes up, Daniel Moore, come on up. We have
had I have a special connection with Daniel and I
see his parents right there. Hi, Tom, Sharon and Steven.
I've had a special connection with Daniel. I remember several
years ago. In fact, let me just tell you something.

(00:20):
How we the Radio Ministry is how ultimately Daniel is
here right now because Pastor Mike Tom used to be
the general manager of WABA and brother Christopher working with him,
we started the Radio Ministry. Got to know Tom, got
to know his family, got to know Daniel eventually, and
Daniel started becoming to the church. He got baptized here

(00:42):
last year. He's been involved with the youth young adults.
He's doing service ministry. You guys did food drives. You
do the service ministry in terms of helping people out.
And I said to Daniel, I said, Daniel, anytime you
want to go through the Daniel Revelation, tell me I'll
dedicate the time for you. And he said, I want

(01:03):
to do it. So every Sunday we meet and we
go through Daniel revelation. And so he's learning the Three
Angels message. He also does me great favors. When I
go out of town. He takes over the Savage School
for me, so I really appreciate that too. But I
just want to introduce Daniel. He's such a blessing in
our family. Let me just pray before he speaks to

(01:24):
us today, Father God, I just pray that your Holy
Spirit would be with Daniel, be with all of us, Lord,
that we would learn to grow in your word, be
inspired by your word, and that Christ would be lifted
up in this pulpit in Jesus Name.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Amen. All right, let's have a quick prayer. Dear Father,
thank you for this opportunity, this responsibility. I pray that
I glorify you today and speak the words that you
have for me, and not a single word more than that,

(02:01):
I pray that people would be encouraged and uplifted and
be drawn towards You Jesus Name. Amen. So there's the
title Reaching for God, and I have a story before
we get to the really good stuff. In July nineteen

(02:27):
sixty five, Jeremiah Denton was flying planes for the US
Navy over North Vietnam when he was shot down and
captured by the enemy. He was taken to a pow camp,
where he was tortured in various ways for hours on end.
He was also starved, held in solitary confinement, and forced

(02:50):
to participate in propaganda readings where he would announce the
US government. On one occasion, he read for a television broadcast.
The script reading said he was being treated well by
the Communists, which was a blatant lie. While he read
to the camera using Morse code, he blinked the word

(03:11):
torture to tell the world what he and his comrades
were enduring. His message was received, but for this act
of resistance he would pay a terrible price more torture.
To counter the brutality of their circumstances, he and his
fellow prisoners would hold secret religious services and celebrate holidays together.

(03:34):
These things proved crucial for group morale. The prisoners became
very close, supporting each other in various ways, including whispers
of encouragement and shared food. Jeremiah was held for seven
years and seven months in a total of three different
pow camps, enduring things no human should ever have to endure.

(03:59):
During this time, he distinguished himself to his fellow captured
brothers and even the prison guards and interrogators. Through his struggles,
he remained a strong leader and a vital source of
encouragement as he strived to maintain unity with the other prisoners.
Denton was released in nineteen seventy three and published an
account of his experiences two years later. The account was

(04:23):
called When Hell Was in Session. The question is just
how did Jeremiah Denton not only survive but also manage
to help those around him. How did he resist the
overwhelming urge to give into his captors and reveal military secrets.
Why didn't he take the advice found in the Book

(04:43):
of Job, curse God and die. The answer is simple.
Jeremiah Denton possessed an unwavering belief in God that was
not conditional on his circumstances, and God gave him the
strength to an under everything thrown at him. Denton was
a true believer. He would pray often, recite scriptures, and

(05:07):
dwell on memories of his family. Where many would have
fallen to despair, God gave him a firm foundation to
stand upon. When I think about Jeremiah Denton and the
strength he drew upon from God, a psalm comes to mind,
and the psalm will be the object of today's sermon.
But make no mistake, Jeremiah Denton was always reaching for God.

(05:30):
Next slide. Hopefully that's legible, but if it's not, don't
worry about it. So Psalm one, the first Psalm, is
going to be what we're looking at here. So let
me just read through the first three verses. Blessed is
the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly,
nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in

(05:51):
the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in
the law of the Lord, and in his law he
meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree
planted by streams of water rivers of water, that brings
forth its fruit in season, whose leave also does not wither.
And whatever he does shall prosper. Next slide. Okay, next

(06:15):
three verses. The ungodly are not so, but are like
the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly
shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way
of the righteous. But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Next slide. So let's just take a look at the

(06:37):
first verse here, blessed, it's the man who walks, and
then it says stands, it sits. So we have different
activities here. What we have here is a progression. Picture
in your minds. If you're walking down a street and

(06:58):
you see something that is ungodly, you're now in the
proximity of something ungodly. Well, if you were to stop
walking and stand still, that wouldn't be good, would it.
You should get out of there, shouldn't you. But if
you stay there, if you stand in the presence of

(07:19):
the ungodliness, if you're standing in the path of the sinners,
you have just gone down a bad path. Now what
would happen if there was a chair nearby and you said,
you know, I'm standing here, I might as well make
myself comfortable in this ungodly place. I'm gonna sit. This

(07:39):
first verse here is telling us a progression that we
can all fall prey to. It's a progression of getting
comfortable in the presence of evil. Blessed is the man
who does not get comfortable in the presence of evil.
Next slide. So here's James one fourteen and fifteen. But
each is tempted when they are dragged away by their

(08:02):
own evil desire and enticed. Then after desire has conceived,
it gives birth to sin, and when it is full grown,
gives birth to death. So this verse is kind of
like Psalm one. It's saying, walk in the presence of
the young godly, that's being tempted, standing in the presence

(08:24):
of sinners. That's conception, right, it's up here, it's in
your head. But if you allow it to be in
your head long enough, if you don't get out of
that situation, what is it going to turn into action?
And that action is sin and sin leads to death.

(08:45):
Next slide. Okay, So there's a Psalm one. Under that,
we have Proverbs four, fourteen, and fifteen. Do not set
foot on the path of the wicked, or walk in
the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it,
Turn from it, and go on your way. So the

(09:06):
proverb writer here is saying, turn around, go the other way.
If your GPS put you down this street, figure out
a different way. Do not go down this path. Next slide. Okay,
So here's a story from Proverbs. This is Proverbs seven,
starting in verse six. At the window of my house,

(09:26):
I looked down through the lattice. I saw among the simple.
I noticed among the young men a youth who had
no sense. He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house at twilight,
as the day was fading, as the dark of night
set in. Have you ever heard the expression nothing good

(09:46):
happens at night? Yeah, someone said that's true, not always,
but a lot of times. Right this time. Then out
came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute
and with crafty intent. Uh oh. Next slide, verse eleven.
She is unruly and defiant. Her feet never stay at home.

(10:09):
Now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner,
she lurks like a predator. Verse thirteen. She took hold
of him and kissed him, and with a brazen face,
she said, today I have fulfilled my vows, and I
have food from my fellowship offering at home. You're hungry.

(10:30):
Verse fifteen. So I came out to meet you. I
looked for you and have found you. I've covered my
bed with colored linens from Egypt. Next slide. Okay, so
let's go back a little. Let's look at verse fourteen.
She said, today I've fulfilled my vows and I have
food for my fellowship offering at home. What is a

(10:51):
fellowship offering? It was an offering that was performed to
give thanksgiving and praise, or to fulfill a vow, or
to commemorate a fulfilled vow, I should say, or for
general fellowship. In this case, it was because, as she said,
she fulfilled a vow. So let's just get this straight.

(11:12):
This woman is fulfilling an obligation, honoring God through a sacrifice,
going home and doing what sinning. She's sinning. She's a hypocrite.
How many of you out here today? You wake up

(11:33):
early on Saturday morning, you put on your nice clothes,
you come into this building, and you act a certain way.
Is that authentic or is this just something you do
once every week? How do you look? Not in terms
of how you dress, I don't care about how people dress,
but how do you behave the other six days of
the week. Are you a hypocrite? Are you authentic? Are

(11:57):
you like this woman? God forbid full disclosure? Sometimes you
know I'm not the same person I am out there
that I am in here, and I'm sorry for that,
and that's okay, but we need to do better. Next
slide okay, So she fulfilled her vows. She came out

(12:19):
to meet him. She covered her bed with colored linens
Verse seventeen. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh aloes
and cinnamon. It's expensive. Come, let's drink deeply of love
till morning. Let's enjoy ourselves with love. My husband is
not at home. Okay, even worse, right, just going down, down, down.

(12:42):
So she's sexually immoral. She's a hypocrite. She's an adulteress.
My husband is not at home. He has gone on
a long journey. Next slide. He took his purse filled
with money and will not be home till full moon.
Is like with persuasive words like she's persuasive, right, perfume

(13:04):
the bed. She's got a meal waiting for him, dressed
a certain way. She is very good at what she's doing.
She is a very talented predator Verse twenty one. With
persuasive words. She led him astray. She seduced him with
her smooth talk. All at once. He followed her like
an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping

(13:28):
into a noose. So he's the prey. She's the predator.
Right till an arrow pierces his liver like a bird
darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him
his life. So he's toasts. That's it. Next slide. Now
that my son's listen to me, pay attention to what
I say. Do not let your heart turn to her

(13:50):
ways or stray into her paths. Saw one language, right.
Many are the victims she has brought down, her slain
are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to
the crave, leading down to the chambers of death. When
I read those last few verses, I just think that
is hauntingly poetic. Hauntingly poetic. Now, what are we to

(14:17):
make of this proverb. Well, there's a literal interpretation, which
is for men, you know, be very careful, you know,
don't be, for lack of a better word, you know,
a dummy like this guy. But there's also a metaphorical application,
and I like that one a little better because it
applies to men and women. And that is simply that

(14:38):
this woman is the enemy. She is temptation personified, and
she is trying to drag each and every one of
you down when you least expect it. Don't stray into
her paths. Don't be a dummy. Next slide. Okay, so

(14:58):
just back to someone one more time. I'm really going
to try to drill this into your head. Lest is
the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly,
nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in
the seat of the scornful, or, in the case of
this young man, does the thing that comes after sitting.
But we won't go into that. Next slide. Okay, now

(15:19):
we're in verse two. But his delight is in the
law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates
day and night. God's law is a picture of God's character.
So when we meditate on his law, we're getting to
know God. These aren't just rules. This is the character
of God. If you love God, if you want to

(15:42):
get to know God, get to know his law, get
to know his word. What's the outcome of getting to
know God? How does this help me? Right? Next slide.
He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water.
Now we're getting somewhere. Trees need water, right, and a

(16:04):
river is an infinite amount of water. So if you're
a tree and you're planting next to water, that's a
good place to be. Essentially, if you don't have water,
a lot of things are gonna go wrong. You're not
going to produce fruit if you're a fruit bearing tree,
and given enough time, you're just gonna wither and die.
One Corinthians ten, verse four, and all drank the same

(16:27):
spiritual drink, For they drank from the spiritual rock, and
that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Okay, So
if we're trees and we need water, where are we
getting that water from? This? The word the rock? Next side,

(16:48):
here's another verse, John four thirteen. Jesus answered, everyone who
drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks
the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the
water I give them will become in them a spring
of water welling up to eternal life. Isn't that interesting?
It's not only that we won't thirst again, we then

(17:09):
become a source to give to others. Isn't that amazing?
As Christians, when Jesus is operating within us, we can
propagate that and it expands. I mean, how do you
think the early Church grew so rapidly despite all the
persecution that it endured because God was in it. God

(17:30):
is powerful and this is how he's operating. Next slide. Okay,
the last line. So your tree planted by the rivers
of water that brings forth fruit in its season. To
make a tree consistently produce fruit is difficult, but with
proper care it is possible. Believe me, it's difficult. Okay,

(17:51):
I deal with this. So anoint a tree must be
mature before producing fruit. Give God time to grow. You
get discouraged in your Christian walk. You see people that
on the surface, at least they seem to be living
an amazing Christian walk, and you look at them and
you say, why is that not me? Maybe you need

(18:14):
to mature a little more, And that's okay. To mature,
give yourself the time, but also have an open and
humble heart so that God can grow you into a
tree that is capable of producing fruit. Next slide. Galatians
five twenty two through twenty six. But the fruit of
the spirit. So now we're getting into what kind of

(18:36):
fruit are we producing? Well? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self control. Against such things there is no law. And
those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires. If we live by the spirit,
let us also keep in step with the spirit. Let

(18:58):
us not become conceited provoking one another, envying one another.
Next slide. Okay, whose leafs shall not wither? And whatever
he does shall prosper. Withering leaves can be a sign
of distress. When we stay close to God, not only

(19:19):
will he shield us, but he will prosper us Isaiah
forty one ten. Fear not, for I am with you.
Be not dismayed, For I am your God. I will
strengthen you, I will help you. I will uphold you
wrong hands with my righteous right hands. Next slide. Okay,

(19:41):
some characteristics of trees. Trees are strong, They provide shade,
They are stable, beautiful, they provide fruit, they filter co
two you know, they clean the air basically, and they
reach to God. Next slide. So, if we're trees, how
as people can we display strength. Well, everyone's got values

(20:07):
until they've got something to lose by keeping those values right,
how many of you keep the sabbath until you get
a job offer that is pretty lucrative but requires you
to work on the sabbath. If you're that person that
took that job, I'm sorry. You are not a tree
planted by streams of water. Now there are exceptions to this,

(20:28):
of course, we know nurses, doctors, emergency personnel. But if
you're just taking it for money, that would be compromise.
You're compromising for money the law of God Proverbs ten,
verse nine. Whoever walks in integrity walks securely. But he
who makes his waist crooked will be found out. Next slide.

(20:49):
Trees provide shade, peaceful, relaxing demeanor. You're around someone and
you just you feel the way come off of you. Well,
that's the Holy Spirit through them, right, that's the spring
of water welling up from them. John fourteen, verse twenty seven.
Peace I leave with you my peace I give to you.

(21:11):
Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Next side, trees are stable, kind of the same thing.
We already talked about. Someone who makes you feel safe
and comfortable. So I'm sixteen verse eight. I have set
the Lord always before me. Now that sounds like someone

(21:31):
who meditates day and night on the law of Lord. Right,
I've set the Lord always before me because he is
at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Next side. Okay,
this is funny, Luke, Chapter nine, verse fifty one to

(21:52):
fifty five. As the time approach for him to be
taken up to Heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem
as he sent messengers on ahead who went into Samaritan
village to get things ready for him. But the people
there did not welcome him because he was heading for Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, Lord,
do you want us to call fire down from heaven

(22:12):
and destroy them? But Jesus turned and rebuked them, Calm down.
We're not in the business of calling down fire and
destroying people unless God says otherwise. And God was merciful
we were talking about in Sabbath school today. You know,
Hebrews talks about approaching the throne with confidence, the throne

(22:34):
of grace and mercy. So James and John, we're not
being particularly merciful in this case. We can forgive them.
I can be a very wrathful person sometimes. Do you
ever just look at something, you say, Lord, send the flood,
you know, like I want to get out of here. No,
let's be patient, Let's be merciful, Let's promote peace. Next slide.

(23:00):
Trees are beautiful. How can a person display beauty? Colossians three,
verse twelve, put on then as God's chosen one's compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness,
and patience. What does it mean to put on something
that is ephemeral? It means make that your behavior behave

(23:20):
in this way. I have some family in South Carolina
and they have this really interesting use of the word ugly.
My aunt she'll see someone behaving rudely. Sometimes it's me,
and she'll say, you're being ugly. She's not talking about
what I'm wearing. She's not talking about my face. She's
talking about my behavior. I'm being ugly. I think that's

(23:44):
how the Bible talks about true beauty. It's within. It's
a behavioral thing. God looks at the heart. Right Next slide,
Trees provide fruit. How can people display fruit? We already
kind of talked about this. It's a behavioral thing. Fruit
for a Christian is these attributes loving people, being joyful,

(24:09):
being peaceful, definitely, being patient, being kind, et cetera, et cetera.
That's what fruit is. Next slide. Okay, this is kind
of an interesting one. Bear with me here, So trees
filter CO two. How do people filter CO two? Well,
we actually produce CO two, so that's a problem. But

(24:29):
from a spiritual point of view, CO two for me,
is kind of like a negative atmosphere. If you walk
into a room and people are like, oh boy, this
guy's here, like you know, they kind of shift away
from you. You might be someone who creates negativity. Hopefully
not so if you want to filter CO two. If

(24:51):
you want to filter negativity like trees do, then diffuse
negative situations. Be a positive, encouraging force wherever you are.
You want to be the person where someone sees you
when they go like, oh, it's this person, I can
relax a little. Be a witness for Christ. That's a
big one. Romans twelve, verse two. Do not conform to

(25:14):
the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to
test and approve what God's will is is good, pleasing
and perfect will. Next side, trees reach to God, right,
I mean, they're growing up. The interesting thing about trees
is while we see them growing up and out to

(25:36):
get sunlight, they're also growing in a different direction. Right.
They've got roots and the roots are going down. The
roots are looking for water. Now, if you're a tree
planted by streams of water, you don't have to look
very far right less work, So how do we reach

(25:58):
for God? Bible study, acts of service, serve people just
like Jesus. Serve people, prayer, get some quiet time, Talk
to God. Shut out all the noise, turn off your podcast,
all that stuff. Talk to God. Psalm sixty three, Verse one,

(26:22):
Oh God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you. In a dry and weary
land where there's no water, it's not a good place
to be. In the same way trees reach upward till light,
we should reach to God next side. Okay, so let's

(26:45):
you know, given all the stuff we just talked about,
let's go through the Psalm one more time. Blessed is
the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly,
nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in
the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in
the law of the Lord, and in his law he
meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree

(27:08):
planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit
in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and
whatever he does shall prosper Is that all of them? Lucian? Okay, yeah,
that's all good. All right, So let's aspire to be
trees planted by streams of water. What does that mean.

(27:31):
Let's be close to Jesus. Let's not be tempted and
going places we shouldn't go, being in proximity to things
we have no business being in proximity too, and God willing,
if we do that, we're going to flourish. We're gonna grow,
we're gonna help others, and we're going to produce fruit,

(27:52):
just like Jeremiah did in prison. Oh one more thing,
I'm sure some of the contrarians in the audience we're thinking,
hold on a sec If Jeremiah was in prison, how
exactly is that being prosperous. That's what kind of occurred
to me. Well to that, I would say, being prosperous
doesn't necessarily mean you will not be in situations that

(28:16):
you're not going to enjoy. Right, I think I messed
that up. It just you can be fruitful and prosperous
while still be having trouble in life. Right where in
the Bible does God say life is going to be easy. Yeah,
we're gonna have difficulties, but He's going to get us

(28:37):
through them. Right, So that's the answer to that question.
God will prosper us in the midst of difficulty. God
forbid you're in a pow camp. But if you are,
it's not the end of the world. It's actually a
place that God has put you for specific purpose. Let's pray, Father,

(29:01):
thank you for this message. And I just asked that
this would uplift people and help them to draw nearer
to you. I pray that we would resist temptation and
delight in your law and meditate on it day and
night in Jesus name. Amen.