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July 24, 2020 6:00 am
Let me ask you what is the biggest problem you're facing right now. Have you got it.
I think we all face adversity, especially in times like this that here's the issue. What if you could make your difficult problem work for you instead of bringing down one to learn how to stay with. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge shipping trips are Bible teacher of this international discipleship ministry early in this program she begins a new series called keep pressing ahead how to make it through anything about you, but sometimes the list of what's not going well longer and longer.
It's harder to be positive trust that there's good coming out about well, I'm glad you're with us because over the next couple of weeks, trips, help us not just survive difficult times, but actually thrive. Using the life and circumstances of Nehemiah chips, teaches how to hang in honor God matter what you have your Bible, having open another Nehemiah chapter 4 let's join ship for part one of his message facing adversity. There are times in our life when we simply get to the point where we say I can't take it. This marriage is just too hard. This depression is just too dark. The job I lost a family member that I buried the junk that I'm going through and down deep inside your heart may not say to anyone else, but something just starts happening and is like I quit. I'm done.
I'm opting out. I may go through the motions on the outside but you know I'm just just had the very private dark scary place to be. Your mind tells you things like you gotta keep forward. You gotta trust God theirs promises everything's gonna be okay in your hearts as you know what I've heard all that it ain't working for me when you get to a place like this.
There's some temptations that come into your mind that you think you would never even think about, and you're now considering and they dance around in your mind. And then they start lodging down into your heart and you start actually considering and playing out mental fantasies of some ways to opt out or sedate. The pain and you begin to drift you drift from people get drift from God and there is a group of people they were experiencing that they were drifting in the spirit of God spoke to the writer of Hebrews and he wanted to encourage him.
He wanted to draw them back. He wanted to give them perspective and so he reminded them and this is what he said in Hebrews 10 he said, think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ.
Remember how you remain faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and repeat and then sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things you suffered along with those who were thrown into jail and when everything you own was taken from you. You accepted it with joy.
You knew they were better things waiting for you that would last forever. He reminded them of what you been to in the past how God was faithful, eternal perspective, and then his word of hope. Verse 35. So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward. It will bring you don't opt out. Don't give up. There's a great reward.
Now there's a great reward. Later and then you would expect you later for him to give.
Now here's the solution.
Here's what you do. Here's what's going to make all right, here's the formula and he kinda gives it to us, but we don't like it. It's verse 36.
I put it in your notes for you have need of endurance, so that once you've done the will of God, you might receive what was promised. When you feel like that when I feel like that when things are going terrible. God's word is remember.
Think back now you have need of endurance circle the word endurance for this interesting Greek words.
Hoopoe Menno Kubo under Menno has stress, pressure, pain you have need to keep pressing ahead. You have need to hang in there and then what the writer does. He says the Lord has no pleasure.
When we shrink back from walking by faith and trusting him and so he gives a whole chapter of chapter 11 of people that hung in there people that hung in there. It's the Hall of Fame of faith and after he gets done with Chapter 11.
Then he opens up chapter 12 and he says therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses, looking back at Abraham of Enoch of Sarah of Daniel of Samson with such a great cloud of witnesses of people. But despite their ups or downs or pains or struggles to remain faithful.
He said, let us lay aside every in encumbrance, not necessarily sin stuff loads weights is like a runner who puts on his little shorts instead of a backpack when he runs a marathon is a backpack is a lot of junk is, is it wrong to wear backpack. No, but you just don't want to do when you can run 26 miles .2 and this is lay aside that in the sin and then notice what your note says and run the race with what circle it again run the race with endurance and set before you.
Most people miss the greatest things in all the world with God their future relationships, career and their family because they have a window like I described, and sometimes they don't outwardly quit, but inwardly they quit and what you can learn is the great reward that God has for us in the midst of our adversity is when we keep pressing ahead. When we endure in working to learn why to endure the talk in this new series about how you can make it through anything. Why, because God has a great plan. He has a reward in this life, and a far greater one later and he summarizes it in these three words jot them if you will write in your notes, keep pressing ahead no matter what, so there may be many, many people in this room there thinking I hear what you're saying but you don't get it ship you understand what I'm going through. It's too hard.
It's too difficult. I didn't want to come this morning and I know I'm here but down deep in my heart right now my mind wants to kinda bind what you're saying but I'm just not buying it, and whether that's divorce or depression or separation, but if you're tired of being lonely or single, whether you lost your job or your house, whether it's cancer troubled health or aging parents are a child that you don't know what to do with her apparent you don't know what to do with whether she didn't get in a school or even betrayed by a friend working to follow the path of a man called Nehemiah who has five different kinds of adversity who responds differently in each kind of adversity who refuses to give up and experiences the reward now an even greater reward later ensuing this first session, but I want to do is give a framework and first is already step one is what I just call a basic understanding of adversity. I mean, this is just understanding the basics. There's four specific principles in this one it's you can't but Christ can mean I hear people all the time and I've said it� I can't. I can't take anymore. I can't live with us anymore.
I can't I can't I can't, God says that's the first principle you can't, I can. Philippians 413 the apostle Paul would say I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. So let's just get out of the idea that you can do it you can muster the strength somehow you have the willpower I got news for you. You can't. But God can through you. Second, if you will open your Bible to Psalm 34 the author of one of the greatest teachings in all of the Bible in terms of how to make it through difficult times. As David yes he was a king. Yes, he was powerful but he went through some the devastating pain great majority of all the Psalms are written by guy and he shares his heart in Psalm 34 verse 19 he says the righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all you need to believe we need to believe, not just intellectually but you need to believe that God wants to help you. I memorize that in a different translation is says many are the afflictions of the righteous, but this isn't bad people. This is of the righteousness of people say God I want to life your way.I want to love people. God I want my life to be exactly wanted to be. Many are the afflictions the difficulties the pain the hardships that righteous people go through but the second half, the Lord delivers them from the law he delivers out of him. He delivers through not always the way you want now is the time that you want but you can believe you know God's not down on you keys your good Shepherd. He cares about you.
He really wants to help you. Third, if you need to admit your need. Psalm 3418 says the Lord is near the broken hearted. He saves those that are crushed in spirit to pack a big part of what God is doing in your adversity.
He's a good, loving, kind, absolutely in control, God who knows everything in a fallen world, and when people betray you, and difficulty comes in the things you can't control.
God promises to take that adversity and what he wants to do is he wants to wean you of yourself dependent senior pride.
He wants to usher you into intimacy with him. He wants all that difficulty to drive you to him. You know what you have to do you gotta admit, you need the some of us are him to do this just buck up all be stronger.
I can get through this. I know some people I knew it gets the velvet vice of adversity just gets harder and harder and harder and harder and as someone wisely said when you finally hit rock bottom there's only one place to look you meet with people with addictions benefit with all tell you the people that had addictions and broken through them.
They will just say it's how you come to the end of yourself playing games and God is near the broken hearted he's near to those who are crushed in spirit to those is that I can't do this and mean it. I really can't. I am powerless and helpless to work my way out of the situation that's how you respond to adversity. The notice what David says in verse 17 he says I cried out to the Lord and he heard my prayer the righteous cry and the Lord hears and he delivers them from all their trouble not notice he didn't say he prayed he didn't say he asked. He said he cried out, you might put in your notes so just is not in your notes, but jot down Hebrews 578. This is this is a little kind of tucked in this chapter about Jesus that we don't think of Jesus. This way, but is says during the days of Jesus life on earth. He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. This is Jesus now.
Although he was a son goes on to say he learned obedience through the things which he suffered. Jesus was fully God perfect never sin, but he was fully human, and he walked with the father and blaze the trail not in his deity, but in his full humanity. It says in his days plural on earth. There were days when he felt so overwhelmed and so pain and so he cried.
This is with loud cries and tears. If you would see Jesus and we were over here and he was a few stones throws he would be saying father I'm on mission. Thank you very much we can get this taken care of because I'm God you have hear him crying out. Father, I can't take it anymore. The people betray me there not responding to what the do I feel tempted, but he was crying out to God. He cried before the father. In a sense, he was heard his reverent submission.
He didn't give in.
He didn't give up. He didn't opt out.
He said not my will but yours be done.
People that's the basics. Most of us spend our energy and adversity, trying to avoid it. Trying to deny it, trying to sedated trying to blame someone else for it.
Instead of asking God to use it in us. I can't, he can. I believe God wants to help me. I admit that I need his help and then at a level like never before you cry out to God and you let your emotions come out in your frustrations come out and your hurts come out in the Lord is near the broken hearted to what I look back on my life. I member when my kids in ICU.
We do know he's gonna make it. I can pray some simple prayers oh father in the name of thy Lord Jesus, would you heal my son. My wife got cancer and Prelude prayers. When I endured personal failure.
I member be in my basement just crying.
I can't turn this around. I'm not failed in ministry before I failed. They asked me to come turn this thing around.
I can't turn it around. I blew it. I'm glad some good things happen, but I can't do it and I will tell you in those windows of time.
When I came to the end of myself and literally not just cried out cry need.
I experience a love from God and not experiencing any other time in my life and that intellectual knowledge that I know that God loves me not because I do something God loves me if I do something that unconditional you are my son you are my daughter. You will experience that and adversity is allowed by God, and at times caused by God to bring you to that point because he loves you and he wants the best for you. I like it this point before we go on to ask, what's the number one issue you're wrestling with. What's the biggest adversity. What's the biggest problem getting what you do after a while you just put it over little category put in the box and just keep on living.
We just pretend it's not there. We keep the noise up and figure ways to deal with it how I want you to get it out of the box and get it right in front of you, right before God is step one. These are the basics.
Step two is you stop believing the lies about adversity you been pumped most of your life with. Every time difficult, painful, unjust, hard things come into your life. Here's the lies that have just bombarded your mind and your subconscious.
Many of them you believe these you don't even know you believe, but they determine your behavior so you're in a tough situation. This is it fair, it's not worth it. God doesn't love me. This is the way it is. Things will never change, I'm being punished by God, I guess I'm a terrible person.
There's no hope for me. No one cares about me.
If God is really good. How can you let this happen. This is too much.
I know he says he will give us more than we can bear.
But this is more than I can bear on out, or just sometimes it's just I'm a failure and you just can't turn off what's the use tread through the motions of life, but no vision, the passion, no dream. Your failure let me tell you the truth about what God says with about adversity.
Number one, it's normal, ready for that adversity is not unusual. It's not unexpected. It's normal authority. Jesus. John 1633.
It's the last night he wants to prepare his men for what they get to go through.
He doesn't say look, I'm going to die and rise from the dead working to make this thing happen. He said in the world you will have tribulation.
This is a promise, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. This is a promise. You have to complain and he sees it look, I'm telling you in advance. It's gonna be hard difficult you have trouble coming.
The apostle Paul go on to say. Talk about a promise second Timothy 312. He says for all of those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus you will be persecuted when there is a happy sort of gosh thanks Paul. See me if I really live it out of yeah and what what what happens to so many of us, you know you fly your flag or you love someone, you take a step of faith in you get a little flak. Oh God, what's wrong, nothing. This is what happened to Paul this would happen to Jesus is what happened to Peter for some happens all Christians be ready. Adversity is normal. Peter would go on to say, it's expected the rights in first Peter 412, he says, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you notice there's purpose for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you.
Why surprised Johnny Christians all the time and I fall into it myself, something difficult will happen will live. What's wrong with that. I do instead of this is normal. It's expected. But here's what it gets lease, good for me. It's purposeful.
Romans chapter 5 the first five verses affect. This is a little phrase five verses that are worth memorizing apostle Paul looking what all God is done and then he opens up chapter 5. This is therefore he talks about we been justified by faith through Jesus Christ and we exult in this new relationship he talks what we have this introduction into grace in which we stand and had the apostle Paul looking at his past looking at the work of Christ. This grace this forgiveness. This promise of the future and he says we exult in hope of the glory of God and the word exult means and choice in and take pride in. And there's just sense of what how and we also exult in what it means. We rejoice. Take pride in embrace lean into squeeze every drop of profit out of tribulation. Why because it's purposeful tribulation leads to endurance.
That's our word who pimento endurance leads to proven character, proven character leads to hope, and hope doesn't disappoint, because in the midst of that pain in the midst of that difficulty as you keep pressing ahead. That's when the love of God gets poured into your heart listings chips talk, sing adversity series. Keep pressing ahead will be back with the final word about his message, but before you is I hope you'll take a second to go online or Share and encourage others to hear this message to adversity comes in all shapes and sizes, discouragement, opposition, tough circumstances and personal failure. But with this series chip gives you the tools and the tactics you need to keep pressing ahead no matter what, for limited time, keep pressing ahead resources are discounted and the MP3s are free to order your copy or to send it to a friend. Just visit us online at http://livingontheedge.org or give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 will chip as we launch this series feels very timely.
I can't think honestly Dave of a series that could be more timely. I mean, keep pressing ahead how to make it through anything. What we've been through in recent days is an anything that we never ever dreamed. And I think that the important challenges not going to be how do we get back to some new normal.
What I've learned over the years is there's always been difficulties, circumstances, tragedy, pain opposition, but God bring something new out of them and so what we want to learn how to do is not just somehow get back something that we lost there some things that we lost that are never coming back, what we need to do is get a toolbox a spiritual toolbox that allows us to say okay, how do I keep pressing ahead. How do I not lose heart. How I fortify relationships, how do I gain all that God wants to do in me and through me in the midst of all that we been through and so in this series were going talk about how to make it through adversity discouragement. I mean downright depression opposition, a spiritual attack. What you do when you literally fail. I mean, you just have to face failure. I cannot think of a greater picture then Nehemiah in the Old Testament who had such opposition. He was such a difference maker, but he wasn't a pastor, he wasn't a priest, he wasn't a prophet. He was just sort of a regular guy. He was a guy that was a businessman who had some leadership gift who there was a national crisis and he models for us. Are you ready how to keep pressing ahead. How to make it through anything so I hope you'll stay with this. This is a series that you and thank you might even share this with any of your friends. It's can be on the ad. If you miss any one of the messages and I pray I pray got a really use this to bring about fresh new powerful not old but a new normal. That's better than ever before. Thanks chip whether you're a radio podcast, Orap listener, we've got you covered.
I hope you'll set a reminder to be with us for this entire series. Like Chip said and up listeners know the app is a great way to catch up if you happen to miss a program let me encourage you chip created a handy chart in his message notes for this series to help you follow along. Through his teaching and applications from the book of Nehemiah or quick downloaded LivingontheEdge.org or fill in notes on the as we close today's program.
I want to take just a minute to cut a lean back in the chair with you and ask you, how are you really do, and we began the program by saying what's the biggest issue that your face and maybe it's a job, or maybe it's that you just broke up with someone or a struggle in your marriage or you wish you were married or when your kids is having a difficult time were I just got a lot of friends right now that are going through very difficult health issues and you know it's like oh God, help me help me help me in and why me and why now is as we close today's program. I like you too. I just identify what is that adversity, what's the issue that you're dealing with. And I want to remind you that you can't but Christ can think part of the whole issue with adversity is is believing, that is if I tried harder if I was doing something different then and I just want to remind you that you can't, Christ can, and I also want you just to lean back for just a moment maybe drive in the car are you jogging or maybe just sort it slow up the pace just a little bit right now and exhale and I want you to know and believe that God wants to help you know personally I'm reading in the Psalms right now, and in a King David is a godly, godly man, but I hear them over and over. I called out to the Lord your my refuge. He was my very present help in time of need. I think down deep, some of us feel like God doesn't really want to help me. I don't measure up. You live with the God of grace. Yes, we learned that adversity is normal.
It's can be expected in our next broadcast were to learn that it's purposeful, it's powerful but it's only temporary. But today I want you to believe and trust the God of the universe sees every aspect of your life. He knows your pain eat. He knows what's going on. He knows how you feel.
Just admit that you need his help and here's your application today cry out to God not just in your mind, find a quiet place and if only for five minutes. Oh God, say it out loud. I need you please help me so often that phrase I cried out to the Lord and he heard my voice as a close today's program. Let me just pray for you. Father, you know exactly what's going on in the heart and the mind of the person listening to my voice. I pray in the name of your son, you help them to believe that this very instant that your for them that you love them that you work this for good and that is they cry out, you may not deliver them out of it, but you will be with them in it.
We just give them strength and endurance.
Just for today cry's name, amen. You know a great way to stay engaged and connected to chip in Living on the Edge is with the Chip Ingram up, you'll get free access to all of Chip's recent messages. His message notes and much more.
And not only that, but it couldn't be easier to call or email directly from the yeah will be with us again next time Chip continues his series. Keep pressing ahead. Until then, this is Dave Burley saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge