Steady In The Boat

Our youth Bible study this past Wednesday night, it's just amazing how the Lord is on time, how he ties things together. But we just started something Wednesday, I believe it was First Corinthians. One of my leaders can help me, but but it's about faith, hope and love. And we started on the first week about faith this past Wednesday. And just just amazing how as we share just how, you know, faith is nothing new that that we've heard about. I mean, God's always enlightening us and showing more and more about his ways and his character. But one thing one of the things that kind of came out, you know, when we exercise faith, even in worship this morning, you know, that faith did not start with us, did it? It started with God and him reaching out to us, seeking us. And man, what an awesome thing that when he gives us faith and it's his grace that imposes this on us and then we respond, then we have a lifetime to exercise faith. I mean, that faith that comes in us needs to go out in the scripture. We quoted so many good scriptures on faith, but it's without faith. It's impossible to please him. And man, we have to exercise faith when we don't feel it, like when we don't see things that are that are opposing us. But God still honors it. It pleases him when we exercise faith. And I'm just thankful that how the song service enabled us the opportunity to to do that this morning, just to lift him up, to glorify him. He's all worthy of praise. And I just I want to encourage us to just to keep focusing on him and what he's doing in our lives, no matter what we see or don't see. Every service is important. Every time we're together is important because he's renewing our hearts and minds every day. Y'all believe that? And he's going to continue to do that through his word this morning. So praise God. Well, praise the Lord. I want to welcome everybody to our nine o'clock service. This is what it feels like. That's all right. Praise God. I appreciate the Lord's presence this morning. I appreciate the thoughts that have been shared, what we've sung, what we just heard is all very much in harmony with things the Lord's been speaking to me. And I'm sure I'm not the only one, because a lot of times we just need to hear what we know, but be reminded, be strengthened.

And it's not just the information, is it? It's the grace of the spirit that comes with it, because we have the information. There's a lot of stuff we know, but we need divine power to walk in that, don't we? And that's what the Lord is ministering to us in so many ways. I don't know, I'll just start with a scripture in James chapter five. And I think you'll see as we go that the thoughts I've had are very much, very much been expressed in a number of ways today. James, of course, is the natural half-brother of Jesus, who came to faith after Jesus was raised from the dead. He wasn't a believer until then, and then Jesus revealed himself to his brothers, and they became leaders in the church. But anyway, he was encouraging and instructing the believers throughout his epistle here. And he comes to a place in chapter five where he says, verse seven, Be patient then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. There's some pretty basic truth here that I think we know again with our heads, and we need to be reminded in our hearts, that the kingdom of God can be illustrated by this natural picture of a farmer. You know, what kind of a farmer would it be who went out and plowed and planted, and then got up in the next morning and said, oh my God, there's no crop. But none of us would ever do that with our spiritual lives, would we? The reality is we are built not exactly patient, are we? We don't ... We like to see push-button results. We want to come down and get an experience, and boom, everything is just the way it's supposed to be. And of course, you remember the classic picture of the lady who said, Lord, I want patience, and I want it now. And of course, The other picture of the lady who went to the preacher and said, will you please pray for me? I just am struggling. I need patience. So he said, come on, let's pray. Lord, send this sister tribulation. Tribulation upon tribulation, pile it on Lord. He said, wait a minute. I don't want tribulation. I got enough of that. I asked for patience. And he said, sister, tribulation works patience.

The reality is that what we need in spiritual life is a product of growth. It's a product of process. There is no way. Asking God for patience as though it's somehow magically going to appear and we're suddenly going to be patient people is a whole lot like praying for muscles. Lord, life is hard. I need muscles. Oh God. And then you wake up the next morning, nothing. Oh my God. Lord, I thought you answered prayer. I thought you cared about me. What's wrong? Where are my muscles? Well, you know, that sounds silly to us because we know how it works. But I believe God wants to continually remind us about these simple truths that everything about the Lord's kingdom, God's kingdom is something that is like a crop that takes time. It takes process. And God's not ... God, like the farmer, is not the least bit anxious about it. He knows the process, knows what it takes. And more than that, He is a whole lot better positioned than that farmer. But the reality is you and I struggle, don't we? Our emotions are up, they're down. They're all over the map. If we get up in the morning and the sun is shining and we just happen to feel good, praise God. Isn't it a glorious day? And if the next day is just the opposite, something's wrong. And the reality is it's not. God is doing something and He wants a constancy out of us that we don't have naturally. And sadly, I won't say that, but anyway, you know what I mean. Sadly, it just doesn't come by somehow God give me the magic experience and suddenly I'll be mature. It just doesn't work that way any more than it does asking for muscles. But I am so thankful that God is constantly reminding us of the need to be patient. Now, the word patience here is a little different than it is in some places. This one has ... one of the meanings, if you look it up in the Greek, is long-sighted. That's an interesting way to put it, isn't it? But you think about a farmer when he plants, he understands the process. He knows that this is going to happen today and it's going to be months and a whole lot has to happen in the meantime for that to come to fruition. And so he is automatically thinking in terms of the entire process, not, you know, upset and anxious about the details along the way. And God wants us to be long-sighted. Long-spirited, I think, actually is the word. Long-spirited. And so it's partly the knowledge of how it works, but it's another thing is that we agree with it. Wouldn't that be a good thing? If we not only understood what God wants and how He works, but we actually agreed with it? God help us. I bet you there's one or two here that probably have not exactly agreed with how the Lord's working in your life the last day or three, like all of us. We just don't react.

We react to the moment. We allow our emotions to get in the way. We allow feelings as though somehow if God's really at work, I would feel a certain way or things would happen a certain way. What's going on? And, you know, the devil has a way in those times of saying, does God really care about you? Is His word really true? Are you sure? Nobody would ever admit that you've had those thoughts cross your mind. But of course, we know where they come from. But, you know, we have to learn how to recognize as God's people what faith we just talked about really means and what God is actually doing in us. I'm so thankful that God, again, is constant. There's a constancy about Him. And it's that constancy that He seeks to reproduce in us. And all the promises that we have, we know that He plans something before the foundation of the world that nobody can stop. We know that He doesn't change His mind and get in the middle of it and say, oh, forget this. Just do away with everybody. I'm tired of this. He doesn't act like us. He is working out something that is absolutely on track, on time. He knows exactly what needs to happen when and where we fit into it. And he has promised, as has been said, never to leave us, never to forsake us. Oh, thank God. Thank God. Boy, if it had to do with my virtues and my abilities, he'd have forsaken me a long time ago. But he knows what he's doing, and he is so patient with us, isn't he? I'm so thankful. Praise God. Well, there are so many scriptures that you could refer to that we know about, but I just, I want this to somehow sink in to me so that when I get up in the morning and I don't feel like I'm on the top of the mountain spiritually and everything's going like I think it ought to, I need to stop and say, wait a minute. Things are happening exactly the way they're supposed to. And I'm okay with it, and I'm trusting God that he will give me the strength and grow my spiritual muscles in the process, and Lord, thank you, it's okay. Is God's Word ever not true?

See, that's an absolute, isn't it? When God makes a promise, it's true regardless of how I happen to feel about it on a given day. Things are not dictated by my circumstances and what I see and feel, they're dictated by what he said. Now, wouldn't it be good if we got to the place where that's what we went by instead of all the other stuff that we all go by? We all have needs. The Lord's not saying any of this to condemn, but we're his children and we got a lot of growing up to do, don't we? I certainly do. But I just, I appreciate the Lord's faithfulness. I've certainly, you know, I think many times I know that I go through things myself in the course of a week, and it's the Lord reminding me of what I need to know, but also it's because you're going through the same stuff. And he wants me to be able to express what he's showing me for your benefit, it's not just for me. We absolutely serve one another, don't we? We're not little islands here. But here's God absolutely working out something from the foundation of the world. I'm going to bring in a truth that I've mentioned a number of times. It's in John chapter 12, because it's interesting to me that the Lord through James uses the illustration of a farmer who plants something and there's a crop that's coming, all right? You know God planted a crop, right? See we were born into a world with Adam's life. Adam's life cannot produce divine righteousness. It just can't. It's impossible. We need something else that has a different kind of life in it. So God planted a crop, didn't he?

You know when he did that? Listen to what Jesus said. Let's see if I can find this, all right? In verse 23 of John 12, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Wow, considering this is before the cross, isn't that something? Jesus was looking past that, wasn't he? Wouldn't it be good if we could look past the circumstances that get us to the place? Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. And then of course the example that we need to be willing to lay down our lives and not love our lives in this world. But here's the process. God absolutely planted a seed. That seed was our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know a seed has an outward part and an inner part. The inner part has the power to reproduce. The life is on the inside. There was a part of Jesus that had to be done away with in order to release the life that was on the inside. Now what was that life? That was God's life. God's life was on the inside, but Adam's life was on the outside. In order for that life to be released, he had to be willing to lay his life down and let the other one go completely, renounce it, allow it to be put to death. And when he did, he was planted in the earth for three days. And then he was raised up and it was a divine life that came forth. but it wasn't just about Jesus, was it? It was about us. It was what he did that enabled him to be in a position to share God's life with us because he had put away our sins. My sin was judged when he went to the cross. But then God begins to work in hearts,

and that seed that was just one seed went into the ground and came forth and has produced a crop ever since. So God has planted a crop and it's still coming to pass in us, and we're a part of that. You see what James was concerned about, that we not only, that we have this long-spirited view of things where we understand and agree, but there's a result out of that. In fact, I didn't ever get to that part in James where he says, stand firm, be patient, long-spirited, and stand firm. That's what God wants to bring about in our lives where we are steady in the boat. How about that for a title, steady in the boat? There's so many possible ones. I thought long-spirited, but I said, that's a little bit crazy. People won't understand that one. But I think we understand the picture of being steady in the boat, where we just don't react to every little thing we see and feel, but we're able to move forward and keep the big picture in our minds, not just of, well, the Lord's coming one day, but He's got a purpose in my being here and what He's accomplishing in me, and it just doesn't work any other way except He's planting a crop. Well, now, didn't Jesus say something about that? Didn't He talk about the farmer who went out and sowed seed, and it fell on different kinds of ground? And for some, it just fell on the wayside, where people were trampling it, and it was hard, it couldn't penetrate, and of course, nothing happened there. There was another one where it was on rocky soil, where it just, there was a superficial response, but it didn't really get down to where it needed to. It wasn't real. And there was another one that fell among thorns. In other words, the idea was that the message was compromised. The person, yeah, they wanted eternal life, but they wondered what this world had too, and their heart was divided, and so they just never accomplished what the Lord wanted. But I'll tell you, there was some that was good soil. That's what the Lord's looking for. I thank God. I believe there's some good soil here. God knows every heart, and I pray that you're good soil, because God will absolutely plant His seed, the Word of God, in every willing heart, and it will bring forth an eternal crop. Thank God. And as that grows up in us, it produces a crop, what is it, 30-fold, whatever it is. I forget the exact language in the Gospels. But God has absolutely planted a crop, and He wants us to be on board with how He's doing it. And again, this has to do with the big picture. It has to do with our lives on a day-to-day basis. I thought about the examples

we've heard so many times from the Old Testament, because you remember how Jesus, it was said of Jesus that in the fullness of time, He came. And what does that mean? That means exactly the time that God scheduled it. It wasn't a minute early. It wasn't a minute late. He came exactly in the point of history when God said, this is the time. Well, there were a lot of people that we're going to see one day who served God, and it wasn't time yet. Boy, that's a challenge. And so that's why you read what we do in the book of Hebrews, where the writer was trying to tell people, take this seriously, give it your all, because look at the example of the believers in the Old Testament, what they went through, and how they waited, and they stood fast. And Abraham believed God, and God made a promise that didn't make any natural sense at all, and it took 25 years. Any of you got tired of waiting for this or for that? Well, Abraham, and he didn't have the cross to look back to. This is, somebody spoke to me. I know enough about Him to have confidence. That's God. I believe what He said, and somehow, some way, this is going to happen. I'm just going to, I'm going to believe Him. And in spite of all the little side trips He took, don't we all? God was faithful because He stood fast, and he waited, and he waited, and God, at the appropriate time, fulfilled his promise. Do you think that there was no real purpose in that, that God was just playing games with Abraham, making him wait like that? Or do you think there was something going on that was an example to us, but certainly it changed him? We need to be changed. I need it. I need it right now. I've became, you know, I'm more and more aware every day how much I need changing. But boy, I got somebody who's a mighty good at the job. He's awesome at it. And so we have people like Abraham lifted up as an example,

and how all of the things that God promised Joseph, how many times has that scripture been, or that example been brought up, of the Lord revealing a mighty picture of what was gonna happen in Joseph's future. But boy, did his life go sideways. He's sold as a slave. He's falsely accused and thrown into prison. But what an example of somebody who didn't just say, well, I guess that didn't work out. I can't trust that God who told me all that nice stuff. Boy, it sounded good, but look at my circumstances. I guess I can't trust him, or I guess I misunderstood it or something. There was a faithfulness. There was a steady in the boat relationship between him and God, where he became somebody that you could trust. I mean, even in the prison, the guard put all kinds of responsibility under Joseph because he was faithful. Where did he get that from? I'll tell you, we got a God who's able to work if we'll just let him. Boy, if we just learn to get out of the way and actually believe him. See, again, this is not about information. It's about what we do in the moment and whether we, we all have the feelings. We all have the things that go on in our hearts

and our minds, the questions that arise and all of that, and the devil's throwing his darts in there. The question is not whether we experience those things. We all do. The question is, what do we do? What kind of choices do we make? And so we see people like Joseph and look what the Lord did and had him ready. And years and years went by, and all of a sudden, out of the blue, the Lord arranges a circumstance where Pharaoh had, was this where he had a dream and didn't understand it? Had two dreams. Nobody could figure it out. And I remember, hey, there was a guy I was in prison with, and he could explain dreams. All of a sudden, Joseph, they go to Joseph. Hey, get dressed. You're going to see Pharaoh. Say what? Wouldn't it be good if we just let the Lord arrange our schedule and our path? He kind of knows what he's doing. Oh, how much, how often we try to make things happen instead of just learning how to rest in the Lord. That was one of the things I meant to say about Jesus. He certainly is an example of what we're talking about, because yes, he was the one who was planted, but what was his earthly life like? He was hated.

He was lied about. All kinds, and then, of course, ultimately he was killed, but all the opposition that he endured and the devil doing everything he could, he was tempted in every way, just like you and me, but the Lord gave him the strength and the grace to make the choices that he needed to make, and didn't he say something like, take my yoke and learn from me, for I am upset all the time. Every time something goes wrong, I wonder if God's plan is actually going to work or if he really cares. Wait a minute, he didn't say that, did he? There was a total trust, a total giving himself to the Father's plan, that even when things were sideways out here, it didn't affect his spirit and his willingness to just be thankful and to rest and rejoice, because he knew, that's where my help comes from. That's where my hope comes from. That's where my security comes from. I'm here to do something that absolutely no devil in hell can stop. What am I listening to all this garbage for? That's all you get out of the world is a bunch of garbage. It's ruled by a spirit and a kingdom that hates God, will do anything in his power to hinder us and to discourage us. Of course, I know there's nobody here

that ever gets discouraged, right? You're always on the mountaintop. Boy, I wish it were that way, but truth is we all get there, don't we? But anyway, the Lord at the proper time brought Joseph out, didn't He? And there he was, a mighty example of God's mercy and faith and all that the Lord had in mind. Think of David. I mean, the Lord anointed him. He was anointed by the prophet to be king of Israel. Praise God that I just walk into Jerusalem and say, here I am. Years and years and years went by when he was running for his life, fighting, wondering. And it seemed like he had already, somewhere in there, this was all after he had fought Goliath, isn't it, if I remember correctly? Somebody correct me. I need a lot of correcting. But anyway, he had already fought Goliath and was a champion of the people. And then Saul's jealousy over this guy became so great that all he could do was run for his life and live in caves and actually run to the foreign government, run under a foreign country. And God, what's happening? I don't understand. You anointed me king. Why is all this happening? But do you think the Lord was making a mistake or do you think the Lord was actually preparing him to learn how to trust in difficult circumstances and to be able to stand when it didn't make any earthly sense to stand, but to remember, I know whom I've believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed, I've given into his hands. Have you given yourself into his hands? That's where it starts. There's a commitment of the heart that is a response to the word that he plants in here.

And when we give ourselves to him, our lives are in his hands. And we sang that this morning, boy, song after song, my life is in your hands or his hands, whichever it is. But I just praise God for the simple truths that God is trying to wake me up to realize and maybe one or two others. Anybody here need some of this? Yeah, we all do, don't we? Because life is constantly messing with our emotions and trying to get our attention and make us anxious and what did I do wrong? Why is it if God really loved me and really cared about me, why would it be this way? I can see a lot of heads going down. Yeah, you're not alone. Don't feel bad. We all go through that. But I'll tell you, God wants to, God is teaching his children. There are a lot of scriptures. I don't know how long this needs to go. But anyway, I thought of, I'm trying to remember the ones I was thinking of. Oh yeah, Romans 8 is certainly one of them. I can find Romans here, aha. Romans chapter eight and of course 828 is certainly there, but I'm thinking about earlier than that because it has to do with what's coming and the process of getting there. Now verse 18 I guess is a good place to start. I consider, Paul writes, I consider, this is how I see it, that our present sufferings, whatever we're going through here, are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Oh, and the Lord gets rid of all this flesh and all the life, that ugly old life that's in it that we got from Adam. What he has put on the inside is going to be amazing and it certainly won't be any credit to us as though we earned it, we deserved it.

This is God's work. Oh, what it's like to be his child. Thank God. Not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us for the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. That's what everything's waiting for. You wonder, why is God waiting? What's going on? Well, this is where we're headed. Don't worry, he is on track on time. All right, the children of God to be revealed for the creation was subjected to frustration. Not by its own choice, but by the will of one who subjected it, why would he do that? In hope, there's that word hope that was mentioned this morning, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage. bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. That's the destiny that God is heading for. That's when the harvest is done and there's no more reason for this world to exist. It won't. God's going to deal with it. Fire will come. All right? But then he says this, we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit, see that's what this is about. We've got to have his spirit on the inside or we're just practicing religion. But I'll tell you when we do, there's a life that is just waiting to be burst out, to burst out of all this limitation, but it's coming, but it's got to grow here. All right? We, not only so, we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit groan inwardly.

Anybody done any groaning this week? As we wait eagerly. Are you waiting eagerly? Is this something you really expect to happen? Or are you so focused on the moment that you can't, you lose sight of where we're headed and why things are the way they are? Anyway, wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship. And I think we've made this point. This is not like adopting a child. This is a full grown son who is now ready to be presented to society. This is my son. They're ready to assume the full authority of adulthood. They have the authority to act in my name. Boy, if he gave me that kind of authority right now, I'd mess it up for sure. I'm not there. There's still too much of Adam going on that the Lord is working on delivering me from. I know some of you are there, but I'm not yet. Anyway, our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies, that's when the Lord comes and there's a transformation that takes place in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. We read in 1 Corinthians 15, something happens that sets us free from all of this. And what God has been doing on the inside comes out and it shines like the sun. Do you really believe that or is this just some religious doctrine? You know, we need to live with a revelation of that, a long spirited view of life, ours and the world's history, where we can say, I know what's going on and I'm okay and I'm going to have a rest in my spirit. I'm going to seek God and respond to him when he deals with me because I know he loves me. Praise God. So that's where we're headed. I'm ready for my body to be redeemed.

Praise God. For in this hope, we are saved. All right? Now there's the word hope. Praise God. That was mentioned this morning and what a key thing it is, but again, we've said this many times and I want to just make the point real quickly. Hope is not a wish. Hope is a confident expectation of something that is not here now. But our conviction of its reality is just as strong as if it were here. Is what God has promised true? Can we rely upon that truth even though we can't see it yet? You know, I mentioned the Old Testament saints. Think of what so many of them went through with all of the wonderful prophecies of one who was going to come. Praise God. We're going to have salvation. We're going to have forgiveness of sins. He's going to do all these wonderful things for us. The message is going to go to the ends of the earth. Praise God that one is coming. And then life just kept happening. Time went by. Is that really going to happen? Are we just believing a bunch of pie in the sky kind of stuff? You think about what it took to stand in that hour, the grace that God was extending to people who had to live with that situation. And then you come to a period of 400 years between Malachi and John the Baptist. Nobody has a word from God. Nobody.

And yet in all of that, God preserved a remnant that never lost their faith. These weren't people who lived 400 years either. They were people who lived and died, lived and died, lived and died. And yet God preserved a remnant who believed and expected. And so when Jesus came. You had people like Anna, people like Simeon, who had lived their whole lives with this sense, he's coming, he's coming. And was it Simeon who the Lord had actually revealed to him that he was not going to die until he'd seen the Lord's Christ, and he did as a little baby. Think of what God did for his people back in such a day. Can we not, with all that we know and all that we see, can we not have that kind of a faith that will carry us through our day-to-day life, and just experience a little more rest and a little more victory over feelings and circumstances and our reactions to them? Now I'm going to meddle into myself here. Yeah, the Lord is merciful, isn't he? So anyway, this process of salvation now is, again, this is the whole process. This isn't just getting us in the door, this is the transformation. We could think of salvation as he's including me, as inclusion. This is not, this is more than inclusion, this is transformation. This is a work that begins with opening our hearts and him coming in, being born of his spirit, but now something begins to happen. And now he's getting us ready, and that's what takes time. That's what we see constantly lifted up in scripture, the need for standing firm and keeping our eye on the goal and knowing what's happening and being on board with it and cooperating with it. There's a thing here, and I'm saying it, we haven't heard, but yet we need it, don't we? If we look over our day-to-day life, we don't live that way like God wants us to. And so the Lord wants to encourage and help us. But anyway, all right, in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is no hope at all.

Who hopes for what they already have? See, hope does have to do with the future. It's faith in something that hasn't happened yet. Boy, I'll tell you what, I pray that God will just build that sense of hope in all of us, not just as an emotion, because we need something that will carry us when we don't have any emotion, when nothing feels right and looks right. I've got to have something that is so bedrock down in here that it holds me when nothing else will. Only God's Spirit living down in here can do that. Thank God, He is always with us, isn't He? He said, I'll never leave you. He said, you've got, you have what you need. I'm going to say something. I think I said last week, I don't know if I said it in this terms, but these terms, but so many people are waiting on the power, and remember the power is waiting on us. When we do what God says, we believe what He says, but we put that into action, then we are expecting the power to kick in. Now the power kicking in doesn't mean, oh, I've got this rush of grand and glorious emotion and oh, I'm ... No. Sometimes you won't even feel a thing at all, but it will give us the strength that we need in that moment. Praise God. You know, God's people do go through things. Think of David, one of my favorite Psalms, how long, oh Lord? I keep praying, I don't hear anything. Things are going wrong, everybody's against me. How long is this going to go on, oh God? We all go through those things, don't we? Praise God. But anyway, hope that is seen is no hope at all.

Who hopes for what they already have, but if we hope for what we do not yet have, in other words, if this is a real quality that God has birthed in our hearts that gives us a genuine heartfelt conviction of the reality of something that isn't here yet, what do we do? How does that translate into action? We wait for it patiently. You say, God, you got my schedule. You know my schedule, you know exactly what needs to happen, I'm trusting in you. And of course, we see the Spirit helping us in our weakness because we don't know how to pray. But then of course, and we know that in all things, He is at work for the good of those who love Him. Praise God, who called according to His Spirit, according to His, anyway, purpose. There we go. All according to His purpose. I have a couple of other scriptures that I was going to read. I think one of them, I think I'll just go to one in 2 Peter chapter 3, certainly others I could refer to. I've referred to what Moses or Abraham went through and how he stood fast and the Lord fulfilled His promise. That's the example that we're given. But when you look at the big picture, let's look at 2 Peter chapter 3, familiar Scripture. Peter writes, above all you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come. You think we've got a few of those? Scoffing and following their own evil desires. You think there's a connection there? Yeah, you've got people whose nature is driving them to fulfill that nature in a wrong way and obviously they've got to justify that, so I'm just scoffing at all that foolishness. These people that believe in Jesus. They will say, where is this coming He promised?

Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. Of course, they don't even talk about creation anymore, but anyway, beginning of creation, but they deliberately forget, it's an interesting way to put that. There's a choice going on there. There's a motivation behind that. They've got to justify the freedom to do what it is that they please. It seems like I remember that there was some atheist a number of years ago who admitted that the reason he was an atheist was because he didn't want to believe in God because if he did, there would be retribution. There would be consequences of his moral choices. He wanted the freedom to do what he wanted. So it was a very convenient belief to come up with a rationale that says, there's no God, I'm free to do that. They deliberately forget that long ago by God's Word, the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also, the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same Word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends, with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. We can't wait five minutes sometimes. The Lord's not worried. Nothing is escaping His control, thank God. But here's the other part. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise. Again, it's like the farmer. There's a process. You can't go out halfway through the process and get all upset because it isn't there yet. Why isn't it here? Something's wrong.

God's not the least bit upset or worried. He knows what's coming and He is not slow in keeping His promise, but He knows what it takes. As some understand slowness, instead He is patient with you. Anybody here glad that God is patient? Oh my. All I have to do is look in the mirror and say, God, how in the world can you put up with somebody like me? It doesn't make any sense. What an amazing God we have, that He understands the process so well that He can actually love me in spite of all that's lacking. He tells me something over and over again, I just don't get it. And then He keeps working and He keeps working and maybe eventually, oh yeah, I actually need to believe that to the point where I put it into action. Oh, is that how it works? How many of us go through that with different issues in our lives? We wonder, how in the world have I gone so long and not gotten this? I keep struggling with the same silly thing, but God is patient. He knows what it takes to bring the whole crop to that place where it's time to reap. We see those pictures in Scripture. I don't know what His schedule is, but I know He's not going to be one minute late. There's a certainty, and I want to live with that in mind, but realize that my individual life has a part to play in all of that, that He's just as faithful there. Whether I go by way of the upper taker or the undertaker, it's all the same. Praise God. Either way, it's fine. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Does the Lord know those who are His?

Does He know them before it happens? Did not Jesus say, all that the Father gives me, what? Will come to me. All of them will come. And those who come will never be driven away. Boy, what an amazing process that God has set in motion. That seed that He planted so long ago, it's still bringing forth fruit today. Some of the fruit is right here. May God help us to grow up and produce fruit ourselves because God is continuing the process. I don't know how long. Again, that's not my schedule, but I'll tell you, we're seeing the process unfold, are we not? We know it's coming. We see the things that God has shown us happening before our eyes. They just aren't happening the speed we thought they were at one time, but they're real. And God is absolutely on time and on track with everything that He's doing. So all of that's happening, but the day of the Lord will come. Like a thief, unexpected. The heavens will disappear with a roar. The elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people aren't you to be? If this is real, what are we living for? Is there any logic in living for this world and what you can get out of it? Not a bit. God has called us out of this to look to Him and He gives us the strength, doesn't He? I'm so thankful for that. You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming, or you eagerly look forward. I think it's another way to translate that. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. So where are we at right now? What do we need? Anybody here need this? Anybody here need to have greater strength not to be reacting to the moment and living as though, well, that's what's in control. Why is this? Why that? What's going on? Do you think maybe God ... Here's a picture. I was looking at two different ways that you could react to say, oh, God wants me to be this. One way to react would be to say, okay, like Peter, I'm going to jump in there and do that. Or Paul in Romans chapter 7, I know what he wants, boy, I'm going to go for it. Well, that doesn't work, does it? Because we learn real quick if we're honest, we haven't got it in us to be what God ... You can't have Adam produce Christ's righteousness. It just ain't going to happen. So that's one extreme. The other

one is like I said where, okay, God, if you give me the power, I'll do it. So we sit there passively just, I'm just helpless. You know I can't do it. If you really wanted me to do it, you'd give me the power. What does the Lord look for? He wants us to listen to his voice, see what he's putting his finger on and ask him for the strength and the grace to do what he said to do. But when we do it, we understand that's the same as pulling the trigger and having the power begin to flow. Again, not whether we feel it or not, it has nothing to do with it. But that's what God is looking for from me. So what does that get down to? Well, are we patient? Are we patient with each other? Are we thankful? Are we at rest in our spirits? Are we anxious? Are we giving in to fear? Are we giving in to all of these kinds of things that flow out of Adam's life that jump in and try to hinder? Do we sit there and wonder and listen to the lies that Satan wants to put in our heads? What are we doing with all that stuff? Do you think maybe the Lord knows that all that's happening and he's allowing it because he wants us to learn how to deal with it? Because he wants faith to be something more than just information that we say we believe? Or is he wanting us to put that into motion? And absolutely, is that what's steady in the boat means? See, the boat's going somewhere, it's not sitting. But he wants us to be actively engaged in where that boat is going and what it takes to get there. And Lord, help me not to run off in this direction and run off in that direction and react in fear and react in, oh, why did they do that? You know, thousand and one things that affect our emotions. Shouldn't we be able to have a peace? that sees beyond the things that happen in the moment. I can't believe I'm gonna actually have to walk in this. No, you know what, the Lord is so merciful to all of us. He knows right where we're at. And he understands, like the farmer, you can't look at a half-grown crop and say there's something wrong with you. He knows that it takes time and there's gonna have to be the rain and the sun is gonna have to withstand the storm

and it's gonna have to come to full fruition. There's gonna come a time. Well, I'll tell you what, we're getting closer every single day to the Lord closing all this down. Part of me, I've said this before, part of me says, oh God, come today, end it all. This is ridiculous. And part of me says, Lord, don't come until every last soul that you have foreseen comes and is rescued out of this world. When the world is full of people that are either in or out and they've just absolutely hardened their hearts, that's how it'll be when he comes. We're headed that way, but we're not quite there yet. I just pray that God will help us to just be steady in the boat, to learn how to be more at rest, more in tune, more long-spirited, and to learn how to stand firm. God is with us and he's helping us. Aren't you glad for his mercy? I thought about something that, I think I'm gonna pull it out and read it. I had remembered a poem that we had printed years ago in the MCM, and I thought it was on the website. Well, it wasn't. I went back to the website that I had handed off to Philip. It wasn't there either. Somewhere along the line in all of the iterations

of the website, it had gotten gone. Fortunately, I had all of that stuff going back to 30 years ago on my computer. So I dug all the way back to the first website and found the webpage that had it on it. So we'll get it back. But anyway, this was a poem called Wait. I don't know if anybody remembers that, because we all have a weight problem. Anyway, desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried, quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied. I prayed and I wept for a clue to my fate, and the master so gently said, child, you must wait. Wait, you say, wait, my indignant reply. Lord, I need answers, I need to know why. Is your hand shortened, or have you not heard by faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your word. My future and all to which I can relate hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait? I'm needing a yes, a go ahead sign, or even a no to which I can resign. Lord, you promised that if we believe, we need to but ask, and we will receive. And now I wonder, do you hear my cry? I'm weary of asking, I need a reply. Nobody can relate to this, right? Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate. As my master replied once again, you must wait. So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taught, grumbled to God, so I'm waiting, for what?

He seemed then to kneel, and his eyes wept with mine, as he tenderly said, I could give you a sign. I could shake the heavens and darken the sun. I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run. I could give what you seek and pleased you would be, but you would have what you want, but you wouldn't know me. You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint. You'd not know the power that I give to the faint. You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair. You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there. You'd not know the joy of resting in me when darkness and silence were all you could see. You'd never experience that fullness of love as the peace of my spirit descends like a dove. You'd know that I give and I save for a start, but you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart. The glow of my comfort late into the night. The faith that I give when you walk without sight. The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked of an infinite God who makes resources last. You'd never know should your pain quickly flee what it means that my grace is sufficient for thee. I could make every prayer that you prayed come true, but oh the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you. So be silent. my child and in time you will see that the greatest of gifts is getting to know me. Even though my answers might seem to be late, my wisest of answers is still but to wait." Wow, that's got some rich truth, isn't it? Do we serve a faithful God? Is he worth trusting? Is he worth learning how to have more of a

steady, steady in the boat, rest and trust in him and not let all the stuff from the moment affect us like it does? Praise God. To God be the glory.