WEBVTT - Seeing Purpose in Your Problems and Pain, Part 4 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:05.160 The larger we make his name, the smaller he makes 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:11.200 our problems. And that is, there's power in that name. 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:22.040 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:25.080 junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:27.639 I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us. As today we're 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:32.040 continuing a message called Seeing Purpose in Your Problems and Pain. 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:34.880 Really a look at the first 12 verses of James 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.280 chapter one. And as we've been talking about all this week, 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:41.920 we do all face problems in life. We all have 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:45.440 pain that we're walking through. But when we can get 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:49.199 our eyes off of that pain, off of that problem 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:53.239 and on to Christ, it's amazing how he's able to 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:57.200 comfort us, how very often he's able to give us 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:00.720 assurance that he is in control and he is sovereign. 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.640 And while we may not understand how he's going to 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.920 work the situation out for our good, we can have 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.720 a peace and assurance that that's exactly what he's doing. 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.400 So if you can open your Bible to James chapter 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.360 one and join us there as we continue the message 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:21.520 seeing purpose in your problems and pain. Here's Pastor Ford. 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:26.600 The story is told of a king who had a friend, 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:30.600 and they would hang out quite a bit. Even though 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:35.320 he was. He wasn't in royalty. Uh, royal family or anything. 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:39.039 And so, uh, one day the king took him hunting 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.440 with him, and, uh, he was loading the gun for 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.080 the king. Well, he made some kind of mistake. And 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.200 when the king was shooting at an animal, uh, the 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:52.000 gun shot off his thumb. Now, his friend was an optimist. 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:55.080 He would always see the glass half full, never half empty. 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:57.320 And so after every time something happened, whether it was 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:01.280 positive or negative, he always said, this is good. And 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.440 so when the King's thumb got blown off, the king said, 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:08.120 look at this. He said, well, this is good. King said, 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:11.480 no it isn't. My thumb is blown off. And you 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:14.639 think it's good? This is good, King. How is it good? 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.680 I don't know, but it's good. King. And so the 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:18.640 king said, well, if it's so good, I'm putting you 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:20.760 in jail for a year. And he put his best 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:24.720 friend in jail. Anybody got anybody know any kings? And 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:26.800 he put his best friend in jail. Well, he went 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.560 hunting about a year later, and he went to a 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:32.520 place in his kingdom where he knew he shouldn't have 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:36.680 because it was inhabited by cannibals. So they caught the 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.520 king out there by himself. They they strung them up 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.520 like a Christmas turkey, put him on a spit, and 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:46.200 was getting ready to fire him up to cook him 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:50.400 and eat him. But somebody noticed that his thumb was missing. 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.679 And these cannibals had a superstition. They wouldn't eat anybody 0:02:53.680 --> 0:03:00.830 if they weren't whole. And so they let the king go. gold. 0:03:01.870 --> 0:03:03.989 The king thought about it and said, when my thumb 0:03:03.990 --> 0:03:06.829 was blown off, my friend a year ago said, this 0:03:06.830 --> 0:03:09.269 is good. I didn't see how it could be good, 0:03:09.310 --> 0:03:12.110 but now I see that it was good because I 0:03:12.110 --> 0:03:14.669 didn't have a thumb. They didn't eat me. They let 0:03:14.669 --> 0:03:16.710 me go. So he went to his friend. He said, 0:03:16.710 --> 0:03:18.950 I'm releasing you from jail. He said, you got to 0:03:18.950 --> 0:03:21.030 forgive me. He told him the story and he said 0:03:21.030 --> 0:03:23.350 it was bad that I put you in in jail. 0:03:23.350 --> 0:03:26.630 And his friend said, no, it is good. He said, 0:03:26.630 --> 0:03:29.149 wait a minute, it's bad. I told you the story. 0:03:29.150 --> 0:03:31.870 Why do you keep saying it is good? He said, well, see, 0:03:31.870 --> 0:03:34.070 if I wasn't in jail, then I would have been 0:03:34.070 --> 0:03:41.910 with you. And I have both of my thumbs. Oh, 0:03:41.950 --> 0:03:46.470 it's an amazing story because the story emphasizes the fact 0:03:46.590 --> 0:03:49.950 that there are some things that you and I think 0:03:50.150 --> 0:03:54.950 are working against us that are actually working for us. 0:03:55.510 --> 0:03:59.870 Don't shout me down now. Genesis chapter 42, verse 36, 0:03:59.870 --> 0:04:03.750 Jacob says this. All these things are against me. Joseph 0:04:03.750 --> 0:04:07.390 is gone. Benjamin is gone. All these things are against me. 0:04:07.390 --> 0:04:11.110 And little did he know that those things weren't against him. 0:04:11.110 --> 0:04:14.350 They were working for him because he didn't know that 0:04:14.350 --> 0:04:16.830 God had told Joseph. There's going to be seven years 0:04:16.830 --> 0:04:19.550 of famine. So they would have been starving. They would 0:04:19.589 --> 0:04:22.070 have died off. And so the nation of Israel would 0:04:22.110 --> 0:04:25.190 have died before it got started. But what God did, 0:04:25.190 --> 0:04:28.270 because he could see ahead, he began to let things 0:04:28.270 --> 0:04:31.750 happen to Joseph and to Jacob. And he began to 0:04:31.790 --> 0:04:35.310 show them that your setback is just a setup for 0:04:35.310 --> 0:04:39.550 your comeback, that what I'm doing is I am working 0:04:39.750 --> 0:04:42.510 in the midst of things. So there's going to be 0:04:42.510 --> 0:04:46.190 a famine and Joseph's going to be big baller shot caller. 0:04:46.310 --> 0:04:49.349 He's going to bring you down. And for seven years, 0:04:49.470 --> 0:04:52.669 the wealth of the wicked will be stored up for 0:04:52.670 --> 0:04:56.430 the righteous. Help me somebody. Yeah. And so he will 0:04:56.430 --> 0:04:59.469 feed you and think about this, that that that lowly 0:04:59.470 --> 0:05:04.190 tribe of 75 went down into Egypt, and Egypt became 0:05:04.190 --> 0:05:09.150 the incubator in which birthed the Hebrew Nation. Because they 0:05:09.190 --> 0:05:13.070 went in 75 and came out over 2 million. God 0:05:13.070 --> 0:05:16.750 used Egypt as a womb where they could grow but 0:05:16.750 --> 0:05:20.750 be protected because Egypt was a world power. God knew 0:05:20.750 --> 0:05:24.470 how to work some stuff out. And so you look 0:05:24.470 --> 0:05:28.790 at this thing. It's amazing to me that when you 0:05:28.790 --> 0:05:30.110 look at it, and I know some of you came 0:05:30.110 --> 0:05:33.469 in here with a smile on your face, uh, but 0:05:33.470 --> 0:05:37.670 you got pain in your heart and and problems in 0:05:37.670 --> 0:05:43.070 your finances. Amen. And so I came to tell you, 0:05:43.350 --> 0:05:48.349 don't be like Jacob. You need to understand things that 0:05:48.350 --> 0:05:53.270 seem to be working against you are actually working for you. 0:05:53.870 --> 0:05:56.910 I came to deliver some mail. God told me to 0:05:56.910 --> 0:06:03.190 tell you things you think or against, you may sometimes 0:06:03.470 --> 0:06:08.390 work for you. Now James agrees. He teaches us that 0:06:08.390 --> 0:06:12.070 you must see purpose in your problems and in your pain. 0:06:12.230 --> 0:06:15.229 Last week we saw there are five ways in verses 0:06:15.230 --> 0:06:19.270 one through 12. In chapter one that a mature believer 0:06:19.310 --> 0:06:24.029 sees purpose in their problems and in their pain. Here's 0:06:24.029 --> 0:06:26.670 what we did. I'll summarize it just very quickly. We 0:06:26.670 --> 0:06:30.790 only dealt with point number one. Amen. It was verse one. 0:06:30.790 --> 0:06:34.470 Here it is. How then do we see. Uh, purpose 0:06:34.470 --> 0:06:38.830 in our problems and pain? We submit to the regal 0:06:38.830 --> 0:06:42.950 prerogative of God. That is, we understand that he is 0:06:42.950 --> 0:06:48.910 sovereign in positive situations and negative situations, good situations and 0:06:48.910 --> 0:06:52.910 bad situations. Things we like and things we don't like. 0:06:52.910 --> 0:06:57.350 God is still sovereign. And so he says, James, the 0:06:57.350 --> 0:06:59.470 servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to 0:06:59.510 --> 0:07:02.589 the 12 tribes scattered abroad. Greeting. He wants them to 0:07:02.589 --> 0:07:08.190 submit to the sovereignty. Remember James as his identification. Uh, servant. 0:07:08.190 --> 0:07:12.830 That's his dedication. And Lord Jesus Christ, that's his affirmation. 0:07:12.830 --> 0:07:15.910 So he talks about the deity of Jesus Christ, Lord, 0:07:15.910 --> 0:07:19.670 the humanity of Jesus Christ Jesus, and the sovereignty of 0:07:19.670 --> 0:07:25.590 Jesus Christ. Christ anointed one, King of kings and Lord 0:07:25.590 --> 0:07:27.430 of lords. Let me bottom line it so I can 0:07:27.430 --> 0:07:29.190 get to at least the next two. You know what 0:07:29.190 --> 0:07:32.870 he's saying? Say, what's he saying? The larger we make 0:07:32.870 --> 0:07:38.550 his name, the smaller he makes our problems. Oh, yeah. 0:07:38.550 --> 0:07:41.550 That was worth your coming to church today. Yeah. You 0:07:41.550 --> 0:07:44.350 don't even have to pay for that. Amen. Amen. That is. 0:07:44.350 --> 0:07:49.070 There's power in that name. You know. You know what 0:07:49.110 --> 0:07:51.710 name I'm talking about? The name of the one who 0:07:51.710 --> 0:07:55.910 spoke the nothing and nothing became something. Uh, the one 0:07:55.910 --> 0:08:00.270 who spoke and the nothing that wasn't became the everything 0:08:00.350 --> 0:08:03.630 that is preach, Pastor Ford. I'm doing the best I can. 0:08:03.670 --> 0:08:05.950 The name of the one who said light, be, and 0:08:05.950 --> 0:08:09.030 light was the name of the one who made wet 0:08:09.070 --> 0:08:11.990 water come out of a dry rock. The name of 0:08:11.990 --> 0:08:15.310 the one who turned a waterway into a freeway. You 0:08:15.310 --> 0:08:17.110 ain't going to pray with me? The name of the 0:08:17.110 --> 0:08:21.190 one who turned two sardines and five rich crackers into 0:08:21.190 --> 0:08:25.830 a Moby Dick sandwich and fed all of 5000 men 0:08:25.830 --> 0:08:29.350 and probably 10,000 women and children of the name, of 0:08:29.350 --> 0:08:33.709 the one who turned a praise team into a conquering army, 0:08:33.750 --> 0:08:39.190 defeating Jehoshaphat enemies. You know that name? What's that name? Yeah. 0:08:39.230 --> 0:08:45.069 Bright morning star, Lily of the Valley. Power in that name. 0:08:45.630 --> 0:08:50.830 Salvation in that name. Deliverance in that name. Thank God 0:08:50.830 --> 0:08:58.590 for Jesus. Yeah. Come on. Holler it out. Calling Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. 0:08:58.630 --> 0:09:03.459 Sweetest name, I know. Jesus. Jesus. That name that's above 0:09:03.460 --> 0:09:06.900 every name. That the sound of that name. Every knee 0:09:06.900 --> 0:09:11.740 shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is God 0:09:11.980 --> 0:09:18.300 according to the Word of God. Fill my TV coming on. 0:09:18.620 --> 0:09:23.500 Give him praise in the house of the Lord. Mm. Yeah. 0:09:23.500 --> 0:09:27.220 That name. I told you about it before. Brother said 0:09:27.220 --> 0:09:29.460 to us. What you going to do for your anniversary? 0:09:29.460 --> 0:09:30.820 You going to go downtown? He said you want to 0:09:30.820 --> 0:09:34.260 go to Puerto Vallarta? Stay. Stay in my condo in 0:09:34.260 --> 0:09:38.580 Paradise Village. Show you right. Ain't you got a pray? 0:09:38.580 --> 0:09:43.100 Already did. While you were saying it, God said, go ahead. Amen. 0:09:43.380 --> 0:09:47.260 Send us down there. Put three $3,000 in our pocket. 0:09:47.260 --> 0:09:49.900 Went down and went to the desk. And and daughter. 0:09:49.900 --> 0:09:53.020 I was almost disappointed because I said, We're James and 0:09:53.020 --> 0:09:55.340 Leslie Ford. And they said, we don't have a reservation 0:09:55.340 --> 0:09:57.540 for you. I said, I ain't no, I ain't come 0:09:57.580 --> 0:10:01.380 8000 miles to be turned around. And I called his name. 0:10:01.700 --> 0:10:05.500 I said, well, Mr. So-and-so sent us here. And, uh, 0:10:05.620 --> 0:10:09.220 the the desk clerk said, why didn't you say so? Oh, 0:10:09.220 --> 0:10:11.940 you're going to be staying in his condo. Oh, well, 0:10:11.940 --> 0:10:14.140 let me tell you, you're going to be here for 0:10:14.140 --> 0:10:16.660 seven days. But here's what you have to do. Mr. Ford, 0:10:16.940 --> 0:10:23.900 you can't use your name. You have to sign his name. 0:10:24.380 --> 0:10:27.620 See you. Have you have access to all of the amenities, 0:10:27.620 --> 0:10:31.660 but you can't sign your name. You have to sign 0:10:31.700 --> 0:10:35.020 a his name. So I went and went to the 0:10:35.020 --> 0:10:39.220 spa and got the the whole works with a mudpack. 0:10:39.340 --> 0:10:41.940 And I signed his name, and I went to the 0:10:41.940 --> 0:10:44.780 gym to work out. And I worked out and I 0:10:44.820 --> 0:10:48.059 signed his name when I went to breakfast and it 0:10:48.059 --> 0:10:51.500 was free because I signed his name. I went to 0:10:51.500 --> 0:10:54.260 dinner and guess what? It was free too, because I 0:10:54.300 --> 0:10:57.940 signed his name. And so the whole time, uh, we 0:10:57.940 --> 0:11:02.339 just signed his. I came to tell somebody that there 0:11:02.340 --> 0:11:06.820 is a name that's recognized in heaven. And that name 0:11:06.820 --> 0:11:10.940 is Jesus. And so Jesus said, if you ask anything 0:11:10.980 --> 0:11:13.980 of the father, he'll give it to you. If you 0:11:13.980 --> 0:11:17.620 ask in my name. 0:11:21.059 --> 0:11:24.260 You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James 0:11:24.260 --> 0:11:27.660 Ford Jr. And what a powerful reminder of the name 0:11:27.660 --> 0:11:30.900 of Jesus and the fact that there is power in 0:11:30.940 --> 0:11:32.900 that name. We're going to go back to our message 0:11:32.900 --> 0:11:36.340 from James chapter one in just one moment. I want 0:11:36.340 --> 0:11:37.380 to let you know if you want to stay up 0:11:37.380 --> 0:11:39.500 to date with what's going on with Pastor Ford, you 0:11:39.500 --> 0:11:42.020 can always connect with us on social media. If you've 0:11:42.020 --> 0:11:44.820 not done so before, like us on Facebook, follow us 0:11:44.860 --> 0:11:47.660 on Twitter, and we'd love to interact with you that way. 0:11:48.020 --> 0:11:50.340 But let's get back to the message seeing purpose in 0:11:50.340 --> 0:11:53.700 your problems and pain. Again, here is Pastor Ford. 0:11:54.740 --> 0:11:58.260 So we looked at the regal prerogative of God over 0:11:58.260 --> 0:12:01.860 our person and then over our problems, he said. Your 0:12:01.860 --> 0:12:04.660 seeds scattered. Here's what he's saying. He's saying you're of 0:12:04.660 --> 0:12:07.820 the diaspora. That is, you are where you are, not 0:12:07.820 --> 0:12:10.940 by accident, but by providence. You are where you are, 0:12:10.980 --> 0:12:14.740 not by chance, but by choice that God put you 0:12:14.740 --> 0:12:17.460 where you are. Here's what he's saying. You have no 0:12:17.460 --> 0:12:23.579 control over your problem, but you do have a cause 0:12:23.580 --> 0:12:28.260 in your problem. Yeah, he says, look for the cause 0:12:28.900 --> 0:12:31.740 in your problem. Don't try to control it. Okay? Let 0:12:31.740 --> 0:12:34.380 me just bottom line, here's what he's saying. If you're 0:12:34.380 --> 0:12:38.540 not submitted to the regal prerogative of God, then your 0:12:38.540 --> 0:12:45.300 suffering won't make sense to you. See what usually, to 0:12:45.340 --> 0:12:52.100 our sense looks like nonsense begin to make sense when 0:12:52.100 --> 0:12:59.580 we use God's sense. Mm. You say? Say it again. Yeah. 0:13:00.900 --> 0:13:05.740 What you look at. That doesn't make sense. And it 0:13:05.740 --> 0:13:12.060 looks like nonsense. Makes sense when you use God. Sense. 0:13:12.940 --> 0:13:16.140 Is that. Is that alright? Alright, alright. So here now 0:13:16.140 --> 0:13:18.620 when you begin to look at it. He wants to know. 0:13:18.620 --> 0:13:20.179 Here's the second one. Let's get to it. Let's get 0:13:20.179 --> 0:13:21.819 to it. I got two today and then Imma let 0:13:21.820 --> 0:13:25.380 you go notice. Secondly, if you're going to see purpose 0:13:25.380 --> 0:13:28.620 in your problems and pain, he says in verse two, 0:13:28.780 --> 0:13:35.059 you must have the right perspective of your problems, the 0:13:35.059 --> 0:13:39.860 right perspective. In other words, you have to change your perspective. See? 0:13:39.900 --> 0:13:41.579 Come on, help me preach this. Look at your neighbor 0:13:41.580 --> 0:13:45.900 and say neighbor. How you see the problem often is 0:13:45.900 --> 0:13:49.300 the problem. That's right. Yeah, y'all know you say it 0:13:49.300 --> 0:13:51.500 all the time, but that's what he's saying. Uh, you know, 0:13:51.540 --> 0:13:54.140 I'm going to tell you about a small time preacher 0:13:54.140 --> 0:13:57.740 who's struggling, uh, with a small church in Dallas, Texas. 0:13:57.780 --> 0:14:01.100 Tony Evans, let me tell you what he said. He 0:14:01.100 --> 0:14:04.020 said when he was in seminary. Uh, what he had 0:14:04.020 --> 0:14:06.660 to do was, uh, work and go to school. And 0:14:06.660 --> 0:14:09.140 so he got a job at Trailways. And when he 0:14:09.140 --> 0:14:10.900 went there, there were about 4 or 5 other guys 0:14:10.900 --> 0:14:13.060 that worked on the evening shift. He had to work 0:14:13.059 --> 0:14:15.180 evening because he went to school in the daytime. He 0:14:15.179 --> 0:14:17.459 said that when he went in, they informed him, look, 0:14:17.500 --> 0:14:20.620 this is how we roll, uh, on this night shift. Uh, 0:14:20.660 --> 0:14:23.340 you could be late. Somebody will punch you in on time. 0:14:23.340 --> 0:14:26.020 You can leave early. We'll punch you out. Uh, everybody 0:14:26.020 --> 0:14:28.740 doesn't work all night. A couple of us will work, uh, 0:14:28.740 --> 0:14:32.060 for a couple hours. And while the others sleep. And then, uh, 0:14:32.060 --> 0:14:34.220 they wake up, and then we go sleep. And, you know, 0:14:34.260 --> 0:14:35.820 and that's the way we roll around here. So we 0:14:35.820 --> 0:14:37.940 want you to know, uh, that's what you gotta do. 0:14:37.980 --> 0:14:40.300 And so he began to to ponder and say, okay, 0:14:40.300 --> 0:14:42.780 now I want to be accepted by these guys, and 0:14:42.780 --> 0:14:46.100 I want to be socially alienated and ostracized. Uh, but 0:14:46.140 --> 0:14:49.700 I got to honor God. And and so, you know what, God? 0:14:49.700 --> 0:14:51.500 I know it's going to cost me, but I'm going 0:14:51.540 --> 0:14:54.940 to honor you, okay? And so what's his motivation? Honor God. 0:14:55.020 --> 0:14:57.740 So guess what happened? They did ostracize him. He said 0:14:57.740 --> 0:15:00.530 that whenever it was time to unload and and load 0:15:00.530 --> 0:15:03.650 some of his buses. Uh, nobody was around. They had 0:15:03.650 --> 0:15:05.610 to go to the bathroom. They had to do something, 0:15:05.610 --> 0:15:07.570 and they kept doing what they were doing, and he 0:15:07.570 --> 0:15:11.090 never participated in it. He said three months later, uh, 0:15:11.090 --> 0:15:13.730 the boss came to him and said, uh, come to 0:15:13.770 --> 0:15:16.490 the office. And, uh, he's thinking to himself, why are 0:15:16.490 --> 0:15:18.290 you bringing me to the office? I'm the only one 0:15:18.290 --> 0:15:20.730 around here that work. I ain't done nothing wrong. Call 0:15:20.730 --> 0:15:22.810 him in the office and said, for the last month, 0:15:22.810 --> 0:15:25.850 we've had, uh, one of our management team scoping out 0:15:25.850 --> 0:15:30.250 the evening shift, and we know that there's punching in 0:15:30.250 --> 0:15:32.730 and out of people who aren't even here. Uh, that 0:15:32.730 --> 0:15:36.650 half will sleep while half work. And, uh, you did 0:15:36.650 --> 0:15:41.890 not participate. We fired them. We're bringing on a whole 0:15:41.890 --> 0:15:44.770 new staff. We want to make you the manager of 0:15:44.770 --> 0:15:51.330 the night shift. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. It's like it's like 0:15:51.330 --> 0:15:55.370 when you look at it, the problem was the platform 0:15:55.490 --> 0:16:02.170 for his promotion to his new position and his higher pay. Amen. See, 0:16:02.170 --> 0:16:07.690 the problem is with your perspective. Is your theology greater 0:16:07.690 --> 0:16:10.970 than your theology? Say, what do you mean by that? 0:16:10.970 --> 0:16:13.730 You know exactly what I mean. Are you more concerned 0:16:13.730 --> 0:16:18.690 about your pain than God's purpose? Because if you are you, 0:16:18.690 --> 0:16:21.490 you will not see. See, here's what you need. You 0:16:21.490 --> 0:16:25.290 need a new perspective. Little boy was wanting to see 0:16:25.410 --> 0:16:27.770 the Bud Billiken Parade, so he was standing on the 0:16:27.770 --> 0:16:30.770 street and he was looking and it would look nice 0:16:30.770 --> 0:16:32.890 and everything. But all he could see was in front 0:16:32.890 --> 0:16:35.570 of me. He's short and all these people couldn't see anything, 0:16:35.610 --> 0:16:39.650 couldn't see good. And he said, parades. I don't like parades. 0:16:39.650 --> 0:16:42.130 And an old man was standing next to him who 0:16:42.130 --> 0:16:45.490 lived in the apartment behind him in the penthouse floor. 0:16:45.850 --> 0:16:48.010 And so the old man said to the little boy, 0:16:48.130 --> 0:16:50.290 come on, little boy. Now wait a minute. All you 0:16:50.330 --> 0:16:54.010 social workers, all you children, workers. Uh, listen, don't. 0:16:54.130 --> 0:16:57.530 No, no, boy, don't go with a stranger. Oh, no. 0:16:57.570 --> 0:16:58.930 Stranger danger. 0:16:58.970 --> 0:17:03.410 This is just an illustration, okay? That's that's all it is. Okay. 0:17:03.450 --> 0:17:09.370 So don't get excited. You know, don't call DCFS. Alright. So, 0:17:09.650 --> 0:17:11.730 so so he says, come on up. So he goes 0:17:11.730 --> 0:17:14.450 up to this man's penthouse. He looks down. He sees 0:17:14.450 --> 0:17:16.729 the beginning of the parade. He sees the ending of 0:17:16.730 --> 0:17:20.130 the parade. He sees everything in between. And that's what 0:17:20.170 --> 0:17:22.530 God told me to come tell you today that you're 0:17:22.530 --> 0:17:25.210 down from the ground looking at it, and it looks 0:17:25.210 --> 0:17:27.730 bleak and it looks bad, and it looks like ain't 0:17:27.730 --> 0:17:29.929 nothing ever going to come of this, but you just 0:17:29.930 --> 0:17:32.730 seeing a little part of it. You're being obscured by 0:17:32.730 --> 0:17:35.649 all the things that are around you. But you got 0:17:35.690 --> 0:17:38.290 an ancient of days who say, come up to heaven 0:17:38.290 --> 0:17:41.330 and look down on it rather than looking at it. 0:17:41.330 --> 0:17:43.489 And when you look down on it, you see it 0:17:43.490 --> 0:17:46.130 from a different light. You see the beginning of it 0:17:46.130 --> 0:17:49.050 and you see it ends, and you see the process 0:17:49.050 --> 0:17:52.409 that takes place in the middle that God is letting 0:17:52.410 --> 0:17:55.050 you know. I got this. When you look from the 0:17:55.050 --> 0:17:58.490 divine perspective, you know there's a beginning. You know there's 0:17:58.530 --> 0:18:01.730 an end. You know that I'm working and it looks 0:18:01.730 --> 0:18:06.450 beautiful when you see the whole thing from my perspective. 0:18:10.850 --> 0:18:13.370 My wife will tell you I'm not like everybody else. 0:18:13.369 --> 0:18:17.330 I complain, and then I'll put a caveat and I'll say, ooh, girl, 0:18:17.330 --> 0:18:21.570 you know what? What? I'm excited. Why are you excited? 0:18:22.090 --> 0:18:26.570 Because I'm under great persecution. Why are you excited about that? 0:18:26.770 --> 0:18:31.570 Because there's got to be great provision. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:18:31.609 --> 0:18:34.810 There has to be. Yeah. And so when we look 0:18:34.810 --> 0:18:39.490 at this, he's saying. View your trials from God's perspective, man. 0:18:39.490 --> 0:18:41.490 I tell you what it's like. It's like I'm a 0:18:41.490 --> 0:18:43.530 teacher and I know it. I'm looking at this thing 0:18:43.530 --> 0:18:45.969 this morning. I said, I see another outline for the 0:18:45.970 --> 0:18:48.410 book of James. I've got, I bet, you know, less 0:18:48.410 --> 0:18:52.010 than 25 outlines. Here's the outline I saw. Uh, Elder Strider. 0:18:52.050 --> 0:18:54.609 I was looking at it again. I said, wow, looking 0:18:54.609 --> 0:18:57.050 at it from God's perspective, here's what I saw. Verse 0:18:57.050 --> 0:19:02.090 one is God sent. Sin. Verse two. Is God seen? 0:19:02.530 --> 0:19:08.730 Verse three. Is God shaping? Verse four. It's God supplying. 0:19:08.770 --> 0:19:10.330 In other words, look at how he got this thing 0:19:10.369 --> 0:19:13.169 set up. He says, verse one, I sent it. Uh. 0:19:13.210 --> 0:19:16.530 Verse two. You gotta see it from my perspective. Because 0:19:16.530 --> 0:19:19.210 if you don't see it the way I see it, 0:19:19.210 --> 0:19:21.330 then you won't respond to it the way I want 0:19:21.330 --> 0:19:23.969 you to respond to it. Then I can't shape you 0:19:23.970 --> 0:19:25.970 the way I want to shape you. And I can't 0:19:25.970 --> 0:19:28.770 supply for you what I want to supply for you. 0:19:28.770 --> 0:19:33.250 Because your shape determines your supply, and your seeing determines 0:19:33.250 --> 0:19:35.730 if you know it was sent. And so they all 0:19:35.970 --> 0:19:41.050 fall in line together. I'm sending it. I want you 0:19:41.050 --> 0:19:43.330 to see it the way I see it, because I'm 0:19:43.330 --> 0:19:47.250 shaping you to make you into something that you currently 0:19:47.250 --> 0:19:52.090 are not right now. Why? Because I can't give you 0:19:52.130 --> 0:19:54.369 what I want to give you the way you are 0:19:54.410 --> 0:19:57.649 right now. Yeah. Some of you ladies ain't going to 0:19:57.690 --> 0:20:01.290 never get a husband because you won't get a divorce. 0:20:01.369 --> 0:20:05.449 He got quiet. It's like you, you you blessing us, 0:20:05.450 --> 0:20:10.890 then you just stole our blessing. Yeah. You're not going 0:20:10.890 --> 0:20:14.050 to get a husband. You can't live with yourself. How 0:20:14.090 --> 0:20:17.850 you going to live with somebody else? Brother, he ain't 0:20:17.850 --> 0:20:22.010 going to send you that fine woman you waiting on. 0:20:22.570 --> 0:20:30.890 He said get a job. Yeah. And so here, as 0:20:30.890 --> 0:20:33.290 you begin to look at this thing, man, it is, 0:20:33.290 --> 0:20:34.969 it is. Notice, uh, there's a A and a B 0:20:34.970 --> 0:20:39.169 under here. Notice the attitude that demonstrates the right perspective. 0:20:39.210 --> 0:20:43.290 He says count it all joy. What does that mean? 0:20:43.290 --> 0:20:45.770 What does that mean? Count it all joy. Well, you know, 0:20:45.770 --> 0:20:48.210 when we talked about this plenty of times, uh, that 0:20:48.210 --> 0:20:51.290 whenever you look at, uh, the baptizing work of the 0:20:51.290 --> 0:20:55.290 Holy Spirit, I belong to Christ's body. But the filling 0:20:55.290 --> 0:20:58.210 of the spirit, where joy is produced, my body belongs 0:20:58.210 --> 0:21:01.280 to him. So I belong to Christ's body. First John 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:04.520 1213 for by one spirit are we all baptized into 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:07.320 one body, having all been made to drink of one spirit. 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:09.480 But then once I get filled with the spirit. Galatians 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:13.000 522 and 23. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy. 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:16.439 So joy is independent of circumstances. It is not based 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:20.560 on what happens. And so David said, the joy of 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:22.240 the Lord is my strength. But wait a minute. He 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:23.960 was running for his life. But he said, the joy 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:25.760 of the Lord is my strength, because if my joy 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:29.360 doesn't come from the circumstances, it comes from the Savior. 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:31.760 And so, uh, your sons turn against you. Yeah, but 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:33.639 the joy of the Lord is my strength. Yeah, but 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:35.200 your people turn to you. The joy of the Lord 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:36.960 is my strength. Uh, but they want to kill you. 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:38.760 Joy of the Lord is my strength. You're in the wilderness. 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:40.520 Don't have food. The joy of the Lord is my strength. 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:42.200 But where are you going to eat joy? The Lord 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:44.080 is my strength. Well, what's going to happen? And when 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:45.160 are you going to go back? I don't know, but 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:46.640 the joy of the Lord is my strength. I don't 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:50.240 know anything, but the joy of the Lord is my strength, 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:51.920 I trust him. 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:58.600 You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor James Ford Junior. 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:01.960 A message called Seeing Purpose in Your Problems and Pain. 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:05.480 And you can hear past programs on our website, including 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:07.640 the first three parts of the series when you come 0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:12.080 to treasure Truth Radio. Well, the fact that you're listening 0:22:12.119 --> 0:22:16.760 today shows that you value clear Bible teaching with practical applications. 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:19.199 But maybe you've been challenged by a friend or a 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:22.840 coworker who doesn't believe the Bible, and they want to 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:25.879 know why you believe. Can you give a solid answer? 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:29.280 You know, many Christians struggle to put into words the 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.880 reasons for their faith. If that's you, contact us today 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:35.320 with the gift of any amount and request the book 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:39.440 Why Believe the Bible by Doctor John MacArthur? For decades, 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:42.560 as a pastor and Bible teacher, doctor MacArthur has been 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:45.040 teaching and defending the Bible as the Word of God. 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:48.320 And in this clear, easy to read book, he describes 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:51.760 several of the most convincing reasons for trusting God's Word. 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:55.639 Reading this book can help you articulate your beliefs and 0:22:55.640 --> 0:22:59.720 strengthen your faith. So contact us today and request a copy. 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:05.880 Call us at 884 4660. Or come to our website. 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:10.200 Treasure truth radio.com. If you prefer to write and send 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:13.040 a check in the mail. Our address is treasure truth. 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:19.680 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Don't let 0:23:19.680 --> 0:23:23.000 the winds of culture sway you from biblical truth. Discover 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:26.240 the foundational reasons for what you believe when you give 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:32.160 a donation and request. Why believe the Bible? Call 888644 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:38.639 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio. I'm Steve Hiller. 0:23:38.680 --> 0:23:40.840 Our producer is Amy Rios, and we're going to hear 0:23:40.840 --> 0:23:44.000 from Pastor Ford again tomorrow with more Bible teaching here 0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:48.440 on treasure truth. A production of Moody Radio, a ministry 0:23:48.440 --> 0:23:50.000 of Moody Bible Institute.