WEBVTT - When God Stops – Part 1 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:04.120 What is a heart that's fully devoted look like? Today 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.560 a challenge to go all in spiritually. Stay tuned. 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:15.440 When God finds a heart that is fully devoted to him, 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:18.720 it makes him stop. You know what that tells me? 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:21.720 That hearts that are fully devoted to God are rare. 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.720 Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.800 Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:44.080 in Chicago. Today, we begin a three part message series 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:46.640 that focuses on what it means to be fully devoted, 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:50.080 what it looks like to be all in spiritually. And Mark, 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:51.880 I think this is a subject that deserves a lot 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:52.760 of attention. 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:56.760 It really is. And Wayne, you know, this passage speaks 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:02.160 to my heart because when Asa was young, He depended 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:05.679 on God and relied on God. The more seasoned and 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:09.319 experienced he got, the more he depended on his experience, 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:14.119 his network. And I've often prayed, Lord, as a leader, um, 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:16.160 I want to I want to keep that simplicity of 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:18.480 a child. Don't ever let me get to the point 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:22.720 that I think I can. My network, my relationships, my 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:27.600 experience can sabotage that genuine, simple dependence on God. 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:28.960 We cannot coast, can we? 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:31.520 No we can't. And so this is a powerful message. 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:34.440 Yeah it is. The title is When God Stops. And 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:36.520 if you miss any part of today's broadcast or want 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.640 to listen again. All of Mark's teaching is available online 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:44.160 at Bold Steps. Radio.com. Now from our series Fully Devoted, 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.680 here's today's message based in Second Chronicles 16. Mark Jobe 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:49.560 with today's bold steps. 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:57.040 I was at my son's high school graduation grant, I 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.080 believe it was on a Sunday. And so we got 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:02.370 there a little bit late, entered into the auditorium. It 0:02:02.370 --> 0:02:05.810 was packed out. We managed to get a seat, two 0:02:05.850 --> 0:02:10.010 seats together. My wife and I barely squeezed in, and 0:02:10.010 --> 0:02:13.570 then the first thing that my wife said is, where's Grant? 0:02:14.169 --> 0:02:16.690 So I looked over the sea of heads and they 0:02:16.690 --> 0:02:19.410 had all their graduation caps on, so they all looked 0:02:19.410 --> 0:02:22.450 the same and they had their graduation gowns on, so 0:02:22.450 --> 0:02:25.530 they all looked the same. And so I was scanning 0:02:26.370 --> 0:02:29.010 row by row. Let me see. No, no. Does that 0:02:29.010 --> 0:02:31.850 look like him? I can't really tell. I thought I 0:02:31.889 --> 0:02:34.250 found him. I looked a little bit closer. No, it 0:02:34.250 --> 0:02:37.650 wasn't him. I was going row by row trying to find. 0:02:37.650 --> 0:02:40.850 Where is Grant? Like, where's Waldo? Row by row trying 0:02:40.850 --> 0:02:43.490 to find. Where is Grant? Then finally I saw, I 0:02:43.850 --> 0:02:47.890 think I found him and I looked over. Sure it's him. 0:02:47.889 --> 0:02:50.049 I pointed to my wife. It's him. Do you see him? 0:02:50.050 --> 0:02:53.010 Look right over there. Second or third row? Over. Do 0:02:53.010 --> 0:02:55.290 you see him? And she said, aha, I see him now. 0:02:55.330 --> 0:03:01.570 Don't lose him, because we finally found him. There's a 0:03:01.570 --> 0:03:05.730 passage in Scripture that said, God does that. In fact, 0:03:05.730 --> 0:03:09.490 it says that the eyes of the Lord go to 0:03:09.490 --> 0:03:18.250 and fro throughout all the earth. He scans cities, neighborhoods, communities. 0:03:18.690 --> 0:03:20.650 His eyes go back and forth. It says in the 0:03:20.650 --> 0:03:23.089 Hebrew that literally it says, the eyes of the Lord 0:03:23.090 --> 0:03:26.930 go back and forth, scanning, looking. Can I find one? 0:03:26.930 --> 0:03:31.690 Can I find one? Lands on Chicago, 77 neighborhoods. Can 0:03:31.690 --> 0:03:34.650 I find one? Goes up on the north side, Rogers Park, Evanston. 0:03:34.650 --> 0:03:36.210 Can I find one? Goes down to the loop. Can 0:03:36.210 --> 0:03:38.850 I find one? Goes to the southwest side of Chicago. 0:03:38.890 --> 0:03:42.450 Neighborhood by neighborhood. Garfield. Can I find one? Goes home 0:03:42.450 --> 0:03:45.450 by home, home by home. Can I find one? Can 0:03:45.450 --> 0:03:48.730 I find one address by address? Can I see one? 0:03:48.730 --> 0:03:51.730 Where is it? What is God looking for that's so unique, 0:03:51.730 --> 0:03:55.290 that's so rare, that's so hard to find. And finally, 0:03:55.290 --> 0:03:58.730 when he sees one, his eyes stop and he says, aha, 0:03:58.770 --> 0:04:02.940 I got one, You say, what is so rare that 0:04:02.940 --> 0:04:06.860 God is searching for what is so unique that even 0:04:06.860 --> 0:04:11.060 God has to search for them? This verse of Scripture 0:04:11.060 --> 0:04:14.700 tells us that what God is searching for, that makes 0:04:14.700 --> 0:04:19.860 God stop at your address is one thing. When God finds, 0:04:19.860 --> 0:04:24.420 hear me. Hear me now. When God finds a heart 0:04:25.180 --> 0:04:31.979 that is fully devoted to him, it makes him stop. 0:04:35.380 --> 0:04:39.220 You know what that tells me? That hearts that are 0:04:39.220 --> 0:04:45.460 fully devoted to God are rare. Second Chronicles chapter 16, 0:04:45.460 --> 0:04:47.940 verse nine says, for the eyes of the Lord range 0:04:47.940 --> 0:04:52.099 throughout all the earth. Another translation says, for the eyes 0:04:52.100 --> 0:04:55.700 of the Lord move to and fro throughout all the earth, 0:04:56.779 --> 0:05:02.219 that he may strongly support those whose hearts are completely his. 0:05:02.740 --> 0:05:07.739 Or those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What 0:05:07.740 --> 0:05:11.620 this passage tells me is that if you position yourself 0:05:11.620 --> 0:05:14.900 with a heart that's fully devoted to God, that God 0:05:14.900 --> 0:05:19.140 will strengthen you, pour out his power upon you. God 0:05:19.140 --> 0:05:23.060 will stop and say, I found one, and if I 0:05:23.100 --> 0:05:26.780 found one, I'm going to pour power upon this heart. 0:05:26.820 --> 0:05:30.780 Strengthen this heart, because I found a heart that's fully 0:05:30.820 --> 0:05:34.380 devoted to me. So I wonder today, if God were 0:05:34.380 --> 0:05:37.380 to scan these rows back and forth from front to back, 0:05:37.820 --> 0:05:41.460 from end to end, whether he would stop in your chair, 0:05:42.740 --> 0:05:44.700 whether the heart of God would stop and say, yeah, 0:05:44.700 --> 0:05:47.779 I found one that's fully devoted, not halfway devoted, not 0:05:47.779 --> 0:05:55.580 partially devoted, not somewhat interested, not semi lightly committed. But 0:05:55.580 --> 0:05:58.580 if you would find a heart that says, aha, I 0:05:58.620 --> 0:06:05.270 found a heart that's fully devoted. Second Chronicles is really 0:06:05.270 --> 0:06:08.350 about a man by the name of Asa. King Asa. 0:06:10.430 --> 0:06:11.710 And I want to tell you a little bit of 0:06:11.710 --> 0:06:16.430 his story, because this passage is in the context of 0:06:16.470 --> 0:06:20.590 King Asa's story. And I'm going to begin reading in 0:06:20.589 --> 0:06:23.469 verse two. It says, then Asa brought out the silver 0:06:23.470 --> 0:06:25.470 and gold from the treasures of the house of the 0:06:25.470 --> 0:06:28.270 Lord and the king's house, and sent them to the 0:06:28.270 --> 0:06:30.990 king of Aaron, who lived in Damascus, saying, let there 0:06:31.029 --> 0:06:33.950 be a treaty between you and me, and between my 0:06:33.950 --> 0:06:37.710 father and your father. If you're taking notes, I want 0:06:37.710 --> 0:06:41.870 you to write this down. Fully devoted heart refused to 0:06:41.870 --> 0:06:47.190 give what belongs to God to others. Let me give 0:06:47.190 --> 0:06:49.110 you the story of King Asa a little bit and 0:06:49.110 --> 0:06:54.270 give you the context. King Asa was a king that 0:06:54.270 --> 0:06:57.990 started when he was young and when he started being 0:06:57.990 --> 0:07:03.390 king of Judah, of the Israelites. He was devoted. He 0:07:03.390 --> 0:07:07.029 was zealous. He started out wanting to follow God with 0:07:07.029 --> 0:07:11.990 all of his heart. He was a righteous king in Israel. 0:07:11.990 --> 0:07:13.950 Sometimes you had a good king, a bad king, a 0:07:13.950 --> 0:07:16.110 good king, a bad king. No, Asa was one of 0:07:16.110 --> 0:07:19.950 the good kings. He had a zeal for God. He 0:07:20.030 --> 0:07:23.390 wanted to follow God. He wanted to turn the nation 0:07:23.390 --> 0:07:27.550 back to God. He prayed. He called unto God. He 0:07:27.590 --> 0:07:32.510 had this fire and zeal about him that was compelling. 0:07:32.510 --> 0:07:35.110 People saw it and knew it. He was a man 0:07:35.230 --> 0:07:41.470 that was trying to seek after God. But as he grew, 0:07:42.190 --> 0:07:46.750 as he changed, as he went forward, something in his 0:07:46.750 --> 0:07:51.590 heart started to shift. Something in his heart started to change. Oh, 0:07:51.590 --> 0:07:55.230 he still believed in God. He still followed God. But something. 0:07:55.510 --> 0:08:01.360 The zeal, the fire, the drive, the The passion seemed 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:06.720 to grow less and less the older he got. In 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:13.200 the beginning, he was naively zealous about God. In fact, 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:16.520 an entire army came against him and was about to 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.200 threaten and wipe them out. They could have wiped them out. 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:24.040 And instead of organizing his armies and instead of going 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.360 to battle, what he did is he prayed. He got 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:28.760 on his knees before God. He called a fast. He 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:32.480 prayed before God. He called up unto God, God, spare us, 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.280 deliver us, help us. Because I can't do this on 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:40.160 my own. And God miraculously turned the whole situation around 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:43.520 and King Asa came out winning simply because he called 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:48.160 upon the name of the Lord. You know, there's something about. 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:58.479 Young faith that's endearing. How about it? Something about first believing. 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:04.120 You just start believing in God. And you're young and 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.640 your faith is zealous and you're new to it, and 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:13.240 suddenly you've been awakened from your spiritual deadness and you're 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:17.400 excited about God and you do crazy things. Your car 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.760 stops and can't get it started. So you lay your 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:21.400 hands on the hood and you say, in the name 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:24.839 of Jesus, I pray. Father, start this up and you 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:26.679 go in and try it again. And if it doesn't work, 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:28.680 you go out again. Lord, in the name of Jesus, 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.800 I pray, come. Power the Holy Spirit, revive this car 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:37.120 and you see your car start. You see things, crazy 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.040 things that people are saying. You're nuts. Why are you 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.520 doing that? Why? Because God has awakened you. You're excited 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.760 about God. You pray like a little kid would pray. 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:50.920 You pray with faith, with zeal, with excitement. You can't 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.560 wait to get to the house of God and worship God. 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:55.880 I've had some of you tell me that when you 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:58.000 first came to God and God started working in your life, 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:01.569 you couldn't come to a worship service without crying. You'd 0:10:01.570 --> 0:10:04.770 come in as soon as the song would start playing. 0:10:04.809 --> 0:10:07.890 You didn't know why you felt awkward. Some of you 0:10:07.890 --> 0:10:09.929 have told me you had to leave the auditorium because 0:10:09.929 --> 0:10:12.650 you just start weeping and crying. Why? Because the presence 0:10:12.650 --> 0:10:15.810 of God was so sweet and powerful. You just felt 0:10:15.809 --> 0:10:19.210 moved in your heart by the presence of God. You 0:10:19.210 --> 0:10:22.290 find yourself reading the Bible, getting up and saying God 0:10:22.290 --> 0:10:25.610 spoke to me, being excited, calling up a friend and saying, hey, 0:10:25.610 --> 0:10:28.050 I may sound crazy to you, but guess what? I 0:10:28.050 --> 0:10:30.610 read my Bible. I feel like God spoke to me. 0:10:30.610 --> 0:10:33.970 You see signs and there's zeal in your heart and 0:10:33.970 --> 0:10:36.570 you want to talk to people. You come early to worship. 0:10:36.570 --> 0:10:40.090 You raise your hands and something inside is moving you. Why? 0:10:40.130 --> 0:10:45.130 It's young faith, zealous faith. Faith that simply says, I 0:10:45.130 --> 0:10:53.090 trust God. But with time something happens. Sometimes, if we're 0:10:53.090 --> 0:10:58.650 not careful with time, with time we become more seasoned. 0:10:59.570 --> 0:11:04.490 With time we become more well, we know it. We 0:11:04.490 --> 0:11:11.770 become more self-reliant. We become more educated about religious things. 0:11:13.010 --> 0:11:18.490 We become more knowledgeable. And sometimes as our knowledge grows, 0:11:18.490 --> 0:11:22.970 our fire goes down. And sometimes as our familiarity with 0:11:22.970 --> 0:11:27.250 God grows, our passion goes down. And sometimes what we 0:11:27.290 --> 0:11:31.970 find ourselves with greater knowledge, but with less passion, we 0:11:31.970 --> 0:11:34.530 exchange one for the other. You know, the Bible says 0:11:35.250 --> 0:11:37.770 that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, you 0:11:37.770 --> 0:11:42.210 must be like a child. And you wonder why, like 0:11:42.210 --> 0:11:46.370 a child, I think it's not about not knowing. It's 0:11:46.370 --> 0:11:51.130 not about naivety. It's about the simplicity of faith that 0:11:51.130 --> 0:11:55.370 a child has when the father walks in and they say, daddy, 0:11:56.890 --> 0:11:59.690 when a little kid walks in. When, when my kids 0:11:59.690 --> 0:12:02.179 were small, I'd come to the door and when they 0:12:02.179 --> 0:12:04.380 were old enough, they were 3 or 4. They would 0:12:04.380 --> 0:12:06.540 run to the door. They wanted me to hold daddy, 0:12:06.580 --> 0:12:09.860 daddy and I'd pick him up and throw him daddy, daddy. 0:12:09.860 --> 0:12:12.380 And I'd try to hold them all at the same time. Why? 0:12:12.500 --> 0:12:16.340 Just the simplicity of a little kid excited that their 0:12:16.340 --> 0:12:18.900 dad is home. And if you hear them talk to 0:12:18.940 --> 0:12:23.660 their friends. My daddy is stronger than your daddy. I mean, 0:12:23.660 --> 0:12:26.860 they believe that their daddy could lift up cars and 0:12:26.900 --> 0:12:29.660 and their daddy could almost do anything. There's this. My 0:12:29.660 --> 0:12:31.700 daddy can do it. Wait till I call my daddy. 0:12:31.740 --> 0:12:34.780 My daddy is here. The simplicity of. Yeah, I know 0:12:34.780 --> 0:12:38.380 my daddy. If he's here, everything's okay. The simplicity of 0:12:38.380 --> 0:12:40.500 a child. And Jesus said, if you want to enter 0:12:40.500 --> 0:12:42.900 the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God belongs to 0:12:42.940 --> 0:12:48.500 those whose faith is like that of a child. Asa 0:12:48.500 --> 0:12:52.420 started that way, but something changed inside of his heart. 0:12:53.740 --> 0:12:58.260 In fact, now it tells us in Second Chronicles that 0:12:58.500 --> 0:13:02.939 early on in his career. He trusted God and prayed 0:13:02.940 --> 0:13:06.860 and God answered. But this time around, the same thing happened. 0:13:06.860 --> 0:13:10.020 The armies came against him, and this time around he 0:13:10.020 --> 0:13:14.780 was less passionate about his faith. He was less naive, 0:13:14.820 --> 0:13:20.780 less sincere, less zealous. This time he decided to make 0:13:20.780 --> 0:13:23.179 a treaty. And so he actually went into the house 0:13:23.179 --> 0:13:26.179 of God, into the temple, and he took all the 0:13:26.220 --> 0:13:31.660 gold and silver appliances and cups out of the house 0:13:31.660 --> 0:13:34.100 of God. And he took them all, and he got 0:13:34.100 --> 0:13:36.140 some from his own house. And he went and he 0:13:36.140 --> 0:13:39.340 brought the treasure before the king of Aram and said, hey, 0:13:39.380 --> 0:13:42.500 I'll give you this treasure, and let's make a treaty 0:13:43.820 --> 0:13:47.580 this time instead of going to God. He took that 0:13:47.580 --> 0:13:50.860 which belonged to God and gave it to someone else. 0:13:56.260 --> 0:13:58.860 You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe here 0:13:58.860 --> 0:14:02.270 on Bold steps. We will continue in a moment. Let 0:14:02.270 --> 0:14:04.270 me remind you that all of these daily lessons can 0:14:04.270 --> 0:14:08.030 be found on our website, bold steps org. You can 0:14:08.030 --> 0:14:10.390 also hear us on most of the major podcast apps 0:14:10.390 --> 0:14:13.829 by searching for bold steps with doctor Mark Jobe. Just remember, 0:14:13.830 --> 0:14:16.270 click that subscribe button while you're there and leave us 0:14:16.270 --> 0:14:18.430 a message. Also in a five star review to help 0:14:18.429 --> 0:14:21.630 others find the program. And for even more content on 0:14:21.630 --> 0:14:24.750 the go, including videos and bonus features, you'll want to 0:14:24.790 --> 0:14:27.910 download the Bold Steps app. Watch and listen to an 0:14:27.910 --> 0:14:31.150 entire sermon series right from your phone, and discover even 0:14:31.150 --> 0:14:35.190 more teaching videos centered on biblical truths right at your fingertips. 0:14:35.430 --> 0:14:37.550 Go to the App Store on your phone or mobile 0:14:37.550 --> 0:14:41.630 device and download the Bold Steps app today. Now let's 0:14:41.630 --> 0:14:44.750 get back to Mark's study and being fully devoted to God. 0:14:44.990 --> 0:14:46.510 Once again, here's Mark Jobe. 0:14:51.710 --> 0:14:55.310 And I was thinking about that. The natural tendency for 0:14:55.310 --> 0:15:00.600 us as we grow older to become more self-reliant. The 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:05.000 natural tendency to become more self dependent instead of God dependent. 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:10.520 The natural tendency to lose our zeal to become a 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:16.240 little bit more cynical. To become a little bit less passionate. 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:22.000 I'm not impressed by a new believer that's zealous about God. 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:26.280 I'm impressed by someone that's walking a long time in 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.880 a zealous about God. You know, I'm not really impressed 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:33.720 by a young dating couple that's only started to date 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:39.600 three months, and they're all over each other and just 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:44.480 looking at each other's eyes. Can't sit in church without 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:48.000 rubbing each other's hair and get as close as they can. Like, 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:52.880 are you 1 or 2? They can't tell. Because, yeah, 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.200 they've only been dating a short amount of time. What 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:58.760 I'm impressed with is someone that's been married for 20 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:01.920 years and they still have a zeal and desire for 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:06.000 one another. What I'm impressed is long term zeal. What 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:09.840 I'm impressed is a zeal and a fervor that goes 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:13.440 beyond the infatuation stage. But that goes for a long time. 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.440 Let me tell you what I'm impressed with is not 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.280 a new believer that zealous about God. What I'm impressed 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:21.120 with is someone that's walked with God for 25 years 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.080 and has a passion and zeal for the things of God. 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:33.360 That's what impresses me. Something about Asa had changed. Instead 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.440 of the simple, sincere faith of going to God, now 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:41.600 he's making deals, now he's actually taking things from God 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:44.640 and buying off his enemy. Now I want to tell 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.360 you that it worked. But how many? How many of 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:51.280 you know? Just because it works temporarily doesn't mean that 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:55.800 it's good in the long run. You may do something 0:16:55.800 --> 0:17:01.600 right now that fixes something temporarily, Rarely, but that long 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:07.920 term has a devastating effect upon your life. King Asa 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:10.800 went into the temple, gathered the stuff and gave it away. 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:13.520 I thought to myself, how do we do that today? Oh, 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.439 we don't go into the temple, get things and and 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.880 sell it. But we do it with our life. When 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:23.400 we came to Christ, when we came to God. I 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.720 was 15. When I gave my life to Christ, knelt 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.720 in the basement of my grandmother's apartment, and I said, Lord, 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.160 I know I could go in a lot of different directions. 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:37.000 I was a sophomore in high school. My friends were partying. 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.560 Everybody was going in their direction. I was being pulled 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.879 one way or another. I kneeled beside my bed and 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:48.000 I said, I know that I know about faith and 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.440 I know about God because I was raised in it, 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:53.840 but I have to. I have to choose. Will that 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.720 be my God? Will that be my faith? Will that 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:59.690 be my journey? Or is that the faith of my parents. 0:18:01.050 --> 0:18:03.170 At 15 years old, I knelt beside and I said, Lord, 0:18:03.170 --> 0:18:06.050 I'm going to follow you. I'm going to give my 0:18:06.050 --> 0:18:09.930 life to you. You will be my Lord, whatever the cost. 0:18:09.930 --> 0:18:12.050 And when I got up, I felt it like I 0:18:12.090 --> 0:18:17.410 have just given my life to Jesus. When you come 0:18:17.410 --> 0:18:20.090 to Christ, you say, you're Lord of all. My heart 0:18:20.090 --> 0:18:24.650 belongs to you, God. But you know, it's interesting that 0:18:24.650 --> 0:18:28.410 we can take well our time that really belongs to God. 0:18:28.410 --> 0:18:30.210 And you look over your week and you say, really? 0:18:30.210 --> 0:18:32.570 How much of your time have you actually given to God? 0:18:33.330 --> 0:18:35.490 I mean, really, if your life belongs to God, how 0:18:35.490 --> 0:18:37.610 much of your time have you actually spent on the 0:18:37.609 --> 0:18:41.889 things that belong to God? You say, hey Lord, my 0:18:41.890 --> 0:18:44.609 energy belongs to you. Lord, how much of your energy 0:18:44.650 --> 0:18:51.970 has actually gone into something that is God centered? Your praise? Oh, 0:18:51.970 --> 0:18:54.530 you give credit to people. You thank people at your job. 0:18:54.530 --> 0:18:57.170 You thank family members. You think other people. But really, 0:18:57.170 --> 0:19:00.100 how much of the credit have you given to God? 0:19:00.500 --> 0:19:02.340 And are we? Are we taking it from the house 0:19:02.340 --> 0:19:04.780 of God, from the things of God, and giving it away, 0:19:04.780 --> 0:19:08.540 and have very little that we can offer to God? 0:19:10.380 --> 0:19:12.580 How much of your talents? Some of you here are 0:19:12.580 --> 0:19:18.700 extremely gifted, extremely talented. God has enabled you to do things. 0:19:18.700 --> 0:19:21.300 Some of you are mechanical, some of you are artistic. 0:19:21.300 --> 0:19:24.540 Some of you are creative. Some of you have verbal skills, 0:19:24.540 --> 0:19:29.980 relational skills you have. You are uniquely qualified and uniquely 0:19:29.980 --> 0:19:33.980 empowered by God for certain things. But you're taking really 0:19:33.980 --> 0:19:36.820 all of that God is giving you and using it 0:19:36.820 --> 0:19:40.020 on things that have almost nothing to do with anything 0:19:40.020 --> 0:19:45.620 remotely related to God. Maybe good things, maybe nice things, 0:19:45.619 --> 0:19:52.860 but really, how much of it really belongs to God? Asa, 0:19:53.619 --> 0:19:59.860 as he grew compromised in his life. Asa as he 0:19:59.900 --> 0:20:06.060 grew his priorities, his resources. Instead of going to God, 0:20:07.380 --> 0:20:10.180 he started taking what God had given him, what belonged 0:20:10.180 --> 0:20:14.940 to God, and started giving it away in his own compromise. 0:20:16.300 --> 0:20:20.180 I'm talking about hearts that are fully devoted. Number two, 0:20:21.540 --> 0:20:24.260 not only does a heart fully devoted refuse to give 0:20:24.260 --> 0:20:30.219 what belongs to God to others, but also secondly, a 0:20:30.220 --> 0:20:34.619 heart that is fully devoted puts their reliance on God 0:20:34.859 --> 0:20:39.659 above all else. Notice what it says in verse seven. 0:20:41.260 --> 0:20:47.740 At that time, Hanani the seer or the prophet came 0:20:47.740 --> 0:20:50.420 to Asa, the king of Judah, and said to him, 0:20:50.859 --> 0:20:54.379 because you have relied on the king of Aaron, and 0:20:54.420 --> 0:21:00.060 have not relied on the Lord your God, Because you've 0:21:00.060 --> 0:21:04.139 relied on others and haven't relied on the Lord your God, 0:21:04.580 --> 0:21:09.420 you will not have a full victory. You see, what 0:21:09.420 --> 0:21:15.980 had happened is that Asa had stopped trusting God and 0:21:15.980 --> 0:21:18.419 he started trusting himself. 0:21:24.859 --> 0:21:27.380 You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe on 0:21:27.380 --> 0:21:29.860 bold steps, and be sure to join us Tuesday when 0:21:29.859 --> 0:21:32.660 we continue with part two of this message titled When 0:21:32.660 --> 0:21:36.220 God Stops. Mark, let's take a moment to talk about 0:21:36.220 --> 0:21:39.140 our bold step gift, the six conversations. Now you are 0:21:39.140 --> 0:21:42.140 a college president. I think it's appropriate that we have 0:21:42.140 --> 0:21:44.140 a guest who know something about that. 0:21:44.180 --> 0:21:48.500 Absolutely. I take my hat off to all college professors, 0:21:48.859 --> 0:21:53.580 and our guest today is actually a professor at Penn State. 0:21:53.940 --> 0:21:57.460 You know, as a college professor, she has a unique 0:21:57.460 --> 0:22:02.070 perspective on how younger generations engage in conversations. And so, 0:22:02.510 --> 0:22:06.230 doctor Heather Holloman is our guest. And welcome, Heather. 0:22:06.350 --> 0:22:07.149 Thank you. 0:22:07.310 --> 0:22:12.270 Heather. Speaking generationally, you see that young people, college students 0:22:12.270 --> 0:22:16.590 maybe interact a little bit different than previous generations. And 0:22:16.590 --> 0:22:18.950 so let me ask you, what changes have you noticed 0:22:18.950 --> 0:22:23.230 and how does your book, the Six Conversations address those challenges? 0:22:23.830 --> 0:22:26.910 Well, because there's such a reliance on their phone for 0:22:26.910 --> 0:22:30.790 texting and just the communication through social media, my students 0:22:30.790 --> 0:22:34.790 have really lost the ability to engage in meaningful conversation 0:22:34.790 --> 0:22:37.830 face to face. Most, most what I'm seeing is they're 0:22:37.830 --> 0:22:40.830 not really good at asking those first questions and then 0:22:40.830 --> 0:22:43.870 follow up questions. They've sort of lost that art of 0:22:43.869 --> 0:22:47.070 interpersonal curiosity, and I tell them it's their number one 0:22:47.070 --> 0:22:50.629 professional development skill to thrive in the workplace, to become 0:22:50.630 --> 0:22:52.790 a curious person about other people. 0:22:53.109 --> 0:22:55.990 You know. That's so true. Yeah. When when people are 0:22:55.990 --> 0:22:59.830 looking down at their smartphones and just engaging via social media. 0:22:59.869 --> 0:23:04.310 I've noticed a lot more awkwardness in just having natural conversations. 0:23:04.310 --> 0:23:06.870 So, Heather, can this book help us as parents relate 0:23:06.869 --> 0:23:08.030 to our young people? 0:23:08.630 --> 0:23:12.389 Yes, immediately. In fact, I give readers six ways to 0:23:12.430 --> 0:23:16.230 be naturally curious about people in their life and not be, 0:23:16.270 --> 0:23:19.109 and learn how to ask really good questions of especially 0:23:19.109 --> 0:23:22.190 young people. And so once you ask that first question 0:23:22.190 --> 0:23:23.990 in any of the categories of what it means to 0:23:23.990 --> 0:23:26.150 be human, parents will know how to ask a really 0:23:26.150 --> 0:23:28.790 good follow up question. And with young people, they love 0:23:28.790 --> 0:23:31.670 the social category. They love to talk about their friends. 0:23:31.670 --> 0:23:34.430 They also love to talk in the physical category. New things. 0:23:34.430 --> 0:23:37.830 They're listening to new foods. They're trying new things they've 0:23:37.830 --> 0:23:39.990 done with their rooms, things like that. 0:23:40.030 --> 0:23:42.270 Hey, I love that. So if you are a parent 0:23:42.270 --> 0:23:44.550 or a grandparent and you're saying, I really want to 0:23:44.550 --> 0:23:47.750 connect with my teenager or my college student and get 0:23:47.750 --> 0:23:52.429 involved in some spiritually more deep conversations, but they seem 0:23:52.430 --> 0:23:55.710 to shut down very quickly, this book may be a 0:23:55.710 --> 0:23:57.230 great resource for you. 0:23:57.270 --> 0:23:59.030 And we'd be happy to send you a copy of 0:23:59.030 --> 0:24:01.960 the six conversations. When you make a donation of any 0:24:01.960 --> 0:24:06.400 amount to support bold steps. Call us at 800 Moody. 0:24:06.680 --> 0:24:13.680 That's (800) 356-6639 or give online at Bold Steps. You can 0:24:13.680 --> 0:24:15.720 also send your gift through the mail by writing to 0:24:15.720 --> 0:24:20.800 us at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 0:24:20.840 --> 0:24:26.040 606 ten. Remember to request the six conversations when you write. 0:24:26.520 --> 0:24:29.160 And as these special resources and Bible teachings have come 0:24:29.160 --> 0:24:32.360 alongside you and your faith journey, we invite you to 0:24:32.400 --> 0:24:35.680 come alongside us and help us continue reaching more people 0:24:35.680 --> 0:24:39.840 through this ministry by becoming a bold partner. Faithful listeners 0:24:39.840 --> 0:24:42.400 support the Ministry of Bold Steps at a monthly basis, 0:24:42.440 --> 0:24:45.880 and through their study partnership, we're expanding across the globe 0:24:45.920 --> 0:24:51.280 and bringing the gospel to listeners in Singapore, Malawi and Mozambique. Today, 0:24:51.280 --> 0:24:53.760 we invite you to become part of the team. Plus, 0:24:53.760 --> 0:24:56.040 when you give a monthly gift of $30 or more, 0:24:56.080 --> 0:24:59.840 you'll also receive a number of personal benefits, including discounts 0:24:59.840 --> 0:25:03.640 on moody publisher items, special content from Mark and more. 0:25:04.040 --> 0:25:06.200 And becoming a bold partner is quick and easy when 0:25:06.200 --> 0:25:10.040 you go to bold steps.org. And before we close, we 0:25:10.040 --> 0:25:12.080 want to remind you to sign up for Marc's weekly 0:25:12.080 --> 0:25:16.000 email devotional, The Bold Stepper Weekly. It's full of encouraging 0:25:16.000 --> 0:25:19.120 biblical truths and exciting updates from Mark, and he sends 0:25:19.160 --> 0:25:21.520 one out every Monday morning. So if you're on the list, 0:25:21.520 --> 0:25:24.320 you should have today's edition already sitting in your inbox. 0:25:24.640 --> 0:25:26.400 And if you haven't joined the list yet, you can 0:25:26.400 --> 0:25:28.800 do that today and be ready for next week's edition 0:25:28.800 --> 0:25:31.720 of The Bold Stepper Weekly by signing up right now 0:25:31.760 --> 0:25:35.960 at Bold Steps. I'm Wayne Shephard. We'll see you again 0:25:35.960 --> 0:25:40.320 next time when Mark continues this message titled When God Stops. 0:25:40.640 --> 0:25:44.679 That's coming up Tuesday here on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. 0:25:45.840 --> 0:25:48.800 Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry 0:25:48.800 --> 0:25:50.440 of Moody Bible Institute.