S1: Fully devoted people start by taking steps of obedience. What's
S1: the current condition of your heart toward God? Stay tuned.
S2: So here's how it goes. To those whose hearts are
S2: completely his extraordinary power follows on the heels of extraordinary commitment.
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody
S1: Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church
S1: in Chicago. Today in the broadcast, we continue the message
S1: when God stops, he's always on the move, always searching
S1: for those who are fully devoted to him. When he
S1: finds one, he stops and says, I found one. Are
S1: you one of those who are hungry in your faith,
S1: even when it's hard to obey? To keep up with
S1: our current teaching series, Fully Devoted, you can listen again
S1: to any of our messages anytime, anywhere on demand at bird-stamps.org.
S1: Now here's pastor Mark Jobe with part two of When
S1: God Stops on Bold Steps.
S2: Verse 12. It says. In his 39th year of his reign,
S2: Asa ended poorly, being king for 39 years, Asa became
S2: diseased in his feet. We don't know exactly what kind
S2: of disease it was. A lot more than athlete's feet,
S2: believe me. His disease was severe. Listen. But yet, even
S2: in his disease, he did not seek the Lord. But
S2: only the doctors. Can I tell you there's a shift
S2: in mindset going on there. There's nothing wrong with going
S2: to doctors. If you're sick, you should go to a doctor,
S2: he said. Pastor, I'm just going to trust the Lord. Well,
S2: you know, why don't you trust the Lord and go
S2: to a doctor, too? It's not a lack of faith
S2: to go to a doctor. How about it? The problem
S2: was that he only went to doctors when he was sick.
S2: And he didn't go to God. There's no problem that
S2: you go to a doctor. You should go to a
S2: doctor if you're sick. If your car is broken down,
S2: you should go to a mechanic. If your finances are
S2: in trouble, you should go to an accountant. You see,
S2: when you trust in others or other people or other things,
S2: but you don't go to God. Ultimately you're saying, hey,
S2: my trust isn't ultimately in you God. I think I
S2: can solve my problems and my issues without you, God.
S2: That is the ultimate presumption and arrogance of the human heart.
S2: To think that we can do anything that's worth doing
S2: without the power and strength of God. Can I tell
S2: you something? If your marriage is in trouble, you should
S2: go to a counselor to help you with your marriage. Ben,
S2: can I tell you something? Take the initiative. You be
S2: the one that leads. Men typically don't like to do that,
S2: but if you go to a counselor and believe that
S2: it's the counselor that fixes your marriage, ultimately it's no
S2: counselor in the world can fix your marriage without the
S2: power of God. You go to a counselor, but you
S2: need the power of the Holy Spirit in your life
S2: to change what you cannot change. You need someone to
S2: change your heart. God can only do that. If you
S2: have cancer. By all means, go to an oncologist. Get
S2: all the treatment that you can. But if your treatment,
S2: if you if you ultimately depend on chemotherapy and don't
S2: understand that he is Jehovah Rapha, the God that heals
S2: and you're not calling upon the Almighty God to release
S2: his healing power upon your life, then your confidence is
S2: in doctors, not in God Almighty. If you have an
S2: addiction problem, yes, go to a 12 step program, you
S2: should go to a 12 step program, but if you're
S2: confident is in your sponsor and 12 step program, then
S2: you have misplaced your confidence because that's only a tool
S2: that God uses to break the chains of addiction and
S2: set you free. You need the power of God. Asa
S2: went to doctors but didn't call upon the Lord. I'm
S2: just wondering, is your heart fully committed? It shows up
S2: in what you go to when you're in trouble, what
S2: you go to first. When you're in trouble, it shows
S2: up in what you rely on most. I love what
S2: Proverbs chapter three verse five and six says. It says,
S2: trust in the Lord with all your heart. What does
S2: it say? How much of our heart? Part of our heart.
S2: What does all mean in the Greek? All. All means 100%.
S2: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. 100%
S2: of your heart. You rely on God. God can meet
S2: the need through other people. Even our finances and our resources.
S2: If you believe that your your boss is the one
S2: that meets your need, then your boss will be your God.
S2: If you believe that God is the one that meets
S2: your need and he uses your boss, then you will
S2: put your boss in the right position and your boss
S2: will never say, suck your soul out of you because
S2: you know that ultimately it's God that provides and not
S2: your boss. If you understand that your boyfriend loves you
S2: and it's a good thing that he loves you and
S2: you kind of overflow in it. But if you think
S2: that your boyfriend is the one that gives you worth
S2: and value, then you will always have to have a
S2: man beside you. Whether he's a good man or a
S2: bad man, whether he treats you like trash or good,
S2: you will be driven to get your worth from a man.
S2: When you understand that it's God that gives you worth,
S2: then God can use a man in your life to
S2: love you in the right way. But ultimately, your worth
S2: is not from a man. Your worth is from God Almighty,
S2: who looks at you as a child of the living
S2: God and gives you worth and value. You see, ultimately
S2: we're looking to God. Trust in the Lord with all
S2: your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. When
S2: the Word of God. Is different than our own understanding,
S2: then ultimately it says, don't go by what you think.
S2: Go by what God says. Because ultimately, God's way is
S2: better than your way. Your heart might may say, I
S2: want to hold the grudge of unforgiveness and hatred in
S2: my heart because look what they did to me. And
S2: God says, forgive them because it's better for you. I've
S2: forgiven you and you say, I don't want to forgive them,
S2: but God says forgive them. Ultimately, God's way is better
S2: than your way. So you forgive. You say, God, I'm
S2: going to trust you and I'm going to forgive, even
S2: though I don't want to forgive. That's trusting God. God
S2: calls you to sexual purity. Walk in sexual purity. Well, pastor,
S2: you don't understand. If I don't like, get involved, I'm
S2: going to lose the guy. Because every guy, you know,
S2: they want a little something on the side. And I'm
S2: afraid if I don't give him a little something on
S2: the side, he's going to find a woman that will
S2: give him a little something on the side. So I just,
S2: you know, I really like him, pastor. I'm glad you
S2: like him. I'm glad you like him. But I hope
S2: you love God more than you like him. Because if ultimately,
S2: you're just going to get him. Because he's. Because you're
S2: giving him something on the side, listen, he's not worth
S2: hanging on to. Until he puts a ring on your
S2: finger and says, for better or for worse, let's do this.
S2: You said, pastor, you, you say, well, pastor, you must
S2: not live in the world I live in. Pastor. You're
S2: kind of old fashioned. You've been in a bubble. No, I'm.
S2: I live in the same world you live in. I'm
S2: just saying that what you define our lives is not culture.
S2: Which should define our life is the power and truth
S2: of the Word of God that supersedes culture. That's what
S2: I'm saying. The Word of God should supersede culture. And
S2: if God says it, even though it's hard to obey,
S2: follow what God says because God trumps trust in the
S2: Lord with all thy heart. Lean not on thine own understanding.
S2: In all your ways acknowledge him. And guess what? He
S2: will direct your path, or he will make your path straight.
S2: I'm talking. This is hard. This is difficult. This is challenging.
S2: Is my heart. A heart that would make God stop
S2: at my address and say I found one. Because they're
S2: fully devoted. Number three, not only must we refuse to
S2: give what belongs to God to others. Secondly, we can't
S2: put our reliance on others, but God above all others,
S2: if our heart is fully devoted. And number three and lastly,
S2: fully devoted hearts become magnets of the God's power. Verse
S2: nine says, for the eyes of the Lord move to
S2: and fro throughout all the earth, that he may listen
S2: to this, that he may strongly support. Another version says, strengthen.
S2: Another translation implies manifest his power to those whose hearts
S2: are completely his. So here's how it goes. Extraordinary power
S2: follows on the heels of extraordinary commitment.
S1: You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, and there's
S1: more coming up in a minute. Just to pause here
S1: to welcome you to the program. And if you're new
S1: to the broadcast, all of what you're hearing on air
S1: is also available to hear online at bird-stamps.org. There are
S1: different options there for you to receive the daily teaching.
S1: If you are a smartphone user and prefer to listen
S1: on demand, consider downloading the free Moody Radio app. Or
S1: you can subscribe to the podcast version on iTunes or Google,
S1: however you prefer to connect. It's our hope that this
S1: good news and teaching your hearing is challenging and encouraging
S1: you to take the needed, bold steps in your life
S1: to grow in faith and walk closer to God. So
S1: if you can, visit Bold steps.org for more details. Down
S1: through history, those who have had the most influence spiritually
S1: were those who were completely devoted to God, and we
S1: can learn from their examples. Here again is pastor Mark
S1: Jobe with more bold steps.
S2: Extraordinary spiritual power does not come to the intelligent, the wealthy,
S2: the resourced, First, the strategic extraordinary power comes to the
S2: extraordinarily committed. Jesus chose 12 disciples. You know what all
S2: 12 disciples had in common? The one common denominator of
S2: the 12 disciples was that they were hungry and devoted
S2: to following Christ. They weren't the wealthiest. They weren't the
S2: most prosperous. Their names were not known. The one that
S2: would become the the leader of the early church. His
S2: name was Peter. And he was a fisherman. Not a theologian,
S2: not a businessman, not of noble birth, a man that
S2: was used to catching fish. And he would become one
S2: of the most spiritually powerful men in the early New Testament. Why?
S2: Because he was simply devoted to Jesus. He had hunger
S2: for God. Down through the centuries, those that have turned
S2: countries around, those that have altered nations, those those that
S2: have influenced haven't always been the most successful, the wealthiest,
S2: the smartest, the those of royal blood. They have been
S2: those that say, I believe in what Scripture says. I
S2: believe in the power of God. I believe, and my
S2: heart is 100% devoted to who God is. And God says, aha!
S2: Now I found someone I can pour my power into.
S2: David was a shepherd boy. Not a soldier. But when
S2: he defeated Goliath, he was simply a shepherd boy that
S2: fully trusted God. And God empowered him to defeat a
S2: massive warrior called Goliath. Moses was a shepherd after 40 years,
S2: an old man When he had the burning bush experience
S2: and God said, go set my people free after 400
S2: years of slavery. And he set almost a million Israelites
S2: free from the oppression of the Egyptians. Not because he
S2: had power, but because he said, I'm willing and fully
S2: devoted to follow you, God. Gideon was but a child,
S2: fearful when the angel of the Lord appeared to him
S2: and said, mighty warrior, I'm calling you. And he rose
S2: up fully devoted, and set the people of God free.
S2: All I'm saying is that those that have greatest influence
S2: in the spiritual realm are those that say my heart.
S2: I choose to be fully devoted to who God has
S2: called me to be and follow him. I've asked myself
S2: this question what would happen in the city of Chicago
S2: if there was ten, 20, 30, 100 fully devoted followers
S2: of Jesus? What if. Come on, we're dreaming here a
S2: little bit. What if there was a church? A fully
S2: devoted followers. What if God were to move in a
S2: place like this? Yeah. An old factory converted. On the
S2: southwest side of Chicago. We have about 1500 people that
S2: attend on Sunday morning in this location. What if 1500
S2: people in the city of Chicago decided we're going to
S2: be serious about God, and we're going to become devoted,
S2: that our hearts will not be halfway there. Partially there.
S2: A 10th of a way there. But what if. What
S2: if a church said we are 100% ready and willing
S2: to follow God? What could God do through 1500 fully
S2: devoted people where God says, he stops and says, aha,
S2: I found one. Now let me pour some power. Let
S2: me pour some ability. Let me pour some strength. Let
S2: me empower them. Because when God finds a heart that's
S2: fully devoted, he's not afraid to pour power into it.
S2: He's not afraid to strengthen it. He's not afraid to
S2: allow them to do things that they could never do
S2: in their own power, because he strengthens them with supernatural power.
S2: Are you tracking with me? Well, see, that's what I'm
S2: praying for. That's what I'm believing for. And what I've
S2: discovered over the years is this. Listen, I've discovered that
S2: fully devoted people. Yeah. When we're fully devoted, we start
S2: taking steps of obedience that lead to extraordinary outpourings of
S2: blessing and power in our life. But listen, you can't
S2: expect new blessing off of old steps of obedience and commitment.
S2: I'm really glad that 20 years ago you bowed your
S2: knee and gave your life to Jesus. I'm super happy
S2: that you made a commitment ten years ago, but I'm
S2: not talking about ten years ago. I'm talking about this year.
S2: What's the condition of our heart? Well, I'm not talking
S2: about perfection because we won't reach that until we get
S2: to glory. I'm talking about commitment. Devotion, saying, Lord, if
S2: you say it, I do it. My heart is full
S2: of yours. That's what I'm talking about. I pray that
S2: God would keep my faith simple, pure and childlike. Help me, Lord,
S2: if I ever get too professional. Help me Lord, if
S2: it gets too complicated. Help me Lord. If, as your pastor,
S2: I overthink. It's our strategy, our intelligence, our structure, our ingenuity,
S2: our self-determination, our power, our will, our leadership organization that
S2: causes the church go forward. Help us God, if that's
S2: ever our reality. Because in the end, what drives the
S2: church of the Living God forward in the end, what
S2: causes God to show up with power in the end?
S2: The places where the presence of God says yes, here
S2: I can show up is simply people that have a
S2: childlike faith that says, here I am. You're my daddy.
S2: I showed up to worship you. And my heart fully
S2: belongs to you. That's a place where extraordinary power can
S2: be poured out. The simplicity of the gospel. Listen. I'm
S2: believing God for to move in some extraordinary ways, like
S2: I always have. And I. And I've seen it in
S2: my own life. When I'm really depending on God, when
S2: I really need God, I pray. When I'm walking on
S2: the flesh, I plan. I depend on self, I think
S2: I can solve it, I get consultants and nothing's wrong
S2: with that. But if you don't pray and go to God,
S2: who needs to be the first to go, go to,
S2: then really you're walking in the arm of the flesh
S2: and not walking under the arm of the spirit. And
S2: when you walk on the arm of the flesh, you
S2: always fail by the arm of the flesh. We're praying
S2: for our city. We're praying for international. But you're also
S2: praying for you. Because we corporately come together to pray
S2: for what God has called us to do. We're praying for,
S2: for for this church. I'm believing that this church would
S2: be a place, a hub of the presence of God,
S2: a powerful place of transformation where thousands of people will
S2: hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be transformed. Where
S2: marriages will be revitalized, where prodigal sons will come back
S2: to God, where the hardest of the heart will come,
S2: to Jesus, where people will see this as a beacon
S2: of hope, a place that is full of the life
S2: giving power of Jesus. I'm believing that for this congregation,
S2: for midway, for this factory that we have here in
S2: the next few years. But you need to pray for you.
S2: What does God want to do in your family? What
S2: does God want to do in your kids? What does
S2: God want to do in your heart. What is God
S2: doing in you? And if you're here saying, pastor, I
S2: don't really have anything. Well, come to me. I got
S2: a whole bunch of things to give you. If you
S2: had nothing to pray for, then you're not dreaming big enough.
S2: You're not expecting enough. Some of you need to pray. Oh, God,
S2: take this heart that's kind of cold and put some
S2: fire back into it. God. Some of you have family
S2: members that right now, you could never, never, never envision
S2: them actually worshiping and following Jesus. But you need to
S2: pray that God would bring them to a place where
S2: they'd finally be open to the things of God. Hey,
S2: I don't know what's on your heart to pray for.
S2: You may be a single woman here saying, I'm praying
S2: for a husband. I think that's a good prayer. A
S2: godly husband. You may be a guy praying for. Who knows,
S2: there may be a guy over there and a girl
S2: over there. And during the fast, you come together and voila!
S2: Your prayers answered right there. Who knows? That's how God
S2: works sometimes, right? I don't know what the prayer is.
S2: Maybe you need healing in your life. Physical healing. Maybe
S2: you need spiritual healing, emotional healing. Maybe you need a
S2: breakthrough in your job. I don't know what your issue
S2: is today and what God has put upon your heart
S2: to pray for, but I do know that what you're
S2: saying when you fast and pray is I am weak. God,
S2: I can't do it on my own. I'm acknowledging there's
S2: a power much greater than me. His name is God
S2: through His Son, Jesus Christ, that sends His Holy Spirit.
S2: And in my weakness, I'm calling unto God to do
S2: in a supernatural way what I cannot do in a
S2: natural way. That's what you're saying.
S1: That's pastor Mark Jobe. And this is bold steps. Mark
S1: is there's nothing in us. There's nothing in our strength
S1: or our knowledge. It's all of God, isn't it?
S2: It really is. And the story of Asa just reminds me,
S2: as the prophet says to Asa, it's really a rebuke,
S2: but he's reminding him, God's looking for a heart that's
S2: fully devoted. And when he finds one, he pours out
S2: his power, or he manifests his strength. And so really,
S2: God's strength and power are attracted to humility.
S1: Thank you Mark. Today's message is titled When God Stops.
S1: And if you want to revisit any part of it,
S1: or if you'd like to share this lesson with a friend,
S1: be sure to visit Bold Steps org. When you visit
S1: that website, don't miss out on our current Bold Step gift.
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S1: steps 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois. 606 ten One
S1: More Time. 820 North LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois. 606 ten and
S1: before we wrap up today, let me remind you how
S1: to find us on social media and get connected with
S1: our growing online community of fellow believers and Bold Steps listeners.
S1: You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Mark's
S1: YouTube channel by searching for Bold Steps Radio. Be sure
S1: to let us know when you get there. Well, that's
S1: our time for today. I'm Wayne Shepherd, thanks for joining us,
S1: and be sure to join us tomorrow when Mark presents
S1: the next message in our fully devoted series, a message
S1: titled The Power Habits. That's coming up Wednesday here on
S1: Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps is a production
S1: of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.