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Date Posted: 07:57:40 02/10/17 Fri
Author: c
Subject: intouch.org radio 2

intouch.org radio 2 (edited portions of messages)

8/31/13

21:47


Is it not true? that when you and I are going through difficulty and things are really tough and your friends know it and other people know it. And they see how you respond. And they see you with a heart of joy no matter what. And you’re able to say: “you know what? I don’t really like this. This is very painful. But I’m thankful to God because I know, being the sovereign God that He is and my Heavenly Father, He’s only going to allow in my life what’s good because here’s what He says, He says He ‘causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose’ and therefore if God is allowing this in my life, He’s allowing it for a purpose and He said: He’ll ‘cause it to turn out to my good’ so therefore, the only thing I can honestly do and be true to myself is to thank Him for it, I don’t like it, it’s painful, it’s hurtful - I’m thanking Him anyway”.

Your friends will think you’re crazy. They’ll say: “well, how can you be thankful when…?”. "Because I know the Father. And the Father wouldn’t let anything in my life unless He knows He’s going to turn it for good". And so the person who’s not a christian, then they get in trouble. And you know what they think about? they think about: “well, you know, when she was in that…how did they.. ?” and the next thing you know they’re going to be asking you: “well, tell me how this happened in your life?”

One of the greatest times of impacting witness in your life and mine is when we’re hurting –we’re going through pain. And then we express gratitude and thanksgiving to God and say: “you know, He’s in this is some fashion. I don’t know why it happened but I know He has a purpose”. You see, people who live without a purpose –they can’t be happy. You can’t be happy, you can’t be contented, listen, you can’t be thankful if you’re living a purposeless life. Because God has put purpose in every single person’s life if they’re willing to listen to Him and if they’re willing to abide by Him.


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9/7/13

4:54

His goal was crystal clear in his mind. The second step is this, that is: a consuming desire to accomplish your goal. Now you say: "what do you mean by 'a consuming desire'? Well, I simply mean this: it can't be a ho-hum sort of a, "well, I'd like to", "well, I want to", "well, I've been thinking about it", "one of my dreams in life". There has to be some feeling in it. There has to be some fervency in it - there ought to be a passion - a sense of energy - a divine motivation on the inside: "I believe this is a goal that God has helped me to set and therefore I want to achieve this and I'm excited about it and I want to do whatever is necessary to get it done".

And what happens is: something begins to happen on the inside of you. And that is, what happens is: you begin to have a consuming desire. Now, if you have confidence based on: Who He is within you, based on what God has promised you. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said: "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me". Was that some egotistical boast? No it was not. What was it? It was an expression of an inner confidence that was absolutely unshakeable writing this in a prison cell.

He said: "I can do all things through Christ Who strenthens me". Why? Based on a relationship with Christ, based on past experiences, and based on the truth of what He knew about God. And I think many, many people lose it right there. They say: "well, I - I think I can", "well, I certainly hope I can", "well, I know I've seen other people do this but, you know, after all, I - I'm really not anybody special and, um, I really don't have all that many skills", and "uh, I'm sure there's some other folks could do it better". So what! That's not even the issue.

The issue is: What does God want you to do? What does God want you to accomplish? That is the right attitude. Confidence, listen, not egotism based on self-strength but, listen, confidence based on the living presence of the living God within you. Whatever He calls you to do God has decided, He's already set His mind, as the Scripture says in the Psalms: "God is on your side". He will enable you to accomplish whatever it is God has led you to set for a goal for your life.

12:26

Then, of course, number 7 is consistency. What do I mean by that? Simply this: you don’t start something and stop it. You set your eye on the goal and you do not let someone else steal it from you because they’re wavering somewhere else. When I think about that, when I think about consistency, I’m thinking about, listen: you set your eye on the goal, you have a determined, fixed purpose.

Very important that you and I are consistent because otherwise we’re gonna drift. And so all of these clamoring things that demand our time, and our attention, our energy – if you don’t set your eye on the goal, if it’s not some kind of a passion inside of you, if it’s not something you really and truly want to achieve, if it isn’t worthy of your concentration, your thought, and your time, you won’t do it.

Now, I would never say to somebody: ”you set your eye on your goal apart from God”. No, if it is a God-given goal, your eye must always be upon Him to help you keep your eye on the goal. That is, accomplishments in your everyday life. He must enable you and strengthen you. And so, having your eye on your goal is not a conflict because your eye ultimately is on the Lord God seeking His direction for your life and how He wants you to achieve that.

He is so willing to give us so many wonderful ideas if we will stop to say: “ok, what can I do at this point? I certainly do not want to be drifting. I don’t want time to be wasted. I don’t want resources to be wasted. I don’t want my mind to get cloudy. God, focus my attention and just seal me to what You want me to accomplish". There are some big goals in your life, if they are worthy goals, you have to keep your eye on them.

Or else, you’re going to lose them and if you get your eye off of them, and it’s very easy to do that, you just gonna drift off and just say: “well, you know what? that was one of those big goals I had out yonder, but, somewhere along the way, I guess I just laid it down”. Why? Because either you didn’t have the motivation to begin with, either it was not worthy of, it did not deserve your time, deserve your energy, deserve your thought, and deserve your focus, and, listen, deserve your being steadfast, then you’ll lay it down.


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9/25/13

He created us to fellowship with us. You will not and you cannot live a life of obedience without fellowshiping with the Father through His Son Jesus Christ. You cannot. And you can look at His life. Why was He always slipping away to pray? Why were they finding Him out in the wilderness? Why were they finding Him out somewhere alone? They came after Him several times. They said: “Master, they’re looking for You”. You know what? He was doing the most important thing. He needed to be with the Father.

15:12

If we want to be obedient to Him, two things are required: Number one: spending time fellowshipping with Him and secondly, listen, relying upon the Holy Spirit. And what I want you to remember is this: every single ministry of the Holy Spirit is directed toward some need you and I have in our life. Remember what He said to His disciples: “sit down in the city of Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you”.

So what happens? If we’re going to be obedient to Him, we have to acknowledge: “Father, I don’t have the strength to do it. It’s not what I want to do”. And so, what do we say? We say: “Lord, You sent the Holy Spirit to live on the inside of me”. And He lives on the inside of every single believer. Why is He there? He’s there to enable you and me to do what we cannot do. We’re not equipped to do it. He didn’t build you and me in such a way that we could live obediently before Him without relying upon the Holy Spirit. That’s why He sent Him.

It would be unjust on the part of God to call us to do something we can’t do without helping us do it. And there’s much in life that you and I cannot do. You want to walk obediently? Number 1: fellowship. Cannot, will not without it. Relying upon the Holy Spirit. Trusting Him to do it – you cannot, you will not without it. And the third thing is simply this, it’s real simple: you must be willing to believe that fellowship with Him, and relying upon the Holy Spirit will give you that energy and strength and power and refreshment and renewing that you need to live obediently before Him.


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9/28/13

15:05

We can’t live by the Sermon on the Mount. We can’t do anything to get God to forgive us but to look to the cross and recognize that when He died at Calvary, His shed blood paid our sin debt in full. And only when I receive Him as my Savior am I saved. So he’s not about talking in this passage: “well, that if you do some good things and have right attitude, you’re gonna be saved.” No, that’s not what he’s talking about. We have two choices: Our conduct and behavior toward other people can either be expressions of corruption and decay and death, or they can be expressions of life.

And so, when he speaks of eternal life here, we have the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, but, from the moment you and I are saved, every good work that comes from us, every act of service from us, what’s God doing, but He is laying up rewards for us in Heaven. So, on the one hand, we receive the continuous rewards that we receive, by doing good, being obedient to God, having right attitudes as the children of God.

So, think about it also in this way: when somebody wrongs you, and you turn the other cheek, when somebody requires of you something that you know is not right and you refuse to be obedient to them and you obey God, but instead, you have the right attitude toward them, you know what’s happening? They are providing you the opportunity for God to bless you, providing you the opportunity of God rewarding you.

And remember this: earthly rewards are only temporary. Eternal rewards are eternal. And therefore whatever rewards God places upon us, some will be here and some hereafter we’ll enjoy. They are eternal in their existence. We will forever and ever enjoy them. So that, the person who wrongs us loses both ways. And when you and I respond right, we win both ways. Because what happens is this: their wronging us gives us the opportunity of being obedient to God, demonstrating a godly spirit and we’re going to be rewarded by it.

Secondly, it also gives us the opportunity of responding to that person in the right fashion – making a very clear godly statement to them and, in the process of sowing good seed, the truth is, it is coming back to us, and it is going to be not corruption and decay but life and energy and joy and peace and all the rest. Here is a principle of success: Treat others the way I want to be treated. Whether it’s in the business relationships, in church, in family, among friends – even among my enemies.

And the promise of God is: because it is based upon the law of sowing and reaping, I am going to come out blessed. I am going to reap good. I am going to have God’s favor every single time – no matter what. Now it may – listen, His favor and blessing may come from a direction that never even crossed my mind. It may be from someone that I didn’t even know. It may be from somewhere out yonder that I never even thought about.

But one thing’s for certain: God makes no promises He doesn’t keep. The best of life is offered for every single person – success in who you become and what you have is yours for the asking. Remember what we said in the very beginning: our attitude shapes our future. And the attitude of grace and love and forgiveness and kindness and generosity and helpfulness and encouragement, that’s the kind of attitude that will shape your future. Because as you give it, you’ll get it in return.

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12/12/13

16:38

We’re still going to enjoy some bit complaining with the Lord – that’s our human nature. What I want you to see is this; God is a good God. This whole Bible is witness to the fact that God is a good God and He – listen, you are living in the presence of the goodness of God. You and I live under the umbrella of the goodness of God.

Listen, I want to challenge you that before you get up tomorrow morning, while you’re still in the bed, you put it in your own words but say something like this, out of your heart: “Father, I just want to thank You today that You are going to pursue me today to pour out Your goodness in my life. You said: 'surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, pursue me, come after me, all the days of my life'. So Father, thank You that today, that You are going to be looking for ways and You’ll be looking for opportunities and You’ll know them all already – You’ll be looking for ways to express Your goodness to me today. Father, I want to walk in Your will today. And I want to be able to identify those expressions of Your goodness so that tonight I can just spend my time praising You and thanking You before I go to bed – thanking You for all the expressions of Your goodness because I know, today, I’m going to live and walk under the canopy of Your goodness all day long".

Now I want to challenge you to do something. You say: “suppose I wake up and feel terrible?” Well, are you going to go by your feelings or are you going to go by the truth? Now think about this – I’ll challenge you to do something: If you will wake up 21 mornings – don’t ask me why 21, just take my word for it – if you will wake up 21 mornings thanking God for His goodness that today that you gonna live in His goodness, live under the canopy of His goodness, that you gonna experience His goodness, you gonna look for the evidences of His goodness, you gonna thank Him for His goodness, thank Him for it – the fact that you’re going to live in the goodness – under the expressions of the goodness of God today – 21 days.

Something is going to happen to your thinking about God, about what’s happening around you, what’s happening in you, what’s happening to you, and, listen, something will happen on the inside of you that will absolutely change your perspective about your relationship to God. You know what else will happen? God will begin to be able to express His goodness to you in ways now are all plugged up.

You see, He says in this passage in Psalms, He said: “He has stored up His goodness for those who obey Him”. You want God’s goodness in your life? Obey Him. Do you think God is going to disappoint you? No way. Listen, God is not going to disappoint you.


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12/18/13

21:48

When we say: “What’s a body of Christ? What’s that all about?” It’s all about believers. For example, when He died and was buried and resurrected, went to the Father – now who are we? We’re the body of Christ. Jesus is in Heaven seated at the Father’s right hand and now here we are: saved, His children. He’s living and walking and speaking through us and helping and serving through us. So, that’s what makes us the body of Christ.

So what must that be? It must be holy before God. We represent Him – we’re His ambassadors down here. And so, when you think about the kind of life that you live, do you get up everyday saying: “well, do the best I can today. I know I’m going to sin because, you know, after all, saved by grace – we’re still sinners"? Is that your attitude?

Or should it not be? “thank God He saved me and the Holy Spirit is living on the inside of me. And Father today, by Your help and Your strength, and Your divine guidance, I’m going to walk holy before You. I’m going to be obedient to You today. I choose to live a sanctified life. And therefore, I’m trusting the Holy Spirit to guide what I say, guide where I go, guide what I touch, guide what I think, guide what I feel. I want to walk holy before You today".

Have you ever said to Him: you want to walk a holy life? And when I think about people who are growing old and getting cynical – there’s something wrong – they’ve missed it somewhere. Because God has called us to salvation: a once and for all call, to sanctification all of our life. You and I will never reach a stage in our life where He is not calling us to sanctification, where He’s not calling us to live a holy life.

Once you’re saved, the christian life is meant to be a journey that matures you into the likeness of Christ.


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1/6/14

6:40


Look in the 34th verse of that 37th Psalm: “wait for the Lord and keep His way” that is: obey Him. And sometimes, He doesn’t show us His plan quickly in life. And there are many people who say: “well, you know, at this point in my life, I’m 60 or 65, I don’t know that God’s ever had a plan for my life”. Yes He has. You say: ”well, suppose I miss it?” Get back in His will.

In other words, watch this, are you listening? Say, Amen. There’s always a secondary when people go through years of their life and nobody’s ever told them God had a plan for their life. And they get out there and years and years and years go by and all of the sudden they realize: “God had a plan for my life – I must have missed it”.

Watch this, when He knows where you are and why you missed that plan, God is, watch this, He’s willing to show you His secondary plan. Because, for example: you grew up in a family, nobody was saved, nobody talked to you about Jesus and so years went by – you never even thought about it: you thought you were sufficient doing what you were doing and all of the sudden, you get saved. God opens your eyes. He shows you He has a will for your life.

Well, does God have a will for your life after 65? Yes, He has a will for your life from the beginning to the end. He knows your past. He knows why you’re where you are. And He’s willing, listen, He’s willing to pick you up right where you are, forgive you for the wasted time that you’ve wasted – He knows why you did (maybe it was on purpose, maybe it was not on purpose). He’ll take you right where you are and He’ll give you a whole new beginning. That’s what grace is all about.

Somebody says: “do we have a second chance?” Second, third, fourth, fifth – I mean, praise God, He doesn’t just cut us off because we’ve missed it somewhere. But many people never catch on, that God has a plan and timing with Him is very, very important.

22:20

The wisest thing you can do is to make a decision: “From this point on here’s how I’m going to begin my day: I’m going to connect before I get out of bed. Lord, I thank You that You have a plan for my life today. I thank You Lord that Your timing is perfect. I thank You that You’ll bring into my life whatever You need to bring. You’ll protect me, You’ll guide me, You’ll lead me. If I go through any kind of suffering and hurt and disappointment and all the rest, I’ll trust You to bring me through that. Lord, I want to thank You that today, I’m going to walk obediently before You. I’m going to trust the Holy Spirit to do the speaking in me – to give me guidance and direction. And give me Your timing. Whatever You have for me, I’m available to wait. I know that waiting will grow me up, strengthen me, prepare me for what You have. I want to thank You for this day and Lord let my life be fruitful all day long”.

You begin the day that way, and all the sudden, your days - on the cloudiest day you’ve ever seen - sun’s going to be brilliant. You know why? Because you are connected with the Father.


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1/9/14

We’re all going to have natural, strong desires. I don’t mean they have to be sinful desires but I mean, we just have natural desires in life. Things that you want, dreams that you have, goals that you have. And so, it may be that what we want God wants us to have. But we have to have clear guidance as to how to go about it.

It may be that God has set a beautiful goal for your life, or He has something for your life that you really desire, that you really long for, something you’ve been working toward. And you want to know: how God do I go about this? He desires to give us clear guidance.

7:18

Here’s what He does: we start out with our desires – whatever they may be. And He has to bring us to the place of what I call: submissive neutrality. That is, I have to get my strong desires over here and let God begin to work in my life to bring them to the point that I’m willing to say: “Lord, not what I want but what You want. God, this is what I want, this is my desire. But Lord I want to be able to submit that, yield to that, and become neutral in my thinking and neutral in my desires because I really want what You want more than I want what I want because I know if what I want is not what You want, what You want is better for me than what I want”.

And so, when I’m able to bring those strong desires into the place of submissive neutrality, then I know that God is certainly working and that is the foundation, that is the bottom line and the foundation of clear discernment is a clean heart. A pure heart and clear direction go together. A pure heart and clear direction. A heart that has dealt with sin.

So, the solution to the whole issue when it comes to sin is repentance: “God, this doesn’t belong in my life, it doesn’t fit. I’m dealing with this. I’m laying this down. I want nothing in my life that will fog my mind and confuse and mix and inter-mingle my mind so that I miss Your clear direction for my life".

(also explored on Intouch.org radio 11/4/14 and 11/5/14)


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1/13/14

21:57

I’ll tell you what grows us up spiritually. What drives us to our knees is what grows us up. It is adversity, hardship, pain, suffering and trial. Usually, our adversity will come in an area of our lives in which God is working on us. In which He desires to grow us up. In which He desires to mature us. God is attempting to say something to every single one of us in every single adversity we have. He is attempting to grow us up.

Did He not say? “that He predestined you and me to be conformed to His likeness”? He knows how much sandpaper I need. He knows how much sawing away I need. He knows how much chiseling I need. He knows how much hammering I need. I wish He’d just pull out that slick, silk velvet and say: “now Charles boy here’s what I want to do in your life”. But you know what? I have never known God to put any silk on me. It’s sand, hammers, torch, you name it. But you know what? All those things have a purpose in our life.

We’d like for it to be silk and soft and easy going but you know He doesn’t do that. You know why? God isn’t nearly as interested in my comfort, ease and pleasure as He is in character and integrity and strength and being Christ-like. That’s what He’s up to. Let’s face it: This is a tough world you and I live in. Amen? It’s hard growing up. It’s hard being grown. It’s hard getting old. It’s hard being rich. It’s hard being poor. It’s hard having friends. It’s hard not having friends. I mean, you name it, and there are some adversities in every aspect of life. God is up to something. This is His choice tool for growing us up.

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