God wants to be first in our lives and help us with the mission he's given us, but we can put it off and lose the vision. Encouragement for the race today on bold steps.
I have to obey God and quit postponing obedience. I need to make God my priority. I can't live for myself. I need to put him at the center. He has to be number one.
Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. Many of us at one time have had a clear picture and God given direction shown to us in life, but along the way, something happened. Discouragement and distraction set in and we put off what we were called to do. Today we continue with the book of Haggai and how God stirred people's hearts and restored a vision.
We're hoping today's broadcast is sort of a tailwind that pushes you in the direction God is calling you to go. Our series is titled Fully Devoted. To hear this or any message again, visit Bold steps.org. That's bold steps org. Now with part two of the message, it's not over yet. Here's Mark Jobe with today's bold steps.
The Living Translation says look at what's happening to you. In other words, check out your life. Examine your life. Look at the mess that you've gotten yourself into. Pause for a moment to examine what's happening in your life by postponing obedience. By not finishing what I've asked you to finish. By not moving forward with those things that have called you to do. Look what's happening to your life. And he says you have planted much, but you've harvested little.
You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you're never filled. You're never full. You put on clothes, but you're not warm. You earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in them. Come on. Is someone listening to this here today? You know what God says. God says because you've postponed. Because you haven't put me as a priority. Then I have taken my favor away from you. And I've made your heart your
life harder because I'm not at the center. You're working and working and working, but it seems like you're spinning your wheels and not getting ahead. You think that this is going to fulfill you, and you chase after it, but you're more empty than you ever were before. You've thrown yourself into your jobs to try to gain prosperity. And it seems like, hey, I'm making more money than I've ever made before. You put it in your pocket, and it's like you have holes in your pockets. You
ever had a hole in your pocket? Put something in. It's like, hey, where was it? It's like it's going in and going out. You're not saving any of it. You're not keeping anything. Basically, what he tells them is because you have not put me at the center because you've postponed obedience. Now you're you're not. It's not working out the way you thought it would work. You've pursued after your own things, but as you pursue after your own things, the more you pursue them, the emptier you are.
The more you chase after them, the less fulfilling they are. The more you succeed. It feels like the more success evaporates from you. So you're working, you're stressed, you're pursuing, but you're less filled than you ever were in life because you have not put me first. He says to them, listen, verse nine, you expect much. These are people that are following God. These are not unbelievers, these are not agnostics. These are not people that have turned their back on God.
There are people that claim to follow God, people that are showing up to worship on Sundays. He says, listen, you expect much. But see, it turned out to be little. Come on. What you brought home, I blew away. I got this job. I worked so hard for this. And you expected that it would get you ahead a lot. You expected that you would have a lot left over.
Because finally you got that promotion. Finally you got that raise, finally the salaries up, and you come home and you try to put it and it seems like it's just blown away by the wind. You try to stash it together. Aha. Here it is. And it's gone. And you say why? And God says, I did that. God says I blew it away. It didn't say it blew away. God says I blew it away. Can I tell you something? Sometimes. Sometimes God frustrates you in your progress toward success. Sometimes
it's God who's blowing it away. Sometimes it's God who's saying, no, I'm not going to let you advance. Sometimes it's God who's saying, you're going to spin your wheels and spin them as hard as you can and not see progress. Sometimes it's God that's saying, I'm going to let you work real, real, real hard, and you're going to end up worse than what you were when you worked real hard. Sometimes it's God. You say, well, pastor, why would God do that? Because sometimes God has to let us not succeed.
So when we're tired and worn out, we finally stop and we look to the heaven and we say, God. What are you doing? And God says, I'm trying to get you to put me first. You're out there blaming it on the devil, or that devil keeps me, keeps me from succeeding. That devil didn't give me a promotion. That devil's taking all my money. That devil's not all that devil. I rebuke you devil. And God said, don't rebuke the devil, I did it. I did it for you. I did it so you wouldn't continue to pursue things
and not put me first. I did it so that you would wake up one day and realize, hey, listen, I have to obey God and quit postponing obedience. I need to make God my priority. I can't live for myself. I need to put him at the center. He has to be number one. These people were frustrated and God said, I frustrated you. These people were discouraged and God said, I did that to you. You know, there's something about
the favor of God on our life. It doesn't mean that everything goes without a hitch, but there's something about the favor of God upon our life. Not too long ago, I was traveling to a conference that I was speaking to in Europe, and I had to fly from Chicago to Madrid, and the pilot got on the intercom system and he said, I have good news for you today. Normally, the flight across the Atlantic is eight hours from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Barajas, Madrid. And he said, I have
I have news for you. We're going to get to Madrid early, probably about 45 minutes early. And I thought, wow, that's nice, he says, because we have a get it. We have a tailwind. And the tailwind is going to push us. When you have a tailwind, it means that you have a wind that's blowing in the same direction that you're going. It means that you have to use less. Less effort. And you get further with less effort. It means that you don't have to use as much. Fuel.
And you, you push forward. It means that there's. You're not fighting. You're just flowing. It means that you're going faster than the. Effort that you're putting in. It means you're going further than what you're. Working at. Putting in. That's when you have a tailwind. I look at the favor of God like that. You still have to put in your effort. You still have to. But you. But there's something about the favor of God that pushes us forward.
Yeah. Yeah.
And there's some times where God says, look, I'm going to give you a tailwind. And there's other times where God's saying, I'm going to give you a headwind against where you're going. It's going to take longer. It's going to be harder, because I want you to realize, I want you to look to the heavens, and I want you to say, God, I need you. I can't do it without you. I need to put you at the center of my life. And what I do.
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, and today's message is called It's Not Over Yet. And while our lesson isn't over yet, we do want to take a quick pause to make sure you've signed up for Mark's weekly email devotional, The Bold Stepper Weekly. It's absolutely free. No obligation. It's delivered right to your inbox each Monday morning to help you step into the week with a Bible centered focus. Mark, thanks for putting this together.
Absolutely. And we've had so many people respond in a positive way to say this encourages them to get their week started. Well, this week, by the way, we talked about what it means to let God shape your identity and not the labels that are placed on you by others. We actually talked about a new resource that we have called Discovering Who You Are in Christ more than a label, and some of you need to pick that up. That's going to be great. Remember, you are not what people,
the label that people have put on you. You are what God says about you.
Sounds like a good Monday morning reminder as we begin our week that we all got here today. Well, it was in the bold step weekly today. If you didn't receive it, that's because you haven't signed up and you can sign up at Bold steps.org. Look for the Tab devotional, where you can request the English or Spanish version of Mark's devotional, The Bold Stepper Weekly. Now let's continue with our message for today. Again, it's titled It's Not Over Yet on Bold Steps.
Matthew 633 seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Jesus said, and all these things will be added to you as well. So not only if we're going to finish well, not only we need do we need to decide to stop postponing and determine to move forward in our obedience. We also need to understand the ripple effects of procrastination. Spiritual procrastination. Assassination. But number three, if we're to move to the finish, we need to
grasp a vision of a preferred God given future. You see, I believe that a lot of people bail out and they quit. When the vision fades. Proverbs says, without a vision, my people perish. Without a clear, defined, preferred vision of the future, we lose motivation. Without a sense of our destiny, we stop working. Most people that I talk to that are depressed get depressed when they lose hope in the future.
They start to believe nothing's going to change. And am I willing to live this way for another five years? And their energy is zapped from them. People become unmotivated and lethargic when they lose a vision, a personal, God given vision for their life and for their future. Husbands, stop struggling for the well-being and improvement of their marriage when they've lost hope that their marriage will ever change.
Addicts stop going to 12 step programs and talking to their accountability person when they lose a vision that they can be whole and well and drug free. People accept poverty in their lives when they feel like they can never dig themselves out of it. People drop out of school when they feel like I'll never graduate. I can't see myself getting a diploma. Walking down the aisle. Getting a job. And so they bail out. And give up on any type of improvement or success in their life.
Because they've lost a vision of the future. For the believer, it's the same thing. For the church, it's the same thing. A people without a vision don't strive. A people without a vision. Everybody does their own thing. A church without a vision is an unmotivated church. A people without a clear sense of where God is calling them is a church that just does the minimal. Doesn't work, doesn't move, doesn't push forward. And Haggai was speaking to the people
of Israel. They had lost a vision of their future. They had the vision that they once had had become blurred. God had called them to the city to say, Rebuild Jerusalem, start with the temple, rebuild my temple, my house of worship. Rebuild the walls of this city, rebuild your homes. Rebuild commerce. Rebuild the families. May there be laughter in the streets once again. May there be prosperity amongst us. Maybe. May
we worship God once again. May this be a place where the presence of God dwells in a powerful place. May there be, um, marriages that happen. Children that are born. Laughter that that echoes throughout the streets. People that are worshiping God, harmony that flows in this place. But they lost the vision of a Jerusalem that could be restored by God. Let me ask you a question. Have you lost your vision? Have you lost the picture of a preferred future that God is calling you to? Have you
stopped believing that God can do it? That the circumstances can change, that you can be a cycle breaker and legacy maker? Have you has the vision become fuzzy? Unclear? Foggy? The Bible says that after Haggai challenged these people, then the verse 13 says, Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, gave them the message of the Lord to the people. And God said, hey, if you get back on target, put me at the center. Continue with the vision that I've called you to. The Lord said, I am with you.
Let me tell you, I've prayed this over and over. As a pastor of this church. I've got on my knees. I've cried out to God. I've said, God, I'll do it if you're with us. But God, if you're not with us, I don't want to be in ministry. If you don't go before us, count me out, Lord. Because if your presence is with us, all things are possible. When you're amongst us. Healings happen. When you're here. God's salvation occurs when you hear you open up doors. When
you're here. Nothing can stand against us. God. But if you're not with us. God. I'm out of here. If you're not with us, I need your presence. That's why we call for a season of fasting and prayer. To be reminded of our own weakness and press into the strength of God to say, God, we can't do it without you. Oh, maybe we've grown. Oh, maybe we're bigger. But God, do not. I in no way ever, ever, ever mistake our growth and our strength to replace the
power and omnipotent presence of the Almighty God. And as Haggai spoke, the Bible says that. God says, I will be with you, declares the Lord. I love this what it says in verse 14. It says, so the Lord stirred the spirit, and he started with the leader. He stirred the spirit of Zerubabel, who was the governor of Judea. How many of you know God can even touch politicians? You know, it's a miracle when he does that. And then he says, and he also stirred the spirit of Joshua,
the high priest. I pray, oh, God, across Chicagoland, stir the hearts of pastors to preach the gospel and not tickle people's ears. We have hundreds of churches around Chicago. I pray, oh God, may our preachers preach with power. May there be passion in the pulpit. Truth that's proclaimed with love. But God merely be truth. Uncompromising truth to the Word of God. Not just bland, mediocre, light hearted, nice little principles that don't call people to holiness, that
don't move people to God. That don't call people to repentance. God fill our pulpits with the fire of the living Jesus. So God stirred the hearts of the politicians. He stirred the hearts of the preachers. And then it says, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. God stirred up the people, and they came together and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God. When he stirred them together, they had a vision of
the future. And when they had a vision of the future, they had power in the present to make a difference. You see, we don't have energy to make a difference. Unless we have a vision that compels us and we're stirred in our heart to make a difference. I heard years ago I heard of a town that a reporter had gone into that was scheduled to be inundated. They were going to release a dam, and the dam would inundate a whole village. And so it would be, it
would be drowned out. They did it for irrigation purposes. And the reporter went into the village that was about to be flooded. They were fighting the breaking of the dam, and he noticed that the houses were manicured, that the gardens were well kept, that fences were painted, that the streets were clean from debris. Neighbors were out talking. And he interviewed the neighbors and they all said, no, we love our town. We don't want it to be flooded.
We don't want this to be destroyed. We. We're fighting. We're keeping. And he noticed that it was a great little town, but the politicians and the powers that were. Be they said, no, it's better we have to flood this. We have to open. This dam or it will cause problems. And so once the town heard. That the town would be flooded. The reporter went back a couple. Months later and he walked through the town and he realized there was debris in the streets. Gardens were unkept. Trash was
out in front. And he interviewed some of the people. He said, what's going on here? This is a different town. And they said, well, you haven't heard the news. We're going to be flooded. If there is no vision for the future, there will be no power in the present to make a difference and work hard. I'm talking to someone here. If you have no vision for the future, you have no determination to work hard. Now. If you've
lost your vision, you'll lose your strength and energy. If you've lost a God given preferred vision of the future, you will be lethargic. Ramble on Meaninglessly do the minimal. Just live in life. But if you have a God preferred vision of the future, it's that vision of a God given future that will motivate you to work hard for what God is doing. It'll get you out of bed in the morning, jumping out of bed in the morning, get that cup of coffee. Get in the Word of God.
Praying like your life depends upon it, because you're a man or woman with a mission and a God given destiny to make a difference in this world that God has called us to live in until he comes again.
Regaining your God given vision for the future. A great word of encouragement on bold steps. That's Mark, Jobe and Mark, I want to underscore your point that this isn't something that we have to do on our own. If we make God the center, he will come alongside. He will be with us. Let's wrap up with a word for someone who's feeling weak or weary about moving forward and getting back into that race.
You know, we all feel like that certain days when we're just tired. And I'm talking to that person right now that you've been persevering week after week, month after month, and you're just plain old tired. I'm encouraging you to say it's not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. So I want to challenge you in your weakness to press into God and just say, Lord, I am very tired and very weak right now. So I ask that you would empower, strengthen and restore me.
Yeah, that is an encouraging word. Thank you. Well, it is our prayer every day here on bold steps that God's Word will change the hearts and draw people to himself through the teaching of God's Word on this program. Now, Mark, we recently came across an example of this the power of radio. I mean, when we met Nancy at a recent event that you spoke at, and we'd like you to hear Mark a bit of how Moody Radio was there just when she needed it.
My name is Nancy, and in 1971, I was going through a very dark, painful time in my life. I was thinking, there's another way out. I couldn't stand the pain anymore. I didn't want to live. And it was in the evening. And I was listening to the radio. And I was just turning stations just to. Just to find something. And I heard this voice, and it just really drew me. And I listened to him. And what kept me listening to the program was I felt hope that I could still survive this situation that I was
in and find hope and find something better. Just ministered to my heart. It kind of saved my life, I felt. So that's why I love Moody and I want to continue to contribute to him. It was a lifesaver for me.
I love that story. Wow, Nancy, that touches me at a deep moment of darkness in her life. I love that she says this, I felt hope. I felt hope. You know how many times, Wayne, I've heard that from people that have told me. I went through a season where I could barely get out of bed, where suicidal thoughts, but God ministered through moody radio. And of course, we know it's not moody. It's the Spirit of God ministering using radio. Yeah. Yeah. That's a powerful story. Thank you. Nancy.
Yes. Thank you. And if you'd like to join her, you can contact us through our website at Bold Steps. Org or give us a call and donate over the phone by dialing 800 Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. And when you do give a gift, you'll receive a copy of this month's Bold Step gift. In today's fast paced world, genuine connection often takes a back seat to convenience. After all, sending a text is a lot easier than sitting down for coffee. But doctor Heather Holloman's book, The Six Conversations
shows us there's a better way. Through real world guidance and biblical wisdom, this book will transform how you approach every interaction, helping you build the meaningful relationships we were designed to have. This bold step gift offers proven strategies to help you move beyond small. Talk to conversations that truly matter. So reach out today and get your copy of this life changing resource. We'll send you a copy with your gift of any amount to support bold steps.
Just call 800 D.L. Moody or give online at Bold Steps org. You can also send your gift through the mail by writing to us at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Tomorrow we begin the final message in our fully devoted study, a lesson from the Book of Second Kings called do you See it yet? So be sure to join us Tuesday here on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.