Jesus Christ Show | Hour 2 [07/02]

You're listening to kf I am sixty on demand. Michelle, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Did you say, Michelle? I sure did? How can I help you? Michelle? Okay, I'm really nervous and I don't know why. Oh no, that's okay. I'm afraid I'm not going to get my question across right. And I've been trying to get the my thoughts in order well enough to call for a month. And what's going on. I have absolutely no doubt, no reservation, no no issue with my unending,

unquestionable love for you or you for me. Good start, But I'm confused about prayer. I've heard a hundred things. I really try hard to live with compassion, empathy, acceptance, service, really trying to live the word, and I think I'm doing a pretty good job with it. My confusion comes in about I heard thy will be done and not to pray for yourself unless others will be health. No, well, it so you never pray for anything for yourself? For strength? Oh yeah, well yeah,

well if you? If if strength is okay, then what about health? And if health is okay, what about wealth? And if wealth is okay? I don't understand and I've heard people teach that, so I don't put that on you. But it's okay to pray for things. The Prayer of Jabez was a book that came out years ago that was quite popular and really had its roots in in scripture, of course, about a prayer where Jabez just asked for more, give me more land, give me more things.

You know the way it was perceived. But trust me that I'm going to do good things with it. But I need it, you know. So there's nothing wrong with making prayer requests for yourself. But go ahead, okay. Well that takes a tremendous load off of my mind. I just you know, you hear that I will be done. How do I know that when I'm asking for things and truly with a good intent, with a complete intent. It's a huge thing that I'm asking for, um, but it

is a thing that would give me gratisfaction in helping other people. But it's enormous and I have no idea how it can happen. But I have faith that you do. But how do I know if you will? Okay? So this is the fun part. And by the way, First Chronicles, chapter four is where you can read about Jabez, and I encourage you to do that to see it gives you the example there. But this is where

people get confused big time about prayer, because you're right. The people assume prayer is man's way of telling God what man wants and needs, and it's not. Prayer is God's way of teaching man what God wants. So this is how it works. And the analogy that we give on the show and we talk about is a child in the grocery cart in every single grocery store on the planet, that is pointing out want that. I want that, I want that, I want that, I want that. So you'd think

that that scenario is about the child telling the parent what they want. Put that in the grocery cart, put I want that for cereal, I want that for dinner. And that's the appearance of it. The reality is it's a way for the parent to teach the child what they should be wanting. No, honey, this cereal is better for you, No honey, this

dinner is better for you. So although it's engaged or initiated by the child, the actual function, when done properly, is the opportunity for the parent, the older, smarter, wiser, hopefully one in the equation to look towards the child and say, no, honey, this is what you need,

not what you want. So prayer. Similarly, you, as the child of God, reaches out and say, Abba, Father, I want X, Y and Z, and your Father in heaven says, I think this is better for you, or I think this is best or you're right on. But it's about God's will, not your will. And everybody assumes like if I pray hard enough, or I do it on one foot, or I put my hands really tight together so it makes an antenna that's going

to reach God. Or I do it in a prayer closet, or I do it at the end of the bed, or I do it with tears, or I use big words, or I say things that sound really biblical like, or I do it with a group of people, or I do it doing the you know, the old English from the King James version. Then it's then God's gonna hear and go, oh my gosh, how could I say no to that. That's not how it works. It's not what it's about. It's about you. Learning's familiar. These things have actually gone

through my hands. Of course, they go through everyone's head. It's like, are you doing it wrong? Is I do any to put rabbity ears on the house or get a new antenna or what is it now? Having said that, there, if there's a lot of sin in someone's life in the sense that they're in a state of rebellion and really rebelling against God, then for lack of a better term, it's hard to get a good signal.

And that's not because you know, God is you know, sticking his fingers in his ears, going la la, la, la la, I'm not listening when when somebody's sinning. It's that people have a harder time connecting

with the Father when they're so disconnected. It's almost like, um, when you know, you loan money to a friend and they haven't paid you back, and now the time has kind of gone on a little too long, and when they come across the opportunity to see you, they just kind of want to get out of the room because now they just are embarrassed to by the whole thing. And that's how people get with God. They sin, and then they kind of don't want to be around God anymore, and they're

constantly looking for excuses not to be around God. But God is different the friend who loans you money and just wants to be with you. So people get different, and so those things do modify how people pray or the intent of their heart and things like that. But otherwise God is listening at all times to connect with you and to impart and show and make obvious his will,

because his will is the proper path. And the more the closer your life has lived towards God's will, the more productive it is towards God's goal. Well, can I ask you one more thing? Of course I have heard it said in church a month ago or so that sometimes you have to do the ridiculous for God to do the miraculous. Now I understand a leap of faith, I understand, but one is a ridiculous just a ridiculous or is that something I will won't know until until I know? Well? God,

God bless church and the people in it. But sometimes I think they're worried about something rhyming more than they are being biblically sound. Yes, Scripture is very clear that you have to be willing to die to self to get things done. It has to not be about you, And in that sense that statement is absolutely correct. There are things that you have that will make

you feel uncomfortable. But I guarantee you that if you walked in with a funny hat, barefoot in a weird coat and said I'm ready for the miracle, that pastor or whoever said it so well, what I meant was, so it's not just about that, but it's dying to oneself or being a living sacrifice. I says, it says in scripture is something that is day

to day, and I think you know. We talked to a young man one time who was talking about his relationship with his parents, and I asked him, I said, you feel passionate about your parents and you love them and he said, of course I do. And I said you would even Heaven forbid, but you would even die for them to protect them? And he said, of course I would. I said, would you do the dishes every day and rake the leaves? And people don't understand that it's really

the mundane that gets it done, not the extravagant. So yes, maybe there are times where you have to be ridiculous or whatever, but really what it's about is being consistent and the way you would show your love towards a parent is not well, a gosh, Heaven forbid, if someone comes in here, I'm going to die for you. It's you know what, I'm going to live for you. I'm going to do things daily to glorify you

and to show you my love for you. And that means rip the leaves and do the dishes, and clean my room and you know, speak to you properly and things like that. And I think that is more glorious to God than the Gosh. You see these people around Easter time that are nailing themselves to cross as physically and and God is shaking his head, going, how does that help anyone? You know? So, so I think there's

balancing. It's acute statement. I get the spirit in which it's intended is probably the thing to focus on. But really it's about not being so worried about yourself and letting God do what He's going to do. Absolutely and you can get there by the day to day and not just doing some weird things standing on your foot. But you should be ready and willing and able to do that if God said to do it, because unfortunately, humility comes from

humiliation. Well I'm okay with that. Yeah, then I think you're in a good place, my friend. I think you are going to be just fine. Thank you so much. I'm so glad I got the courage up to call. That wasn't that at all. I had a good time. No, I appreciate it as well. Thank you for taking the time and thank you for listening. Prayer is one of those things that it's easy to get caught up in and wondering what's going on. And I love prayer questions

because they're when you don't take the whole process for granted. It shows that you're thinking through it, that your faith is something that's growing and not just well, I was told that this is what you do, and I'm going to do it. No one has prayer classes or anything like that. I mean maybe there's a church somewhere that tries to, but it's it's communication the whole thing. If you're new to any of this, it's about relationships,

it really is. The entirety of scripture is about relationships. So if you go throughout scriptures from the beginning in Genesis all the way to the end, it's about relationships. And the ten Commandments themselves, you can almost split them in half. Are going to be half dealing with man's relationship with mankind. So humans interacting with each other, and the other half is mankind's relationship with God. Because that's the focus. It's being able to get these relationships down.

And prayer is although unique, is the way you communicate with God. It's that time of focus because God's not sitting in front of you like someone else in your locking eyes and connecting in a way that you are used to and designed to in a day to day setting is something different. Now now you're you're you're connecting with God in a totally different way. And yeah,

it takes time. It takes time to understand, to feel comfortable and to feel that it is something that is valuable and that you can actually learn from. Gary, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Yes, did you hear me? I sure can, Garry? How can I help you? Yeah? I had a question. I had a family member that you gotta get up on that phone. Gary, you got to get up on that phone because I'm starting to lose you. Okay, is that better much? Okay?

Okay, go ahead. I had a family member that passed away and he lived like the devil his whole life and hated the things of God and religion and all that. But on his death bed he gave his heart to the Lord and died maybe two hours later. And I'm just wondering, does he go to the same place in heaven that somebody that served the Lord their whole life and worked hard to crucify their flesh or you know, really do

the things that Jesus wants them to do. Is he going to go to the same place as I'm going to go or somebody that serve the Lord his whole life? Oh boy, and that they are Is that really fair? It's not fair. Well, it depends on what you think is fair and how you think somebody's being purified. If somebody looks for love for sixty years and finally finds it and somebody finds love in three months, is their difference in the love? Absolutely not. Love is love. Love is about connecting

and becoming one and all of those things. So you can make all the rules you want down here, but you didn't write the Bible. The rules of scripture are very simple. It's not about you. It's not about those things. It's about whenever you whenever you come to the notion. Here's what the entirety of it is about acceptance or rejection. That's how you're judged.

And if you accept it early the knowledge you have, any of that knowledge you're accountable for and once you have that knowledge, you're accountable to accept it. If you accept it, then there's rules that you want to live by that are part of that acceptance. If you reject it, you're accountable for the rejection. It's not a matter of time because God is not living in this time continuum. There's no God's not tapping his finger waiting for somebody to

believe or not to believe. They either have or haven't to God. So the time continuum is something you live in. So you're saying, Gosh, you know I've been busting my hump for all this time because you're making it about you, and God's saying no, it's about the acceptance and the purity of the person's heart in the moment they accept. If it's just words, no, that it didn't mean anything. You can just say words before you die and it doesn't mean anything, but yes, in the eleventh hour,

somebody can find God. The problem with that is if people wait till the eleventh hour, sometimes they die at ten thirty. And if you are, if you have the knowledge, you're accountable to it, and you're accountable to receive it. And that may have been how long it took, so you can look at it as you were running the race and he wasn't, but that's not true. Both were running the race. You just understand the power of the finish line long before he did. But you're both running the race,

and you're both accountable. Now. Scripture is doesn't speak about different heavens for people, and second Corinthians twelve two. A lot of people get that confused because it talks about being caught up into the third heaven, and some people go, well, there's a third heaven and there's going to be different levels of where people go, and that's not the case. The third heaven or any reference to multiple heavens like that, is referring to three different looks

at One is the sky that you see right now. You look out and you see blue sky, that's one heaven. The second heaven is at night when you see the stars, that's the second heaven. And the third heaven is actually the dwelling place of God. So in scripture you'll hear these these terms as as people hear them. Sometimes they go, ah, the three heavens and you're going to get a different level depending on who you are. That's not the case. It is talking about the different realms sky, space,

and then God's domicile. But some people confuse this because it Dante's The

Divine Comedy talks about all these different levels, and people get confused. Having said that there are different rewards, they're not specified in scripture, but there is reference that there will be different different works value differently in scripture, so there is some sort of rewards system that is different in heaven, even though the ultimate reward of being in the presence of God and spending eternity with God

is the same. That there are different references in scripture to certain rewards that might be different, but it doesn't say how they're received, and it doesn't say to whom receives them. So that may be the answer that you're looking for there. But as far as the other thing, it's really not about. It's in Christianity, wherever you start running, you have to be running. So if you start running ten years ago, be running, if you

ten minutes ago, be running. It's it's not the same meritocracy that you would look here on earth where you would judge someone different based on the length of time they were doing something or those types of things. It's about doing it. And the key is if you stop doing wrong ten minutes ago, or you stopped doing wrong ten years ago, it's still stopping to do wrong, and the important thing is to never start up again, not the length of time that you've been doing it. Okay, well that makes a lot

of sense, I hope. So that's my job. I take that information and sit on it a little bit. But you can read Second Corinthians twelve two was the reference to the different levels of heaven, and that might help you. And then two more verses First Corinthians three twelve and Hebrews eight twelve might be of help as well. I know it's very easy to get caught up in that concept of good, But when that concept of good becomes better than, becomes that concept of I'm better than you because I do X,

Y and Z, that's not fair. You're judged by what you can't. Two people can't be judged the same in the same way, in the same sense. Their experience is different, their pressures are different, their insights are different. Their life experience is different. The whole concept of you know, being in someone someone else's shoes, that's different. You're going to that means

to experience their life experience. There is not a true equal comparison. Everybody has their own luggage, luggage and their own weight, and they all carry it. And I know that the way life is designed, you're always going to see your weight as the heaviest weight there is and the most different goal

to carry. And that's normal but not necessarily true. And if you were to experience somebody else's walk, even if it seemed like they were rejecting God throughout the entirety of their life, then on their deathbed they received God. There might have been circumstances and pain and insight that they never shared. You know, there's there are Christians that aren't before they die except Christ. But

their life was filled with frustration about about the church. There are people, countless people that tell me of the way they were treated when they were younger in a church environment. How are they gonna receive properly? How is somebody who's been mistreated by the church, ostracized by the church, unloved by the church. The trust being broken by the church. The Church didn't protect them

or whatever it might be, at any part of their life. But let's say it started young, and then they rebel against not God but the Church, thinking they're one and the same and don't have clarity until their death.

Better, don't have clarity until something changes in their life. And as the veil between the physical and the spiritual get thinner, they maybe see clearer or they're able to accept or to see it, or just the will to fight against it, to rebel with hubris we've got breaks that down and makes a

pride simple pride, and then breaks down the pride and builds understanding. And in those points and at that time the scales, as Scripture often refers to them, the scales fall from the eyes and consequently the heart, and they're open to receive. I must tell you it is. It should be a point of rejoicing, no matter when somebody receives clarity enough to open up their arms to Abba, the Father of all creation and say I receive you.

How could you not rejoice in that as a believer. Regardless of the time, The important thing is that they received. The important thing is that it is honest and that it comes from that place in the heart that only God knows. So the cynical world can roll their eyes and say, sure, you're on your deathbed, or you're in prison, or you're whatever wife left you, husband left you, life fell apart, and now you find God.

But if it's real, if it comes from an honest place, God will know, and in that place God will receive and God will reward it. It's not about your qualifications, it's not about what you did. I know. The world is very much about that right now, and it's a

super easy to get sucked into. There's a strange, strange Western vibe going on where people are packing their artillery, whether it's an actual gun, whether it's their fists and knife, their anger, vengeance, and they're looking around the world and they feel like they are on their own and there's lawlessness and disconnect from one another, and there's this attitude of me, me, me,

that it's all about that individual, and it can't be. The system doesn't work that way until it becomes we we all of us, and you start focusing on the units, it breaks down. There is no you in the equation. It can't just be you. When it becomes that the equation breaks down. It's no longer a community, it's no longer a society, it's no longer humanity. It's you against the world, and that's not the way it works. It's about incorporating. Work plays a part of that.

Getting along with others, seeing how people work, interacting with them, appreciating them, and connecting with them is imperative. Having a partner in life outside of work is important. Connecting with them, being selfless for them. All these things are to teach you, to show you the power of community, because that is what you are. That's what you're hoping for in heaven.

Everybody thinks heaven is going to be a one on one with God, and that's that's all it is about, and it will be a powerful thing. But it's about coming together as one again in the arms of the Almighty maker. Frank, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Yes, good morning, Hi there, Can you speak up just a little bit? Yes? Does Jesus week Yes. As a matter of fact, that's the the shortest verse in the entire entirety of scripture is John eleven thirty five. That simply says,

Jesus wept. Oh. It's the shortest verse you'll find in scripture, and you have to understand that, as one god, one hundred percent man, that those feelings or certain emotions are going to be felt. That's how I could be tempted, at least technically in the desert by the enemy, and that the pain that I felt was real. A lot of people go, well, what was taking place on the cross? And if if he

knew he wasn't going to die technically or he was going to resurrect. And to my response as well, the reason I felt those things is because I was a man, and taking on the sins of the world was different for me than it was The pain was different from me than what another man or what the thieves on either side of me were feeling. Because I was sinless, there was no need imagine being in jail is horrible. Being incarcerated as

horrible for something that you did. Imagine being in jail for life for something you didn't do. Now you compound that under the circumstance into an understanding that surpasses anything you can imagine, and it shows that the pain was something unique, something that only I could feel. And there were many situations. There were times where I was lonely as well were times that I wanted those with me to come and pray, and they did not could not. Their bodies

were exhausted, fatigued, and they just couldn't. But simply, the tiniest verse there in jail on eleven thirty five is Jesus Wept k f I AM six forty on demand