Do you believe God? I don't know what you believe in God for, but do you believe him for something? Then proclaim it. Stand on it. I don't care what kind of opposition comes my way. This is where I'm going. This is where I'm headed. And nobody and nothing can stop me. You want to know how I know? Because God done already told me where I'm going.
Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us as we continue our message, faith for your future. And pastor, you know, I have flipped on the TV, usually late at night on a weekend, and here comes some televangelist on who's saying, hey, God wants you to have whatever that is, abundance. He wants you to have all of these things. You just have to believe it. So I just heard you say,
are you believing God for something? Well, then proclaim it. Stand on it. How do we know that, uh, what we are asking God for, what we're standing, what we're claiming is really ours to claim, and not something that you might see on a late night infomercial televangelist thing.
I can share that in one word. Purpose.
Okay.
Does what you want fit into God's purpose for your life? So, for example, here's what people fail to do. They talk about Joseph and they don't take it far enough. You see, they say he went to the pit. Yeah. And then he went to Potiphar's. And then he went to prison. Then he went to the palace. But they forget the purpose. Psalm 106. The commentary says that God allowed him to go through these things because he sent him ahead to preserve his people. See, the palace wasn't just for Joseph.
The palace was for God's purpose, to put him in a position where God could have not just safety for the people of Israel in their inception as a nation, sure, but an incubator protected by Egypt, which really is hilarious because, you know, Egypt represents the world. Yeah. And so the Israelites have an incubator. They're protected for God by the most powerful heathen nation in the world at that time, you know. And so how does it connect to God's purpose?
One more thing. Hannah wanted a baby, right? And she'd go every year. As a matter of fact, Eli thought she was drunk on shame people, you know. And she said, no, it's too early to be getting high. And she makes a vow to God. That's what God was waiting on. She wanted a baby for her and her husband. She wanted a baby because she was in arguments with Panaina. You know, but God, when she wanted a baby for God's purpose. You give me a child, I'll give the
child back to you. Now God answers her prayer. Why? Because her prayer fits in with his purpose. So that's it. Purpose. Purpose. And I always ask myself whatever I'm asking God for. I usually tack this on. How does this fit in your purpose? You know.
That's a great question.
And sometimes he'll tell me it doesn't.
And then you have to change your prayer. That's right. That's it.
Okay. And you have to change what you want. Yeah. Because when you want what God wants, then God wants what you want. You get that on the way up.
Oh, yeah. Well, if whether you're on the way home right now or you're heading to work or however you happen to be listening to us right now, glad that you're there. And if you can, I hope you'll open your Bible to Philippians chapter one as we continue this message. Faith for your future. Here is Pastor Ford.
And so let's look at what Paul says. Reason number one. He says, here's here's how you get faith for the future. You have to be enlightened by Christ's.
Purpose for your life. Listen to what he says, for I know that this shall turn to my salvation. Now I need to tell you, the word no is from the Greek word oida say oida. It literally means to know comprehensively. It means to know without a shadow of a doubt. It means full, accurate knowledge. So then Paul says, I'm in prison, but I will be set free. That prison is not prison, because whom the son sets free is free indeed. So I may be locked up, but
I'm not locked out of Jesus Christ. See, Paul expected to be free. Let me read verse 26 to you that your rejoicing. There it is again. I want you to have joy. Wait a minute. Joy. Now may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. See what he said? I'm coming again. I'm not in here to stay. I'm just passing through. And so you need to understand it. Let me bottom line it for you because I know you say. I thought you said you were going to. Bottom line, I am.
Here's what Paul is saying. Where I am is not where I'm going. Therefore, since I know that where I am will not affect where I'm going, where I am will not stop me from where I'm going. So what I'm going through now cannot hinder me from getting to where God is going to take me. Let me say it this way. Too many people let their history mess up their destiny. See, some of you, your past is too active in your present and it's hindering your future. Y'all ain't going to pray with me, okay? I really
gotta get. I gotta get plain for some of you. See, uh, you with Little Willie physically. But you still with Pookie emotionally. You ain't been with Pookie in two years, but you tore up from the floor up. Got your mind all messed up emotionally. You know what I'm talking about. You're with Shaquita, but you're making her pay for what Bianca did to you. Oh, y'all ain't going to pray with me up in here. You got hurt at the old church, and now you sitting back won't tithe or serve in
the new church. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. See, the old boss was nasty. Now you won't give the new boss a chance. Mhm. Paul was saying my pain is a platform to my purpose. Hey listen don't let the devil put a period where God has put a comma. Because I tell you I've seen it so many times when the devil says the end. God says to be continued. Amen. Okay, let me, let me, let me let me show you some. Let me show you some. Let me show you some. Turn to Luke. Turn to Luke. Turn to Luke. Luke. Chapter 22. Let
me show you something here. This thing. This thing rocks me every time I look at it. Luke 22. Listen to what it says in Luke 22 verse 31, listen to this. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brothers. And he said, Lord, I am ready to go with thee,
both into prison and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt thrice deny that thou knoweth me. Now you know what's going on here. We talked about it Wednesday night, that that we talked about. We're talking about something else. And we said, Peter is an example of people who deny what they will do. Uh, in other words, Peter was serious. Peter didn't know that betrayal was in him. And he even told Jesus, uh, you don't know what
you're talking about. So what is this? Peter's failure. Her. He failed him. He's going to abandon him. He's going to deny Christ. But wait a minute. Look at verse 3029. And I appoint unto you a kingdom as to my father, as my father hath appointed to me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. What did Jesus just tell the disciples? Was Peter included in this? Okay, now get this. Here it is, verse 31. You're going
to fail me. Verse 30. Let me tell you your future. I'm going to tell you your future before I tell you your failure. Why, Jesus? Because your failure is what is. Your future is what shall be. So I'm going to tell you what shall be before what is so that whenever what is happened, you won't focus in on what is. You'll focus on what shall be, that your failure will not stop you, that your failure will not cause you to say, I know he can't use me anymore. I
done messed up too many times, I messed. No, no. Get yourself up, pick yourself up and start walking. Jesus is able to restore you. He's able to give you another chance. What are you talking about? Second chance? No, we're way beyond that. Yes. Okay. I speak for myself. I'm way beyond second, third, fourth. I'm up in the millions somewhere. Amen. Amen. So you see what he's saying? He's saying, man, I know God's will for my life. And because I know it, nothing's going to stop me.
Not even my failure is going to stop me. Nothing's going to stop me because I know that God has a better plan for me. Notice what it takes. First of all, notice he has an awareness of God's will for his life. Here's the question that the Philippians were asking what is God doing allowing you to go to jail? You, Apostle Paul, one of the greatest servants. He has you, the Apostle Paul, who starts churches. Who heals the sick? Raises the dead. Like you ain't never thought that. God,
why am I going through this? I tired. I, I witnessed this the other day. I was in the club. I said I just said, you.
Know, Jesus. Just out of the blue with holy boldness.
Why am I going through this, Lord? Mm. Because God will let things happen to you that never happened before. So he can take you to places you've never been before.
You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. Something for us to really think about today. Our message is called Faith for Your Future. And we're looking at Philippians chapter one. If you ever miss a broadcast in the series, come to our website. It's Treasure Truth radio.org. You can download MP3, stream the program or order copies on CD. Another way to listen is to begin podcasting this program. That way
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I have a friend. I'm not going to call his name. He called me up. He said, man, look like my church going split. I said, oh man, I feel bad about that. I've almost had that happen a couple times too. That's bad man, that's bad. And he said, man, guess what happened? I said, what happened? It was it made national news. He said, uh, we went to church that Sunday because we had a fight. Me and the deacon
boy had a fight that Friday. We went to church that Sunday and the deacons, uh, had surrounded the church. And at every door there were two deacons. And when people came to get in church, they had the church padlocked with a chain. And when the people came up and said, we're going to take those chains off, they flipped their coats back now, not like when they was on the front row and the preacher was getting ready to go into the squall, and they stand up and
button them up. They unbutton them and when they unbutton them, every one of them was packing. Yeah, yeah, they was packing. And they said, nobody's coming in here. And, uh, the police came. It made national news. And I said, I said, brother, let me tell you something. I said, I don't know what God is doing, but I will tell you this. You're going to look back on this one day and you're going to thank God for this. He said, no, no, no, no, no,
that's too rough. I ain't never had this happen. I said, I said, man. And then he called me up. We got to meet in the library. I said, man, one day you're going to look back on this. You're going to thank God for this. Let me bottom line it let me tell you what happened. Fast forward to video. So whenever they had the split, about 60 people went with him. And all the people that stayed with the deacons, those were the recalcitrant members. Don't look around. You don't
want to reveal who you are. You know, don't serve, don't give, but complain about everything and don't do anything. And so he went with 60 people who were committed. He said, well, I'm gone from 200 to 60. I said, but you got 60 faithful, committed people.
Yes.
And I'd rather have 60 committed people than a thousand people who merely nilly.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
I said, you going to look back on this and you going to thank God. So then he said, you know what? We have an opportunity to get a building. Uh, pray for us. I pray for him and everything. And, uh, he went to find out the building and the property is about 30 acres of property, and it was $6.3 million. And he said, I only have 900,000. I ain't going to qualify. I said, man, look, you have not because you ask, not submit it anyway. I said, I will
submit it anyway. And so he submitted it. He called me up. He said, guess what, there's a cult that that's going to pay cash. And uh, I said, man, keep praying, keep praying. I said, one day you're going to look back on this and you're going to say, man, all of this was a blessing. So anyway, long story short, here's what happened. The people there was about 14 to 20 people. They had plenty of money. So they built this humongous sanctuary and this humongous building. There are over
40 classrooms in this building. As a matter of fact, my friends membership is a little over 900 and they don't even use one half of the building yet. And so they said, listen, we thought if we built it, they would come and they built it and they didn't come. They said, well, then this church can come in and we're going to bless them. So they gave him $6.3 million worth of property and building for $900,000. He took me out to Pappadeaux. We got our eat on and
he said, Jimmy the boat. You told me that one day I'd look back and thank God for the rebellion and thank God for the struggle. I understand what you always say, and that you always hear that the struggle that I'm going through is for the future that I'm going to. If there is no struggle, there will be no future. And some of you right now, you're.
Wondering why, why, why.
You ought to be saying, what are you taking me to? Where am I headed? Oh, this this is a big problem. It's going to be a great privilege. Look at the people. Look at the people. Famous people. Alright. Who started with nothing.
Come on.
Mm. How about Oprah? Abused as a child. Kicked around. Now she got her own.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Worth over 2.
Billion.
Yeah. She struggled. Don't hate her glory. You don't know her story. How about Tyler Perry? Abused.
Homeless.
Homeless, sleeping in a cardboard box under a bridge. Anybody seen his his layout in Ebony, his mansion? Don't hate his glory if you don't know his story. How about Maya Angelou? Raped by relatives. Couldn't express herself. Couldn't get it off of her. And somebody said, write. And so she wrote. I know why the caged birds sing. And the rest is history. She's with the Lord now. But
you know what I'm saying? See, you know, the nightingale is called the nightingale because it sings the sweetest song in the darkness. Other birds sing when the sun comes up. Huh? We got any robins in here that sing in the morning when the sun rises. Yeah, I'm blessed and highly favored of the Lord. He got me the job I got my house, I got my car. But the nightingale sings best. In the darkness of the night. When the
night is the darkest, it sings the best. And I want to tell you I know Jesus has some nightingale Christians up in here. Up in here. You done been through some stuff, but you were singing in the midst of it. You done been through some stuff, but you giving God the glory even in spite of it. You done been through the stuff, and people are looking at you and wondering how in the world can you go through that? And you just sing the praises of Jesus. You sing the glory of God. You sing about the
power of the Holy Spirit. I can take it and I can make it. I don't have to fake it because I've got God in my life. Mm. I tell you, I tell you, yeah. And then. And then you gotta apply God's word to your life. You gotta apply it. See? See, he's aware of it, but he's applying it. What's he saying? I'm in jail right now, but I'm not going to be for long. Amen. Hey. Oh, I didn't bring my phone. I was going to have everybody take your phone out. Take your phone out. Take your phone out. All right,
put it on camera. Put your phone on camera. Thank you. Now take a selfie. Take a selfie. Come on, take a selfie. Take a selfie. Okay, now, if you go on social media, here's what I want you to do. Take a selfie, put it on Facebook or whatever your social media is and then put this under it. Everybody put this under it. Look at me right now because it's the last time you're going to see me like this. I'm going somewhere. Come on, come on, take that selfie.
Put it on, put it on. Look at me right now. This is the last time you're going to see me like this. Because I'm going somewhere. Come on, put it on Facebook. Put on. Let everybody know. Yeah. That's right. Do you believe? God, I don't know what you believe in God for, but do you believe him for something? Oh yeah? Yeah. Then proclaim it. Stand on it. Come hell or high water. This is where I'm going. I don't care what kind of opposition comes my way. This
is where I'm going. This is where I'm headed. And nobody and nothing can stop me. You want to know how I know? Because God done already told me where I'm going. Hey, man. Yeah. That's it, that's it, that's it. Okay, now you ain't put it on there by now. You slow. Paul had a word from God that his work was not done. Now, you know, we talk about all the time. Uh, James was beheaded. Peter was not. Two reasons. I'm going to give you both of them today. Here's the first reason.
John 2118. Jesus told him, I'm going to read it to you. I'm going to read it to you. John 2118. He's talking to Peter. He said to him, uh, Peter, feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. Verse 18. Verily, verily, I say unto you, when you were young, You gird yourself, you clothe yourself, you walk wherever you would. But when you are old, you will stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee where you would not go. This he spake, signifying the death. He would die.
Do you see that in there? When Peter's in prison, he's somewhere between 33 and 36 years old. And guess what? Jesus told him he wasn't going to die until he became an old man. So when he was in prison, one of the reasons why he knew that he was going to get out was because God had already told him he was going to live to be an old man. So he knew even though Herod had beheaded James, he couldn't behead him because he had a word from God. Amen. Do you got a word? Do you got a word
from God? You need to get a word from God. Job said in job 2312 I have esteemed the words of thy mouth more than my necessary food. Matthew chapter four. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Psalm one. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in
his law he doth meditate day and night. So the question on the floor is not, do you own a Bible? But does the Bible own you? Let me say that again. It's not whether you own a Bible, but does the Bible own you? So we are to listen to it eagerly. We're to look to it expectantly. We are to learn from it enthusiastically. We're to languish in it entirely. We're to let it work in us effectively, and we're to love it eternally. Amen. Mm. See, what we need to
be is Bible holics. You know that? What do you mean? God's word is what we need. See if you got a headache. You take a Tylenol pill. If you have acid indigestion, you take a pill. If you have a heartache, you take a pill.
You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford and a message called Faith for Your Future. You know, becoming a Bible holic doesn't just happen on its own. It takes an effort as you immerse yourself in Scripture and spend time with God every day. While we provide these daily messages on treasure truth to help deepen your faith and help you grow in your understanding of God's Word and the fact that you're listening. Well, it's a good sign
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