On the tombstone. There's the day of one's birth and the day of one's death and a dash in the middle. You don't control the day you're born and the day you die. But you do control the dash in the middle.
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 that you're with us. And pastor, I remember I've been doing the Christian radio thing for a long time and years ago as a DJ, and there was a song I think the title was, and if it wasn't the title, it was like the predominant lyric of the song. It was basically asking the question,
how do you live your dash? And I remember thinking about that a little bit and exactly what we're going to be talking about in today's broadcast. It's that dash between the date of your birth and the date of your death that really is so important for us to evaluate and make decisions about how we're going to live that out.
Of course, because sometimes what happens is people will lie on us when we're alive and lie for us when we're dead.
What do you mean by that?
Well, I mean what I mean by that is this, you know, there are people who will tell lies about you while you're alive. But when you're laying in that casket, all of a sudden, you know, everyone has this, you know, euphoric memory, selective memory. Yeah. He was such a good man and such a great father. As a matter of fact, I heard a story about a husband who had died. And the wife had her five children, all in the front row. And the preacher got up to eulogize them.
And he said, you know, this man was a great man. He was a good Christian. He loved his wife, and he took care of his children. Finally, the mother couldn't take it anymore. She said, Johnny, go up there and see if that's really your daddy in that casket. And so the dash is so important because it talks about what we have done in life. There's a home going and there's a funeral. Here's my distinction. A funeral is for individuals who don't know Jesus, but a homegoing is
for those who do know Jesus. Because if you know Jesus on this side of heaven, when a person dies, we say, there they go. But in heaven they say, here they come. Yeah. And so then what have you contributed? Have you fulfilled your purpose and your destiny? God has gifted you and given you eternal life, and have blessed you with all blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians one three. What did you do with that dash? And so whenever I you know, I just did it.
One of my members went home to be with the Lord. And just Sunday evening we had our homegoing celebration. And I said, boy, we celebrate the life, the labor, the love and the legacy of this sister, and she left a profound impact not on just our congregation. There were people there that we didn't even know, that she had taken them in and taken care of them. On and on it goes. And so you think about it. She preached her own homegoing by the way she lived.
I love that. Well, we right now need to turn our attention to the Book of Esther, where in chapter four, as we begin a message entitled It's Your Time, here is Pastor Ford.
A pastor was bi vocational, and there are a lot of pastors like that, especially when you plant a church. Uh, they work in the ministry and they work a secular job. I just want to go on record thanking you that I don't have to do that because of you. Thank you very much. Amen. I can devote all my time to getting on your nerves. Amen. So this pastor took on a second job as a lifeguard, and he kept wondering what was happening because people kept drowning. And so
they said, we gotta find out what's going on. We got a lifeguard. We're paying this brother. So he's sitting up there in that big chair, and all of a sudden somebody is drowning. They're going down once, they're going down twice, and all of a sudden he stands up and says, I see that hand. And you'll get it on the way home. Uh, here's the reason. See, if you look at that little joke, the time came for his purpose to be fulfilled, but he was confused about
his purpose. So he missed his Time and he would have to wait until next time. The old preacher used to say it this way. On the tombstone, there's the day of one's birth and the day of one's death, and a dash in the middle. Anybody ever heard him preach? What would they say? You don't control the two dates. The day you're born and the day you die. But you do control the dash in the middle. Help me preach this. Look at your neighbor and say. What are
you doing with your dash? Yeah. What are you doing with your dash? See, in Esther chapter four, verse 14, it says. For such a time as this. That's all I want to talk about today. For such a time as this. Now you know the time. You know it. You know it well. Come on. What's kairos time?
That's God's God perfect time.
Because that's God's time. Which chronos time. That's people time. What's eschatos time? That's prophetic time. And then this word is at what time is that purpose? Time. And remember, there is no there is no hammer time. Oh man G so then every one of us has a set time that goes along with your purpose. You have a purpose, and your purpose has a time. And both of them must come together for you to reach your destiny and
fulfill the purpose for which God has called you. See, if you look at circumstances, you can miss your time. And so what's going on? You know the context real quick. Uh, Esther, the king has had a 30 day headache, and, uh, Haman has gotten a writ against the Jews and they're going to kill him. It's going to be genocide. They're
going to wipe them all out. And so, uh, Mordechai goes to Esther and says, hey, go to the King and beseech him that he would not destroy our people because the king didn't know that Esther was a Jew. And so and so she told him, the king has had a 30 day headache. If she went before the king and he didn't hold out his scepter, she would be killed. Remember what happened to the last queen, Vashti? Yeah.
And then Mordecai hit her with those words. You know, if you don't go and get deliverance from the Jews, God's going to use somebody else. But how do you know that he hasn't called you for such a time as this? God prepared you for this time, and this time for you. See, here's how he does it with is he tonality? He controls time with his omnipotence. He controls us, and he brings them both together so we can fulfill our God given destiny. In fact, the very
circumstances that makes you hesitate are to make you hurry. See, the king hasn't called for Esther. And the queen got deposed for making him upset. Yet her being removed made room for you, Esther. In other words, look, look. You are where you are now. Because someone was in the spot that God ultimately had for you, and the time wasn't right. Things weren't set up for you to take your place. But now's the time. Now's the time. Yeah, it's like she was just holding Esther's spot and stuff
for the time. Yes, sir. Somebody will get it. Yeah. And so now God has made it time for you to occupy it. Somebody's holding your stuff. Somebody's holding your spot. I say it all the time. I look around because it says the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. I'm righteous. And I know that some wicked person is storing up my stuff. So every time I'm witness to an unbeliever, I wonder, is this the one that got my stuff? Y'all laughing? I'm serious about it.
I'm serious. Remember what God told them? He said, I'm going to bring you into a land that flows with milk and honey. A land with fruit trees that you didn't plant, houses you didn't build. In other words, God said, I let them accumulate all of that, and I let them do it so that you can walk in and water in the wine. You come from poverty and you're going to prosperity, and all of it set out. All you got to do is walk in and possess it. Mm.
Think about it. Saul was just holding David's spot, that's all. Huh? See, God moved vastly. Then the question is, can God move Esther now? Everything is set up. And notice. Notice what happens because God gave her what she needed for such a time as this. What was the gift he gave her? beauty. Her beauty became the gift that brought her entrance into the king. So that God use what he gave her. See? Let me just say it. Let me just say it. Listen, listen.
You complain about what you don't have. Failing to realize that everything you need to get, where you need to go, God didn't already gave you. All you got to do is identify what God has given you. Identify who God has given you and then move out.
This is treasure truth with Pastor Ford. The beginning of a message entitled It's Your Time from Esther chapter four. And we're going to continue to look at this in just one moment. If you're listening in another part of
the world, we would love to hear from you. That's one of the really encouraging things about being a part of this program, is to know that not only are people listening in the Chicago area where Pastor Ford is, but literally around the globe, through the internet, through apps, and through other ways that people have found to connect with us. So let us know where you're listening and what difference Pastor Ford's Bible teaching is making in your
walk with Christ. Give us your feedback by coming to Treasure Truth radio.org and click on the contact link again. That's at Treasure Truth radio.org. Back to the message. Here's Pastor Ford.
Man, I wish I could talk about it. I'm not going to talk about it because I'm telling you, man, I've been I'd be set up all the time. All the time, man. It's like, you know, my new book is coming out shameful plug what to do When the Devil Talks to you. They're working on it. And and, you know, it's taking a little while, but you got to wait sometime, you know, for for the right time. And it was like one door was shut. I, you know, I'm like one of these authors. I have never been
turned down for a manuscript. So when it happened, it floored me. I was like, what in the world is going on? They turned me down and I was talking to a brother and man, They turned me down. They say how many rejections you had? This is the first one. So the first three they accepted? Yeah, they turned this one down, man. He said, man, you know how many times I've been rejected before I got a book? He said, wow. Well, here it is. And so what happened? God closed that
door for me because he had a hook up. I got the hook up. You hear me? Hey, that gave me a whole different audience. He hooked me up with Urban Ministries. I went in there, I said, I want you to publish my book. Uh, you've got 20,000 churches, and and I'd like to get in your publications and have my book go out there. He said, I got 40,000 churches. Then he took my manuscript and threw it on his desk. I said, what does that mean? He said,
let me tell you something, Brother Ford. He said, my desk is the Thanksgiving table, and I need you to know that you are now a part of the family. And you, you want some more turkey?
Amen. Amen.
You know what I said? It's my time. That's what I said. I said, look how God hooked it up. He opens the door that no man can close, and he closes the door that no man can open. And I'm pushing on the door. I'm trying to get back in. And God said, I closed it so I can open up another door of opportunity, one that you haven't been in yet. You know, it's like, man, I tell you, I you know what I feel like? I feel like the man at the gas station pumping gas while he's
smoking a cigarette. I'm about to blow up.
God damn.
And God keeps doing that, and God keeps doing that. What? What happened? He equipped us with what we need. So what is it that you have? Quit talking about what you don't have and take the resource that you have. Go back through Scripture and see where in Second Kings chapter four he said, what do you have? Now she was broke, busted, disgusted, couldn't be trusted, so poor she couldn't afford the O and the R, but he didn't ask her about what she didn't have. He said, what
do you have? I got a little oil. Alright then go borrow some pots.
Yeah.
Yeah. Because you give God what you got and God will give you what you don't have. And you know the rest of the story. And so he reveals it to us by promise. And we learn to wait until God brings it to pass. Jacob went to it. It came to Esther. It's kind of like. It's kind of like. I like talking about it. When you had the ten lepers. Remember? It says as they went. Now, here's the part I like. I know I said it before. So what? Here's what I like. At first they were chasing it, but then
it started chasing them. Y'all get that on the way home. I mean, it's like they were looking for a blessing. Then the blessing came looking for them. And so what I what am I trying to tell you? Now is the time to do what you later wish you would have done. Let me say that again. Now is the time to do what you wish you would have done later. It's your time. See, today is the tomorrow that you talked about yesterday, huh? And so it's time now. I mean,
you know, it's like I'm. I'm praising God. And you know how some of us say we made New Year's resolutions in in January? You know, I'm going to lose some weight. And then we wonder when we get on the scale, why aren't we losing? Uh, I was wondering it, too. And I told my wife, let me get on this scale. Hold my Twinkies. Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is cash. Spend it wisely. Now is the time to do what you later wish you
would have done. God gives opportunity and we need to make sure that we jump on his kairos with our chronos. Remember what happened to the children of Israel. God said, alright, I want you to go. I'm open the door. They walked around with placards. Hades! No, I won't go! Hades! No, God said, the door is open. They said, but we ain't going. God said, okay, you ain't going. All right, I'm closing the door. So then Moses told him God closed the door because y'all wouldn't go. When he told
you to go. And, uh, they said, okay, we'll go. And God said, don't go. I'm not with you now. I had the door open. You wouldn't walk through the door. Now the door is shut. What happened? Somebody holler it out. What happened? They went up anyway. When God said go, they said no. And when God said no, they said go. Dead monkey on the line somewhere. And so what happened? They went up there and got jacked. They got jacked
because God is a God of time. Remember what it says in Galatians four four in the fullness plethora, the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman made under the law to die. Jesus came at the right time. Oh, there is a right time, y'all. Oh, there is a right time. There's a set time. A fullness time. Uh, Noah was told to come into the ark, and it was time. I don't have time to go through the whole thing, but you know the chronology. What? What is set? Okay, so what I did was I
went to a theological dictionary. Just. Just be patient with me, okay? Say we will, pastor. Okay. Thank you so much. Psalm 102 13. The set time to favor Zion is gone. I looked up the theological dictionary. You apply it. Now listen to this. Imma give you all ten of them. I'm going to drop them. I'm not going to push them. What does set mean, number one? To be established as a model to be set up. Number two, to be
ready to catch prey, set a trap. Number three, to regulate for proper functioning, like set a thermostat and you're getting these now. I hope you're applying them as I'm. I'm saying them because I don't, you know, there's ten of them. I can't apply all of them. It'll take me all day to do that. And so number four to be positioned for action. Ready set go. Number five to harden or to congeal. He set his face like a flint to fix by decree. God has set everything
in order. Number seven to furnish by example. Number eight to mark. Ready for use. Set the plate on the table to move. Number nine in a direction. He set off toward the north side, and then ten to arouse to action. He got set for battle. Do you listen to all those? And it tells us what. What this time is all about, that it's time for us to realize. It's time to do something with the dash. We must car pay. DM. Come on, say it. Car pay. DM what does it mean? Seize the day. Seize the moment.
The time is right. Right now is the time to take the community. Right now is the time to go back to school. Right now is the time to start the business. Right now is the time to write your book. Right now is the time to do it now, now, now, now, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. Today is the day to get saved.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah.
Yeah. Temporary victory turned into a perpetual move of God. Mm. Andrew Carnegie, some of you know who he is, but we know him because we're from Pittsburgh. And most of his meals were in Pittsburgh, and he was a steel magnate. Uh, multi multi-billionaire back when, you know, that was he'd probably be richer than Warren Buffett today. Uh, but here's what he said. He said, uh, how'd you make it? You
came here as an immigrant. How'd you make it? Well, he should have said I didn't come on a slave ship. That that'd be first. But here's what he said. Quote, we were all told America was the land of opportunity. I acted on it.
It's a powerful thought, isn't it? You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message entitled It's Your Time. And we're going to continue to look at this next time on the broadcast. If you want to make sure that you don't miss any future program, come to our website and sign up to begin podcasting. Treasure truth. Just
come to treasure Truth radio.org. You know, pastor, we often hear the word stewardship in Bible teaching and Christian radio, but how does that apply to supporting a program like Treasure, Truth or Moody Radio?
Well, I think we need to understand that everything is God's by ownership and it's ours by stewardship. A steward is a manager of somebody else's things. Okay. And so we understand it all belongs to God. And what we want to do is we have trusted God to provide us in our giving. Now we ask God to guide us in our giving. And what we do is we begin to pray and to ask, you know, we support our local church, and then we give to the organizations
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Well, you can give online by coming to Treasure Truth radio.org and clicking on the donate button. Well, thanks for doing that and for listening. Thanks also to our producer, Amy Rios for Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.