R1590 Trust and Obey

When Jesus changes our life, it changes everything. Prepare to be inspired by a powerful testimony on today's broadcast. This is The Encouraging Word, featuring the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton, well-known author, evangelist, and pastor.

And today, Dr. Don's going to introduce you to someone whose life has been radically changed. As he introduced Lydia in just a moment, know that we're here for you to encourage you. We can do that on the phone right now at 866-899-WORD.

Jot the number down, store it in your cell. We're here 24 hours a day to talk, to listen, to pray, to connect you with great resources at 866-899-9673 or online at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. We would love to connect with you. And now today's message, Trust and Obey with Dr. Don Wilton. Well, I tell you, folks, I've got so much on my heart. I'm sitting here praising the Lord and saying, wow, Lydia, how do we bring all of this together?

What do we say? And I turned to her just a minute ago and I said, Lydia, see what I do, what I experience? I mean, it's like it's just so precious.

It's so wonderful. Well, you know, a little while back, as I was preparing and praying, God put a word in my heart for this Sunday. And it wasn't even this Sunday.

This was a week or two ago. And then during this past week, I began to live stream with all our incredible young people up there in Kentucky. And it just chokes me up because what I began to see and hear was God accomplishing a mission in unbelievable circumstances.

Lydia, nothing about this year in Kentucky really made sense because we had so many issues going on with the virus and distancing and being able to do this. And our young people were so fantastic. And, you know, under Seth and Jacob's leadership and Deandra and the team, our student teams, they poured their hearts into this. And our adult leaders and God spoke so clearly, said, I've got a mission that needs to be accomplished. And you folks went and look what God has done.

Look what God has done. And then on Wednesday night, I believe it was Wednesday night, maybe Tuesday night, Tuesday night, Tuesday night, when I listened to that worship service and Lydia Blackstone got up and shared a testimony, Karen and I were so deeply moved in our hearts. And Lydia is one unbelievably precious young lady, college student, who gave of her time this week to be a part of something that I don't believe will ever stop. And the word God gave you challenged us. Me, I wasn't even up in Kentucky.

I was watching this. I've given her an impossible job today because I've asked her to come. And Lydia, just open your heart, share with us, give us a nutshell of what God put in your heart that caused a real sense of revival to break out, challenged us, and I don't believe God is through with us yet. Thank you, Lydia.

Let's give Lydia a hand, shall we? Thank you so much for letting me come. It's a joy to share.

It always is. And you said you gave me an impossible job, and it is impossible to talk of the things of the Lord and how great he is. But God says, if you do the possible, I'll do the impossible. So I'm going to share my story, just a little bit of it, because I don't have that much time. But I want to say to you just how important it is that we do the possible, you know. So my story is, yes, I'm a college student. I go to University of South Carolina, which I see some boos out there, Davis Welch.

I do go to University of South Carolina. So it's actually my fifth year to go on Kentucky, and I got to go in the Sebesky group, the same group that I had gone to in previous years. But this year is different for me. It was different for all of us. Yes, we had challenges we had to face, but it was different in the way that God showed up. Every year.

But this year, it's like we just noticed it more, you know. So my story is, before the first semester of college, I really spent it, what I say is all about me. I got into all sorts of things, and I could stand up here for 30 minutes and tell you the bad things that I've done. But it's not about that.

It's about what he does after, which is what I want to tell you. Is that I got this crazy opportunity to go to the Holy Land with Dr. Don and a bunch of other you out here in the crowd. And everybody asked me, what's your favorite spot? What's your favorite place that you went? It was so busy, craziness, you know, it was filled with tourists. But my favorite spot was, only our group was up there, was the Mount of Beatitudes. I was sitting up there very broken from the way that I had lived my life.

It broke my own heart. And I was sitting up there just, you know, completely broken. You know, we have to get like that. And I heard these words spoken by Dr. Don, but it was like in the moment, it was like hearing Jesus' voice say it. So right now, as it is a beautiful picture that we are outdoors, this is a mountain of sorts. This is our Mount of Beatitudes today. Look around and hear the sounds and I want a picture to be shown of the Mount of Beatitudes on the screen. Just so that you all can see what I saw when I heard this. But I want you to hear Jesus' voice. In no way am I trying to betray Him at all.

I'm so unworthy. But just as I say these words, hear Jesus saying them to you. Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountain side and sat down.

His disciples came near to Him and He began to teach them. He said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are those pure of heart, for they will seek God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are you when they persecute you, insult you, and say all kinds of evil against you because of My name.

Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for just as they persecute you, they persecuted the prophets that went before you. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, it is of no use except to be thrown out and trampled under man's foot. You are the light of the world.

A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp and place it under a bowl. Instead, you place it on a stand so it gives light to everybody in the room. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Those words, I want them to speak to each and every one of you the way that they spoke to me that day, sitting there broken over my sin, mortified by my sin, in front of a holy God that we are unworthy to glorify today.

But He lets us because of Jesus that He came down to earth and He spoke those words. And you look throughout all of His ministry, the loving kindness, and in that moment I felt the kindness of the Lord. Feel that today because it changed my life and the way I lived it after then. I said, how can I emulate that, the blessed star, blessed star? I want to be that. I want to be blessed. My story is a great story of blessing. My dream is to be a news reporter.

That's my dream. And it may change and it's all up to God in that, but He opened so many doors. When I got my feet on the ground back in South Carolina after being in the Holy Land, I knew my life couldn't be the same at all. I wanted to be blessed like He said there. And so He opened wonderful doors and I got to start doing the school news.

SGTV News 4. I got the opportunity to go and do crazy things, awesome things that a 19-year-old does not get to do. So people would ask me, how did you get that opportunity? And then I love the song, Every Blessing You Pour Out, I'll Turn Back to Praise. It's a praise. So when you receive that blessing, turn it back to praise because people will ask you how you got it. But be looking for the blessing. This week in Kentucky, we have all these amazing stories of how God showed up.

You know, we were looking for them. You know, my van mom, D'Andrea, this week would have us on the van to say our highs of the day, just kind of how God showed up that day. And it got us the whole day thinking, what's my high going to be? What's my good thing of the day that God showed up going to be?

Let's live like that every day, saying, how are you going to show up? How do we get to that point as we tell others? You know, that's the most important calling of us here on earth is to glorify God. That's why we're here, is to glorify God, praise his name, and to tell others. I think as believers, sometimes we forget what it's like to be lost. I have not forgotten what it felt like to not have him.

We can't forget that because that will give us an urgency more than ever to tell, to look into somebody's eyes and see how much they need him because I don't forget what it felt like to need him. So I'm going to keep telling, and I'm going to keep glorifying his name until everybody can feel the way I feel, which is utter peace and joy. So today, my call to you is, I'm going to unpack just a little bit of the rest of that beatitudes. You are the salt of the earth. If salt loses its saltiness, it is of no use to be thrown out and trampled under man's foot. I said this in the last time that I spoke this, was the way that my life before Christ was trampled under man's foot because I lost my saltiness. Now what does salt do? Salt does a lot of things. It preserves, it heals, but it makes you thirsty.

When you eat a bunch of popcorn at the movies, that's the reason they jack up the price of the soda because you need it because it makes you thirsty. And that was a call that I'm giving y'all to that day that I felt, was, am I making people thirsty for the things of the Lord? Are we? Are we salt and are we light? And the other part of that is, you are the light of the world. We have a light in us. It should show up in our face.

It should show up in our kindness when people aren't watching you because people always are when you think they're not. And they need to see that light because they know that you're a believer. They need to know that you're a believer. So many people in my life did not know that I was a Christian down at USC.

No idea. I didn't go to church. It's not just going to church. That doesn't make you a Christian. It's by the way you live your life, which we've heard a million times, but I think we need to hear it again, is that live your life in such a way that it glorifies the Lord so people ask you.

Because the best part about being a believer is telling. It's my favorite thing to do, I say that. And today I'm getting to do that to more than one. I've prayed. I've been making this prayer a regular thing in my life. I pray for a person a day to tell.

This is a whole lot more than one. So thank you that you're my person of the day, whoever hears this. An honor it is to share with you.

But I want to leave you with this not being my story because it's not our story. It's his story, but I hope that in my story the contrast of who I used to be and who I am now shows the glory of God. That he can do miracles. That he, like in Kentucky this week, can move mountains.

Believe that. Don't let it just be some cute little saying that we say on the video. Make it real. Because God has moved mountains in my life. The girl that I used to be is standing here. This is different. This is so different.

And it's one reason that it's different and that's Jesus Christ. So I love you all. Thank you for letting me share. And I'll give it back to Dr. Don. I am so moved by her testimony that I'm changing direction this morning completely.

Wow, you're listening to Dr. Don Wilton. And isn't it good that he's sensitive to the Spirit? May we all be sensitive to change directions when the Lord leads. And know that we're here for you 24 hours a day to pray you through those changes of directions. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673.

And online at www.tewonline.org where you discover great resources like this. We are living in a rapidly changing world. What is this new normal today? How do we as believers hold firm? How do we press on? We press on by resting in the safeguards of our faith. When you have a history of God's faithfulness in your heart and spirit, you can walk boldly and unflinchingly through the midst of trouble.

Why? Because God has proven himself to you. With your gift of support to the encouraging word this month, you will receive Dr. Wilton's faith building message, the safeguards of our faith. This four message set will help equip you to stand firm on the foundation of Jesus Christ in these not so new normal days. Call us at 866-899-WORD and request the safeguards of our faith available on CD or DVD today. The encouraging word is a viewer and listener supported ministry.

Thank you for listening today. I hope you'll consider getting your copy of safeguards, but let's dive back into our teaching about Our Heavenly Father with Dr. Don Wilton today. I invite you to open your book, Bibles, to Acts chapter 9. Just a few verses in the book of Acts chapter 9. This is what happened to Saul, Paul. This is my story.

It's your story. The Bible says in Acts chapter 9 and verse 1, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. And he went to the high priest and he asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found any there who belonged to the way that he, whether they be men or women, that he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. And as he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

And he fell to the ground. And he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, why are you persecuting you? And Saul looked up into the face of God and said to him, Who are you, Lord? And Jesus said, I am he. I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

Now get up and go into the city. And there I will make it clear to you what must be told of you. Four things I want to share with you from my heart today. Number one, you and I have got to acknowledge who God is. We're living in a day and age today where even the very name of Jesus has become a watchword and a byword, a cuss word, a word of blasphemy.

We're living in a day and age today where people scoff at the very name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was Jesus who looked upon his disciples and he said to them, I am the Lord your God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

I'm the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Bow down and worship me. Acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ in your life.

Will you do that today? I'm going to encourage you right now where you are. Right there from the depths of your heart. I want you to look into the face of our God and our Savior because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. This week in Kentucky, there are little, little children who came to know Jesus because a group of people bothered to go to Kentucky and share the love of Christ with them. And they will never be the same again.

They will never be the same again. Acknowledge who God is. When I heard Lydia's testimony, what struck me so much in this beautiful young lady's heart is she told the story. I can see her sitting on the Mount of Beatitudes right there in that beautiful spot overlooking the magnificence of the Sea of Galilee, that same place where Jesus of Nazareth sat down before his disciples and he looked them in the face and he began to love them and he began to teach them. And as Lydia has said in her own words, it was right there in that very place, at that very spot that all of a sudden she realized who Jesus really is. Do you know that he loves you?

Acknowledge him. Number two, confess your sin to him. All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

I was profoundly moved as Lydia shared her testimony, not only this morning, but as I've listened to it a number of times on YouTube, as Lydia spoke as a young Christian person about the sin in her life, that she was living far from God. And today you're living far from God. And the Bible says that your sin separates you from God. And the Bible tells us that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Confess your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who said that if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Friends, there is nothing greater than confessing your sin to Jesus Christ.

Would you do that right now? You're going to fall into two categories when it comes to the confession of sin. Number one, you need to confess your sin as an unbeliever in order to trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord. The Bible says there is only one sin that God will not forgive. It's called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It's the sin of saying no to the Spirit of God.

You might say to me today, well, pastor, what does that mean? What it means is what Jesus told us, because the Bible tells us in John's Gospel that it is the Spirit of the living God who comes down upon us and who reveals ourselves in the light of God's glory and convicts us of our sin and of righteousness and of judgment. God the Spirit is convicting you of your sin under salvation. And if your sin is not forgiven, you cannot be saved. You cannot be forgiven. You cannot go to heaven.

You will not know the joy that only Christ can give to us. If you need to confess your sin under salvation, say right now, Lord Jesus, I confess my sin because I want to be saved. I want to be reconciled to a holy and a righteous God. I want Jesus to come into my heart.

I want to be forgiven of my sin. Would you tell him that right now? Go ahead, do it.

Tell him right now. You don't even have to say that out loud. You can if you want to. You can say that in your heart. You don't even have to close your eyes to say that.

You can if you want to. The Bible says that what we've got to do is we've got to confess our sin to the Lord Jesus because he's the one who's faithful and just to forgive us. But there's a second group here by far in the park here in Spartanburg all across the country. There are wonderful people. I know you.

I'm one of you. But I need to confess my sin to him because I'm a sinner by nature and I'm a sinner by choice. And just like Lydia, I know that my sin causes great grief in the heart of a God who loves me. And because my sin is ever before me, I come before my Saviour today and I confess my sin not unto my salvation but unto the joy of my salvation in Christ. Can I tell you something today very lovingly?

If you're a believer and you're living in sin, unconfessed sin, you are being robbed of your joy. That's what Lydia was saying. Lydia spent... I've known Lydia for years and years and years. Those she and her sisters and the beautiful family from which she comes.

I've watched them grow up. And Lydia stood here today and she said, I want you to know I had all of these things going and I was about life and I know Christ as my Saviour but in my heart I have no joy. And sitting there on the Mount of Beatitudes in the face of Jesus, God began to reveal himself to her.

She shared with all those who gathered in Kentucky and I'm going to encourage you today to confess your sin. Number three, are you ready to trust Jesus? Are you willing to do that today, put your trust in Him?

You say, wait a minute now, pastor, how am I going to do this? Just trust Him. Just trust God.

Some of you been up in the hollows of Kentucky and sitting right there in that chapel, God got a hold of your heart. And you're beginning to say, but how can I bring that home? Trust God.

Put your hands in the hands of the Master. He's going to lead you. He's going to guide you. He's going to fill you with His Spirit. He's going to counsel you. He's going to uplift you. He's going to encourage you. Are you willing to faith Him? We walk by faith and not by sight. That's an operative action. It's a daily action that we have as Christians.

I try to wake up so many times say, Lord, I just want to trust you. I give myself to you. I don't know what tomorrow holds. I don't know what's going on in America.

I don't know where this virus is going. I don't know what's going to happen politically. People are in turmoil. People are fighting, arguing, fussing. People are hating one another. They throwing stones at one another. They blaspheming, they tearing down history.

They doing everything they possibly can. People are getting in one another's face, but oh God, I'm going to trust you. I'm going to trust you. I'm going to give myself to you. Have you lost your job recently and your heart is broken? Would you trust God today?

What can you do but run to Him, turn it over to Him? Maybe you've gone through a troublesome marriage. Maybe you've been divorced. Maybe you're suffering in some way. Maybe you've lost your job. Maybe you've had to close down your business and your heart is broken today.

God hasn't left. That little word trust, oh, it's not all that easy. You don't roll out of bed in the morning and say, well, I'm just going to trust. This is not fly by your pants like just making a cup of coffee. It's an operative.

It's an action. It's a Holy Spirit given dynamic. Just trust God.

Would you trust Him today? So what have I told you today from God's Word? Number one, acknowledge who God is. Take into account the Lord Jesus, my friend. Think about who He is.

He loves you that much. Confess your sin to Him. You don't confess your sin to Him.

It is a requirement. Confess your sin under salvation. Confess your sin under the joy of your salvation. Trust Him. Entrust yourself, hand yourself over to Him. Give up on yourself.

Take your hands off yourself. Say, Lord, I'm giving it all to you. Just like Lydia has said, I'm giving it to you, Lord. From now on, I'm in your hands. I'm entrusting you. I don't know if school's going to open in a couple of weeks, but I'm going to trust you. I don't know if I'm going to be able to go to college. I'm going to trust you.

I don't know where I'm going to get another job so that I can provide for my family. I'm going to trust you, Lord. I'm going to trust you. I'm going to trust you, God, because you're God.

And one more. Obey Him. Obey Him.

Are you willing to say yes, Lord? You're willing to obey Him today? Do what He tells you to do? That's the operative of Christian discipleship.

Trust and obey, for there is no other way. When you follow Jesus, He calls us to trust Him and to obey Him. Is it time for you to trust God?

Could it be that you have been trying to imagine it on your own, saying, God, I've got this? But instead, God is ready to take you and empower you as a new child of God. You've never given your heart to Jesus Christ. You can do that today simply by opening your heart to say, yes, Jesus, I realize I need to head in a new direction. I turn my back on my sin, and I accept you as Savior and Lord. I believe you died on the cross of Calvary.

Change me forever. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. If the Lord's stirring in your heart, let us pray with you. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. We're available 24 hours a day to talk with you.

If you've given your heart to Christ, Dr. Don has some specific materials he wants to put in your hands absolutely free. Just call and ask for them at 866-899-9673. Or online at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. Until next time, take care and God bless.