If Not For God - Move Mountains MOVE!

The cuticle off the devil's worst nightmare with the and out podcast where we talk to real men who have real stories will realize it is time to man up your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just a few seconds in joy at Sherritt but most of all, thank you for listening to The Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network welcome to If Not for God stories of hopelessness that turn to hope. Your host Mike Zwick. I'm really excited because I get to be, If Not for God Mike Zwick again. Catherine and Mike. That's kind of given me another night of restlessness to give you and I then went it's funny every every time every night before I a goat start to show a lot of times will happen is is all what I'll do is I'll I'll pray enough thinking what a times I can't get a good night sleep and I'm thinking about a lot of the stuff that were to talk about 70 but one of the things that's been on my mind is overcoming obstacles and you talk about overcoming obstacles. There is a guy named Jesus Christ and I was looking at John chapter 7 is starting verse one it says after this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders. There were looking for a way to kill him. But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near Jesus's brother said to him, leave Galilee and go to Judea so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world for even his own brothers did not believe I was thinking about that here you are the son of God God in human form God in the flesh in your own brothers. Don't even believe you are who you say your and that's one of the things that I was thinking about Robbie wanted when I was talking about overcoming obstacles, because if you if you look at that life is not always peaches and cream. It's not always easy and I believe it's it's tough for Christians as well as non-Christians. One of the one of the stories that we were looking at and talking about was JCPenney James Cash Penney if you guys are member, the founder of JCPenney stores. He grew up and in the late 1800s and think was 1875 and by the time he was 26 years old in 1902 EB. He had become such a hard worker that the people that he he worked for was in business with think they made him a partial owner of the company and later on he actually moved to ugly Wyoming to where he started the JCPenney Company and throughout the I guess the 1910s and 1920s. He was wildly successful on and then the Great Depression hit, and things actually got so tough for him that what happened was, was he. He couldn't even pay his bills. We actually had to borrow from his life insurance policies just make the payroll and so not only do that one time and you can only do that one time in your dominant and he ended up going to. It was the Kellogg if you remember that the Kellogg cereal place but they had an institution it didn't go into too much detail but I can't get the feeling it might've been a nervous breakdown and while he was there he he got the treatment that he actually heard a woman singing him, beautiful him. He became a born-again Christian will fast-forward after that he got out of the got out of the hospital and the business was wildly successful and so he became successful in business and he was also born-again Christian. So now as far as we know he's in heaven and in one of the things that I that I think of is that you had God just allowed him to have uninterrupted success we might've made a lot of money about it and really not. It might've done really well but there was something much better in it for him and it was salvation, and in Robbie, you actually had a story about a young man driving a lake is one of my favorite actually use it in my prayer life everyday, because such wonderful story and I'll join our use at my prayer life after tell your story some a missionary family.

You know has a furlough to combat United States and Reston raised support for their mission, and a very kind family says hey we got this, like cows, come on up and make the place is. Make yourself at home so pretty is about have little in a rowboat out on a little dock that went out there in a boathouse out there that was really cool so the first day they obviously did to little girls and the little boy and a boy was three little girls were little bit older so they were supposed to watch their brother and they were out playing in the father was, you know just hanging out in the boathouse checking out all the meds or whatever was in there at all the sudden little girls lose sight of the brother and the brother wanders down to the dock sees the boat think that might be fun, doesn't step into it right and goes off in the water. At what point the girl screamed father comes running out of the boathouse and he dives into the water trying to find the boy. You know, Ys reached out with all his might try to find but you not like water is it's cloudy he can only see two or three front feet from me to reach out with his arms, legs, where is he working he be he runs out of air comes up, takes a deep breath I gotta find him at all and you know you don't have any time. You couldn't be more frantic in his reach outlaws feelings is even obviously praying God will help me find my son everything he possibly do to find them comes up for air. The second time and says oh there's no way he could hold his breath.

This long… But I gotta find it months. Gotta find him sleep takes another gulp of air goes down reaches out will always God finally feels little boy, but it need quickly discovers that little boy has a death grip on the pier that is holding the dock up right there. It's down in the mud and the little boy will not turn loose of it and so we do. Unfortunately the dad was stronger and he finally pries the boy off in a get some up in a resuscitate some but boy was okay. No. After about an hour when everybody was back to little bit normal after this horrific accident.

The father asked Sonia no. So I just don't understand why did you have that death grip on that pillar and on that peer.

Why would you not talk of it when I had Judy said because I knew you'd come right and the point is the boy that held onto emotionally. The only thing that he he could with all that he had was the thought that his father was given a comes a and so I tell you this for the story, but every morning is just my ritual. I guess I got the good prayer is is I get to this point were asked the Holy Spirit to lead me in prayer, you know, and I actually say you know you met Groening thing you do when I need that and let's say you know you know you guys on target.

The father son and Holy Spirit I put the death grip on the go. You know you guys are really all I have an answer and and and that actually anchors me in in my prayer in the morning.

Ever since I heard that story.

I've used it for what it is is just an egg or point for me to go at the end of the day really all I really do have it, is that and I know there, I know the outcome you the that's good D8 I was actually you know we had talked about Daniel chapter 3 before but when you were talking about going through that tough times. That must've been horrible time for the father in the sun but also having a horrible time father as I got a three-year-old and I mean it in and one of them was at the pool couple weeks ago and they actually sort of fell in for like a second and we got it was fine but was awful. I mean it was it what it was awful, but one of the things I was thinking of is is Daniel chapter 3 start in verse one it says King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold 60 cubits high and six cubits wide and set it up on the plane of Dürer in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasures, judges, magistrates, and everyone else to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. Basically what he did was he set up this image and he said everybody's gotta bow down and Shadrach me shack and Abednego would not bow down and so the king actually brings them often.

He says hey you know, just wanted to let you know you're supposed to bow down.

Hey, if you do this thing again and you can bow down and then everything will be right but if you don't bow down to kill you not to kill these in the cooking of the fire and in the and they knew that and and what they said and they said it boldly was that they said the car God can save us from this fire. He can basically keep us from getting burned up. He can save our lives, but they said even if he.even if he doesn't were knocking about down and so we read the story now and we know what the ending is right, but at that point in the story they didn't know how it was good and really dinner Robbie and you know II think and even a global neither did the little boy, neither did the father in in in in the story that you're talking about. And so maybe in America for for as long as we've we've known it. Things have been pretty easy for me. We been able to cling on and we were talking about this before we were been able cling onto a lot of other things you know if if we if we need something to eat. We go to the grocery store. If we need some money we go work for if we need some medicine. If we get her to go to the doctor and they fix it you would if all that stuff was taken away from you, what would you have it in one of the things when you were talking about the little boy clinging onto the what I mean we, as Christians, we we cling on to Jesus right hopes we all have our stories but would you talk about this topic in Romans five it talks is how you know everybody's can have tribulation and that generation is gonna produce patients and patient endurance, and endurance you note leads eventually to faith so I bought the Chrysler dealership with help from investors in all that we did back to him in the year 1998 and so I have this brand-new business not unlike JCPenney and I like JCPenney broad money in my life insurance every ounce in the world. It could get this business off the ground. A fund and it took off and it was doing pretty good and all looked good but the challenge was that because there were so few employees it was a small dealership in Martz from North Carolina. I was the major salesforce of the of the establishment. So you know I had a couple of the people that sold cars, but I sold the majority of cars so you can't lose your best salesman the owner and all the stuff going on, or so you think if you're Robbie Gilmore. This is can't be good. Well, that happened to be the time that the God allowed me to get a brain at home abscess which I don't know what that is but what happened was started get me horrible headaches.

They thought while you lymphomas can come back so we need to do with the call brain biopsy so that means that there are literally gonna cut a hole in your head, which I have really neat home. I had my kids logistic their finger. They did limit the okay and to see what's going on in there to see if lymphomas but when they put the little titanium plate in there to hold that together.

It had a staph infection on that staff infection quickly grew and that became an abscess and it honestly may be the closest I ever really did come to die because it grew in my brain and I can remember the girl at the hospital I been in the hospital for about six weeks and she was like Mr. Zimmerman hang this babe this is your last chance from here. If this doesn't know we need to figure out some funeral arrangements because it's really spreading through your brain. This is not good news.

Okay this is a real live tribulation what was going through your mind yeah I love actually God use that help me several times what was going through my mind was the 23rd Psalm that and specifically there's a book called the shepherds guide to the 23rd Psalm where he talked about how Shirley and them even heard the old joke, surely surely goodness will file your holidays, your life, you surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life and you will live in the house Lord forever. Apparently, we if you according to this shepherds dog guard guide to the 23rd Psalm. If you shepherd your sheep correctly date they determine what would be worthless pasturing to with no the call. Like the animal with the golden feet because they can turn worthless pasturing this unbelievable field that can host lots of different programs and so in the song of Solomon when it's it's really cool in the first chapter it says where the beloved is trying to find her lover and she goes to the people in the field. They said will follow the tracks of the sheep, what they're saying is it the tracks of the sheep is going to be a really green path okay and that your life to your life. My life is like if were believers we leave like green pastors behind us and then so when you say. Surely goodness and mercy are to follow you all the days of your life that that's this picture of this green grass that's growing as a result of your struggles and the things you went through your life to help other people to feed on Jesus. It is beautiful here and and and I and I just focused on that because I knew that hadn't it and it was really a cool experience in its own way and by the fact that I but now think about this. I was in the hospital for three months. Brand-new business. We went from selling 3540 card and month okay to sell in seven or eight 1012 cars a month of those months that I was in the house okay so now not only in the hospital that everything I have included my light is going well so I think right so I think I and about, but I got better. The vancomycin work that they put me on and eventually I got out and and eventually was back to where I can operate a year later when I reviewed the whole thing.

You know financially what happened had I can. I did not know that I was running the dealership into a catastrophe is the way that car dealerships work as it takes a ton of money to sell our cars because every time you trade for car you gotta pay off that person's loan. And you gotta bring to set a kind inventory in the you got this huge float that's going on, be a little hard to explain unless your car dealer but I did was tell you that if you're building momentum in sales you gobbling up your working capital by the gods and I could show you on paper. Had I been allowed to continue to sell cars at the rate I thought I needed to make money because of the car salesman things I did make money so) but if I done that, I'd run the dealership into the ditch. Okay, if I had not gone into the hospital up to do this is in some I could I could sit back and look at how God bailed me. I mean yeah I I'm not saying he brought on that infection. Any way shape or form, but I know he allowed it into an accident. From that season of my life it if it had not been for that illness was side would never made it the years is not route if not for God is the you know it.

One of the things that we were talking about two is is that how God can sometimes use adversity to help you and in the long run, and it sounded now I know you would've wanted to go through all that again or whatever, but it ended up helping you and your business in it. In Romans 828 it says that we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and for them who are called according to his purpose one of the things that I was thinking about as I remember my senior year of high school. I don't think I ever told.

He thought this that I was in class and I was never really good in science and so I said well if I got the answers on this. She I'll just put it underneath the underneath paper and all a look at the the answers and and I'll pass the test and everything will be fine. Well I guess that teacher been around the block attire to she was walking around. She pulled the sheet up and I went to the went to the principal's office and it was embarrassing to me.

People knew about it was awful. But what I didn't know was that the first time. At that time and money change, but the first time that you get caught cheating. It doesn't get reported on anything it dear didn't get reported any colleges or anything like that in the second time you would, but so all of that happened was horrible but I looked back on and I said me getting me getting caught cheating on that test could have prevented maybe other bad things down the road from happening because it was really a lesson learned. You even later on in life and he would if you know it could've been a lot bigger things that I would've cheated it and a lot of you know could've gotten sent to prison for something to me. We seen this happen on NPR businessmen to make a lot of money and then there doing stuff under the table and then band they get into Bernie made off to whoever it is so I learned my lesson on there is also another guy I went to college with. He also got caught cheating on a test and heard this later on in the next school year, but they said over the summer. He is kind of put all of his marbles into doing really well in school and over the course that summer he actually killed himself and so I don't think it's really a matter of when the obstacles or if the obstacles are coming. It's just when and I think that we have to prepare ourselves but I knew that guy. He wasn't a Christian he didn't have hope.

So he thought. Well, if I'm knocking to be successful in school then really what's the point of it all, but I think that's that's that's the whole purpose of us doing the show is to really get to help give some people some hope right and that's the thing I love about the Bible is that it's so transparent about in old people's flaws in them getting caught cheating on tests.

It Jacob with a hairy arms and you know you you don't take your character.

Take your pick.

And you're gonna see that there were situations that God allowed them you know this ultimate risk of giving us free will and and then when he came to the rescue.

Whatever that looked like it. It came it came with the message and as I hear your story, you know, I can't help but note that we met friend of yours got caught cheating on the test and then led to that. It was a stronger message for you based on your own experience. Yeah, I mean II when I was when I was, I think 14 years old I took a whole bottle of pills and you know for whatever reason I didn't die think I took 18 pills I in this I'm going off memory. They got took 18 of the pills and then my dad told me about a year later he said he saw a kid on one of these shows a CBS or something like that and he said the kid died from taking 12 of the same pills that I had taken in the 18 pills that I took were twice as strong and so is really like taking 36 verses 12 and so I mean you know we talk about that it's it's all grace rate. I mean it. You know, if not for the grace of God I wouldn't be here that I did exactly the same thing in us 50.

I thought to the problem of sonics like what you think and I don't know but I couldn't even sleep all night. It was so scared of and that was it was it was a horrible thing that I realized later in life is God pointed out in my own what family went through similar struggles, and I realized had I succeeded in what I was thought I was doing. I would not only murdered me, I would've murdered my three kids, it would never, never had a chance. You know that you know and it's fascinating to me that God pulls me out of all these different scenarios essentially like what it says in Romans and also says in James, you know, don't consider it strange that you never come in the various trials of different because you know God is initiating us as sons and strength of character strength of morals, there's really cool thing that I discovered of the of the place of the prodigal son with the Jews actually have taught that way before. Jesus told the story and they call it above all teshuvah, but it means someone that has really gone astray, and then you know come the right way and a stream of the Jews themselves teach that the ball to Schuller that the prodigal who turns back towards life returns back home. Essentially, with a burning desire to go home to the kingdom has a higher seat at the table and the righteous brother. Now think about what Jesus taught. The prodigal son right. He had the brother that it right was essentially the righteous one and he resented the brother that it did send in turn back, but what they teach is absolutely beautiful and they say that somebody who is in his embrace their their side and fallen away like you did with your test right that you now have overcome that temptation in the way you know the results of that in you know that to the extent you know how God came through for you and so your whole lot less likely to cheat on the next death was the same thing with all sorts of sin right that once we return. According to what they teach, and I believe wholeheartedly that you return in a better place with God because he now you have a relationship for you. You can count on him in a different way than you could before because you know even though your mess up, and even though you made all these choices that led also to disasters and he still therefore that person. It's never done anything that they needed Jesus, for they don't know they don't mail them to jail yet, like Ted or Todd. You talked about showing a few weeks or will and in before we go wanted to look at something it says there's an upsurge in depression and suicide among American workers during the pandemic and what needs to be done is interesting that we brought suicide because I actually heard a sermon on the way over here about suicide and the lady who would try to commit suicide and and or she was about to when she put her grandmother forced her to go to church and the people in there literally started prophesying over this girl and she said okay and before she left.

There was a man and he said can I pray for you and she said when the man prayed for her. She decided not to commit suicide but you know unfortunately that the suicide rate in America is going up and it's been going on for the past two decades, but good news is is that you don't have to kill yourself and in the good news is is that there is hope. Jesus is that hope and if if you've never given your life to Jesus. Would you pray with Robbie right now. I know personally how much you are the answer that I can hold onto you like that little boy, and you will come. I know that you came on the cross that you willingly gave your own life that I would live be able to live with you is the son of God for eternity.

I know personally so many different things how much you have come for me. I pray everybody listen to Mike and I that Evan had that experience would embrace ask you to come into their life ask you to forgive them cover them in the blood that you gave that we wouldn't have to pay the before sin, and that you truly would rescue us and and and we would have this relationship with you where we can live with. You bring people in your life more about you sent us deeper into practice in Jesus and not for God. This is the Truth Network