Don't Love Your Life More Than Christ!

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Earn up to 3.75 APY with a one-year guarantee and $500 minimum deposit. Visit PRCUA.org or call your local PRCUA representative at 336-776-7456. PRCUA Life, protecting life through all its stages. When we first started this show, it was, if not for God with Mike Zwick, and it was stories of hopelessness turned into hope. And every day I'm reminded of all of these stories that I've had happen in my life and all the stories that we've had other people happen in their lives as well.

And it's just been a wonderful, wonderful thing. And one of the things that I was thinking about is just some stories that I've heard of. There was a guy named Pastor Ron Harris, and he's out of Burlington, North Carolina, with Greater Love Ministries.

They've got a church over there on Ireland Street. Great pastor, great guy. And he was telling me something that happened one time, and he said, Mike, he said, one time I was driving and we were going to a concert or going to something. And he said, something just told me to say something to these people who were up there. And he says, I drove up and he said, I said to the two guys, Joe said to give me a good parking spot. And one of the guys, he said, just walked away and the other the other guy said to him, who's Joe? And he said, man, you know, Joe?

And he said, the guy pulled him right up and he took him to a spot that was right next to the stadium where he didn't have to drive at all. And that was an if not for God story. I tell you what, another story that I'm reminded of and I'll never forget this.

It was November 1st of 2011. And what had happened was, was I was finishing up my day selling insurance. And when I finished up the day, one of the things that had happened to me was I was going through the whole thing and we were looking at everything. And there was a guy that I was talking to and he was a Christian minister. And he said that I still believe that God heals people today. And so I said, I do too. And finished up the day and was a very dark, dark area where we were in. It was in German to North Carolina. And I had finished up the day.

There were no lights. And I remember at the bottom of the hill, something told me to put my seatbelt on and now I wear my seatbelt. But at that time, there were times where I may not have worn my seatbelt hardly ever at all.

And so that is not a good thing. We need to wear our seatbelts. But I was at the bottom of the hill and I was listening to a guy named Charles Stanley, who actually comes on this radio station. And what had happened was that I was down there and all of a sudden it was like a voice, something just told me, it said, you need to put your seatbelt on. Then I was just about to put it on and something said, what, you don't trust God? And I said, no, I need to put my seatbelt on. So I put my seatbelt on and I start driving up the hill. And all of a sudden, Charles Stanley goes off the radio and it starts playing this weird music that I've never heard before in my life. And I drive to the top of the hill and I go off the road, run straight into a tree and the tree splits my car right up to the windshield.

And I walked out of there without a scratch. And I said, man, you know what, if it wasn't for God, if it wasn't for him, the Holy Spirit telling me that I needed to put my seatbelt on, I don't know what I would have done. You know, I was talking to there was another guy that I was talking to the other day. His name is John and he was actually telling me something where he went on a mission trip. And he said when he went on the mission trip that there was a lady who he was with and she was falling off of a cliff and she probably would have died, unfortunately. And he said there was a local there who saw her falling and pulled her up so she didn't fall off the cliff.

I tell you what, that's that's an if not for God story. And I've told you this before, but I remember a time I was down in Hawaii with my mother was only two years ago. And I remember that night I had eaten something and it must just it was something that I had an allergic reaction to and they still don't know to this day. It might have been the fish, it might have been some macadamia nuts that I had or whatever, but I went out and I was at the pool that night. And when I was at the pool, something told me to take Psalm 103 and to read it to this other Christian guy who was there because a lot of the people there were not Christians.

And so I showed him that and I said, I felt like something told me to show you that to show you that scripture. Well, I walked out onto the beach and all of a sudden I felt like my head was about to explode and I was about to pass out. I was having an allergic reaction. Well, little did I know that there were only two hospitals on this island and the closest hospital was 45 minutes away.

And there was only one or two ambulances on this island as well. And there was no one that was close by. So what happened was, is I called my mom on the phone and she says, well, come back to the hotel. And I did. And she said, when I checked into the hotel or I got back to the hotel, I said, I'm having an allergic reaction. You need to call the ambulance, call 911. And they said, OK. And they said, lay down over here.

And I felt like I was about to die. But right before I lay down something told three times, I said, help me, Jesus, help me, Jesus, help me, Jesus. And it's so funny, the third time after I said that, I broke out in a cold sweat and I was completely better. The lady from the ambulance, the paramedic came by and she said, I've never seen this. She said, if somebody has an allergic reaction, they don't just get over it. And I told her, I prayed.

And I remember the next day that she was over by the pool where we were and she was just like, wow, that was amazing. And I said, that was God. So God gives us these stories, not just to say, hey, they're cool, but so that we can tell other people about the good things that have happened to us. That points people to Jesus, you know, and I've talked with Robbie Dilmore about this before, but it kind of gets to the point now where it's like so many people have, you know, they've heard about Jesus and some people say maybe they believe, maybe they don't. But it's sometimes if you just tell people your story and you tell people how Jesus has used you or how God has used you in a big way or just shown you something that you know, absolutely was not from you, but was from God. They may not believe what they've heard before, but they'll believe you. Sometimes they'll believe your story. And sometimes that'll point people to God. Matter of fact, I was up at Pastor Marty's church this past weekend up at First Christian Church of Boone and I was telling him something.

He was talking, he was preaching about how sometimes Christians have doubts. And I told him, I said, I remember one time when I was, it was back in, I think it was 2008. I was in my mid to late 20s and I was finishing up for the day and I don't know what made me do this, but I had a one sheet of paper. And in that one sheet of paper, I needed some more papers for work the next day and I was going through my insurance, stuff like that, whatever. But what I did was I had a notebook and I only had one sheet of paper left and I looked at the book and I closed the book and I said, God, show me something. And when I opened up the book again, the notebook, there were now two sheets of paper. And so of course I said, well, that's great.

That's all I need to know. What I did was I said, God, I'm sorry, but I said, just please show me this one more time. And so what I did was I closed the book one more time and I opened it up and now there were three sheets of paper. And I remember Pastor Ron was talking about this a couple of weekends ago where he said, he said, Mike, he said, there was a time where I was a believer and he says, but now I know. You know, I wonder if there's, if there's been a time in your lives where maybe you said I believe or whatever and now you got to the point where something happened and God showed you his glory and you say, now I know. Feel free to share it with us on If Not For God with Mike Zwick. We have a Facebook page on there. You can like it and then join it and just tell us and we'd love to tell some of these stories on the air. But you know, going through this, I mean, how many times has God saved us out of the troubles that we were in?

You know, I heard Chip Ingram not too long ago. He said that we try to live our lives the right way. We try to live righteously.

We try to do the right thing, but we know that we all mess up. It says in Romans 3 23 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It says in Romans 6 23 that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. But we also know and we've talked about this on the show many many times where in Luke 18, Jesus said two guys went up to the temple one day or we would say the church one day and one of the guys was in the front of the church and he says I thank you Lord that I'm not like this other guy.

He says I give 10% of my income. I don't commit adultery. I'm a pretty good person in the second guy in the back of the church. He couldn't even look up and he beat on his chest and he said God have mercy on me a sinner and Jesus said that second guy he went away justified not the first said because anybody who exalts themselves will be humbled that anybody who humbles themselves will be exalted. And so maybe you're listening to the show and you say well, I know I've probably done too much or God may not forgive me or you know, I just I feel like I'm such a mess up.

If that's the place that you're in then you're exactly in the place where God wants you because God can use you to be a testimony. All you have to do is to cry out to him cry out to Jesus. I heard of a story one time where you've heard of the the band third day. They came out with a song several years ago and it's called cry out to Jesus cry out to Jesus. Well a little while later. They came out with a song and it said I need a miracle.

I need a miracle. Well what that song was about was there was a guy who I guess he was formerly a Christian and he got a shotgun. He was ready to end his life and he was driving and when he drove he went to a field and he said I want to hear one last song and he said this song that I hear this last song that I hear is going to be it and then I'm going to blow blow my brains out. And the song that he heard was cry out to Jesus by third day and when he heard that song he decided that he was not going to do it anymore. But little did he know his wife at that very same time was praying for him and she was praying that she said Lord. I need a miracle because right now things are so bad and they're not getting better.

And when his wife prayed that and he heard that song it changed their lives forever. Maybe you're in a bad place right now. Maybe you've had you're going through a divorce.

Maybe somebody's left you maybe you've had a death in the family. We had a lot of people lately who have passed away and and really untimely deaths and sometimes we look at this and we say why God why is this happening to me? Well as we know in First Corinthians 13 12 it says now we see. Darkly we don't know but then one day when we get to heaven we shall know face to face just as we are fully known. We don't always know the reasons why things are happening.

We may not always understand why these things are happening, but God has a purpose in it. And so if you're down right now, if you're having a tough time, let me just tell you cry out to Jesus cry out to Jesus, you know, one of the things that I've done over the years when I when I've been going through a tough time is just listen to listen to good Christian music listen to good Christian teaching. We have plenty of preaching on the truth Network, you know, and if you're you're in is go to truth network.com. I know a lot of people listen to the a lot of people listen to the if not for God with Mike Zwick podcast. You can do that. You can listen to do the truth Network or you can listen to the little local radio station and a lot of areas Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point Charlotte.

We're getting a station now and I think it's Toledo. So that's something that you can do. But if you're having a tough time right now, if there's something that you need prayer for just let us know like I said, you can go to the if not for God with Mike Zwick website on Facebook or you can call call down here at the truth Network or whatever we can do to help you. We'd love to help you. The other thing is that that I've seen is that a lot of times in my life where I've had a tough time or where things have been going kind of rough is that when I and it doesn't seem to make sense because you're looking at yourself and you're saying what can I do? But what I found is that when you try to help other people then that's where you see some of the true happiness, especially when it's done for the glory of God, you know, I've had so many people that I've been depressed. I've been down. I had I've been out I don't know what was happening. I don't know what was going on, but they said when I went through that that I started to work at the soup kitchen or I started to volunteer at the church or I started to do something to help other people and it's funny when you start helping other people you get happier. So it seems the opposite of what you want to do you want to do something to make yourself happier, but a lot of times what you can do to make yourself happier is to help other people and so I hope that helps but we're just so glad to we're so glad to have you listening today.

We're so glad to be here. And so one of the things that I was just thinking about when we're talking about helping other people I was thinking about a verse and it's 1st John chapter 4 and it says dear friends do not believe every spirit that test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the spirit of God every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world you dear children are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world and the world listens to them. We are from God. We are from God and whoever knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.

This is how we recognize the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood dear friends. Let us love one another for love comes from God everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. This is how God showed his lung love among us that he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins dear friends since God so loved us.

We also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another then God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he and us he has given us of his spirit and we have seen and testify that the father sent his son to be the Savior of the world if anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God then God lives in them and they are in God and so we know and rely on the love that God has for us. God is love whoever lives in love lives in God and God lives in them. This is how we know that love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of Judgment. In this world, we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love we love him because he first loved us whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar for whoever does not love their brother and sister whom they have seen cannot love God who for they have not seen and he has given us this command anyone who loves God must also love their brother and their sister and it's so you know, so many times we talk about this doctrine that everybody's arguing about or you know, well, we don't understand this or we don't understand that or this is their pre-trib or their post-trib or you know, what about this doctrine is it is it once saved always saved or could you lose yourself and there's so many things that people argue about and when I read this chapter and when I think about what Jesus said, he said love your enemies as you love your enemies love your enemies.

I was just reading this this morning. Anybody can love the people who love them. I mean that's natural. I mean if you I mean he says if you love those who love you what reward are you going to have from your father? But I mean, it's tough to love the to love your enemies. It's tough to to love those who have done you wrong, but it's what he asked of us. It's tough to forgive people who have done you wrong because a lot of times when they've done you wrong. They're not trying to make it right, but Jesus is not going to hold us accountable for what people did to us.

He's going to hold us accountable for the way that we responded and if we forgave them or not. Jesus said this and some people may not like it, but he's this is what he said. He said if you forgive other people, he said God will forgive you of your sins. He said if you do not forgive other people God will not forgive you of your sins.

And if you forgive other people of their sins then Pete especially the people who have done you wrong in the world is going to look at you and they're going to say there's something different about this person. There's something that they've got that I want that I want, you know, it's funny and we've heard this old expression and I understand it and I don't always agree with it. Okay, and I can explain what I'm talking about. But the expression is this preach the gospel constantly use words when necessary. Now, of course, we're going to have to of course, we're going to have to use words. Of course, we're going to have to open our mouths. Of course, we're going to have to tell people the good news or else.

How are they going to know? But on the other hand, I think what a lot of us miss out on is what what they're really saying there and it's been attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi. But what they're saying there is that the way that we live our lives is important.

People are constantly looking at us. I actually saw a story. I was reading a book by Erwin Lutzer and in the story, he said it was the it was in 1900 and it was in China and he said all of us it was the Boxer Rebellion and all of a sudden all of these people they had they had surrounded a missionary tent and what they did was they closed off every single every single exit, but they took one exit and they said okay. This is the only way you're going to get out and what they did was they put a cross right in front of the exit and they said that if you step on the cross, then you can leave and you'll have your freedom. But if you refuse to step on the cross, you're going to face the firing squad and you're going to die. The first seven people all stepped on the cross and then left the eighth one was a young lady was a girl and she sat and then she went around the cross.

After she did that every single one of the people who was there 80 some people all went around and would not step on the cross and they went to a certain death. Are we willing to do that? Is that something that we're willing to do?

It's something that we need to think about. No, we haven't seen that here in the United States. Not yet. Not yet. But what are we going to do?

What would you do if something like that happened? Jesus said anybody who loves mother or father more than me anybody who loves children more than me is not worthy of me. He said you have to be willing to die for me anybody who loves his life or her life more than me is not worthy of me. And it's interesting when I see that the first seven people they all just followed everybody who is stepping on the cross and they knew it was desecrating the religion desecrating the Christian religion. But when the eighth one saw there she said, you know what? I can't do this. I can't do this.

This is not something that I can do. I have to stay true to Jesus, but it's funny how people are watching you because I wonder if she would have just stepped on the cross if everybody else would have done the same thing to but the fact that she was a leader and she says I'm not going to do this. Jesus comes first. I've given my life to Jesus and I'm not going to stop right now that when she did that other people follow so as a Christian just remember that people are watching you people are watching you was another story that I heard by Chip Ingram a long time ago and what had happened was was there was a there was a young a young girl or young boy who was who had become a Christian and they knew in this area. There were I don't know if it was Boko Haram or what it was but there were Islamic fundamentalists who were going around and they said we are going to kill Christians unless you convert to Islam. We are going to kill you. And so what had happened was was this young child, maybe eight years old went over to somebody else's house who was Islamic and Muslim and what they said they said we don't want you to die. They said what we're going to do is we're going to give you an Islamic name and you can just when they come around and they say we're going to kill the Christians.

You just say you're one of us and you're and you're a Muslim as well. And I think at first the child said okay, but then the child remembered where Jesus said anybody who is ashamed of me in this world. I will be ashamed of them in front of my father anybody who acknowledges me.

I will acknowledge them as well in my in front of my father and she remembered this and when they came around she said I can't do that. She said because Jesus said that about acknowledging him in front of other men and what she did was when they came around to kill came around looking for the Christian. She said I'm a Christian and they killed her.

They killed her she lost her life because she didn't love it unto the death. How committed are we to Christ? You know, I think right now this is this is the time where you really have to prepare your mind. You really have to prepare your mind because things are getting tough.

You don't have I mean, you know, you don't have to be a genius to figure it out. The rights of Christians in this country are slowly evaporating away and it may be it may be coming sooner and sooner. I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball and I like what Pastor Ron Harris said. He said God God doesn't need to consult me before he does something. So we don't always know exactly what's going to happen, but we can kind of see the way that it's going to happen. We have to prepare our minds. We have to prepare our minds. We have to prepare our souls. We have to prepare our children our families that no matter what. We're going to sit we're going to stick stick with it until the end matter of fact in his book or when Lutzer told another story of a Christian family who was living in an Islamic town and what they had said this this there were there was a Muslim group of people and they what they did was they wrote a note and they said we realize that you're going to church now and that this is what's going to happen. What's going to happen? They said you can either convert to they said or we're going to kill you and we're going to kill your children and your girls are going to become wives of Muslims and they will raise Muslim children and they said the other thing is you can flee tonight and that's it. I mean, that's a tough situation to be in that's a tough situation to be in but we have to realize that no matter what comes we have to stand firm for Christ.

I have to do that. I mean, it's easy for me to stand up here on the radio and say all this stuff. It's another thing to do it when you're when you're confronting the enemy face to face, but we have a peace as Christians that surpasses all understanding no matter what the world is doing. They have no peace.

They have no peace if they had peace. Why would they be doing? Why would they be trying to persecute Christian? What are we trying to do? We're just trying to we're just trying to fill people with hope and the good news is is that there are millions and millions of people around the world who are converting to Christ, but we also have to realize that we don't always win the battle on this field at the end of the day when we get to heaven we win we win in the end, but sometimes we have to look in the in the intermediate time. It may look like things are getting tough and it may look like things are stacked against us. But Jesus said we're going to face persecutions. We're going to have tough times. We're going to have people who betray us. We're going to have friends who turn away.

We're going to have people who we thought loved Christ the whole time and then when they turn away, we're going to say how the heck why would they turn away? We never thought that would have happened. We can't control what anybody else is doing, but we can control what we do. We can control the time we can control our family. We can control our friends and we can not control them, but we can share with them the good news share with them what what's going on.

We love you. Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and he said you only have to believe in him and you'll have eternal life. You can trust in this word. You can trust the Word of God. You can trust the Bible. You can trust Jesus ask him to show himself to you. He will show himself to you. Please start reading the Bible because what is happening in the book of Revelation is and the book in the New Testament.

It is playing out right before our eyes and it's exactly what said they said we're going to happen. We love you. We love you. We love you if not for God imagine having peace of mind in these turbulent times peace of mind may be the most valuable of all assets. Feeling secure in your financial future is worth its weight in gold and in emotion Liberty Bankers Insurance Group can help provide you with that most precious life-affirming sense of security. We work hard to create smart and innovative life health and financial plans that help ensure your family of not just the stability that you deserve but the future potential you desire to create a generational legacy of peace of mind Liberty Bankers Insurance Group for life. Not all products available in all states visit LBIG.com for additional terms and conditions. This is the Truth Network.