Responding to Our Opportunities - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, November 8th. Do you think more about what you can get in life or about what you can give? Revisit the story of the Good Samaritan to find help in responding to our opportunities. God's will and purpose for your life and mine is expressed through the opportunities that He gives us. Because it is His will, for example, that you are saved and so He provides you the opportunity to be saved. It may be His will to call you into some area of service so He gives you the opportunity.

He gives you the opportunity to go to school and get educated. So, on and on and on we go and there are many people today who, in this country, who would love this opportunity. If somebody said, I have a job for you, they'd love that opportunity. And sometimes we sort of think that opportunities are not all that significant. They are very significant because an opportunity is an occasion.

That is, it's an occasion, a time in our life when we are in a position to make a decision that has a very positive impact on our life. And that's why you and I need to be very discerning about being able to spot what is an opportunity and what is an obstruction in our life. So, what I want us to look at here is this.

Here's a perfect example of a choice we have. We can act like the priests and the Levite, the real religious people. And then this Samaritan who was hated by the man that was lying there.

They despised each other. And yet he stooped, banished Him up, took Him to an end and said, Look, if there's more than you can trust me, I'll pay you for it. Now, what I want us to note in this message is this. What is it that opportunities reveal about us? What does it reveal about the priest and the Levite? It reveals that they were selfish. They were self-centered. Their priorities were all mixed up. They weren't practicing what they were preaching.

And on and on we could go. But look at this Samaritan, it's a different story. And just what I want you to consider very seriously. What does it reveal about us? Our opportunities from God and the way we respond to those opportunities reveal who we are, what we are really like. And when I think about that and I think about how we respond, it reveals our courage or lack of courage to step into an opportunity when it's difficult.

And sometimes it is difficult. And I think about how we respond to that. And what I want you to consider is that God said, that is that Jew and he's about dead, so be it.

And besides that, if I were to stop, these robbers may come back and work on me. He didn't say any of that. With compassion, he saw an opportunity to express love to a person who was considered his enemy. He had the privilege of giving to someone who was considered his enemy. And I will say something, for example, I found this Jew who was born in Jerusalem, I found this Jew who was born in Jerusalem, I found this Jew who was born in Jerusalem, I found it to the innkeeper. I found this Jew who was dying.

And I want you to take care of him and I will pay. And if it takes any more, And so, when you see somebody who's not very religious, so to speak, and they're hurting, are you afraid of something somebody's going to say? Are you afraid of the courage to speak to that person about their relationship to Jesus and how He can help them and He is the Comforter, and He's the one who can comfort us in ways that no one else can? Do you have the courage to do that?

Are you afraid of something somebody's going to say or how they're going to respond? Well, they are not very religious. Well, you know what? They're not very religious. And so, when you see somebody who's not very religious, you know, they're afraid of something somebody's going to say or how they're going to respond. And so, when you see somebody who's the people of Jesus Christ who is the healer and the Comforter and the Savior and the encourager, there are opportunities all around you. And so, what happens is it reveals by my response whether I have the courage to do it or not.

And sometimes we just act like cowards. And so, I think about it this way, if I have the courage to do it or not, I'm going to be obedient to God and that's what matters. So, I think about it this way, if He provides an opportunity, He's going to enable me and He's going to enable you to meet that need, whatever it might be, or to step into that opportunity.

He's the Great Enabler, that's who the Holy Spirit is. He said, He'll be in you, with you, and upon you. And so, I think about it this way, if I have the courage to do it or not, I'm going to be obedient to God. And so, I think about it this way, if I have the courage to do it or not, I'm going to be obedient to God. And so, I think about it this way, if I have the courage to do it alone, it is by the power and the presence of the Spirit of God living within His children that enables us to help people, whatever it might be. And you know, people say, well, I don't, I just don't know very much about the Bible. And so, I think about it this way, if I have the courage to do it alone, I'm going to be obedient to God. And so, I think about it this way, if I have the courage to do it alone, I'm going to be obedient to God.

Because remember what He says in Luke, He says, the Holy Spirit will teach you in the same hour what you ought to say. So, you can't let opportunities go by because you're afraid, well, I may say the wrong thing. I've heard people say that all my life. You know what I say?

I say the wrong thing lots of times. And I've been a pastor for fifty-some years. Now, listen. I don't want to be afraid of God. I want to be your Savior. I want to be your Savior. But I just want to be a Savior. I want to be a Savior. I want to be your Savior. I want to be a Savior.

I want to make a mistake. Listen, I'd rather make a mistake in Savior life than to be too proud to make one. And what happens is we reveal something about ourselves. We reveal the fact that we believe that God will enable us. If I didn't think that I wouldn't be standing here, And Jesus said, He that is greatest among you will be a servant. A servant's spirit is going to step into an opportunity, whatever the opportunity might be. Because a servant's spirit, you and I live to serve the living God, at least that ought to be what our spirit is. We live to serve the living God. Serve Him how?

In whatever ways and whatever opportunities He gives us. So, if I step into the opportunity and do what He says, then I have revealed that I have a servant's spirit. If I refuse to do that, what does it reveal? Don't have compassion, don't have real love, don't have any real concern, just living my own life, doing my own thing.

The only thing I'm looking out for is me, myself, and I. And too many of God's people live that way, when we of all people should be exercising our spiritual gifts as a servant. Not as a controller, but as a servant.

And many people, here's what they're limited to. Tell me what my responsibilities are, but don't expect any more. That's not the way a believer thinks. It's not responsibility that motivates me, it's opportunities. That is, I can be responsible and act on the basis, well, that's my responsibility, therefore I'll do it. Or I can have a servant's spirit and do it because I love somebody, because I care.

If you begin to pray, Lord, make me sensitive to the opportunities that You give me, and give me the courage to step in where that opportunity is and to do what You've called me to do, I'll tell you what'll happen. You'll be happier. You'll have more peace. You'll have more sense of self-satisfaction. I don't mean it in the wrong way, but self-satisfaction.

Why? Because you're doing what? You're doing what He's called you to do. Give yourself away.

Don't keep yourself to yourself. Listen, He saved us, not just to save us, but He saved us in order to what? Save us in order to do what?

Save us in order to do what? He saved us through His will. He saved us through His will. He saved us through His will. He saved us through His will. He saved us through His will. He saved us through His will.

If He could do us, other people would be saved. Other people's lives would be changed. If I have a discerning spirit, if I have the ability to spot an opportunity, and today you don't have to look far, they're all around you. You'll go to work in the middle of them tomorrow. What we do is we reveal our priorities. What are our priorities?

Everybody's got them. Some people don't realize they have them, but whatever you put first is your priority. Now, the Levite and the priest said, my priority at this point is to get home. The Samaritan on his journey, probably in business, his priority was to help someone who is in need. He said, I'm going to help you, but I'm not going to help you. I'm going to help you. I'm going to help you.

I'm going to help you. Let me ask you this, is that your priority? Is your priority in life, at least one of them, to be sensitive to people who are hurting, and you want to help them no matter what?

Are you sensitive to people around you who deep down inside, listen, some of them feel empty, some of them feel caged in, some of them don't, and some of them don't, and some of them don't. And I want you to think about walking in the Spirit. You have the privilege, you have the spiritual gifts and the enabling of the Holy Spirit to help you, enable you to meet people's needs that you've never thought about before. And you can meet people's needs. You thought, well, I can't do that.

Yes, you can. But I want you to be able to help someone who's hurting, somebody who's not. Love Him with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. And then, don't forget your neighbor. Love your neighbor like you love yourself. When you're hurting, don't you want somebody to help you and to love you? When you feel rejected, don't you want somebody to show a little bit of acceptance? Don't you want somebody to encourage you to say, look, with Jesus, we can turn this world right back upside like it ought to be. When you're in financial need, don't you want somebody to offer you help without you having to ask for it? And when you need some encouragement about the fact that you haven't had a job in a whole year, don't you want some kind of help, don't you want somebody to give you a job? Don't you want somebody to give you a job, to give you an opportunity? Well, here's what Jesus is saying.

And He said it in a phrase that all of us know. We are to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. The opportunities are innumerable. Every single one of us has walked by opportunities, has failed to listen to opportunities. And when I think about people weeping deep down inside, brokenhearted, totally rejected, nowhere to go, nowhere to turn, one simple child of God can say the right thing in the right way and change their destiny.

You now live around and live among opportunities. And when I think about this Samaritan, he didn't go over and check him out to see, well, let's see, is he a fellow Samaritan? He didn't do any of that. There was a need, and in His servant's spirit and His love and compassion, He took the opportunity. Forget about His journey for the time, because you see, it took time to bandage Him up. Took time to take Him to the end. Took time to negotiate with this guy about how much it was going to cost and so forth. Took time for Him to say, I'm going to come back through here, and when I do, whatever it costs, I will repay it. He saw it as an opportunity. The religious guys saw it as an obstruction to their plans.

Last thing I would say, here's this. It really reveals whether I'm going to operate out of fear or out of faith. That is, when an opportunity comes, sometimes it may be dangerous. Sometimes it may be very difficult. Sometimes it may be dangerous. Sometimes it may be dangerous.

Am I going to operate out of fear or out of faith? The Samaritan operated out of faith. He could have said, I could get robbed doing this. But he saw an opportunity. And an opportunity is a God-given occasion in which he helps somebody, encourage somebody, give to somebody. That is, to make an impact in somebody else's life, whoever it might be.

So, I wouldn't say you should go start counting how many opportunities that you've missed. I'd rather begin to think about, Lord, today. When I walk out of here, God, I want You to enable me, beginning at the end of this service, enable me to start recognizing the opportunities around me. Give me the discernment to be able to identify them, and encourage God to step into them every time. Stop being a coward.

Stop being self-centered. I cannot say, I love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Serve Him all the days of my life and ignore my neighbor.

Can't do it. You see, that's the Spirit that changes people, families, nations. Why do you think Holy God wrapped up everything He wanted to say in just those two things? Love me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

That means totally. And then, while you're loving me, love your neighbor. Oh, think about this.

Only God could have come up with the idea of putting the whole gospel and the whole message into those two things. Because if I obey the first part, I can obey the second part. And if I obey the second part, I can obey the second part. And the absence of my obedience to being that good neighbor is evidence that something is not right in the first part.

That'll give us something to think about, right? I don't know whether you're saved or not, but I can tell you this, you have the opportunity right now. You can call it anything you want to, but it's disobedience and rebellion toward God. If you die in that state, you will be eternally separated from God no matter what somebody tells you, because that is the Word of God. If you're willing to confess that you're a sinner, and you're willing to acknowledge that Jesus Christ's death at the cross paid your sin debt in full, and that you have the opportunity of being forgiven of all your sin no matter what, and that you have the opportunity to have the gift of eternal life which you can never lose. If you're willing to trust Him as your Savior, asking Him for that forgiveness and accepting by faith Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, if you will take the opportunity that is presented to you at this very moment, it will radically change your life.

You'll begin to live a life that you never knew existed. And when you come to face death, you can face it with confidence that the Christ who rose from the dead and promised your resurrection, the Bible says, absent from the body, present with the Lord. We skip. Listen, we skip being separated from God. We skip being separated from God. We skip being separated from God. We skip being separated from God. We skip being separated from God. Absent from the body, present with the Lord, you have an opportunity for God to change your life right now.

And if you would ask Him to do it and believe Him on the basis of what He says, you will never be the same. We are not the same. And we are the same in our lives. We are the same in our lives. We are the same in our lives. And we are the same in our lives.

And we are the same in our consequences. And Father, how grateful we are that You don't just seclude us after You save us, but You toss us as it were in the midst of this world that so desperately needs You. We thank You for the opportunities that lie ahead of us in the day, knowing that You will equip us to face every single one of them with confidence and assurance and with a positive impact.

In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to part two of Responding to Our Opportunities. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.