Ooh, ooh, ooh Ooh, la da da da da da da da da Hallelujah God ruler of the universe, you are. There is no No one like you, God giver of the deepest dreams you are. There is no one like Kingdom. God thinker of tremendous thoughts you are Thinking for God. Royal, holy, true you are.
And there is no one like you. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Welcome to Love Never Fails. Yeah. In these last days, revival will come, but begins with our individual walk and personal relationship with Jesus.
Let's join Brother John now. Angel spoke.
Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is Brother John. We're so glad you're listening to Love Never Fails.
So we're going to pick up off of our last episode, The Challenge of Missions. And there's actually a good book by Oswald J. Smith. Oswald Chambers. Oswald J.
Smith. Jay Smith. That you should, if you can, Oswald J. Smith, if you can get a hold of that book, you should read it. But you're listening to Love Never Fails.
This is Brother John, and I've got with me Brother James still. And just want to remind you that no matter where you are in the world, if you want, you can log on to YouTube and go to the Love Never Fails channel and listen to our podcast there.
So, in our last episode, we kind of just ran with it to see where it would go. We didn't have a title for it. And then we just kind of started talking about missions. And James and I both were mentored in a church that was very strong on missions. They were into establishing Bible schools and planting churches.
And out of those Bible schools, raising up pastors who would then plant churches and duplicate it elsewhere. And the neat thing is that James and I have been a part of a part of that. And we've also seen it in our own ministries. And, you know, after 20-some years of doing this, it's kind of neat to see some of the fruit that has been produced over the years from the work overseas. And that's one of the most rewarding things of doing missions.
Is uh When you go back or here, or you run into somebody, or somebody tells you, Oh, hey, Brother John, I heard about you here, I heard about you there. I mean, I know of a couple that I'm thinking of that Mark and his wife, I know that they go to the same place, one of the same areas we go, and uh. They preach the gospel over there. And there aren't many other missionaries that go to that part of the world. I'll tell you this: the nationals there don't want a lot of missionaries there.
No. To keep them out of trouble. And, you know, the thing is, you can't even listen to this radio program there except on the internet because there are no radio stations in that part of the world. No, you know, the cars all have radios, but there's nothing to listen to. No.
So here in America, we have how many different options of radio? It's unbelievable how many we have. Yeah. So and and so one of the things we finished with on our last episode was about Um Boy, we're both sitting there looking at each other like, what was it? Because we got into so much.
But one of the things we were talking about towards the end there is just really about having wisdom. It's not just that you're called to a nation. We've seen people who knew that they were called to go. To missions. And then they would arrive in a country and go, Oh, God's called me this country.
And they're telling everybody in print and on paper, I'm supposed to be here. And then they get themselves kicked out because they don't exercise wisdom. Or they show up acting like an American instead of blending in with the culture. Which can be dangerous both for you as a missionary and for the people you're ministering to. Go ahead, James.
I know you. You know, we've talked about some of the dangers, and it's we're not trying to scare you or anything. Go where you're supposed to go, do what you're supposed to do. Apply wisdom. Right.
Spend some time in prayer. We are created in God's image. God created the world by speaking. God said, let there be light. We create our world by speaking.
And a lot of times you go into prayer, and sometimes I'm in prayer, and I find myself speaking out things that I wouldn't normally speak out. But what we're doing is we're charting our course for our future. and pray it out. Pray it out, walk it out. Pray it out, walk it out.
And to have the prayer out in front of us. It makes it so much easier. You're going along and you hit a wall. And it's like, uh-oh, I better start praying. Or You can pray it out, make some course adjustments, and when you hit that wall, you're not just hitting a wall, but there's a door there, and you just step right through.
Um Go where you're supposed to go. I was in a school one time And I told war stories, kind of like we're doing now. And the guy came to me afterwards and said, thank you. He said, I've been to a Barbles Cooper. I've been to a Bible school, and all they taught was victory, victory, victory.
And then he said, I got on the mission field and I started getting slapped around. Oh, yeah, yeah. And You know It is victory. We do walk in victory, but we still have to fight the good fight of faith. That's right.
We still have to walk it out. Paul, no, I've been fortunate. I've not been whipped. I've not been shipwrecked. I've not been stoned.
You know, look what happened to Paul. Yeah. And you walk it out, you use wisdom. Listen to what we're saying, listen to what we're sharing with you, and learn to follow. That peace down inside your spirit.
I had that open after we shared it a little while ago. I'm going to read it from Amplified Bible. And let the peace, soul harmony which comes from Christ rule, act as an umpire continually. in your hearts, deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds. In that peaceful state to which, as a member of Christ's one body, you are also called to live and be thankful, appreciative, giving praise to God always.
We let that peace rule and reign. We let that peace, and there's a finality there. When that umpire says out, that base runner's, he's out, he's gone. You leave. There's times when I'm trying to make a decision.
And I'm like, is that me? Right or is that the Holy Spirit leading me? Yeah. And in Hebrews it says, the word of God is quick and sharp. Sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing asunder between soul and spirit.
Yes. And there's times I will sit down and read my Bible and I will sit there, okay? Lord, I'm reading this for the specific purpose of dividing asunder between my soul and spirit. I want to know: is this leading you or is this leading me? Because my desire is so strong to go and do things, right?
But yet there's something scratching. Yeah. And It's right, but there's something scratching, so I sit down and I read for the specific purpose of dividing asunder between soul and spirit. There's times I've had answers in 30 minutes, and there's times I've not had an answer in 30 days. It took two months.
But I read for that purpose. Two things that you've said that I want to touch on is, and it was so good, is you said praying it out. I heard somebody share this illustration, and man, it's just so good that prayer. is like The railroad Crew laying down the tracks in front of you. And by praying, You're praying out things in the future that by praying, you're laying the tracks down, you're driving the nails in, and your train, your course is set because you've prayed it out.
Then, when you come to a stop, when you come to a destination, you go, I've been here before. It's almost an experience because you prayed it out. And there's many, many times that I've done that, I go, Oh, I prayed this out. And then there's been many times. I would pray something out and I would not I couldn't put my finger on it.
But a week later, I'd be there going, there it is. And oftentimes, we. I share this all the time. You and I experience this. last year in in the fall.
And I have told everybody, I said, do this. And it was for us in the business, it was about ordering materials. And one person said, but we don't have. The team, the labor, you're ordering materials. I said, not order the materials.
Everybody else ordered the materials except for this one guy.
So then, bam, we were stepping out of the boat in faith. When we got ready to roll, because we had the right team in place now, he was left behind to a degree and still hasn't caught up with everybody else. No, has not. Because he didn't want to step out in faith. And so we have to, one, be obedient.
And when we step out Sometimes I heard somebody say like this, and this really applies more to what we're talking about. If you believe God has called you to missions. The first thing you should do is go get a passport. Get your passport. If you don't have a passport, you're not in faith.
Get a passport and get the visa to the nation you felt you're supposed to go to. Then what happens oftentimes is people go, Well, I haven't heard from God. I haven't, well, do you even have a passport?
Well, no.
Well, how on earth do you think you're gonna get the next step? Step two if you haven't taken it. Step one. That's right. If you're gonna go anywhere, the first thing you gotta have, I remember somebody saying, Get your passport, buy a suitcase, fill it with toilet paper.
Those are the three necessities for missions.
So if you've got those three, you're ready to go. There's some stories there. I, you know, one of the things I do when I pack for missions, everything goes in a Ziploc bag. Oh, yes. Every roll of toilet paper, every roll of everything, everything goes in the Ziploc bags.
The other thing you said. And I love it, it's so good. Is we're following peace, the peace that surpasses understanding. When we step into what we're supposed to do, going where we're supposed to go, even if it's short term. God's there.
He's going to protect us. He's going to encircle about us and camp about us. That's a whole nother teaching. But. We still follow the leading.
Of the Holy Spirit. We're being led by the Holy Spirit. And oftentimes, I used to struggle with this. I'd say, I want to hear from God, I want to hear from God, and I wouldn't hear. But I knew I was supposed to go, so I just go.
Then I get there, bam, I'd get in the news here. And people have said to me, Well, what if I don't hear? And then I asked him, I said, evaluate the situation. If it's dangerous and you know it's dangerous, I would probably not do it. But oftentimes in my life, I have learned That It's like the Holy Spirit has just said, you know what, John?
It's your choice. Yes. What do you want to do? You can go this way, you can go that way. Which one do you want to do?
It's not like you're going to, you know, so many people get so scared of missing God, they don't do anything. They don't do anything. It's like the guy who has all the talent in the world to be a great pitcher, but he won't get on the mound because he doesn't want to hit somebody. You're going to hit somebody. Yeah, you're going to hit people.
It's part of the game. If you've got a pulse in your veins, you are going to make mistakes. That's right. As long as we're breathing, we're going to make a bunch of people. You're going to make mistakes.
But you get out of the boat, you walk it out, you go do it. Yeah. Uh The path of the just Grows brighter and brighter, even as under the noonday sun. Yes. You take a step, it becomes more plain.
You take a step, it becomes more plain. You take a step, it becomes more plain. It unfolds. Yes. It rolls out in front of you as you walk it out.
If you don't... If God showed you everything you're supposed to do, Before you do it, you'd get scared and never start. That's right. Yeah. Or, and a lot of people want to be there in an instant, not realizing that it's a walk.
It's a process. And step by step by step. And your position is never going to change if you don't move.
So therefore, what you're always looking at is exactly the same unless you move. You don't know what's on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death unless you walk through it. But the thing is, why are you even worried about the shadow? Because there can only be a shadow if there's a light. Where's the light?
It's in you. There you go. You're the one who's casting the shadow because you are the light of the world. When we go out, it's the candle. The Bible says, Psalm says, for the spirit or the soul of the man is the candle of the Lord.
We're the ones who are giving off the light, causing the shadow to be there. The valley of the shadow of death is not about the valley of the shadow of death. It's about you giving off light in the valley. In the valley. And most people don't understand that because they're too concerned.
About what the shadow is. I can care less what the shadow is. It doesn't matter. That's right. I want to get through the valley to see what's on the other side of that ridge.
I want to get to the top of the mountain so I can see what I couldn't see before. But too many people. Whether it be from bad teaching or bad experience or just they don't have an understanding yet, they're ignorant only in that they haven't arrived at that place to know better. Don't understand.
Well said. You know, because not everybody that's sitting on the bench. Is there by choice. We know that. Not everybody that's sitting on the bench is sitting on the bench because they're bad at what they do.
Sometimes there's a bad leader in front of them.
Sometimes there's a bad coach who doesn't like them. And you have to still be. obedient to what God has told you to do. And if you have to ride the bench, Until he makes a way to put you in the game, at least you're being obedient to him. You're looking something up.
I am looking something up. Psalms chapter one. Um and I go to uh You've got to take this with a grain of salt. I opened.
Some Hebrew commentaries.
Now, the Hebrew commentaries are still looking forward to Jesus. That's right. We look back to Jesus.
So you've got to be careful when you. Read these. Right. But this one in particular. Psalms 1.1, blessed, and I'm reading from the Amplified Bible, blessed, happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly, following their advice, their plans, purposes, nor stands submissive and inactive in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down to relax and rest where the scornful and the mockers gather.
But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord. And on his law, the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God, he habitually meditates, ponders, and studies by day and by night. And she he shall be like a tree planted. firmly planted and tended by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season, its leaf also shall not fade or wither, and everything he does shall prosper and come to maturity. Part of sitting on the bench, part of coming in behind someone else is learning.
Now, the Hebrew commentary that I mentioned a little while ago: this man, he moves and sits under this one teacher and gleans and gets what he can. But we're human, we're going to make mistakes. We can't teach you everything.
So there's going to be some others that come in. We can't show you everything. You pick up and you glean here what you're supposed to glean. And then this man goes and sits under another teacher and gleans and learns what that teacher has to do. Brother John went out with this missionary that does crusades, learned how to do crusades, but at the same time, Brother John brought his supply and helped him develop leaders.
Right. Then he sat under another man, and the one he calls his mentor. And he gleans what that man has, and you still have a relationship with that man, you still call him and talk to him. I went on my first, actually, my second trip with this elderly gentleman and I gleaned what he had.
Now we. Went riding in these open vehicles where we were exposed. One of his things, and probably what he imparted to me, was. The blending in part. He didn't want to take a car because he didn't want to stand out when we pulled up to the to the venue where we're having the meetings.
But you learn what you can from this individual and you and you glean that. As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens countenance of his friend. When we spend time under certain teachers, There's going to be a sharpening that takes place. And you know, The sharpening. Um There's a grinding when you sharpen a knife.
So if you're sitting under somebody and it's not real comfortable. You're probably supposed to be there. Because there's a sharpening taking place. There's a honing, and you're becoming sharper for the path that you have down in front of you. After you've said unto this teacher, after you've said unto that teacher, after you said unto that teacher, then you're like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water.
You bring forth your fruit in your season. Your leaf does not fade or wither, and everything we do prospers and comes to maturity. Just because we're a tree-planted doesn't mean the fight stops. That's right. We still fight, we still grow.
We're dealing with a storm here and Ah, you know, Joplin, Missouri is probably better example. We drove into Joplin after an F5 tornado went through there. And I saw trees Two feet in diameter snapped off. Yeah. I saw limbs a foot in diameter snapped off.
Yeah. And Storms are gonna come. We're going to have fights. We're going to have challenges.
Now we went back through Joplin. Weeks and months down the road, and these trees were starting to shoot off new limbs. Right, right. And this tree was planted. Yeah.
And yeah, there was a storm that came. Yeah, there was some damage that came to it, but it didn't kill the tree. Right. You're gonna have fights. You're gonna have battles.
The nice thing is we win. That's right. You know, Jesus, Paul said, Timothy, fight the good fight of faith. Right. What fight do we win?
What's a good fight? The one we lost. The one we win. If we're the winners, if it's a good fight, we're the winners.
So you just keep fighting. It's a fixed fight. God's already gone before us. In Him, He's our shield. He's our refuge.
He's our fortress. We just go out and do it. In Corinthians, now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus. And Ha ha ha ha. I I love that because we do try him.
And One of the short circuits that I see is the end times.
Now a lot of people go, what? What?
Well. Here's my issue. With The end times. We live in the end times. We're in the last days.
We know that I can prove it from scripture. I could, I could, I've studied it out. I understand the Hebrew calendar. I understand all of this. I could sit here for the next.
However, I'd have to do some refreshing, but I could do a month's worth of shows concerning the end times. But I boil it down to this. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I don't care how dark it gets, how deathly it feels, or what shadows are being cast. I shall fear no evil. No evil.
We in the Western world have so. May the Antichrist. into this grandoise or grandiose figure. And the church is the one that's done it. Because we spend so much time glorifying the Antichrist by teaching about everything he's going to do instead of teaching about.
Those who are Walking through it and rescued God. And so you look at Revelation chapter 4, it says, surrounded in this darkness. And these demons come out of the pit, and they torture everyone, and people are begging to die. If you read Revelation chapter 9, the first 10 verses, you go, oh my gosh, that's horrible. But right there in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death, of Revelation chapter 9, is verse 4.
And it says, but they're commanded to touch not those of the Holy Spirit. You know, we read about, we think about Noah. Everybody goes, oh, but in the days of Noah. Yes, I love that. Noah was safe.
Noah was safe. Noah was being led by the Spirit. Noah was obedient. Noah was obedient. Noah's family was saved.
I don't care about all the valley, the shadow, death stuff. Why? Because I know God and I know that his stamp is on me.
So therefore, it doesn't matter what comes against me. It's like Egypt and Goshen. Yes. The place came on Egypt, and Goshen was safe. We walk that path, and the blessings overtake us.
That's right. It doesn't matter what's going on around us. What matters is following that peace down inside and moving, doing what we're supposed to do. If you're listening to this show and you're one of these people that you've been encouraged to. Be fearful about the Antichrist.
Let me give you just a little bit of good news, and you need to search this out on your own. We win. There's a scripture, yeah, we win, but there's also a scripture that says, because people will teach that he's going to control the whole world, that there's one world government, all that. But wait a second, if that's all true, then why is there a scripture that says that the Antichrist is made nervous by ships approaching from the west? That must mean that there are armies and navies that are not succumbed to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, I mean, of the Antichrist.
So it's not that he controls the whole world, and we studied this out in our Bible school. He controls regions of the world, he controls a part of the world, but not the whole world. Not the whole world. Will there be influence? Will the whole world get dark?
Yes, the whole world is going to. Rise up in darkness, you can say, but that's also when our light shines the brightest. That's the whole purpose of Isaiah 58 through 60. And so, if you're called to go to missions, you're called to go to these countries and preach the gospel to people. Go.
Go. Don't be worried. Don't be scared. One of the things you said right there in Psalms, and I just realized it for the first time, and I'm going to have to study it out. This is where iron sharpens iron.
As you're reading this, you said, and he shall be a tree planted by the rivers.
Okay. Yours says streams. Mine says mine says rivers. Why, and I'm going to look this up. Why is it plural?
I know why it's plural. Because if you go look, because if you study out trees in the Word of God, what you find out is that He's referring to men. Oh, yeah. He's referring to men. But Ezekiel chapter 47 talks about two rivers that come out from and they come together to form one river.
What are those two rivers?
Well, we could sit here and argue, but they're the word and the spirit. The word and the spirit. And so when we go out and we live in the word and the spirit, we're meditating, like it says right there, day and night. We make our delight, the word and the spirit, the law of the Lord.
So we could do that. And you hear me say this all the time. You listen to this radio show, you know this all the time. Walking in love, being led by the spirit. Walking in love, being led by the spirit.
You walk in love, you're going to be led by the spirit. That's right. And here's, and Jesus said, if you worship in spirit and truth.
So what is the spirit? That's being led by the spirit, the Holy Spirit. And what is the truth? The word, walking in love. And so when you really begin to study those two out, you go, wait a second.
If I'll be led by the spirit and I'll walk in love, which is really just obeying his command. And we get into depth in this all the time on this show, you will be like a tree planted by those two rivers. Why? Because your roots go deep. deep into the Spirit and into the Word.
Drove by a tree. The other day The tree was knocked over from this storm that went through. The root system, this tree literally fell over ninety degrees. Right. and the root system is standing 90 degrees to the ground, perpendicular to the ground.
It was twelve to fifteen feet tall. Yeah. You know, the root system goes deep. Yeah. And the root system is going to keep us grounded.
And one of the things I do And I did this for many years, did this for about eight or ten years. And I got away from it. And last year, the Lord told me to. and get back into it. Yeah.
Um Man named Charles Capps. went home to be with the Lord, he talked about the Ten Club. Mm-hmm. Um two chapters of the Old Testament. Five Psalms, one Proverb, and two chapters of the New Testament.
And I read this every day. I've just about eight months ago, I started doing it again. That brings you through the Old Testament about once a year. Right. We need to be familiar.
with the old covenant. Psalms And that'll bring us through Psalms about once a month, basically how to praise God. Right. Proverbs, it brings us through there about once a month. That's God's wisdom.
Right. It brings us through the New Testament about four times a year. That is the covenant we live under. And As we're feeding on the word, the roots are sinking down. Yeah.
We're becoming stable. We're becoming firmly planted. Right. John, Jesus talked about I am the vine and you are the branch. God's the trunk.
And when we choose to position ourselves To be tapped into the word and tapped into the spirit. The same sap that flowed through Jesus, flows through God, flows through us. What is that? That's love. Yes.
And what it says is: then we are the branches, the fruit and the leaves only grow on the branches.
Well, Ezekiel tells us that their leaves will be for healing and their fruit for life. And so when people come, you see, the fruit of the Spirit is not nine different things, it is love, made up of components of those nine different things. Different facets.
So when people come to you and they pick the fruit, the love of your life, and her leaves which bring healing. That when people come to you, they're going to notice love and healing. They're going to notice this about you, and they're going to want to eat of that fruit. And you don't have to shout and yell and teach everybody that I'm the great apostle, this, I'm the great this, because they're going to notice you're different. And I say this all the time on the show: most of the media and the dark world mocks us simply because, as Christians, we have refused to become what we were called to become.
We refuse to fulfill the position that God and that is love. We are created to become and be loved, and people don't want to do that. It's too easy. We could really go off on a tangent here. the the the inner conflict The love that is shed abroad in our hearts wants to come out.
And That is the Holy Spirit. He's the spirit of love. Right. Now reading the Bible.
However much you're supposed to read it. Me, right now, I know it's 10 chapters a day. Right. And sometimes there's more, but there's never less. I'm renewing my mind.
Right. I'm getting my mind. channel going right.
So when I have a leading, a prompting from the Holy Spirit, it's going to be in agreement. Right. And it's going to be in love. One of the things I check when I'm being led is, Is this drawing attention to me? I'm not going to do it.
Or is this drawing attention to Jesus? And if it's drawing attention to me, I'm not going to do it. If it's drawing attention to Jesus. I'm going to do it all day long. Right.
There's going to be times people are praising you. You've got to be very careful. to give God the glory. Whenever you know this this one nation we both like to go to. Yeah.
Um They place a high value on a teacher. Yeah. There there's The teacher brings the people to God. And then they come back and they actually elevate the teacher above God.
So you've got to be careful there.
So They come and they praise me and they thank me. But I'm always careful. I say, yes, but it's not me, it's God. I always give him the glory. I don't want to touch it.
I don't want anything to do with it. It's all about him. I'm here because. I know somebody, but if it wasn't for the grace of God, that's where I would be. My life would be a disaster.
Right. So, when I'm standing in front of whether it's a small church or a large crusade or whatever it is. It's not me. I just try to get out of the way. Yeah, yeah.
I'm desperate in those situations. That God will move and do his thing. And. Ah. Probably too much so.
But I'd rather be that way than to be the other way. And and uh. With the glory hound or the ego hound or the look at me guy. You know what I mean? And I tend to be a reluctant leader sometimes.
When I shouldn't be. Yes. You know?
So, well, listening, folks, you've been listening to Love Never Fails and. We hope that you're getting some good stuff out of this. And just keep listening. We're going to bring up some more stuff, and we'll probably do another episode on this. But for now, remember, Jesus loves people.
And love never fails. Thank you for listening to Love Never Fails as we pursue revival. Remember, Jesus loves people and love never fails. For more information on Love Never Fails and ministry events, please email us at love neverfails with brojohn at gmail.com. That's love never fails with B-R-O-J-O-H-N at gmail.com.
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