Today on real life radio. God, why didn't you take control of that? You know what? The Lord wants us to bring every thought under the captivity of Jesus Christ. Yeah, we're kicking around in this world.
And we're living for God, but this old carcass sometimes raises its ugly head or throws out an evil thought. But the Bible says that God even knows our thoughts afar off, He knows everything about us. This is real life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible.
Friends, knowing and learning and having a biblical worldview matters. In fact, if God is going to send any form of an awakening among the lost, it's going to come from the believers who understand the responsibility that's before them. That's why on the campuses of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, there's going to be the Pray Vote Stand Summit hosted by Tony Perkins and a lineup of great speakers. There's a spiritual side of what is happening. If you aren't located in Southern California, don't worry, you don't have to miss a moment.
The Pray Vote Stand Summit will be streamed live on Real Life Network. Join us online for uncompromising biblical teaching, timely messages on today's political issues, and practical steps to strengthen your faith, family, and community. What's really at stake here is the spiritual foundation of the country. You can get all the information. Just go to reallife network.com forward slash.
PVS Pre-Vote Stand Summit October 17th and 18th. On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack continues his series called First Samuel. with a message titled, The Will of God in Your Life, Part 2. Samuel of the Old Testament was the last judge of Israel and the first of its prophets.
So as we continue in chapter 9, we'll see how God's plan for Saul as Israel's king was revealed through an unexpected journey that leads Saul to Samuel. You see, Israel cried out to Samuel for God to give them a king. Samuel prayed and God relented, but God still kept control of the specific plan that He had for his people. God's will can come to pass even in this imperfect world and in spite of our imperfect thoughts and desires.
So today Pastor Jack teaches that even when things come against us, God is still there to lead us and guide us. God is so involved in our lives that he will use others to help provide what we need.
Now with his message called The Will of God in Your Life, Part 2. Here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. And so, in our study, we've been looking at the will of God in your life in 1 Samuel chapters 9 and 10. And as we look, just by way of recap, I'm going to introduce in a moment a little bit of a. An added boost, I think, to God's will being done in your life.
But we need to remember something as we're looking and forget. 1 Samuel chapter 9, we read there and we studied together last time that God was at work in the nation of Israel. They had been asking for Samuel to talk to God about making them a king like all the other nations of the earth. Had. Remember that?
They said, Hey, Samuel, you're old, and your sons are a bunch of nincum poops. They don't follow God, they don't follow you. We don't want. To have this invisible God watching over us that we can't touch or feel and see. We want to have a king like all the other nations of the earth.
We want to be just like all the other. countries of the world. And that's a wrong thing. to ask for if you're the nation Israel. Frankly, I think it's a wrong thing to ask for if you're the United States of America.
I would hope and pray that the President of the United States is a man who seeks the face of God, and if he's not, may we pray that he does. One nation, we say, under God? Indivisible? With liberty and justice for all. Liberty and justice only if God is the Lord of America.
God has a will for America. He's got a will for Israel, of course. He's got a will for the world. He's got a will for this church. God's got a will for your life.
God, and I love it, and I love to say it as both owner and operator. You ever seen those big rigs going down the highway? And it says, like, you know, Jim Smith, owner-operator, and you see him up there. Don't you want to be up there someday? Way up there.
I mean, I'd love to be up there in the big eighteen wheel air truck. Yeah. And the you know it's just It's a guy thing maybe, I don't know. Rub some grease on you and roll your sleeves up, you know. Br the horn.
It'd be so cool. And then it says, you know Jim Smith owner operator.
Well, you know what? In the life of every Christian, it should be written like those little. You know Keddy Ruckspin dolls. No you know, owner, operator, God. It should be stamped into our feet.
Owner, operator, God in the life of the believer. Because God has a will for us. He wants to exercise that will in our lives. And we learned of Saul's qualifications, remember, for becoming the king? If Israel is asking for a leader like all the nations of the world, well, what do the nations of the world look for in attributes of leaders?
Good looking? Remember? that is tall, looking very corporate. You know what I mean? Have you ever seen corporate leaders when you look at Saul and 1 Samuel chapter 9, the people.
Want a king, and so God says, Well, give them what they want, Samuel. They haven't rejected you. Sam, they've rejected me.
So, give them a king. Here's the guy that they need. They're looking for this kind of a guy. Here's the guy. And so, what did the Bible say about Saul?
He was head and shoulders above everybody else. He was super handsome. And by the way, his father, Kish, was a very wealthy man. He was a rich kid. He had servants.
He was the exact opposite of Samuel's entrance into the world, huh? He had looks, he had height, he had bucks. He was tall, dark, and handsome. And this is what the world wants. Oh, that's a leader.
It's amazing. But you know, that's what The whole thing is about. And we saw how the Bible said there last time that there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel. He was a mighty man of power. That means he's a mighty man of influence and Financial wealth, and he had a choice son.
Choice, girls, he was choice. He was a hottie. Handsome, it says. Whose name was Saul, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. That's good looking.
From his shoulders upward, he was taller than all of the people. Wow. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, back in chapter 8, verse 5, it said, Look, Samuel, you're old, they said, and your sons do not walk in your ways. We want to have a king like all the other nations. And in verse 19 and 20 of that same eighth chapter of Samuel, they said, We want to have a king like all the other nations.
Their cry for a king God heard and God prepared. And so last time together, we saw in verse 3 regarding the will of God in your life, that God has ordained a specific plan for your life. God does, and God has planned a specific Execution of His will on your life. Remember how we looked at it last time, how strange it was that God was bringing about a king for Israel. He was going to exercise his will in Saul's life, though.
God Wanted to be the king of Israel. The people had rejected him as king, so God prepares Saul. He's using Samuel, and all these things are coming together. But do you remember how God got the whole thing moving? God used the donkeys.
Remember the donkeys? The donkeys got lost. Saul's donkeys got lost.
So Saul's looking for the donkeys. He's out there wandering around, and God is behind the whole scene. And when God has got a specific ordained plan, we talked about how we need to see that plan. Even in the midst of donkeys being lost, God was working. You may say, well, how stupid of a thing is that?
Well, how stupid are the things that go on in our life? I don't believe this. What a good thing can come out of this. God's in it. God's in it.
If you can't explain it, I bet you God's in it. He's working. It's so common. The guy lost his donkey.
So Saul's looking for his donkeys. That's a common thing, I guess, if you own a lot of donkeys. He's lost them. He's looking for them. While he's looking for the donkeys, God's perfect plan is being worked out.
And he's just looking for these things, and he winds up bumping into Samuel. He winds up that same day. Be an anointed king of Israel. Looking for donkeys? That's how it happened.
In this particular case with King Saul, It's amazing. We need to be open to God's specific plan. We talked about that. We need to know that God is always in charge of everything. In Psalm 139, verse 2, the Bible says, God, you know when I sit down and when I rise up, and you perceive all of my thoughts.
Listen, all of my thoughts from afar off. That means God knows the thoughts that we have before they ever arrive in our head. Say, man, if God knows that, why doesn't He stop some of those thoughts from arriving in our head? It's amazing. Isn't it weird how you can even be in church and have a wicked thought?
You ever had that happen? Fiosa? Two of you? You guys, ushers, seize these people. Isn't it weird?
You could be sitting there and it's just, you know, praise the Lord, hallelujah, and you have this filthy thought.
So it's like, damn. Who was that? And then you start thinking. Am I even a Christian? Or my cell phone's ringing.
I mean, how terrible is that? It's a soup, you know. As she throws it to somebody else. It's not mine. But this thought comes in your head, and you're wondering, can I even be saved?
And that's the old man. He's still, you know, you got to crucify that guy daily. The old flesh. The old thoughts, but man, you can have these bizarre things. God, why didn't you take a trip?
Control of that. You know what? The Lord wants us to bring every thought under the captivity of Jesus Christ. Yeah, we're kicking around in this world. And we're living for God, but this old carcass sometimes raises its ugly head or throws out an evil thought.
But the Bible says that God even knows our thoughts afar off. He knows everything about us. He knows what's the very best for us. He knows what we need next. You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs.
You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And for now, let's get back to our teaching. Once again, here's Pastor Jack. We saw last time that we need to embrace the things of God.
Very important. We saw in verses 4 through 6 of chapter 9 that God is not only ordaining the specific plan for our lives, but God is performing that specific plan for our lives. It says in verse 4, so we passed through the mountains of Ephraim and through the land of those places there and did not find them. Being frustrated. It's his servant that says, hey, there's a man of God who lives nearby.
Let's go consult him. And so Saul complies. God is working even in the situations that make no sense to us. Going from place to place, thing to thing. Maybe you're looking for job from job from job.
And it just doesn't make sense. But you've consulted God, my friend. I want to encourage you, keep looking. I think if you're looking for a For a 40-hour a week job, I think until you find it, you should be looking for a job 40 hours a week. Pray and go look.
Well, Jack, I've been praying for months and I haven't found a job yet. Have you gotten out of bed? Pray and look for a job. I was thinking God would bring one to me. No, pray and go look for a job.
God will open the door. He is performing his. specific will and plan for your life. And then thirdly. And this is where we left off last time.
Thirdly, verses 15 to 20. God will be controlling The specific plan for your life. Listen, He has ordained for you, He has ordained for you. A plan, a a life, a life. Description that you should live in.
Each of us individually, it's amazing. Secondly, he's going to do everything to bring that to pass in your life.
Now you got to be open. But he'll bring it to pass. He's ordained it, he's performing it, and then verses 15 to 20: God is controlling. The environment, the situation, I believe, the very people around you to bring to pass his exact plan in your life. And before I go too far into this, just let me say this.
That I believe That every person I have met in my life Or any person that has anything to do. Regarding my life, I believe God was in that. Can't uh can I explain it? No. Wouldn't even try.
Couldn't if I could. But I believe that He is so involved in our lives that in eternity we will then begin to see and believe how. He was involved. And I think that when we think he's least involved? I think he's the most involved.
I really do. I believe that when we, for example, feel so distant from God, I think he's the nearest. Why do I believe that? Because, of course, he'll never leave us or forsake us. But I notice that, for example, in my children's life, if they think that I'm not near or they're feeling insecure, or I think because I was once a child that what I'm about to expose my child to may cause them fear or may cause them concern or chagrin, I want to make sure that I reassure them.
And put my arm around them and say, it's going to be okay. You know, this happened to me, you know, and it's only going to take a moment. They're going to give you a shot. You're going to feel better. You know, they don't know.
You got to reassure them. Just when everything seems like it's against you, I think God is there. Bigger than ever. And I think that God is always trying to wean us from dependence upon our emotions, because our emotions often tell us God is not in that. Our emotions say, God's not here.
God's not in that thing. And God says, You know, I am in this thing, I am here, and I'm going to show you, I'm going to put my arm around you. I'm going to remind you of my promises, and we're going to make it through this thing. And I'm going to bring your life to a wonderful, wonderful, fulfilling place. Conclusion, and along the way, I am going to bless your life.
I am going to lead you and guide you. As believers, the greatest thing that we can do is embrace His will. for our lives. Maybe as we just conclude the evening, it's time to pray, perhaps, that in your life. in my life.
There's decisions that we have to make that lie ahead of us. Maybe you're in the midst of them right now. You need to know, God, what is your will for my life? Where will it lead me? You've got the charts, the plans, the colored.
Scheme laid out and you've maybe talk to friends they've told you Which decision y'ought to go and make? But you just have to know God's will instead. You won't be happy until you know His will. That's a God thing. That's a good thing.
And I want to encourage you. We need to do that thing, that will of God. and that is obeying his word. When God says to do this or to do that, We just need to say, Lord. And this is the great thing about God.
Even if we're not willing to do it, this is the amazing thing about Him. Lord, I know I should be w doing this thing. I don't want to do it. But God If you can hear me. Make me want to do your will.
or make me want to do that thing.
Now everybody can pray that prayer and he will do that. What is it? Is it your marriage? Is it your kids? Is it a job?
Is it somebody that you're Wondering knows this the one? Don't go another step forward in that direction without giving it to God. and asking him to lead you and guide you. Christian, embrace his will. Find out what it is for your life.
You won't Never be. Fully content and happy. Until you are right in the middle. of God's will for your life. God might be saying to you tonight, this is my will for you, Karen, or Betty, or.
Bob or John, fear not He might be saying to you tonight, Rejoice. Whatever he's saying to you, and whatever he's saying to me, I guarantee you. It's the opposite of what we're thinking and feeling. You ever notice that? I'm scared.
God says, don't be afraid. Why did God say to Paul when they were taking him out of Jerusalem? with two hundred and seventy armed guards. down to Caesarea. Remember the Religious zealots said that they were going to fast until Paul was dead.
We will not eat until Paul's dead. Or or he yeah he threw the uh pro-council and the Jewish political leadership. Through circumstances, God in them got Paul. under Roman guard down to Caesarea. For a hearing, 270 policemen.
To watch one man And Oh on the way down there. God talks to Paul and says, you know what? Don't be afraid. Why did God say that? What was his command?
Don't be afraid. Why? Because Paul was afraid. What is it in your life? I've got this pressure.
In my life. God says Don't be pressured. Doesn't that drive you nuts when he says stuff like that? Oh, easy for you to say, you're God. But he says, wait a minute, because I am God, I'm telling you I know something you don't know.
You don't need to be pressured. You don't need to be wigged out. Freaked out, panicky. God's will for your life. Everybody in here has got it.
at least one ear on their head. To hear what God's will is for your life. And if you're deaf? He'll still talk to you. We need to see to it that we're pursuing his will.
for our lies. Amen. He's so good. Lord, we thank you tonight. That you are the only one in all the universe.
That has that divine. An awesome attribute. that only you possess and that is the ability to forget. And you have told us, Lord. that you have forgotten about our sins.
We may not forget. But you do. But how wonderful it is, Lord, we forget your promises. But you never forget them. Lord, you're just right.
all the time. You're so good. draws closer always and whatever this body These people we ourselves are going through No matter what's pressuring us, causing us maybe to stay up late. Her Be tense about. You're in the middle of it.
Lord, may we trust in you. In Jesus' name and all God's people said. Amen. Passford Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Here on Real Life Radio.
with his message called The Will of God in Your Life, Part 2. Thanks for listening today. You know this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called First Samuel. A series highlighting the prophet Samuel, who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest ages, to bring the people back to. a heart of true worship.
and will continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
So as you heard from our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you'd like to know what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life personally, we would love to help you out with that. Go to jackhibbs.com slash know God. That's K-N-O-W-G. And there you'll be guided through what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life and the freedom that you'll find in knowing God.
Don't miss out. That's the Know God tab at jackhibbs.com. Pastor Jack, tell me about the new book. Are you excited? More than excited.
Yeah, we're talking about the new book, Call to Take a Bold Stand. The subtitle is Resilient and Effective Faith for a Godless Age. Tell me. We live in an age where people, we've all gone through this evolution, or I should say de-evolution, maybe starting with COVID, that our voices got a little bit. Less You know, influential.
We kind of got quieter. We were kind of beaten down with the quote data. And, you know, the CDC muzzled us. We, for the, for me, for many of us in California, our governor tried to silence us. Right.
And I saw all of this stuff going on. I mean, I'm this book came out of really the COVID era. That's what inspired me to write this book: is that, wait a minute, we are being pressured and we are being intimidated to not say certain words. Uh but to begin to pair it You know what the political influence has been versus what the Bible says. People who are gripped with fear.
What's the counter to fear?
Well, it's certainly love, knowing that God loves you. But if you know that God loves you, You're going to be able to take a bold stand because you're not looking for the love of other people. You're looking for the approval of God. And if you know you have that from the scriptures, then it just becomes, I think, second nature for the believer. To take a bold stand.
Absolutely.
So, Pastor Jack, for the reader, your hope is that this book would do what? Take what the scripture has given to us. We'll walk you through that, by the way, in this book. And then give you the very commissioning and the ability to go live out of bold faith because the world right now is starving to see authentic. True, honest biblical faith.
And when we are, as we have been, called to take a bold stand, that is living out what we believe in practically. This is a how-to-do Christianity book. I think that's where the value of it is. No longer are we going to succumb to fear. We're not going to cave into lies anymore.
We're going to stick to the one and only truth, which is God. and that we're going to live that out. And I think if God would be so gracious to us to grant a revival in the church. and an awakening um in America and beyond. It's going to have to start with a faith.
and with a commitment that's reasonable for people to say that's what I want. I don't want to be afraid anymore. I don't want to be led astray anymore. I need that boldness. If you've got it, I want it to.
Called to take a bold stand. The newest book by Pastor Jack Hibbs. It's our featured resource for this month and it's available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That's jackhibbs.com slash real radio. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners.
Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
