What does faith look like to you?

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A daily program powered by the Truth Network. This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you what. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host: What does faith look like?

look like to you. What does faith look like to you? 866-34 TRUTH, 866-348-7884. We want you to answer that question. Where has there been a time in your life?

Where you've had to step out in faith or where you've had to walk. In faith. And Robbie, I'm sitting here with Robbie right now, and one of the. Not one of the, the greatest example that I can think of faith would be Jesus Christ. And when I was thinking about this, Robbie, before the show, what came to me was this, is Jesus knew that he was going to have to be crucified.

But it's not like he was just crucified. He was scourged. He was beaten. He was whipped. He was mocked.

He was made a fool of in front of everybody. He was laughed at. He knew that he was going to have to go through that. But he did it anyways. And I'm going to tell you, this is what Jesus said right before he knew his hour had come.

He said, And he went a little further. and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. nevertheless, not as I will. but as thou wilt.

So Jesus had a chance. to get out of it. I think there was another point in the New Testament, Robbie, where Jesus said, Do you not think that if I called to my Father that he would send how many legions of angels to come and save me and get me out of this position? But this is the reason. Why I came to Earth.

is I had he came to die. But it did not end there. He rose from the grave. And just by believing in him, we have eternal life. That's what faith looks like to me.

Robbie Dilmore, what does faith look like to you? Yeah, I love this topic and the idea of the stories that I'm hoping people call in and share. of of something simple that you know maybe God asked them to do. And it sounded kind of like, Are you sure? At the time, like I'm supposed to go talk to this person I've never met before, or whatever that may be, and you step out on faith and it happens.

And um A lot of people listening would know that I do the Christian Cargy radio show. And I had a certain format that I did when God first called me to do that. And it always had been to ask Him, you know, first thing Saturday morning when I woke up early to, you know, God, what do you want on the show today? And It was often in the early days about people going into debt and and cars and fixing cars and doing things along that line. I had a lot of guests along those lines, but one particular morning He said, Robbie.

I want you to do a show called Jesus Takes the Wheel. And I want you to play that song. And just simply ask people, like we have a question today, just ask them at the very beginning of the show. You know, where were you when Jesus took the wheel? Yeah.

And it was a really different kind of show than I'd really ever done before. I'd You know, been doing the show for a couple years, but it was just way out of my comfort zone to do a show like that. And, but I was like, okay, God, that's what you want. And so I opened up the show just like you did so eloquently here a minute ago and started out with that question, expecting the phone calls to come. And so I just said, you know, simply after, you know.

the beautiful song, you know, Where Were You When Jesus Took the Wheel?

Well, the phone rings, you know, obviously the calls line up actually, lots of them. And the very first caller Was from Utah. I'll never forget as long as I live. And he says, Well, let me tell you where I was when Jesus took the wheel. And he goes on to tell this story.

of How he His girlfriend was driving their car. He was taking him to actually a chiropractor appointment. She runs a red light. The car is T-boned. He's a paraplegic for the rest of his life.

Mm. And he said, But when I was in the hospital, You know, it hit me that I'd been you know, getting into Buddhism and a bunch of crazy stuff. And You know, I really gave my heart to Jesus, and He really came into my life, and I just started hungering for the scriptures, and He gave this unbelievable testimony. It was just spectacular considering. You know, he was a paraplegic.

Yeah. And this is what had happened to lead up into that. And as I'm listening to that story, I'm just like, man, God, I did not see that coming. Like, I did not see this coming. And then.

Th that call Begat more and more and more and more calls that all were along the lines of people that had had something tragic like that had happened, that had actually caused their faith to greatly increase. And the last caller I won't forget any more than I forget the first caller. Was uh a young man that his father had been a pastor, was a pastor, and he got fed up. With all his parents for doing whatever and their faith, and he walks in the living room one day and he goes, That's it. I'm not going to play this game anymore.

I don't believe in Jesus. I don't want anything to do with any of that. Right? He said, I went out and got in my car, and I got a few blocks from my house, and a guy was sitting at the red light, revving up his engine. And I said, You know, I'm going to show him.

And I was half upset anyway. And so he said, I peel out like that, and I get about two streets down, and the guy pulls out in front of me in a Lincoln, and I slam into him. And he said, From what I understand, th when the ambulance Sirens started. My mother looked at my father and said, Come on, honey, we gotta go to the hospital. You know, that their son had been in an accident like that.

They knew. They knew. But similarly, You know, he's laying in the hospital realizing Man. Um Yeah. I mean, it's an amazing story.

I mean, it's an amazing story. And so there have been times in my own life where, you know, and we've got Stu Epperson on the phone. The Stuart with Stu Epperson, the owner of the radio station. Stu, what does faith look like to you?

Well Faith looks like to me A week ago I was in New York City. And my wife and daughter were walk into a Makeup store. And that's not what faith looked like to me, right there. I just kind of scared a lot of that action. But I was one block away from basketball, one of those playgrounds that had a full court hoops.

You know how much I love that game. You know how much I love to tell people about Jesus playing basketball. I can. I'm a little better at telling about Jesus playing ball at this age, but I walked on a court. I said to them, I said, Y'all know where that court is.

I'll be down there. Come get me when you're done with your stuff. And All that and I walk on that court. And I just said, Lord. I'd love to play some ball.

I had some shoes on that I could play in. I was in street clothes, but it was kind of cool out, you know, so it wasn't hot. I said, Lord, I just prayed. I said, Lord. I pray that you will provide an opportunity to play basketball selfishly, Lord.

But I pray you will I pray you will bring some guys. I don't have a ball. It would be awesome if they actually had a ball. And I pray you'll open the door for me to share. With them about your son in the gospel.

And man, before I could say amen, Six teenagers walked onto that court. And every one of 'em had a had a a Backpack with a basketball in it. Mm-hmm. And I hit a and God gave me the grace to hit a trick shot. A bounce shot from the free throw line, which is one of my harder shots.

And I put it on my Instagram last night, Stu Epperson, for those of you who are on the IG. And if you're not on there, your kids probably are.

So tell them to follow me and like my stuff, and I'll follow them back and I'll pump them with Bible verses like I do everyone. These kids went nuts, and I got to play ball with them for an hour. I got to share the gospel with them like two or three times. Like they were listening. They wanted to hear about Jesus.

I got to give them a share of the truth cards, truth network stuff. And just God answered that prayer. It was little things. And some of these things sound trivial, but you know, when we really believe it, Rob, you've seen it in the car business for years, you've seen it in the Truth Network when we didn't think we were going to even make it. To Monday, when we were having a little tough time, God shows up.

But he only will show up. He will only give grace. to the humble, and only the humble have faith. Because to have faith means I can't do it. I can't figure it out.

I can't go recruit six teenagers at that perfect time to walk on the court. And to have like a perfect round of basketball and get to share the lore with them and some other guys and. I got to share Christ with another guy, an older guy, walked on the court shooting ball with some other college. They were more graduate-level guys. He had a Wake Forest logo.

Wake Forest on his shorts. And I got to share with him. And it was just like small world, you know, Winston-Salem connection. Amen, brother. 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884.

We want your calls. What does faith look like to you right after these messages? Thank you, Stu Epperson. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. All right, we are back.

This is Michael Zwick. What does faith? look like to you? What is faith? Look like to you 866-34 truth, 866-348-7884.

And this is what I've got right here. I've got Hebrews chapter 11, and it says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders obtained a good report. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed. By the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts And by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, And was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation, He had this testimony that he pleased God. And here it is, and this is what I love: Hebrews 11:6. But without faith.

It is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God, must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of Of them that diligently seek him. And you see, I heard somebody say one time, they said, How do you spell faith? And they said it's R-I-S-K. Faith sometimes means you have to step out.

Faith sometimes means you have to take a risk. You have to take a chance. I'm not just here by accident. Stu Epperson is not just here on the radio by accident. Robbie Dilmore is not just on this radio station by accident.

It all had to start somewhere. And you know what's funny? I went on a mission trip. It was back in 2017. And I felt so led by the Holy Spirit when I got back from that trip.

I said, I need to post a video and to put it on Facebook and to share something about Jesus. And this is what I said: I said, What does faith? Look like to you. No, that's not what I said. That's the story of my show today.

What I said was this: I said, What is God asking you to do? Is there something that God wants you to do? And this is what I said. I said, if God is calling you to do something. You need to go ahead and do it.

You know, one of my favorite quotes of all time is by a guy named Theodore Roosevelt, one of our presidents. And this is what he said. He said, it is not the critic who counts. not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly.

who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause. who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement. And who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. And I don't know if you understand what Theodore Roosevelt is saying there, but he's saying you don't always know the outcome. You don't always know what it's going to look like.

We don't always know. Hey, when I go up to somebody and I want to share Jesus with them, I want to tell them that Jesus is the only way to get to heaven and that by believing in him, repenting of their sins and turning to Jesus, they will have everlasting life. There's a risk involved in that. They may not want to hear what I have to say. They may not like what I have to say.

I may be turned away. There are Christians who have been killed for their faith. Every time I go up and I pray for somebody, if I pray for their healing, there is no guarantee that they're going to be healed right there on the spot.

Now, I've seen it a lot. I've seen it a lot. But see, if I had if I prayed every single time and every time people were healed just like that every time, after a while, it would no longer take faith. It would just be something that I expected and it happened all the time. But see, the tough part is that when you go out and you pray for somebody to be healed, if the last five people that you prayed for have not been healed, you pray for somebody who has cancer to live and they die, but yet when you still continue to go out and pray for people, but you have to have faith, you have to believe and you continue to believe them.

See, what can happen is this: you might be disappointed. I was listening to a pastor right here in Winston Salem first years ago. They're no longer there, Darla and Mike Rakes. And one of the things that his wife said, Darla, was this. She said, I was always negative.

And she said, the reason that I was always negative is she says, because as long as I was negative, I would never be disappointed. She said, but that's the opposite of faith. And she said, as long as I was negative, I would never see the big things that God has for me. And you see, faith is taking a chance. Faith is saying, hey, you know, I see somebody who's demon-possessed.

I'm going to pray for them, I'm going to pray that Jesus delivers them. You know, I'm going to pray for something. I'm going to believe. for big things. And you know, I I had a um It was a sales coach years ago who taught me, and I was started off selling insurance.

And he said, Mike, he said, The reason people don't set goals is because if they set a really high goal, I'll give you an example. I could set a low goal of making $20,000 in a year, okay? And if I could hit that goal and I said, hey, I hit my goal, but what is that really doing for me? And he said this: He said, I would rather set a goal of selling $300,000. And even if I don't hit that goal, if I make $200,000, I made a whole lot more than I would have otherwise.

You know, Zig Ziglar put it like this: He said, If your goal is nothing, You'll hit it every time. You'll hit it every time. And see, every single day we have to start our minds, our hearts. We have to get in the right mindset and we have to get in the right mood. You know what?

And your day will start in the first 15 seconds of your day. If you want to have a faith-filled day and you want to see the Lord do big things, why not do this? Why not wake up in the morning and say, This is the day that the Lord has made. I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it. You know, I've heard two men woke up one morning and one of the more one of the men said, Oh, God, it's another day.

And the second guy said, Thank God another day. And guess what? We got Thanksgiving coming up pretty soon. And you know what? I want you to start thinking about what are you thankful for?

Sometimes it takes faith to not focus on the negative, but to focus on all the blessings that God has given you. And it puts you in a new mindset. You know, one of the things that I was thinking about when it comes to faith is that my friend Tony Jackson, years ago, back in 2019, I was kind of preaching to him over the phone. And he said, Mike, stop. And I kept preaching.

He said, Mike, stop. And I kept preaching. He said, Mike, stop, stop, stop. He said, I want you to come on the radio tomorrow. And I want to see what you got.

And I said, okay. If I would have said, well, I'll think about it or not now or whatever, I probably never would have done it. And I probably never would be right here, right now, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So I want to ask you today: is God asking you to do something big in your life? Why not take a chance? Why not go on that mission trip? Why not write that check to the missionary who needs the help? Why not go out and talk to that person on the street?

who needs to hear the good news about Jesus. You see, when Stu asked God for an opportunity when he was at that basketball court and six guys walked up and came up and started to play basketball, and he was able to share the good news of Jesus Christ, You know what? I wonder if Stu never would have said anything to them or if he was afraid. I wonder if God would have even sent those people. Because what is the point?

Of not of not doing something and not having faith. You're not going to see anything big, you're not going to see anything where God is moving. And I see, it looks like, I don't know if we have a caller on the line, but one of the things that I've seen is that God is amazing. God is amazing. You know, every day, I wonder how your life would change if every single day you would wake up and say, This is the day that the Lord has made.

I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it. And I've got Emmanuel out of Elon out of Burlington, North Carolina. And Manuel is part of Cross Exchange. Let me ask you the question, Manuel. What does faith look like to you?

Yeah, uh faith, it's the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And so if that's the case, faith is that our Belief in God is what our life is all about. It's an objective reality. It's an objective reality, and we're going to the break right now.

So hold the line if you would, Manuel. The phone number is 866-34TRUTH, 866-348-7884. We want your calls, and Manuel is going to be right back. Sharing what faith means to him. We'll be right back.

You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. All right, guys, we are back. What does faith look like to you? What does faith look like to you? And one of the things that I was thinking of, Manuel, is that I've got to have my faith Bible verses.

So, in other words, there's going to be some times when life beats you down. There's going to be some times when everything seems to be coming against you. And I'm thinking about there are some Bible verses that I'm going to have to go to. And I've got a few of them right here. Matthew 21:22.

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith. Luke 1:37, for nothing will be impossible with God. 2 Corinthians 5, 7, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Romans 10, 17, so faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. And, manuel, what do you do when you start to face discouragement?

How do you build your faith? Yeah. Well, when it comes to discouragement itself, when it comes upon a One thing we must do is run descriptor like you just uh The scriptures is our reason for Yeah. And I mean Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead.

We lost you for a second. Go back. Yes, faith is simply trust in itself. And so when Bell says set aside all anxiety, it's set aside all mistrust. Doubt comes from the lack of trust.

And so discouragement or anxiety sometimes come from that.

Now sure, it's not the dis to not affirm someone who has been beaten down and prodded down and been tried by life. But we must always run back to the objective standard that God has written in His Word, the whole reason we have something to put our faith into. And it's not a jump in the dark, it's not a jump that maybe this will work, and then I just get discouraged because my actions have led to failure. We rest in God, what He said He's going to fulfill. And if God makes promises, it will be complete, He will fulfill them.

And that God has been doing that again and again and again in the past. And so we have a reasoned faith to. To put our trust in him. Absolutely. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, it says, These three things abide: faith, hope, and love.

But it says, But the greatest of these is love. And the Bible says that greater love hath no man than this, then he lay down his life for his friends. And so I used to hear Charles Stanley say, he comes on the Truth Network, and he would say, So you're saying you're having a tough time. You're saying you're going through some tough stuff. He said, Have you been crucified lately?

And I remember years ago, man, well, I had a client of mine over in Reidsville, North Carolina, and I was talking to him, and he said, I had the worst pain that I've ever had in my whole life. And he said, at that point, he said, I cried out to the Lord and I said, God, I can't take this pain anymore. And he said, in his spirit, the Lord spoke to him and he told him, what about the cross? He asked him, what about the cross? And he said, after that, he never complained again.

And so I realized that no matter how difficult my life is, I realize what Jesus is, Jesus went through on this earth. And he did it for us. He did it for you, Manuel. He did it for me. And no matter how tough things get, I tell you what, I've got a lot to be grateful for, and things aren't as tough for me as they were for Jesus.

Amen to that. Just we think about it, it's Thanksgiving season. It's the time to give thanks and to know what God has done for us, that He has taken all our grief. It's by His stripes we are healed, according to the prophet Isaiah. then we that kind of sh that should produce joy in us.

Um it should produce all We should abate any kind of anxiety or fear or discouragement when we look to that. And when we deal with those emotions that we have against life that might hurt us. We rest upon that to find our joy and breath and area for breath air again. Evil. Yeah, and so to me, when everything is going well...

You know, when I'm hitting all my jump shots, if I'm a basketball player, I sell insurance, when I'm selling everybody, I'm making money, everything's going well, my health is good. At that point, things are good and I'm glad, but that doesn't take faith. What takes faith for me is the times when the cancer diagnosis comes in and it doesn't look good, or the times when your health is really bad and nothing looks good. Those times is the times when I stand on faith. And so there's two things that I really see with that.

And the first thing that I see is number one, this world is not my home. Even if I die, I will be with the Lord Jesus. The Bible says absence from the body. Is presence with the Lord. And that's the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian: our hope is not in this world.

So, number one, yes, I realize that I'm going to go through tough times, but this isn't the end. And then, number two, what I realize is that Jesus. Paid it all. All to him I owe. And because he paid it all, I can have faith for big things.

Does it mean that it's gonna happen every single time that I ask for it? No, but there have been times in my life. Where everything looked bad, and I prayed and I stood on God's word, and I believed for it, and God showed me a miracle. And I'm sure you've seen that too, Manuel. Amen.

Absolutely. When I've seen God move my own life, It's at those moments that you know it You feel like it's impossible. You don't know what is going to happen next. You think that all hope is lost. I'm in the middle of COVID for myself when figuring out how to be an adult, and I moved to Cary, North Carolina, trying to figure out how to.

navigate finances, navigate where my life is going to be headed. And I got about maybe ten dollars in the bank account trying to figure it out. And it was not easy, not easy at all. But at the moment that a time where I was in So much need, God met me where I was at, and He provided community and strength and care where I needed it to be actually able to pick myself up. Or, should I say, fully rest in God, and He was the one lifting me up so I could go forward.

But I did want to ask a question and slide something else you said that sometimes we don't think about faith when we're doing really, really good. When all of a sudden, we're all with all life is great, we're the best of the best. Um we think like that, the pro the I would actually argue that that actually is based But it's faith in something that's not God. It's faith in yourself, it's faith in my own abilities. And so that's where we need to be reminded that.

It's the object of our faith that's what's going to uphold us. And if we start resting our faith in something else because we think we've achieved something or someone else has achieved something, that's where repentance must come into play and that humility drives us back to make the object of our faith not our own ability, but God himself. That is good. And it was only a matter of time. We've got Buxman on the phone as well.

And Buxman is out of Dayton, Ohio. Are you there, Bucksman? Are you there, Buxman? I am. It's good to hear you, brothers.

Awesome conversation so far. Good to hear you, too. Let me ask you the question. What does faith look like to you, Buxman?

Well, faith to me, guys.

Now I got it you guys sound a little bit younger chronologically than me.

So I've been on the planet. I celebrated my birthday on Veterans Day.

Well, happy belated birthday. Oh, thank you, brothers. I appreciate that. And that means a lot coming to you. I love this station.

I love the fact that we have these conversations that other people can enjoy as they're traveling home, as I do, or whatever they're doing as they're listening to Truth Talk Network. Um faith to me guys is honestly, it's living out How Christ himself Lipped. When he was a man, here on the planet. And and Christ knew that this planet was cursed by his father When his great-grandparents, Adam and Eve, sinned against his father.

So, what we have to realize as 21st-century followers of Christ is that this place is really a dumpster fire. It's here to test us, it's here to train us, it's here to say, Vegas. Bossman, will you do what Jesus did? in this trial, will you do what Paul did? in this trial.

And the great thing about having the Word of God, gentlemen, is this, we can learn from the mistakes that our forebrothers made. We can say, you know what? I'm not going to do what Peter did. You know what? I'm not going to ask Jesus to draw down thunder like the Apostle John did.

But we also got to realize that, as Paul rightly wrote, We better be showing wounds. On our bodies. Like Christ's wounds.

Now they don't have to be literal. But you got to remember, our ancient brother Paul. He was beat all the time. He was put into prison all the time. He missed his loved ones.

And so he had to write letters from prison cells just to stay in contact with the people that he loved.

So walking with Christ like Christ. is painful. But we have that joy set before us, like Christ said, right there before he went to the cross, Father. Pass this cup from me, but I will do thy will. For the joy set before me.

So, as Christians, guys, faith is this. The awesomeness of our eternity once we're done here. That's good. I don't think I could have said it better myself. I've got my friend Rick here from Graham, and he's sitting here nodding his head.

I mean, that was really, really good. You know, one of the things that I thought about with faith, because you brought this up a little bit, there's wounds, Bucksman. And I'm reminded of the Nigerian Christians right now who are being slaughtered for their faith. And I've heard that since 2009, 100,000 Christians have been killed for their faith. And I read earlier from Hebrews chapter 11.

And when I was reading from Hebrews chapter 11, the first six verses, everybody loves that. The beginning part of Hebrews, everybody loves that. Let me share with you a part of Hebrews 11 that not everybody wants to have to go through. And it starts in verse 36, and it says, And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned.

They were sawn asunder. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They wandered about. In sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.

They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth, and these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise. And it says that God provided some better thing for us that they without us should be made perfect. And so, yes, we have some good stuff with faith. There's some times where I prayed for, I prayed for a lady yesterday, and she had cancer and she had pain in her leg. And I prayed for her, and I commanded the pain to leave.

And in Jesus' name, Jesus took that pain away. But you know what? She also had some cancer in her body, and I didn't see anything happen to that. It was visible. You could see the cancer.

I mean, it was that bad. And so. Yes, there are two types of faith. There's the faith that is the exciting faith. There's the faith where we see the mountains move, but then there's also the enduring faith.

And I know Adrian Rogers talked about this. There's some times where we don't see the miracle, but I do believe how we react. When those bad times happen, that's how we are real Christians or not. And what I'm saying is this: there was an old movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I'm sure you guys remember.

Love that movie, man. Not one word has dropped from your mouth. From the Nigerian illustration to that excellent passage of Hebrews. Go ahead, brother. You have the mic.

That's it. Yeah. So, anyway, so during this movie, they said, sometimes you will bask in the sun. And they said, other times you will splash in the rocks. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes.

And, guys, we've got Bucksman and Manuel on the line. They'll be on the line when we come back, I'm assuming. 866-34 Truth, you do not want to miss our last segment. We're going to take you from faith to action. We'll be right back after these messages.

Truth talk line. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. All right, guys, we are back for our last segment. What does faith look like to you? And I'm glad Buxman brought up what he brought before about there's times where we get wounded, there's times where we get hurt.

The Nigerian Christians who are being slaughtered, and I'm glad that President Trump came out and stood up for them. Thank God. And I'm glad that people are praying for them. And I'm glad that there's all of this going on. But guess what?

It's not just in Nigeria. There are Christians all over the world in North Korea. There are Christians in Iran who are being jailed, prisoned, tortured for their faith. You don't hear about it on the mainstream news. But you know, when I think about all of this, man, well, the prosperity gospel doesn't always line up with that, does it?

Not at all. I immediately think about 1 Peter 7 3, the classic passage about apologetics. But the thing about it is the context of that is one that you're Suffering in the nature of you going through suffering, that itself. Is an apologetic that we suffer for the cause of Christ, and if we are slandered for doing Bad, then that makes sense, but if we're planning over doing good, then that is a witness to Christ and to others. And so if that's the kind of calling that Peter is calling people that are in Rome, it kind of goes against the whole prosperity gospel idea that, oh, if you're following the Christ, then all of a sudden you're going to be blessed in every single aspect of your life.

And sure, we will 100% affirm that God will prosper us in eternity with resurrection power. But when it comes to our life in this moment, God is using our life for his glory and our good. And each life plays a role in God's tapestry of his sovereign plan and the divine narrative. Yeah, and Buxman, there's actually a part in the Bible where the disciples go out and they're sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, and they're actually flogged. They're beaten for their faith.

And I don't know if you remember how they respond, but they actually rejoiced because they were found worthy to be beaten for their faith. I mean, to me, that's faith right there. That is pure faith.

Now, we got to remember, too, gentlemen, and everybody listening to Truth Talk. Those boys They walked with the risen Savior. They saw him. Go to the cross. They cried over his murder.

They waited patiently To see if what he was going to, what he told them for those three years, three and a half years or so. If it was really going to come true, will he get up? Thomas didn't believe him. Thomas said, nope, I don't believe you guys.

So they saw that now. They've got all of this in their fresh memory, gentlemen.

So, you better believe they had power, and they sensed a sense of completion that Jesus told them. You guys will suffer for me.

So Jesus was correct. Yet again. in the hearts and minds Of the originals who walked with him.

So you've got to believe it. They raised their hands in glory and said, My God, my God, you never will forsake me. Amen. Amen, brother. And I love where it says in 2 Peter chapter 2, verses 20, because the faith thing, this is not a sprint.

It is a marathon. But this is what the Bible says. It says, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome. It says the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. It says, for it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

And I like this part. It says, but it happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the so that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. And we've got a Mike out of Dayton, Ohio. Are you there, Mike? Thank you.

Yes, sir. What does faith look like to you, brother?

Well, um The face, it looks like to me, is um That the Holy Spirit that's in you is the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. And if you believe that, When you ask God to do something in your life, like go to witness like on the basketball court. He's going to give you that faith. He's going to give you that Holy Spirit. He's going to give you the right words to say to those people.

And that's what faith means to me. That is awesome. Let me ask you a question. Can you think of a time in your own life, Mike, where things may not have been going very well at all, but you had to stand firm in your faith? Yeah, sure.

Just the other day, you know, I had our day. I worked real hard, and I'm going to bowling, and I'm going in there. And before I walked into Bowling, Ellie, I said, You know God, use me today. Don't let my My spirit that's in me today, what you know, the rub off and on a wrong name, I want to be a witness to you at the bowling alley today, God. I said, please, Lord, let that happen.

Well, he helped me all the way through it. God, the Holy Spirit kind of just went like this all the whole time. Be careful. Be careful. You know what I mean?

And I said, okay, God, I'm listening to you. I'm praying to you. And this old man, he was an older man, he was in 78, and he sat down next to me and he started talking about how great a buller I was. I said, you know what, sir, that doesn't really matter. Where are you going to go when you die today?

Do you know where you're going to go? Will you know where you're going to end up being? And I had six or seven guys around at the table, and we're all bullying and they're all listening to this. And my heart is pumping, and God is giving me the wisdom and the spirit to tell them that.

Well, this guy, he went to church the following Tuesday and he didn't come back to the bowling alley that the next week. And then the following week he came back to the bowling alley and he told me, Mike, I went to this group and I rededicated my life to God. I am so glad that you talked to me and I am I know where I'm going to go when I die. And I'm like, wow. Praise God.

You know what I mean? And that's all because you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and direct you. It's called trust. That's faith. You know what I mean?

That is. Having that trust and faith. You know, in that is is so wonderful. You know, and then you know you're in the right standing with God when that thing, those things are happening in your life. Absolutely.

I love it. And one of the verses that just came to my mind is: we don't always know what's going to happen in the future. We don't always know how something is going to play itself out. I think you said the Lord gave you a word and be careful or whatever it was. But see, the Bible says in Isaiah 55, 8 through 9, he says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. And I'm reminded of a story that Lee Strobel told when I saw him at Providence Baptist Church years ago in Raleigh. He said, There was a time where the Lord was telling him, You needed to invite your boss to church. He said, I knew my boss was an atheist. He said, You need to invite your boss to church.

So he went that day. He talked to his boss. The door was open. He went to his office and he said, You need to come to church. Church, you need to give your life to Jesus.

And he said, His boss totally shut him down. He said, I'm an atheist. I'm not interested in that. And Lee Strobel walked away and said, God, what was that all about? That doesn't make any sense.

Well, lo and behold, about 10 years later, a guy walks up to him and says, Sir, you're the one. You're the one in least troubles. Like, what are you talking about? And he said, about 10 years ago, you went up to your boss's office and you told him, You need to go to church. You need to give your life to Christ.

And I don't know if you remember me, but I was outside of the office and I was laying some carpet down or fixing something right outside of the office. And I heard what you said. And I went to church that Sunday and I gave my life to Christ. We don't always have to understand the end from the beginning, but God knows and God has a purpose. All we have to do, there's an there, somebody should write a song, Trust and Obey.

Trust and Obey. Is that right, Manuel? Um Amen. I that's one of my favorite songs. I the reality that God's sovereign hand is ordering all things, and whenever He commands us to do something, His hand of Providence.

is guiding our destiny for his glory. And no matter how much we may not know what our works are doing, because God predestined all things for his glory, he is using every single one of your actions, every single one of his commands to accomplish his will. And that is something that gives us abundant faith. Amen. And sometimes the stakes, when the Lord tells us to do something, the Bible says that.

Disobedience is like the form of witchcraft. I'll give you an example. November the 1st of 2011, I was driving my car in Germanton, North Carolina. I think it was a Flat Shoals Road or whatever. And I was driving around the corner, and there were no streetlights there.

And all of a sudden, I was at the bottom of the road listening to the Truth Network. Charles Stanley was on the radio, so I guess it was 7, 8 o'clock, whatever it was. And I had finished up my insurance work for the day. And I was just about to go up to the top of the hill. And it was like I heard a voice in my ear, and it was everything but audible.

I remember Charles Stanley used to say, he said, was it audible? He said, no, it was louder than that. And that's how it was. The Lord was telling me, you need to put your seatbelt on.

Now, if you're listening, you need to wear your seatbelt all the time. But when I was in my 20s, I didn't always do that. Matter of fact, most of the time, I really didn't, okay? But what I did was when I heard that voice in my ear, I was just about to put my seatbelt on. And then I heard another voice, and it said, what?

You don't trust God? And then I said, no, I need to put my seatbelt on. I put my seatbelt on and I drove to the top of the hill and I ran right into a tree. I flew off the road and the car was split right to the windshield. And I got out, the deputy sheriff or the state trooper came by and I told him what happened.

And he said, if you didn't have your seatbelt on, he said, we wouldn't be talking right now. God's providence, God's grace is there for you. The question I've got for you today is, are you going to listen to the call? Are you going to take the call when God tells you to do something? And Manuel and Mike, I want to thank you guys for coming on the show today.

My show, it's called If Not for God with Mike Zwick. I'll be on tomorrow at noon. You can check it out, the show If Not for God with Mike Zwick. You can go to YouTube. You can do it wherever.

But listen to the Truth Network. Go to truthnetwork.com and listen to this station. God is working something in you, but take that faith that you've got and turn it into action. Instead of just talking about sharing the gospel, go out and share the gospel. Instead of talking about praying for the sick, go out and pray for that somebody who needs healing.

What do you have to lose? Like that.