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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

How many of you have ever filled out a resume? Anybody here ever filled out a resume? Well that’s most of you. I don’t know if I’ve ever filled out a resume. I’ve always applied for a lot of jobs. And after me and Betty got married, I wound up living with her mom and dad. And the reason was because I didn’t have a job. That was what was bothering him when I asked if I could marry her. I said no, you don’t have a job, you don’t have any money, don’t have a place to live.

And everything I said was true. So anyway, I found me a job. And I remember I got a dollar an hour, a dollar an hour. It wasn’t long before we had two kids, so I was making a dollar an hour. And I’ll tell you, when they promised me a 10-cent an hour raise, I was really impressed. You know, 10 cents an hour and 40 hours, that’s $4 a week. I mean, and in a month’s time, that’s $16. Betty, we used to take and I’d pay off all the bills, find out what I got, and sometimes I’d have a quarter left.

And so I would take a dime and leave her with 15 cents. But at the end of the week, she’d still have her money. I didn’t spend mine. I’d move that whole 10 cents. And because you can get a bottle of pop for five cents, and you know, you could get a little bit. But that was all the money we had left over. And so there was time when I’d want to go to the boss and ask for a raise.

But you knew that when you did it, you run the risk of getting fired. So you were scared that you even asked. But none of the jobs that I had when we first got married lasted too long anyway. Because I was just so dissatisfied. I would just quit and go to another place. I’d moved to another state. And we lived in five states in the first year, half after we got married. So there was a lot of moving. And then up in O’Kella, when I told Betty, I said, honey, I don’t know where I’m going.

I guess I’m on my way to Miami. I’m going to leave you with your mom and dad, and I’m going down to Miami. I think that in Florida so that I could see if I can find me another job. Anything different. I got to find something. I was searching. And then when I got to O’Kella, I got a job, you know, good hot sunny South. I got a job working for Libby’s orange juice. inside of this frozen plant. And I had to wear a big old heavy coat.

I was freezing the death in there for eight hours. And then I got a job driving a forklift and picking up the juice and hollering around and stacking it and loading trucks and things like that. And so anyway, I got Betty down there and then I got me a job at Skyline Mobile Homes building mobile homes. I was an architect. You didn’t know that. I was a contractor. Anyway, Betty, I saw that. She was going like this. While I was building these side walls, they had this stuff thing about your waist high.

And they had them laid out there. And you had your blueprints. And you had to lay out the wood. And you’d get up there and you’d nail them together. And so I was nailing and nailing and nailing. And I put the nail in and it went in crooked. And I had to get it out. And so I had pounded like this. So I’m trying to pick a thing and I missed the whole board, came up here and right between the eyes with the hammer.

Busted my nose right up here. And not talking, I bled like a stuck big. I mean, I was bleeding blood everywhere. Anyway, the guy lost his guy that was on the job, his foreman. So I had been cheating and learning how to read the blueprints. And so when the guy, he said, I’m going to have to hire me another man to read the blueprints. I says, what do you pay? He says, I think, he says, if you can read these blueprints and do this, he says, I’ll give you 10 cents an hour raise.

I was tensing an hour. I’ll take the job. I want that. So I got the job. And the first week’s paycheck, he didn’t give it to me. And I didn’t like that. So I went to him. I said, you promised me that I was going to get my raise. He said, well, I’ll give it to you next week, next paycheck. Next week’s paycheck, it wasn’t in there. I told him, I said, I quit. I’m out of it. I quit my job because I didn’t get a 10 cent an hour.

raised. I had no job waiting on me. And I went home and I took the car, laid my map of the whole United States on the hood of the car. I said, Betty, I just quit my job. Where do you want to go? Huh? The poor woman. We got two kids. And I said, there’s a map of the whole, where do you want to go? This is how I made my decisions. And I says, you want to go to California?

I’d already been there when I was 17. I hitch-psych out there. She said, yes, that’s a long way. She said, my brother lives in Louisiana. Okay, we go to Louisiana. Packed everything and headed to Louisiana. And then that’s how all the other stories got started. But yes, I know what it’s like to try to have to find a job. I went down to Fort Bobo College. I had to try to find out. And I told the Lord then, I said, Lord, I’ve got to have at at least $1.75 an hour to be able to be able to lose it more.

I’m just going to go to school. I got to pay school bills. And I said, I’ve got to have at least $1.75. So I found this job. It was $1.25. And I just had to work twice as many hours. And so I worked a lot of hours. And I’m making $1.25 an hour. Now, coming in here today would work for $1.25 an hour. I didn’t think so. But you know, you could get more with your money back then. But you know, it was difficult.

And the students that lived with us in the dorm, we charged him $60. That was for room and board all utilities, everything, $60. And Betty did all the meals, cooked two meals a day, that’s cooking them two meals a day, seven days a week for two years, that little woman did all of that for five or six guys, just so that she could help put hubby through. That’s how she got her PhD, put hubby through. Anyway, when we get to heaven, she’s going to get a big old medal and all these rewards are waiting on her and Lord is going to say, yank, you go over there and just stand away with her while.

They ain’t nothing but you up here anyway. But anyway, I did not write this. I copied this. But when I saw it, I liked it. And I thought I’d just rework it a little bit and put some scriptures in it. So this is not an original. Maybe somebody, you’ve heard somebody else say it. I thought it was good for the simple reason everybody needs somebody to guide them. And the one that can guide us the most, the best is the Lord Himself.

It’s like, here’s the Lord and the Lord says, hey, I’m looking for a job. I’m looking for a job. Can I work for you? Because we always look at His, I’m going to work for the Lord. But in reality, I think the Lord wants to work for us. You see, He doesn’t need any rewards. God need. So everything that He does and given us the Holy Spirit is so that we can serve, but He’s the one that’s doing the work.

He’s the one that opens the doors. He’s the one that can make things happen. He’s the one that can open doors and shut doors and provide, meet all of your needs. God is like, hey, I’m looking for a job. And the thing is, is you pay us. He’ll pay us to let Him guide our lives. You can’t beat it. But what I want you to look at is the address. I mean, yes, it lives someplace, which he roth in Christ when he raised him from the dead and said in his own right hand in the heavenly places.

So the one that’s looking for this job, well, he sits in heaven. He’s the Lord. He is God Himself. That’s who He is. See, how can I talk to Him? says they’re in Romans 10, 13, whosesoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And you can trust Christ as your Savior, have eternal life. This is more like an email instead of email. An email works good. Next point. Objective where he says, my name is Jesus, the Christ.

Many call me Lord. I sent you my resume because I’m seeking the top management position in your life. Please consider my accomplishments as set forth in my resume. Why should I as an individual? Why should I let God have control of my life? Now remember he doesn’t control your life for you to go to heaven. You simply trust him as your Savior and he gives you as a free gift eternal life. You go to heaven because of what he did for you.

But now that you’re saved you have eternal life and you’re going to heaven. Well… He wants to rule over your life. He wants you to yield your life to him. Well, why should I? Well, look what he’s done. Look who he is. And so if you look at this, I think it’s pretty good. Look at his qualifications. You think everybody ought to have some qualifications. Have you ever had somebody tell you that you’re overqualified? They can’t hire you because you’re too qualified because they know if they hire you for this working at McDonald’s.

But as soon as you find another job that’s open, okay, you’re more, you’re gone, because you’re overqualified. And they don’t wanna lose you. They don’t, you stay there and work for them for the rest of your life. But anyway, we’ll move on along. I founded the earth and established the heavens. The Lord says, by wisdom had founded the earth, by understanding how to establish the heaven. He’s the one that made heaven and earth. Jesus Christ did. Why should I be interested in having this person, The Lord Jesus Christ be the ruler, the Lord of my life.

Now I’m not talking about lordship salvation where you gotta make Christ the Lord the master of your life to be saved. I don’t believe that, I think it’s heresy and it is. Look at the next point. I formed man from the dust of the ground. In the schizor in Genesis 2, 7, the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground. He’s the one that made our bodies. If he made the body, do you think he knows what the body needs.

He knows everything about that body in which you live in. And most of our whole life is spent trying to supply the needs of the body. Just think how cheaper it would be if you didn’t have to supply any needs for your body. It was just automatic. What did it mean to eat? It didn’t need to sleep. It didn’t need to eat. It never got sick. It didn’t break down. What did it mean to eat? Well, one day we were going to get a body like that, but we haven’t got it yet.

The one we have, it gets old and it breaks down. Look at the next verse says, I breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living soul. So the one who wants to tell us what to do, the one that wants to tell us how we should live, he made the world, he made the man put us in the world. Well don’t you think He knows best on how we should live while we’re in this world.

He knows what’s good, he knows what’s bad, knows what’s right, knows what’s wrong. And some people don’t want to trust him. And yet they’re very life, they’re very breath is in his hands. He can cause us to live or smash you like an ant and take you out of here. But he doesn’t want anybody filled with pride. So most of life is trying to drain you of your pride, to humble you enough so that you’ll learn how to trust the Lord.

And that usually takes all of your life. Like we said this morning. When you finally learn how to watch your step, you’re too old to go anywhere. That is a little disturbing. The next point, I redeemed man from the curse of the law. And why? Because nobody else could do this. Look what I’ve done. I redeemed man. The pay for the sins of all men so that they could have the free gift of everlasting life. This is what I’ve done.

So if somebody like that could do all of those things, Do you think he’s qualified to guide your life? And yet there’s people, believe it or not, that don’t think God is qualified to tell them what to do. They feel like, this is my life, I know what I want, I know what I want to be, and I know what I want to do, and God, you can go fly tight. It’s my life. And they make their decisions and how dumb they are.

And there is a way that Seemeth right unto a man, but they end their off are the ways of death and destruction. It’s always away from God. All we like sheep have gone astray. You may think you know good and know best, but you don’t. Jeremiah says, it is not within man that walk up to direct his steps. No man is smart enough to guide himself. And when he thinks he is, he’s filled with pride and pride, says, come with me for destruction, before I fall.

Look at the next statement, the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant comes upon your life through me. The blessing of Abraham is being justified by faith because he says in the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heat and through faith preached before the gospel and the Abraham saying, indeed shall all families of the earth be blessed. So a a man, a heathen, a lost man can only be justified, made righteous by his faith in what Christ did on the cross-form.

So any man who wants to get to heaven has to go through Christ. Now, he made the way and did all of that. Do you think a little person in this world has more brains than God? And he can guide himself in the eye, I don’t need God to tell me what to do. That’s why they don’t study the Bible. The Bible is God’s word to God’s people. And then most people study and read and become educated in everything but this book.

This is the most important part of anybody’s life that knows the Word of God so they can know the will of God. Look at the next point. His occupational background. I wonder what he’s ever done. Have you ever held a job before? Have you had a job before? I’ve had people and I said, now what can you do? What are your job description? What can you accomplish? If you’ve gone to college, if you’ve got any degrees, you’ve got any talent abilities, where have you worked before?

Have you ever tried to fill out a resume? And do they ever want something about you? Where did you work before? Why did you leave your last job? Because why do you want to know that? Because they don’t know you. And they want to find out as much as they can about you. And so you give them this information. But look what the Lord says. I’ve only had one employer. And he says, and he said unto them, how is it that he sought me?

Wish he not that I must be about my father’s business. And that was when he was 12 years old. If he was at his father’s business, when he was 12, he probably was when he was 13 and 14 and 15, 16, right on down the line. He was always about his father’s business. He’s only done one thing and as to whatever pleases my heavenly Father, that’s what he did. And then what does his employer have to say about his work?

Well, look at the next statement. My employer had nothing but rave reviews about me. I’ve never been party or absent, disobedient, slothful, or disrespectful. Now, that’s a pretty good testimony to have, isn’t it? And the reason he could say that is because the voice come down from heaven. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. There was a guy always with kind of concern about you know his job position. So he called up and tied to the sky’s his voice.

You know you put some over the phone so it doesn’t sound exactly the thing. He said, do you all need a start boy? He says, no, we already have one. Well, is he any good? He’s very good, very good. I mean, we’re very satisfied with him. Okay, thank you. Well, see, that was his job. That’s where he worked. He was just checking to make sure that they liked what he was doing. Have you ever done that? Maybe you ought to try that sometime.

But he says here, a voice from heaven. Now, look at the next point. His work experience. What kind of experience does he have? Because somebody wants to work for you. You ought to check them out a little bit. Look what he said. Some of my skills and work experiences include empowering the poor, healing the brokenhearted, setting the captives free, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, setting at liberty, them that are bruised. See, that’s what the scripture says.

This is Jesus Christ. This is what he can do. Wouldn’t you like to have somebody like that to follow you around all the days of your life? I told you about the time when I used to be a caddy, and I used to get picked on and how they were ganged up on me and take my pants off of me and throw them in a creek or take my shoes off and throw them, take my money. And sometimes they get a hold of me and they’d hold my arms and then the other guy was just worth me over.

Now I went through that stuff. But one time I happened to have my buddy. His name was Butch Langley. Butch Langley never did a lick of work. But he was the same age that he was built. It’s kind of like walking around with your buddy. Like James Haysliffe, you know, just walk around with James Haysliffe. Everywhere you go, James Haysliffe’s right there with it. Hey, I just tell somebody that says, you want to fight me buddy? Yeah, this is me buddy.

trying to use your little string in your step, you know, a little cockiness about you. Because you got more confident, you’re not afraid. I got my buddy with me. And I thought, man, I wish I could get Butch to go with me all the time. This one time they got me across the creek and they had my arms. And this one guy named Melvin, he was a big guy. He came down across my face as hard as he could.

And I talked about it. You see, did it hurt? My friend Butch was, they’d already crossed the creek and he was down a little bit further. He turned around and he came back and he walked over to him. four of them, he walked up and said, let him alone. Don’t do it again. And I’ll forth them back off from that one guy. I thought, where were you just a minute ago? It’s been a friend, but I want somebody that sticks closer.

I’ve been a brother. But when it’d be nice as you go through life and you’ve got the strongest person in the world with you. The most wisest of all individuals. You’ve got them right there with you. And if you needed some counseling, you’ve got the greatest counselor of all time right there with you. The greatest. What would you need that be better than that? And then there’s some people, God’s people, that walk away from somebody like that and said, I’ll do it myself.

I can handle it. I don’t need God. I don’t need the Bible. I don’t need Christianity. They may have trusted Christ in the Savior, but they live like a lost man because they trust in their, what God called, uncertain riches. You can have it today and it can be gone tomorrow. But look at the back page now. I am a wonderful counselor Isaiah 9 6 says, for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his children his name shall be called wonderful counsel the mighty God the everlasting father of the Prince of Peace.

All these things is a description of who he is and this is what he is the everlasting father the Prince of Peace the great counselor and he’s the one that wants live with you every day and he wants to abide with you and walk with you and teach you and guide you. Can you see that if you walk away from something like this you must truly be a fool? A fool? If a fool has said his heart there is no God then a Christian will be a fool and says I don’t need the Lord.

And yet there’s Christians that do it. They’re saved, they have eternal life and they’re going to heaven when they die because they accepted the free gift of eternal life. But see, after you trust the Lord, it’s so important to walk with the Lord. I need the Lord every day. You know what helps me and I’ll be honest with you. I have things that hits me every day. Problems every day of all kinds. I don’t know how I would be able to handle it if it wasn’t for the Lord.

Because I just sit sometime in my chair and I I smile boy This is good because this is bigger than I can handle Lord you can handle this one Lord you can handle this one But I think I can handle this one you can handle this between me and God we can handle anything that comes up Some things he can handle and some things I can handle a little bit else people who listen to me shall dwell safely and shall not fear evil.

The scripture reference there in Proverbs 133, but who so harkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil. You see, when you know the Lord and you trust the Lord, then it gives you a certain amount of peace. That peace is what can help you sleep at night, the joy of the Lord. It can help you during the day whenever it seemed like everything’s falling apart. Because you know he’s in charge. But you try to handle all the things yourself.

You’re limited. You don’t know everything. You don’t have all power. You can’t change some things. But you know he can. And if he chooses to change things, praise the Lord. If he chooses not to, praise the Lord. And you just rest and trust in him. It’s a great way to live. But most people never get that far with the Lord. Look at the next thing. You ever had somebody ask you, well, what’s your education? Where have you been to school?

Don’t tell nobody, but I never finished high school. I got a GED, took a test. Now I are smart. I always wanted to be an administrator, now I are one. I encompassed the entire breadth and length of knowledge, wisdom and understanding. And he says they’re in Proverbs 2, 6. Proverbs 2, 6, for the Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth, comeeth knowledge and understand him. And if he’s the one you’re walking with, look what’s coming from him. The Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth.

Comeeth knowledge and understand. Picture the word of God. This is the word of God coming from the mouth of God. Out of his mouth. Comeeth wisdom and understanding. So that’s why if you want it. Here’s the word of God. Read it and study it. And you’d be surprised what this book will do for your life. That’s why I want people to know it as much as possible. He’s made to statement in Colossians in chapter 2 and verse 3, that in me he says, or hit all the wisdom, all the treasures, the knowledge of God.

He says, in whom are hit all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, in whom? It’s in a person, it’s in the Lord. The next statement, he says, my word is so powerful, it has been described as been a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path. You’ve heard me use those verses before because when I was out there in Louisiana and I kept thinking about what I’m going to do with my life. I told the Lord one night I said, Lord, if you don’t come through and tell me what you want me to do, I just soon die.

There was nothing wrong with my wife, my job, my kids, but I wanted something more. Why do I exist? What is my purpose in life. And I didn’t want to just, even when I was up here in Georgia, and I used to run this bread drop, and I’d had to get up at 3.30 every morning and go up there and load that bread truck. And I had to, well, they loaded it, but I had to get around and check the list that I had to make sure that I have everything that I had on them.

And I was always hoping that I’d have a little extra cake, and somebody didn’t need it or I’d pick it up someplace. And I got to where I’d had every day I would eat a big old juicy Honeybun. Anybody ever have a honeybun? Honeybuns. They are a special creation by God. And I would be driving that old bread truck and I had taken sop of the store and I had to take the fresh stuff in and I’d take the old stuff out and they were some still good and a man I would just yum that honeybun to death.

And then every afternoon, every day, I would have an egg custard pie, egg custard pie, eat the whole thing every day. So there were so good things in my life that I did enjoy. But you know, you listen and you learn, but there’s so much we don’t know and we make bad decisions. But as I look over my life, I can see a lot of good, but I see a lot of bad ones too. I’ve often thought, you know, if I could do it over again without being wiser than I am now.

Only if I took the wisdom of today back there with me.” You’ve been listening to another great message from Pastor Arnold and we at Bibleline thank you for tuning in. In appreciation to those who support this ministry financially, we would like to send to you a copy of the Jim Tingen story. The Jim Tingen story is a true story about a young man that just couldn’t explain the gospel clearly. He wasn’t the type of kid that most people made friends with, but he knew that people needed to hear the gospel to be saved.

Believe me, you’ll be affected by this story in a profound way, and this book is offered to you as a gift for your donation in any amount. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, and don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. So for this month, receive a free copy of the Jim Tingen story with your donation of any amount. It’s a small token of our appreciation for your support of Bibleline, Because without your thoughtful gifts and prayers from listeners like you, we would not be able to remain on the air.

Thank you once again for your continued support. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound and we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.