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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.

Turn in your Bible to Genesis chapter 12, Genesis in chapter 12. Now, I want you to look at these scriptures with me and notice that in all these situations, it was the Lord who took the initiative. It was the Lord that gave them a vision of what He wanted them to do. They didn’t have to manufacture it. It wasn’t them that came up with the idea, but God planted these thoughts into their minds. wanted people to do things. I’ve said this before, but just so you understand it again.

God has a vision. God had a vision for the whole world. I mean, He had a purpose, a plan. Even though there was the devil, He fit into His plan. And the sin in the garden, it could fit into His plan. He used it. He used it to teach wonderful things about the love of God, the grace of God, forgiveness of God, that we would have never known anything about God if there had been no sin. We wouldn’t have known death, therefore we wouldn’t appreciate it in life.

And being separated from God will appreciate being with God so much better. Even as we’re here on the earth and alive right now and our life is but a vapor that appears for a while and then vanishes away, knowing that we’ve got loved ones that have died and we don’t see them anymore here. Makes us long for a place where we will see each other forever. And it makes it so much better because God had a plan. He had a dream, God had a vision.

I love that. And he even gives dreams. God gives visions to people. And so as you read the scriptures and you see, I wonder what God was thinking about now. Well, he kind of lets you know because of what he told somebody to do. So if you look here in the book of Genesis in chapter 12, Look in verse one, whose idea was this? Whose dream was this? Whose vision was this? In verse one, now the Lord had said unto Abram.

So who took the initiative here? It was the Lord. And what did he do? He says, get the out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house into a land that I will show thee. Abraham didn’t even know about the land. He didn’t even know where it was. The Bible says if he knew where it was and how he got to where he came from, he would have gone back. And here it was the Lord who tapped him on the shoulder and says, this is what I want you to do.

So Abraham knew what to do because the Lord told him what to do. And then he says in verse two, let me tell you what I’m going to do with you. I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great, thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless them that bless thee, curse him that curses thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Whose idea was this?

It was God’s idea. It wasn’t Abraham’s idea. It was God’s idea. God took the initiative. And he told Abraham, said, I want you to go to a land that I’m going to show you. So he had to trust the Lord as he went. He didn’t tell him everything up front. But just told him says, I got something in store because you see with this one man God had a plan and he also knew that he was going to have Abraham and Sarah was going to be old.

But he’s the one that told him says, you’re going to have a son because that’s what God wanted. And And God says that you’re going to have a son in through this one. You are going to have a great nation. So God was behind it all. You see, in the beginning of my ministry, I used to try to scheme about how I was going to get God to do what I wanted him to do. I thought, if I do right, I got God in my back pocket.

I can just snap my finger and God will do it. He was the power that I was going to use to get done. So I’m going to use God. You see anything wrong with that? I do believe that it’s something that I’m going to do. It’s more scriptural to think that God had a plan and He wants to use me. And He just simply says, you just do what I tell you to do and don’t worry about anything else.

You just faithfully do what I tell you to do and everything will work out cool. So I’ve kind of learned how to rest in that. Otherwise, you become so discouraged because your dreams not always pan out. But as long as I’m just faithfully doing what God wants me to do, I don’t have to worry about it. I don’t have to make anybody do anything do I? Because see I’m just working for Him. And He’s the one that’s in charge.

So all I got to be satisfied with, am I doing what He wants me to do? Has nothing to do whether you do or you don’t. Now I would prefer everybody do whatever they’re supposed to do. And then we all have more fun and enjoy more victories because we can encourage one another, but we all have to be on the same page. Look in the book of Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3. Now you know in Exodus chapter 3 there is a situation where God wanted to talk to a man named Moses and it was at the burning bush.

But before you get to that burning bush, there was something that happened right before that. So look at in verse 11 of chapter 2. In verse 11 of chapter 2 he says, and when it came to pass in those days when Moses was grown, that he went out into his brethren, looked on their burdens, and he spied in Egyptian, smite in the Hebrew, one of his brethren. So somewhere on the line he found out who he was and what’s going on.

And he looked this way and he looked that away. And when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Burial was easy in those days. Just those some sand over the top of them. Verse 13, and when he went out the second day, behold two men of the Hebrews stroked together, I mean they were arguing and fighting. And he said unto him that did the wrong, wherefore smiteest thou thy fellow?

And he said, who made thee a prince and a judge over us? and tendest thou to kill me, as thou killest the Egyptian? And Moses feared and said, Surely this thing is not well evidently. Somebody knew about it. So he says here in verse 15, Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, dwelt in the land of Midian and he sat down by well. Now the priests of Midian had seven daughters and they came and drew water and fill the trough to water their father’s flock.

And the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock. He was no sissy evidently. And when they came to rule their father, he said, how is it that you are so soon come today? And they said, and Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and also drew water, enough for us and water the flock. He said unto his daughter, well, where is he? Why is he that you have left the man?

Call him that he may eat. Plus he had seven daughters, he needed to get rid of one of them. And verse 21, and Moses was content to dwell with the man. And he gave Moses Zapura his wife, his daughter. So here’s Moses and now he’s on the backside of a desert. And how long was he there? 40 years. 40 years. 40 years on the backside of a desert, nothing but a shepherd content, a contented man. And one day he was a walkin’ and he heard something.

Well, look at the, in the process of time, it makes a statement in verse 23, it came to pass in process of time. See time has been processed. You only get so much time. And then he makes a statement here in verse 4, and God heard their groaning of the children down in Egypt and bondage. God remembered in verse 25, God looked upon the children of Israel. God had respect unto them. Chapter 3 verse 4, when the Lord saw that He turned aside to see God call unto Him out of the mist of the bush and says, Moses, Moses.

And he says, here am I. And he says, I got something I want you to do. Who here is taking the initiative? Whose dream is it? When Moses decided to leave from the 40 years on the backside of a desert and go down into Egypt, whose idea was that? That was the Lord. He was content with what he was doing. But you see, God had a work to be done. God has a vision. So you’re serving the Lord is allowing God to give you his vision, seeing what God wants you to do.

And then you are going to be content doing whatever it is God wants you to do. Well you know that not everybody just willingly likes to do whatever God wants them to do. You see at this time in Moses life he said, I don’t need to go. I don’t want to go. I’m not going. And the Lord took away all of his doubts or solved all of his problems, answered all of his questions, and he had a bunch of questions, and the Lord answered all of them.

Because he had excuse after excuse after excuse why God ought to get somebody else, because he’s not the man for the job. I think he was a disappointed man because of what happened 40 years before. He thought it was going to be him at that time. But see, the timing wasn’t right. You know, it’s a hard thing to have to wait and be patient on the Lord. Especially when you’ve got your clock wound up and God’s only got so much time according to your time.

He’s only got so much time. Lord, you’ve got to move. I’m 72 years old. You realize I’m running out of time. I’ve got a lot of dreams and I’m not going to get them done if you don’t get busy. I’ve got all the time I need to do exactly what He wants me to do. Do you believe you have all the time to do what God wants you to do? If you really understand it and you believe it, then you don’t have to worry about when you’re going to die.

You don’t even have to worry about it if you’re going to die. We already know we’re going to die. So let’s just be a part of the vision of God and be content to do whatever it is God wants us to do. Sometimes we have what we call the death of a vision. You can have a dream and you see yourself having this dream and then sometime it doesn’t materialize. I was in the office the other day and Jesse came in.

He came back from the dirty sheriff. He was all wound up, like somebody just wound them all up. That thing was ready to springload and just, he says, I see myself. I see myself preaching the thousands. Remember that Jesse? I see myself preaching the thousands. And I told Betty after I said, honey, I did the same thing. I used to set and dream. See myself preaching to thousands upon thousands. And believe it or not, over the years I have preached a thousands.

I have no idea how many I’ve ever preached to. I don’t know. We’ve had over a thousand in our church in Colorado. And when we had our programs that we put on, we’d have over a thousand in one night and then we’d have to do it the next half, the next night. Because in our Christian school we go like from A to L and then next night M to the end of the alphabet and those parents are coming and we’d have over a thousand each night.

And then not counting the time that we went over that in our church services. So yeah, I’ve enjoyed a few things. And we’ve seen thousands and thousands trust Christ’s Savior. So what you had to have like a dream. But you see, sometimes you get back and think, where did that dream come from? Can God give dreams today? Can God give you a vision? But when he says in verse 7, and the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, heard their cry, and I know their sorrow.

And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians. See, God has a dream. He has a vision. He has a purpose. He knows what He wants to do. All He needs was a man. I needed a man. You know, when he talks about this great nation, he had to have a man. God had a man there. And it came to this, God had a man. When it came about, oh, Goliath, you know, God had a man there while he was a boy at the time.

But God’s always looking for a man to stand in that gap. Because he God likes to use people to show himself strong on their behalf. God wants to use somebody. because God has a vision. God has something He wants done. God has a purpose. And all He’s looking for is the man that walks with God. A man to walk with God. I think it’s a wonderful thing. Really do. In, These scriptures, he says down there in verse 10, come now, therefore, and I will send your brother.

No, he says, I want to send you. Later on, he has to get his brother to go with him, Aaron. And that caused a lot of trouble to him. You see, when you don’t do things God’s way, when God wants you to do it, it just leads to more trouble. Delay obedience is disobedience. And there’s always a price to pay. And it doesn’t always go smooth. He said, well, I can’t. talk good. I can’t talk good. I’ve had so many people say, well, I can’t speak in public.

Now, you take them outside and just let them talk to them and say, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. But right on and I talk about everything in the world. But they say, would you like to give a testimony? Oh, I can’t talk. I can’t say anything. You can. It’s just you’re afraid of something. But get rid of the fear. I’m afraid not to do what God wants me to do. More so than being afraid of what it, how people might think about it.

If God wanted somebody else, didn’t let God get somebody else, but if he wants you, then let God use you. Fear not, don’t be afraid. But he tried to console me, says in verse 12, he said, certainly I will be with you. Now don’t you be afraid? I’ll be with you. Yeah, where are you? I can’t see you. All he heard was a voice. We spoke about something like that this morning didn’t we? He heard a voice. Moses, Moses, and Moses says, not here, not me, I’m not here.

And God had to do a work in his life. But remember, there is a vision that God has and He wants us to enter into that vision. See something that God sees. Be willing to do whatever it is that God wants us to do. Turn in your Bible to a book of 1st Samuel, the book of 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel, and you’ve heard of this little story, chapter 16. And 1 Samuel, chapter 16, you know, Saul it didn’t mess up.

So God was looking for another man. So he told Samuel, he says, I got somebody, I want you to go in a night. So go to the house of Jesse, and so he did, and he lined them all up and he says, that’s not him. That’s not the one. That’s not the one. know who he was. So he says in verse seven, but the Lord said unto Sam, look not on his countenance or on the height of the statue because I have refused him.

For the Lord see us not as man seeeth. For man looketh on the hour of appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart. But notice those two things in these verses because I see, he says, for the Lord seeeth not as man seeeth. The Lord look at them on the heart. What God sees is not what man always sees. So God sees things differently. Did you know that God could be looking into this room tonight? And he sees a person that’s willing to do whatever God wants him to do.

And that’s the kind of person God’s looking for. He’s not looking for the person that’s got all the talent, the great abilities, the greatest speaker, the greatest of anything. Because he knows if he uses this person, he got to give God the credit. He’s got to give God the honor. He’s got to give God the glory because he knows he’s limited in himself. I see a lot of people who’ve got a lot of talent and abilities like that. They try to take all the credit and the glory of themselves and they rob themselves of blessings, rob themselves of being used.

And so I think it’s a wonderful thing, but now look up there in verse 12, looking verse 12. And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ready and with all of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to. And the Lord said to write, unknown him for this is he. Is it because he looked good and all I didn’t know? It was because God looked at the bone of the heart. God saw a tender heart that he could shape and mold.

God can use him. So I believe that God let him know he’s going to be the king of Israel. And I was like, oh, I’m sorry. Was this David’s idea? It wasn’t David’s idea. This was God’s idea. She… Was this David’s idea? It wasn’t David’s idea. This was God’s idea. See, God had a purpose. So God began to work in the life of not just David, but he worked in the life of Saul and God used all the pressure of Saul in helping to mold this one.

God had to teach David, he had to run for his life and people were wanting to kill him and he had to live in the desert and hiding in the caves and so forth. And it’s amazing. But God taught him that he has to listen and walk with God. had to learn not to… Say anything against the Lord’s anointed, even though it was Saul. And so while David was young, he had a tender heart and God was able to use him to accomplish his purpose.

When David rebelled against the Lord and did some things he shouldn’t have done, God also used them to show how God can chase and judge. And David suffered and so did it also hit four times in his family, a price to pay. Now, we know that Joseph and the Bible had a dream, but who gave it to him? The Lord gave it to him. And the Lord had already planned on how to get Joseph down into Egypt. See, God could have just picked him up and put him down there.

God could have done a lot of things a lot of different ways, but God uses the actions of thoughts, the wills and so forth, the obedience and disobedience of people in order to weave his will. And you and I can never figure that out. But God, in his word says, God sent him down into Egypt. Doesn’t it say that? God sent him. And he will even put in irons. He went from the pit into prison into the palace. God placed him and worked it out.

Because God had a plan and God was fulfilling his dream, his vision. We’re just part of his vision. God just looking for those that can be used and have a tender heart. Someone that just comes to the Lord and says, Lord, I don’t care how you use me. My dream, my vision is whatever yours is. You’re free to use me any way you want, wherever you want, do to me anything you want. Good or bad It doesn’t matter to me.

I’m yours, Lord. And I’m going to trust you to do what you need to do in my life. And I know that you want what’s best for me. And I trust you. I trust you. Do you trust God that much that you can commit your whole life to Him and let Him freely do to you whatever He wants to do? But that’s the way it should be, shouldn’t it? And then whenever you’re seeing that you’re just doing what God wants you to do, shouldn’t that brain contentment that I’m doing the will of God?

Now we always want to, because of our love for the Lord, we want to do more for the Lord and more for the Lord and more for the Lord. And then there’s the devil who wants you to do less for the Lord and less for the Lord. And so he’s also working on you and he works on your mind, ties to defeat you and to discourage you so that you give up doing those things that you should do. So anyway, he makes a statement here in verse 13, then Samuel took the horn of all and anointed him in the midst of his brethren and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.

God had a purpose. You know when you read the Bible and you read the book of Daniel, you’ll find out that Daniel had a vision. God gave it to him. Did you know that it also never could never had a vision, God gave that to him. The Bible also tells us in the book of Isaiah in chapter 6 in the year that King Uzziah died. Isaiah says, I lifted up my eyes and I saw the Lord. Holy, holy, holy.

He had a vision. I saw the Lord. And then he made the statement the Lord did, who shall go for us?” And Isaiah says, Lord, here am I. In other words, Isaiah was simply saying, I’ll do what you want me to do. How would you like to have the vision, the dream that Jeremiah had? You see, he was placed in a pit, in a dungeon full of mud. He was almost dead if it hadn’t been for somebody who helped get him out of there.

He was persecuted. Later on he was taken even down into Egypt. But Jeremiah, he knew what God was going to do and he told the people the vision God gave to him. Ezekiel had to do the same thing. God told him and gave him a vision and says, this is what you tell the people. Even though their faces are hard and they’re not going to believe you because they’re a rebellious, you tell them anyway. And so the ministry that some of these people had wasn’t always a pleasant ministry.

It was a hard ministry. They were put in hard places at hard times. We would always like to have, you know, God call me full time to Hawaii. I’m going to witness to the people on the beach, but did not David make the statement? and Gave him a vision, but he had a vision to build the Lord something. What was it? David had a vision to build something. The temple. And even though he didn’t do it, he got all the stuff together and his son finished the project.

And he built Solomon’s temple. But David’s one had the dream. Do you think that it’s possible that God could have gave him that vision? That dream? Because God didn’t have to fulfill it just because God wouldn’t let him. let him build it. Do you think before the beginning of the world God knew what David was going to do? I do. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of John chapter 4, John chapter 4, and look there in verse 34.

When Jesus says these words in verse 34, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me. For my own personal enjoyment of the scriptures, I put in place my will is to do the will of him that sent me. My dream is to fulfill his dream. My vision was his vision. My purpose, my goal was his goal. My will is to do the will of him that sent me. So that meant that the Father had a will, a purpose for the Son coming into the world.

So Jesus knew what to do because He knew what the will of the Father was. If you want to know the will of God for you, know the will of God. And where do you find the will of God recorded within the Word of God? It is the will of God to know the Word of God so that you can know the will of God. Don’t that make sense? I think it makes sense. He says, this is what I want to finish, his work.

That’s why we say, are we involved in the work of the Lord? It’s got to be his work. What work does he want done? We don’t do a work and say, Lord, I know this is a good and acceptable because I thought of it. This was my idea. You might think something, but I would say put it this way. As you read instead of the Bible, you find out what are your responsibilities. Now who’s the one to give you responsibilities?

Your heavenly Father. So the will of God is for you to do what he told you to do. So if you do what he told you to do, you have a vision. You know what to do. Well, what did he tell you to do? What he told me to do this? Well, then that’s what you do. He told me to study his word. Okay, then that’s what I do. He told me to witness. Okay, then that’s what I do.

He told me to meet with God’s people. So that’s what I do. So whatever the word of God tells you, just do it. And if you become obedient where you are, then the Lord may open up another door. Another door. What another great message from Dr. Arnold. Friends, we hope more than anything else that you know you’re saved by believing Jesus died for your sin, and that Bibleline is helping you grow stronger and stronger in the Lord. Would you know how to witness to an atheist?

What do you start with if a person doesn’t even believe there is a God? For this month, all who send in a financial donation in any amount, we will mail to you Dr. Arnold’s DVD teaching lesson on how to witness to an atheist. You’ll gain some great insight on reaching people who may just need someone to explain the truth to them. This DVD series is yours for this month only with your financial donation in any amount. Again we’re so grateful to those of you who support this ministry.

Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. God bless you and thank you again for supporting Bible Life. 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.