Joy on the Sidewalks

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:05.799 I Am Yours, I am yours, I am yours. And Me, 2 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:11.830 Lord, I am yours, I am yours. I'm welcome to the Gospel 3 00:00:11.869 --> 00:00:17.429 Center Pro Life Podcast, a podcast designed to equip, encourage and challenge you 4 00:00:17.550 --> 00:00:21.699 in pro life ministry and always were the focus on the Gospel. Stay tuned. 5 00:00:23.699 --> 00:00:36.609 I felt show passish, touch your heart. Use Me. Welcome back 6 00:00:36.689 --> 00:00:41.369 to the Gospel centered pro life podcast. We appreciate you guys listening. We're 7 00:00:41.409 --> 00:00:44.850 glad to be able to bring these podcast episodes you guys and help encourage you 8 00:00:44.890 --> 00:00:48.170 guys and your ministry on the sidewalk. And, as always, we want 9 00:00:48.170 --> 00:00:50.799 you guys to reach out to us if you've got questions, if you've got 10 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:54.960 subject episode and so we'll give you, guys our email addresses at the end 11 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:57.159 of this episode so that you can reach out to us and give us what 12 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:02.280 your suggestions are for future podcast or clarification that you might need on other subjects 13 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:07.590 that we covered other I listen. We're not perfect. Vicki's close to perfect. 14 00:01:07.790 --> 00:01:11.590 Yeah, she's not quite there yet, and so maybe we said something 15 00:01:11.670 --> 00:01:15.829 that confused you and you need clarity on something or whatever. We would certainly 16 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:21.060 love to clarify that and answer any questions that you have, and so we'll 17 00:01:21.140 --> 00:01:23.659 again. We'll give you our email addresses at the end of this but Vicky, 18 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:30.420 introduce our topic for today. The I love this topic. It is 19 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:38.370 talking about where and how, or even do you find joy in sidewalk ministry, 20 00:01:38.609 --> 00:01:45.689 on the sidewalk, and unequivocally I can answer yes, and I think 21 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:49.920 I have said before on past podcast that when I was going through the hardest 22 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:53.959 time of my life, which was a period of a few years actually, 23 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:59.760 I was a sidewalk counselor at the time and I can say with absolute truth 24 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:04.709 that the greatest joy I found in life was on the sidewalk and I think 25 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:08.389 that this podcast is going to help people to understand how that could be, 26 00:02:08.469 --> 00:02:13.789 because here you are on a sidewalk where babies are dying by the dozens, 27 00:02:13.870 --> 00:02:15.819 by classroom fulls, every day that you're out there, if you're at a 28 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:21.379 busy place like we are, and it's a grievous place, there's no doubt 29 00:02:21.379 --> 00:02:25.620 about it, and you're watching some of the deepest darkis sin that is behind 30 00:02:25.860 --> 00:02:29.740 every one of those will not every one of those stories, but behind many 31 00:02:29.860 --> 00:02:34.009 of those stories of the women going into a board, you are facing down 32 00:02:34.729 --> 00:02:38.930 at the gates of hell. It feels like you are standing toetetoe with Satan 33 00:02:38.009 --> 00:02:43.930 himself. Yeah, and how in that kind of an environment, they it's 34 00:02:44.009 --> 00:02:49.199 often physically very difficult three or four hours usually that we're out there, usually 35 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:57.840 in really extremes of whether. How do you find joy? But but I 36 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:00.310 would say, I mean go ahead, one of the things up, because 37 00:03:00.310 --> 00:03:04.909 I think I text you about this subject. Yeah, US cover this subject, 38 00:03:04.909 --> 00:03:08.150 as I think it would be a blessing. Yeah, is you just 39 00:03:08.349 --> 00:03:14.539 the need for us to to really shine forth the joy of the Lord at 40 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:17.099 that place? Yeah, so that we're not just out there. I mean 41 00:03:17.219 --> 00:03:22.900 kind of to me it was like we want to be compelling, we want 42 00:03:22.900 --> 00:03:27.169 to compel, we want we want to encourage the women that are going into 43 00:03:27.169 --> 00:03:29.569 the abortions in a minute there, going into the abortion center, to come 44 00:03:29.610 --> 00:03:31.810 and talk to us. And so if we're just out there as a bunch 45 00:03:31.810 --> 00:03:38.050 of gruffs, they're just angry at abortion. We're angry, and we talked 46 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:40.520 about this in our podcast about motivation. Like the anger and the hatred for 47 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:45.039 abortion can't be our motivation, right. We've got to be motivated by love 48 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:47.599 for God yeah, and so of the love of God and the joy of 49 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:53.919 the Lord kind of exudes from us, then the hope is that it will 50 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:58.270 spill over onto others. Now, of course that's got to be tempered with 51 00:03:58.310 --> 00:04:00.789 the fact that they're murdering babies inside of there, and there's certainly an appropriate 52 00:04:00.870 --> 00:04:05.469 response. Is Weeping in anger can be an appropriate response to what's going on 53 00:04:05.550 --> 00:04:09.069 out there. And yes, so I don't mean to say that we need 54 00:04:09.150 --> 00:04:12.939 to pretend to be full of joy out there and be smiling ear to ear 55 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:16.860 when we don't really we're not really joyful. But I think this podcast hopefully, 56 00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:20.779 if you do have a problem being joyful out there, will encourage you 57 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:27.610 to be joyful and kind of the outflow of that would be that that magnetic 58 00:04:27.810 --> 00:04:31.930 nature of joy and life. And because we want love life, we want 59 00:04:32.009 --> 00:04:34.730 to show that we love life, not just that we hate abortion, we 60 00:04:34.810 --> 00:04:39.000 hate death, we love life and we want our presence to be one of 61 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:43.600 joy. And so I'll just practically share with you as in Washington state and 62 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:47.040 spending time with our missionary there, who's awesome woman of God and just doing 63 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:54.550 an amazing work there in Washington state. Washington state that mean like across the 64 00:04:54.589 --> 00:04:58.149 United States of America. This is the case, but I think him Washington 65 00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:01.389 state it's even even thicker like this, this darkness that looms over that place. 66 00:05:01.509 --> 00:05:04.750 You just a lot of deception, witchcraft and all that stuff. And 67 00:05:05.829 --> 00:05:09.660 what I found was I was there in front of one of the plan parenthoods 68 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:13.620 there just doing my thing, doing what I normally do. And you know, 69 00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:15.740 if I'm if I'm ministering at an abortion center on a busy road, 70 00:05:16.339 --> 00:05:20.850 I'm going to be smiling and waving at everybody that comes by. And I'm 71 00:05:20.889 --> 00:05:27.529 doing that not just because I'm some you know, some Hick that they just 72 00:05:27.649 --> 00:05:30.930 wants to be smiling away and all the time and how a y'all doing? 73 00:05:30.050 --> 00:05:32.810 You know, not, not because of that. I'm really doing that because 74 00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:36.360 I want to build relationships. Yeah, that's that's that's at the end of 75 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:41.120 the day. That's what I want to do and in particular, I want 76 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:44.399 to build relationships with the men and women that are coming into the abortion center. 77 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:46.519 I want to gain their trust. And who do you trust more? 78 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:50.149 Someone that has, you know, has a really sour look on their face 79 00:05:50.310 --> 00:05:54.670 that looks like a gruff that's just like, you know, looking at you 80 00:05:54.829 --> 00:05:59.910 like you're like you're Weirdo, or somebody that's smiling and waving. Right. 81 00:05:59.990 --> 00:06:01.589 Who Do you who would you be more inclined to stop and talk to? 82 00:06:01.629 --> 00:06:05.899 You somebody that's happy, smiling and waving. And so I don't know who's 83 00:06:05.939 --> 00:06:09.579 going to be pulling into the abortion center right. I don't know of all 84 00:06:09.620 --> 00:06:12.420 the traffic that's passing by, I don't know which ones are going to take 85 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:15.819 that turn into the abortion center, because I'm trying to smile, wave and 86 00:06:15.899 --> 00:06:18.649 make eye contact long before they get there. And so, since I don't 87 00:06:18.649 --> 00:06:21.569 know who they are that are pulling in, I'm going to do it for 88 00:06:21.610 --> 00:06:26.569 everybody. So I'm joyful and listen, this is not a put on fake 89 00:06:26.689 --> 00:06:29.529 joy. I have the joy of the Lord, even in front of a 90 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:33.160 place of death, because at the end of the day, I know Jesus 91 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:39.519 like I know the God who made the heavens and the Earth, and I'm 92 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:43.600 his child. Yeah, right, in his Holy Spirit, the same spirit 93 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:47.629 that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of me. I have the word 94 00:06:47.670 --> 00:06:51.990 of God, like God has given me his word to read and to meditate 95 00:06:53.149 --> 00:06:58.629 on. I'm in fellowship with him, and that stuff gives me joy. 96 00:06:59.269 --> 00:07:02.660 I actually believe that stuff right, and so, even in spite of all 97 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:05.699 that's going on in the world, all the terrible stuff, and the end 98 00:07:05.699 --> 00:07:10.300 of the day, I know God and I know he's going to right all 99 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:14.180 the wrongs, even what's going on inside of there. And so I don't 100 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:15.649 have to be angry, I don't have to be full of you know, 101 00:07:16.250 --> 00:07:20.769 even fear or whatever of the future, because I know the one. This 102 00:07:20.889 --> 00:07:23.610 is kind of Cheesy, right, I don't have to be afraid of the 103 00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:26.329 future because I know the one that holds the future. It's such a good 104 00:07:26.410 --> 00:07:29.089 line. Enough, it's a good it's a good line, but it's true. 105 00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:31.920 That is good. I'm in covenant with him, right, and I 106 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:38.439 can be joyful and that joy can show on my face and that joy can 107 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:41.279 actually compel others to stop and talk to me. And I'm telling you, 108 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:46.470 people are more inclined to talk with you if you're joyful, if you're if 109 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:48.310 you're full of life. Because I'll tell you who's not full of life. 110 00:07:48.949 --> 00:07:51.750 The people inside the abortion clinic, right, right. I mean we know 111 00:07:51.870 --> 00:07:58.230 plenty of people that worked in the abortion industry that quit and they're not happy. 112 00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:01.540 Their job is not a fun job. The whole place. The atmosphere 113 00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:07.779 inside the abortion clinic is darkness, it's death, it's really heavy inside of 114 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:11.100 their we know because we've heard from thousands of women that have been inside of 115 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:16.089 the abortion clinic and many workers that worked inside of the abortion clinic. Again, 116 00:08:16.569 --> 00:08:18.129 so we know it's dark and they're not full of joy inside of there. 117 00:08:18.610 --> 00:08:26.410 So why not really help create a stark contrast between plan parenthood or, 118 00:08:26.009 --> 00:08:30.439 you know, a preferred woman's house and er whatever abortion clinic is created a 119 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:35.559 start contract between the atmosphere inside of there with the atmosphere that's outside, with 120 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.559 the Christians that are out here who love Jesus and the love people. So 121 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:43.590 that's that's kind of what came to mind as I thought about this subject and 122 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:46.990 why I kind of shot that takes everybody, you to encourage you hate. 123 00:08:46.990 --> 00:08:50.830 We need to do an episode about this and basically you have just summarized the 124 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:56.980 entire article and one very eloquent couple of minutes there. But Um, it's 125 00:08:56.259 --> 00:09:00.700 report. We can wrap it up right now now. We actually have a 126 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:05.620 lot of scriptural support and honestly, you did touch in a general way on 127 00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:09.620 on everything that scripture points out but I do want to say if you don't 128 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:13.769 have that joy, you're not going to last. You will not last out 129 00:09:13.809 --> 00:09:18.610 there. We do need to tap into that joy in order to be sustained 130 00:09:18.690 --> 00:09:24.360 out there. So so I just the way I what I did after Daniel 131 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:28.039 had this this inspiration, and what I did was I did a word study 132 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:33.159 of joy in the Bible. And there's hundreds, hundreds and hundreds of versus 133 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:37.360 about joy, to the point where I had to just like just I couldn't 134 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:39.909 even read them all. I had to just cut off after I did like 135 00:09:39.110 --> 00:09:43.590 twenty. I thought, okay, that's better enough. But they they point 136 00:09:43.750 --> 00:09:46.950 out, I think each verse I tried to pick once that pointed out a 137 00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:54.059 different aspect of where that joy comes from and and how it could be applied 138 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:56.340 at our at our work on the sidewalk. So let's give that a shot. 139 00:09:56.379 --> 00:10:01.259 I'll kind of give you the summary of what I've found in a verse 140 00:10:01.460 --> 00:10:05.779 and then you can read the verse and and expound upon it. But but 141 00:10:05.059 --> 00:10:15.250 the first one is it is in adversity and opposition that's strange and joy are 142 00:10:15.370 --> 00:10:18.690 built. And so just think of that adversity and opposition. While we certainly 143 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:22.840 see plenty of that out on out on the sidewalk. Yes, we do. 144 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.320 Yeah, and so James and James Won. Yeah, I love this 145 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:31.720 passage. First two counted all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials 146 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:37.190 of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, 147 00:10:37.710 --> 00:10:41.669 and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and 148 00:10:41.789 --> 00:10:45.909 complete, lacking in nothing. So and he's talking about people, he's talking 149 00:10:45.909 --> 00:10:48.750 about Christians that are being persecuted, some of them unto death. He's saying 150 00:10:50.860 --> 00:10:54.899 take joy, count it all joy, and that word joy, I think, 151 00:10:54.059 --> 00:11:00.100 is very intentional, that even though we don't feel good, maybe even 152 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:03.529 outwardly, because of persecution or whatever, we can be joyful in the fact 153 00:11:03.570 --> 00:11:09.690 that we know the Lord and that God is using even when someone persecutes us 154 00:11:09.690 --> 00:11:13.210 or calls US names or whatever, God is using that to test our faith 155 00:11:13.409 --> 00:11:18.919 and to produce, produce steadfastness to make us more like Jesus. All right, 156 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:20.559 yeah, so it's going to strengthen us and it helps you to look 157 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:24.519 at those trials, I think, in a very different way, instead of 158 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:28.279 saying woe is me, look at what I'm enduring out here. It can 159 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:33.190 be lucky me, look at the opportunity to grow in my strength in the 160 00:11:33.309 --> 00:11:39.830 Lord and my stead fat, fat steadfastness and in my faith. So there's 161 00:11:39.870 --> 00:11:45.190 a shift that happens when no, when you know there's a there's a passage 162 00:11:45.230 --> 00:11:48.419 in acts. I believe it's in acts, chapter four, Gush, it 163 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:52.100 could be a little later on. You guys probably who are listening, probably 164 00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:54.539 more than I do, but you know know the passage when I mention it. 165 00:11:54.620 --> 00:12:00.740 That where Peter and John were beaten for speaking the name of Jesus, 166 00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:05.129 preaching the name of Jesus, and it said they rejoice because they were accounted 167 00:12:05.250 --> 00:12:09.090 worthy to suffer for his namesake. So they rejoice. They were happy that 168 00:12:09.129 --> 00:12:13.889 they were beaten. That's kind of hard, but they saw things from an 169 00:12:13.889 --> 00:12:18.559 eternal perspective and they were able to rejoice because they were counted worthy to suffer 170 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:24.000 for the name of Jesus. They loved to Jesus and they were able to 171 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.559 be identified with him in that way and they were joyful. Man, that's 172 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:31.669 tough, but the Holy Spirit can give us strength to be joyful even in 173 00:12:31.710 --> 00:12:33.470 the midst of being beat with the rods like they were. Yeah, and 174 00:12:33.629 --> 00:12:41.789 actually that feeds into the second general principle of joy. The Holy Spirit brings 175 00:12:41.909 --> 00:12:48.500 joy and the Holy Spirit is present in every believer. And on that sidewalk 176 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:52.220 the Holy Spirit is there. Yeah, absolutely. We know the fruits of 177 00:12:52.259 --> 00:12:56.740 the spirit. The fruit of the spirit is love. WHAT'S THE NEXT ONE? 178 00:12:56.820 --> 00:13:01.929 Joy, peace, patience, kind that's goodness, faithfuless, gentleness and 179 00:13:01.049 --> 00:13:05.169 self control. The Holy Spirit working in US again. This is the spirit 180 00:13:05.250 --> 00:13:11.169 that raised Jesus from him the dead. This is the Holy Spirit. The 181 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:15.399 what the third person of the Trinity, right, what we identify as the 182 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:20.480 third person of the Trinity? He's God living inside of us. Yeah, 183 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:26.200 this same God who created all things, who, you know, some people 184 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:30.110 joke and say God has a sense of humor. He does this. This 185 00:13:30.309 --> 00:13:33.070 God, the God of the Bible. Yes, there's a heaviness, there's 186 00:13:33.070 --> 00:13:35.710 a weightiness to his presence. Right, he's not to be trifled with. 187 00:13:35.789 --> 00:13:39.789 He's holy, he's other than he's different than we are, but he's also 188 00:13:39.830 --> 00:13:45.379 a god of joy. And to the point where here the Holy Spirit of 189 00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:52.980 God, the fruit, the outflow of his working is joy. And so 190 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:56.169 we can be joyful in the midst of trial, we can be joyful in 191 00:13:56.210 --> 00:14:00.210 the midst of darkness and death, because we know him and we have him 192 00:14:00.250 --> 00:14:03.649 in US right. So similar truth, and this is our third one, 193 00:14:03.769 --> 00:14:09.840 is that we cannot serve without the help of Jesus and our joy is full 194 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:18.639 when we rely on him. where else do you rely so heavily upon the 195 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:24.389 Holy Spirit then in an impossible ministry like this young yeah, yeah, absolutely. 196 00:14:26.149 --> 00:14:30.190 It's like put yourself out there so that you're beholding to the Lord. 197 00:14:30.269 --> 00:14:33.149 If you do ministry and you're involved in things that you can do in your 198 00:14:33.190 --> 00:14:37.590 own natural giftings as not a whole lot of joy in that right. But 199 00:14:37.669 --> 00:14:41.220 if you push yourself out of your comfort zone and you watch the Holy Spirit 200 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:45.059 move through you, there's a lot of joy and just looking back and seeing. 201 00:14:45.139 --> 00:14:48.659 I mean we had an experience yesterday where we did a one hour journey 202 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:52.450 with some pastor or some leaders out on the sidewalk, and that's where we 203 00:14:52.529 --> 00:14:56.250 take pastors and leaders out to kind of show them the Ministry of Love Life 204 00:14:56.250 --> 00:15:00.210 and kind of talking through just have some time to pray. There's a really 205 00:15:00.250 --> 00:15:03.690 sweet moment in the Lord's presence where we are praying. We are praying for 206 00:15:03.850 --> 00:15:07.039 God to protect those babies inside the building and for women to run out of 207 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:11.759 that place. Thirty minutes later, this young lady comes running out of that 208 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:16.279 place, just as she prayed. Yeah, it's like thirty minutes after we 209 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:18.200 pray, Sam, it was Presus, like you prayed. Yeah, so 210 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:20.909 she comes running out of that place and it's like we get to look back 211 00:15:20.909 --> 00:15:24.590 and we know it's God's work. Right, God did the stuff. It 212 00:15:24.750 --> 00:15:28.629 wasn't us, right, but I'm like, this one brother who's out there 213 00:15:30.070 --> 00:15:33.669 called me. He's like joy, like you, just in his voice, 214 00:15:33.750 --> 00:15:35.620 like that was miraculous, I was amazing. God, let us be a 215 00:15:35.740 --> 00:15:39.259 part of that. It was all the work of the Lord. But God 216 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:45.779 uses prayer and God uses people, so we were counted worthy to be part 217 00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:50.450 of that whole situation, and that's so amazing and brings so much joy. 218 00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:54.850 But never would we've been able to experience that if we didn't put ourselves on 219 00:15:54.929 --> 00:15:58.889 the line, make ourselves uncomfortable and just being out there on the sidewall and 220 00:15:58.009 --> 00:16:02.250 depend with ourselves in an impossible situations. Right, and but the God, 221 00:16:02.370 --> 00:16:06.639 who's the God over the impossible, will do make possible what we think is 222 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:11.360 impossible. And I love the verse that that we connected with this one. 223 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:15.799 John Sixteen Twenty Four. Yeah, until now you've asked nothing in my name. 224 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:21.389 Asked and you will receive that your joy may be full. This is 225 00:16:21.429 --> 00:16:26.190 US asking the Lord so that our joy may be full, bringing our petitions 226 00:16:26.269 --> 00:16:30.309 before God so that our joy may be full. God wants to give us 227 00:16:30.429 --> 00:16:33.419 fullness of joy and he'll do it. That's so much what you described. 228 00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:37.340 You asked in that prayer for the woman, for that people would run out. 229 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:41.019 The woman ran out and your joy was full because not only had you 230 00:16:41.100 --> 00:16:45.940 seen the power of God, but you had seen his gracious response to a 231 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:51.049 specific prayer. Doesn't always work that way, but it it. When it 232 00:16:51.210 --> 00:16:55.370 does, my goodness, the joy is is, as this verse says, 233 00:16:55.409 --> 00:17:00.440 your joy is full. The presence of God is very strong when we face 234 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:07.839 a ferocious enemy, which there is no I mean we are facing Satan. 235 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:10.519 Like I've said, we are at the gates of hell when you're in sidelock 236 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:15.910 ministry. So when you are in the presence of God, when he is 237 00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:23.589 coming against his most forceful enemy, Satan himself, there is a fullness of 238 00:17:23.670 --> 00:17:29.990 joy. Yeah, absolutely, Psalm Sixteen Eleven, you make known to me 239 00:17:30.099 --> 00:17:33.539 the path of life in your presence is the fullness of joy at your right 240 00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:40.140 hand or pleasures for Evermore. Here's a point that we've touched on so many 241 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:42.180 times and we're going to keep on touching on. Yes, we're in the 242 00:17:42.259 --> 00:17:45.930 presence of the Lord. Wherever we go on the sidewalk, the Lord is 243 00:17:47.049 --> 00:17:51.210 in US and his presence is there and sometimes you can like tangibly feel the 244 00:17:51.289 --> 00:17:56.410 presence of the Lord, like God's doing something miraculous behind the scenes. But 245 00:17:56.809 --> 00:18:02.359 I will say we need to be personally in our walk with the Lord, 246 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:06.480 in his presence, because there can be a heaviness in our lives. But 247 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:08.880 when we get in the presence the Lord between us and and the Lord, 248 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:14.829 spending time in prayer with the Lord, his presence, as he touches our 249 00:18:14.869 --> 00:18:18.509 hearts, as he speaks to us through his word, I mean not. 250 00:18:18.750 --> 00:18:22.710 I'll all sometimes getting my prayer, calls it, and put some worship music 251 00:18:22.789 --> 00:18:26.980 on the just worship him and just getting refreshed in his presence brings joy and 252 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:30.099 I can go and I can go on the sidewalk in this very dark place, 253 00:18:32.339 --> 00:18:37.339 but I can minister enjoy because I just had an encounter with my father 254 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:40.619 right he just spoke to my heart. He just spoke something fresh to me 255 00:18:40.779 --> 00:18:44.529 through his word and energized me, and so I can minister out of that 256 00:18:44.730 --> 00:18:48.890 life that he's put in me and I can minister enjoy even in spite of 257 00:18:48.930 --> 00:18:52.490 the death and there the darkness is going on inside of that place. Yeah, 258 00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:56.720 and so it's very important for anyone involved in this kind of ministry, 259 00:18:56.759 --> 00:19:02.160 really any ministry that especially such a FO cult ministry, to have a regular 260 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:07.480 time where you are intentional, intentional about spending time in the presence of the 261 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:11.069 Lord. Yeah, and you know church, of course, but I think 262 00:19:11.109 --> 00:19:15.789 an alone time with with God is really, really important and that's what Jesus 263 00:19:15.950 --> 00:19:19.990 models himself. And for me it's so it's getting in in nature in my 264 00:19:21.069 --> 00:19:23.619 Kayak, on long hikes, on my bike, on long walks, something 265 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:29.180 where there's no one around me and I'm surrounded by the beauty of his creation 266 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:33.059 and I'm not worshiping the creation, but it just brings me more in touch 267 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:37.730 with the Creator and that's when I'm probably most closely feel his presence and I 268 00:19:38.049 --> 00:19:42.450 need a lot of that time, and even more so if I'm at on 269 00:19:42.529 --> 00:19:48.130 the sidewalk more. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. We knew the 270 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:52.329 passage give us this day our daily bread. We Need Mana from heaven. 271 00:19:52.369 --> 00:19:55.559 Yeah, and we need it every day. Every day we need to be 272 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:57.839 spending time in the presence of the Lord. Yeah, every day. Whatever 273 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:02.680 that looks like. I mean for you it's on your Kayak. For me 274 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:04.720 it's in the morning when I get up, and I do think that, 275 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:07.789 and I'm pretty sure you do this. Like we get up, we spend 276 00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:11.710 time in the word, we stem spend time in prayer. Right, some 277 00:20:11.829 --> 00:20:15.789 people spend more focused time in prayer and in my early part of my walk 278 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:18.710 with the Lord, my most focused time you. I'd get up in the 279 00:20:18.750 --> 00:20:22.299 morning, read some scripture and do your quick prayer to start my day, 280 00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:25.339 but my most focused time was actually in the evenings before I went to bed. 281 00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:26.579 It was just it was a bleed best time in the presence of the 282 00:20:26.619 --> 00:20:32.059 Lord and inner jazz and refreshed me in his presence. So whatever that looks 283 00:20:32.099 --> 00:20:34.099 like for you guys, there's plenty of books out there about how to get 284 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:37.250 in the presence of the Lord. But listen, if you're involved in this 285 00:20:37.369 --> 00:20:41.609 ministry, what do we say? Be In the word and be in prayer, 286 00:20:41.730 --> 00:20:44.809 be in church. He's your three means that God has given to help 287 00:20:44.930 --> 00:20:52.279 us to stay fueled. And if you're walking in you kind of a lack 288 00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:56.799 of joy in your life, maybe you need to examine. Am I really 289 00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:00.319 spending time with the Lord? Am I really spending time with this God of 290 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:03.710 joy, this God who, you know, the Holy Spirit, that the 291 00:21:03.789 --> 00:21:07.869 fruit of his Holy Spirit is one of those fruits is is joy right? 292 00:21:07.910 --> 00:21:11.710 And so it's been a time in the presence of the God who brings joy, 293 00:21:11.789 --> 00:21:15.710 in the presence of the Lord and your presence, there's fullness of joys 294 00:21:15.910 --> 00:21:21.660 is vital to us. Exuding that joy is exuding the right words that sound, 295 00:21:21.819 --> 00:21:25.660 yes, very good words. That's Ella, Daniel, and you'll get 296 00:21:25.779 --> 00:21:30.819 extra credit. No, it's yeah, yeah, I also have a warning 297 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:36.450 what you point out. It's not just abiding in his presence, you know, 298 00:21:36.609 --> 00:21:38.849 through prayer or wherever you find God, a per closet, whatever, 299 00:21:38.930 --> 00:21:44.170 but but abiding in his word, because that's how he speaks very tangibly to 300 00:21:44.250 --> 00:21:48.160 us. His word is it's written. He's written what we need to hear 301 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:52.519 and know. And and so I think it's very important that again, it 302 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:56.559 be intentional, that you see you fine time when you are alone with God, 303 00:21:56.759 --> 00:21:59.519 no distractions, no TV on, and for me. It's early, 304 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:03.789 early morning, nobody else is awake. I sit down with coffee and breakfast 305 00:22:03.910 --> 00:22:08.390 in and open up my Bible and and that's when I absorb so much of 306 00:22:10.349 --> 00:22:15.980 what God is saying to me. So really important for for every one of 307 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:22.299 us who are involved in sidewalk ministry. There is sorrow for you, like 308 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:26.619 you said early on. Therefore, there is grief, there is sorrow in 309 00:22:26.940 --> 00:22:33.930 in this ministry, but we have a hope. We cannot forget that hope 310 00:22:34.609 --> 00:22:41.130 that will see Jesus in the end. And in the end all things will 311 00:22:41.170 --> 00:22:45.839 may be made right and no one can steal the certainty of that joy. 312 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:48.519 I just read, by the way, this is a little bit off topic, 313 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.319 but it's true too. This morning in my Bible study it mentioned a 314 00:22:52.400 --> 00:23:02.390 movie where the line was if, if it's not all right, it will 315 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:06.549 all be made right in the end, and if it isn't all right, 316 00:23:07.470 --> 00:23:11.750 it's not the end. And that's just a movie line, but it's actually 317 00:23:11.950 --> 00:23:17.460 theologically kind of true. In the end it will all be made right and 318 00:23:17.619 --> 00:23:22.180 we can be joyful in the midst of all those setbacks and that whore that 319 00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:26.299 we often see on earth, because we know the end of the story, 320 00:23:26.660 --> 00:23:30.529 and there's a couple of good verses that that go along with with that thought. 321 00:23:32.410 --> 00:23:34.769 Yeah, so, John Sixteen, twenty two. Yeah. So, 322 00:23:34.970 --> 00:23:40.289 also, you have sorrow now, but I will see you again in your 323 00:23:40.329 --> 00:23:44.720 hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you, no one, 324 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.279 knowing to no one, and nothing containing this present. Right. Yeah. 325 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:52.960 Absolutely. Also, I'm thirty verse five, for His anger is but 326 00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:57.390 for a moment and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping May Tarry for 327 00:23:57.470 --> 00:24:03.029 the night, but joy comes in the morning. Amen. Yeah, so 328 00:24:06.309 --> 00:24:10.299 this is the day that God has appointed for us. Right, we all 329 00:24:10.539 --> 00:24:15.339 have today, right now. We're not guaranteed anything else. We can rejoice 330 00:24:15.619 --> 00:24:21.019 in that simple fact. We can rejoice in that day and be assured that 331 00:24:21.220 --> 00:24:26.890 God wants us there at that very place, at that very moment, speaking 332 00:24:26.009 --> 00:24:32.529 those very words and finding joy in the hours that he has given us to 333 00:24:32.569 --> 00:24:36.329 serve. I mean, nothing is an extent nothing. Nothing isn't that. 334 00:24:36.410 --> 00:24:40.519 God doesn't make mistakes. US being there in front of that abortion center is 335 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:42.160 if God has called you there, and of course, if you're there, 336 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:48.200 you probably believe he has. That's where you're supposed to be, and there's 337 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:51.880 joy knowing that you're in the place where God has appointed you to be. 338 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:56.269 Amen. Yeah, some one eighteen, verse twenty four. This is the 339 00:24:56.390 --> 00:25:00.750 day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 340 00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:03.950 A man, we can rejoice and be glad. Yeah, there is 341 00:25:03.109 --> 00:25:08.980 joy in discovering the strength of God when our strength fails us. We have 342 00:25:10.099 --> 00:25:14.660 touched on that on on past podcast. It's not our strength, it's it's 343 00:25:14.779 --> 00:25:19.460 the student of God. And when we recognize that, our strength will fail 344 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:22.769 us. All of us are going to get old like me, and you 345 00:25:22.890 --> 00:25:26.450 are going to find that you are not as strong as you used to be 346 00:25:26.690 --> 00:25:32.569 and and things are falling apart. So your strength will fail and if your 347 00:25:32.730 --> 00:25:37.200 joy is built on you being strong and able to conquer the world, that 348 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:41.680 will end. Yeah, it's kind of goes back to that whole one about 349 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:45.359 kind of putting ourselves out there and seeing God do the impossible through us. 350 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:51.109 Yes, is that we learned that the strength that is needed to accomplish the 351 00:25:51.150 --> 00:25:55.109 mission that God has called us who comes from him. And so here this 352 00:25:55.230 --> 00:25:57.670 passage in the AMA eight hundred and ten, which is a powerful passage scripture, 353 00:25:59.309 --> 00:26:02.710 it says, then he said to them go your way, eat the 354 00:26:02.789 --> 00:26:06.819 fat and drink the sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready 355 00:26:07.819 --> 00:26:11.059 for this day is wholly to the Lord. Do not be grieved, for 356 00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:14.779 the joy of the Lord is your strength. Yeah, the joy of the 357 00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:18.170 Lord. Now there's a heaviness. This is Nehemiah. This is Nehemiah sharing 358 00:26:18.329 --> 00:26:22.170 with the children of Israel how they had turned away from God, and this 359 00:26:22.210 --> 00:26:26.009 is like revival breaking out and they these people are broken and they're fasting and 360 00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:30.569 praying before the Lord because, you know, they're praying for the Lord to 361 00:26:30.650 --> 00:26:36.599 restore his people and restore Jerusalem. Leave. That's the context here, and 362 00:26:36.759 --> 00:26:38.160 the am I encourages them. Yeah, I mean, there's a time to 363 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:41.920 weep and all that. Right, we know that in scripture, but he's 364 00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:45.519 saying the joy of the Lord is your strength. Be Joyful in God, 365 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:49.269 like we are his children, we know him, so let the joy be 366 00:26:49.430 --> 00:26:52.670 your strength. Yeah, and so guys on the sidewalk. Yeah, again 367 00:26:52.710 --> 00:26:56.190 it's heavy inside of there. They're killing babies and the church is not risen 368 00:26:56.230 --> 00:27:00.549 up in the number that she needs to rise up, and that can be 369 00:27:00.630 --> 00:27:03.940 heavy. And we want our nation to turn back to the Lord and repentance 370 00:27:04.140 --> 00:27:08.819 needs to flow across the land and restoration to God. But let's let the 371 00:27:08.940 --> 00:27:11.900 joy the Lord be our strength. Even in spite of that, that we 372 00:27:12.099 --> 00:27:15.490 know him, that God is still doing something in this earth. Babies are 373 00:27:15.529 --> 00:27:21.329 being saved at places of death, the Gospels being preached right souls are coming 374 00:27:21.369 --> 00:27:23.329 into the kingdom, not as many as we would like, but they're still 375 00:27:23.410 --> 00:27:26.890 coming into the Kingdom of God and we get to be a part of that. 376 00:27:26.410 --> 00:27:30.319 So let's let the joy of the Lord out there be our strength, 377 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:33.240 let it be our energy, what energize them with, what gets us up 378 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:36.519 in the morning and gets us out there on the sidewalk with the joy the 379 00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:40.240 Lord be that strength. Yeah, and so we have an article out and 380 00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:44.079 we're not going to go over the rest of it because, well, we'll 381 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:47.789 let you read those in the article. I'm going to go all the way 382 00:27:47.829 --> 00:27:49.950 to the last point in the article, but you all can look at that 383 00:27:51.109 --> 00:27:56.269 article that comes out with this lots of really great verses and I think it's 384 00:27:56.349 --> 00:28:03.420 given you a taste of of the fact that scripturally there's no doubt we should 385 00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:07.619 have joy in ministry for the Lord. But all these passages, I'll just 386 00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:11.099 say you guys need to read the article because, yeah, all of these 387 00:28:11.180 --> 00:28:15.529 passages, in the points that are that are kind of made and then reiterated 388 00:28:15.529 --> 00:28:18.930 by these passages of scripture are powerful. Just talking about joy, I mean 389 00:28:18.009 --> 00:28:25.329 joy is a common word throughout all of the Old Testament and the New Testament 390 00:28:25.369 --> 00:28:29.279 and of course we know, listen in light of what's going on around us. 391 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:30.640 We live in a dark world. There's there's babies that are dying, 392 00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:34.480 people are going people are going to hell, there's death and sickness and all 393 00:28:34.519 --> 00:28:37.160 that stuff. When we know that, we have to grapple with that, 394 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:42.750 we have to deal with that. Jesus certainly knew that. Jesus experienced darkness 395 00:28:42.789 --> 00:28:48.630 and death and all the things that the fallen world has to offer. And 396 00:28:48.750 --> 00:28:52.950 yet Jesus was was a joyful guy. I don't see Jesus, and read 397 00:28:52.990 --> 00:28:56.660 about him in the New Testament, as just he's some gruff that walks around 398 00:28:56.660 --> 00:28:57.940 with a chip on his shoulder all the time, just mad at the world. 399 00:28:59.059 --> 00:29:03.859 He certainly called Sinsin, he certainly confronts wickedness and evil, but he 400 00:29:03.940 --> 00:29:07.180 seems in his interactions with with the disciples and just in general, to be 401 00:29:07.299 --> 00:29:11.849 a joyful man right, and so he's our example. And why was he 402 00:29:11.930 --> 00:29:15.130 joyful? Well, because he spent time in the presence of his father. 403 00:29:15.289 --> 00:29:19.690 So these passages of scripture and the encouragement that we given to you guys hopefully 404 00:29:21.089 --> 00:29:23.009 have been an encouragement for you guys to get in the presence of the Lord 405 00:29:23.009 --> 00:29:30.279 and just have that that joy of the Lord Exude from your person out there 406 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:34.400 on the sidewalk and be a person with joy on your face and joy in 407 00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:37.789 your eyes joy in your heart. Yeah, and let's let's let's do one 408 00:29:37.910 --> 00:29:41.549 more. Let's let's give one more. It's at the very end, it's 409 00:29:41.589 --> 00:29:45.630 the very last one, because I think that would be a good closing thing 410 00:29:45.789 --> 00:29:52.349 to think about. There is joy in knowing that we're pleasing God by our 411 00:29:52.430 --> 00:29:56.420 faithfulness and ministry. Yeah, and I think that that gives you a whole 412 00:29:56.460 --> 00:30:02.059 new perspective again, when you're facing all the persecution, and you know, 413 00:30:02.099 --> 00:30:06.859 our lives are usually not on the line, but it's definitely persecution out in 414 00:30:07.210 --> 00:30:11.049 front of an abortion center and rejection. But you can have joy because you 415 00:30:11.170 --> 00:30:15.170 are there pleasing God, you are being faithful in doing what he has called 416 00:30:15.250 --> 00:30:21.250 you to do, even when it's painful. Yeah, absolutely, and it 417 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:25.880 really kind of speaks to that pleasure that a child has in doing what they 418 00:30:25.960 --> 00:30:29.319 know pleases their father. You know, I think about my kids. If 419 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:32.160 they ever did clean their room, which they don't do very often, but 420 00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:34.640 if they ever did, I can imagine a scenario in which they would come 421 00:30:34.710 --> 00:30:38.190 and actually, this has happened. They just got done clean in the room. 422 00:30:38.190 --> 00:30:41.509 They know it looks they're like. They come in and say, Daddy, 423 00:30:41.710 --> 00:30:42.430 come and look at my room, come and look at my room. 424 00:30:44.069 --> 00:30:47.750 They're happy that they did the right thing, even without being asked, and 425 00:30:47.990 --> 00:30:51.900 there's joy in that, in pleasing their father. That's kind of a natural 426 00:30:51.940 --> 00:30:55.740 example. But then we see this example in Matthew, Chapter Twenty five and 427 00:30:55.819 --> 00:30:59.140 verse one, and it says his master said to him, well done, 428 00:30:59.180 --> 00:31:02.819 good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a little. I will set 429 00:31:02.900 --> 00:31:07.450 you over much. Enter into the joy of your master and turn to God's 430 00:31:07.569 --> 00:31:11.609 Joy. Yeah, and there's joy in doing. I mean, just imagine 431 00:31:11.650 --> 00:31:15.250 that scene in heaven. But God says well done, good and faithful servant. 432 00:31:15.250 --> 00:31:18.200 That's what we're after, right, God saying well done, and just 433 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:22.160 imagine the joy that we're going to have in that. Well, we can 434 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:26.640 have that joy now, knowing that what we're doing is an obedience to God, 435 00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:29.319 given a voice to the voiceless. Right, we know that what we're 436 00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:33.750 doing is pleasing to the father and that we are in extension of his work 437 00:31:33.869 --> 00:31:38.109 in the earth, pleading on behalf of the fatherless, of the orphan and 438 00:31:38.190 --> 00:31:41.670 the widow. Right, God is a father to the fatherless and we are 439 00:31:41.750 --> 00:31:45.990 being his hands in his feet. We are being extent, an extension of 440 00:31:45.910 --> 00:31:49.299 what he desires to do to protect the innocent, and we can have joy 441 00:31:49.779 --> 00:31:53.380 in that. And so, guys, a hope that this, this episode, 442 00:31:53.420 --> 00:31:56.660 was an encouragement, do you guys, to go out there to minister 443 00:31:56.779 --> 00:32:00.700 out of joy, not, of course, losing the reality of what's happening. 444 00:32:00.900 --> 00:32:04.049 We will never lose that, that babies are dying, that people are 445 00:32:04.130 --> 00:32:07.890 headed for hell like that's a reality that needs to be heavy on our parts. 446 00:32:07.970 --> 00:32:12.450 But even in spite of that reality, we can have joy and knowing 447 00:32:12.569 --> 00:32:15.079 God, knowing that he's going to right the wrongs, that we belong to 448 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:19.720 him. His Word is enough, he is sufficient to do the work. 449 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:22.559 His grace is sufficient to empower us to do what he's called us to so 450 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:27.200 we can minister out of joy. So hopefully this was a blessing and, 451 00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:30.390 as we talked about at the very beginning, we want you guys to reach 452 00:32:30.430 --> 00:32:32.190 out to us if we can, if we can bring some encouragement to you 453 00:32:32.269 --> 00:32:36.190 guys, if we can do a podcast episode, that would be a blessing 454 00:32:36.230 --> 00:32:37.309 to you. If you have any questions for us, you can reach out 455 00:32:37.309 --> 00:32:40.390 to me, Daniel, Love Life Dot Org. You read reach out to 456 00:32:40.470 --> 00:32:44.700 her, Vicky at Love Life Dot Org. We'd love to help you and 457 00:32:44.740 --> 00:32:47.819 answer any questions that we can. But until next time, God bless got 458 00:32:47.900 --> us.