Telling the Truth

Female Announcer: Today on Telling the Truth, Jill Briscoe shares how Christ can set you free from the sins that are truly weighing you down. But first, in their two message series, Worry Less, Stuart and Jill Briscoe help you break free from worry and experience the joy and peace God wants for you. We'll send you a copy of this resource, plus Jill's booklet, Me Worry, as thanks for your gift today to help others experience life in Christ.

So call today to request your copy of Worry Less and Me Worry. 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org.

Now, here's Jill Briscoe with her message, Overloaded.

Jill Briscoe: He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped and we were healed. All of us have strayed away like sheep. We've left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we are healed.

He carried our sins, and he also carried our sorrows. He carried life's sorrows. What does this mean? Well, one of life's sorrows is shame. I know people's lives that are ruined with this incredible sense of shame. How could God ever forgive me? I can't forgive myself. For what I've done, for what I've been, how could God forgive me? And this is a huge burden. It's a sorrow, a soul sorrow. Well, he can carry that.

He carried our sins, and he also carried our sorrows. He carried life's sorrows. What does this mean? Well, one of life's sorrows is shame. I know people's lives that are ruined with this incredible sense of shame. How could God ever forgive me? I can't forgive myself. For what I've done, for what I've been, how could God forgive me? And this is a huge burden. It's a sorrow, a soul sorrow. Well, he can carry that.

Maybe you need to have a good dose of Psalm 51, some of you. Where David is praying his incredible prayer of repentance after Nathan has faced him up and told him that God isn't very pleased with his adultery and murder of Uriah the Hittite.

And David says, "I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." And he begins to see things as they really are and call things as they really are. And what you have to do when you come to Christ is name things. Give them their real names. That's anger, that's bitterness, that's adulterous thought. That's coveting, that's lying. A half truth is a whole lie.

And we need to call these things by their real names, instead of dancing around it and calling them growing up, being mature, etcetera, etcetera. And David comes in repentance, and he says, "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

There are some things that only God can heal. Some things only God can do. Hyssop was a little plant, grows in Israel. You see it if you travel over there, in the walls, little sort of bushy, like, sponge, little thing. And the priests used to dip it in the blood of the lamb that had been sacrificed. And they used to sprinkle the leper, the leper with the blood of the sacrifice.

And the leper that God had healed would have to go to the priests. If you remember when Jesus healed 10 lepers, he sent them to the priests to make sure that the skin disease had gone. And then the priest would dip the sponge, the hyssop, in a sacrifice that the leper had brought. And he would sprinkle him with the blood. "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean."

And David had done something, and he felt like a leper. Only God can cleanse a leper. And only the life, for the life is in the blood, the life that was shed for us on Calvary can make us clean. Do you want to feel clean inside? Then come to him. "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." And he will carry your sins, but he'll also carry your sorrows.

God can absolutely pick you up and carry your sorrows. Carry your sorrows. How is this? Because of the cross. You know, it's because he's carried our sorrows to Calvary. It's because he carried our sins, because he died for us, that he can lift the soul burdens off us internally.

I wrote a little book years ago, and I remember the name. Harro Sparrow. I want to tell you a little story. I haven't read this book, I never read anything I've written, but I had a read of this book, and it's really quite good. I was obviously inspired years ago.

Now, it's a weird thing, but it touched me. And that's a really weird thing. I thought, "This shouldn't be touching me. I wrote it." But I wanted to write a book about suffering, about sorrow for children. I wanted parents and children to interact together.

And so, I looked in the Bible and found everything it said about sparrows. And it's really very sad. And I gathered these sparrows, everything I found into a family, and I gave them all a name: Father Sparrow, Mother Sparrow, Twitter and Tweet, they were the two brothers. And Harro, three boys.

And Harro was called Harro Sparrow because he had a very harrowing life, because they did in the Bible. I mean, everything. They two got put in a pie. Some got sold in the market. Everything always happened. And they were all brown, and they didn't have nice feathers like, you know, I was going to say Ducky geese, but I mean, parrots and things like that.

Well, the story opens on a very sad note, really, because a little egg is born into the nest, a little poor sparrow family, and this, they give the little bird in the egg a name, Chirpy. And they have an ultrasound, so they know that it's a girl. That's not in the book. Should be. Modernize it a bit.

And the rent collector is Early Bird, and he's the villain. And Early Bird has had a very bad childhood, and so he's sort of not very nice, rent collector. And his father was an alcoholic, actually, because he used to eat berries in the forest.

And when he tries to get back to his nest, he goes like this, and his beak's bent because he goes into a tree. You know, sort of get the picture. He's had a tough life. And therefore, he's, he's not very nice. So he comes to collect the rent, and the poor sparrows don't have any rent. They won't open the door, so he pecks a hole in the nest.

And guess what? First page, little Chirpy rolls out of the hole and goes to birdie heaven. That's sad. Sad. Harro wants to know why, where she's gone. And so the story begins. And one day to forget their sorrow, they're flying over some birds without wings, which are human.

And they see a man whose voice sounds strangely familiar. And of course, it's the Sparrow Maker. It's Jesus. And so Jesus looks around and he needs an illustration, and he says, "Behold the birds of the air." And they become his companions, and he uses them, makes them feel so valued because he starts teaching, and they're always with him.

And so I tell the gospel story, and the little birds are there at the Transfiguration, and they build their nest in the tree that the cross is made out of. And then, of course, the story goes on, and the men come and cut down three of these trees.

"Look, they're taking our tree to Pilate's house," claimed Harro. "Who's Pilate?" asked his brother. "He rules the Jews," answered Harro, pleased that he knew so much. Friendly Town Sparrow had told him who lived in the fortress. "Is he nice?" asked Mother Sparrow. "Don't know," Harro Sparrow had to admit. "Hope he is," Father Sparrow interrupted. "He's got Jesus."

The birds fluttered around the high rooftops of the fortress, hovering over the open courtyard, where they saw the Sparrow Maker standing in the middle of a group of Roman soldiers. The men were laughing, hitting Jesus, spitting in his face. "Stop it! Stop it!" cried the little birds. "Don't you know who you're hurting?" shouted Harro in anguish. "How can you do such a thing?"

The men didn't hear the twittering birds. They were too busy mocking Jesus. Harro Sparrow was so beside himself with anger that he didn't know what to do. And flying frantically back and forth over the courtyard, he caught sight of the three trees the soldiers had brought to the fortress.

And suddenly, they looked dark and sinister, as if they were waiting to join in the dreadful games the soldiers were playing with Jesus. "Father," gasped Harro, "What do you think it all means?" Father Sparrow had a sad and fearful face that made Harro Sparrow very frightened.

"I've seen such a thing once before," Father murmured in disbelief. "A cruel and terrible thing is about to happen. Come away, my children. I believe these wicked men will nail the Sparrow Maker's wings to our tree. And then he will fall." Father shook his head sadly.

Female Announcer: That's Jill Briscoe on today's Telling the Truth. And she'll be right back with more on how Christ can free you of your sin when you learn to call it like it is. Life is full of stressful situations. So it's no surprise that so many of us these days struggle with things like anxiety, fear, and worry.

That's why Stuart and Jill Briscoe created their two message series, Worry Less, to help you take hold of the peace and joy God intends for your life. It's our thanks for your gift of support today. These encouraging messages uncover the root cause of worry and give you practical guidance straight from God's word on how to overcome worry so that it doesn't overwhelm you.

Plus, when you give today, we'll also include Jill's booklet, Me Worry, as an extra thank you. Generous friends like you keep broadcasts like this one going, reaching others with God's healing love so they can experience God's peace and the joy of life in Christ.

So if you haven't given before, consider a gift today to help keep God's word going out around the world to you and many others. And remember to request your copy of Worry Less and Me Worry when you call and give. Just call 1-800-889-5388. 1-800-889-5388. Or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org.

Now, let's hear from Jill about a few points from today's message.

Female Announcer: Jill, tell us about a time in your life when God carried your sorrows.

Jill Briscoe: I think back to the death of my parents, first my father, and then later my mom. And they were pretty heavy things. Why would they not be? Have you ever lost a mom or a dad? Then you'll understand. And you'll understand when your time comes because we'll all lose mothers and fathers. That's life and death, as it is in this planet. But for me, it was very difficult.

Let me talk about my mom's death more than my father's because we had immigrated to America, and I was 3,000 miles away, and I could not go running back and forth across the Atlantic. In fact, there was only one opportunity to get back and stay, and I had to pick the time out of the air, and God in his grace took her to heaven while I was there, which was a sort of miracle because nobody, doctors included, thought she was going that soon.

But God carried me through that very traumatic, dramatic experience of sitting by my mom, as she went to heaven. And then he carried my sorrow as I came back and started, "Oh, if only she'd ever come to America," which she never did. "If only she knew why we left her to serve Jesus. Oh, if only, if only."

And suddenly, in my head, a little voice said, "Well, she understands now." And it just lifted off me. It totally lifted off me. And I thought all the agony of separation, and all the leaving her, I left so much behind. Just went. She understands. And I remember I went to sleep that night just saying, "She understands. She understands. Peggy, you understand now. You know." And that was it.

And that was one way God carried my sorrow, backed up, obviously, by the thing that I chose to put on her gravestone. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Why would that not lift the sorrows from your heart?

Female Announcer: Thanks, Jill. Before we go, just a reminder that when you give to support Telling the Truth broadcast like this one, we'll send you the Briscoe's two-message series, Worry Less, and Jill's booklet, Me Worry. These encouraging resources will help you start to worry less and live with more joy.

So please request your resources when you call 1-800-889-5388. 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org.

We're so glad you listened in today. Be sure to come back next time to hear more encouragement from God's word to help you experience life. Have a great weekend.