Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: But as we arrive starting tonight, let's not lose the details. He's in them. That's where He'll speak, that's where He'll instruct, that's where He'll teach us. We just need to slow down. We're going to get to the destination. Let's just get there in His time.

David J: Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David J, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's word, the Bible.

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On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues now in his series called Disciplines of Life and a message titled "Disciplines of Detail." You know even the smallest of details can matter to God. And when we're faithful in the little things, He's faithful to trust us with the big things.

You see faith builds in us a strong and effective life that God can use. The way we live, our habits, our prayer life, even our attitudes help shape our character. When things get hard or inconvenient, we have a God that is interested in every aspect of our life.

So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that we often have a hard time slowing down. But there is joy and there is peace in the stillness. Calmness in its time is a good thing. But whether we're at work or at rest, our goal is to live for Christ. Now, with his message called "Disciplines of Detail," here's Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: I heard someone say recently, "My life hurts. Why is God so angry at me?" Isn't that a heartbreak? You just want to hold that person. God's not angry with you. You need to understand that. God is in the ugly.

But you'll never know that. You'll wonder back and forth, "What kind of a God is He? Who are you?" You will always ask that question until you get into the details of who He is. I have a little saying of mine. I don't practice it always, I practice it a lot. I'm getting better at it, but I'm not perfect at it.

If it blesses you, steal it, use it for yourself, and it's this: when I don't understand what's going on, I default automatically. I punch default. I go, I default to His nature. "What in the world? I don't get this. This doesn't seem right. That's unfair. What? I can't be—" Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. Default.

Who is God? I've read His book. I've read the details. Guess what? He's good. I've read it. I'm not saying that because I need to convince— "He's good, He's good, He's good, He's good." No, I've read the book. He's good.

"Well, what about your situation right now?" I don't know what the answer is, but I'm going to stand here and wait. I'm going to press default and trust in His nature. I know His nature. I may not know the answer to my ugly right here, right now, but I know His nature. That's why Paul said, because he knew His nature, "What can separate us from the love of God?"

That's what he's saying. He says, "I've been persuaded to know this." I love that. It doesn't mean I've been bribed to know it. It's just, I just chanted it into my life. I went to Sedona, Arizona, sat on a rock and put a crystal in my navel and went "hmmm." They do that. I've been there. I've seen it.

You don't have to do that. He's real, He's alive, and He's in the ugly of life. And He'll get you all the way through it. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Press default. It's awesome.

He's in the ugly stuff. You want to know what ugly stuff is? This, to me, this would be ugly. According to Jewish history, based upon some pretty serious verses in the Bible, mind you, when they were building Solomon's Temple, this has always been passed down and told among the Jewish communities. Pretty cool.

That when the temple was being built, Solomon's Temple, the quarry, because that was in a distant location, the quarry sent up to the Temple Mount the cornerstone. And the supervisor of the project on the Temple Mount didn't know what to do with it. Maybe somebody lost the note, who knows what? "Well, just park it right there."

And they're building and they're building and they're building. And years later, the supervisor says, "Get this stone out of here. It's ridiculous. We keep falling over it, we keep tripping over it." And they pushed it down the Kidron Valley. Many of us have been there, you've seen it. They rolled it down into the valley.

And then they keep— years go by. They're building and building and building. And then the supervisor calls to the quarry manager and says, "Okay, time for the placement of the cornerstone. Bring it up." The guy sends a messenger. "I sent it to you years ago. You've had it for years."

And they remembered that ridiculous stone that kept getting in the way we were stumbling over it, tripping over it, falling over it. We pushed it down the hill. Get it back up. Get it. Bring it up. And the second time around was way harder than the first because they had to bring it up the Kidron Valley.

That's why later on, the Psalmist, a Psalmist wrote in Psalm 118, the Psalm of Ascent, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing. Who would have thought? It is marvelous in our eyes." Isn't that amazing?

Isn't it amazing that the New Testament says that for the Jewish people, Jesus was the rock of stumbling that they stumbled over and they rejected Him? And He's known as the cornerstone. It's interesting the Bible says in Old and New Testament that He'll come back to them. There's a day when He comes back. They had to become a nation first before that could happen, but that's already happened as well.

And we have nine minutes to go through the second point, and we'll do it right here, right now. The discipline of detail is this: is letting the Lord guide in all things. And listen, He knows where He wants us to go, you guys. He knows where He wants us to go.

There's no such thing as a destination unless you have a target, unless you have that destination in sight. You don't— I mean, this sounds kind of fun. You start driving. "Where are you going?" "I don't know. We'll know when we get there." No, you don't. You'll run out of gas and that becomes the spot.

"Where are we going to stay tonight?" "We don't know. We'll know when we get there." No, that's not a destination. That's an accident waiting to happen. But when you— listen, can you imagine the pilot getting on an airplane saying, "Okay, we're going to New York City now." That dude— there are satellites guiding that plane to New York City.

In fact, that pilot doesn't even have to touch the yoke of that cockpit of that plane. He doesn't even touch it. The plane can land by itself. Why? Because it has a programmed destination on it. God has that for your life. And we're so— here's us. God is right here. We start here and He wants us to go there. And we go like this: bing, bing, bing, bing, bing.

The Lord says, "Man, could have flown direct by letting me lead you." All these detours you and I throw in. Why? These detours are not in the details. But He's with us. But He knows where He wants to take us. You guys know this verse too much. You're so familiar with it, I'm afraid you've missed the detail of it.

Jeremiah 29:11, He says, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you." You— keep that up on the screens. You guys, it's almost like— now, I know God cannot get frustrated. He can't. But listen to this. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you." My insert. God would say, "So stop telling me how to do my job as God."

"I know what I'm thinking." You know you talk with somebody, you know like a husband or a wife. "I know what I said. I said this." "No, you didn't. You said—" "I know what I said." God is saying, "I know what I know." And this is what I know.

The thoughts that I— look— says the Lord, the thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you. This is the God of the universe talking to us. And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Is this not an amazing relational God? He's awesome.

Listen, letting the Lord guide in all things is this: He holds the map for our journey. In Psalm 32:8, the Bible says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go." Isn't that great? "I will guide you with my eye. Do not be like the horse or like a mule which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you."

God says, "Don't be like a donkey. Don't be like a horse that the guy's fighting with it and got to yank on it and that bridle and that bit pinches on its tongue and its mouth and the horse—" God says, "Come on. Let me guide you. Walk with me. I've got a map here for your life."

Real quick, the map. He's been teaching us this. Think about the Exodus events of Israel out of Egypt. Think about Joshua and the crossing. Think about the promised land and all of the wars of the promised land. And go from there, on and on it goes. Roadmap. God holds that for us.

And then finally is this: letting the Lord guide in all things. He knows what time we'll arrive. This is a big one. Because you know what? We're always in a hurry, you guys. We're always in a hurry. Come on! We rush.

I remember growing up and I don't know what the deal was, but we'd go on vacation and it was like not even a vacation because you get in the car— you're going to think I'm telling the truth here, this is wild. My dad would— we'd get in the car and everything's— he's been rigging the car up for a week.

You get in the car and he gets going and, "Can we have a drink?" "No." "Why?" "Because then you'll have to go pee." "Yeah." "And we're not stopping." I mean, it was everything was down to the military minute. And what are we driving so fast for? "Oh look, there's a— look right there, there's a historical monument right there."

And then listen, then we get to the destination. "Well, here we are." I couldn't tell you what we went by, the states we blew by. Just what's in them? I don't know. It's all a blur. We live like that. "Come on, let's go! What are we doing?" "It's a day off. Let's go! Okay, what—" and it's zoom! Listen, God says, He said from the beginning, "I want you to learn how to Sabbath. I want you to learn how to rest."

David J: You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to JackHibbs.com. That's JackHibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.

Jack Hibbs: Listen, God says, He said from the beginning, "I want you to learn how to Sabbath. I want you to learn how to rest." You guys, we think that's a sin to relax. I do. I don't get anything done when I relax. I feel like I'm sinning. And God says, "I don't want you to get anything done right now."

Think about it. "We got to do this, we got to—" and even in our business, even in our lives, even in our families, even in our existence, we go, go, go. Have you noticed, you guys? And I'm ending, we're truly done, we're done, I'm ending. I have even have time left right now.

Remember when you were young, time just seemed to go by so slow. And then you get a little older, then you get a little older. And then I remember it slapping me in the face at about maybe junior or senior in high school. It was like, "Hey, I'm going to have to like grow up soon."

That's a shock. You know what I'm talking about? And then you're involved and you've got your school or you've got your career or you've got your career and school and you've got all this stuff going on. And have you noticed that it just all races by so fast? And now, now you're older.

But your mind, your time zone in your internal clock is about 10 to 15 years behind the person you see in the mirror. You know what I'm talking about? Every morning you get up, you go, "Ow! What is that? I don't— what?"

Why? Why? Because time is something God controls. The Bible, we don't get this because we don't slow down to study this. The Bible tells us that in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, it's about Jesus Christ, the Messiah of the world.

It says there that He's the counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Everlasting Father? It's about Jesus. How does that— it's Jesus. How's the— the word everlasting Father, the word in Hebrew is He's the governor of time. He controls time. He's the possessor of time. Jesus, according to the Bible, Old Testament, Isaiah 9:6, He's the one that controls time.

So what does that mean? That means you are going to arrive at your destination with Him at just the right time. "Well, what does that mean?" Stop worrying about it. Tomorrow when you go to work, tonight when you get home, the day you die, whatever goes on, whatever's happening.

That doesn't mean that— listen, that doesn't mean that we relinquish everything. It doesn't mean we become a bunch of crazies. Did you guys see in the news recently, at least that's the way it's being spun in the news, I don't know. But some people went out into the desert in California this last week waiting for the rapture. They're just— this is what the news is spinning it.

Only God knows what the truth is, because you get it from the news, you don't know what you're getting. But supposedly they said on the news, they believed the rapture was coming. "Well, wait a minute, so do I." And they went out in the desert and they were singing songs. That's cool! Why not? That's fun!

Sometimes bunch of guys get together, we'll go out in the desert, take water and our Bibles and telescope and freak out and praise the Lord. That's great! Okay. But they were waiting for— what, you know, supposedly they're waiting for Jesus to come back. Well, that's what the Bible— the Bible doesn't say to do that.

Bible says to occupy till He comes. You know what that means? That means regarding about arriving at the destination in God's timing. It means guess what? It means that you register to vote and you go vote this November.

It means that you— it means that you get a job. "I'm waiting on the Lord, man." Oh yeah? Well, you wait on the Lord at your job. You got a son hanging out. "Mom, you know, just waiting on Jesus, waiting on Jesus." Yeah, you go wait on Jesus with a lawn mower in your arms right now. Get out there. You know what I'm saying?

He doesn't need our help. He requests our help. He doesn't need it. He allows us to be involved. And that's how we'll arrive. But as we arrive starting tonight, let's not lose the details. He's in them. That's where He'll speak, that's where He'll instruct, that's where He'll teach us.

We just need to slow down. We're going to get to the destination. Let's just get there in His time. You get there too soon, you're just going to stand around. You won't know what to do. Father, we thank you for your word. And Lord, right now tonight, we rejoice and and we can be bold and we can be almost silly with joy over the fact that you rule and reign in our lives.

And Father, that just gives us such a liberty and such a freedom that it's in some degree almost intoxicating in our hearts. But Father, I pray that this evening if there's a man or if there's a woman, a boy or girl who does not have this joy and this peace. In fact, their life is evidenced by the worry, they have lost sense of detail.

And they're consumed by the negative, the painful part, the ugly, what they perceive as bad. They don't see you in it. They need you. My friend, as we are in an attitude of prayer tonight, if tonight you have never understood nor heard perhaps that Jesus Christ, from Genesis to Revelation, since the beginning in the Garden of Eden, it was prophesied by God Himself that He would provide the covering for you.

That the innocent had to die for the guilty. That sacrifice, atonement, forgiveness was invented by God for you. That tonight you can choose Jesus. The Bible says that He died on the cross for our sins. The Bible said He would do that before He was ever born in the very city that the Bible said He would be born in, Bethlehem.

That very same Bible said that you'd recognize Him when He would do this, that, and the other thing. On and on it goes. The mathematical odds of Him not being Savior are impossible. They are actually mathematically impossible. He is the Messiah. The Bible has shouted this clear.

That same Bible has said that he would die in our place, take our punishment, that He would be raised from the dead three days later, says the scripture. And that by doing that, He would guarantee your justification forever. Not only did He die, but He rose again from the grave to enforce His work for you.

But here's the catch: you have to come to Him on His terms. And He said that you have to believe that He died and rose again from the grave and that you have to listen, you have to agree with Him that you need Him as Savior. We use the old English word "repent." It's an old nautical term about turning your boat around. Means to turn or change your mind.

While heads are bowed and eyes are closed, maybe tonight you're saying, "You know what? This is the God I want. I want to be set free like Paul was set free. I want to be set free like Abraham was. I want to be set free like all the rest of you in here tonight."

And I want to confess tonight that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. While heads are bowed and eyes are closed, if that's your vote tonight, if that's your decision, will you raise your hand wherever you're at? And the Lord will see your hand go up.

And the reason why I'm asking to raise your hand is because throughout scripture, everyone who was called, they called publicly. God bless you in the very back. Anyone else on the aisle over here? God bless you. People were called publicly. Even Nicodemus— God bless you in the back— even Nicodemus eventually came public with his faith in Christ.

Anyone else tonight? Does the Holy Spirit speak in your heart? Before we wrap this up, inside if any of you sense this bizarre pressure like everybody's looking at you— no one's looking at you— and you've got this feeling inside your stomach area, just in your chest and it's like, "Man, I need to do this, but I don't want to do this. What's happening to me?"

That's His finger saying, "Now's the acceptable time. Today's the day of salvation." Is that happening to anybody? Put your hand up. God bless you. Anyone else? Yep, you and you. Cool. Beautiful. Let this prayer fall from your lips:

Lord Jesus, I come to you now. I ask you to forgive me of my sins. I thank you for speaking to me tonight. I pray that you'd write my name in your Lamb's Book of Life right now. Save me, Lord. And and do that thing I heard tonight. Work on me. Come inside, do your thing from the inside out. Not religiously, but relationally. I confess you tonight as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name. And all God's people said, amen.

David J: Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs. Here on Real Life Radio and his message called "Disciplines of Detail." You know we're awful glad that you're here today. You know this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Disciplines of Life. It's a series highlighting the disciplines of the Christ follower and the high cost of sharing our faith with others. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

So as you heard from our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you'd like to know what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life personally, we would love to help you out with that.

Go to JackHibbs.com/KnowGod. That's K-N-O-W God. And there you'll be guided through what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life, and the freedom that you'll find in knowing God. Don't miss out. That's the Know God tab at JackHibbs.com.

Have you ever wondered why God doesn't answer your prayers? Or at least sometimes it feels like it? Well, our good friend Dr. Erwin Lutzer has written a book, "Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayer?" This is a practical, amazing book you're going to want to get a copy for yourself because it is written by Dr. Lutzer in such a way that only he can, and the topic, "Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayer?" is something that all of us are asking.

"Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayer?" by Dr. Erwin Lutzer is available for a gift of any amount at JackHibbs.com/RealRadio.

Hey, thank you again so much for listening. And if you'd like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to JackHibbs.com for all the latest on what's going on with this ministry. And please, if you're ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. We'd love to see you there in person.

It has been so good to be with you today and I pray you find yourself in the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. See you on the next episode.

This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at JackHibbs.com. That's JackHibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.