In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: In the Christian life, we also have those encumbrances, those things that impede, those things that hinder us on our walk. Because as we are moving in the will of God, anything that hinders our keeping the pace with God and His will and His timing, which is so very important, anything that distracts my attention, gets me off course, or gets me off on some detour, is an encumbrance. He says, "Lay it aside. Put it aside. Deal with it. Turn away from it and make it right between you and God."

Guest (Male): Have you noticed a growing distance in your relationship with God? Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, you'll hear five principles that can help you get on track with the Lord. These truths found in Hebrews chapter 12 can encourage you to live life to the fullest.

Dr. Charles Stanley: All of us go through different seasons in our life, and so sometimes if the season lasts too long, we just have the idea that that's what life's all about—just one big heavy burden. But that's not really true because all of us go through those seasons. Sometimes, there are more clouds than there is sunshine, and we're often prone to think, "Is this what life is all about?" No, that's not what life is all about. Life really is all about something very, very exciting.

And that's what I want to talk about in this message today. No matter where you are and what you're feeling and how down you may be or how up you are, the issue is what is life really and truly all about? And I want you to turn, if you will, to Hebrews chapter 12. There are two verses here that I want us to look at primarily because I believe in these two verses, God gives us, not necessarily some formula, but He gives us an insight, an understanding of what life is all about and why we can live it to the very fullest no matter what's going on.

And so, when we think about living life to the fullest, first of all, according to this passage, it involves the encouragement of others. It's very significant how the writer begins this chapter. Look at what he says: "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses... then let us run this race." If you'll notice in the latter part of the first verse, he says, "the race that is set before us." What he's doing here is comparing the Christian life to this race.

Now, think about it for a moment. He says in this race—and he puts it in those terms—in this race, he says we have encouragers. And one of the things that is so vital to living life to the fullest is fulfilling the will of God for our life and being conformed to His likeness. That is fulfilling the purpose for which God created us. Until a person does that, until they are in the process of doing it, they'll never be in any real fulfillment in life. You can have all the money you want, you'll never be able to fill up that vacuum with anything else in life than walking in the will of God.

One of the very important things in fulfilling life and living a fulfilling life is that you and I have good encouragers. And so, I want you to think for just a moment in your life. Who is the person, when you think about them, you just feel good on the inside just thinking about them? You say, "Lord, I don't have anybody like that." Then you're missing something in life. Every one of God's children need encouragers like that.

That's part of living life to the fullest because it's not going to be easy oftentimes. But if I have encouragers, those who are here encouraging me, that whole vast witness up there in heaven which I can read about in the word of God, I am certainly going to understand and begin to live life to the fullest with all those people who are cheering me on and cheering you on, wishing the best for you, wanting the best for you. And the greatest cheerer of all is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Well, there's a second thing involved, I think, in living life to the fullest, and I think it's found in this passage. Notice what he says now: "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance." Now, the runner is going to dress down because he doesn't want anything to deter him with speed and reaching the goal.

In the Christian life, we also have those encumbrances, those things that impede, those things that hinder us on our walk. Because as we are moving in the will of God, anything that hinders our keeping the pace with God and His will and His timing, which is so very important, anything that distracts my attention, gets me off course, or gets me off on some detour, is an encumbrance. He says, "Lay it aside. Put it aside. Deal with it. Turn away from it and make it right between you and God."

Now, you would think that this next phrase, he'd have put them all together. Look at this. He says, "Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us." Now, to entangle means to get tripped up by something. Well, would not encumbrances and sins be the same? Not necessarily. An encumbrance is something that's more subtle. You have to sort of look for that because as we say, you may have lived with it a long time—it may have been the way you've been thinking all of your life.

And so when he says, "and the sin which so easily entangles us," what is he referring to? First of all, if you'll notice, he doesn't say "s-i-n-s," sins, but "the sin" which so easily entangles us. More than likely—and I wouldn't say this is true of everybody, but probably for most of us it's true—that is, Satan has one tool that is the most effective of all. It is the one that he usually at least can get a little leeway in our life if we're not careful.

He says, dealing with this sin, laying aside this sin which so easily besets us. That is, there may be some particular weakness in your life. It may be doubt. It may be this issue of finances. It may be greed. It may be lust, whatever it might be, but it is an area in life in which we have to keep struggling with and fighting against. It's the one that somehow Satan, no matter what we do, he seems to be able to get a little toehold, a little edge every once in a while.

He says we have to deal not only with these encumbrances, these things that are sort of subtle, that may not be quite so evident, but he says sin—those things that we know to be deliberate, willful choices of disobedience to God. And he says it's the sin, if you'll notice, that so easily besets us. It's the one thing we seemingly can falter and fall to the most frequently or the most easily. If we are going to live our life to the fullest, we must deal with those things we have to struggle with because it is those kind of things that will cause us to stumble and to fall and to fall off the track.

It is those kind of things that cause us to begin to look out yonder instead of keeping our eye on the goal. And we want to get detoured, and sometimes it's things in a person's life—their desire to have things because things gives them a sense of worth and value. Things gives them a sense of acceptance. If they get enough things, they can make a big enough impression, then they'll be more accepted, and feeling more accepted they'll feel more loved, and feeling more loved they'll feel better about themselves. When all of that is a trap.

Well, as we look and examine our lives, some things may not quite be so easy to walk away from and to deal with as others. And he says this sin that so easily besets you, that may require strong self-discipline on our part. Just like the runner has to practice and practice and practice and watch what they eat, and the self-discipline in order to win the race is extremely important. The same thing is true in the Christian life.

And even though we say when you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and He's living His life in and through you, that doesn't mean that we do not have to bring every area of our life under discipline, under the will and purpose and plan of God. And sometimes that's not easy to do. That's why he says lay these things aside. We have to rely upon Him and trust in Him. And that's why you have to stay in the word of God. What does God say about this? How did this work in someone else's life in the New Testament? How's it working in other people's lives? How does God give them victory in their life? And so there are things we have to bring under discipline in our life in order to live life to the fullest.

But notice what else he says. He says, laying aside these encumbrances and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Now, to run with endurance implies that there are going to be hardships, trials, difficulties, adversities, and suffering. To endure means I must be steadfast and strong and be willing to stand against and in the face of all kinds of opposition or objects along the way that would trip us up or that would hinder us. And so he says let us run this race with endurance.

Now, when it comes to being a person of endurance, what does it say to us? Well, it says that you and I are willing to keep moving in the direction that God is leading us no matter what we face. We're not going to give up and quit because all of a sudden we're looking at something so steep and thinking, "How can I ever climb this?" Or when it looks so deserted and empty and we think, "Why do I ever want to walk through this?" Or when it becomes so dark that we don't see our way clear.

Well, the person who is weak says, "Forget it. I give up. I quit." And this is why oftentimes you'll find people who used to come to church and used to be involved and used to serve the Lord, and no longer do, and you say, "Well, what ever happened?" "Well, I don't know, somehow it just wasn't working out for me and it didn't work for me." Listen, don't let anybody tell you it doesn't work. If they're talking about the Christian life not working—yes it does. But we are the ones who don't work, and we're the ones who want to give up and quit.

Surely it's going to be difficult. Surely it's going to be tough. But listen, when you and I learn to endure, we don't quit. No matter how dark, we keep moving. We'll have just enough light to keep us going. But we don't give up and we don't quit and we don't sit down and have a pity party and we don't turn around and want to go home because it's easier where we came from. And yet that is exactly what happens to a lot of people. That's why they are living in a backslidden condition—because they gave up when the going got tough, and they decided it was too tough and too rough, and therefore they're just going to quit, just forget it, just decide they're just going to live their life the way they want to. They tried the Christian life and it didn't work.

Well, maybe they didn't have enough encouragers. Maybe they didn't listen to their encouragers. They certainly didn't listen to those and those in the scriptures. And you see, no matter how well someone does, somebody else will do better. That's not the issue. I'm not running a race against someone else. I'm not in competition with somebody else's Christian life. The issue is: have I set my heart and mine to do the will of God? Am I walking in the will of God? Am I moving in the Christian life? Am I growing in the Christian life? Every falter, every failure, every stumble—when you fall off the track, you get up and get going and keep moving.

What happens? We learn to watch for those areas that can entangle us and those things that could cause us to be detoured. We learn to watch. We learn as we move along. For example, if you'll go back to this 36th verse in the 10th chapter, he says, "For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised." What is he talking about? He's talking about what he knows is going to be absolutely essential in your life and my life—that we will go through difficult times. Now listen carefully. There are always going to be hard times, tough times, difficult times. Always going to be those kind of times, whether it's in your vocation, your relationships, your family, your finances. It doesn't make any difference. We're living in a sinful world. We've got three enemies: the flesh, the world, and the devil. It's not going to be easy. It will never be easy.

But here's the difference. The difference in the people that God uses and the people somehow that seem to end up on the shelf are those who are willing to endure when everything in them says quit, give up, and forget it. Suppose the Apostle Paul had said after he got beaten and stoned in Lystra, suppose he'd have said, "This is it, God. I mean, Father, thank you very much, no thanks." And suppose the Apostle Paul had decided to go home and just settle down and just relax and live life, and after all, I mean, he was saved, he knew he was saved, he'd had done his part, and suppose he'd have said, "That's it. That's all I'm doing. I mean, enough beatings is enough, and being stoned is enough. I mean, after all, God, you don't expect me just to lay down my life?" Oh, yes He does. And you know what? He hasn't changed.

You see, the people who've made a difference in your life and my life are the people who have endured, not people who've floated along with everything going their way. It's the people who've been through the storms and got soaking sapping wet, in the desert and burned, and in the streams where they almost drowned. In the difficulty and the hardship, he says this Christian life, if you want to live life to the fullest, you learn to endure hardship.

Then he says one other thing and I want to close with this one in the next verse. He says in this Christian life, if we are to live life to the fullest, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Now, why does he say if we're going to live life to the fullest we're to fix our eyes on Jesus? Now, let me say this and listen carefully. I don't care how low down you get, how despairing things look, how depressed—I mean, it doesn't make any difference how deep, dark, down in the gorges of life you find yourself.

If you will focus your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm not going to say that always instantly it's all over and everything is wonderful. And you may go through a season that God allows you to be able to sense what it means to be down and discouraged and depressed and beaten down, in order to make us sensitive to people who live that way. But if you'll get your focus on Him, it won't take long till something happens in your thinking. When you focus your attention upon Him, what happens is you begin to think the way He thinks. You begin to see Him as He is. You are reminded of this loving, unconditional loving Savior, this Lord, this Christ, this Jesus, who not only is in heaven, He's always there running with us. He is our traveling companion. He's our running companion, and He will never allow you and me to take a single step from the moment you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, when you were on the starting line the moment you were saved—I was 12 years of age.

Not one single step have I ever taken that He was not living on the inside of me, standing by my side, moving ahead, moving behind, there to protect and to provide and to keep. If you and I are going to live this life to the fullest—I mean if we're going to live it to the fullest and enjoy it no matter what we're going through and whatever we're facing in life—you see, it has nothing to do with my external circumstances. If you and I are living in the center of God's will, that is, if we're committed to doing the will of God, we're committed for Him to working and molding in our life, then whatever storm He sends us through will be to His glory ultimately.

Whatever difficulty and hardship and adversity and suffering He takes us through, what's He doing? He is building something within our life. What is He doing? He is building endurance. Now listen to this. Why does He build endurance in this storm? I'll tell you why—because He knows He's going to allow another storm. And endurance here equips me for the endurance later. And that endurance is not only built and working in our life to equip us for the next storm and the next trial and the next heartache, but it is also preparing us for more effective ministry, more effective ministry in other people's lives, more expanded ministry in someone else's life.

And it makes no difference who you are. God has gifted you and God has talented you, and He has equipped you and He's in the process of equipping you to be a blessing to other people. And as you and I walk through the storms and we face the hardships and we get up after we have fallen, but we keep moving toward the goal and we do not allow anything nor anyone to divert our attention long from the goal that God has set for us. And so he says fix your eyes on Jesus. You'll stumble and falter and fall, and you'll feel so unworthy and so guilty. Fix your eyes on Him. And when you fix your eyes on Him, you understand this loving Jesus who is your running companion just picked you up. He's the one who's whispering in your ear, "You'll make it. Just keep going. It doesn't make any difference how tough it looks right now. You keep your focus on Me. I am your Savior, your Lord, your life, and all that you need in these moments in your life, I will be that to you with no exception."

Think about this: running a race and running in the energy of Almighty God. The Psalmist said, "I will go in the strength of the Lord my God." The 68th Psalm says God commands our strength. He says you'll mount up with wings like eagles, you'll run and not be weary, you'll walk and not grow faint or lose heart. What is this Christian life all about? The Christian life is all about living and doing the will of my Father. The Christian life is all about being conformed to the likeness of His Son. Everything else about the Christian life is secondary to that. The area you serve, how God works in your life and how He uses you in someone else's life—all that's secondary. If I'm going to live life to the fullest, I must get on the track that He has set for me and set as my goal—not achievement and accomplishment in the eyes of the world, but to do the will of my Father and to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.

Now, how does it all begin? Here's how it starts. It starts with your recognition that apart from God, your life has no sense of real genuine purpose or meaning. It means you're not going anywhere. Once you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, here's what He does. He not only forgives you of all of your sin, but He sets you in the right direction. You say, "But you know, suppose I'm 40 years old." He takes you right where you are. "Suppose I'm 70 years of age." He takes you right where you are. You just don't have as long to run. That's all.

You don't have as long to run, you won't have as many battles to face. It may be a little tougher on you than someone who's been a Christian a long time. It doesn't make any difference. Now, the ideal will of God is that you be saved early in life. But suppose you weren't—does that mean that God doesn't care? No. It means He'll take you anywhere you are, my friend. And if you will surrender your life to Him and tell Him, "God, I've blown it, I've had it my way, I am coming to the cross, I'm trusting Jesus Christ to forgive me for my sin by His death at Calvary. I'm just turning my life over to You," He puts you on the track. The Spirit of God comes into your life to enable you, to guide you, to show you. The Lord Jesus Christ becomes your running companion. It starts with trusting Him as your Savior.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. If you're a believer who wants to live life to the fullest, your focus must be on Jesus. Call on Him and let Him be your energy for the journey. Our resources at intouch.org can help believers navigate life with confident assurance in the Lord's perfect provision. To find those or a replay of today's message, visit intouch.org and connect to our online bookstore to order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, "Living Life to the Fullest." Again, that's intouch.org.

You can also call or text 1-800-INTOUCH. If you prefer to write, our address is In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357. Are you willing to do whatever God says, even if it seems unreasonable? A real-life example of that kind of obedience is coming up in today's Moment with Charles Stanley.

Guest (Female): Does your prayer life need a jump start? With the In Touch Praying with Purpose cards, the time you spend talking with God will take on a whole new level of energy and intimacy. Beautifully designed and easy to use, or to share with a friend, there are prayers to lift up each day of the month along with corresponding Bible verses and more. For your set of Praying with Purpose cards, call 1-800-INTOUCH or go to intouch.org/store.

Guest (Male): Have you ever forgotten something God taught you when you were reading the Bible? When we take note of what God reveals to us, it helps us to apply it to our lives. With the Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Journal, you can keep track of your spiritual journey and be transformed by God's truths. This journal features artwork of Dr. Stanley's 30 life principles, lined pages for writing, a prayer journaling section, and more. To order, call 1-800-INTOUCH or go to intouch.org/journal.

You're listening to In Touch. Many years ago, First Baptist Church of Atlanta faced a difficult obstacle. Hear about Dr. Stanley's Joshua-like approach to this challenge in a Moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: When we purchased all this property to build, and one fellow held out on us. So, he had a little building right down in the middle of the block and he told me three times, no he wasn't interested in selling. So, I was in the particular room with my staff and we were all praying, and so I was looking out the window for a few minutes and I looked over and saw that building, and it's like the Lord said to me, "Do you remember Joshua?" I said, "Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes! I got so excited!"

So then I mentioned to the staff and I thought about now, what are they going to think when I ask them to do what I was going to ask them, but I talked to them about it and I said, "Look, here's what we're going to do. We're going to march around that block once a week for six weeks." And this was on a Tuesday, and I said, "The seventh week we're going to march around it seven times. We're going to do exactly what Joshua did. Nobody speaks and we're not going to tell anybody. So I don't want you to go tell any church members we're marching around the block."

So we marched around it six times and the seventh was some—I think it was in March, cold, windy, freezing day. We marched around it seven times, nobody said a word. And about three months this gentleman called me, he said, "Dr. Stanley, are you still interested in this piece of property?" I said, "Well, we might be." Anyway, we got it for a good price and a few months later... so God's still in the business of working miracles if we'll just trust Him and obey Him. And sometimes we don't want to obey Him because we think, "Well, what will people think?" That's not even the issue.

And you'd think after a while we'd figure that out. It isn't an issue what people think, the issue is what does God think and what is obedience? Because the consequence of obedience is always good. And oftentimes what gets us in trouble is because it doesn't come when we think it ought to come. I could have said after two months, "Well, he's not going to sell it," but I didn't do that. I thought, "God, we did exactly what You said do, now we're going to trust You." It took about three months for him to call me and then about within the next two months we had it.

Guest (Male): A believer's obedience honors God. Learn more about living the Christian life at intouch.org. Did God speak to your heart through today's message? Tell us what you plan to do next. When In Touch returns, God has blessing for those who follow Him. Learn more about the favorable hand of the Lord when you join us again for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.