The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Friend, don't give up. Just because it wasn't answered today or next week, next month, next year, six years, ten years, don't give up. Hang on. Keep praying, believing, trusting the Lord.

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Healing Word, a ministry dedicated to offering strength and encouragement through God's word for anyone facing life's challenges. As believers, we want to serve God and walk in his will. Though the path isn't always easy, today's message is here to meet you at your point of need, bringing hope and renewing your faith. Now, here's Pastor Jack Morris.

Pastor Jack Morris: We're going to go into the sanctuary in just a moment, and the sermon title is leaning on Jesus. Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. We need the Lord Jesus, the shepherd of our soul. Life can become so complicated, so complex, but the Lord Jesus will give us a deep inner peace, and he will guide us all the way to victory. Trust in the Lord. I have tried trusting myself at times, and I have gotten very confused and mixed up and gone the wrong direction, but every time I pray first and look to the Lord, putting my trust in him, he guides me, gives me great blessing and victory.

Friend, let's go to the sanctuary. I want you to know the Lord Jesus in a trusting way and experience good direction in your life. Let's go to the sanctuary and hear the message. There's a disappointments come to us all, don't they? Disappointments. Let me tell you about one I had. One. Oh my. I'll just tell you one because the sermon will be too long. You know, a number of years ago I used to go over to the to Asia and teach for the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, we APTS. And they had several extension sites, and one of the extension sites was in Indonesia.

And I was to go there and teach a 3-hour graduate course. Well, we were still working and building and constructing here the church and the building. It was all up, but we wanted to finish off that parking lot. This on the south end we bought the acreage from the farmers, and we wanted to put that parking lot in. We needed it. And everything was in order. I wouldn't have left if I thought that there was one thing that was not in order. At that time, Pastor Colonel Bill Wilson was the assistant pastor, and I know that I how everything was just shipshape in his head.

He he was he was a colonel here at the church as well as when he was a colonel stationed at the Pentagon. But everything was in in readiness. And so I thought, well, it's it's okay. I can go and teach the course and be with those young pastors and and really enjoy myself while meeting them and teaching. Well, they everything was prepared. The State Highway Commission came and approved the the plans. The contractor approved the plans. Two engineers put their stamp on the plans. Pepco stamped and said everything was in readiness. I thought, well, it's okay to go to Asia.

Well, I got the airplane and I flew across the United States across the Pacific Ocean, landed in Singapore to spend the night in a hotel, next day to catch there the other airplane and go to Surabaya in Indonesia. Well, in that hotel I got an email from assistant Pastor Wilson saying, there's a man in Baltimore that is over all of the engineers, all of Pepco. He is the top man, and he says that we have to redesign the entrance. Well, when I read that, I I have to confess that been years ago, but I think it's the same thing would have happened to me today.

I got angry. The adrenaline flowed through my veins. I felt heat in my body. I'm in Singapore. And I'm a hands-on guy. I want to be there where the action is. And I how I what what was I going to do in Singapore? Now, I'm talking about learning to lean on Jesus. Well, there was nothing to do but to spend a whole lot of additional money to redesign that whole entrance on the Enterprise Road at the south entrance. There was nothing to do but to do it. We did it. It's beautiful. I trusted the Lord, and God worked through Pastor Wilson.

Everything was done in readiness, but I disappoint. Do you know what it is to be disappointed? Is there anybody here who has never in your life ever been disappointed? Everything has always worked out the way you thought it should and the way you thought it was going to. We all have from time to time. Now, look at what the scripture says. It says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Trust in the Lord. Trust is a deep reliance on God. And when I got that email in Singapore, I was not relying on the Lord.

I was relying on Jack Morris, and it wasn't working because it wasn't a thing that I could do about it but to pray, trust the Lord, trust the board, trust the church, trust Pastor Wilson, believe that everything was going to work out. And sure enough, it worked out. You see, trust means the end results are in his hands that he's going to take care of the situation, that everything is going to turn out the way he wants it to turn out. Even though I'm disappointed, he is God. He has all power. He's going to do what is right.

You see, I can say those words, and you and I can say it too, and we can stand and sing trust and obey, for there's no other way. Anybody can say there's no other way but to trust and obey. And then like me, get angry and hot, upset. You're still with me? You know what I'm talking about? We say a lot, but can we really produce? But the scripture says, trust in the Lord, in the Lord, in the Lord. He is the one that has all power in heaven and on earth, and he's the one that is the head of the church, building the church, the Lord Jesus.

And it says, with all your heart. Now, I looked at that, all your heart. Is it possible to trust in the Lord with 65% of your heart or 75%? You mean I can have a divided heart? It must be so. It says all your heart, not part of your heart, but all your heart, meaning all your emotions, all your intellect, all your understanding, all your life trusting in the Lord. And then it goes on to say, and lean not on your own understanding, not the way you think it is, not the way you planned it to be.

Lean not on your own understanding. Everybody is leaning on something. Everybody as a crutch. Let's lean on Jesus. Yoke up with Jesus. Let him take us through whatever the difficulty is. And I pray right now that you are thinking of the difficulty that you may be experiencing and going through. And this scripture and that difficulty are going to come together and link up today, and you're going to see the mighty hand of God move in your situation. I truly believe it. So think with me, pray with me, stay with me because God's word is coming forth for you and the particular situation that you're in right now.

The scripture says in all your ways acknowledge him. Now, it says all your heart, that means maybe not all my heart is in what I'm doing. And then it says in all your ways acknowledge him. Maybe I'm not acknowledging him in all my ways, only part of my ways. Maybe the problem is not what's going on out there, but the problem is in here and here. In all your ways give it to him. Acknowledge him, his love and his power, meaning be ever mindful of God and what God can do, how he can change. And the scripture then says, if I trust the Lord with all my heart, if I acknowledge him in all my ways, if I lean my weakness on him, what does it say?

All of that comes with a promise. Come on, you tell me what it says. What's going to happen if I trust him with all my heart? And he will make your path straight. He will do it. Now, notice that there's two things I need to do. I need to trust, I need to acknowledge him with all my heart. Three things. I need to lean my understanding on him. If I do 1 2 3, he'll do 4. He'll come through every time. Every time. And he's going to come forth and through in your situation. The scripture says in Isaiah chapter 30 verse 21, whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way.

Walk in it. You see, we're we're moving along in a straight line. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, we have a tendency to veer off and to lose sight of our goal and to miss the mark. Now, he's the shepherd out front leading me. But if I get ahead of him, which often we do, we're we're going to fix it. We're going to make it right. We're going to make it happen. And I get ahead of him and instead of him being ahead of me shepherding me, leading me, I'm ahead of him.

And then all of a sudden he's behind me. Oh, I hear a voice behind me. That voice should have been out there. How did it get back there? Where did I miss? It's so easy to get caught up and to miss the Lord and his plan and to veer off to the right or the left, but he is faithful. I'll hear a voice behind me. Friend, I hope and pray you're hearing a voice this morning either in front of you or behind you saying this is the way. Walk in it. Now, a lot of us know KI Singer, Mrs.

KI Singer. She just had a tumor removed from her brain. K has been very ill. A 12-hour surgery. I've been talking to Dawn and K, and K is doing just fine. She was weary. She was seeing double, had very little energy, and now she can see well, she can walk. She's still in the hospital, still in rehab. But they're talking about coming up here to the church. K was a member of this church ever since we were down at the the school. And then Dawn came along, they got married, and Dawn became one of our board members.

So they're they're very much part of the Largo Community Church. K followed the Lord. Things started happening in her life, and I have to tell you the story and I told her I said, K, I'm going to tell your story. She said, tell it. Go ahead and tell it. One Sunday morning we were down at the high school. 40 some years ago. Had to be about 43 42 years ago. We were worshiping in the multipurpose room, and here comes this older lady, K's mother. Then there was K, and then there were these three children of K.

K apparently took one of the children or all of the children to the restroom, and her mother stood in the narthex and walked over to me. I didn't know her from anything. And her mother walked over to me and quietly she said, that's my daughter and grandchildren. Her husband died 3 weeks ago. They living living in Kettering. Her husband Gary was a veterinarian working in Alexandria, Virginia. He was only 33 years old. Left K with three children, Tony, 9 years old, Denise, 8 years old, Diane, 6 years old. 33 years old. But before he died, he saw one of our signs.

You know it's churches need to get out there and advertise on radio, television, street signs, people inviting people into church. He saw one of our signs and and he wasn't even sick, and he said, K, we need to take the kids and go to that church one Sunday morning. And she said, because Gary wanted to go to the Largo Community Church, she said, we decided we're going to come to church. Well, at any rate, here comes K with her children, walked over to me and I I was just stunned by what the mother had told me.

And so I I asked K. I said, ma'am, I said, do you believe in prayer? And I must have had my arm like this because she reached up and very forcefully grabbed my arm, and she said, yes, I believe in prayer. I truly believe in prayer. And then we began to talk about the Lord and share. Well, the story goes on that K joined the church, became a Sunday school teacher, sang in the choir, and was part of the church, and raising those three children by herself. Now, she continued to work as a nurse in that Alexandria Hospital with the the the veterinarians.

Several years went by, and she met Dawn. Dawn had gone through a divorce. He had his children. They fell in love. Dawn was a fine Christian man. I know the Lord led her. Now, I'm talking today about trust following the Lord. There's a path that God has chosen, but we have a tendency to choose our own way. But friend, listen to me. You're going to miss God's best. And if you have veered off to the right or to the left, come on. Hear that voice behind you saying, this is the way. Get back on course again.

It's never too late. Never too late. You're still breathing, aren't you? Never too late to get back. There's a man that I know was a was a United Methodist pastor at one time. He's maybe in his 60s now. And he told me a story. I'm going to try to have him come to the church and preach someday. He said that he was driving. He was he he in Florida he pastored a church of 3,000. In Cincinnati, Ohio he pastored a church of 1,400. And while pastoring one of those churches he was driving the car one day and had a head-on collision.

Now, the man that hit him head-on was only driving 40 miles an hour, but when they hit head-on it it put this pastor friend of mine in the hospital. And he had to have immediate surgery. Immediate surgery. You know, it's so easy to say, God, why? Well, the story doesn't end there by a long way. While he was on the operating table having surgery, he had a stroke. Became blind in both eyes. Lost complete function of his hands and his feet, and he could just barely speak. Now, when I say he lost the functions of entirety of his whole body, I mean nothing functioned that he had control over.

This went on for several years. And because he was in the shape he was in and had no control and could do absolutely nothing for himself, his wife had an affair with a man next door. They eventually married. The pastor told me. The pastor told me that he begged his wife not to stay with that man, not to go with that man. He said, I'll forgive you. We'll put this marriage back together again. It's because I can't be a husband to you. He he understood, and he wanted the marriage to go on, but she wouldn't.

And so they divorced. 10 years ago he remarried. After about 6 years this man started regaining the use of his body. He now has control over his body. He is still blind in one eye, but he can see out of one eye, and he's back in the ministry again. And he's preaching almost every Sunday. Now, there are things that are going to happen in our lives, small things, big things. But whatever happens, if you know Jesus and he's your shepherd and you're trusting him and you're leaning on him, I mean trusting the Lord with all your heart.

All. Not a percentage of your heart. You're not going to lean on your own understanding. You're not going to be like my pastor friend. Why did this happen? Why did my life wife leave me? I know she left because of the functions of his body. But he regained everything except blindness in one eye. But he's preaching today. And do you know in the condition that man was in that the board of directors of his church asked him, we want you to still be our pastor. He said, I can't drive, I can't walk, I can't. And he talked he showed me how he talked.

He said, I can't even talk. But the church believed that he was going to get well again. Friend, if two or three of us But if 800 to 1,000 of us or 1,200 like here at the Largo Community Church, if we believe, we can believe and move mountains by our faith. There's nothing impossible with God. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not to your own understanding. Stop trying to figure it out and pray, believe, trust in the Lord, and he will make your path straight or he will direct your ways. This is what God is going to do.

Let's learn to lean on Jesus. And I know today someone here needs to start leaning on Jesus. And when you do, the healing will begin. Things may not happen immediately, but with my pastor friend it took 6 years, but he is well and strong and preaching all over the area now. And one of these days, Lord willing, he's going to come by the Largo Community Church some Sunday morning, and maybe he'll tell his story. But friend, today God has a new story for you. And he's going to bless you if you'll trust him. But so often we'll pray a prayer, and if it doesn't happen like that, oh, that must not be God's will.

We give up. And we turn our attention somewhere else or we get get passive in our spiritual thinking in our spiritual ways. Friend, don't give up. Just because it wasn't answered today or next week, next month, next year, six years, ten years, don't give up. Hang on. Keep praying, believing, trusting the Lord. Many of you know about my son, our son, how we had such a difficult time, and it was so difficult so difficult that K made the statement. She said, Jack's going to have to resign the church. He's not going to make it. Almost gave up.

Friend, don't give up. The other day I got a an email from my son. And you know what he said to me? He said, Dad, thank you for introducing me to Jesus. That was last week. Last week. I should have brought that letter and read it to you. And how that they drove for an hour, they moved uh to another city in South Carolina. And they would drive an hour back to their church because they loved their church and they loved the pastor the way the pastor preached. But he said, Dad, we we needed to get a church closer.

And he said, we found a church. And he said, we went to that church. And I think it's meeting in a gymnasium somewhere. Just just like this church started out in a multipurpose room. And he said the pastor's preaching the word of God, and he and his wife and two daughters they're going to church together every Sunday morning, loving the Lord, serving God, living for Jesus. Friend, God is real, and he wants to be real to you. There's a way. You do his will, do it his way, and he will direct your paths a straight line for you.

You don't have to go zigzagging through life up and down and in and out. When you turn to the right or you turn to the left, you'll hear a voice behind you. Come on, get back in line again. And I pray today that some of you will get back in line, will trust God, will move on to great victories in Jesus.

Guest (Male): If today's message strengthened your faith, we invite you to stand with The Healing Word through your prayers and your generous support. Every gift helps us take the gospel to more people who desperately need to hear that Jesus still saves. Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message. Until then, blessings on you.