The Healing Word

Announcer: The Healing Word Ministry on One Place is brought to you by the generous donations of people like you. At any time during today's message, feel free to send a prayer request or make a donation using the links provided. Now, I pray you will be blessed as Pastor Jack Morris delivers a message from the Word of God that will encourage and strengthen your faith in him.

Pastor Jack Morris: You need to surrender. Give in. Give up. Surrender. And let the Lord become the Lord of your life and he will bless you and guide you and do great and mighty things.

Announcer: 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: I'll never forget the time I got lost in Manila, Philippines. That's not the place to get lost. It was one of my early visits. I want to tell you about it. I was on a mission to the Philippines. I was staying in Manila in the mission house called Open Doors. I was so enchanted with that beautiful city of nearly twelve million people at that time.

I really enjoyed the jeepneys. For 25 cents, I could ride a jeepney wherever I wanted to go. So I asked the people at the mission house, Open Doors, their address. I didn't even know the street or the house number where I was staying. So they wrote it down on a little piece of paper and I put it on my dresser. When the time came to go, I had a couple of hours to spare and I thought, "Well, I'm going downtown to Makati." Any Filipinos here this morning? You know about Makati. They're coming to the 10:30 service.

So I put my wallet and everything together, walked up the streets, up a little side street, got up to the main highway, a jeepney came by, I hailed it, jumped in, and I had a ball. It was fun. I got to Makati and I went in and out of the stores and walked all around the square. Cars and jeepneys and horns and exhaust. The exhaust from cars was just floating in the air. It was so hot. I was getting a little tired and I thought, "Well, I better go back home." I reached for my address and I didn't have it.

I didn't know where I was to go back to. I was lost. I've never felt lostness like I felt it then. There came over me a feeling of panic. I thought, "I'll never get out of this place. I'll be here." The only thing I knew to do, I saw this middle-aged lady, she had western attire and she was holding an umbrella because the heat was just pounding down on us. I walked over to her and I said, "Ma'am, would you know where there's a mission house named Open Doors? I don't know the street, I don't know the address, but that's where I'm staying and I need to get back there."

Well, she looked at me like the dumb American that I am, and she said, "Sir, you ought to know where you live." I said, "Ma'am, you're right, but the place is called Open Doors. It's where missionaries stay. Do you have any idea where that place is?" Do you know she said the exact same words to me again? By that time, I was really getting frustrated. She said, "Sir, you ought to know where you live." I said, "Ma'am, we don't have an argument there. We're together. I agree with you. But I'm lost."

Just then, it came to mind, there was a landmark. I remembered when I got into the jeepney, there was a big Pepsi-Cola factory there. I asked her, "There's a Pepsi-Cola factory. If I can get back to the Pepsi-Cola factory, I can wind back down the streets and I'll know where to go. I'll know where that is. Do you know where the Pepsi-Cola factory is?" She said all those jeepneys, and there looked to be hundreds of them, bumper to bumper, and they'd pull up, load up, pull out, and another one would pull up, load up, pull out. She said just keep asking them because one of those jeepneys goes by a Pepsi-Cola factory.

I was pastoring this church. I had you all believing I was really an intelligent guy and smart. I waited 30-some years to tell you this story. I said to these jeepney guys, the drivers, "Nope, they don't go by there." Finally, one of them came by and he said, "Yes, I go by the Pepsi-Cola factory." Hallelujah! I jumped on, gave him my quarter, and sure enough, I recognized the Pepsi-Cola factory. I told him stop here, I got out, I went in, and I was able to come home and be with you again. I was wondering there for a moment or so.

But that's a terrible feeling, to feel lost. But you know there are a lot of people who are not lost geographically. They're not lost according to address or destination, but they're lost in their soul. There's just an emptiness inside. There's no direction in their life. They know they're alive, they know where they live, they know their social security number, they know their home address, they know their phone number, they know their zip code, but they really don't know who they are or why they're here.

Their life just doesn't have direction and there is emptiness there and it has gone on for years. But in Jesus, the good shepherd, there is direction. Now the title of the message is, "Let God Guide You." Now you have to let him do it. You have to give the control, the steering wheel, the reins of your life over to him. That's something you have to do. He's not going to come and just take it away from you. You have to give your life to him and he will give direction to you if you ask him and seek after him.

Life is a journey. It is not stagnant, it's not dormant. It's going somewhere. It's fluid. The time is ticking away. But a lot of people seem to be in a locked position. They're going through the motions, but it's like life is cyclical. It's just going around, going through a lot of the motions of living, but the emptiness is there and the people do not have truly abundant life. They're not feeling fulfilled. They keep trying. If I get more money, if I get a higher position, if I get the degree, whatever, they're still thinking that it's going to be something that they achieve.

Friend, it's nothing that you can do. You don't have life because you gave yourself life. God gave you life. You have life and breathe God's air until he says it's time to stop breathing his air and your time is over. Friend, the life you have, the minutes, the days, the months, the years that you have, if you have that, give it to him today and you'll know peace, you'll know joy, you'll know fulfillment. You'll know why you were born. For the first time, you'll know that you're no accident of nature. You came here under God's design and God's purpose. Let God love you. Let God guide you and he will do it.

You know, it's possible to be on the right highway and be going in the wrong direction. I can get out here on Interstate 95. I can be on the right highway, but the direction I'm going in will either take me to Virginia or take me to New Jersey. There are people that are moving, but they're moving in the wrong direction. They're moving south when they should be moving north. But friend, this can be the day of your decision to accept Jesus and turn your life over to Jesus, and he'll become the shepherd of your soul and he will lead. Can you say praise the Lord? This is what the Lord will do for you.

Now our lives need guidance. Your life and my life. The first decision I need to make is to give my heart to the Lord Jesus and let him become the shepherd of my soul. That's a decision, that's a choice I have to make. I have to ask him to come into my heart and to be my savior. If I do, he will. He's more willing to come into my heart and be my savior and take my life and guide it much more so than I am. Someone says, "Well, I can guide my life. I can take control." Friend, you don't know what the afternoon is going to bring. You don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. You haven't lived life yet. You haven't lived tomorrow. No, you don't know. None of us know.

But he knows. If you give your life to the one who knows, he will guide you. He will direct you to the very places you want to be, to the very emotions you want to experience, to the very love and joy and abundance that he has to offer. He'll guide you there and he can do it. He's the only one that can do it and he's here to do it today if you just give yourself to it. I hope that you will and I pray that you will.

In your outline, Point A: Life is a journey. Point B: Life needs guidance. Now after we've given our hearts to Christ, continue to give your life to the Lord. Give every day. There's not a day that I can remember that when my feet touch the floor in the morning, I don't say, "Thank God, it's a new day. God has given me a new life. God is with me. Thank you Lord for being my Lord." He's my savior and I begin that day with the shepherd and I know that he's going now to guide me through the day.

Afterwards, Freda and I will have our morning devotions. We look to the Lord and every day he leads us because we look to him. Look to him. I know many of you are doing that, but some of you may not be doing that. But start doing that now. Whatever decision you have to make, put that decision into God's hands. Put that day into God's hands and look what God can do with it. It will amaze you, it will astound you, it will bless you. You'll come to the end of the day saying, "Thank God, this has been a wonderful day." Hallelujah! He's a wonderful God. He's a shepherd God who leads us and guides us.

The scripture says in Isaiah 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone astray." Every living person has made some poor decisions, some wrong decisions, some decisions not to accept Jesus, some decisions to try to do it themselves. With Esther being here this morning, I made a decision. I was going to start the Largo Community Church and build it myself. I thought it all depended upon me. I thought that was good logic. I thought I was trained to do it. I thought I had the know-how and the skills and I tried and I failed.

But God brought me back. God is here today to bring you back if you need bringing back to him. I have a feeling in my heart that there are some who are very, very frustrated. You've made some poor decisions. Friend, today's the day to turn the future over to the Lord and let him take it and guide you and direct you. The scripture says the Lord will guide me always. Not part of my life, but all of my life. All of your life, he'll do that. In Second Peter 2:25, "For you were like sheep going astray, but now listen. But now you have returned to the shepherd and bishop of your soul." No longer going astray because you have come back.

Now we're thankful for good people who love God and who love us and who give good advice. People who are Christians who love the word of God and who are directed by the Holy Spirit, who are normally quiet people and gentle people but people of the word. You can find some good help from those kinds of people, just like I found from Esther. Those are good people. You can find help. But there's a lot of people that are going to make a whole lot of noise and they're going to tell you what God wants for you. They're spiritual know-it-alls. They know the mind of the Lord for you. I wish they'd get their own life straightened up before they come and try to straighten up mine.

Now look out for those people. But I'll tell you one that will never let you down and will never lead you astray, and that's the shepherd of your soul. That's the Lord. His holy word. There's a group of shepherds in Turkey and they were eating breakfast one morning and they noticed something very astounding taking place. One sheep out of the herd of 1,500 walked over to the cliff, stopped, and then jumped over the cliff to its death. They were astounded. They'd never seen that before. They'd been there before. Nothing like that had ever happened before. But the thing that really disturbed them was that another sheep came and jumped over, and then three sheep, and then a dozen sheep, and all 1,500 sheep followed that one dumb sheep. Now which one was the dumbest? The first one or the one that followed the first one?

Friend, don't be dumb. Follow the Lord. Follow his word regardless of what you think or who tells you what. If it's not in accordance with the word of God. Do you know all of those sheep, with the exception of about 450, perished and died? This all came out in the newspaper. All of those sheep, with the exception of 450, perished. The other 450, because there was a white pillowy below, they would fall and it would cushion their fall and so 450 of them lived. All those shepherds were astounded and they lost their income which equaled to approximately $100,000 in a country where people make annually $2,700. Friend, even after becoming Christians, we can do some dumb things, can't we? Follow the Lord. Follow his word and he'll guide you always and give direction.

Today you're going to hear a testimony in just a moment of one of the young ladies of our church who gave her decision to the Lord. She had a decision to make, but she gave it to the Lord and she patiently waited on the Lord until he made the decision and then she followed him and God helped her. This happened in her career. If you're a Christian today, you can pray and believe God and God will hear your prayer and direct your life. He'll do it just as he did her life and he'll help you. I want you in just a moment, we're going to pray that you will turn your decision over to the Lord, whatever it is. Some of you are deciding on a career. Some of you are deciding on where you're going to go to school, go to college. Some of you are deciding on who you're going to marry as a mate in life. Some of you are deciding on where you're going to go on vacation. Hey, pray about all of these matters and more. Whatever the matter is, and God will guide you. But if you don't pray, you are saying by not praying, "I'll make up my own mind. I'll make my own decision." Friend, you're going to fail possibly if you follow that kind of reasoning. Take the word of God to heart. Believe the Lord. Take your problems, your troubles, your decisions that you're about to make, take them all to the Lord. She had to wait three years, and faith is spelled patience, isn't it? Now some of you, your three years are almost up.

Everybody take a pencil right now. Take the bulletin. Take the pencil. Take a pencil and I want you to write down the word guidance. Write down the word guidance: G-U-I-D-A-N-C-E. It's already there on one of the outlines. Write down the word guidance. Now underneath it or above it, write down the word G, make it a capital G. Okay, leave a space and write down the word U. Leave another space and write down the letter I. Now what's the last word? Dance. Last week we had the drama here talking about dancing with God, right? Now the G stands for God. U and I dance. God, U, and I dance. Say that with me. God, U, and I dance. Now that's how it is supposed to be. One leading and one following. And that's exactly what God will do. He will lead us if we will follow. But that's a big if. He will lead us if we will follow him. It's a rhythm, it's a dance. We move in and out, but God is leading and that's where faith comes in. We're trusting him to guide us.

Now here are five ways that God leads us. Number one, he leads us through the word. His word. His word is infallible, it is inerrant, and regardless of what anybody ever says to you, if it contradicts the word of God, ignore that person. Stay away from that person. Don't listen to that person. God's word abides forever. Obey the word of God. Not part of it. I don't understand these part-time obedient Christians. They pick and choose what they're going to obey and what they're not going to obey. Friends, it's not going to work for you that way. I can tell you now. I give a witness before God in the heaven above. If you do not follow the Lord with all your heart, you're not going to get all the blessing of God. You will not.

Marcia gave a testimony of following the Lord, trusting the Lord even during the dark times, and God walked her through and blessed her. She's blessing us today with a testimony and God is no respecter of persons. He loves every one of us equally. We're all his children. Jesus died for all of us. He will help us. He will help us. We'll make right decisions. He will direct us. The scripture says, "You guide me with your counsel." That's in Psalm 73:24. You guide me with your counsel. The second way we need to let God guide us is through prayer. The scripture says in Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Say it out loud with me. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Now when it says a lamp to my feet, that's the little decisions, the short steps, the places where I can see. He's going to help me guide and plant my feet at the very right spot. But then when he says a light to my path, that's into the distance. God's not only going to lead me today, he'll lead me next week, next month, next year. He'll take care of my life because he's my God, he's my shepherd. I've given my heart to him.

Thirdly, surrender to his lordship. That's what I was saying just a moment ago. We'll ask Jesus to be our savior, to come into our heart, save us from hell. We don't want to go there. Oh, thank God we're saved. But now we need to make him Lord. That means he is Jehovah, he is King over my life. He's the one now that makes the decisions. And because he loves you, he's going to make decisions that will benefit you and help you and bring blessing and glory into your life. But you need to surrender. Give in. Give up. Surrender. And let the Lord become the Lord of your life and he will bless you and guide you and do great and mighty things. Somebody here this morning is believing what I'm saying. And what I'm saying is the word of God. And you're not believing what I'm saying only, you're believing what God is saying. And God's going to turn things around and you're going to have a testimony. Hallelujah! I just can't wait to hear it. It's going to come.

Fourthly, circumstances. Give all circumstances to the Lord. Circumstances can be those emotions that you're feeling inside, those thoughts that come through your mind, that reasoning power. I think really I should be doing this. I think this is the right thing. Don't just think that. Pray that. Get down on your knees and say, "God, these are the thoughts I have. Are you giving me these thoughts or are they coming out of my own thinking, out of my own flesh, out of my own experience? Where are these thoughts coming from? God, give me your thoughts." So put your emotions before the Lord. Whatever the circumstances, those things that are going on around you that affect you directly and impact your life. Put them in God's hands.

Announcer: Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Healing Word. We hope today's message has encouraged you. For more information, prayer, or to donate, please use the links provided. Join us again as we continue to seek strength through God's Word. Until then, stay blessed.