Our Unique Life – Part 4
Transcript of FLOT Line Episode 619 aired on July 9, 2017
Good morning and welcome to the FLOT Line. I’m your host Rick Hughes and for the next few
minutes I would give you an invitation to stay with me. It’s going to be a little bit of time, just
thirty minutes, motivation, some inspiration, some education. And you know we do this without
any type of manipulation. We’re not trying to raise money. We’re not trying to sell you anything.
We’re not asking you to join up, fess it up, give it up. All I’m really asking you to do is listen up.
Listen to me as I explain God’s wonderful, phenomenal problem-solving devices. Let me show
you how if you can establish a FLOT line in your soul then you can stop the outside sources of
adversity before they ever become the inside sources of stress. Because adversity, we all know
that’s inevitable and stress well, not everybody knows this, but stress is optional. And the reason
is
adversity is what circumstances do to you and stress, well that’s what you do to yourself.
So the FLOT Line is an invisible protective barrier made up of wonderful problem-solving
devices found in the Bible. Ten of them at least. And if you learn them and use them, then you
can have this most phenomenal life. You have phenomenal assets. If you are a believer in Jesus
Christ, if you’ve accepted Him as your Savior, you must develop a FLOT line. You must know
these problem-solving devices for your spiritual life to be effective. Because you have assets
available for you to use in time. As long as you’re in the arena of contention, which is called the
devil’s world, as long as you’re here, as long as you’re logging time down here, then these assets
are always available to you. And it starts off with the first asset is the Bible, the canon of
Scripture. God gave you a Bible and that’s an amazing asset. Some of you own more than one
Bible. Let me remind you that the Scriptures were written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic and
there’s so many different types of Bibles out there today – it’s the number one selling book in the
world. I mean, if you’re a lonely hearts club, they’ve got a Bible for that. If you’re a tree hugger,
they’ve got a Bible for that. If you’re a fisherman, they’ve got a Bible for that. If you’re single,
they’ve got a Bible for that. The single Bible, the fishing Bible, the hunting Bible. It’s all about
selling Bibles because it’s a moneymaking machine. We don’t sell anything here but I
recommend you have a Bible. And, most of all,
I recommend that you sit under a well-
qualified pastor that can teach you the Bible from those original languages out of the Greek
and out of the Hebrew.
You might not know this, for example, if the Bible says that you’re to
love me, there are in the Greek New Testament four different Greek words for love. That only
translates into English in one word – love. But in the Greek it could be
agapao, phileo, stocheo,
erao
and the pastor has to tell you which love it is. When I say, do you, do we, do you, I said it
three times, well in Romans 7:15 there are three different words for do, three different Greek
words. So knowing the languages is critical. And so you have a Bible, you have a pastor, your
Bible is a textbook, not a novel, it’s designed to be taught to you. You also have the filling of the
Holy Spirit which is a phenomenal asset because Jesus Christ our Lord said when He went away
He would send His Spirit and He would be your mentor or your tutor and He would help you.
And then you have also your individual spiritual gift. Your gift that God gave you when you got
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saved is where you fit into the body of Christ. You didn’t earn it. You didn’t deserve it but it’s an
asset. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12:11,
“But one and the same Spirit works all these
things distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
Some people have the gift of giving,
some people have the gift of helps, some people have the gift of mercy, some people have the
gift of administration, some people have the gift of evangelist, some people have the gift of
pastor-teacher. There are several different gifts: giving (Romans 12:6), helps (1 Corinthians
12:28), mercy (Romans 12:8), gift of administration (Romans 12:8), gift of service (Romans
12:7). All of these spiritual gifts are the basis for the team concept in God’s royal family. It’s
where you play on the team. And the quarterback is not any more important than the tight end,
the tight end is not any more important than the linebacker or the fullback or the tackle. You are
just as important as the pastor. Your job on the team is to re-present Jesus Christ. So that pastor is
a grace asset for you. A well-qualified pastor and overseer, the Bible calls him. Peter told the
pastors to,
“Shepherd the flock of God, the ones that are among you, serving as overseers and
not by compulsion, but willingly, and never for any dishonest gain.”
That word overseer is a
compound word,
episkopeo
is the word and it means to fully look over, to fully watch. And so
your pastor has responsibility by God to watch over the direction administration of your local
church. So that’s important for you to understand that. It’s important for you to know that that’s
one of your assets – a well-qualified pastor – and his job is to keep a watch on things, make sure
they go right. You know, God inspects our human thoughts and evaluates our progress as
believers. It even tells us that in Revelation 2:23,
“I am the One that searches the minds and the
hearts and I will give to each of you according to your production.”
So we have all these
amazing promises associated with the assets that He gives us. And if we think divine viewpoint,
if we think God’s Word, not human viewpoint, but divine viewpoint, then we have an amazing
lifestyle. Just let me show it to you. When the Bible says,
“Let this mind be in you that was also
in Christ Jesus,”
when the Bible says,
“Stop thinking in terms of arrogance beyond what you
should think, but think in terms of humility as God has assigned to each one of us a standard of
thinking from His Word.”
When those things like that are there, this is what it means.
In Isaiah
26:3,
“I will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusts in
Thee.”
That’s the faith-rest drill, problem-solving device number three, trusting in God in
spite of the difficulties, in spite of the circumstances.
So there’s one, having perfect peace,
that’s a relaxed mental attitude, that’s being able to close your eyes at night not worried, not
afraid, not shaken, not shivering. In Psalm 119:165,
“Those who love Your Law have great peace
and nothing causes them to stumble.”
Now this is not the peace that comes from being saved,
that’s a different peace. Romans 5:1-2 says,
“We have been justified by faith and we have peace
with God through our faith in Jesus Christ.”
But this is beyond that. This is a living faith, not a
justification type faith. And so Paul talked about it in Philippians he said,
“Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God
[and then here it comes, ready, listen]
and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.”
Guard your
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heart and mind, what does that mean? Well, it means you have a mind (m.i.n.d.) that’s called in
the Greek New Testament your
nous
and that’s like the left side, that’s where all the information
comes in. And then you have a heart
kardia
in the Greek
kardia.
We get the English word,
cardiology. And this is where all the information is stored. So we get knowledge in the mind and
it’s called
gnosis
. But if we cycle it by faith into the heart then the Greek Bible calls it
epignosis
or
epi
being full, full knowledge. Full knowledge is wisdom.
The objective of Bible study is to
acquire wisdom.
Knowledge produces wisdom and wisdom makes an impact in the devil’s
world. So there’s never any need for you to worry yourself sick since any mental attitude sin such
as worry, anxiety, those sort of things eventually overflow into the body. I mean it’s not
uncommon for people to have skin rashes and hypertension, high blood pressure, ulcers, other
disorders from the overflow or pressure from the mind to the body. This is a promise – you don’t
have to have that sort of stuff. You can live with an unbelievable peace the world does not have.
That’s a divine promise from God. And we must understand that promise and utilize that promise
because it will guard you. Because Satan, if he’s going to attack something, he attacks the way
you think. You live your spiritual life in your brain, you know, in your soul. That’s where you
live it. It plays itself out in your actions.
Satan attacks your thinking
. Let me just take one brief
minute, okay, maybe more than a minute. But let me show you how he can neutralize you. If you
allow Satan he can neutralize you as a believer to where you have no impact, no impact in your
community, no impact in your family, no impact at all. And this is how he’ll do it.
Number one
Satan can neutralize you by recapturing your thoughts, you’ll take your mind off of Christ
and put your mind on people and circumstances.
In the Bible, Paul warns about this in 2
Corinthians 11:3,
“I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve
[or neutralized her, he
compromised her]
as the serpent deceived Eve by means of his craftiness, so your minds
[there it
is]
so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that’s in Christ Jesus.”
The single-
mindedness that’s in Christ Jesus. This is what Satan tries to do, to corrupt your thoughts, to
corrupt your thinking, to create doubt, to create animosity, to create hatred, to create
implacability, to create guilt. These are all things that attack your mind. This is not the way God
intended for you to live. God said in 2 Corinthians 10:5 through Paul,
“Cast down all
imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and then bring
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
Every thought, every motive, every
attention, every desire into obedience to the intentions of Jesus Christ, that’s what He
wants you to do with your life.
But Satan is always there, always trying to neutralize you by
recapturing your thoughts and then he will seek to reclaim your affections. And by that he will
take you away from the things that are the most important. If you let him recapture your
thoughts, you’ll lose your affections. What do I mean by that? Well, 1 John 2:15 tells you, warns
you,
“Do not love the world, do not love the things in the world. If any man loves the world
[the
cosmos diabolicus
we call it]
then the love of the Father is not in him.”
Losing your affection is
you turning away from loving God and associating with the details in life and looking to
people or circumstances to make you happy.
And so some people fall in love with money.
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Some people fall in love with drugs. Some people fall in love with alcohol. Some people fall in
love with another person and they put God aside. Don’t you think for one minute Satan can’t
bring you the love of your life if you will in fact walk away from the plan of God. I’ve seen it
happen. I’ve seen several people that were advancing spiritually and were growing and they fell
in love. And that was the end of that. Quit going to church, quit taking in God’s Word, quit
dealing with the Scriptures and began to deal with the person they fell in love with. And there’s
nothing wrong with falling in love. God has the right person for you. But if it’s the right person
they are going to assist you in your spiritual growth not distract you. Another thing Satan will try
to do is redirect your focus to get you to look away from God’s Word, away from the cross. In 2
Corinthians 4:18 we are warned,
“While we look not at the things which are seen
[this is your
focus]
but we look at the things which are seen not. For the things which are seen are just
temporary but the things which are seen not are the eternal things.”
So that’s our objective –
keep our mind on the plan. We look forward, not back, not to what’s going to make me
happy today. We look forward to the objective, those things that are eternal.
So if you stay
filled with the Holy Spirit, if you grow spiritually and become a mature believer you are building
up eventual rewards in eternity where you will hear your Father say, ‘Well done, good job, proud
of you, My good and My faithful servant.’ Unfortunately, some people are going to get there and
the Lord will say, ‘Have a seat and we’ll get to you in a few years.’ That doesn’t mean He doesn’t
love you. That doesn’t mean you’re not in heaven. That doesn’t mean you don’t have eternal life.
It just means you didn’t fulfill His plan. And so he’s busy over there blessing those other people
that did while you wait your turn to get up there to hear what went on in your life. Now no sins
are going to be shown you. There’s no movie projector in heaven showing you all the sins you
did. That’s not true. Your sins were all paid for at the cross. But what will be evaluated is your
production and this is described in 1 Corinthians 3:11-16. Did you manufacture wood, hay and
stubble or did you manufacture gold, silver and precious stones? You’re to keep your focus on
this, keep your focus on Christ. Not looking at the things that are seen but the things that are seen
not. Not only will Satan try to redirect your focus, he will refine or, excuse me, try to redefine
your values. To get you to redefine what’s valuable to you. So if I ask you a question, what’s the
most valuable thing in your life right now? Here’s what Matthew says, Matthew 6:19,
“Lay not
up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves
break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
There you go. So your values must
be in heaven. If you’re going to lay up some rewards, it must be in heaven.
And then Satan’s
going to seek to get you to reorder your priorities; to put other things in front of God.
Matthew 6:33 says,
“If you will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
[that’s first,
priority number one]
and all of these things
[talked about in the preceding verses]
they will be
added to you.”
That’s logistical support. So God has a plan for your life and that’s how Satan will
try to interrupt it in those ways. If you didn’t get all that, write to me, I’ll send you this message
and you can listen to it again. Now another asset that you have as a believer in Jesus Christ, you
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are now a member of the royal priesthood. You yourself are. First Peter 2:9,
“But you also are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may
proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of the darkness and into His marvelous light.”
So now you’re a priest.
You’re a believer priest, and as a believer priest you are guaranteed
divine protection in the devil’s world.
We’re given that in 1 John 4:4,
“You are of God, little
children, and you have overcome them, because greater is the One in you than the one that’s in
the world.”
So you’re a believer priest, you have divine protection. Job 5:19 says you don’t even
have to worry about when you die. Eliphaz, the friend of Job, taught him a Bible class because
he thought Job was being disciplined by God for what he did wrong and it wasn’t true. This is
what Eliphaz said,
“He will deliver you in six troubles, yes, even in seven no evil will touch you.
In famine He will redeem you from death and war from the power of the sword. You will be hid
from the scourge of the tongue, and neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes. At
destruction and famine you can laugh and neither should you be afraid of the beast of the earth.
For you shall be in league with the stones of the field and the beasts of the field should be at
peace with you. And you will know that your tabernacles shall be at peace and you will visit your
habitation and shall not sin. And thou shalt know also that your seed shall be great in thine
offspring as the grass of the earth. And you will come to your grave in a full age like as a shock
of corn cometh in the season. We’ve searched it, this is true, hear it, it’s good.”
Recently I did a
funeral for a wonderful person up in the Tennessee area. A mature believer, a wonderful mature
believer, impactful in her community and in her family. You cannot believe what her life did. The
historical impact that she left behind, the invisible impact she had in her community, the family
impact, the blessing by association. And God took her at the right time. Now someone might
have said she should have lived longer.
God takes us at the right time. Only He knows the
time and the manner and the place of our departure.
And if we’re mature believers, if we’re
growing in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we’re redeeming
our time, we don’t even have to worry about it. He’ll handle it. He knows the time, He knows the
place and He knows how it’ll happen. So in our case, just keep driving on. Keep your eyes on the
objective. Okay? Another great asset we have, I’m talking about a phenomenal asset, is the power
of intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer. A client nation like America, we have no hope
without intercessory prayer by believers, by you, for those that are in control, for the president,
for the Congress, for the executive and judicial branch of the government – they need prayer. The
military needs prayer. Prayer, intercessory prayer. This is all taught in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 where
Paul said,
“First of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers and petitions and thanksgiving be made
on behalf of all men and for kings and all who have authority
[why? why should they do that?
listen to the rest of the verse]
so that
[this is a purpose clause]
we may lead a tranquil and quiet
life in all godliness and dignity.”
We have the ability to approach the throne of God and pray for
government, pray for our leaders. Paul was requesting prayers be made for the salvation of the
people and for the government. Sometimes I’ll look up commentaries, information other people
have written. Walvoord and Zuck wrote in
The Bible Knowledge Commentary
about this, they
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said, “Having recently been released from his Roman imprisonment Paul was greatly aware of
the deteriorating political atmosphere and thus he urged prayer for the salvation of all men but
especially rulers so that the stable non-interfering environment of the previous days might be
recovered.” Non-interfering where the government doesn’t stick its nose into the middle of
religion and try to dictate policy such as they’ve done today. I mean, it’s a crime today to display
the Ten Commandments in the courthouse. Can you believe we are that far gone? It’s ridiculous.
A friend of mine, a wonderful friend of mine who is a pastor said this, “In America, everything
good today has become evil and everything evil has now become good.” That’s true if you take a
look at our country, if you take a look at history, if you take a look at what’s going on the very
things that were detestable twenty or thirty years ago are accepted and widely promoted today.
And if you stand against it, well they’ve got a lot of names to call you. So if there’s one thing that
we do not have in American politics, it’s tranquility. We don’t have quiet lives. We are assaulted
every day by media bullies that seek to impose their agenda on the masses, trying to tell the
masses who’s right and who’s wrong and what you should believe and what you shouldn’t
believe. I think we need to go back to news twice a day; thirty minutes in the morning, thirty
minutes in the evening and kick the rest of them off the air. Then we would be a little better off I
believe. Paul said, entreaties and prayers and intercession and thanksgiving, supplication,
entreaties, requests, requesting prayers. Prayers,
proseuchomai
is the word for prayer. There are
prayers of appreciation, prayers of adoration of God. You can do that. There’s nothing wrong
with thanking God for who He is and what He is. Prayers of intercession where the Greek word
enteuxis
means we petition God on behalf of another person.
Prayers of thanksgiving, like
eucharistia,
the Greek word where we express our attitude of appreciation for all that God
has done.
Yes, we have incredible, phenomenal assets as believers in Jesus Christ. But if you
don’t know them, you’re not going to use them. And if you don’t use them, you’re never going to
glorify God in time and you’re never going to re-present Jesus Christ to your generation. It’s not
going to happen. You know, there’s protocol involved in the plan of God, which means a right
thing has to be done in a right way. Therefore it’s critically important that we learn His Word and
we learn to do it right. You know, just like a coach, you may have some guy come out for the
team (basketball, football, baseball) and he’s phenomenal or she’s phenomenal. Have all the
attributes of greatness and stability but not a team player. Well a coach can’t put that person in
the game because they won’t learn the plays, they won’t run the plays, they just want to be a ball
hog or ball shot, they will shoot the ball every time they get it and the coach is going to put them
on the bench. And this is the way God works. We are a team and we all have to learn our position
on the team and there’s no hotshots here.
We don’t make the rules up as we go along, we play
by God’s rules and those rules are called protocol, and protocol demands that right things
be done in a right way.
And that starts with salvation – faith alone in Christ alone; and it moves
into the spiritual life where we are mandated to be filled with the Spirit and we’re mandated to
grow in grace; and it moves into how we identify with other people – where the Bible says be
kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving, on down the line; and then into eternity. We’re to
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keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ and focus on what’s coming not what we’re involved in
now but what we will see. There’s a protocol plan of God. It’s not just go to church and sing a
few songs and clap, clap, clap, go home – it’s much more than that.
There is an angelic conflict
going on and you’re in the middle of it. This is a war. You must learn God’s plan for your
life. You must come to understand what God expects out of you and how God has equipped
you and then you can live in the middle of this conflict the most fantastic, happy, peaceful,
relaxed life the world has ever seen.
Everybody else around you will be falling apart and you’ll
be having a great time because you know Who’s in control and you know how to let Him run the
show. I hope you’re listening. I hope you’re learning. I hope you’re paying attention. I am Rick
Hughes the host of the FLOT Line. I’ll see you next week, same time, same place. Thank you