In this enlightening episode, Rick Hughes focuses on the unwavering love of God and how it acts as an anchor for our faith. He draws valuable lessons from the Book of Hosea, showing the persistent faithfulness of God towards His people despite their failings. The episode emphasizes the importance of becoming steadfast in your beliefs, representing the life of Christ in today’s world. Learn how to become a mouthpiece for God’s love, lifting Jesus Christ up, so He can draw people to Himself.
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you’ll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
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Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, you have a cordial invitation to stick around. 30 minutes of motivation, some inspiration, some education without any type of manipulation, just some teaching from the Word of God that will help you verify and identify the plan of God for your life, if you’d like to know that. And if you want to orient and adjust to the plan, then you can do so. You have freedom and privacy to do that. But remember that God gave you two ends, one to sit with, one to think with. And success in your life will depend on which one you use. Heads you’ll win, tails you’ll lose. That’s up to you. Now here’s the good news, that everybody that’s listening to me today by this radio show, over the 30 different channels we play across the United States, everybody listening has a brain. Now some have high IQ and some have middle-of-the-road IQ. However, here’s a wonderful thing. In God’s wonderful plan, your human IQ can be supplemented by learning God’s word and developing a spiritual IQ. There’s a huge difference between human IQ and spiritual IQ. And I’m telling you that from experience myself. How do you develop a spiritual IQ? Well, it starts with the 10 problem-solving devices. Problem-solving device number one is the rebound technique or how to confess your sin and get back in fellowship once you’ve broken fellowship with God. Once you’ve quenched the Holy Spirit and grieved the Holy Spirit by an act of disobedience, if you go to the Father in 1 John 1, 9, as the Bible says, if we confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us and even to purify us from all of our wrongdoing. So we do that. And then that allows the Holy Spirit to take control and we’re not living under the sin nature’s control anymore because we have a battle. The battle is the flesh wars against the spirit. The spirit wars against the flesh. They’re contrary one to the other so that you cannot do the things you’d like to do sometimes. As long as you’re alive, as long as you’re in this world, you’re related to Adam. And you have atoms genetically imparted to you, sin nature. You got it. You know you got it. Nobody set you down and taught you how to lie. Nobody set you down and taught you how to be jealous. Nobody set you down and taught you how to get mad. It’s your sin nature. So when you allow the Holy Spirit to control your sin nature, that’s what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5.18, be filled with the Spirit. You’re not letting your sin nature control your life. So if you’re filled with the Holy Spirit by using the rebound technique, confessing your known sin immediately fills you with the Holy Spirit. And then you apply Operation Z. Operation Z. What’s that? That’s learning God’s Word and applying it into your life. Operation Z starts with a qualified pastor. You listen to that pastor teach God’s Word. as he teaches it, if in fact he does teach God’s word and you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit will take what he’s taught you and allow you to comprehend it and understand it so that it transfers into your mind where it becomes gnosis knowledge, knowledge from the word of God. But until you apply it by faith and utilize it, it doesn’t do you any good. So you have to, by faith, believe it and apply it into your life. That’s why the Bible says happiness belongs to those people who hear my Father’s Word and keep it, Luke 11, 27, 28. And so Operation Z is hearing and keeping the Word of God on a consistent basis. So if you stay filled with the Holy Spirit by using the rebound technique, if you consistently listen to the teaching of the Word of God by a qualified pastor and apply what he teaches into your life That’s called positive volition. So if you have the Holy Spirit filling you, plus you’re fulfilling operation Z, plus you’re using your volition to obey, this gives you a spiritual IQ. So as a formula, it would look like HS plus OPZ plus V equals SIQ, spiritual IQ. The invisible ministry of the Holy Spirit takes the power of the living Word of God. It’s alive and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder the soul and the spirit and the joints and the marrow, and is a critic of thoughts and intents of the heart. The living Word of God. So the Holy Spirit takes the living Word of God, Bible doctrine we call it, and plants it into your soul where it becomes wisdom. when it’s in your soul as wisdom it gives you phenomenal discernment and insight through the eyes of the scripture i call this spiritual x-ray vision see if you have spiritual x-ray vision which is what spiritual iq then you can see a lot of the mistakes that you could make You can see them before they happen because you have discernment and insight. You can save yourself a lot of money. You can save yourself a lot of heartache. You can save yourself a lot of time wasted by having spiritual IQ. Save yourself a lot of mistakes. Now, spiritual IQ is taught through those 10 problem-solving devices that we call the flatline of your soul. When you develop a flatline on your soul, beginning with the filling of the Holy Spirit, well, actually beginning with rebound, problem-solving device number one, confessing your known sin to God. Number two, what does rebound solve, by the way? It solves the sin problem. Number two, the filling of the Holy Spirit. What does that solve? It solves the sin nature problem. Number three, the faith rest drill, standing on the promises of God. And you can’t do that if you haven’t metabolized or learned and applied God’s word. So you have to have the word of God to use the faith rest drill. You’re standing on God’s promises. And then you move into grace orientation, or you begin to understand the grace of God in your life, and you move into doctrinal orientation, the importance of God’s word in your life. These two things together give you a personal sense of destiny, knowing why God planted you here, what God expects out of you, These are all motivated by your personal love for God, which is the greatest virtue you could have, and your impersonal love for others, which is a tremendous problem-solving device. This gives you happiness, sharing the happiness of God. It’s a wonderful problem-solving device. Jesus Christ, our Lord, said it. My joy I leave with you, he said. And that leads us to occupation with Christ. There are those 10 problem-solving devices that We have those in a bookmark. If you’d like it, just let me know. We’ll send it 1, 2, 3, 50 if you need them. Put them in your Bible and remember those 10 problem-solving devices because they are the invisible power of God the Holy Spirit that gives you x-ray vision. These 10 problem-solving devices that we teach on the flotline can save you years of misery. and save you tons of money where you’ll spend it trying to cope with the mistakes that you made. Okay? It’s important you remember that. And by the way, all of these radio shows that we do over the air, we’re going now on 758 shows, that’s 758 Sundays, all of these are being transcribed and all of the 2019 shows are now in print. And they are free. All you have to do is write and ask, and we’ll send it to you. There are three different books that deal with each of the 2019 shows four months at a time. These are just transcripts. They’re not edited. And so if you want to read it and you want to have it to read, refer back to, then just get a hold of me through the website, rickhughesministries.org. And you can see the Flatline transcripts, and we’ll send them to you. Free of charge. Never a charge for anything we do here. Okay? Now let’s move on a little bit today. We’ve done five. I think we’ve done five studies on the love of God. This should be number six or seven. I don’t remember, but we’ll get it right here in a second. we’re going to wrap this up today about god loves you god loves you let me say that again that’s right look in the mirror really good now take a long look and say god loves me that ought to wake you up really he loves you really yes really that love is a phenomenal persistent love That love never goes away. And that sort of persistence, you must demonstrate that same trait in your spiritual life if you’re going to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. What is persistence? Let’s get some principles down. One, persistence is an action that exists for a longer than usual time. And it continues without change in function or structure. So the concept is that God’s love never gives up on you or me in spite of our stupid failures that we have. I mean, look at your own life. Look at the things you goofed up just this month already, and here it is not even the end of February yet. And you know what you’ve done. You thought nobody knew about it, but I got news for you. The Lord is well aware of it, but he still loves you. That’s what should just shake you to your bones. God loves me in spite of the fact that I can be such a loser sometimes. Yes. He never gives up loving you. That’s his essence. Love is part of his character. So point two, under the filling of the Holy Spirit, we are to be persistent with that message that we tell other people. God loves you. I mean, that’s why God left you here. You are his mouthpiece. You are what he uses to spread the good news that Christ died for the sins of the whole world. You are the messenger, and you are to be persistent spreading that message. God loves you. That doesn’t sound like very much. It’s just three little words. God loves you. But it’s an unbelievable, powerful statement. Three, my message, my mission, your mission is is not to crusade against sin. God didn’t send us to straighten out a sinful world. We can’t do that. I mean, it’s not possible. The devil controls this world, and we don’t even belong here. We’re sojourners. We’re passing through, the Bible says. Our home is in heaven, ouranos, as the Greek word says. So we’re not here to straighten out the sinners. We’re here to lift up Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who paid for our sin. If we will lift him up, then he will draw people to himself. What do we lift up? The fact that he loves you. He paid for your sin. Why did Jesus Christ go to the cross? Well, number one, to be obedient to the Father’s will. And number two, because in eternity past, he loved you and he loves you now. And that’s why the Bible says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. God loved the world. Are you part of the world? Yep. Were you a heathen when God loved you? Yep, just like me. God loved us even when we were heathens. Just being funny about that, but yes, he loves us. Loved us in eternity past, loves us now. And sent his son to be a sacrifice for our sin. So my mission and your mission is not to straighten out the drug dealers, not to make them go to jail. Everybody go to jail that sins. Everybody go to jail that does something bad. That’s not my mission. That’s the mission of the police officer and the people that do that sort of stuff. My mission. is to lift up Christ, not to combat sin and go march downtown and try to get the sinners to quit sinning. So point four, our persistent love for the lost world will reflect his perpetual love for all mankind. Our persistent love for the lost world reflects his perpetual love for all mankind. If you’re persistent in your love, if you demonstrate your love, If you act upon your love, then that reflects the perpetual love of God for all mankind. Notice something about one of the books in the Old Testament. It’s a very interesting book. I’ll read some of it here to you in a minute. The book of Hosea. Yep, Old Testament prophet Hosea. And in the book of Hosea, God demonstrated his persistent faithfulness and love for the people through Hosea’s action towards his unfaithful wife. Listen as I read to you what the Lord told Hosea to do. When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, the Lord told him, marry a prostitute. What? Marry a prostitute? Why would God tell him to marry a prostitute? Well, this was going to be a great lesson in unfailing love of God, the persistent love of God. The Lord said, marry a prostitute and have children with the prostitute. And the Lord to this land, the people in this land have acted like prostitutes. They’ve abandoned the Lord. So Hosea married Gomer and she became pregnant and she had a son. And the Lord told Hosea what to name him, name him Jezreel. In a little while, I will punish Jehu’s family for the people they slaughtered at Jezreel. And I’ll put an end to the kingdom of Israel. That’s divine discipline. And on that day, I will break Israel’s bows and arrows in the valley of Jezreel. And then Gomer became pregnant again, number two. And the Lord said to Hosea, name her Ruhamah, which means unloved. And I will no longer love the nation of Israel. I no longer forgive them, yet I will love the descendants of Judah and rescue them because I’m the Lord their God. and I won’t use bows, swords, war horses, or horsemen to rescue them. So then Gomer, after she weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she became pregnant again, had a son, Lo-Ami, not my people is his name. You are no longer my people. I’m no longer your God. And so these three children went on to be an act of God’s attitude towards the sinful inclinations of the people of Judah. And so this is what we have. You read through the book of Hosea. It’s really amazing how God, eventually she left him and eventually she was sold as a prostitute and he bought her back. Hosea went and bought her back and brought her back and gave her everything as a wife should have. And this was a perfect picture of God’s unfailing love for us. That marriage to Gomer. was a living example of God’s faithfulness to his people. Hosea never stopped loving her, and God never stops loving you, even when you and I play like a harlot. When we get out of fellowship, when we break God’s will, he still loves us. Isn’t that amazing? So like a good father, God remained faithful to his love for his people even when they became the harlot. And if you become a harlot, if you step out of God’s will, if you move into uncontrolled sin nature activity, God will still love you. But you’re going to find out the Bible says those whom he loves, he disciplines and scourges with a whip. So like those to whom Hosea spoke to, we must decide, are we going to respond to that unfailing love, or will we continue to neglect the wisdom that God gives us, the wisdom we need to navigate through the devil’s world? What are you going to do? You can neglect the love of God. You can say, I don’t believe it. You can say, I don’t believe the Bible. I don’t believe Christ is the Son of God. And you can trot your merry way down the my way highway. But listen to what Hosea said in Hosea 14, 9. Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them. But the transgressor, that’s those that neglect it, will stumble in them. So God is looking for those who know him and understand him. Hosea 14, 9 again, let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know these things. Understand and know. That’s what Jeremiah 9, 24 says. I’m looking for people that Know me and understand me. It’s critical. You may know God. I don’t doubt that. But you might not understand the God that you know, especially his justice and his righteousness and his love. So God’s wisdom gives discernment. God’s wisdom gives understanding. These elements are essential that you need to combat any sort of discouragement from testing or failure in your life. You must have this. and so the believers love for god god’s love for you your love for him there are two different things here the believers love for god and god’s love for us the believers love for god motivates persistent perception of his word you feed on it knowledge becomes pleasant to your soul the bible says When knowledge is pleasant to your soul, do you have a quest for knowledge? Do you have a hunger for God’s word? Do you wake up in the morning wondering what you can learn today? When you have that sort of hunger, you can advance to spiritual maturity. When you are motivated to be persistent in your intake of God’s Word, you can advance to spiritual maturity. But the greatest issue in the Christian life is being persistent in the cognition and the application of Bible doctrine. That’s what my pastor used to say. I remember that phrase so well. The greatest issue in the Christian life is being persistent in the cognition and application of Bible doctrine, the word of God. Apply it, hear it, learn it, apply it. Someone once said lag, L-A-G, learn, apply, and glorify. So remember, when God created you, He also loved you with a persistent, unfailing, overwhelming, amazing love. Don’t walk away from that. That’s a gift. Don’t walk away from such a gift as his persistent, overwhelming, amazing love for you because of what he’s provided for you, because of what he’s done for you. because of what he will do for you, starting with the cross, starting with sending his own son to die for your sin, paying the penalty that you should have paid. It should have been me. It should have been you. But he did it. He paid for it because God loves us. You understand that? 1 Corinthians 15, 58, concerning the resurrection of believers, Paul wrote, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast. Be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Be steadfast. This is what God wants from you, to be anchored, to be locked down, steadfast. And Peter called it in 1 Peter 5, 9, steadfast in the faith, unmovable. What does it mean? It means that your love for the Father is not deflected. Your love for the Father is not distracted on something that’s not essential. And it means your love for the Word of God is not swayed by people or circumstances. It means that your faith is not shaken by adversity. Be steadfast. Be anchored. Be unmovable. Be locked down. On my bass boat, I have a trolling motor, and the trolling motor has what we call a spot lock. And the spot lock, if I step on it, it keeps the boat in one position. Even if the wind’s blowing, even if the current’s moving, the trolling motor uses a GPS signal from the satellite and it will hold me on that spot even in the middle of the lake. You must have spot lock in your life. You must be locked in. You must be anchored. You must be steadfast in your faith, not shaken by adversity. And then the Bible goes on to say again, you gotta be immovable. This backs up double right here. Boom, boom. Another adjective. And it means to be anchored in your purpose. Steadfast in your faith and anchored in your purpose. And then abounding. The verb abounding means to exceed a fixed number. Abounding in the work of the Lord. Over and beyond and past the work of the Lord. That’s what God expects out of you. Steadfast, abounding, anchored, amazing. Let me read it one more time so you won’t forget it. My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Now, why would you do that? Because you love God. God loved you so much, he sent his only begotten son. That’s his love for you, and you reciprocate that love by learning and applying his word and becoming a personal representative of Jesus Christ in this world. Steadfast. immovable, abounding in the work of the Lord. That’s the testimony of Christ right there. Steadfast, immovable, and abounding in the work of the Lord. That’s exactly what he did. And that’s exactly what’s expected of you, to replicate the life of Christ, to represent the Lord Jesus Christ to those in your periphery. That’s your job. And that’s my job. Well, man, I hope you’re learning. I hope you’re getting this information. We’ll be teaching this currently coming up in the city of Houston in a couple of weeks. Go through a whole series on the love of God or God loves us. And don’t forget now, your human IQ is not an issue. The issue is your spiritual IQ. If you’re filled with the Holy Spirit and you’re consistent to take in the Word of God under a well-qualified pastor, then you can bank on it. You’re going to get some spiritual IQ. And it will take you way past what your human IQ is. I know that from experience in my life as well. It’s amazing to watch God do this. You know, that’s the amazing thing about it. Again, all of these are available on our website. All the Flotline shows are now being podcast, by the way. If you go to Apple iPod or if you go to Spotify, a free app on your phone, or Anchor or Breaker, some of these podcast apps, then you can listen to The Flatline anytime, anywhere you’d like by just typing in The Flatline, F-L-O-T, The Flatline. And you can pick up the radio show in the middle of the ocean if you’d like to listen to it. So, and again, the transcripts are available. The printed material that we have is available. Visit our website. Take a look at it. RickHughesMinistries.org. And we appreciate your prayers. Thank you so much for listening to our radio show. I hope you’ll continue to come back as we grow. We’ve now moved into Hawaii. We’re broadcasting in Hawaii. And people, I hear from people all the time, some want to straighten you out. Some want to tell you where you’re wrong. Some agree with you. Just never know what people think. My job is to not convince anybody of anything, just to give you what the Bible says. I’ll let the Holy Spirit do the convincing. That’s for sure. So, man, I really hope you’re listening. I hope you’re growing. You can always contact me through rickhughesministries.org or you can email us rick at rickhughesministries.org. We’ll be back next week about the same time on the same station. If you’d be praying for us to continue to advance these stations and grow more, even more and more, we’d like to have about 50 of them across this nation, maybe one in every state if we could. That’s my prayer, and I hope we’ll be able to do that. So thank you for listening. Until next week, same time, same place, this is Rick Hughes, host of The Flatline, saying thank you for being here with us today.
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Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you’d like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
