In this episode of The Flatline, Rick Hughes invites listeners to reflect on life’s path from ‘rust to dust.’ As age advances and the inevitability of life’s end looms large, Rick brings clarity to the spiritual journey, encouraging the audience to remain steadfast in their faith. Learn about redeeming the precious days given, leveraging wisdom that comes with age, and embracing God’s power that renews the spirit daily. Tune in to understand that although our bodies may age, our souls remain eternally vibrant.
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 am your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, please stick with me. It’ll just be short time, 30 minutes maybe. some motivation, some inspiration, some education, and always without manipulation. No con games, no asking for money, no selling any products, not asking you to join up. We just would like for you to listen. Listen as we seek to verify and identify the plan of God for your life. And if I’m able to do that, then you have the freedom and the privacy to orient and adjust to the plan. I love getting the letters I’ve been getting recently of people that are learning and growing and being challenged. So many people are saying, I didn’t realize these things before, and now I’m beginning to see it, and how can I continue to grow? If God’s been working in your life, don’t hesitate to send me a letter. Drop me an email to rick at rickhughesministries.org, rick at rickhughesministries.org. I love to hear from you. Thank you so much for letting me know what’s going on in your life. We broadcast from Maine to California every Sunday morning, same time, same place. All our material that we offer through our website, rickhughesministries.org, is free, no charge whatsoever. We hope you’ll take advantage of that and that you’ll stick with us. Today I want to talk to you about a subject that might be important. I think it’s a little important. I’d like to talk to you about going from rust to dust. From rust, R-U-S-T, to dust, D-U-S-T. That’s what many of us are doing right now. We’re going from rust to dust. Like a lot of you that listen weekly to this show, the flat line. And if you’re listening, uh, not a lot of teenagers listening, I promise you that most of you that listen are getting on up there, maybe 50 and above some a little bit younger, but, uh, age is beginning to creep up on you. You know what I mean? You see it. It’s almost impossible to realize that maybe now you’re in the final lap of the race. I’d be willing to bet that you like me are wondering where all the years went. Maybe you all of a sudden look in the mirror and you don’t recognize the person that you see. You don’t feel older, but you certainly look older. Fortunately, myself, I kept good records and good journals so I can look back and actually see what I did, when I did it, where I was when I did it. But unfortunately, none of us can look forward. We just don’t know how much time we actually have left. Because there are only two ways to get out of this sin-plagued planet, and neither of those involve your choice. It’s either the exit resurrection, which is the rapture, or your physical death. That’s the only two ways you get off this planet, the exit resurrection called the rapture or your physical death. Now, I don’t know about you, but I would personally rather burn out than rust out. Because I don’t think any Christian should finish life like a rusted automobile sitting in a junkyard just waiting to be crushed into scrap. And yet sometimes that’s what happens as we get older, we rust out. We just give up. We just lay down and quit. We forget that there’s still a plan for our lives. And regardless of your age, if you’re 70, if you’re 80, even 90, there’s still a plan for your life. God left you here for a reason. And that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning. So Romans 14, eight is where we start. For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord. That’s the first thing every Christian has to understand. God’s plan for your life is gonna go on. Whether you live or whether you die, it doesn’t make any difference. Right now, you’re still alive. You’re still occupying room. You have not been called to the home office, not yet. You may get that call, but so far you have not been called to the home office, which you and I know to be heaven. So when you do get to heaven, the last thing you want to get on your report card is an F, correct? You don’t want Fs on your report card. That’s wrong. You do want Fs. There are three Fs you want on your report card when you get to heaven. I’m going to show them to you right now. The three Fs we all want when we get to heaven. This is what the Apostle Paul stated in his letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, 6 through 7. He said, for I’m now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought, there’s the first F, the good fight. I have finished, that’s the second F, I finished the race, and I kept the faith, there’s the third F. So here it is. I’m now ready to be offered. In the time of my departures at hand, I have fought the good fight. I finished the race. I kept the faith. This is the testimony of Paul the Apostle, the three Fs, fought, finished, and faith. Fought is an interesting word, agonizomai. Agonizomai is a Greek word, and it means to contend against satanic opposition. Do not forget that you’re in a war. This is an angelic conflict going on, and you are in a war spiritually speaking. Satan does not want to go to the lake of fire. He would like to exonerate himself and be relieved from that responsibility, but he cannot. But he will try to use you to nullify the plan of God if he can. So there is a war going on, an invisible war called the angelic conflict. And you are told to armor up, suit up in Ephesians 6, put on the armor of God so you can stand against the strategy of the devil. He has a strategy in regards to you. We understand that. He knows your strengths and he knows your weaknesses. He knows what in the world can lure you and what in your flesh can destroy you. And if he can tempt you in those areas, he’ll do that. So Paul said, look, I have fought the good fight. What does that mean? It means he’s been faithful. He said, I fought the good fight. I finished the race. There it is. I fought the good fight. I finished the race, the second F. Teleo, teleo is the Greek word. It means I brought my mission to an end. I accomplished my mission. I did that which I set out to do. And then he said these words, I have kept the faith. The Greek word pistis, P-I-S-T-I-S, faith. Faith and believe, one’s a noun, one’s a verb. Pistis and pistuo, faith. He’s been faithful. He has a lot of fidelity. He did not forsake the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He stood firm. He fought the fight. He finished the race. He kept the faith. This must be your testimony and my testimony as well. We must continue to fight the good fight. We must continue to finish the race and not quit, not rust out. And we must keep the faith. Paul wrote these words to his young friend Timothy, the one that was like a son to him in 1 Timothy 1-2. He wrote to Timothy, my own son in the faith. Timothy was now the pastor of the church at Ephesus. And when Paul wrote this, he was actually under arrest for his testimony and he was condemned to be executed by the Roman emperor Nero. And in fact, he was executed around 67 AD by beheading But knowing that his time on earth was about to be ended, he looked back in confidence. He knew he did not fail his task. He knew he had completed his race. You and I might not know exactly when that time is going to come for us, but it’s going to come. There’s no way around it. We probably are not going to be beheaded like Paul was by Nero, but we’re going to die. And when that comes, we want to look back and say, I did my job. I fought the good fight, I finished my race, and I kept the faith. In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul wrote these words. Listen carefully. One thing I do is forgetting what’s behind me, that’s my failures, reaching forth unto those things which are before me. And then he said the famous words, I press towards the mark of the prize for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. That’s his motivation. What about you? Don’t look back. Don’t look at your failures. Don’t look at your flaws. Just keep looking forward. Those 10 problem-solving devices are critical for you at this time in your life. There’s never been a time in your life when it’s more important for you to have a flat line in your soul than when you get to be older like we are, like I am. So we have to understand how to rebound and confess our sin, which we understand leads us to the filling of the Holy Spirit. We have to understand how to live by the faithless drill. We have to understand what it means to have grace orientation and biblical orientation. We should know by now what our personal sense of destiny was. We should be motivated to be faithful because of our personal love for God. And we demonstrate that faithfulness with our impersonal love for all mankind. This leads us to sharing the happiness of God with the world and occupation with Christ. Those are those 10 unique problem-solving devices. And I could teach many hours on each one of those. So it’s important you remember that and understand that as long as we’re still living, as long as we’re still breathing, God has a purpose for us. This is the time your flood line is so very critical because Along with old age comes some physical difficulties. I mean, issues of health and disease threaten us every day. I mean, there’s not a day that goes by that you don’t hear someone with some disease, some cancer, some COVID, some heart problem. You know, our hearing goes. That’s the first thing that goes. Our eyes go. Our balance goes. Our strength goes. You name it, and the older folks have it. But this just means that you have more opportunities to trust God and utilize his marvelous provisions for you because you are to fight the good fight. You are to finish the race and you are to keep the faith. Here’s something you might not realize. Your body may age, your body may get old, but inside your body is a soul, S-O-U-L, your soul, and it will be forever young. Your soul never gets old. God never intended you to live in this body, Forever, a sin-infected body, infected with Adam’s original sin, you’ve got to get a new body, a resurrection body, and your soul will be in that body. And your soul is your mentality, your volition, your consciousness, your self-consciousness. It does not get old, never gets old. That’s why when you look in the mirror, you may shock yourself and say, gee, I look old, but I don’t feel old, because your soul doesn’t age. So 2 Corinthians 4.16, therefore we do not lose heart. We’re not discouraged, he said. Listen carefully to this verse, 2 Corinthians 4.16. We do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away. Yet inwardly, we are being renewed day by day. Every day, the word of God gives you a new life. Every day, the Holy Spirit empowers you. Every day, you have another opportunity to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ and represent him to your friends. So yes, we are wasting away outwardly, but inwardly, we are being renewed every day. If you use the filling of the Holy Spirit, and if you use the resources that God’s word gives you, you will be guaranteed to be strong, I promise you. Even though your body may be weak, Isaiah 40, 29, he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. You hear that? He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. That comes through the filling of the Holy Spirit. That comes through the residence of the word of God in your soul that empowers you, that strengthens you, encourages you, gives you hope and confidence. In Isaiah 46.4, listen again. Isaiah 46.4, even to your old age and gray hairs, I am he. I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and will carry you. I will sustain you and I will rescue you. What a marvelous promise for us from our Father. even to our old age and our gray hair. I’m he, I will sustain you. I made you, I will carry you, I will rescue you. If you’ve taken advantage of God’s word and grown spiritually as I pray you have, then you will have assets that young people don’t have. You may be 70, you may be 80, you may be 60, but if you’ve grown spiritually, these assets are incredible. Listen to what Job said in 12.12. Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? Wisdom is a wonderful thing. If you read Proverbs chapter one and two and three, you’ll find that wisdom cries out looking for someone to listen. Wisdom is actually the word of God cycled into your soul, streaming into your right lobe or your stream of consciousness where you can recall it and use it in your life. And wisdom gives you insight, discernment, and understanding. Wisdom, God’s wisdom from his word, gives you insight, discernment, and understanding. You will understand things that other people don’t. You will see things that other people don’t see because you will see it through the lens of the word of God. So here’s a principle for you. the believer, you and I, we are told to redeem what time we have left. Ephesians 5, 15, and 16, see then that we walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. I know this verse applies to both old people and young people, but let’s go over the verse. that see that you walk circumspectly. Walk is the Greek word peripateo. It means that you live your life. It’s talking about a way to live your life. And he’s saying you need to live your life circumspectly. Akribos, the Greek word akribos. And it means you must live your life accurately. Do you understand what this means? And do you understand why the apostle wrote it here? I mean, how would you like to come to full age facing death and then realize at that point in time that you messed up your whole life and you even damaged those who were associated with you. There is a perfect plan for all believers and a perfect provision for you to fulfill that plan. And it’s for you to walk accurately, circumspectly. That’s to learn the protocol plan of God and to live it and execute it in your life on a daily basis. And what did he say? Don’t live like a fool. See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools. Asophos, the Greek word, asophos, and that’s a stupid person. Proverbs 18.2, a fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind. In other words, only running his mouth, trying to tell you what a smart guy he is. He’s stupid. He’s a fool. So that’s what Paul wrote here. You must walk circumspectly. Don’t live like a fool, but live wise. Live wise. It’s in the wisdom of God. Redeeming the time. Exgorazo. Exgorazo. Purchase the time. You can add days to your life by growing spiritually. Did you know that? If you grow spiritually, you will add days to your life. When you take in the word of God under the filling of the Holy Spirit and begin to replicate the life of Christ and to grow to be a mature believer, God will give you extra days. You don’t believe that? Proverbs 3, 1 and 2. My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my mandates for a length of days and a long life and peace they will give to you. There it is. Redeem the time, ex agrazzo. Purchase the time. Buy time with your spiritual life. And then he went on to say in that passage in Ephesians 5, see that you walk circumspectly, not as a fool, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. This refers to Satan’s attempt to foil God’s plan of redemption. You know, in good old USA, you, like me, may see evil days as a destruction of all morality, the destruction of all culture as we shift to a more open, progressive, guilt-ridden society. That’s the road we’re headed down right now. But that’s not to concern me or you. We have a charge. We have a charge in our life, and I’m going to tell you what it is. This is your charge from God, Psalm 71, 18. Now also, when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation and your power to everyone who is to come. Until I declare your strength to this generation and your power to everyone who is to come. Declaring God’s strength to his generation. The Hebrew words are oha. means the mighty power or his shoulder or his arms. This is a direct reference to the omnipotence of God, and that was demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. No greater power could ever exist than to resurrect the Lord Jesus Christ from the grave. As a matter of fact, Ephesians 1.19 says, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power? towards us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and seated him at the right hand in heavenly places far above all principality, of all power, above all might, above all dominion, that’s the power of God, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age that is to come. There’s God’s power, God’s omnipotence in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our job in this old age that we have is to declare his power and his strength. That’s our job. And to declare the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and to demonstrate fidelity to our Father who will also resurrect us the same way he resurrected Christ. Don’t believe that? Listen to 1 Corinthians 15, verses 20 through 23. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, that’s Adam, by man also came the resurrection of the dead, that’s Christ. For as in Adam all die, so as in Christ shall all be made alive. but each one in his own order, Christ the first fruit, and afterwards those who are Christ at his coming. So you don’t stay in the grave forever. No, if you pass away, you’re going to go to be face to face with the Father. And I don’t know what kind of body you’ll have, but I know you’re going to get a resurrection body when Christ returns. I know that. But maybe in heaven we’ll have some sort of interim body. I’m not sure. I don’t know all the picture. but I know that we will not stay in the grave. We will be resurrected. So we, you and I, we cannot be distracted by any circumstances, whether it’s our health, whether it’s the politics in this nation. It’s not our job to straighten people out politically. That’s not our job to do that. It is our job to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ. So he said here again in this passage, When I’m old and gray-headed, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation and your power to everyone who is to come, and your power. The Hebrew word for power means your strength and your might. That’s our job, to declare his power and strength to this generation and the generations that come. How do we do that? When you are faithful to grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord Jesus Christ, you leave a faithful witness and you have a heritage impact on your nation. You have an impact in your family. You have an impact in time for the Lord Jesus Christ. You declare God’s power by becoming a spiritually mature believer, living a life free of fear, free of worry, free of bitterness, free of antagonism, Free, free, that’s a wonderful way to live. To have objective optimism and sharing the happiness of God, problem solving device number nine. That’s the power of God for this day and for this time. And most people don’t have that. They can look at you and see there is noticeably something different in your old age. Why are you not afraid? Why do you not worry about getting sick or having disease? And why do you, why do you have such an objective outlook in life? Cause you have the power of God living in you. The Holy spirit is in you. The word of God is in you and the Lord Jesus Christ lives in you because your body is his temple. Psalm 21.13 Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength. and we will sing and praise your power. That’s what we’re supposed to do, declare his power to everyone that is to come. His plan is perfect. His power is unlimited. He has the power to save us, the power to deliver us, the power to provide everything that we need by means of the Holy Spirit and his word, which is alive and powerful, the Bible says. The word of God is alive and powerful. So we declare his power to everyone that is to come by declaring the word. When we live by the word, when we lift up the word, when we proclaim the word, even the word being the Lord Jesus Christ and the word being the written word, we are living by God’s power. Even though we have a short time on earth, even though we will return to dust, God’s perspective is a little different than ours. because his plan marches on eternally with or without our participation. Participation is in the Lord’s plan and that the Lord requires of you. Yes, he does. But he always puts you in a position to fulfill the plan if you want to. That’s your destiny. He has a plan for you. He has a life for you. He has a plan for you and what he wants you to do. But your perspective of time is finite. Because your life is governed by time. We orient to time. What time is it? Quarter of, half past, you know, an hour to go. We orient to time and we orient to time in history, 1915, 2022. God’s viewpoint is always eternal. It’s outside of time. There are no parameters in the history of man. Without parameters in the history of mankind, God doesn’t have those things like we do. So when someone goes to heaven, the Bible says one day in heaven is like a thousand years on earth. You know, I always look at it as if someone died and went to heaven and maybe they’ve been dead 10 years. It might be like one minute. It’s different. There’s no time in heaven. There are no clocks in heaven. Time is here. And we live at that time. So in Psalm 90 verse 10, the days of our lives are 70 years. Listen carefully. If you made it past 70, you’re doing good. The days of our lives are 70 years. And if by reason of strength they are 80, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow. For it is soon cut off and we all fly away. So God doesn’t guarantee you 120 years. He will guarantee you at least 70 if you take care of yourself. So what’s your motivation to fulfill the charge that God gave you? What is your motivation for you to fulfill the charge that God gave you, that you are to declare his strength to this generation and his power to everyone is to come? Well, your motivation is 1 John 5, 3. This is the love of God that we keep His mandates, and His mandates are not a burden. We’ve got to have that personal love for God. That’s your motivation. This is one of the problems in Revelation 2, one through four, to the angel of the church at Ephesus. John wrote these sayings, says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. I know your works, I know your labor, I know your patience, that you can’t bear those that are evil. You’ve tested those who say they’re apostles and are not, and you have found them liars, and you have persevered and had patience, and you have labored for my name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have a problem. You left your first love. It’s very possible that you have left your first love, the love for the Lord Jesus Christ, personal love for God. It’s important that you remember that. Personal love for God is problem-solving advice number seven, occupation with Christ, problem-solving advice number 10. So if you allow the distraction of old age to turn you away from your mission, you will fail in the last stage of your life. and none of us want that. The only way you’re gonna be able to fulfill your mission, declare His power and His strength to those to come is to be motivated by your love for your Savior. God so loved you, we love Him because He first loved us, 1 John said, that’s reciprocal love. I hope this has meant something. I hope it’s encouraged you and challenged you, and I hope you’re listening. because it’s been my honor to give you From Rust to Dust. Next week, we’ll be back, same time, same place. Until then, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.
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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.
