In this thought-provoking episode of The Flatline, Rick Hughes delves into the concept of ‘chaos coming out of opportunity.’ Drawing inspiration from a recent NFL game, Rick explains how, in the Christian life, adversity can often lead to triumph. He discusses how individuals become victims of their own decisions rather than their circumstances, emphasizing the importance of making sound, prayerful choices to navigate the chaos. This episode unveils the secret to maintaining peace and stability through the filling of the Holy Spirit and spiritual discipline, as outlined in biblical doctrines. Listen in as Rick breaks down teachings from scripture,
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, please stick around. 30 minutes of motivation, some inspiration, a whole lot of education, and always done without any manipulation. That means there’s no solicitations. We’re not asking for money. We’re not trying to sell you anything. We’re not trying to ask you to join anything. We just want you to listen. Listen as I try my best to verify and identify the plan of God for your life. And if I can do that, and you’re free to orient and adjust to the plan, that’s really up to you. But wherever you may be, in your automobile or at your home or maybe listening on a podcast, thank you for giving me a few minutes of your time. And to remind you of our website, rickhughesministries.org. That’s rickhughesministries.org. And you can order any of our books there free of charge. You can listen to many of our books there as they’re read to you over the website. Some people have asked me do we have donate online giving and the answer is no we don’t. If you wish to contribute to this ministry you’ll have to mail it to P.O. Box 100 in the city of Cropwell, Alabama since we don’t have online giving. Now today we want to talk about chaos coming out of opportunity. Chaos coming out of opportunity. I recently heard that statement while watching an NFL football game. I liked it. Chaos comes from opportunity. This certainly is true in the Christian’s life also, because all believers who are going to advance in the plan of God will have a target on their back. In other words, Satan certainly is going to do everything possible to discourage you and to confuse you, but the truth is simply this, we are our own worst enemy, aren’t we? How you would orient to the chaos in your life will determine the effect you’ll have on other people, as well as the impact you’ll have in the devil’s world. So keep this in mind. You are a victim of your own decisions, not your circumstances. You are a victim of your own decisions, not your circumstances. And remember, bad decisions limit future options. So keep that in mind and listen to 2 Thessalonians 3.16. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. The Lord of peace give you peace always in every way. You may notice that he is called the Lord of Peace, and he can give you that same peace. That peace is available to you through the filling of the Holy Spirit, problem-solving device number two in the flatline of your soul, identified in Galatians 5.22, where it says the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, et cetera. Peace is part of of the filling of the holy spirit you’ve heard me say in previous messages that the original greek word for peace is the greek word irene meaning a situation that results from cessation of hostilities or state of law and order but for the christian it means an internal attitude Even in the midst of violence, it’s a state of being that lacks nothing and has no fear from being troubled. So I’d like to suggest to you this thought. You might not agree what I’m about to tell you, but listen carefully. I suggest that it is entirely possible to never have a bad day in spite of your circumstances. It’s entirely possible to never have a bad day in spite of your circumstances. Why can I say that? Because Isaiah wrote about it in Isaiah 26.3 in his song about the millennium where he said, you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Principle one, this verse indicates that it’s entirely possible to have peace or can I call it a inner tranquility, a relaxed mental attitude under all adverse circumstances? Two, I use the term mental attitude, relaxed mental attitude, to describe that inner tranquility. I use that term since the verse indicates that the thoughts of the believer are what produces the peace, not the removal of the circumstances. Where did I get that? Well, three, did you hear the part whose mind has stayed on you? This is the power of the spiritual life. It’s amazing. The spiritual life can give you this peace. And when you think about it regarding the divine assets that you have, thinking the Bible, thinking the scripture, thinking what we call Bible doctrine, rather than focusing on the adversity that you’re facing. So you’re either gonna think about the adversity or you’re gonna think about the plan of God and the Bible doctrine in your soul. That’s the difference. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you. If you’re not thinking about the word of God, then you’re gonna think about the adverse circumstances and you’re not gonna have any peace. And did you notice this? Did you notice because he trusts in you. This act of trust is what we call the faith rest drill. And that’s also problem solving device number three. in the flat line of your soul. Remember, there are 10 problem-solving devices, and you should know them by now. If you don’t, call or write for the book, Christian Problem Solving, and we’ll send you a book that lists all 10 of them. This was taught to me by my pastor many years ago. This is not something I discovered. This is something he taught me, and I’m sure he does not mind me passing it on because it’s the scripture, and all scripture is free of charge. So do you trust in him? That’s the faith rest drill. Do you know what that is? Do you understand how to operate the faith rest drill, standing on the promises of God? So point five, getting mad, getting depressed is simply your mind on the circumstances or on the people that produce the adversity, not on God’s perfect will and provision for you. So point six, this type of attitude is actually what we call, buckle up now, here it comes, a little self-pity party. They’ll have a little self-pity party because you think you’ve been treated unfairly. Point seven, when you have self-pity, you react with emotions rather than responding with scripture, which is where the strength of the faith restoration comes from. And this little pity party is a mental attitude sin. So when you get to feeling sorry for yourself or you get to feeling you got gypped or you get to feeling you got a raw deal and you cop an attitude about that and you say, don’t mess with me, I’m having a bad day. Well, that’s a mental attitude sin. Why can I say that? Because Ephesians 4.31 tells you that. Let all bitterness, let all wrath, let all anger, let all clamor and evil speaking be put away from you along with all your malice. Don’t do it. The victory over anxiety and frustration in your life is found in the words of the Apostle Paul. He wrote about it in Philippians 4, 6, and 7. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, along with thanksgiving, Let your requests be made known to God. Here it comes, listen carefully. And the peace of God, there it is, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. The heart is the cardia, the mind is the noose, Remember in the Greek New Testament, these are two different things. We’re not talking about the organ that pumps blood. We’re talking about the heart, which is where we store information. When you learn the Bible, you get it in your noose in your mind. It’s called the noose. And then you, by faith, transfer it to your heart or into the cardia where you can now use it in the memory center and use it to recall it when you have to. So the heart and the mind are two different things. A lot of people get it in the noose and understand it, but they never cycle it over to the heart where they obey it and live by it. So I read to you Philippians 4, 6, and 7. It will guard your heart and your mind. Both of those are in your head as part of your soul. Through or because of Christ Jesus our Lord. So what can I have? The peace of God will surpass all understanding. People want to understand how can you be so calm after what happened to you? How can you not be angry? How come you’re not upset? How come you’re not foaming at the mouth? because you have the peace of God through the filling of the Holy Spirit. That verse indicates you can overcome mental attitude sins by prayer and supplication. Did you hear that? Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. What does that mean? It means asking for insight concerning how to deal with your tests that you’re going through, which probably you may be failing. And thanksgiving. Why thanksgiving? Well, because of Romans 8, 28, and we know that all things work together to good for those who love God to those who are called according to his predetermined plan. All things. So it doesn’t make any difference whatever you’re facing. It’s his plan. And you can thank him for it. So you don’t have to get mad. You don’t have to get angry. You don’t have to pout. You just have to say, Father, thank you for giving me this opportunity to glorify you through these adverse circumstances. Forgive my bad attitude about it. I didn’t trust you. And recover your spiritual life and move on. Now here’s what you need to remember. All things do not, and I repeat, do not work together for good to the non-Christian. When that verse says all things work together for good to those who love God. So the non-Christian, that doesn’t work for him. Even the Christian who may be out of fellowship with God due to unconfessed sin in his life. All things do work together for good to those who are in fellowship and those who have personal love for God. That’s problem-solving device number seven, personal love for God. That’s one of the problem-solving devices. That’s your virtue love. It’s an amazing thing to have love for God, not for yourself, but for God, because that’s your motivational virtue. If you love God, you’ll obey God, the Bible tells us. So, one, all things do not work together for good to the non-Christians. Two, personal love for God is your motivation to obey God. In 1 John 4, 19, we love him Why do you love God? Because he first loved us. That’s reciprocal love motivation. You love him because he first loved you. And then, of course, in 1 John 5, 3, the verse we’ve heard before, this is the love of God that we keep his mandates, and his mandates are not a burden. That’s a demonstration that you love God. What? That you are obedient to God. Years ago, while playing college football at the University of Alabama as a freshman, I watched the coaches pick out certain players whom they would put under a test to see if they could handle pressure. I kind of watched that. I said, you know, they’re going to try me one day too. I knew my time was coming, and sure enough, it did. It started with a blocking assignment that developed into an argument on the practice field and eventually a fight. That means I was fighting with the other guy, and the coaches used that situation to test me to see if they could determine whether or not I could handle the pressure. So I got in a fight, and they took that guy out and put two men in. I said, okay, now two of you get on him. And I was still mad, still trying to fight. So they took those two out and put three on me, three on one. And I eventually went to a place I didn’t realize I could go to, sort of a super stamina. And when the coach stopped the drill and got me in the eye, he said, that’s what I’m looking for. That’s never quit attitude is what I want. So the coaches used that situation to test me and determine if I could handle it. Always put forth the same effort that I did that day. That’s what they wanted me to do. So don’t be alarmed. Don’t be discouraged if God tests you. It’s simply part of the growing process. No big deal. People testing and system testing are two of the tests that we will fail often. I used to do a lot of teachers in service meetings when I was traveling speaking in schools, and I would talk about tests that teachers often failed. Not the students, but teachers failed. People testing and system testing are two of those tests. For example, if you were a teacher and you had a a weird kid in your room and you couldn’t handle him or her, then you’d get all vibrate and get out of shape. When they came in, you were failing the people test. Or if they said, okay, we want you to stay after school for a meeting or want you to come to the ball game tonight and support your team, you didn’t want to do that. So you work where a system of authority gets you to make a decision you don’t like. So how do you handle it? People testing, system testing. These are tests we often fail. It can be true in your job, too. When you have to do something you really don’t want to do, you want to spend your time doing something else. Let’s get some principles. When it comes to testing, no test, no test has ever come your way apart from the will of God. And you know he will never give you more than you’re able to bear because he will always provide a way out. And that’s the use of the problem-solving devices to resolve the problem that you’re having. Two, God’s problem-solving devices are infinitely greater than any counselor or counseling you could ever get from a psychiatrist or a psychotherapist. Sorry about that, Dr. Bob, but God’s problem-solving devices are infinitely greater. Dr. Bob knows that, and he may tell you that someday. You don’t know who Dr. Bob is, but he’s a dear and precious friend. In 1 Corinthians 10, 13, the Bible says, there is no testing overtaken you, but such as is common to man. but God is faithful who will not permit you to be tested beyond your capability, but with the testing will provide the solution also so that you may be able to endure it. So no testing has come your way apart from the will of God, and no testing has come your way that he doesn’t give you the ability to overcome. So every believer goes through testing. Every believer. What did it say? It’s common to man. This testing is common to man. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to man, 1 Corinthians 10, 13. Every believer goes through testing. Two, God is aware of our circumstances. When we go into these tests, he knows what we’re facing. And three, he knows our limit of endurance, how much of it we can handle. what we can handle, what we can’t handle. And number four, he always provides a way of escape. That is, if you choose to use it. That way of escape is very simply the faithless drill, standing on the promises of God and using rebound when you get mad, get angry, and lose your temper and you start having a bad day. You know, you can think differently if your mind is stayed on him. The Bible said we saw that. So the strength in your soul that stabilizes you in times of testing is the word of God that you have retained and the use of the filling of the Holy Spirit that helps you to recall it. It’s supposed to be in your memory center in your heart, not just in your mind, but in your heart. The launching pad of the memory center in your heart is where when you hit a situation in your life where you have difficulty You can go pull up that scripture that you’ve learned and fire off that rocket right up. Man, now I got it under control. I don’t have to be afraid. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to be angry. That was all me. That was all my emotion. That was all me having a self-pity party. That’s right. That’s what it was. So you can always recover from your loss of spiritual activity by rebounding. Or you can just stay bitter, stay angry. If you want to do that, you can do that. But remember this, Proverbs 14, 10, the heart knows its own bitterness and a stranger does not share its joy. So bitter people are no fun to be around, I promise you. They are no fun to be around. Why? Because they infect you with their own brand of sickness. How do they do that? Well, they want to talk about it. They want to tell you what a raw deal they got in their life, and they want you to side up with them and believe that they’re being mistreated and it’s not fair what they’re having to go through. And so that’s what they’re going to talk about. In Psalm 3, verse 8, the Bible says this concerning bitter people. Cease from being angry and forsake your wrath. Do not fret. It only causes harm. Again, the Bible says in Proverbs 14, 30, a sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones. The word envy and bitterness are synonymous words, two of the same things. A bitter person is normally very envious of another individual or jealous of another person. A sound heart is a person who’s thinking on solid ground, a person who’s not living on a crack, chaos, chaotic world. You’re living on the word of God, you’re believing the word of God, you’re staying filled with the Holy Spirit, Rebounding when you sin and you’re claiming those promises of 7,000 promises in the Bible. By the way, we have a book called The Promises of God. If you don’t have it, you need to order it. It’s a great little book. It doesn’t list them all, but it lists a lot of promises that you can claim under adverse circumstances. Okay, Hebrews 12, 15. Looking carefully, the Bible warns us, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God. And lest any root of bitterness, picria, bitterness, springs up and cause trouble, and by this many become defiled. Two words there, bitterness and defiled, are what we want to look at before we wrap it up today. You cannot afford to be bitter. That’s your mental attitude sin. That’s your self-pity party when you’re mad or you’re angry or you’re having a bad day because of something someone did to you or someone said to you or something. some circumstances that you don’t like and now you’re all frustrated and mad about it. Your bitterness will cause you to be defiled, the Bible says. I read it to you, looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God and a root of bitterness spring up causing trouble and by this many are defiled, Hebrews 12, 15. Now, don’t get all upset when I tell you this. But when you allow yourself to get angry or you allow yourself to get upset due to circumstances beyond your control, in essence, you stink up the room. It’s like a baby with an unchanged diaper. You stink. The word defiled is the Greek word meino. And it was often used to mean to stain or to soil or to pollute. I heard a friend of mine once say that the Jews did not have indoor plumbing, so they had a bedpan at night. They’d use a bedpan. And in the morning, the woman of the house would go out and throw it in the street and say, me I know. Men don’t step in it. Stay away from it. It’s human waste. This is what the Bible says. You become defiled. You become bitter. You become defiled. You’re stained. You’re polluted. You’re soiled. So don’t allow yourself to get angry or upset due to any circumstances beyond your control because you will stink up the room like the baby with the unchanged diaper, as I said. No one wants to be in a room with a stinker. Others can sense your hatred. Others can sense your attitude of self-pity because you did not get your way or you did not agree with a decision. So remember, you’re not allowed to have a bad day. You are not allowed to have a bad day. Remember that. Psalm 118 verse 24. This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day the Lord made. Not your day, the day the Lord made. So I’m gonna sit around and feel sorry for myself. No, we will rejoice and be glad in it. That’s a relaxed mental attitude. That sort of attitude is appreciation and trust in the plan of God. This is his day. He brought these circumstances about and I will be happy with it because I know it’s a test for me. It’s something I need to learn from it. It’s something I need to pass. Or you can sit there and mope about it. But if God allows it, it’s for your blessing. So why, why, listen to this, why then do you feel you have the right to gritch about it? Gritch. I know you never heard that word before. It’s not in the dictionary, but it’s a combination of two words and you’re gritching about it. You don’t like what happened to you. You don’t like the circumstances you’re in. You don’t like the test you went through. You don’t like the person that did it to you. And so you go say, I don’t want to talk about it. And you go sit in the corner and feel sorry for yourself. That’s just plain pitiful. Remember what we talked about? Chaos creates opportunity. This is when you get to use your spiritual life to relax. This is when you get to use your spiritual life to forgive the individual that did something to you that made you upset. But you’re always to rejoice and count it all blessing. Did you hear that? This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad. I’m going to count it a blessing and I will be happy about it because this is the day God gave me. This is what God wants me to go through today. This is what God is allowing me to endure today. Chaos creates opportunity. Here’s a principle. The mature believer, and I hope that’s you, is never allowed to have a bad day. So get over your frustrations, get over your disappointment, and count it all joy. James 1, 2 through 3. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various tests or trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Hey, this is what God is doing. He’s trying to teach you to be patient. So he lets these things come into your life to give you instruction, to teach you. And again, this is how you glorify God. When you pass these tests, you glorify God to the maximum. When you fail the test, then your focus is all on yourself and your little pity party you’re having because somebody treated you wrong or you’re not happy and you’re having a bad day. You’re not supposed to have a bad day. As a Christian, you don’t have to worry. You don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to be angry. You don’t have to be bitter. That’s all sins of the flesh and you don’t have to go through that. So I hope you’re listening. I hope you’re learning. This was a tough lesson to teach, but it’s been my pleasure to give you this information. Thank you for listening to me on the radio station this morning. We are on close to 100 stations. We’ve made some cutbacks recently, but we’ll be adding more stations in the future. We’re working on some new books as well. We’re replacing the book called Understanding Your Soul with a new book on the spiritual life. It’s not ready yet, but when you call and ask for Understanding Your Soul, we don’t have that book anymore. So keep that in mind, okay? And I hope you’ll come back next week, same time, same place, and a different message. 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.
