Join Rick Hughes on the latest episode of The Flatline as he takes listeners through inspiring guidance from the Word of God. Begin the New Year with a message of hope, reflecting on the lord’s unwavering presence through over 900 broadcasts. Journey through scriptural promises emphasizing we’re never alone and are accompanied by immense grace to navigate life’s trials. Rick delves into divine assurances that bolster fortitude against life’s uncertainties and fosters an optimistic outlook on spiritual existence.
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.
SPEAKER 01 :
Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. The 1st of January, 2023. As we go into this radio show, this is 906 Sundays we’ve been with you, presenting the Word of God through the Flatline radio broadcast. Thank you for listening. Thank you for sticking with me. Several of you will begin to notice changes in our schedule. You can always go to our website, rickhughesministries.org, and notice some of the changes. One of the changes is in Jackson, Mississippi, we’re changing radio stations. go into a station that broadcasts out of Pilahatchie, Mississippi. We’ll still be in that area. But this goes on all the time as we look at our schedule and we look at where the results are, try to find what we can afford to broadcast, where we can afford to broadcast, not ridiculously high prices. But anyhow, pray for us as we go into this 2023 year. headed towards 1,000 radio shows, and you can always also find them on the podcast. Any podcast venues such as Apple iPod or Spotify or Breaker or Anchor, you can find the Flotline there and listen 24-7 anywhere, any day, any place. And we are very privileged to have that opportunity to give you the information. Remember, you can contact us through the website, order any of our material free of charge. We don’t sell things here. We operate on faith. We believe if God’s in it, God will pay for it. If not, we’ll go do something else. So far, he has never failed. God’s grace has always provided every need we have to sustain this radio show, these books we mail out, the postage, the staff, everything that we need without asking for money. Isn’t that amazing how God can do that? All right, now, if you want to pick up some of the material, one thing I’d like to suggest to you is we have transcribed all of our radio shows into books now. So 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021. We have it printed in a book, and you can use this as a daily devotion to read one of the radio shows each day. There are 52 shows in each book. That’s 52 Sundays in a month. So if you’d like to order that book or all of those books, you go to the website and simply rickhughesministries.org, rickhughesministries.org. Don’t go to Richard Hughes Ministries. That’s a different person. It’s rickhughesministries.org, and you can find all of the material that we offer there. Okay? Now, as we wrap up the holiday season, I don’t know how you handled it and what’s going on in your life, but I am thinking about many of you that may have experienced intense loneliness during these times. In some cases, people like yourself are simply alone because their loved ones have been called home to be with the Lord, and the spouse, the husband or the wife, is still here in this decaying world. I realize that many of our listeners on the radio broadcast are actually part of the older generation. I know that. But I want you to know that you are never alone. You are not alone. Maybe you live alone, but that does not mean that the Christian is ever alone to face the difficulties of life and time. I actually pity the unbeliever, the non-Christian, who has no hope. no hope for the future or even any hope for peace in his own time. Please allow me to give you a few divine promises that I believe will comfort you during times of loneliness. That comfort always comes in the form of peace, internal peace and joy with objective optimism. Let’s start out with Isaiah chapter 41 verse 10. Listen to the words that were penned by Isaiah the prophet. Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. We start out with Isaiah 41 10 and a few notes. I was looking around studying some different commentaries on this and Barnes notes on the Bible says this about it. I’ll quote him here. Fear thou not. He says, this verse is plain in its meaning and is full of consolation. It’s to be regarded as addressed primarily to the exiled Jews during their long and painful captivity in Babylon. And the idea is this, that they had been selected by God to be his special people, and they had nothing to fear. But the promise is one that may be regarded as addressed to every one of us, all people in similar circumstances. And it’s certainly true now, as it was then, that those whom God has chosen have nothing to fear, end of quote. Now, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has chosen you in eternity past, I know in my own life, I didn’t go looking for God. God found me. I dated a girl that took me to church, and after church, she took me to a Bible study, and there I met people that gave me the gospel. It was never my intention to go looking for God. The Lord called me. The Lord found me. In eternity past, he knew that about me. That doesn’t mean he elected me over someone else. It doesn’t mean that at all. It means that he knew my heart would respond to the truth, and he made it available to me. So I have been chosen by God to be in Christ, and you have been chosen by God to be in Christ if you’re a believer. He said, fear not, I am with thee. This divine assurance that our Father is totally aware of whatever we may be facing, that’s his omniscience, his omnipresence. You say, what is that? Well, his omniscience means that he knows everything. There’s nothing hidden from our Father. And his omnipresence means that he’s always with us wherever we may go. I am with thee. He’s always with us. Here’s the plain truth about it. Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, lives inside of you. The Apostle Paul disclosed this to us in what’s called the mystery doctrine of the church. In Colossians 1, 25 through 27, he wrote these words, I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness. The mystery, the mystery, listen to that word, the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery. Now he’s going to tell you what it is, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. No more need for an Old Testament tabernacle. No more need for the temple of Solomon. Now we are the sacred temple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He lives in you. If you are a believer, if you have accepted Christ as your savior, he lives in you and your body is now his temple. 1 Corinthians 3.16, know you not that you are the temple of God? and that the spirit of God lives in you. God has chosen to make you his temple. Christ lives in you. And so Isaiah said, don’t be dismayed. The Hebrew word for dismayed is sha’ah, sha’ah. And what does that mean? It means to look about in a state of alarm or to fear or to fear danger. What should you do? Well, these are times for you to use a faith rest drill. Standing on the promises of God. That’s problem-solving device number three in the Flatline on Your Soul. We have a book called Christian Problem Solving. I’d love to send it to you. If you order it, we’ll send it to you free of charge. But if you can learn some of the promises of God’s Word, over 7,000 of them, then you can use the faith rest drill and stand on those promises. Again, we have another book on these promises, promises and principles found in the word of God. We’ll be glad to send you free of charge as well. So standing on the promises of God. That’s the thing. Relax. Take it easy. Jesus Christ controls history. He lives inside of you. There’s never a reason for you to ever be alone And there’s never a reason for you to ever be afraid, never. It says, I will strengthen you. What does that mean? It means that God gives you the ability to handle any situation in your life. Well, exactly how would that happen? Paul wrote it this way in Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength. The indwelling of the Lord Jesus Christ, is Occupation with Christ Problem-Solving Device Number 10. And through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, You can have great happiness and great peace and do anything that God allows you to do, any objective he puts in front of you. You can handle any situation. He didn’t throw you under the bus. He didn’t abandon you. You haven’t been left alone. He lives in you. He is with you. He sustains you. Don’t be afraid. He will give you the strength to handle it, whatever you’re facing. How do I know that? Because he said in the next part of that verse, I will uphold you. The Hebrew word talmach means I will support you. I will lay hold of you. Simply put, he will give you the strength to endure whatever trial you may be facing at this very moment. How does he do that? Through the faithless drill and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Through the faithless drill and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Filling of the Holy Spirit, problem-solving device number two. Faith rest drill, problem-solving device number three. Do you know all those 10 problem-solving devices? If not, order the book, read about them, learn them. We got a bookmarker that’s got them all on the bookmark you can put in your Bible so you can remember them. The filling of the Holy Spirit comes through the operation what we call rebound, problem-solving device number one. When you sin, you quench and grieve the Holy Spirit. But when you go to God in 1 John 1, 9 and confess that sin, you where it says, if we confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When you do that, you are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit. What I’m saying is at any time in your life, you are either carnal or spiritual. You are either filled with the Spirit or under control of the sin nature. Right now, I’m asking you the question, are you out of fellowship with God? Do you have unconfessed sin in your life? If so, this person cannot help you. He can’t give you the strength because it comes through the filling of the Holy Spirit. And it comes by you using your volition to operate under the faith rest drill. Do you know any of those promises that are available to you? Do you know any of the 7,000 promises? It’s like cash in the bank. It’s like you’ve won the lottery, but you’ve got to know where to draw it out, where to get it. 7,000 biblical promises you can stand on and relax. When Moses came to the Red Sea and the Pharaoh was chasing the Jews out of Egypt and it looked like imminent death was upon him, Moses said, stand still and watch what God is about to do. Tamak, he will support you. He will give you the strength to endure whatever trial you face by means of the filling of the Holy Spirit and the faith rest drill. After all, where did you ever get the idea that you had to endure your pain alone? Where did you get that idea? Where did you get the idea you have to endure it alone? You are not alone. David expressed his confidence in God’s provision and God’s protection even when he was facing imminent death. You’ve heard the 23rd Psalm said, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. You are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. David had complete confidence and complete comfort in God’s grace and God’s care. Note he had no fear. That meant his emotions were not controlling his thoughts. This is where your biggest battle will take place, in your mind. You will let your emotions take over. And if you do that, you quit thinking, then you quit operating in the Christian life. The Bible says, let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. It does not say let these emotions be in you that were also in Christ Jesus. You have to learn to think first. The spiritual life is thought. It’s you thinking. It’s you understanding the plan of God in your mind and accumulating the wisdom of God in your mind so that you can recall and apply the information in your life when you need it. In your thoughts, not in your emotions. The question is this. Will you be discouraged by adverse circumstances? Have you been discouraged during these holidays? Have you felt sorry for yourself? Or will you pick up the shield of faith and put on the helmet of salvation? Ephesians 6, 11 through 17. Read it. Ephesians chapter 6, 11 through 17. The shield of faith. Without a doctrinal frame of reference, or should I say biblical frame of reference, I always call it Bible doctrine. Without that doctrinal frame of reference, you will have nothing to sustain you in the day that you are attacked. Ephesians 6.11 talks about the strategy the devil has in regards to you. It’s true he knows your area of weakness. It’s true he knows your lust patterns. It’s true he knows your fears and your doubts. And he will seek to persuade you to doubt God and to melt into a puddle of fear. Totally self-centered. Considering God not worthy of your trust. That’s exactly the attitude of the weak believer. But notice the attitude of the mature believer in Romans 8, 38. I am persuaded that Neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers. nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Three key things there. He’s persuaded, nothing can separate us from the love of God, and that love is in Christ Jesus. Persuaded, love of God, in Christ Jesus. It’s obvious from this statement. that Paul the apostle is thinking clearly in spite of facing religious opposition, motivated by satanic inspiration. He’s persuaded, pytho, Greek word pytho, and it means he’s confident. He has complete trust. Well, how in the world could you come to this complete relaxed mental attitude? This type of confidence only comes when you understand the unfailing love of God for his children. Paul understood what it meant to abide in the love of Christ. John wrote about it, and he quoted the Lord Jesus Christ. Here’s what’s in John 15, 9. As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. As a father loved me, I’ve also loved you, said the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the mandate, abide in my love. This type of love requires reciprocation. In 1 John 5, 3, this is the love of God, that we keep his mandates and his mandates are not a burden anymore. You love God? You say you love God? If I ask you, do you love God? You say, yes, I love God. Uh-huh, I do. Do you obey God? Here it is. Again, listen carefully. 1 John 5, 3. This is, I’m going to add the word proof here. This is the proof that you love God, that you keep his mandates, and they’re not hard. Virtue love is reciprocal. We love God because he, first of all, loved us. That’s reciprocation. We love him, we reciprocate because he loved us first. And in 1 John 4, 18, perfect love cast out fear. That’s the secret to handling fear. That’s the secret to handling adversity. That’s the secret to having a relaxed mental attitude. That’s the secret to being able to face any of the exigencies of life, the love of God, understanding, basking in it, enjoying it, knowing that he loves you even more than you love him. The believer who loves God will be obedient to God’s mandates. That means you will stay filled with the Holy Spirit. You’re not allowed to get out of fellowship and stay out of fellowship. If you’ve accepted Christ as your Savior and you commit sin, such as a mental attitude sin like worry, fear, Worry, fear, does that sound familiar? Bitterness, anger. If you get in those mental attitude sins or even sins of the tongue, complaining, maligning, criticizing, gossiping, or maybe it’s an overt sin. Maybe it’s something that’s not very nice like theft. Maybe it’s a personal sin like adultery, fornication. Maybe it’s some other sort of some overt sin in your life. When you sin, you get out of fellowship with God. You cannot grow in grace out of fellowship with God. Unless you go to God and use problem-solving device number one, rebound, you will let your sin nature control your life, and you will do good things. Oh, you can go to church, and you can sing in the choir, and you can tithe, and you can do a lot of good things, but a right thing done in the wrong way is still wrong. And this will all come up at the judgment seat of Christ when we are evaluated to whether or not you produced gold, silver, and precious stones, or whether or not you produced wood, hay, and stubble. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. The believer who loves God, again, will be obedient to God’s mandate. Stay filled with the Holy Spirit. The minute you know you’ve committed a personal sin, don’t wait until you go to bed at night. Stop there and confess it. Now let’s put this into practical application. Let’s say you’re driving down the interstate and someone cuts you off, someone flips you off, someone does something you don’t like. What do you do? Do you get angry? Do you react? And you get angry at them, and you do, and you’ve committed a sin. You could respond by forgiving them, but you didn’t. You got angry. Your sin nature took over, and now you want to get up on their bumper and flash your lights and tell them what an idiot they are. How do I know all of that? Because I’ve done it. I’ve been an idiot many times, I promise you. I had to learn just like you have to learn to stay filled with the Holy Spirit, not let my flesh take over If you love God, you will rebound immediately when you know you’ve sinned. And then you will be capable of growing in grace. The Bible tells you, grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It’s not asking you, it’s telling you. This is a mandate. Grow in the grace and knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You cannot grow unless you are filled with the Holy Spirit. And I don’t believe you can grow unless you get a great pastor to teach you the word of God because that’s the way it’s designed in the New Testament. Read it in Ephesians 4 for yourself. He gave pastor teachers to teach us so that we become mature believers and grow in grace. And then we live by faith. What a wonderful way to live. We live by faith. That means you put complete trust in the provisions that God offers to you. You never have to worry about anything. Where does that come from? Matthew chapter six. Look at the birds. Look at the fields. Look at this. Look at this. God loves you. He will not throw you under the bus. He will meet your needs. Matthew chapter six. Read it. Live by faith. Trust him and lift up the Lord Jesus Christ. If you love God, you will stay filled with the Holy Spirit. You will grow in grace. You will live by faith and you will lift up the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the mature believer’s life does not center on self-preservation, but rather fulfilling the plan of God for him to the ultimate objective. And what is that? To hear these words, well done, my good and faithful servant. Not having fear is the trademark of the mature believer. Remember Psalm 23, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. It’s a trademark of the mature believer. In Psalm 73, 23, nevertheless, I’m continually with you, God says. You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. and you receive me to glory. This is what David wrote. You hold me by my right hand. That’s eternal security. No one can take you out of the Father’s hand. I give unto them eternal life and no one can take them out of my Father’s hand. That’s the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said those words himself. No one can take you out of the Father’s hand. That’s a wonderful thought. You’re not going to go to hell because you made some mistake and did something stupid. I know some Christians that have done some stupid things. They are still going to heaven. God didn’t take it back. Once they were born into the family of God, once they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and got saved, they are now eternally saved. No man can take him out of my father’s hand. He said, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. That doesn’t mean you won’t turn your back on him. Means he won’t turn his back on you. I’m continually with you. David said, you hold me by my right hand. God has you by your right hand. just like a child trying to learn how to walk and the parent holding on to them. Your father has you by the right hand. And then David said, you will guide me with your counsel. What does that mean? That’s biblical wisdom found in the Bible. The book of Proverbs is full of practical biblical wisdom. You should read just the first chapter of the book of Proverbs and see the importance of wisdom and what happens to people who reject wisdom. You will guide me. This is how God does it. He guides you through the scripture. And then David said, afterwards you will receive me to glory. That’s the exit resurrection or death, whichever comes first. It’s up to God. He makes that decision, not you. He decides the time and the place and the manner of our departure. And so David went on to say, whom have I in heaven but you? There is none upon the earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and he is my portion forever. Does that sound like you? Have I identified you today in this message on loneliness? Have you gone through a season of Christmas and the New Year as being lonely and lonely? feeling sorry for yourself because you’re alone, facing difficulties, facing health crisis, facing various things. Well, I’ve just told you how that’s not supposed to happen. If you grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you will not recognize yourself. You will amaze yourself at the objective optimism and joy you will have because Jesus said happiness belongs to those people who hear my Father’s word and keep it. My prayer is you will find a qualified pastor that will help you, that you will learn daily on a consistent basis. If you don’t know where a pastor is, contact me. We’ll put you in touch with one that can teach you the word of God so you can grow in the grace and the knowledge of God’s word as he intended for you to do. So that, why? Why does he want you to do that? So you can replicate the life of Christ so you can represent Christ to your generation. And hopefully, by doing that, you will learn that our hope doesn’t lie in any politician. Our hope lies in the grace of God, because it’s only through God’s grace that we may survive as a nation in the future. Until next week, same time, same place. This is your host, Rick Hughes. Thank you for listening to The Flatline.
SPEAKER 02 :
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.
