Rick Hughes addresses the pivotal moments in life where choices and faith converge, urging listeners to rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength. Through insightful scriptural analysis, he explains how adversity can be handled without letting stress take over. Join Rick as he unpacks the essence of spiritual growth and the power of a heart committed to trusting the Lord’s path.
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. For the next few minutes, I’d like to give you an invitation to stick around. It’ll be a few minutes of motivation, inspiration, education done without any manipulation. because we don’t try to hustle people. We’re not seeking money. We’re not trying to sell you anything. We’re not trying to ask you to join anything. We simply want to give you some information that will help you hopefully verify and identify the plan of God for your life. And if you’re able to do that, then you can orient and adjust to the plan. But we want you to remember that God gave you two ends, one end to sit with and one end to think with. And success in your life is going to depend on which one of those you use. Heads, you’ll win. tails you’ll probably lose and so as we go through the flatline we try to give you information based on the bible what does god have to say about winning in life we talk about the flatline flot forward line of troops flot forward line of troops that means there are 10 unique problem solving devices given in the scripture that can act as a main line of resistance in your soul if in fact you will learn them and use them. And that main line of resistance can stop the outside sources of adversity before they ever become the inside source of stress. It’s correct that adversity is inevitable, but it is not correct that stress is inevitable. Stress is optional. Stress is what you do to yourself. Adversity is what circumstances do to you. Learning and Using a Flotline in Your Soul, 10 Unique Problem-Solving Devices, is a way that a Christian can advance in God’s plan. And it’s awesome. And so we like to talk about that on this radio show. And let me remind you of something else. We have printed material that’s available free of charge. And if you go to our website, rickhughesministries.org, rickhughesministries.org, you’ll find our website. Unfortunately, there’s another Richard Hughes Ministries, and we’re not the same person. It’s rickhughesministries.org. And you will find there a list of our books that we make available. And a new one that we’ve come out with within the last year is called Life’s Toughest Years. And this deals with young people. And if you have a grandchild or a child that’s dealing with tough times, This book, we’ve given away thousands of them as I speak in schools across the South, and you may want to order that book. Drop us a note, email, go to the website, order from the website, and we’ll be glad to send it to you. One, two, three, four, however many you need, free of charge. So keep that in mind. But on the Flatline, we like to talk about the dynamics of the Christian life. And today, we’d like to talk about the stages of life, the stages of life. You know, the conception stage, when you come into conception, when your mom and dad cohabitate and you’re conceived. And then there’s the birth stage. I just had a grandson born, so the birth stage, they come into this world screaming and kicking and crying. And the infant stage, when we begin to watch them advance as an infant, going from breast milk to solid food to growing to the youth stage. This is the troubled stage where we have to teach admonish discipline, instruct in authority. Because if you don’t instruct a child in authority, if they don’t adhere to authority orientation, then you have a very troubled adult. So you go from the youth stage to the adult stage. And this is the productive stage, hopefully. And then eventually to the dying stage where we move off the stage and someone takes our place. Thus, the living stage and the dying stage are critical for us to understand. It’s in the living stage that we first develop our mentality, and that gives us a formatted soul. You know, your soul has mentality and your soul has volition. So you have to format your soul to understand what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. And that means you have to be able to think. You have to be able to logic. You have to be able to reason. You have to be able to comprehend. You have to have a formatted soul, and this requires words, because you think in terms of words, so you have to learn words in the infant stage. and develop that vocabulary in the youth stage, and then as an adult be able to put those words together and use them. So this is where we develop our mentality that gives us the formatted soul. And we begin to process information in the living stage and store information in our stream of consciousness where we can recall, recall, recall. That’s how we live life as a Christian. We must be able to recall Scripture. recall things that we’ve learned in the past, and that’s why repetition is important sometimes. Sometimes you’ll hear me repeat, repeat, repeat. It’s important so that you can recall. No soldier in the military ever learned how to march without having repetition. If they took him out on the parade grounds and simply showed him one time, he wouldn’t get it. So over and over every day, they march, march, bout face, forward march, right turn, left turn, forward march, until they can do it in their sleep. This is the way the Christian life is. We have to have some repetition until we understand exactly what it is we need to do. So the soul, that part of you that will reside forever, is where your mentality and your volition exist. so the Bible says this about the soul in Matthew 16 26 what good would it do for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul or what could anyone give in exchange for their soul your soul is your most valuable asset because it is your soul that lives forever this is what the Lord says listen to it carefully stand at the crossroads and look Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, we will not walk in that way, Jeremiah 6.16. The my way highway is the way most people prefer to walk, using their volition to do what they want to do instead of submitting their volition to the plan of God. There is another highway called the Thy Way Highway, as a friend of mine put it, Thy, T-H-Y, or the My Way Highway. So it’s a fork in the road. You’ll come to that fork sometime in your life, and you must decide, am I going to go to the left or am I going to go to the right? And the Bible talks about what it means to go to the left and the disaster that comes from that. And the Bible talks about going to the right, such as the Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. But you have to make a choice. You can go down the my way highway using your volition, or you can go the thy way highway using your volition also. So it’s up to you, but your life will be a series of choices and decisions, and you will be known all your life, maybe by just a few decisions that you make. But in regards to the soul, it is preserved by believing in Christ. And this is stage one of life for every living creature, the entrance into God’s providing and protecting plan for you by receiving Christ as your Savior. I said the entrance into God’s providing and protecting plan for you by receiving Christ as your Savior. Jesus our Lord said the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ offers you. He offers you eternal life, and he offers you an abundant life in time, eternal life in eternity and an abundant life in time. The simple act of faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ is the door into eternal life. That’s why the Bible says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In other words, you won’t understand it. You try to figure it out, and you won’t get it. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths, Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. So trust in the Lord. A lifestyle of trust is demanded if you’re going to live for the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t lean to your own understanding. That’s the my way, highway. What it seems to be the right way for you is not the right way. Remember that, okay? Remember again what Jeremiah said. This is what the Lord says. Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths and ask where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls. So trust in your heart with all your heart and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your path. And the Bible goes on to say in Romans 10, 9, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you’ll be saved. And again in Matthew 10, 28, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Fear him rather who can destroy both soul and body in hell. So the simple act of faith in the finished work of Christ is your door into eternal life. Thus, if we break your life down into stages, it starts with stage one. Stage one of your life is salvation by faith alone in Christ alone. That’s where it starts. And here is a good question. Will you feel it when it happens? The answer is no. It’s not something that you feel. When I accepted Christ as my savior, I didn’t feel anything. I did pray and I did ask God to save me. Um, I didn’t see any angels. I didn’t see flashes of light. I didn’t hear a harp or anything. I just prayed and asked God to save me. It even took a few days to realize what exactly had happened. So you don’t feel it. It’s not necessarily a feeling. You may have some emotions and some emotions of relief knowing that you’re not going to hell, knowing that God has forgiven you for your sin. There’s nothing wrong with having emotional relief over that. But it’s not really a feeling that you feel. It’s an act of God’s Holy Spirit justifying you by imputing to you the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When you receive Christ as your Savior, God the Holy Spirit will impute to you the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And this is what allows you to have a relationship with God. In 2 Corinthians 5.21, God made him, that’s Jesus Christ, his anointed son, who had no sin, that’s right, he never sinned at all, never his whole life, to be sin for us. so that in him, through him, because of him, we might become the righteousness of God. If God has absolute righteousness, the only way to have fellowship with God is to have equal righteousness. And our Lord Jesus Christ had that equal righteousness. He never sinned. Thus, his righteousness is given to us at faith in Christ. And he took our sin. He gives us his righteousness. Again, 2 Corinthians 5, 21. God made him who had no sin. to be sin for us so that in him or through him, we might become the righteousness of God. Now that righteousness that he distributes to you, he gives to you at faith, is not taken back, not if you sin, not if you fall. So it’s not like I’ll give it to you for a little while and soon as you mess up, I’m gonna take it back. That’s not what the Bible says. The Bible clearly, Christ said, I’ll never leave you, I’ll never forsake you. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my Father’s hand. My Father which gave them to me is greater than all and no one. can pluck them out of my father’s hand. So it’s not like God says, okay, you messed up. I saw you do that sin. I’m taking back the righteousness my son gave you. That’s not the way it goes. You didn’t get saved by being good, and you don’t keep being saved by being good. The Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and it’s the gift of God, not of works, as anyone should brag about it. If you think a person gets saved because he quit sinning and does good, then you’re going to think that a person can keep his salvation by not sinning. People that are Christians sin all the time. That’s why we have the rebound technique in the problem-solving devices. If we confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness. So yeah, we sin, you sin, you know you sin. mental attitude, sins, probably being the biggest that there are sins of the mind, worry, fear, bitterness, jealousy, antagonism. These are all mental attitudes, sins, and you can do that, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost the righteousness of Christ because you sinned. No, it doesn’t mean that at all. I mean, what didn’t Peter, the Lord said before the rooster crows in the morning, you’re going to deny me three times. And he did. He claimed he didn’t even know him. Yes, they sin. Christians sin. God does not take back the righteousness of Christ, which was distributed to you by means of the Holy Spirit. So after you get saved, and this is what happened to me, I accepted Christ as my Savior. I wandered around in the darkness for about a year and a half, and I had a Bible. I’d read the Bible. I’d get information from people, and I bounced from one place to another place trying to figure it all out. I didn’t know exactly what I was supposed to do. I was just going with the flow. So here’s what happened to me. After salvation, stage one, comes stage two in the Christian life. Stage two. What do I do next? Well, in 2 Peter 3.18, the Bible says we are to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And the Bible says that that growth can only come by one method. 2 Timothy 2.15, study to show thyself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth. So what am I supposed to study? Well, Hebrews 4.15, the word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. Piercing even to the dividing asunder the soul and the spirit and the joint and the marrow is a critic of thoughts and intents of the heart. I am to study the Bible if I want to grow in the grace and the knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Why the Bible? Because that’s where all of the relevant information is about Jesus Christ. That’s where the apostles wrote about who he was and what he did. And that’s where it says, let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. If I’m going to represent Christ, I have to learn to think like Christ. And how can I learn to think like Christ if I don’t study in the Bible what he did and what he said? So the information that I need is in the Bible. And I’m to study the Bible so that I can be approved unto God. If I have to be approved, can I be disapproved? Yes. by misrepresenting God. And allow me to tell you something right here and warn you of something. If you misrepresent God, you are creating a terrible problem. Misrepresenting God means you don’t know what you’re talking about or you’re giving somebody the wrong information. Maybe you mean well, maybe you are concerned, and maybe you tell them, look, you know, I want you to go to heaven. See, this is a scenario that’s goofy, but I’ll make it anyhow. I want you to go to heaven. Yes. I want you to have eternal life. Yes. How do I do it? Well, brother, you should quit drinking cold drinks and quit smoking and quit drinking and say, don’t ever use a cuss word again, and you’ll go to heaven. Well, people mean well, but that’s not it. That’s not how you get the righteousness of Christ. That’s not it at all. The Bible simply says, whosoever should call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The Bible says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The Bible says, he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God shall be saved, 1 John 5, 3. So, I mean, it’s not giving up bad things that gets you saved. It’s faith alone in Christ alone. So you have to study and understand this. So that why? So that you can talk about it to other people. so growth only comes by one means studying god’s word and this growth can only be accomplished by means of the holy spirit’s ministry to you it’s the only way it’s ever going to happen listen to what the lord jesus christ said in the scripture in john 14 26 the helper the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. He will teach you and bring to remembrance all I said to you. Thus, it’s by means of the Holy Spirit that we learn and recall what we learn. That’s why we have three mandates in the Bible that refer to the Holy Spirit. The first one is in Ephesians 5, 18. Do not be drunk with wine because that is excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. So the first mandate for you in the imperative mood verb, be filled, is a command from God. He expects you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now we know you’re sealed with the Holy Spirit at the day of redemption, Ephesians 1, 12, and 13. That’s when it happens. But the filling of the Holy Spirit is not the sealing of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit is how we live the dynamics of the Christian life. The sealing of the Holy Spirit is the salvation guarantee that God is not gonna take it back. He marks you, he seals you with the Holy Spirit. So it is by means of the Holy Spirit that we learn and we recall what we learn. Again, Jesus said he will teach you and bring to remembrance all the stuff I said to you. So the three things about the Holy Spirit, first of all, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Secondly, do not quench the Holy Spirit. This is found in 1 Thessalonians 5, 19. And the word to quench is the Greek word pronounced sebe numi, sebe numi. That’s the Greek word, and it means to suppress or stifle the Holy Spirit. The English word is quench. But the Greek word sebe numi means to suppress him or stifle him. And that verb is what we call in the morphology of the passage a present active imperative. That’s important because it means in the present tense we are to continually avoid suppressing the ministry of the Holy Spirit. That present tense verb is a durative. It means not today, not tomorrow, the next day or the next day. You are not suppressing to suppress the Holy Spirit. You’re not to quench the Holy Spirit. And the active voice says you produce the action of the Word by an act of your own volitional decision. When you decide not to sin, then you do not quench the Holy Spirit. And the imperative mood is the mood of command. Thus, it means that we are to continually avoid suppressing the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And it’s your volitional decision that fulfills this mandate, the mood of command. Look, we still have a sin nature. We will have a sin nature until we get a resurrection body. So God knows you’re going to sin. Everyone knows we’re going to sin. No one’s perfect. That’s why we have the rebound as problem-solving device number one. The way to recover the filling of the Holy Spirit after you sin is to rebound or use 1 John 1, 9, where it says if we confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all of our wrongdoing. So the third mandate in regards to the Holy Spirit, be filled, don’t quit, now do not grieve the Holy Spirit. by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption, Ephesians 4.30. If we’re talking about grieving the Holy Spirit, the verb, Greek verb, lupeo, Lupeo means to make sorrowful or to offend by causing sorrow. And this word, as well as the last word, is a present active imperative verb. Present tense, the durative, there never is a time when this is to happen. The active voice, you produce the action. The imperative mood is a command from God. Why do I use those Greek words and the Greek morphology structure like this? It’s in the Bible, it’s the word of God. This is how you get down to the meat of the text. There never is a time you are to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit. It’s impossible not to because of your sin nature and thus you must learn how to rebound. Thus, what we’re saying here is you cannot, will not ever fulfill God’s plan if you suppress and stifle the Holy Spirit. Now, what does the Holy Spirit use? He uses the canon of Scripture, and he uses the gift of pastor-teacher to direct your life to its full potential. Listen to Ephesians 4.11. So Christ himself gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers to equip his people for the work of service so that his body may be built up until we all reach unity of the faith and the knowledge, of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, so that we no longer be infants tossed to and fro by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching, by the cunning craftiness of people and their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth motivated by love, we grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who’s the head, and that’s Christ Jesus. So there’s a lot in that passage right there. First of all, he gave spiritual gifts. And the two gifts that function today, evangelist and pastor teacher, there are no more apostles because to be an apostle, you had to have seen the resurrected Christ. And there are no more prophets because we have a completed canon of scripture. Everything you need to know or will know is there for you already. There’s no need to prophesy. It’s already there. And so we do have evangelists. I am an evangelist myself. And we do have pastor teachers, poimen kai didaskalos in the Greek New Testament. One word, the pastors and teachers. Why do we have those? Well, it’s my job to win people to Christ and it’s the pastor’s job to take those people who’ve accepted Christ and lead them to maturity. The verse says in verse 12, Ephesians 4, to equip the people for work of service. That’s the ministry of the pastor teacher, to explain God’s word and equip God’s people so that we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and we’re no longer infants tossed to and fro back and forth by the waves and all sorts of weird stuff that come down the pipe. Without spiritual growth, you stay an infant and you’re not able to produce spiritual fruit. And that’s why Hebrews 5.11 said, we have a lot to say about this, but it’s hard to make it clear since you’re no longer able to understand. In fact, it’s the time you ought to be a teacher. You need someone to teach you again The elementary truths of God’s word all over because you need milk, not solid food. Anyone who lives on milk being still an infant is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness, the Bible says. Solid food belongs to those who… to constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. That’s where you have to go. That’s where you must be. Advancing from a spiritual infant to a spiritually mature believer. I mean, gee whiz, there’s so much to say about this because our mission is to represent Christ and to give the gospel to a dying world only by means of the empowering of the Holy Spirit and by means of the living word of God. because the living word of God is the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1.16. I hope you’ve been listening, and I hope you’ve enjoyed the message, and I hope you’ll contact, stay in touch, let us hear from you. Until next week, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatlines.
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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.
