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SPEAKER 01 :
Order my book, A Life Shattered by Homosexuality, Redeemed by Jesus’ Love. For 32 years, I lived in a homosexual lifestyle. It brought me nothing but loneliness and pain. Jesus set me free. Are you struggling? Know someone who is? Order my book today and help someone find freedom. To order my book, go to charlieflock.com. That is C-H-A-R-L-I-E-F-L-A-C-H.com. Order my book today.
SPEAKER 03 :
golden nuggets you know what this is a book of inspirational faith stories you know i wrote this book and i’ll tell you why thinking about all the different miracles god has done in my life and i want to really encourage you as you read through i pray you too will be encouraged and lifted up in your spirit you know hearing the testimonies of god’s amazing miracle working power You know, I want to encourage you. For your support, I want to send you your copy. How can you do that? Glad you asked. ATFA P.O. Box 2800 Ramona, California 92065. A Touch From Above P.O. Box 2800 Ramona, California 92065. Or you can log on to our website, atouchfromabove.org and give.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to A Touch From Above from the Prayer Mountain in Ramona, California. Today’s episode is part one of Trust God and Lead with Diligence. Today, we’re going to hear how to not be lazy and lead with God’s plan in mind and with His diligence. Now, here’s our host, Dr. Luana Steins.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, the Bible says in the book of Romans that we are to lead with diligence. You know, Proverbs chapter 12, verse 24 says the hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to force labor. Proverbs chapter 12, verse 27, the living translation says lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch, but they what? but the diligent make use of everything they find. Somebody say amen. Yeah, thank you, Daniel. Close that up. We’re causing a wind tent effect there. Hallelujah. Diligence means careful persistence, persistent work, or great effort. You know, attention to detail, self-discipline, not giving up when things get tough. Can I tell you that many times we can have good intentions, but good intentions don’t get anything done. They really don’t. You kind of coulda, shoulda, woulda mentality. So I shared with our leaders today, I shared with them to buy a calendar, a calendar that you can write in. And the reason I said that was for one reason. You will discover how much time you waste. And you know, we’re given 365 days in one year. And if you realize and you take a look at yourself, some of, some, not me of course, are over 50. Where did that 50 years go? What happened? Some are over 60. What happened to those years? Some are 70. What happened to those years? Some are 75. What happened with those years? What did you do with them? And are you productive for the kingdom purpose? of building and establishing God’s kingdom? Or do you have self-purpose? You know, and I want to talk to you about diligence and how the word of God is so powerful. Diligence. There’s a difference when you begin to start something. And, you know, when you look around at this prayer mountain, you know, people think, oh, gee, look at this. This is great. But they weren’t here before. when there was no cross, there were no trees, the tabernacle was not here, the kitchen facility wasn’t there. They weren’t here when the cabins were not built. They weren’t here while I was in the prayer grotto. They weren’t here when we didn’t have money, two pennies to rub together. They weren’t here when I was fighting with the county for six years to get a major use permit. They weren’t here when I was crying and weeping in prayer. They weren’t here for those years. So when people look, they say, wow, look at this. No, no, no, no. You don’t understand. You see, you have to have gumption to function in the kingdom of God. You have to have that gumption. And that gumption is an old word way back in the late, I think, late 1800s. Gumption. What is gumption? I thought, how can I describe what is gumption? And the only way that I turned out to describe gumption, and the reason I’m saying that is because I’m going to show you people in the Bible that had gumption. What is gumption? I thought the only way to describe it, how many of you have been on a freeway going over Coronado downtown? How many have been over the Coronado Bridge? How many have gone over a major bridge somewhere, New York or across the different bridges? How many have ever gone over the San Francisco Bridge? You know what, it’s amazing, isn’t it? But let me tell you, gumption is like the steel bars hidden away in the concrete that holds together that 10-car freeway. It’s that steel, that metal, that metal thing inside that’s hidden that nobody can see with the natural eye, and you’re willing to go across that bridge. Well, gumption in God’s kingdom is God’s power that dwells within us. The Bible says in the book of Acts 1, verse 8, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You see, God gave us a power from on high, but Jesus had to come. He had to come. He had to walk upon the earth 30 and 3 years. He had to go to a cruel, cruel cross. And nobody realized that unless he had gone to this cross and then rose again on the third day, he said, I’m going to send you the power from on high. I’m going to send the Holy Spirit. That’s the God gumption that comes down, not the natural gumption. It’s the God gumption that comes down and helps you and I be able to run the race of God with endurance. Somebody say hallelujah. You know, we all go through trials. I’d love to tell you, oh, gee, Willigers, maybe there’s some Christians here that’s never been through a trial. But I don’t think so. I don’t think so. You know, it’s easy to come to Jesus at an altar. You know, Billy Graham said something really powerful at the end of his days. I love to read. And Billy Graham said, I made the biggest mistake ever. in all the years of my ministry. He said, I brought people to an altar, but I didn’t have a discipleship plan. So thousands fell through the loop. You see, a lot of people don’t understand a big crowd doesn’t mean revival. A big crowd doesn’t mean a full gospel church. A disciple of Christ. Did you know what a disciple means? A disciplined follower of Christ. That’s a disciple of Christ. A disciplined follower of Christ. You see, Daniel, in the word of God, made up his mind that he was going to follow Christ even long before he was taken captive into the Babylonian camp. Daniel prayed three times a day. Daniel obeyed God. Daniel, he was young. He was young. You have to remember, Daniel was young and handsome. He was a good guy. You know, he was good looking, you know, because you know what the king said, gather some of the Jews that are smart, good looking, and we can use them in the kingdom and train them. Do you know he had to learn their language? He had to learn everything that he needed in order to support the Babylonian king in his kingdom. But you know what Daniel did? Daniel had an opportunity. He could have had men. He could have had women. He could have had anything he wanted because the Babylonian community was vile and corrupt. But Daniel said, no, no, no, I will not defile myself. No, no, no. And that’s when he and the three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they said, you know what? No, no, no, no, no. We will not eat what the king, the delicacies of the king give us vegetables only. Why? Because the meat that they gave them was meat that was given to idols and sacrifices under an unknown God. Daniel said, I’m not going to compromise in that area. You see, you have to make up your mind. Joshua made up his mind. Joshua made a decision on his first speech to all of Israel. Do you remember when Moses handed Joshua the baton and Joshua was going to take the children into the promised land? Remember, Moses couldn’t go into the promised land. Moses had failed in the fact that he let his emotions and his anger get the best of him. And God said, you can’t go into the promised land, Moses. Isn’t it terrible? that our emotions and our natural man can keep us from the blessing of God? May God help us not to get caught up in emotion, amen? May God help us not to walk in unbelief, doubt, fear, and full of emotions. Well, God said it, I don’t know, it won’t happen. No, no, no, no, no, no. Joshua said in front of all of Israel, he said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Why did he say that? He said, you want to serve the God of your fathers? You go ahead and go serve them. He said, but as for me and my house, I’m going to serve God. I’m not going to compromise. I’m not going to go back and do the same stupid thing that the children of Israel did for 40 years that caused them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years around and around and around, chasing their tail over and over and over and over again because of their pride, because of their disobedience, because of their stubbornness, because they didn’t want to obey God. Joshua was strong. He said, no, as for me and my house, I am going to serve God. The Lord. Amen? That’s in Joshua 24. You can read that. Verse 15. What about the prophet? The prophet Isaiah. You know, the Bible, I don’t know about you, but in this day and age, it’s not easy really to preach truth anymore. But I like the prophet Isaiah. You know what it said? He set his face like flint. Do you know what flint is? I think it’s Isaiah 50. He set his face like flint. In other words, I made up my mind. I’m going to preach God’s word. I’m going to say what he wants me to say. I’m going to stand for his righteousness. I’m going to prophesy what he puts in my heart, and I’m going to proclaim it with every part of my being. Did they like him? No, they hated him. They hated him so bad, they said, why don’t we get that man? Why don’t you chase him down? And they chased him down day and night and night and day until finally they caught him. They put him inside of a log and they saw the log in half and killed him. But on the other side… His reward is great. You see, we have to be careful because we live in an age today where everything can start with a bang. Yeah, yeah, today, let’s go. Let’s go, let’s offer Jesus 100%. 47 years ago, I said yes to Jesus. Single mother, murdered husband. Not a pot to go on or a window to throw it out. 47 years ago, I said yes to the Lord. I didn’t know what it meant, but I just knew that I found something that was great. I found the pearl of great price. I said, what can I do? I wasn’t raised in church. I was straight heathen. I went to church on a motorcycle for three years with a leather jacket, chaps, wild hair down to my waist, one baby sitting in front and another baby sitting in back, all of us with our little helmets. and driving my motorcycle to church, I found the pearl of great price. I found the best thing in the whole wide world. I found Jesus, the Savior, the Almighty, the omnipotent, the all-knowing God. I went to that altar, and I remember like it was yesterday. It was like God picked me up with the Holy Spirit by my collar and forced me to go down to an altar because I was so insecure. I was so filled with fear. I was so broken. It’s like I can’t go down in front of everybody. I’m afraid to go down. I’m embarrassed. I don’t know. I’ve never been to church. I don’t know how to pray. I don’t know what to do. But it was like God picked me up and brought me down to an altar. And I got on my knees and a little girl prayed a simple prayer with me that I said I still remember today. I know she had a southern accent. Mary Clock was her name. Red hair and freckles. I will never forget her as long as I live. I stood at the altar and she stood beside me. She goes, hello, can I lead you in a prayer? I looked at her like, girl, are you real? I said, I don’t know how to pray. She goes, that’s no problem, honey, I’ll help you. Come on, let’s get on our knees and let’s say a prayer. You know the simple prayer she said? Jesus, repeat after me. Jesus, Jesus, I know I’m a sinner. I know I’m not done right. Forgive me, Lord. Come into my heart. Be my Lord and Savior. This day I surrender my heart to you. Amen. I said that prayer and something powerful happened. I couldn’t explain it. It was like the years that I had bottled up from the rejection of my mother, the rejection of my father. My mother placed me in an orphanage. My father, as soon as I was born, left. My mother placed me in an orphanage. I didn’t know all of the stuff that was inside of me. All of a sudden, it was like the Holy Spirit… was cracking open the hardness of my heart, the betrayal of my husband. He had been murdered. He was having an affair with a married woman. Her husband came home, caught him, and killed him. I had two small children. I was so hurt. I was so angry. I was so mad. But something powerful happened at that altar. It was like God himself was breaking open the wall of my heart with his Holy Spirit coming down. And something powerful, I remember, oh, I remember when I left church, I was in my Volkswagen, my lowrider Volkswagen, I know. Oh, it was like a brand new penny. I had side pipes lowered down, B6013 low-profile tires. I had beautiful rims on it, had my stereo on, had the sunroof open, and I went two blocks. That’s all I got, two blocks, pulled over. And I said, what happened to me today? I don’t know what happened. I hadn’t cried even at my husband’s funeral. All of a sudden, I put my hand on the steering wheel. God, what happened? I just wept like a baby two blocks away from the church. What was God doing? Why did I go through all that I went through? What was God doing? What kind of trials did I have to go through? Can I tell you, God was preparing me for his purpose. God was preparing me for his service. Why? One day at a time, God would strengthen me. One day at a time, he would prepare me to launch a touch from above, to build a prayer mountain, to travel around the world, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. It didn’t matter what people said. When you go through those trials, remember God is preparing you for something great. Somebody say amen. You see, it’s easy to give up. It’s easy to throw in the towel. Dear Lord, don’t let them pop out of the things there. Psalms chapter 84 says these words. Verse 10, for a day in your court is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Oh, Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in you. You see, when you’re going through it, trials will come to every believer. I don’t care who you are. You may think you can outsmart God, but God loves you and he saved you for a purpose. Amen? You know, trials come. Peter, Peter told us about trials. In 1 Peter chapter 4, reading in verse 12 through 13, it says, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. Do you think the church really wanted to hear that? Do you really think they wanted to hear that? Peter says, what are you worried about? Why are you thinking it’s so strange? Do you know why he said that to the church? Because during that time in 1 and 2 Peter, the church was being persecuted. Christians were being killed. They were being persecuted to no end. Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you, said Peter. And then he turns around and he tells them, but rejoice, rejoice to the extent. that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. You see, the glory of the Lord is gonna come through, Danny. The glory of the Lord is gonna come through, Vicki. You may not see it today, but the glory of the Lord. You see, Danny built this tabernacle. And now he’s in a wheelchair, but only for a season. I don’t care what the devil tries to pull. I don’t care what he says. But rejoice to the extent you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you also will be glad with exceeding joy. You see, in the midst of your trial, in the midst of the death of my husband murdered, I’m supposed to have joy? Yes. In the midst of fighting through cancer, I’m supposed to have joy? Yes. In the midst of trying to think how in the world am I gonna build this and it seems like nothing is coming to pass? Yes. When your pockets are empty and your purse is empty and your bank account is going minus? Yes, rejoice. Rejoice. How important is the trial of our faith? I’m glad you asked that question. First Peter chapter one verse seven tells us that the trial of your faith being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, though it is tried by fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Do you understand what he’s saying there? That trial, the trial of your faith, being much more precious than than gold, much more precious than gold. And how is gold purified? Do you know how gold, everybody thinks they’re just like, oh yeah, it’s 10 karat gold. Oh, it’s 14 karat gold. Do you understand having pure gold? Do you understand the purer the gold is, the hotter the heat has to come? In order for the gold to be pure gold, you have to put thousands and thousands of degrees of temperature of heat on that gold. And what happens with the gold is the garbage, the dross, the dirt, the junk inside of it comes up to the surface. And what the jeweler does is he takes a little thing and he pulls away the dross. And then he puts more heat and that yucky comes up and he puts, cleans the dross across the top, takes it off. And then he applies more heat and more heat and more heat. How can you be purified unless God applies that heat? Why? Because we live in a fallen world. We have so many worldly habits. God has got to get out of us the selfish, the rebellion, the self-centered, the greed, the arrogance, the covetousness, the self-willedness, that stubborn rebellion inside of us that says, I’ll do it my way. God says, oh, no, you won’t. I love you with all my heart, but you ain’t going to do it your way. I’m sorry, Charlie. It’s not your way. Not meaning you, Charlie. That the trial of your faith being much more precious than that of gold that perishes. Isn’t it funny we think that gold is so important? Don’t we heap up all these riches for ourselves? And here Peter says, a gold that perishes. He said, but your trial is even more precious than the gold that everybody puts in the bank. Everybody, collect gold. Dollars are going out. Collect gold. Collect gold. No, you better collect God. You better collect Jesus. Amen? Though it is tested by fire, he’s in other words saying that you will be found to praise God. You ever notice you don’t feel like praising when you’re going through a hard time? Do you know the best thing you can do is praise? You know, I always say, don’t you steal my T-shirt. Shut up and pray. That’s my next T-shirt. Just shut up and pray. Why? Because in our minds, we want to go over and over and over and over and over the problem. I mean, my goodness, you know, the problem, you know, this problem is so big. I mean, my goodness, you know, how are we going to do this? I don’t know what I’m going to do. How’s the finances going to come in? How am I going to build the praying mountain? What am I going to do? I don’t know. My husband was murdered. How am I going to raise two kids? What am I going to do? The refrigerator is empty. I don’t know. I need a job. I can’t find a job. Where’s the money coming from? Shut up and pray. Just shut up and pray. Don’t get mad at me. Why? Because the prayer of a righteous man or woman availeth much. God said, my hand is not short. My eyes are not docile. My ears are not deaf. He said, I can see what you need. I can reach out. I can touch what you need. He said, you know what? And I hear. I hear. I don’t have hearing aids. I don’t have bifocals. I’m able to do all things exceedingly abundantly above all that you can even begin to think or ask. But the problem is the human nature does what? What does the human nature do? Do we praise? No. Do we honor God? No. What does he tell us? and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You see, because when you begin to worship God, when you begin to praise God in the midst of that heartache and that trial, in the midst of that unbelievable, crazy thing that is happening in your life, I think about King David. I think about King David fleeing through the wilderness being pursued by his own son that was willing to kill him. Absalom wanted his father dead. Talk about hatred. If we pursue him, let’s catch him. And that David was fleeing. Why? Why did David go through that? Can I tell you that David, God was preparing David to become the sweet, sweet singer of Israel Do you understand what I’m saying? The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. For he makes me to lie down in green pastures. He restores my soul. Do you understand the psalmist? Oh, blessed are those who walk not in the counsel of the ungodly. Nor stands in the path of sinners. Nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in God’s law and in his law. He meditates day and night and night and day, and He will be like a tree that is planted by the rivers of living water, that whatsoever He does, He will prosper. But the wicked are not so. The wicked are like a dry leaf tossed in the wind here to and fro, and the ungodly cannot stand in the congregation of the righteous.”
SPEAKER 02 :
You’ve been listening to Dr. Luana preaching at a touch from above, Prayer Mountain. Join us for a spirit-filled church service every Sunday at the Prayer Mountain, 16145 Highway 67 in Ramona, California, 92065. We are a church without walls at the Prayer Mountain, so bring your Bible, dress warm, and prepare yourself to grow in the Word. Remember, a church alive is worth a drive. We’re a member-supported broadcast, and we do need your help to grow our ministry. If you’ve enjoyed today’s message, you can give by visiting atouchfromabove.org or by calling 760-315-1967. And right now, with your generous gift, we’ll send you a copy of Dr. Luana’s book, A Woman Called of God, where she shares how Satan tried to stop the call of God on her life. It’s free, along with your donation at atouchfromabove.org. Thank you for listening today, and God bless you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Are you distracted? Seems like everything gets in the way? Come to A Touch From Above Prayer Mountain. 25 beautiful acres. Walk up to the cross and relax in a small private cabin to pray. Bring your leaders to pray at Prayer Mountain. God answers prayer. Even Jesus had to get away to pray. Call today and make your reservation. 760-315-1967. Your answer is just a prayer away. A Touch From Above.org.
