Loading...
religionspiritualitychristianity
Dr Charles Stanley - A Call to Accountability - Part 2
Hosts & Guests
Transcript
Feel your best and amplify your everyday look
with Thrive Cosmetics.
Go to thrivecosmetics.com slash shine26
for an exclusive offer of 20% off your first order.
That's thrivecosmetics,
C-A-U-S-E-M-E-T-I-C-S.com slash shine26.
Warning, the following Zipper Cruder radio spot
you are about to hear is going to be filled with F words.
When you're hiring, we at Zipper Cruder
know you can feel frustrated for Lauren even.
Like your efforts are futile
and you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people
only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine.
F**k.
Fortunately, Zipper Cruder figured out how to fix all that.
And right now, you can try Zipper Cruder for free
at zippercruder.com slash zip.
With Zipper Cruder, you can forget your frustrations
because we find the right people for your roles fast,
which is our absolute favorite F word.
In fact, four out of five employers
who post on Zipper Cruder get a quality candidate
within the first day.
Fantastic.
So whether you need to hire four, 40, or 400 people,
get ready to meet first rate talent.
Just go to zippercruder.com slash zip
to try Zipper Cruder for free.
Don't forget that's zippercruder.com slash zip.
Finally, that's zippercruder.com slash zip.
So let's put it this way.
As a believer, you're accountable to Jesus every single day.
If you're an unbeliever,
you're still accountable to God every single day.
In other words, there's no such thing
as being unaccountable in the eyes of God.
Accountability is a wonderful thing
because it motivates us and it energizes us
and it motivates us to want to do our best
and be our best and look our best
and count for God in some fashion.
Social media often applauds people
who do their own thing without relying on anyone else.
But what if that self-focused attitude
is actually an invitation to disaster?
Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry
of Dr. Charles Stanley will be reminded that each of us
from individuals, to businesses, to governments
need the support of others.
Here's part two of a call to accountability.
Now, what I want to talk about in this message
is this whole idea of accountability.
Now let's just define what is accountability.
Accountability in essence is responsibility.
It's sort of like a check and balance system in our life
that really protects us from harm
that we would do to ourselves,
or harm, for example, that someone else would do.
So accountability in its very essence
is a protective measure.
It's a way of life that God has given to all of us
for many, many reasons.
Some of them we will talk about here
and what it means is simply this.
We live out this accountability by being open and free
and by being willing to tell the truth
and to share with someone else what's going on in our life
and to be willing, listen, not only an encourager
to other people, but to other people that encourage us,
and not only that, that when we need to be brought
to accountability about something
and something needs to change in our life,
that that is exactly what happened.
And all of us have been there.
We've all been in situations and circumstances
where we may have said something.
It did something that we knew that was not exactly right.
Then what happens?
Somebody brings us to accountability.
So here's what I want you to see.
There's nothing wrong with accountability.
Accountability is a gift.
Accountability is the way God,
one of the ways He chooses to protect us
from ourselves because.
You remember what Paul said to the Galatians?
He said, now, don't slip back into the slavery that you were in.
And then he said, now, you are free,
but don't turn your freedom
by being unaccountable for getting that you accountable to God
into the flesh that is to slip over into a life of sin.
So while we are free in many ways, we are accountable
and that accountability naturally is of God.
Now, there's some requirements.
And one of the first requirements is this.
I've got to be trustworthy.
Accountability is all about being trustworthy
and being honest and being dependable
and being transparent and being aboveboard about things
and thinking about the other person and what's best.
In other words, just anybody is not accountable.
If you not trustworthy, it's not going to work.
If you're not honest, it's not going to work.
And if a person finds themselves, for example,
wanting to cover up and refuse to be sincere,
then they're going to have a problem.
To be accountable, I have to have convictions.
Let's say that I'm an accountability group,
they're four of us.
Well, it's not going to do any good
to have an accountability group.
If you don't have honesty, transparency, openness,
willingness to speak, the things that you see,
and have some conviction about things.
If you have no conviction, there's no accountability.
Somebody says, well, I'm not a dealer.
Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees
that I don't really need it.
Infliction is killing me.
Who cares?
Big retailers are making record profits.
That's why we support the German Marshall credit card bill.
See?
Things in credit unions help small businesses make payroll.
This bill would cut the vital resources they need.
While increasing Megastore profits.
They deserve it, don't they?
Tell Congress, stop the German Marshall money grab
for corporate megastores paid for
by the Electronic Payments Coalition.
Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well,
trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Sure, you can post your job to some job board,
but then all you can do is hope the right person comes along,
which is why you should try Zip Recruiter for free.
At ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
Zip Recruiter doesn't depend on candidates finding you.
It finds them for you.
It's powerful technology identifies people
with the right experience and actively invites them
to apply to your job.
You get qualified candidates fast.
So while other companies might deliver a lot of,
hey, zip Recruiter, find you what you're looking for.
The needle in the haystack.
See why four out of five employers who post a job
on zip Recruiter get a quality candidate
within the first day.
Zip Recruiter, the smartest way to hire.
And right now, you can try Zip Recruiter for free.
That's right, free at ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
That ziprecruiter.com slash zip,
ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
Warning, the following Zip Recruiter radio spot
you are about to hear is going to be filled with F words.
When you're hiring, we at Zip Recruiter
know you can feel frustrated for Lauren even.
Like your efforts are futile.
And you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people
only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine.
F**k.
Fortunately, Zip Recruiter figured out how to fix all that.
And right now, you can try Zip Recruiter for free
at ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
With Zip Recruiter, you can forget your frustrations
because we find the right people for your roles fast,
which is our absolute favorite F word.
In fact, four out of five employers
who post on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate
within the first day.
Fantastic.
So whether you need to hire four, 40, or 400 people,
get ready to meet first straight talent.
Just go to ziprecruiter.com slash zip
to try Zip Recruiter for free.
Don't forget that's ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
Finally, that's ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
Oh, you don't have to be a theologian.
You just have to have convictions.
The truth is everybody is a theologian to some degree.
That is, you have certain beliefs about things.
And if a person says he's an atheist,
he's just in the dark.
That's what he is.
And somebody says,
long make no stick, I don't believe in God.
Well, let me just say this to you.
If you think that relieves you of being accountable,
you have to think twice.
Because the Bible doesn't say you're accountable to God
unless you don't believe in him,
or unless you have doubts about him.
We are all accountable for our life here and now.
And one of these days we'll stand before him
and give a full account of our entire life.
You say, well, what about all those things
I've been forgiven for, right?
You don't have to, he's not going to bring up.
That was if you're a believer,
when you stand before his presence,
he's not going to bring up, let's say you did this
on that day and this on that day.
And I can remember earlier in life
when I hear pastors talk about the judgment,
this is what they'd say.
They'd say things like this.
When you stand before God,
he's going to have this movie before you
and he's just going to play your life
so that everybody in the world sees your sin,
he's going to judge you.
He used to scare me to death.
And I think, my goodness,
what's going to be on my film?
But you know what?
All of that was just ignorance.
That's all that was because that's not what the Bible says.
What I'm forgiven for, he's forgotten.
But you say, well, but now do you lose?
Yes.
When you waste time, you lose.
When you waste finances, you lose.
When you raise waste relationships and love you lose,
it's not that he never is the judgment is,
and I'm going to do this to you.
But in the judgment, I think we will see what we lost.
We go into heaven, we're going to be blessed,
and we will be rewarded on the basis of our conduct,
our attitude, the way we lived our life,
and what we messed up on,
we don't get any rewards for that,
and what we've done right, we will be rewarded.
But there's a day of accountability,
and if a person doesn't have the courage
and the character to be what they ought to be,
then they can't be in an accountability group.
So let's put it this way.
As a believer, you're accountable to Jesus every single day.
If you're an unbelievable, you're still accountable to God
every single day.
In other words, there's no such thing
as being unaccountable in the eyes of God.
You may act like it, live like it,
but what you're doing is just driving other people away,
because who can trust you?
If you refuse to be accountable, you're not trustworthy.
Because we might ask ourselves the question,
why do people do that?
And it's interesting that people who are unaccountable
when you confront them, they're quick to complain,
quick to accuse, and quick to excuse,
because they don't want to give an account.
And you've met people like that,
maybe somebody that you work around,
and no matter what you try to do to confront them,
they have an excuse, or the critical,
in other words, they jump to criticize someone else
to defend their failure.
A accountability is a wonderful thing,
because it motivates us, and it energizes us,
and it motivates us to want to do our best,
and be our best, and look our best,
and count for God in some fashion.
But you know, I might ask the questions,
well, what do people object to being accountable?
Well, it's real simple, they're dishonest.
That's one reason.
They're dishonest, and because they're dishonest,
they don't want to be accountable.
For example, why do you think businesses
have these machines that, of course,
have different things, you punch in every morning,
you punch in when you leave?
Why don't they just say, well, you know,
we've started eight, and we leave it five.
Y'all come whenever you want to,
leave when you please, but that's the deal.
No, because people are so dishonest,
they get there at 30 minutes after,
and leave 30 minutes before.
There are a lot of things that you and I have to put up with
because of people's dishonest.
Warning, the following Zipper Cruder Radio spot,
you are about to hear, is going to be filled with F words.
When you're hiring, we at Zipper Cruder
know you can feel frustrated for Lauren even.
Like your efforts are futile,
and you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people,
only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine.
F***.
Fortunately, Zipper Cruder figured out how to fix all that.
And right now, you can try Zipper Cruder for free
at zippercruder.com slash zip.
With Zipper Cruder, you can forget your frustrations,
because we find the right people for your roles fast,
which is our absolute favorite F word.
In fact, four out of five employers
who post on Zipper Cruder,
get a quality candidate within the first day.
Fantastic.
So whether you need to hire four, 40, or 400 people,
get ready to meet first rate talent.
Just go to zippercruder.com slash zip
to try Zipper Cruder for free.
Don't forget that zippercruder.com slash zip.
Finally, that zippercruder.com slash zip.
Warning, the following Zipper Cruder radio spot
you are about to hear is going to be filled with F words.
When you're hiring, we at Zipper Cruder
know you can feel frustrated for Lauren even.
Like your efforts are futile,
and you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people,
only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine.
F***.
Fortunately, Zipper Cruder figured out how to fix all that.
And right now, you can try Zipper Cruder for free
at zippercruder.com slash zip.
With Zipper Cruder, you can forget your frustrations
because we find the right people for your roles fast,
which is our absolute favorite effort.
In fact, four out of five employers
who post on Zipper Cruder,
get a quality candidate within the first day.
Fantastic.
So whether you need to hire four, 40, or 400 people,
get ready to meet first rate talent.
Just go to zippercruder.com slash zip
to try Zipper Cruder for free.
Don't forget that zippercruder.com slash zip.
Finally, that zippercruder.com slash zip.
Warning, the following Zipper Cruder radio spot
you are about to hear is going to be filled with F words.
When you're hiring, we at Zipper Cruder
know you can feel frustrated for Lauren even.
Like your efforts are futile,
and you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people,
only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine.
F***.
Fortunately, Zipper Cruder figured out how to fix all that.
And right now, you can try Zipper Cruder for free
at zippercruder.com slash zip.
With Zipper Cruder, you can forget your frustrations
because we find the right people for your roles fast,
which is our absolute favorite effort.
In fact, four out of five employers
who post on Zipper Cruder,
get a quality candidate within the first day.
Fantastic.
So whether you need to hire four, 40, or 400 people,
get ready to meet first straight talent.
Just go to zippercruder.com slash zip
to try Zipper Cruder for free.
Don't forget that's zippercruder.com slash zip.
Finally, that zippercruder.com slash zip.
Nasty, and they're unwilling to be accountable.
And you see, we have so much freedom
and liberty in this country.
And when we don't take responsibility,
what happens is people make decisions
that all of us suffer as a result.
We're all accountable.
And it's a good thing to be accountable.
But people who are not, they're dishonest.
For example, oftentimes they're trying
to cover up something in their life.
Usually they have a little bit of rebellion in them.
And usually they're slothful.
Because you see, if you don't have any accountability,
then why get up when you don't feel like getting up
and going to work when you just don't want to go anyway?
So I think about people to call in and say, I'm sick.
Think about this.
If you work somewhere and you're accountable
to be at a certain time, and you just don't feel like
you want to go today.
So you call in and say, well, I'm sick leave.
You're not sick.
You just lie.
That's what you did.
And what you did is you sent a deceptive message.
So the next day you come back to work
and somebody says, what is your man I had most fun yesterday?
Let me tell you what I did.
You just shut your testimony right there.
It is deception.
It is lying.
When you quit beforehand, it is deception.
If you quit half an hour early, then you should say,
duck my pay 30 minutes out, left early.
How many folks will do that?
Accountability is just being the person we claim to be.
And of all people who ought to do that is believe us.
We ought to be absolutely as clean as we can possibly be
about any and every circumstance of life.
And some people are unaccountable.
They don't want to be accountable because they fear a loss.
Well, if I'm really honest about that,
I may not have this opportunity.
Well, if I'm really up above board
about all this thing, I may lose this privilege.
No, the more honest than the own top you are
and the more open you are, the more people trust you
to do and to be the best you can.
Who wants to be around somebody who's untrustworthy?
For example,
do you want to tell the deepest part of your life
to a gossip?
No, you don't.
So listen to me carefully.
A gossip is an untrustworthy person
to whom you do not want to be accountable.
Because what you openly share in your heart
with somebody, something you've been through,
some hurt, some pain, or some disaster,
or something you've done in your life
that you and more than anybody else to know about,
but somebody who's a close friend
because they'll understand.
And then they go tell somebody else,
untrustworthy, gossip, sin, you name it.
That's not being accountable.
That is taking advantage of somebody else's reputation.
To be a Christian is serious business
and to have a testimony is serious business.
And so one of the reasons that some people don't want
to give an account is just pure old pride.
I'm not having anybody tell me what to do.
That is pure pride.
Thank God.
Every morning I wake up, I want him to tell me what to do.
But I go to before I go to bed at night.
Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees
that I don't really need it.
Infliction is killing me.
Who cares?
Big retailers and making record profits.
That's why we support the Durban Marshall Credit Card Bill.
See, banks and credit unions help small businesses
make payroll.
And this bill would cut the vital resources they need.
While increasing Megastore profits.
They deserve it.
Don't they?
Tell Congress, stop the Durban Marshall Money Grab
for corporate megastores paid for
by the Electronic Payments Coalition.
Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well,
trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Sure, you can post your job to some job board.
But then all you can do is hope the right person comes along,
which is why you should try Zip Recruiter for free.
At ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
Zip Recruiter doesn't depend on candidates finding you.
It finds them for you.
It's powerful technology identifies people
with the right experience and actively invites them
to apply to your job.
You get qualified candidates fast.
So while other companies might deliver a lot of, hey,
Zip Recruiter, find you what you're looking for.
The needle in the haystack.
See why four out of five employers who post a job
on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate
within the first day.
Zip Recruiter, the smartest way to hire.
And right now, you can try Zip Recruiter for free.
That's right, free at ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
That ziprecruiter.com slash zip ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
Warning, the following Zip Recruiter radio spot
you are about to hear is going to be filled with F words.
When you're hiring, we at Zip Recruiter
know you can feel frustrated for Lauren even.
Like your efforts are futile.
And you can spend a fortune trying to find fabulous people,
only to get flooded with candidates who are just fine.
F**k.
Fortunately, Zip Recruiter figured out how to fix all that.
And right now, you can try Zip Recruiter for free
at ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
With Zip Recruiter, you can forget your frustrations
because we find the right people for your roles fast,
which is our absolute favorite F word.
In fact, four out of five employers
who post on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate
within the first day.
Fantastic.
So whether you need to hire four, 40, or 400 people,
get ready to meet first rate talent.
Just go to ziprecruiter.com slash zip
to try Zip Recruiter for free.
Don't forget that's ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
Finally, that ziprecruiter.com slash zip.
I wanted to tell me what I did,
or what I did not do, or how I failed in a way,
or to tell me what a fantastic job I may have done.
In other words, God holds us accountable,
but think about this.
Don't you know that God, let's put it this way.
Let's say, for example, that every night
for you to go to bed, here's Jesus sitting
on this side of the bed saying,
well, let's think about today.
Here's what I think he wouldn't want you to do.
He wouldn't want you to tell him what a good job you did.
You did a good job, did best you could,
and you were blessed during the day,
and you just want to thank him for being with you.
You know what God isn't a tyrant.
He's not a monster.
God is this awesome, loving Heavenly Father,
who has given us principles to live by,
so you and I can have peace and joy and contentment
and our needs met and be influenced
and make an impact in somebody else's life.
He's up to something good in our life,
and we have to be accountable to him.
Now, when we lack accountability, here's what happens.
You can't do your best.
If you're not accountable, you will not do your best in life.
Secondly, you're going to be wasteful.
If a person is not accountable for their money,
you're going to see something you do not need,
you know you don't need it, but you've got to buy something.
When people are not accountable,
let's say in a marriage, for example,
you want to break up a marriage,
get fussing over money.
Money breaks up a lot of marriages,
because somebody does not want to be held accountable
for the way they spend their money.
And what this parable is all about is accountability.
Then, for example, I think about one of the aspects of it is
a person spiritually is not going to grow much
until you are accountable to somebody in your life.
When I grew up, who was our accountable to, my mother,
and she made me accountable to her.
When I came home at night, she wanted to know where I'd been.
And who I was, but now, she wasn't being critical.
She said, she'd say, well, why have you been?
She had this very quiet way of getting straight
to the truth in me.
And once I was, she'd say, well,
tell me what you want me to know.
Do you know what that did to me?
It motivated me to tell her the truth.
Couldn't lot her.
Just, and she didn't say, tell me the truth.
She'd just say, well, tell me what you want me to know.
Well, a few times I probably wouldn't as honest as I should have been,
but she got to me with that.
Everybody needs to be accountable.
And we need to know how to approach accountability.
You don't say to your children, all right?
Tell me where you've been, who you've been with,
and what you did, and what time.
That's not the way that's your accountability.
In other words, there's a loving way to do it.
But the issue is we are accountable.
And that refusing to be accountable is tragedy.
Accountability goes to every place in our life.
Starts at our home, husbands, wives, and children.
In the schools, we entrust our children
to so-called Christian colleges.
And I could give you a list of quotes
that you'd hardly believe at a Christian schools.
Well, one of the first things that Professor says,
I am an atheist, or I am against Christianity,
and I think it's stupid.
Two out of every three students
who leave that church to go to college,
with their faith, two out of every three,
leave the college of the university,
having thrown their faith aside.
Finding great candidates to hire can be like,
well, trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Sure, you can post your job to some job board,
but then all you can do is hope the right person comes along,
which is why you should try Zippercrooter for free.
Add zippercrooter.com slash zip.
Zippercrooter doesn't depend on candidates finding you.
It finds them for you.
It's powerful technology identifies people
with the right experience,
and actively invites them to apply to your job.
You get qualified candidates fast.
So while other companies might deliver a lot of,
hey, Zippercrooter, find you what you're looking for.
The needle in the haystack.
See why four out of five employers who post a job on Zippercrooter
get a quality candidate within the first day.
Zippercrooter, the smartest way to hire.
And right now, you can try Zippercrooter for free.
That's right, free.
Add zippercrooter.com slash zip.
That zippercrooter.com slash zip.
Zippercrooter.com slash zip.
The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going,
blending rugged muscle with precision engineering,
all supported by Toyota's time-tested legacy
of dependability.
Step into a Tundra and feel the unyielding capability
with the available iForce Max engine.
Tundra puts out impressive power torque
and towing performance and the roomy high-tech cabin
keeps you connected on the go.
Or take a look at Tacoma made for drivers
who push past the path.
Agile, tough and relentless with available features
like crawl control, portable JBL speaker,
a power lift gate, so gear goes in fast
and the adventure keeps moving.
Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure
season after season, mile after mile.
So drive one home today, visit toyota.com
or stop by your local Toyota dealer
to find out more Toyota.
Let's go places.
That is tragic.
Somebody's not accountable.
They are deceptive to call themselves Christians
and they are untrustworthy.
And you as a parent have a right and a responsibility
to ask for accountability
that you call this a Christian university
and one of the first things the professor says
that he's not only not a Christian,
he doesn't believe in God in the Bible
as an antiquated book.
Remember that's your hard earned cash, you paid them.
Accountability is a law of God.
And that's why you as a parent cannot keep quiet.
We as citizens cannot keep quiet.
We have responsibility to call for accountability.
In a godly fashion, whether it's in a large group of people
or whether you're right or whether you call
or whatever you believe and however you choose to do it,
the one thing we're accountable for is what we know
is the truth.
Can you sit silently knowing that these things are going on?
That these things are going on, that affect your family.
Listen, and your children and your grandchildren
and say, well, somehow it'll all work out.
I'm not telling you what to do.
I'm just simply saying this, you ask God,
how should you respond in this day and time
in a critical time in the life of our nation
and in all of our lives personally.
It's a critical time.
Accountability is the principle of the word of God
and we're all accountable to Him
and there are people out there who represent us
who are accountable to us.
We're accountable to each other to live a godly life
and we're accountable over the Lord Jesus Christ
to get His message of truth to the world.
What a wonderful, exciting day to be alive.
And knowing that you have the truth
that can transform a person's life
and change their eternal destiny,
that when they die, they'll go to heaven
because Jesus went to the cross,
paid their sin debt in full.
That message, we're accountable to God
to get to the whole world.
We are accountable to God to do our best
and all that we can do
by having the wonderful privilege of getting it out there.
Amen?
Now you may be here and you're saying,
well, so what am I to do?
Well, here's what you to do.
If you've never trusted Jesus Christ as you save you,
then you have already been acting irresponsibly.
You've rebelled against His authority.
You need to ask God to forgive you of your sins,
whatever that is, and tell Him that today,
wherever you are right now,
that you do believe that Jesus went to the cross
and died on the cross for your sins
and you're accepting Him as your personal savior.
You want to be accountable.
You want to do what's right.
You want your life to be the kind of life
that makes a positive impact upon your family
and those around you, where you work and among your friends.
These are serious days to be a godly person.
It's what He requires of us,
and though if I remember this,
whatever He requires of us, He provides.
Amen.
Father, have grateful we are,
that you do hold us accountable.
Thank you for the spirit of God within us.
It convicts us when we're wrong
and encourages us when we're right,
who motivates us to do our best and warns us against evil.
Teachers have to be the kind of believers
and the kind of citizens and the kind of parents we need to be
in order for you to accomplish your purpose
and your plan for our lives.
But we ask it in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Amen.
Well, thanks for joining us on In Touch,
the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley.
Those of us who are believers need to remember
that we are entrusted with God's truth
and we're accountable to Him for how we handle it
and how we share it.
If you have questions about the Bible
or the Christian life, our website is intouch.org.
And if you wanna go over this lesson again,
look there for the link to today on radio
and connect to our online bookstore
where you can order a copy of today's complete message,
a call to accountability.
Again, log on to intouch.org
or call or text us at 1-800-INTouch.
To write to us, address your letter to in touch,
post office box 7-900, at Lanna, Georgia 303-57.
When life takes an unexpected turn,
it's encouraging to remember that God is always faithful
to His Word.
Today's moment with Charles Stanley is coming up.
Have you ever forgotten something God taught you
when you were reading the Bible?
When we take note of what God reveals to us,
it helps us to apply it to our lives.
With the Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Journal,
you can keep track of your spiritual journey
and be transformed by God's truth.
This journal features artwork of Dr. Stanley's
30 Life Principles, lined pages for writing,
a prayer journaling section, and more.
To order, call 1-800-INTouch
or go to intouch.org slash journal.
Your listening to intouch, God's Principles never change
and believers can count on Him to always keep His promises.
Here's a moment with Charles Stanley.
The Scripture says,
they grasp with us,
and the flower fades, but the word of our God
shall stand forever.
Oftentimes people question that,
but the reason they do is because
the Bible says,
the Bible says,
the Bible says,
the Bible says,
the Bible says,
but the reason they do is because they don't understand
what that verse means.
And that is that no matter what happens in life,
what's going to happen is this,
that God's eternal principles will not change
and will not fade,
they will always be there.
We will be governed by them no matter what.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
They don't understand that either.
They say,
how can they be the same yesterday, today, and forever?
And He's gone.
Because what He said,
what He promised,
how He lives,
still lives.
Time has no effect upon God.
Time has no effect upon Jesus or the Holy Spirit.
And so all of us who have been saved by His grace
and love and mercy,
we have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us.
And you now have the awesome privilege of practicing
these principles that God has given us in His Word.
And when we do,
we are greatly blessed.
Because here is one of the many characteristics
and attributes of God.
And one of the most comforting, reassuring attributes of God
is this,
that He is faithful to His Word.
So if your friend says to you,
well, how can you prove that?
What would you say to someone who challenges
your belief in God?
Oftentimes they will say,
that's who he used to be.
That's how God used to work.
God doesn't act the same way He used to act.
He doesn't do the same things He used to do.
And the answer is,
yes, He does.
This is a different culture.
We're different people.
But principles never change.
God's principles are unalterable and unchanging,
their eternal,
which means that I have the same right to expect of God
as those who walked with the Lord Jesus Christ
have the same privilege of obeying Him
or disobeying Him as they did.
And so what we have to remember is this.
This book does not change.
Principles don't change.
Because God does not change.
He is the eternal one who rules and reigns over everything.
Therefore, when you and I come to live out the Christian life,
how we'd live it out?
We're to live it out by His principles.
Since God never changes,
it's always right to do what He says.
Learn more about being a Christian at Intouch.org.
How are you going to apply what you heard today?
We'd love to hear what He decided.
Let us know.
Tomorrow on Intouch,
there are always new challenges that come with a new year.
I hope you'll join us again to hear
where to find the confidence to face the future.
That's New Year's Eve on Intouch,
the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley.
This program is a presentation of Intouch Ministries
at Lana, Georgia, and remains on the station
through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.
