Dr Charles Stanley - Where Our Needs Are Met - Part 1

0:00Think about this. God is absolutely perfect. He is absolutely infinite in all of his knowledge, which means he knows us from one end of the other, inside our past, present, future. There's not a single thing about us. He doesn't know. You know what? This is a God who loves you and me enough that he wants us to know him. You know why? Because he knows that when you're not going to discover what he's like, we're going to stand in absolute total awe who this God is. God has an answer for our unmet needs. That's the topic of our current series on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Today, we'll look at how important it is to have a close friendship with Jesus, after all, who knows you and your needs and desires better than your creator. Stay with us now and hear about where our needs are met. Life is filled with struggles. In fact, sometimes it appears that life

1:02is just one continuous struggle. We even struggle with God. And usually those struggles indicate that there is some need in our life. Then I think about what the Apostle Paul said when he said, I've learned to be content. Then he said, I've learned that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Then he said, my God, should supply all your needs according to this rich's in glory in Christ Jesus. Surely, either this is just sort of pined the sky kind of stuff or the Apostle Paul knew something that made it possible for him to walk through life no matter what he had to face with this awesome sense of being anchored in his relationship with God so that nothing blew him off course no matter what he faced. Well, that's what I want to talk about in this message entitled, Where Our Needs Are Met. Now our theme for this series has been Philippians 4.19. My God, shall supply all your needs according to this rich's in glory in Christ Jesus.

2:04What I'd like you to do is to turn to the 17th chapter Matthew for this message because in this particular passage, there is an indication of intimacy between the Lord Jesus Christ and with three of his disciples because what I want to talk about in this message is this whole idea of where our needs really get met, all of our emotional needs, all of our spiritual needs, our physical material needs, somehow it's wrapped up in our relationship to Jesus Christ. And you recall this is the passage that deals with a very important moment in Christ's life when he was transfigured, what we call the Mount of Transfiguration. So beginning in verse one of Matthew 17 and six days later, Jesus took with him, Peter and James and John his brother, brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them in his face shown like the sun and his garments became as white as light. And behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them,

3:04talking with him. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord it's good for us to be here. If you wish I'll make three tabernacles here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them and behold a voice of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased, listen to him. Now you know where I got that. Now listen. You see God said that. And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, arise, do not be afraid. And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. Why is it that he chose Peter, James and John? He took them into some of the most intimate moments of his ministry on the amount of transfiguration when Jesus was meeting with Moses and Elijah and they were talking about his death,

4:05talking about what was to happen in these most absolutely incropable moments in his ministry. What does he do? He only takes Peter, James and John. Why did he choose these three? I don't think anybody knows, except we could say, well, it may be that Jesus since in them, a sense of oneness with him, a deeper, deeper yearning desire to know him, a deeper hunger and thirst to know about him, a deeper sense of desire to get on the inside of him and discover who is what's he really like? Maybe even a deeper sense of devotion to him. I don't know, I don't think anybody knows why, but one thing for certain, these three men were drawn into an intimate relationship with him seemingly even more so than all the rest of those. Does it mean that Jesus only has three intimates and no more? Thank God that is not what it means?

5:05Because here's what I want you to remember. Just as he pulled to himself, Peter, James and John, you know what he's been doing ever since you trusted him as your personal savior? He's been attempting to draw you and me into the same kind of intimate relationship. Because you see, that's what life's all about. Life is all about relationships. Life is not all about things. Life is not all about material things. Life is all about relationships. When I think about the circles of relationships, this is the way I think about them. I think about, first of all, there's the innermost circle of my life. And that's where I only got an eye, dwell. Then there is the inner circle where those people whom I love and cherish very dearly, that's where they dwell. Then there is the outer circle with people whom I have great respect and enjoy and certainly honor them and delight in them.

6:08And then there is the outermost circle, which is those we just sort of know casually in the rest of the world. The most important circle in your life, you see, you all have them. Maybe you hadn't thought about it, but you do have them. But let me ask you this, what about that innermost circle? You've probably tried to cram your wife or your husband or your children that they don't fit. You see, the innermost circle was created by God for you and him and no one else. You can't place anybody else in that circle. You can't get anything in there. You see, the tragedy of the day is that most people live their life and never realize that God Almighty desires to have an intimate loving relationship with them. They will always see God as up yonder and out there somewhere, up in heaven. And they'll always see God as one that they call upon in time of trouble and difficult and hardship of pain and suffering. They'll never be able to see God

7:08as this intimate, genuine friend who lives on the inside, who desires to have an intimacy so deep of them that they could not possibly understand unless they understand who he is. And so that's the way most people are gonna live their life. And I think about people, and this really greets me when I think about, sometimes it makes me, I just wanna cry when I think about. People who have been saved ever since they were a children, or maybe in their teenage years, and they grew up and they go to church, a week after week, month after month, year after year, and listen to sermons, and hear the gospel, and never grasp the fact that this God who gave us the Bible, this God who gave us his son, this infinite overwhelming, indescribable, unsurchable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, all knowing God in all of his sovereign power, desires to have an intimate, loving, genuine, personal, confidential, close relationship

8:12with every single one of us. And most people will die, and God will be a stranger in their life. God has a desire to have an intimate relationship with you, so what is an intimate relationship anyway? Intimacy is a close relationship. That is confidential and deeply personal, and motivated by genuine love for each other. That's what intimacy is all about. Intimacy is a relationship, deeply personal, very confidential, and motivated by genuine love alone. That is what God desires for every single one of us. And when you and I are able to walk into that relationship, we don't have to worry, but our needs are longer because we know that we have such a close relationship with someone who did lights in meeting our needs, who not only has promised to do it and has will to do it,

9:13and has the power to do it, but delights in meeting every single need we have. Now, for example, if you think about the creation for a moment, why did God create us to begin with? He certainly did not need us, God is not needing of anything. He had mirrors and mirrors and mirrors of angels, to whom He calls His servants, and they could do, and would do anything that He sent them forth to do. So He didn't need us. Then why did He create us? He created us because He desired to have someone, and some people whom He could love and express Himself and reveal Himself. That's why the Bible says in Genesis chapter 126, the Bible says, God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. Who was that? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and conversation said, we're going to make man in our likeness after our image. That means those who could think, those who could reason, those who could laugh, those who could feel sorrow.

10:13He has made us liken unto Himself. The whole moral fiber of man is made liken to God. He has given to us what He has given all the part of His creation. Why did they do it? Because God wants to express His love. God wants us to know who He is. Listen, God is worth knowing. And you see, you and I have the privilege of experiencing some things that even the angels do not have the privilege of experiencing. You and I have the privilege of being forgiven of our sin. They'll never experience that. We understand what it means for our holy, righteous God to reach down to sinners like us, totally undeserving of anything. And God said to us, I love you. I'm going to forgive you. Here's how much I love you. I'm going to give my owner begotten son Calvary, and he's going to pay your sin that in full, not on yours, but the sins of the entire world. You and I have experienced forgiveness and love, and caring, and healing, and all the things.

11:13Not even the angels have been able and have had the privilege to experience. God desires to love us. Now think about this for a moment. The only reason that you're a believer is because God chose to reach down, and providentially, in his willingness to choose, he chose to save you. If you think it's something you did, you better think again. It isn't something that somebody says, well, I received Jesus Christ as my personal savior. Yes, you did in response to the wooing, drawing power of Almighty God. Turned if you will to John chapter 15. And look at this 15th chapter in the upper room, and Jesus is revealing some things about himself, and probably these chapters of 13, 14, 15, and 16, especially a precious chapter. Listen to what Jesus said. In thinking about this whole idea of intimacy, a close relationship. Listen, a close relationship, deeply personal and confidential, motivated by genuine love.

12:14Listen to what he said in verse 13, greater love has no one than this that one lay down his life for his friends. That's real intimate love. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, the slave does not know what the master's doing, but I've called you friends for listening to this, for all things I've heard from my father, I've made known to you. I'm telling you about myself. Looking in verse 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you. I pointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of my father and my name, he may give it to you. This I command you that you love one another. He said, you didn't choose me, I chose you. The only reason, listen, when you and I stand the presence of God of the judgment and the judgment of the rewards, there's one thing for certain, we are all going to be on the same level, because we will all have arrived there on the same basis. God in his infinite loving, kindness and forgiveness reached down and by his grace

13:16and through his son at tone for our sins and made us one of his children, listen, plus nothing. Nothing we did, nothing we promised and nothing we would ever do. It is only for the grace of God. We're going to all stand to the same, the pure grace of God plus nothing. That's why there's not a single person that's in a reason the most. That's why Paul said there's no one thing I've boasted in, that's the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only way we're going to get there is by his grace. Why did he do it? Why did he do it? Why did he choose you? I'll tell you why, because God has a twofold purpose in mind. He didn't have to. Listen, all the initiative has been his. He chose you. Now, what did he do it? Here's one of the reasons. He wants us to know who he is. He wants us to know what he's like. He's God. He wants us to know who he is. Remember what he said to his disciples? He said, I want to case, he says, I just show you whatever I see the Father doing.

14:17If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Everything the Father tells me, I'm telling you. Why? Because he wanted them to understand who God is. And he says, if you understand me, you'll understand the Father. God wants us to know him. There are a lot of people who sit in church every Sunday. And the real honest truth is, if you could look inside their heart, and you say, well, you worshiping God, while sure I'm singing and praying, well, who is this God? You know what they'd say, well, he's the God of the Bible, what's he like? Well, you know what? If somebody walked up to you who is an absolute total atheist today and said, I've heard about you, God, I want you to describe your God to me. What would you say? And then they were to say to you, well, tell me about your experiences with this God. Now, I heard what you said about him. Tell me about your experiences with this God. What would you say? You see, God is not satisfied just saving us.

15:18He wants us to know him. Now listen, intimacy is a close relationship, deeply personal, confidential, and motivated by genuine love for each other. Intimacy goes beyond the human body. You and I can have an intimacy with almighty God that no human relationship on the face of this earth can equal. And the very idea that we think intimacy is only related to either sexual involvement or some kind of physical touch. That should be the result of genuine intimacy. Intimacy is a close relationship that is deeply personal, deeply confidential, motivated by genuine love each for the other. Any physical relationship that is involved in that intimacy should be the overflow. The absolute beautiful overflow of what intimacy is all about.

16:19Think about this. God is absolutely perfect. He is absolutely infinite in all of his knowledge, which means he knows us from one end of the other, inside, out, past, present, future. There's not a single thing about us. He does know, you know what? He is absolutely fully equipped to have an intimate relationship with us. His only big hindrance is we ourselves. We're the hangar. God wants to have an intimate relationship with you. Now think about this. How did he start this whole idea in creation? And then of course, he saved us. Those of us who have saved us. Now here's what he does. He says, now, you know, you just got into the kingdom now. What I want to do is I want to draw you to myself. And so what do we do? We're over here saying, well, you know, I got saved. And so, you know, we are looking around and we're doing our own thing. And here's God over here saying, now, I want to draw you to myself. And sometimes I think God must be saying, what's he going to take to get you into the kind of relationship I want?

17:20Because we're so enmeshed in things and other relationships that somehow over here, we're just happy doing our thing. When God, David said, for example, my soul clings to thee. God wants us into an intimate relationship. And that's why I listen. This is why he uses pain, heartache, suffering, trials, tribulations, difficulties, things we don't understand. What is he doing? Getting our attention to help us see how much we need him. He wants to draw us into an intimate relationship where we find that this is a loving God who wants to be able to meet every single need of her life. And we stubbornly want to do it our way. And sometimes people say, well, I just don't understand why God's allowing all these things to happen. It just may be, you say, you know, how much more pressure am I going to put on you? Well, am I going to put the blow torch? What am I going to do to get you to understand that I want you, I love you, I desire you, I want to have a relationship with you. Now, the truth is, some of you can see yourself on the other side being stubborn. This is a God who loves you and me enough

18:21that he wants us to know him. You know why? Because he knows that when you're not beginning to discover what he's like, we're going to stand in absolute total awe who this God is. When you taste of the emotional love of God, you will understand no matter how much somebody else in this world loves you, no one can love you, like God loves you. You see, the innermost circle is reserved for you and God. And the inner circle is reserved for you and those people you love dearly, for whom you give your life. That's why your husband, your wife, or your girlfriend or boyfriend, that's why your children are, in other words, that inner circle, but the innermost circle is reserved for you and God. And when I think about people living their whole life and the innermost circle is empty, all of their life, this is why you, a person, will grow older, feel aloneness, feel estranged from God, feel distance, feel abortance,

19:23feel a lot of things that are very, very painful. When all the time a person can walk an absolute total intimacy with him. There is an intimacy available to every child of God, no human relationship can match no matter what. You're listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. A believer needs to return to this question often. Is Jesus the center of my attention or is something else replaced him? Remember God is more interested in your relationship with him than in anything you do for him. Will you're more about where our needs are met tomorrow? And to listen again, click today on radio at intouch.org. Stop by the store page if you'd like to order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, where our needs are met, or order his teaching set, God has an answer for our unmet needs.

20:24Our web address again is intouch.org, or call or text 1-800-intouch. If you prefer, you can write to us sad, Intouch, Post Office Box 7900, at my to Georgia 30357. Whose plans are you following? Yours or Gods? Today's moment with Charles Stanley is coming up. Do you take sermon notes on the back of your bulletin, Jot Scripture references on the offering envelope? Start keeping things in one place, one organized place with the Intouch Notakers Journal. This leather soft journal contains 150 pages for taking notes and includes Dr. Stanley's 30 life principles. Find everything in one convenient place with the Intouch Notakers Journal. Call toll free 1-800-intouch or visit intouch.org. Who is the Holy Spirit? And how does he operate in your life? Dr. Stanley's struggle over this divine mystery as well

21:26and found that life in the spirit has less to do with striving and everything to do with abiding. Explore this life-changing biblical perspective in the spirit-filled life available in paperback and use the Think Abouted questions inside for personal reflection or group discussion. Order the book, The Spirit Filmed Life, at intouch.org or by calling 1-800-intouch. The spiritually mature Christian you admire today began living an intentional life for long time ago. Here's a moment with Charles Stanley. God intends for all of us to be fruitful throughout our life even in old age. And this doesn't happen automatically. We must plan to be fruitful. We must take definite steps in order to be fruitful and that first step is to set goals for our life. There's a reason for that. Goals give us a sense of direction. Without them we drift through life,

22:26wasting precious time and energy on things that prove to be disappointing and leaving us unfulfilled. Now how can we be sure that the goals we set, the plans we've made are God's will for our life? And this is a very important question. Well first of all, God promises to God. As listen to what He says in Psalm 32 verse 8, I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Therefore, He assumes responsibility for showing us where He would have us to go, what He would have us to do in the coming year. Our responsibility is to listen and to listen carefully. And one of the reasons we miss God's will and miss His plan for our life is sometimes, we read His word, but then we don't listen to what He's saying to us. He desires the guide us through His word. And then for example, oftentimes, when you're reading the scripture, what He will do? He will from a passive scripture give us a sense of direction.

23:29And what happens is, as you think about what you want to accomplish and achieve, it's vital that you're in the Word meditating upon Him. So He can bring to your mind things that you probably hadn't thought about or things that you don't think you can do, but God knows you can. To learn more about the word of God and its place in a believer's life, stop by intouch.org. And if you have a story about what you've learned through this program, please share it with us. Tomorrow on Intouch, God always does what He says He will do. So He will meet our needs, but His solutions aren't always the ones we might imagine. You'll be encouraged when you join us Wednesday for Intouch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of Intouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on the station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.