{\rtf1{\fonttbl{\f40\fswiss\fcharset0\fprq2{\*\panose

020b0604030504040204}Verdana;}}{\f40Dealing with Discouragement\par Dr. Adrian

Rogers\par Nehemiah 4:6-10\par 9/11/94\par \par Would you be looking for Nehemiah,
about halfway \par through the Old Testament? I want you to turn to \par chapter
4. The book of Nehemiah is about a building \par project. Actually, Nehemiah was
rebuilding the walls \par that crumbled around Jerusalem. God's work had fallen \
par into disrepair and disrepute and decay, and God raised \par up man whose name
was Nehemiah and God told Nehemiah \par to rebuild the wall. Now all of us are
wall builders. \par Walls in our lives speak of something. They speak of \par
protection, they speak of separation, they speak of \par identification. You need
some walls. You need some \par walls to protect your family, to protect your
faith. \par You need some walls to protect your future. We need \par walls of
defense and walls of doctrine and walls of \par decency and walls of duty. But
when you rise up to \par build, the devil will try to stop you and the way the \par
devil will try to stop you is with discouragement. \par \par I want you to take
Gods word and look if you will in \par verse 6. Nehemiah says, "So built we the
wall, and \par all the wall was joined together unto the half \par thereof; for the
people had a mind to work, but it \par came to pass, that when Sanballat, and
Tobiah, and the \par Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard \par
that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the \par breaches began to be
stopped," that is, the open \par places began to be filled in, "then they were very
\par wroth." Plain English, they were angry. "And they \par conspired all of them
together to come and to fight \par against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
Nevertheless, we \par made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against \par
them day and night because of them. And Judah said, \par The strength of the
bearers of burdens is decayed, and \par there is much rubbish so that we are not
able to build \par the wall." Right in the middle of the whole thing, \par there
was somebody that came with a report and said we \par can't do it. We're tired.
We're worn out. The job \par is too big and they got discouraged. \par \par Look
up here and let me ask you a question. Do you \par ever get discouraged? Of course
you do. I mean, \par discouragement is a disease and it's a bad disease and \par
it's universal, it's recurring and it's contagious, \par but it's curable. And I'm
so grateful for the book of \par Nehemiah that has been a constant encouragement to
me \par as a pastor and a leader through the years. As a \par matter of fact, I
stayed in the book of Nehemiah in my \par heart and mind as we were making the move
coming out \par here and I want to show you today from the book of \par Nehemiah
what to do when discouragement comes. Now if \par you feel so low that you could
sit on the curb and \par dangle your feet, I want you to pay attention because \par
there is a way up. We could entitle this message How \par to Get Up When You Are
Down. \par \par Now the devil is the sinister minister of \par discouragement and
whenever God's people say, Let us \par rise up and build, the devil will say, Let
us rise up \par and stomp them. When God's people have a mind to \par work, the
devil has a mind to wreck. One of the ways \par Satan will keep you from being
what you ought to be to \par your family, being what you ought to be in your \par
business, being what you ought to be in your physical \par health, being what you
ought to be in your Bible \par study, being what you ought to be in your soul \par
winning, wherever it is, in your romance, whatever it \par is, Satan will come
against you with discouragement. \par And let me say this--that all discouragement
is of \par Satan or self. It is never of God. God is called the \par God of all
comfort and that word comfort means \par cancellation or encouragement. God has
cornered the \par market on encouragement and the devil who works \par against God
works with discouragement. \par \par There's an old fable that says that one day
the devil \par was auctioning off his tools, but there was one tool \par marked not
for sale. He was auctioning off fear, and \par he was auctioning off hatred, and
pride, and envy, and \par lust, but there was a strange-looking tool there, well \
par worn. And somebody said, Why is that not for sale? He \par said, I can't
afford to sell that one. That's my \par most valuable tool. That's
discouragement. He said, \par It's so worn because I use it often to slip in, and
\par when I pry a man's heart open with discouragement, \par then I can do almost
anything I want to do. \par Discouragement has always been one of Satan's chief \
par tools. Now if you're discouraged with your child, \par discouraged with your
marriage, discouraged with your \par job, with your service, with your health, I
want you \par to pay attention now because I want to show you the \par cause and
the cure for discouragement. It's right \par here in Nehemiah chapter 4. Now
think with me about \par the causes for discouragement. Actually there are \par
four simple causes why we get discouraged and they're \par right here in the word
of God. \par \par The first reason that these people got discouraged is \par simply
this, they were worn out. It was a problem of \par fatigue. Look if you will in
verse 10, "And Judah \par said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is \par
decayed." That is, they were tired. They were tired \par of carrying a load. Now
you might as well admit it, \par you're a human being and as a human being you're
going \par to get tired. Jesus Christ Himself got so tired he \par set on the
curbing of a well, when His disciples went \par out to get food. Jesus Christ, the
very Lord of \par glory, got so tired one time that He went to sleep in \par the
back of a ship in the midst of a storm. You can \par get tired no matter who you
are. The Bible says in \par Isaiah 40 even the ewes shall faint and utterly fall.
\par And if you get physically tired, you're set up to be \par discouraged.
Sometimes the most spiritual thing is to \par go to bed. I'm serious. These
folks that think \par that they don't need the rest, they're a little more \par
spiritual than our Lord. You burn the candle at both \par ends, you're not as
bright as you think you are. \par \par Now, when does discouragement come? Look
if you will \par in verse 6, "So built we the wall and all the wall was \par joined
together unto the half thereof." When the job \par is half done, that's when you
tend to get discouraged \par and that's when your strength seems to wear out. I \
par mean, if you ever decide you want to climb a mountain, \par you get halfway up
you feel led to go back. When the \par new wears off, you buy a new car and, boy,
that new \par car smell is just wonderful, but when you get it half \par paid for,
you know.... And you know what an \par autobiography is? Thirty-six payments and
I'm junk. \par And you get it about half paid for and then you say, I \par wonder
if I ought to have done this at all. When you \par get married--Joyce and I have
been married, we've just \par celebrated our forty-third wedding anniversary--but \
par sometimes when folks are just in the middle of their \par marriage and the
honeymoon seems to be over and as \par brother Jim said just a few moments ago, 'I
do' turns \par to 'you'd better.' Then sometimes our strength seems \par to go out
of us and we get weighted down. These \par people were worn out. The problem of
fatigue. One of \par the great football coaches of all time, Vince \par Lombardi,
said this, Fatigue makes cowards of us all. \par Fatigue. And so number one,
here's one reason why you \par might get discouraged, you just may be worn out. \
par \par Number two, not only were they worn out, they were \par weighted down.
Look in verse 10 also. The Bible \par says, "The strength of the bearers of
burdens is \par decayed, and there is much rubbish." Now we can tell \par from the
earlier part of this chapter in order to \par rebuild the walls they had to use the
old stones that \par the first walls were built out of. But they had to \par dig
through the rubbish to get those stones and they \par had to remove the rubbish to
rebuild. And so they're \par digging through all of this. They're worn out and \
par they're weighted down. I mean, the task was not \par glamorous. It's not
glamorous to dig through rubbish \par looking for stones. All of us have lives
that collect \par rubbish. There's organizational rubbish and moral \par rubbish
and theological rubbish and traditional \par rubbish and emotional rubbish, and in
order to build, \par we've got to sort through all of that. You may be \par facing
a situation that just seems absolutely too big \par and your problem is not
fatigue, it's frustration. \par You're not only worn out, but you're weighted
down, \par and you just seem like you'll never get it done. The \par job is too
big, it can't be done. \par \par Here's the third cause of discouragement. Not
only \par were they worn out, that's fatigue, not only were they \par weighted
down, that's frustration, but they were \par wrought up. Look in verse 11, "And
our adversaries \par said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come \par in
the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the \par work to cease." Now, there
was actual physical danger, \par so not only were they worn out and weighted down,
but \par they were wrought up. I mean, they were emotionally
\par disturbed. There's the problem of fear. Again I want \par to say that Satan
is the sinister minister of \par discouragement. And if it seems like you're
getting a \par lot of flack, it just may be that you're over the \par target,
because Satan will come against you. And \par Jesus said in John chapter 15 and
verse 20, "Remember \par the word that I said unto you, The servant is not \par
greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me \par they will persecute you
also," and if you're not being \par persecuted I just wonder why not. Now Satan is
very \par clever--he knows when you're worn out and when you're \par weighted down.
It's at that time he comes to get you \par wrought up. It's that time he makes
those threats \par against you. You're gonna find that you're gonna have \par the
problem of fatigue, frustration and fear and those \par begin to get together, and
when they begin to get \par together, you get discouraged. \par \par But there's
one other cause of discouragement. Not \par only were they worn out, that's
fatigue; not only were \par they weighted down, and that's frustration; and not \
par only were they wrought up, that's fear. But they were \par written off, that's
failure. Look if you will in \par verse 12, "And it came to pass, that when the
Jews \par which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, \par From all
places whence ye shall return unto us they \par will be upon you." Now it's bad
enough when your \par enemies say it can't be done, but when your friends \par say
it can't be done, that's the Coup-de-Gras. Ten \par times the Jews, I mean their
fellows, those that are \par supposed to be on their side, said, You can't do it.
\par And they said it over and over and over again, that \par is, You are a
failure, Nehemiah. You will never get \par it done. \par \par I've been in the
ministry for a long time and I know \par that perhaps the hardest thing for me to
bear is when \par those within the camp say it can't be done. It seems \par like
every church I've been in we've had a building \par program and in every building
program there's always \par been someone that says it can't be done. I remember \
par the little church I was pastoring in seminary, down \par there on the gulf
coast of Mississippi near Bay St. \par Louis, a little town called Waveland. A
wonderful \par little town. And we had a little building there then, \par an army
barracks building, and we needed some \par educational space. We didn't have two
nickels to rub \par together, but I figured God wanted us to build a \par building
and so I got some people. I said, Let's just \par dig the footing. And they
said, But we don't have \par .... I said, I know, but let's just dig the footing \
par anyway. And we didn't have any contractor or anything \par like that. We
didn't have anybody to put in the \par footing, but we walked it off and I got some
shovels \par and we got out there and started to dig. I can see it \par in my
mind's eye. I can remember the individual who \par came up and looked at us and
said, What are you doing? \par I said, We're gonna build a building. We're digging
\par the footing, and I can remember that person saying it \par will never be done,
but it was, it was. We needed a \par building in Ft. Pierce after I got out of
seminary and \par we started to build. And I remember the man, he was a \par good
man, one of the leading men. He loved me, a \par precious man, but he said, How
you gonna do it? Well, \par I believe God wants us to do da ta da ta da ta da. He
\par said, It'll never be done, but it was, it was. I \par remember Merritt
Island, the next church. We decided \par we're gonna do something and we were
gonna build some \par buildings and enlarge the program greatly and I \par remember
one of my dear preacher friends, when I told \par him what we were gonna do, he
said, Oh Adrian, let me \par feel your shoulders. I don't believe that you're able,
\par I don't believe that God can do it, that you can do \par it. Of course I
could, it's God that does it, but you \par know always we have those friends that
come to us and \par tell us you just can't do it. Friends like that are \par like
ah a drink of water to a drowning man--they're \par just negative and fatigue,
frustration, fear, and \par failure and these things together, I mean, when we get
\par worn out and weighted down, when we get wrought up and \par written off we get
discouraged. \par \par Well, what is the cure for discouragement? If you're \par
discouraged today, I mean, if you have discouraged \par children, discouraged with
your marriage, discouraged \par with your schedule, discouraged with whatever ....
\par what is the cure for discouragement? Well, number one, \par there's a physical
cure--renew your strength. Now \par look if you will in verses 21 and 22. "So we
labored \par in the work," now you have to keep on working, "and \par half of them
held the spears from the rising of the \par morning till the stars appeared.
Likewise at the same \par time I said unto the people, Let every one of you with \
par his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night \par they may be a guard
to us, and labour on the day." \par That is, go lie down and get some rest. If
you're \par discouraged, your problem may be as simple as this, \par that you just
need to rest. You need to change your \par diet. You need to get some exercise.
You may just \par need to go to the doctor and get a checkup. It may be \par
physical, it may be emotional, maybe you need a \par checkup from the neck up, but
go and get a check up \par physically. When you get worn out physically and the \
par problem of fatigue comes, you can get discouraged. \par \par There's an
interesting story in the Old Testament \par about another man, a prophet whose name
was Elijah. \par Elijah was a man of God, but he got so discouraged one \par time
he wanted to die. And put in your margin I Kings \par 19 and let me read that to
you. First Kings chapter \par 19 beginning in verse 4. It speaks of Elijah and
it \par says, "But he himself went a day's journey into the \par wilderness and
came and sat down under a juniper tree \par and he requested for himself that he
might die and he \par said, It's enough now, oh Lord, take away my life if \par I'm
not better than my fathers." Evidently he thought \par he was somewhat better than
his ancestors and he found \par out he was just the same, that he was a human
being. \par And now notice in verse 5, "And as he lay and slept \par under a
juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched \par him, and said unto him, Arise and
eat. And he looked, \par and behold, there was a cake baking on the coals, and \
par a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and \par drink, and laid him down
again. And the angel of the \par Lord came again the second time, and touched him,
and \par said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great \par for thee. And
he arose, and did eat and drink, and \par went in the strength of that meat forty
days and forty \par nights unto Horeb, the mount of God." Now Elijah had a \par
pity party. He got so discouraged he said he wanted \par to die. Of course, he
really didn't mean that. He'd \par just run cross-country to get away from
Jezebel. If \par he'd wanted to die all he had to do was stand still \par and
Jezebel would have taken care of him. She'd \par already said, I'm gonna make you
a foot shorter at the \par top. I'm gonna take off your head. But he's just \par
drinking from the intoxicating cup of self-pity. He's \par worn out. I mean, he's
been without food, he's been \par without rest, he's been without sleep and he gets
\par under the juniper tree and he says, Oh I wish I could \par die, and he even
prays to die. \par \par Now we thank God for answered prayer, but have you \par
ever thanked God for unanswered prayer? Did you know \par we'd be in the soup if
God answered all our prayers? \par Thank God he doesn't. He's said, God, I want to
die. \par God said, You're not gonna die, you're gonna sleep. \par Lie down son
and sleep. And then said, wake up and \par eat. And then he says to lie down and
sleep. And \par then he says to wake up and eat. You know, probably \par you just
might need a vacation. You might just need \par just to take some time off and let
some things go. \par And you know, Elijah thought he was the only prophet \par of
the Lord. The Lord said, You know I've got a lot \par around here besides you
Elijah. I've got four hundred \par and fifty people who haven't bowed their knee
to Baal. \par Go to sleep and get some rest. The Bible says, "It is \par vain to
rise up early to stay up late to eat the bread \par of sorrows. He giveth his
beloved sleep," and maybe \par that's what you need, maybe you just simply need
some \par rest. \par \par Let me give you some advice. Never make a major \par
decision when you're fatigued. Just don't do it. \par When you're depressed, just
don't do it. And you know \par what we need to do, all of us in this church
(brother \par Bob, you and I've been talking about it)--we're gonna \par try to get
our people in this church healthy \par physically and financially. You know God's
people, \par you know what the big sin we Baptists don't do--you \par know we don't
drink, we don't gamble, so what do we \par do? We gorge. I heard about a preacher
who saw an \par Indian and he thought he'd have some fun with the \par Indian and
he said to the Indian, Ugh, you heap big \par Indian, me heap big preacher. The
Indian said to him, \par Me heap big Indian, you just big heap. I'm serious, \par
folks, the
reason that some of us may be depressed is \par we just don't take care of the
temple that God gave \par us. And God said to this man who wanted die, Hey, lie \
par down and sleep. To those people who said we can't \par build the wall,
Nehemiah said, Work in the daytime, \par sleep in the nighttime, you need some
rest. There was \par a French philosopher who said, I have so much to do \par
today I simply must go to bed. Think about it. \par \par Alright now listen.
There is the physical cure, renew \par your strength, and there's an organizational
cure, \par renew your strategy. Now look in chapter 4 verse 13, \par when they
said it can't be done and everybody was \par saying that the enemy was saying,
we're gonna kill \par you, and your friends are saying, you're gonna get \par
killed. Look in verse 13. Nehemiah's saying, \par "Therefore, set I in the lower
places behind the wall, \par and on the higher places, I even set the people after
\par their families with their swords, their spears, and \par their bows. And I
looked, and rose up, and said unto \par the nobles and to the rulers and to the
rest of the \par people, Be not afraid of them: remember the Lord" ta \par da dah
da dah da and then he gets the whole thing \par reorganized. He says, Evidently
we're doing it the \par wrong way. \par \par Now let me say this, that if you are
discouraged in a \par task, it may not be that you're doing the wrong thing, \par
it might be that you're doing the right thing in the \par wrong way and you need to
just simply rethink your \par strategy, renew your strength and rethink your \par
strategy. Brother Bob Sorrell said something to me \par about fifteen years ago
that I have never forgotten. \par He said, Pastor, you need some more think time,
some \par think time, and that was so true. Did you know that \par if you're
discouraged, that if you would just set \par aside an hour or two just simply to
think through the \par whole thing, I mean just think it through and find out \par
what is the rubbish and where are the stones that I \par need to build with. \par
\par There's an Italian named Parieto and he's a leader and \par he has a thing
called a Parieto principle and here's \par the Parieto principle. He says that
twenty percent of \par what you do produces eighty percent of the results. \par
Twenty percent of what you do produces eighty percent \par of the results. Now so
many times we're dealing with \par things that don't really matter. We're just
simply \par dealing with the rubbish rather than the stones. \par Nehemiah didn't
give up the goal, he just refocused. \par Do you have a God-given goal? I mean, is
it clear? \par Have you ever really just sat down not only to renew \par your
strength, but to rethink your strategy? I want to \par challenge you. I want to
challenge you to spend some \par time alone. I do this from time to time. I keep
a \par notebook; I just open the notebook, I write down those \par things that I
think I ought to do and refocus. And \par that's one of the great cures for
discouragement. \par \par Now here's the third thing. For fatigue, you renew \
par your strength. For frustration, you rethink your \par strategy. Now not only,
however, is there a physical \par and an organizational cure, there's a spiritual
cure. \par You need to revive your spirit. Look in verse 14, \par "And I looked
and rose up and said unto the nobles and \par to the rulers and to the rest of the
people, Be not ye \par afraid of them." Now what is the cure for fear? Look \par at
it, "be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord." \par That's one of the great
verses in all of the Bible. \par I suggest you take out a pen and underline it.
"Be \par not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is \par great and
terrible." The word terrible means \par terrifying to your enemies. Now there's
there is a \par physical cure and organizational cure and, friend, \par there is a
spiritual cure. Just remember the Lord. \par Renew your strength, rethink your
strategy and revive \par your spirit. How do you do that? Just remember the \par
Lord. \par \par The Bible says of King David, David encouraged himself \par in
the Lord. You get discouraged, encourage yourself \par in the Lord. How are you
to encourage yourself in the \par Lord? Let me tell you how to encourage yourself
in the \par Lord. Number one, think of God's goodness in the \par past. If you're
discouraged, just think of all that \par God has done for you. Count your many
blessings. See \par how faithful God has been. Psychologists tell us that \par
gratefulness is one of the healthiest emotions that \par you can possibly have.
It's almost impossible to be \par grateful and discouraged at the same time. Count
your \par many blessings, remember God's goodness in the past, \par and then
remember God's closeness in the present. \par You're in the midst of a problem,
remember the Lord. \par Is your problem greater than God? Our Lord says, "I \par
will never leave you nor forsake you." And I want you \par to know, friend, if
you're discouraged right now, God \par has been good to you in the past and He is
with you \par right now. Remember the Lord, and then think not only \par of His
goodness in the past and His closeness in the \par present, but think of His
faithfulness in the future. \par He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake \par you. And he says you can do all things through Christ \par who will
strengthen you. Encourage yourself in the \par Lord. \par \par Do you know what
fear is? Let me tell you what fear \par is. Fear is forgetting God. That's all it
is. It's \par just forgetting God. He says, don't be afraid, \par remember the
Lord. Let me give you some verses, II \par Timothy 1 verse 7, "For God hath not
given us the \par spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a \par sound
mind." Psalm 27 and verse 1, "The Lord is my \par light and my strength whom shall
I fear? The Lord is \par the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" \par
Fatigue, renew your strength. Frustration, refocus \par your strategy. Fear,
remember the Lord. I'm telling \par you, if you're afraid it's because you've
taken your \par eyes off of the Lord. Nehemiah said we serve a great \par God.
We sang it already this morning, what a mighty \par God we serve. \par \par Robert
Lewis Stevenson told a story, I read it many \par years ago about some passengers
who were on a ship. \par It looked like the ship may be going down. It was a \par
tumultuous storm and the passengers were below and \par they were whispering one to
another, Will we go down? \par Are we safe? One of the passengers said, I've just
got \par to find out, and he made his way across those heaving \par decks and up to
the pilothouse where the pilot of that \par ship was there with his hand on the
wheel and he \par looked at him. The pilot knew he was afraid and just \par turned
and smiled at him. The man didn't say a word, \par but he just went back below and
he said, We're gonna \par be alright. He said I've seen the face of the pilot \par
and he smiled at me. What you need to do is see the \par face of God. You need to
find the smile of God and \par I'll tell you, friend, that He has sailed rougher
seas \par than the one that you're in right now. Corrie Ten \par Boon said this,
look at the world, you'll be \par distressed. Look within, you'll be depressed.
Look \par at Christ you'll be at rest. Remember the Lord. \par \par Now the last
thing, not only is there the spiritual \par cure, but there's the psychological
cure. Not only \par should you renew your strength, but resolve your \par success.
Look now in verses 14 and 15. "And I looked \par up and said unto the nobles and
to the rulers and to \par the rest of the people, Be not afraid of them: \par
remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and \par fight for your brethren,
your sons, your daughters, \par your wives, and your houses. And it came to pass,
\par when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, that \par God had brought
their counsel to naught, and that we \par returned all of us unto the wall, every
man unto his \par work." Folks, psychologically, just resolve your \par success.
Just say, I will by the grace of God \par succeed. Now that's not positive
thinking--I'm \par talking about faith. First of all, you remember the \par Lord
when you say this and then you say, I have \par victory in Jesus. If you're
discouraged today, it's \par always too soon to quit. Don't give in and don't give
\par up. Why? Remember what's at stake. Look in verse 14, \par "Be not afraid of
them: remember the Lord, which is \par great and terrible, and fight for your
brethren, your \par sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses." \par The
moral situation looks bleak and our enemies are \par laughing and the hoards of
hell are marching, but \par remember the Lord and let's stand up for our children.
\par They went right back to the task and Satan's plan had \par failed. \par \par
I read these words one time, I want to let go, but I \par won't let go. There's
battles to fight by day and by \par night for God and the right, I'll never let go.
I \par want to let go, but I won't let go. I'm sick 'tis \par true, worried and
blue and worn through and through, \par but I'll not let go. I won't. I want to
let go, but I \par won't let go. I'll never yield. What, lie down on \par the
field and surrender my shield? I'll never let go. \par I want to let go, but I
won't let go. May this be my \par song, through legions of wrong, oh God, keep me
\par strong. I'll never let
go. \par \par And that's what Nehemiah said. He said, We're gonna \par do it and
they just kept on building and they built \par the wall. Don't try to make
yourself feel encouraged, \par you will never feel your way into a work, but you
can \par work your way into a feeling. I mean, just simply get \par yourself back
to the job. Listen again, get your \par rest. It may be just as simple as that.
Change your \par diet, get some exercise, resign from being the \par sovereign of
the universe and let God have it back \par again. He gives His beloved sleep.
That deals with \par this fatigue. And then just give yourself some think \par
time and say, What am I doing? I mean, am I doing a \par right thing the wrong way?
Do I need to reorganize my \par life, as I get these stones out of all of this
rubbish \par that surrounds my life? Then put your eyes on the \par Lord, remember
God. You cannot look into the face of \par God and harbor fear in your heart at
the same time. \par God has not given us the spirit of fear. And then \par say,
by the grace of God, I will not give up and I \par will not give in. God did not
call me to fail. The \par Bible says, "Thanks be unto God who causeth us," \par
listen now, "always to triumph in Christ Jesus." If \par you think I'm just giving
you a positive thinking pep-\par talk, you're wrong. I am talking about spiritual
\par principles out of the word of God. And, my faint-\par hearted friend, don't
give in to discouragement. \par \par Let's bow in prayer. Heads are bowed.
Father God, I \par just pray now for that businessman who's discouraged, \par help
him Lord God to get his rest. I pray, dear Lord, \par for that housewife who
doesn't know how she's gonna \par make all those ends meet, maybe that single
mother, \par Lord, I just pray that you'd help her to rethink her \par strategy, to
pray and know that there is a way, there \par is a plan. Father, I pray I pray
for that student \par who's filled with fear, Lord, that she might remember \par
the Lord. Lord, I pray for the one who's about to \par quit, about to throw in the
towel, Lord, that even \par right now, even right now they'll hear you say, You \
par can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. \par In Jesus' name I
pray, Amen. \par \par Where you spend eternity is determined by what you do \par
with Jesus Christ. The victory in the power that you \par have in this present
life is determined by what you do \par with Jesus Christ. What can you do with
Jesus Christ? \par You can accept Him or reject Him, but you can't be \par neutral.
You confess Him or deny Him, but you cannot \par be neutral. You crown Him or you
crucify Him, but you \par cannot be neutral. And so I want you to do today, if \
par you're not absolutely certain if you died right now \par that you'd go to
heaven, I want you to get it settled. \par And how do you get it settled? By
repenting of your \par sin, opening your heart and trusting Jesus as your \par
personal Lord and Savior. If you would pray a prayer \par like this, say it and
mean it, He will save you. If \par you would say, Lord, I need to be saved. I
cannot \par save myself. There's no good in me. I have nothing to \par offer to
you, but, Lord, salvation is a gift purchased \par with the precious blood of Jesus
on that cross and, \par Lord, I turn from my self-effort. I repent of my sin \par
and like a little child I open my heart and I receive \par you as my Lord and
Savior. Come into my heart, \par forgive my sin and save me, Lord Jesus. If you
will \par pray that prayer and mean it, I promise you on the \par authority of the
word of God he will save you. For \par the Bible says, "For whosoever shall call
upon the \par name of the Lord shall be saved." \par \par COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The
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