For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to intouch.org/tv.

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you can’t bring anything to God that’s

too big for him you come up you can’t

bring anything to God that’s too heavy

for him

he can have it you can’t bring anything

to God for which he does not have a

perfect answer every single time

[Music]

four decades ago we started in touch

ministries to lead people worldwide into

a growing relationship with Jesus Christ

throughout the years we’ve seen God’s

greatness his love and his blessings in

such awesome ways that we just want

everyone to know him so let’s open God’s

Word and seek Him together next on

InTouch when facing storms in our life

[Music]

we all face storms in our life and they

come in one of three forms they could be

the physical or it could be emotional

well it could be spiritual that’s just

part of life we live in a fall in the

world when sin came into the world

everything changed and so we have to

learn how to adjust to the storms that

come into our life because they’re gonna

keep coming always has been that way

since Adam and Eve fell in the gardens

it’ll always be that way till Jesus

comes there’ll be all kinds of storms

that we face and we either have to learn

how to face them had to survive them or

we get defeated by them we find

ourselves missing out on God’s blessing

because we don’t know how to respond to

the storms in our life if I should ask

you this morning can you remember a

storm in your life in which you were

challenged in your faith maybe

challenging your beliefs about different

aspects of the Christian life we could

all stand the issue is do we know how to

respond to them then we know how to

respond to them in a way that we come

out victorious and stronger as a result

of the storm and I don’t think that if

God allows a storm in your life that its

ultimate purpose is to bring you out

stronger I didn’t say he sins every

strong because many storms are the

result of sin in our lives but the issue

is how do we respond to them and so when

Paul was writing to Timothy and if

you’ll turn to 2nd Timothy chapter 1

he was writing to him because he knew

that he was going through a storm in his

life and he was the pastor of a church

in Ephesus and that church was in

turmoil and so he was going through a

very difficult time Paul knew that he

was and he wrote this second Timothy

knowing that in mind so I want you to

look at this first verse and we’re just

going to read through the seventh verse

Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the

will of God according to the promise of

life in Christ Jesus to Timothy my

beloved son grace mercy and peace from

God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord

I thank God whom I served with a clear

conscience the way my forefathers did as

I constantly remember you in my prayers

night and day which is his way of saying

I’m praying for you Timothy and I know

you needed he says longing to see you

even as I recalled your tears so that I

may be filled with joy for I am mindful

of a sincere faith within you which

first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and

your mother Eunice and I’m sure that

it’s in you as well word of compliment

and assurance to him then he said for

this reason I remind you to Kindle

afresh the gift of God which is in you

through the laying on of my hands for

God has not given you a spirit of

timidity but power love and discipline

now he knew that it was going through a

difficult time he knew that he was very

discouraged and he knew that he needed

some help and so when he said in this

verse Kindle afresh the gift of God

which is in you that is if you think

about a fire and it’s getting dimmer

dimmer and dimmer and you want to throw

coal on it a wood on it a kerosene

whatever it might be they cause it to

flame up and what that word really means

here is to inflame the gift of God

within you he become discouraged he

looked around he thought these folks

were his friends and some other weren’t

he thought they wanted the truth of the

gospel and they didn’t and pastoring and

a church like that which it was a

crossroads of the world he was very

discouraged and Paul said something to

him here that is so very very

significant and we too go through

difficult times in our life storms that

we don’t invite storms that come from

people we think that love us storms that

come from seemingly nowhere but there

they are so he was discouraged and he

could tell by his writing that he was

discouraged and he needed encouragement

so he said for this reason I remind you

to Kindle afresh that is stir up the

embers that Kindle afresh the gift of

God which is in you that is all of us

have the Spirit of God who is within us

when we trusted Christ as our Savior if

I should ask you today can you remember

time in your life when you felt that

sort of cool and your Christian life is

growing sort of cold and if I should ask

you what happened you could probably

tell me what caused it but the fire you

used to have is no longer there and you

began to doubt some things about the

Word of God and at one time you would

have defended the Word of God with your

life and now you find yourself

compromising when your friends ask you

well what’s going on in your life ah

nothing they know that it is you know

that it is and you’re able to discern

within your own mind and heart that you

have drifted away from God to some

degree or the troubles and the trials

and the heartaches you of suffering is

getting the best of you even lost your

smile you’ve lost your Joy’s you’re

about to lose your hope you’ve begun to

even question the Word of God

and some verses that you thought were

just anchor verses for you

and no longer significant to you you’re

not not reading the Bible like you used

to

you’re not praying with enthusiasm and

faith as you used to and so what happens

is your spiritual life grows cool and

then it gets cold and then you begin to

wonder God is this real or is it not

real that can happen to anybody it

happens to people who go through

difficult times but people who are not

really versed in the Word of God people

who listen to others and will tell you

well you know if I were in your position

when anybody tells you that throw up

five red flags because they’re about to

tell you something that you probably do

not need to hear if I were in your

position they don’t know what going on

in your life they only know what they

see what they reflect by your

countenance Paul is writing the young

Timothy and he knows what he feels

Paul’s been there he knows about

persecution he knows about heartache he

knows about troubles and trials and so

he’s writing to him and saying to him

God’s not given you the spirit of fear

or timidity but of power and love and

discipline therefore based on who you

are and what you have do not be ashamed

of the testimony of our Lord or of me

his prisoner but join with me in

suffering for the gospel according to

the power of God who saved us called us

with a holy calling not according to our

works but according to his own purpose

and grace which was granted to us in

Christ Jesus from eternity that is spark

it up Timothy for those are some coal on

the fire you don’t have to listen and

believe what you’re hearing and so as a

result of it he’s simply giving him some

sound advice about how to respond to

these things you don’t respond the

trials heartaches and difficulties by

simply listening to your friends or

your family because naturally they’re

prejudiced and it may be that God has

you on a conviction about something that

you need to get rid of in your life and

your friends no listen God loves you

everything’s gonna be okay just ignore

all these feelings no you can’t you

can’t ignore the things that God has

given you because he wants the brain

change in your life about something and

I’ve been through a few storms that I

don’t I wouldn’t even want to discuss

and all of us have storms that a public

in storms that are private but we have

storms and the issue is how do we

respond and his response to Timothy was

a response that all of us need to listen

to carefully and so I won’t get into the

emotional storms and physical storms he

went through but they’re there when I

think about people getting in difficult

situations and become fearful and what’s

going to happen I think about them in

this light it stifles my capacity to

think and to act wisely if I give in to

other people’s comments and give in to

my feelings sometimes it causes us to be

very indecisive we can’t make up our

mind about things sometimes it

diminishes our capacity to do the things

and we really have struck me of doing

because something is not right

something’s going on in our life that

God needs to deal with

there are trials it doesn’t mean listen

all trials are not the result of sin

trials come because you’re a believer

trial comes because there is going to be

separation there’s going to be

indifference there’s going to be

criticism there’s going to be

misunderstanding and that can happen

within the family out of the family

where you work whatever it might be we

find these things happening and so what

happens is it undermines our sense of

self-confidence if you don’t know how to

respond correctly then you begin to

wonder what do I believe am i right am

I’m wrong am i listening to God did God

really say that to me

and so what happens is we are sort of

tormented by our emotions and we

vacillate go in from strength to

weakness yes and no

maybe and maybe not and you may be here

this morning going through some

difficulty a hardship or pain and you

find yourself questioning or watch this

the devil is your enemy and he will

throw coals on your doubts and on your

fears to encourage you to doubt God

question his will for your life question

your relationship to him stop reading

the Bible stop praying talk to your

friends join the crowd and the next

thing you know you’re backslidden you

out of a feather fellowship with God

because you’re listening to the wrong

people and not reading the Word of God

and not bringing it to him listen this

carefully you can’t bring anything to

God that’s too big for him you come up

you can’t bring anything to God that’s

too heavy for him he can handle it you

can’t bring anything to God for which he

does not have a perfect answer every

single time you may have to struggle to

get there if you have drifted in your

spiritual life not reading the Word of

God not praying and these things begin

to develop in your life people begin to

look for some solution when if you go

back to the original cause you’ve a

watch that you have ignored the fire and

so now it’s getting less and less the

flames are lower and lower and you and

look for something to blame for it blame

yourself you neglected your relationship

to God you neglected your time of prayer

and meditation and even when you have

been praying and things go wrong that

doesn’t mean you quit praying just that

doesn’t mean God’s not listening and

sometimes God allows very difficult

situations in their life to do what to

grows up you’re not gonna always have

everything your way because you’re a

believer and when we indicate to people

just trust Jesus and everything’s fine

trust Jesus trust Jesus now he’ll may

break loose in your particular situation

sometimes a husband or wife gets aid in

the oven does not and sometimes

the children get saved and the parents

are not so listen Jesus not only as the

Prince of Peace

he’s also the source of conflict when we

had a relationships with people who

don’t believe what we believe

so when I think about how God works in

their life thinking about what he

listened to what what Paul said to him

now watch this he said for this reason I

remind you to Kindle afresh the gift of

God which is in you through the laying

out of my hands now watch this

but God has not given us a spirit of

timidity that is of fear but of power

love and discipline he says here’s what

God has given us and it’s this part that

I want us to look at primarily we have

three watch this whatever you are facing

in life you have three resources three

resources that are adequate for whatever

situation you may be facing that a

divine there from God and they’re

encouraging so what of it listen to what

he said he said stir it up don’t don’t

give in to it stir it up and notice he

said for God has given us power love and

discipline think about that for a moment

so what what kind of power the power of

the Holy Spirit when you trusted Jesus

Christ as your Savior the Spirit of the

Living God came into you and watch this

he didn’t just come in he came into you

– – sealed you as a child of God that

settled that forever you eternally saved

but also to empower you to enable you to

live a godly life every single believer

has within him or her the power the

enablement the strength to live a godly

life and so when troubles and

difficulties come he says now don’t

don’t forget this you have the power of

the Holy Spirit living within you you

need to Kindle that truth stir that

truth up and ever been times in my life

when I have

a little discouraged and but I learned

really quickly in life the first thing

to do is not to go talk to somebody

first thing they do is they get in the

Word of God and find out what did he say

and he said I will never leave you

enough for safety and he said I will be

there for you and he always has the

right thing to say for us and he simply

said stir it up he said now for God has

not given us the spirit of timidity but

of power the power of the whole of the

Holy Spirit then he said not only power

but he said love so think about this

oftentimes we get discouraged here we

don’t feel loved maybe somebody has

mistreated us and I’m sure and that’s

what that’s what he was going through

and when people turn against you and I

can remember time in my life and years

ago I probably they think that I don’t

remember most when I was becoming the

pastor of the church and my friends who

had been so kind to me and I’d been

friends to them one Sunday this was in

the heat of the battle one Sunday they’d

meet me that – all talk you’re done

greet guests and so forth and they tell

you tell me pass time pray for you 11

you just don’t worry about a thing the

next Sunday the same people would walk

by me and look at me not shake hands not

say a word and they told me four totally

and I would find out that during the

week they said something and so forth

now you know what when you’re walking in

the spirit of God the love of God is

gonna be in your heart and here’s what

he said he said put the wood on the fire

throw some kerosene on remember who you

are

remember what you have you have not only

the power of God but you have the love

of God within your heart and that love

goes two ways and that love is love from

God for you God loves you Timothy don’t

forget that remember your mother and

your grandmother remember how they loved

you remember what they taught you about

God’s

and you know you can stand most anything

if you know God loves you and there may

come times in your life and you feel

like nobody else cares well let me ask

you a question I think you can be honest

about this would you rather the world

love you

but not God or had you rather God love

you and not the world anybody knows

answered that question right pretty you

there there make sometimes in your life

when you don’t feel that love when you

feel shut out banished ignored but God’s

relationship with you will never fall

apart

never never never and so he was saying

to Timothy Timothy listen remember this

three things you have the power of God

within you second you have the love of

God and not only that he uses this word

self-control or a sound mind which

really means a disciplined life he says

God has given you the power the love and

a sound mind you know what a disciplined

life is about a disciplined life is an

ordered life it’s a life that’s under

control it’s a life that faces

difficulty hardships trials troubles

dissension conflict separation whatever

it might be and still stands unmoved did

you get that same in it stands unmoved

why because you’re resting in the power

of God and then the love of God for you

and no matter what goes on you can still

stand

whatever the suffering whatever the

storm may be that’s blowing hard against

your life a disciplined life is a life

committed to Almighty God and does not

waver with the winds all of the false

doctrines God has given us a

relationship listen that within him that

makes us adequate for any storm the

comes their way and so here is Timothy

and he receives this letter

can you imagine what he must have felt

he read that Paul how did you know

exactly what I was going through how did

you know that what’s happening and I

think about it this way when everything

around us who comes unglued and falls

apart and we don’t see any answer

there’s one place to go on your knees in

the Word of God trusting him because he

listened he will solidify your position

he will he listen he will make it your

way clear he will give you a sense of

confidence and boldness and assurance

that you can stand anything that comes

your way if you’re obedient to God so

what was he saying – he said Timothy I

know you’ve gone through a song running

from a prison I know I know about that

in Timothy knew about what Paula went

through and so I’m sure when he’d read

this letter he knew in his heart he was

hearing reading the words of a man who

had already walked the course that he

was now suffering he was in a storm and

I know this this morning didn’t a group

this size many of you are going through

storms maybe it’s them on your job

storming your marriage so many your kids

storm their parents still many of

physical being stolen with your finances

come from all different sources watch

this

the storm has many origins the answer is

only one and that is our Heavenly Father

through the Holy Spirit in his love and

his ability to work in our lives to live

lives that are settled on the word as he

says here the sound mind a disciplined

life a disciplined life takes that

he takes the storms and no matter what

comes

it’s immovable because it is sealed by

the Holy Spirit filled with the Holy

Spirit an adequate through the Holy

Spirit that you’ve never trusted Jesus

as your Savior

none of those counts you’ve been trying

to live in a world of conflict and sin

and disobedience and rebellion and all

the other things without him and so you

have to come to the place you say Lord

I’ve rebelled against you I’ve ignored

you I’m asking you on the basis of your

promise you said if we confess our sins

you’re faithful and just to forgive us

of our sins and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness I’m confessing my sin to

you I’m agreeing with you that I’m

living in sin I’m asking you to forgive

me and I repent of my sin I turn away

from that I’m turning to you as my only

hope and asking you to forgive me and

from this day forward by your strength

your energy your power your discipline I

choose to live a godly life I don’t

understand all that means right now but

I choose to live it and I want to get in

your word I want you to teach me the

truth here’s my life Lord God you’ll

never be the same sense it’s a choice

you make now watch this this world is

going to change except for the worse

if you’re thinking things that you only

get better and you’ll be able to live

the way you’re living you’re in for a

mistake sin is sin this world we live in

is wicked the devil is loose

unbelievable things are happening and we

have one hope one assurance that’s to be

found in the personal relationship with

Jesus Christ you can have that if you’ll

do what I just said otherwise you’ll get

deeper and

deeper and deeper into sin into me in

the pain and the suffering with nowhere

to go it’s foolish when you have been

offered the gift of the love of God the

presence of the love of God the power of

a loving God the provisions of a loving

God if you will simply surrender your

life to Him and ask him to do it Amen

father we thank you for loving us

thank you that no storm is too great for

you and I pray for someone here today it

was in the middle of a song who

desperately needs rescuing

and there you are willing to listen to

their confession the surrender of their

life to you and I pray father that those

seated here today who are going through

little storms medium storms big storms

intense painful storms give them the

courage to be willing to admit it

confess it and take that step but

something little Christ is their Savior

for others to come back to the Word of

God where they used to be crying out to

you trusting you to mend their broken

hearts fire up the fire within them that

is now just cool coals for your adequate

your sufficient and you’ll do it because

you promised in Jesus name

amen

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