Latest / Time with God with John North / What To Do When You Are Far From God Pt. 3

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What To Do When You Are Far From God Pt. 3 · Time with God with John North

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  Speaker 1: Good morning. Starting your day right is one of the
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  Speaker 1: most important things in life, and we do that every
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  Speaker 1: weekday morning by opening the Bible and seeing what God
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  Speaker 1: has to say to us. The fact is, the Bible
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  Speaker 1: is not full of just remote theological ideas. It is
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  Speaker 1: so practical for your everyday life, and that's what we
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  Speaker 1: find every weekday morning at this time as we open
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  Speaker 1: the Bible. This week, we're looking at what to do.
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  Speaker 1: And you find that you are far from God, far
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  Speaker 1: from Him relationally, far from Him spiritually. You know you're
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  Speaker 1: leaving God out of your life, and the reality is,
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  Speaker 1: we need God. We were made for God, and our
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  Speaker 1: lives don't work right without Him.
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  Speaker 1: We are looking at a story Jesus told about a
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  Speaker 1: young man who went far from his father and ruined
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  Speaker 1: his life and ended up coming back to his father
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  Speaker 1: and being reconciled, and Jesus told that story, reflecting that
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  Speaker 1: people walk far from God and God is always ready
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  Speaker 1: to reconcile us and make our lives right again.
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  Speaker 1: And we're looking at the steps that we need to
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  Speaker 1: take to get right with God. Step number one, we said,
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  Speaker 1: is you have to recognise that you need God, and
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  Speaker 1: that certainly happened in this young man's life. He recognised
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  Speaker 1: how his life was just going to ruin and how
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  Speaker 1: good it was even for the servants of his father,
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  Speaker 1: let alone him as a son who was far away
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  Speaker 1: and ruining his life. He knew he needed God.
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  Speaker 1: The second step is to come to God on his terms,
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  Speaker 1: not to come proudly and saying, OK, God, well, I'll
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  Speaker 1: put some religion in my life for you, as if
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  Speaker 1: we're doing God a favour, but rather recognising He's God.
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  Speaker 1: Ah, we're creation, and we need to get right with
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  Speaker 1: Him on his terms. The Bible calls that repentance. It
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  Speaker 1: means recognising my life's been going in the wrong direction,
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  Speaker 1: leaving God out, and making a decision. I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: submit my life to God and invite Him to be
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  Speaker 1: the leader of my life. I'm coming to Him on
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  Speaker 1: His terms. I'm coming to Him in humility. I'm recognising
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  Speaker 1: my life is broken without Him.
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  Speaker 1: Step 3 then.
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  Speaker 1: In getting right with God is to accept God's love
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  Speaker 1: for you. Accept God's love for you. This young man
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  Speaker 1: decided to come back to his father on the father's terms.
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  Speaker 1: It says in verse 20 of Luke 15 in the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: and he arose and came to his father.
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  Speaker 1: But while he was still a long way off, his
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  Speaker 1: father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced
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  Speaker 1: him and kissed him.
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  Speaker 1: And the son said to him, Father, I've sinned against
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  Speaker 1: heaven and before you. I'm no longer worthy to be
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  Speaker 1: called your son. He launches into his prepared speech of
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  Speaker 1: repentance and humility. The father doesn't even keep listening. He
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  Speaker 1: doesn't let him finish. The father said to his servants,
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  Speaker 1: Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him
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  Speaker 1: and put a ring on his hand and shoes on
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  Speaker 1: his feet.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the son knew it would be better when he
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  Speaker 1: came back to his father willing to even just be
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  Speaker 1: a servant, but that's not what his father wanted for him.
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  Speaker 1: His father loved him, and that son needed to accept
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  Speaker 1: his father's love. And maybe you have this picture of
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  Speaker 1: God that if you're going to come to God and
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  Speaker 1: you need God's help and you want to be right
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  Speaker 1: with Him, that it means just sitting under God's thumb.
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  Speaker 1: That God just wants to be a controlling factor in
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  Speaker 1: your life, shaping, full of rules.
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  Speaker 1: And you are totally missing the nature of the heart
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  Speaker 1: of God.
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  Speaker 1: While you're still a long way off, that boy was
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  Speaker 1: far away. The father couldn't have recognised his face. He
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  Speaker 1: must have just recognised his walk.
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  Speaker 1: And he realised who it was that was coming home,
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  Speaker 1: and that father took off running. A dignified landowner in
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  Speaker 1: that day, it was super countercultural for him to run.
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  Speaker 1: He had to stay dignified. He didn't care. He took
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  Speaker 1: off running. He had to let his son know how
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  Speaker 1: much he loved him.
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  Speaker 1: The son started out on his speech, and the father
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  Speaker 1: just jumped in and called his servants, Get the things
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  Speaker 1: that show my son is fully restored. He's come home,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm ready to receive him. I want to tell
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  Speaker 1: you that is the heart of God towards you. When
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  Speaker 1: you decide you're going to make things right with God.
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  Speaker 1: His love is overflowing for you. He can't wait for
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  Speaker 1: you to make things right with him. Never hold back
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  Speaker 1: from God, thinking, Oh, God doesn't want to see me
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  Speaker 1: because of how far away from Him I have been. No,
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  Speaker 1: God is always ready to hug you.
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  Speaker 1: To kiss you, to pour his tears down your back,
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  Speaker 1: tears of joy that you've come home.
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  Speaker 1: I'm John North.