Latest / Time with God with John North / How Pain Has Brought Me Closer To God Pt. 4

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How Pain Has Brought Me Closer To God Pt. 4 · Time with God with John North

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Good morning. As we start this day, let's start it
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: by spending some time with God. And you know, all
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: this week I've been kind of giving you a glimpse
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: into my personal life as I share five areas of
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: my life where pain has pushed me closer to God.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: We've talked about loneliness, we've talked about financial difficulties, and
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: today I want to talk about the death of my dad.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: You know, in my life, I went a long time
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: without experiencing the death of someone truly close to me.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: I remember the closest I came was in high school days,
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  Speaker 1: the Bible teacher who was youth focused, who
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: spoke at the youth camp where I put my faith
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: in Jesus and then became a part of our church
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  Speaker 1: and led a group of us youth in personal discipleship
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  Speaker 1: as a group, was a very important person to me
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  Speaker 1: in that sense in my spiritual life, and he died
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  Speaker 1: suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 33 in a
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  Speaker 1: small plane crash. Uh, it took over a week to
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  Speaker 1: find his body up in the mountains.
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  Speaker 1: It, it was a very significant thing and I remember
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  Speaker 1: it so clearly, but it didn't have the deep emotional
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  Speaker 1: impact of someone in my family or someone very close
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  Speaker 1: to me. It wasn't until the mid-forties,
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  Speaker 1: That my dad died, the first person who was truly
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  Speaker 1: close to me, and one of the most important people
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  Speaker 1: in my life, if not the most important at that time.
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  Speaker 1: There's something unexpected or that you're not prepared for when
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  Speaker 1: your dear parent dies.
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  Speaker 1: And you realise that the generation of your family that
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  Speaker 1: you could always rely on, always look to, always ask
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  Speaker 1: for advice, the person you always thought would be there
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  Speaker 1: for you, is gone. You are now that to other people,
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  Speaker 1: and this is a very deep thing.
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  Speaker 1: And I remember being with my dad a lot, especially
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: during the final month that he had with us as
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  Speaker 1: he was gradually passing away.
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  Speaker 1: And watching the way Dad died had a really big
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  Speaker 1: impact on me.
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  Speaker 1: My dad was a real man of God, the most
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  Speaker 1: godly man I've ever known. He had a huge impact
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  Speaker 1: on the people around him. But as he was there
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: in the hospital and, uh, dealing with his pain and
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: the distress that was in his body.
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  Speaker 1: At the same time as that there was such a
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  Speaker 1: peaceful confidence in God.
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  Speaker 1: And to see him even then.
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  Speaker 1: Looking to grow spiritually, he knew he was dying, and
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  Speaker 1: yet his verse that he kept on referring to was
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: the verse from Philippians 1, For me to live is
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  Speaker 1: Christ and to die is gain, and he was praying
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  Speaker 1: with us that God would keep on removing things that
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  Speaker 1: would
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  Speaker 1: Keep people from seeing Jesus in his life. Uh, he
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  Speaker 1: had an anticipation of being with Jesus that he couldn't
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  Speaker 1: wait for and he was looking forward to and being
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  Speaker 1: with other believers who had gone on before him, his parents,
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  Speaker 1: who had been in heaven for quite some time.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: When we read in Philippians chapter one, the apostle Paul
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: writes this to the Philippians, Yes, and I will continue
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  Speaker 1: to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. He's
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: writing from prison.
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  Speaker 1: I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no
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  Speaker 1: way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that
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  Speaker 1: now as always Christ will be exalted in my body
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  Speaker 1: whether by life or by death.
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  Speaker 1: For to me to live is Christ, and to die
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  Speaker 1: is gain. If I am to go on living in
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  Speaker 1: the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet
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  Speaker 1: which shall I choose? I do not know. I am
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  Speaker 1: torn between the two. I desire to depart and be
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  Speaker 1: with Christ, which is better by far. And he goes on.
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  Speaker 1: Here is Paul's expectation, and I saw it in my
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  Speaker 1: dad too. And for me, in my life, I also
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  Speaker 1: want to live to please Christ, to honour Christ, and
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  Speaker 1: to show others what it's like to have God in
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  Speaker 1: your life. I'm John North.
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  Speaker 2: To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.