The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Reliance - Let God's Will Be Done

Episode Date: November 19, 2023

God bless The Menking Family

Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also, for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control

perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For this reason, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things,

though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For he received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation.

For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God, for the incredible promises that you have given us. Thank you for your word, which will never return void, of which no part will ever pass away. Thank you, Jesus, for your cross, for your sacrifice, for showing us a way to the Father. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for being with us even now, for taking up residence in our heart, for leading us and guiding us according to your promises. Holy Spirit, touch our lives, heal us, forgive us, help us, lead us, guide us, and show us what we need to see in your word

to help us move forward in growth and maturity in our understanding of and relationship with you. Lord, bless your people. Bless your people, Lord, with courage, with rest, with health, and with a greater knowledge of your love for them. Lord, be with us as we go into your word today so that we can receive the nourishment that we need to exist in this world. Lord, comfort us and guide us and strengthen our faith for the days ahead. In Jesus' name, amen. It's been a while since I recorded one of these episodes for Reliance, and as I get started here, I want to express my gratitude again for James Walton, the intrepid commander of PBN, and the rest of the team there for giving me this opportunity to come speak to you what is on my heart from the scripture

so that we can focus on how we can move forward in the days ahead. Now, I know that everyone is facing a variety of different circumstances, challenges, trials, testings, tribulations. It is the nature of the time in which we live. The break that I have taken was to help bring about the circumstances of family stability as my wife brought our third baby, another daughter, into this world. third baby, another daughter into this world. And it's been quite a journey, as it always is. We're still in the newborn phase right now, but it occurred to me that it was appropriate for me to get back into doing these recordings, because this is a time when if we are not properly balanced, all of the things that I have been speaking through this platform will end up impacting our decision-making in the days ahead. We've always spoken about the importance of understanding God's economy, how we have the opportunity to store up treasures in

heaven. And it would be foolish of us to spend our time focusing on the temporal and being unwilling to trade temporal items and goods and these things that will ultimately pass away in favor of storing up an eternal treasure. And whether you think about that from the pure investment return self-interest perspective, or whether you understand that there is an aspect of us that is created in the image of God and called to be servant leaders. And that actually even here in this life, that that is the place in service of others and doing things for the sake of the kingdom of God, where we can find the greatest fulfillment. Whether you remember our messages about the logic and the practicality of outsourcing things to God, because when we look around,

we just see so much that is out of our control, and we ask rightfully the question, what can we do? Well, this is a biblical question, a biblical topic as well. When the foundations are removed, what are the righteous to do? Well, at the very least, it should move us into a position of humility, a position of forgiveness, and a position of dependence and total reliance on God. And that is a wonderful place to get to because it is the starting point of many a journey that will lead to the will of the Lord being done in our lives

and the destiny that he has called us for being accomplished. In many ways, we have to get out of our own way, and in the midst of a tumult, if we are not overwhelmed by it and we keep our focus on the Lord, then we can see these clear ideas that it should be abundantly obvious to us that if we are in charge of everything in our lives, far from that being the blessing of a freedom and something exhilarating, it should be, quite frankly, a bit terrifying for us. If we are burdening that responsibility, we should know, prove positive, that we are going to make responsibility, we should know, prove positive that we are going to make mistakes, perhaps the kind of mistakes that end up in tragedy, perhaps the kind of

mistakes that end up damaging and hurting other people, even those we love. We all know that we have a proclivity for these things. And so this is critical in the days ahead as well. this is critical in the days ahead as well. We've also in the past emphasized heavily this idea of just returning to a basic spiritual discipline, where the more that we know about God, the more that we come to understand him in his word, relationally through prayer, in deeper modes through fasting, and just going about a general study, if we make it our objective to seek first the kingdom of God and to understand more about it, then there are implications of this that flow through every aspect of our lives. And the transforming power of the Holy Spirit

will be with us every step of the way to help us navigate these sometimes large-scale transitions and transformations that happen in our own hearts, in our relationships, in our situations, and where we're located in everything. We can see the power of God and we can see lives turned around in an instant, even if there has been not just days, weeks, and months, but years and decades of inertia and turmoil. God can make things right in a moment. God can cleanse what we would consider to be unassailable. He has the power to do so. And the power of a transformed life is what this generation needs to see. It's what our kids need to see in us. It's what everyone needs to see in those around

them. And for people growing up or existing without that example being set, it is a lonely, isolating feeling. Because, of course, as connected as we all are, electronically, technologically, and otherwise, and I thank God for these opportunities, even this one, to speak to you, there is a very meaningful sense in which the malaise, the zeitgeist, everything that's out there is just permeated with this sense of not just apathy and carelessness, but with just the shrug of the shoulders at things that we understand are of ultimate and critical importance. And it's in this time that people need living examples, living testimonies of the power of God to transform, the power of God to provide, the power of God to persevere, so that it will serve as a city

set upon a hill, a lighthouse, something shining in the dark to provide not just a warning, but a beck and call to say there is another way. There is a reality here, and it's not just this arbitrary idea that has been concocted. Peter says in this letter in 2 Peter chapter 1 that we read, we did not follow cunningly devised fables. chapter one that we read, we did not follow cunningly devised fables. We did not, and we do not. We have the word more sure. Whether you want to approach that from a personal encounter with Jesus, whether you want to approach that from the realm of natural theology, whether you want to approach that from the prophetic nature of the Bible itself. It is high past time that we addressed any doubts or questions that we have and to take those to the Lord, to scripture, to trusted sources and teachers, to counselors, to whoever is around us who can speak into our lives.

And if you find yourself in a situation where you don't know anyone who can do that, nobody comes to mind, then you have to take it to God himself. He is the father to the fatherless. If you are in a situation where there's just a lack of reliable people who can speak into your life, who can encourage you in the Lord, who can provide accountability, can speak into your life, who can encourage you in the Lord, who can provide accountability, then you are certainly not alone in that position. That is the case for many people, many families, many entire communities. And that position can be demoralizing. And for an example, we should look to the early church and the scenario that they were cast into. the early church and the scenario that they were cast into. They had, by all intents and purposes,

an extraordinarily adversarial culture with respect to their message. They were the people who were ascribed the role of turning the world upside down. And that was even in the early days, not with force of numbers, but through the supernatural power of God. And if we are going to act uprightly, if we are going to accomplish the will of God for this generation, where the Lord is due a magnificent and marvelous harvest of souls and mighty victories for his kingdom, if this is going to come about, we, of course, have to be humbling ourselves and praying, and then we have to be willing to go. We have to be willing to be sent.

We have to say yes to God's will with this understanding that it would be better for God, a perfect, all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful being to give us instructions for us to follow, even if we are not given the full picture in advance, rather than for us to just make it up as we go along. And thank God for the Holy Spirit and his witness in our hearts, in our conscience, and throughout the course of our lives. Some people are more able at hearing the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. It's something that I am working on in my spiritual disciplines. But if you need to hear from God, you can. And if it feels like the heavens are closed, if it feels like your prayers are not getting

answered, that there isn't this kind of persistence, this motivation, you have to make the decision that God is worthy of our worship and attention so that you can push through those obstacles. Not that it's by your own effort that will translate into you deserving something from God. It is through God's grace. But there are promises in God's word that when we seek after him, he will be found. It doesn't mean that we'll get the exact answer that we want right away in the clearest form possible for us to act upon. but it means that if we live a life with a bedrock foundation of an understanding of who Jesus is, of what he has done on the cross to atone for our sins, and his supernatural power demonstrable to the witnesses in his time and through the testimonies of the people of God and ours,

then we will be able to move forward with confidence. Confidence not in any plot, plan, or scheme of our own or anyone else, but confidence in the character and the nature and the promises of God. For God's promises will not fail. It is absolutely incumbent upon each and every one of us to take up the mantle that has been left to us because we have seen the direction that things are going in as a result of corruption at all levels, including inside of the church, including the leadership of the church. If it feels discouraging to look around and see what we see, that is at the very minimum an appropriate reaction. But the discouragement that is possible from the scenarios around us Do not give us an excuse to abrogate what Peter is talking about here, starting in verse 5, talking about growing in the fruits of our faith. Peter

says, giving all diligence, meaning it should be a primary focus of ours. It should be something that we are extraordinarily working towards. We should add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Brothers and sisters, imagine a world where you and those around you, Imagine a world where you and those around you, those in your circle of influence, took even small steps towards the development of these categories on a daily basis. Would it be true that things that pop up. There will be problems as people see that reflected in your life. It doesn't always go smoothly and according to plan, as many of you understand.

Even Jesus has promised that. But as we add these things, Peter writes, if these things are ours and abound, if we are growing in these things, if these things are fruitful, we will not be barren and we will not be unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus lived out all of these characteristics to the nth degree. And so if we are working towards these things, and by the grace of the Holy Spirit of God, we make progress towards these things, we can say that we are growing in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are understanding more of who he is and more of who he wants to be. And that is the appropriate trajectory. That's the direction we need to be

headed. That is the place where the kingdom advances. And as is typical in scripture, there is then a warning for those where upon reflection we say, I'm not really growing in these areas. Peter writes, for he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Brothers and sisters, are we regularly and continually filled with gratitude and humility and love and appreciation and worship because of what Christ has done for us? Can we really grasp that? Does it really pervade us? Because if we are distracted and looking around, we can lose touch with the idea that something of infinite value has been provided to us. And all of these relative trade-offs of finite things, to go back to the point about God's economy, are less substantial. They pale in comparison

to what Jesus has done. So let us never forget that our sins were atoned for. Let us never move forward assuming that the grace of God will simply cover everything that we continue to do if we are willfully living in sin. And this is difficult because there are things in my life that I need to improve with. There are things in my life I need to be forgiven of. In particular, here with a newborn, my patience is being tested in a variety of different ways. But that is a good thing because it's an opportunity to grow. It's an opportunity to hear from the Holy Spirit that I need more of the supernatural resources that are necessary for me to properly represent who God is and to fill my role as the head of the household. And if I'm continually put in that situation, it is humbly inappropriate where I need to ask forgiveness of God, forgiveness from those around me. those around me, and I need to be in a position where I can say, yes, I'm growing in these things.

I'm working towards these things. And hopefully, this is an idea that we've discussed before, but it's worth revisiting. Hopefully, this is something that even if we see God has the power to dramatically transform things on an overnight basis, we can wake up tomorrow completely different than we went to bed because of the power of God, if we will submit ourselves to him. But hopefully over the course of a year, two years, five years, ten years, we can really begin to see the clarifying power of moving forward in the right direction because we should be continuously and regularly empowered and motivated and strengthened and growing in our faith. And the sufficient motivation for us. We can find it from a variety of different sources, but how about just starts with God's worthiness for what he has done, for making a way for us to be restored to him and to become a part of his kingdom and to become with him for eternity and to know him like he knows us. That promise is so

glorious that it's really difficult to comprehend exactly what that means and how to understand, how to appropriate it. But we can be satisfied in knowing the character of God, that God is good, that God is just, that God is righteous, that God is perfect, that God is loving, that God is powerful, and that he has our best interests at heart. And so even if there is an aspect of a more obscure or technical piece of theology that we don't understand, or even if there is a debate about the various prophetic implications of things going on around us, or even if there is a culture clash inside the church or outside of it, even if there is this turmoil that we see, and maybe we even see it in our own lives or in our own hearts, all of these other things are movable, are temporary, are finite. What matters is God.

Everybody is probably familiar with the expression that the only opinion that matters ultimately is God's opinion. God gets the final say. He has the last word. His is the victory. And to those things I say, yay and amen. But if we understand that to be true, do we really act it out? Do we really follow through on the necessary and obvious implications of who God is for our lives? Do we just succumb to the nature of the age and shrug our shoulders at those sorts of things and simply go on about our daily lives? Or do we take the necessary time to be filled with appreciation and worship for what God has done. The creation, life, the things around us, they are marvelous and beautiful and dynamic and potent and incredible and glorious, and they pale in comparison to what God has in store for us. And yes, we can look around and find things that are pervaded by evil, that are completely

demonstrably just tortured and awful and ugly. We see this perpetual dichotomy, this war, this spiritual conflict, this never-ending stream of potential disasters. We see these things unfolding. And brothers and sisters, I want to tell you that this is what all of history has looked like since the fall. It has been a war. It has been a battle that has raged in all sorts of various fronts, up to and including the heart of every man, woman, and child to have ever existed and been created in the image of God. But this war ebbs and flows,

and right now, even if you think we're in an ebb and the enemy is coming in like a flood, God promises that he will raise up a standard against it. And one of the things that we have to do to be a part of that standard that is raised up is simply just to do what God tells us to do, to be obedient to his word, to be obedient to his will. It's not easy to do because of all the different conflicting voices and temptations and distractions and everything else like that, but the recipe is simple. Obey God. And for all of us, that typically points us towards things that the Holy Spirit will bring up in our heart that we know either we shouldn't be doing or that we need to do and that we are continuing to do or not doing, as the case may be, and where we are on the wrong side of the fence, where we're off sides. So let's get everything in order by the grace of God, by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Let's do it properly, and let's do it out of respect and out of died for us. Jesus was separated from God the Father on the cross

because he took on our sins. He did it voluntarily for us, even though in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed three times that that cup might pass from him. And he said, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. If we have to go through gardens of Gethsemane ourselves, where we know that we are supposed to be doing something or supposed to be giving something up, and we say, God, can it be another way? Can it be another way? Let us all get to that place where we say, not my will but thine be done. place where we say, not my will, but thine be done. When we have settled in our hearts, brothers and sisters, that God is worthy and that the only logical conclusion is that the best thing for us is to see God's will done, then the task becomes, well, let's figure out what God's will is for us

and for this particular situation. Let's go to the word. Let's go to prayer. Let's go to other people who are familiar with our case and can give us counsel and advice and guidance. And most of all, let's go to God. And the result of this pursuit is that we should be seeing more faith, more virtue, more knowledge, more self-control, more perseverance, more godliness, more brotherly kindness, and more love. Are we seeing these things? Are we seeing them in ourselves? Are we seeing them in the people who we are responsible for? Are we seeing them in our circles of influence? Are we seeing them in the world? If not, let it begin with us. Let it begin in our own hearts. God is absolutely worthy of this attention. If it requires a complete about face, let it be a complete about face. The strongest testimonials in many cases

are from those who said, I used to be one way and now I'm a completely different way. That testimony can speak powerfully and mightily to the people who are still that one way and now I'm a completely different way. That testimony can speak powerfully and mightily to the people who are still that one way and who need to be converted to the way of God, to the way of Jesus. I say all that to say this, we can't ignore what's around us, but if we can walk through this world appreciating the work of God in creation, in our own lives, and everything around us, while navigating the literal war, the spiritual war, this battle that we are in, it's going to be a task that is above our pay grade, so to speak. And that's why we need divine help.

We need the Holy Spirit. We need to follow. We have to follow and then teach others to follow. Our leadership capacity as fathers, as husbands, as parents, as teachers, as coworkers, as whatever position we're in, we have the opportunity to set a supernatural example by prioritizing the will of God and saying, I am going to move forward. I have a firm foundation that is Christ, even if I have to navigate doubts and confusions and questions and challenges,

if you know that you know that you know that Jesus is indeed Lord, that he is indeed God, and that his word is indeed true, if you will spend the time with these things, if you will let that become a part of you that cannot be denied, that cannot be challenged in a way that prevents you from saying, my default position is to assume that God is good and that I should follow him. Then you can set an example for others to say, this is what happens when you follow the Lord. This is what can happen. Lives can be changed. Lives will be changed in Jesus' name. There will be an escalation in authority and these characteristics that are magnetically attractive to the vast majority of people because we're all created

in God's image. We all have this longing for the good and for these things. It has to be stamped out of us by a tremendous amount of effort and teaching to the contrary in order to remove this from our human nature. And the primary weapon that is being marshaled in this generation is just malaise, is just apathy, is just the shrug of the shoulders. So let that not be us, brothers and sisters. Even if it happens to 10,000 people around us, let it not be you. It's time for us to take responsibility for this. We have a great God, we have a wonderful God, we have a transcendent God, we have a powerful God, we have a loving God who knows that if his will is accomplished, then things will be better. Things will be good. There will be challenges along the

way, difficulties, obstacles, all of the above. It is not an easy road, but it is the road worth taking. The Holy Spirit will guide you. God's word is ever-present. Get it into your souls. Get it into your hearts. Get it into your minds. Learn more about God. Grow in the knowledge of who he is. You can lean on him. He is a firm foundation. You are absolutely within your rights to say, God, I don't know what's going on, but I cast myself upon you. I don't know what's going on, but if I know anything, it's that you are real and that you have told me to seek first your kingdom and that you are a rewarder of those who diligently seek you. Seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. He is there. He will answer. He is with you. He is there.

He will answer. He is with you. He is for you. He will give you these things. He will turn your life around. He will establish you. If you're in a pit of quicksand, like the Bible is alluding to, the muck, this mire, he will take you out of it and put you firmly on solid ground. Jesus is our Lord and our Savior, and he didn't bring you this

far just to turn away and shrug his shoulders. Even if billions of people shrug their shoulders at him, he will not shrug his shoulders at you. Come to him. Go to him. Seek him. He is there to give you everything that you need, Everything that you need. Seek first the kingdom of God. Ask, seek, knock, and the door will be opened to you. Jesus is good. He is worthy of worship. He is perfect. Spend more time with him. Get to know him in prayer, Get to know him in prayer, through the word. And find yourself, brothers and sisters, in a posture of obedience, saying, God, you are perfect and I am not.

I want what you want. Let your will be done. If you have that conviction in your heart, then you will be able to stand in this day and in the days ahead. If you do not, it will be much more challenging. Woe betide us if after everything that we've had access to, everything that we can do to get these spiritual resources, if we find ourselves with houses made of sand, with works that burn up, and with a lack of faithfulness in this time when so many others are desperately counting

on an example to come, on someone around them to demonstrate that there's something real, something tangible, something meaningful, something permanent, something valuable, something that is worth pursuing, that isn't just ephemeral. You can do that by following the example of Jesus, picking up your cross, deciding that God's will is the best plan, and becoming a servant leader. You can show this generation. And even if you show it to only one other person, it's better than none. You don't have to be in front of a million people to make an impact. Speak into someone's life. Let the Holy Spirit use you. Ask

God what he would have you to do. You never know the impact of your actions. And at any rate, remember that when you're doing things in accordance with the will of God, you are storing up treasures for yourself in heaven that will last for all eternity. You're doing something of infinite, permanent worth that no one, no one, no thing, no force, no power, no evil could ever take away from you ever again. That is where the real satisfaction is. That is what we are created for. And we are created to worship our God who is worthy of it and who will give us everything that we need to be servant leaders and to follow his will in the days ahead. Jesus, thank you for your word. Thank you for your glory. Thank you for being a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Thank you that you never tire. Thank you that you intercede for us and pray for us, Jesus. seed for us and pray for us, Jesus. You are our high priest, our Lord, our Savior, our head, and Lord, we just want your will to be done. That is what we want, your will and your will alone. Lord, if there's any conflict between our will and yours, let your will take preeminence in every single thing. You are worthy of worship. You are worthy of everything, Jesus. Holy Spirit, help us to cleanse our hearts. Help us to yield to your cleansing and your correction and your guidance and your teaching. Put us around people who will show us what it is like to live in the transformed power of a supernatural life. Help us to be examples for others in the same way. Give us wisdom to lead, following you.

Give us wisdom to say, like Paul, follow me as I follow Christ. Give us the strength and the faith to do so consistently. Forgive us, Lord. Cleanse us. Heal us. Help us. In many ways, many are feeling so broken and battered down and confused and afraid and upset and just weary from this battle. But Lord, you never run out of strength.

You never run out of spiritual and supernatural resource. Provide for us exactly what we need, each one, each one of us. Bless our families and give us mighty victories that we would see a harvest that is worthy of what you accomplished on the cross. You are victorious, Jesus, and you have given us these infinite, eternal, precious promises. We praise you for them, Lord, and we declare your glory and mercy

and love and power in this generation. In Jesus' name, amen.