Reigniting Your Passion for Jesus (Part 2 of 2)

He says in Matthew 1128 and I will keep in the operative word. I so we think was rest yeah that's what I want to give his arrest right at the operative come and that is a choice that each one of us must make is to stop and turn and face him and that's when everything changes, that's commuter. She is with us again on this best of 2021 episode Focus on the Family of thanks for joining us for host's president and Dr. Jim Daly and I'm John John. I truly believe the only solution to the crisis in the world.

Spiritual revival and I'm kind of excited about where everything is another's negativity in their things concerned about but do you think God's caught off guard. You think you didn't understand where this would be. I think he totally gets it and it's working for his purposes because that's what the word of God says not what I feel what I think.

And even when we don't feel like it's working for good. It is because Jesus said so were equipped to offer hope and joy and love to hurting world.

And that's what is calling us to do and that we've invited Kim back if you missed it yesterday get the download the app on your phone because it was really typical great content and she's so capable of connecting normal stories of what we see and experience in this life to God's fingerprint and what he's doing right alongside us. Yes, she has an amazing ability to share stories and insights and Kim's latest book is called revival rising and Rexall gonna bundle an audio download of both parts of our conversation with Kim and some additional content as well call for your copy of revival rising, and that audio download. Our number is 800 the letter a in the word family and Kim and her husband Troy found crystal peaks youth Ranch in Oregon. They take on injured horses and hurting children and have a terrific ministry and will link over to that as well. In the episode notes Kim, it's great to have you back a focus. Thank you so much. I so love your stories and my wife Jean is an animal lover in the way you connect to God's creation to our journeys and your observations are so powerful. In fact, in the book. It's filled with that kind of a power of observation what God is doing and what you see in nature, etc. and I want to start right there because the stories there so many we can cover it all. And people need to get a flavor and a taste of what you experience walking with the Lord. But you have a Fox story. I think where you are in Alaska and the Fox. I don't know what it was doing but how did the Lord speak to you through that experience with the 50 my goodness, I love how the Lord uses everything he's talking all the time and if we don't think so.

It's because were not paying attention recently. My husband and I were gifted a trip to Alaska and we were fishing up on the Aleutian chain in wild wild wild land that you can only get there by a plane at low tide. When the weather is good and there's not beach debris you land on the Bering Sea beach and fish fly fish this unnamed river that pours out into the wild ocean, and even an inexperienced fly fisherman like myself, was catching the outer reaches of believability and finally I just thought I must go down this wild beach and just worship God. And so I set my gear aside and just wanted to run and skip and laugh and do cartwheels and was singing and worshiping and crying just worshiping with this mighty ocean in the grass blowing in the wind and down this black dark sandy beach and then suddenly realized I was not alone and all that stopped and there's that super heightened awareness of all your little hackles up and realized all this time I I was being followed and I finally saw my little visitor popped his head up and it was a little red fox not you got to be kidding me of Fox's following me. I don't think he's ever seen a person before and so I wanted to invite him so I just sat down on the beach and didn't look at him and he kinda came over and was about 20 yards away and just really alert like what you are you what you to union and then as canines do. He started kinda thrown his chin in the air and I've never been around a Fox before slightest of the same thing. Finally, he gets up and he starts to circle me and is he goes behind me in an action of complete invitation.

I didn't turn around.

I'm inviting you to come and be my friend and all he did was hold my cell phone up over my shoulder and I watched as this little daring Fox came up behind me and explored all along. My back and took a couple steps away and sat down.

Okay, you're part of my pack now and it was such an astounding encounter. I didn't ever want to leave.

I didn't ever want to break this amazing moment and had to be obedient and return and in the days that followed I shared with my beloved friend Judy this encounter, and she just laughed in her sweet wife Judy way and she said, isn't that like the Holy Spirit, he shadows us throughout our life waiting for that intentional invitation and then he comes as a child. Many know my story that I had a face-to-face with Jesus Christ.

The day that my dad murdered my mom and took his own life. I knew that Jesus was with me. A year later I received him as my Lord and Savior officially that I didn't even know about the Holy Spirit and much later in my life as I started reading God's word and learning about him.

I was told that he was someone to be afraid of. You can't trust him because he might make you do something harder, scarier Lord for that of harassing you can't trust him, but that's absolutely not what God's word says as a matter fact it says you want him, invite him in an unthinking and in acts 10, where Cornelius who was a God-fearing man he he love God he prayed he gave sacrifices and gives to the poor, but he didn't have the Holy Spirit until he slowed down and stopped and invited the Holy Spirit to come and that's when Peter came in and everything changed and that for so many years of my life. I was doing things through my own understanding in my own will and and my own strength because I didn't know him if he wanted to come in and he wanted me to want him to come in and just like that little fox. It wasn't until there was that intentional invitation that the infilling of the Spirit of heaven came into this life bringing everything that he is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control to such degree again that flooding that when were flooded with him. He's what comes out into the world around us and that's what he desires for everyone who calls him the Lord of their life, Kim, and that is so good, folks. That's the gospel right there that's what it's all about. And again if you're not experience the kind of vibrancy do exactly that prayer every day. Do the right things but start with the prayer Lord, I want to invite you in today to Mike today yes to do your will through me exciting way to get up out of bed everyday and get the day started at him. Another thing that separates us from God is obviously it's in the word sin separates us from the father and that disobedience why is it dangerous to let you know the little things slide.

I love that Jesus spoke in parables using things that we see and understand. To illustrate things that we don't see and are trying to understand and recently again. Alaska is one of my my hallowed ground that I go as often as I can afford and we had been fishing in the Gulf of Alaska, a dear friend and I and we had caught halibut and salmon and now we come into the shallow waters to catch rockfish and all that gear is different halibut rods are like fishing with a 2 x 4 and basically cable because the big fish hundreds of pounds their giants in their so so powerful and we had stowed all that gear and now were fishing with these ridiculous teeny tiny little like pink plastic Barbie doll rods little hooks, tiny hooks, tiny line and you're catching rockfish like popcorn. It's so fun and the guide said, you know, don't let your gear touch the bottom or only in 30 feet. It's very rocky.

You'll get stuck. E.g. said that and all of a sudden I'm stock is embarrassed.

I don't want to be the dumb lady in the back of the boat. He wasn't listening to the guy.

And finally, in this Herculean. I don't want to break anything, but I really want this to come free, and I pulled really hard and it pops up and was like yes success, and then it start swimming away. This was a not a rock. This was a giant giant fish. The heaviest fish I've ever felt on any tackle of any kind and I said I looked at the guide and he turned around and saw this ridiculous pink plastic Barbie rod bent into the water just puts the boat in reverse and said let's go get it and so I'm knowing that this is the equivalent of fishing with a twig in a thread tied to a pine needle. This fish can break all that in a moment he doesn't know is caught yet and so my challenge is to keep him thinking he's in charge and I just cannot annoy you until I can feel you turn and stop swimming away and start swimming toward and that's exactly what we did and it took about 30 minutes. We could feel them coming up everyone on the boat is standing behind me.

Nobody's talking know and even breathing were just a hope. Let us see it go to see it and finally it gives and as it rises up it breaks the surface of the water and the guide just comes on Don and he said, are you saying you just got a giant hollow bit on that gear that should work, but it did nice job and what rose next to the boat was a 5 foot long probably 150 to 200 pound fish that still didn't know, how many #5#your own hands and it's lolling in the ocean next to the boat one strategic gas strike would've landed it in my freezer and I would be eating halibut steak for the next six months and the point of the story is this. That's exactly Houston works.

Satan is patient and this little thing else not the boss of you, you can break this anytime you want to that show that website that book those friends that place that addiction. Whatever it is it's tiny that gossip those harsh words that snarkiness or that sarcasm, you can break that anytime you want and then the enemy just keeps pulling, pulling, pulling, pulling until we don't even realize were following him away from the only one who can redeem us deeper and deeper into darker and darker waters that ultimately lead to spiritual death. That's what I saw that day and it's such a reminder that every time I feel that pull no don't go that way don't go that way and that's a choice that we all make that can. Don't let a frustrating thought become a frustrating word. Don't be led by that little hook away from God's best. This is what he's calling for each one of us to choose every day so easy to fail in that war will conviction and encouragement both from computer today on Focus on the Family and were going to encourage you to get a copy of her great book revival rising were actually bundling that with the audio download of our two-part broadcast. As you've heard it here that'll have additional content as well and it's available to you when you call 800 K in the word family or click the link in the episode notes Kim. I don't want to let the fish off the hook on story because there is side of that I want to make sure people here and that is I believe the understanding that God knows this world who knows what pulls us away. He knows how that hook is set and that's what's so amazing about God's grace is forgiveness.

And even though those decoys are there, the enemy of our spirit is trundled Morrison to the kind of water when those mistakes are made.

God is there to say, come with me come back to me come this direction. Let me get you out of that situation, but it requires us to embrace him and to be humble and to admit that we were wrong and that but the Lord's heart gives me tears think about.

He is all for us in this life is not against us.

Apart from Jesus Christ.

We are all like that fish hook after hook after hook being led away into darkness, toward the enemies gaffe strike of death and because of who Jesus Christ is and what he did on the cross for all mankind. Every single one of us when we are caught and were being drug down into the depths that lead to death. Every single one of us can cry out to God, we can cry out to Jesus Christ and say Jesus I need you. I don't even know you and I need you I'm asking you to come today and forgive me of my sins forgive me of this darkness that my choices have led me to. I chose this and now I'm seeing where it leads and I can't fix it and so I'm asking you to come into my heart and be my Lord you come now and rescue Jesus is often Kim and I've seen this in people I know there's a sense that they have to get their act together. They've got a cleaned up the house before the Lord can enter the house.

That's really not what God is asking you do not at all saying let me come and help you right right Jesus went down the back streets in the lonely roads in the abandoned seashores looking for the hurt and the lost in the broken and he says in Matthew 1128 come to me come to me.

He doesn't say fix that first and then come come to me and I will give you rest in the operative word. I saw his think was rest yeah that's what I want to give us a rough night of the operative word is come, come, and that is a choice that each one of us must make is to stop and turn and face him and that's when everything changes is so true, and Kim. There's an epidemic of discontent in our society today.

Many people feel like there may be in the wrong circumstance of life. The you know life is just develop them a horrible blower may be several and their discontent with their situation. Basically you face similar feelings after the failed rescue attempt in some cold seawater. It's a powerful story and I I was hoping we would have time to get to this and I'm glad we have but describe what that encounter was about to see you came upon something.

I know it's rough to even talk about this, but I think it's so illustrates what the points that were making here. It does it does.

My husband and I have a ministry where we take people fishing for free. It's not a business it's just gift that we love to give people that are serving the Lord hard and we had finished the season were down to the last two days and my husband and I were fishing alone and he was a huge day huge tied huge serve huge wind and huge waves, no bar on Oregon was possible you'd be killed, you'd be killed, and so we were fishing slightly up river in Ocean Tidewater and it was 415 in the afternoon and that's when I sensed the Holy Spirit saying it's time to leave now leave now. Right now, you must go return to the harbor at once.

Though and I share that with Troy. We reeled up our gear quickly and he put the main down and we started to stream down the river on this very very turbulent day and as we rounded this great band where the river widens in its maybe a mile long of a straight stretch that just turns into a wind tunnel and the waves were big and in the distance I could see something that I just couldn't make sense of it was shapes and colors in the water and I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing and I pointed at it and Troy nodded and we started to go that direction.

As we approached, he shut the engine down and we just let it drift in the wind and I couldn't understand what I was seeing and then it moved and it was a man in the water and he was almost unconscious and I just shouted sorry sir I got you I got you your to be okay everything is good to be okay and I grabbed an salmon that and I'm laying on the side of the boat and I got them and as I'm guiding him through the wreckage and floating debris. That's when I can see reams of yellow nylon rope in the water and it's around his legs and that rope is connected to the boat and the boat just went underwater. He has seconds to live and it was.

I could hear the Holy Spirit shouting get the rope off them.

It was like being electrocuted is like Jesus, help Jesus, help, and as I'm drawing in through the wreckage with this net I said I've got you your okay your get a be okay, and his head rocked back and I heard him whisper, but he's not what what and I look through the wreckage and I look straight down and I'm drawing him right into another man who I didn't see who is in the water and he's already passed away and I just scream for Troy and he just went right over the rail and I took my man to the back of the boat and at this point he's he's unconscious. Now he's leaving this life and and I grabbed him by the shoulders of his life jacket and I'm yelling at him help me help me in EE Canty's unconscious and Jesus. I'm praying words that I know and words that I don't and begging the Holy Spirit to help and as only he can.

The one who commands the waves sent a particularly large set that just crushed into the back of the boat and slammed us into the transom. I'm standing on offshore motor mount in seawater being crushed by waves, but the way was big enough to lift this man who is heavy to a position where I can get them in the boat. Only Jesus can do that and through a series of supernatural events, we were not drawn out to see where we all would've died. We were able to get these men back to the marina and all of our efforts of mouth-to-mouth and CPR and chest compressions and first responders came in all of their efforts failed for the one man who had already died and the other man was rushed to the hospital and in the aftermath we received a call the next day and it was a number we didn't know.

So Troy put it on speaker and we heard this thin emotional voice say hi.

You don't know me but I'm the man you pulled from the river yesterday and I'm alive today because she stopped make you so much for saving my life and you said I don't even know your name.

Can we just meet so I can say thank you and give you a hug and in minutes we were on the dock in one of the most profound embraces of my life and what we learned in the aftermath and the whole point of the story was this that a healthy man dies in under an hour at water that temperature. These men were both 72 and they had been in the water almost 2 hours and during that time. Not one, not to but three boats pass them and didn't stop. And this is the point of this encounter and what I believe the Lord is saying to everyone who calls themselves by Jesus Christ. Beautiful name, beloved, there are men and women and children in the water all around you every day and will you slow down and will you allow him to work through you to become that life ring of hope and draw them into the refuge and the rescue that is the love of God. When you reach for them and their and their worst time of need and just shouting at God got you everything's good to be okay and Robin into the rescue boat God the father's love and the redemption of Jesus Christ.

This is the great commission and this is what it looks like from heaven. It is my commission is your commission so powerful and what a great picture of what were called words inadequate wrap up here, but this is what were trying to do everyday and whether some broken marriage or their pre-born baby may or may not get a chance because of the decision they were trying to stay in right and jump in the ocean so Jim, thank you so much. While what a pushed. What a great book revival rising.

I think you could feel it. I think you know what Jim is trying to express. That's for us to be there, be present, be ready to rescue, publish, think you so much and I will bring this Focus on the Family conversation with Kim meter to a close today.

Kim's passion for Jesus is contagious and I'm sure her message help so many people cast off their fear and brought about the revival in their own hearts.

You know here at Focus on the Family we want to help you grow in your relationship with the Lord.

That's what it's all about when you have a strong healthy connection with him you can connect better with those you love. We have lots of resources to help you. In fact, Kim's book revival rising is a great place to start. You can get that through Focus on the Family and when you do all the proceeds go right back into ministry giving families hope every day.

Yet we hear from thousands of people are reaching out to Focus on the Family for help through phone mail and email, and we never want to turn anyone away, but we need your help to accomplish, especially here as were heading toward Christmas and the end of the year. God can use your support to provide Scripture-based resources and programs to save and strengthen families when you give a gift of any amount today will send your copy to Kim's book revival rising and the audio download of this conversation with her as our way of saying thank you.

Join the support team.

Donate. As you can and get your copy of Kim's book revival rising all the details are in the episode notes well next time will have another Best of 20, 21 Focus on the Family broadcast with Jody Bart helping you learn how to better pray for your children and I would say that parent first of all alone. God knows exactly how you feel is let's just make the dumbest decisions walk the loudest and he loved your time when you do half of Jim Daly and the entire team.

Thanks for joining us today for Focus on the Family I'm John Fuller inviting you back once more help your family thrive in Christ. Christmas memories of baking, sharing stories with your family that's depicted in the play for Focus on the Family titled family traditions this story and paid by artist Morgan was a lively family kitchen sink will find a special place in your home and find out how to get a signed version of the special edition print@focusonthefamily.com/family traditions. That's focusonthefamily.com/family traditions