Interview with Dr. David Jeremiah

Christian these guys is attempting to repair the family on how your wife used to be, but the cost is your heart that I am 30 point special history. The worst drawing stuff that I'm Jeremiah discusses powerful contingencies designed to help you embrace God's plan for you to begin this conversation with his Sheila will Jeremiah is just lovely to be with you again. Well, thank you for calling me sorbet meeting all over the place. Different parts of the country and it's always because were going to talk about something important. This is different now with the whole stay at home the whole 6 feet distancing everything that's changed. People are wondering back to normal.

What is normal and how can we move forward and that's why I cannot think of a more timely message about your new project stalwart. We all wish I could tell you that I was prophetic minded enough to know that this book would be needed right now what I knew was that it was a message that I thought necessary my own heart in the lives of people that I knew back in April 2019 was 14 April when this message was born Tommy Walker music concert we can butcher Sheila and we had a concert on Sunday night was almost done and he said about the way before I leave.

I want to leave you with the new song of just written in the name of the song was forward while it was really powerful when it was over I turned to Donna and I said I think that's the name of my new book from then until now I have thought about almost nothing else. I have read, probably everything you've ever written, and I know I love writing this book.

This felt so you message thoughts so you use your writing.

Yeah there's more personal stuff in here than any other book ever written.

The reason for that. Sheila is that these principles while I didn't realize it at the time.

These are the things that have been driving me forward over the years and to put that down in writing and to be able to isolated into these chapters was pretty neat how the particular audience in mind when thinking of those who are perhaps senior years are those who are just beginning writing for. I suppose you always write for yourself. At first, so there's a part of that in there but you know, forward is not a place where you are to direction you go and everybody needs to move forward and there seems to be kind of a malaise in our culture right now or everybody just sort of settling in the sheltering thing has exacerbated that it made it even more so.

But even before that that was something that I noticed was happening. Christians, especially don't bother me with anything I need to do. I'm happy with my life and I just want to be left alone think people concentrate more in the mirror and the windshield in front of them. That's really good illustration is the windshield huge. The rearview mirror is small and yet some people choose to live in the rearview mirror that is what the pastor something you know for sure that's happened. Maybe you feel like you know I wish I could go back there. You always hear people talking about the good old days which I remember never figure out when they were obviously some time in the future they'll talk about our days as those days. Let's dive in the first step in moving forward is doing right season tomorrow today that well you know the way were constructively were built before we can go someplace we have to see it in her mind.

We have to be able to negotiate our destination before we start the journey and what we don't realize that that's happening all of our lives and as you get older and you begin to realize your life needs direction. You need to ask God what it is he wants you to do and that becomes your focus in your dream you talk about unfulfilled dreams experience that you know what they call that they call that the death of a dream I've had some dreams die. When we first came to California years ago we try to build this worship center took us eight years every year.

It felt like the dream was dying. That was a struggle with same dreaming just for younger people in for people who have their whole life ahead of them don't dismiss that so quickly while you stop dreaming*Diane if you don't have any reason to get up if you don't have anything you believe you need to do if you don't feel any calling from God for what's next.

Something happens and it's not pretty. The next step you talk about is one that is so central to our faith, pray but I love the fact that you chose the life of the prophet Nehemiah to illustrate what forwards praying looks like to send well because Nehemiah's prayer was associated with his dream and I thought that was a great way to tie those two thoughts together.

The Bible says that when the Jews went back to Israel and started to build a wall again that they got discouraged and they quit. Nehemiah was in Shushan the palace working for the governor for the head of the whole empire and he wanted to go back and help rebuild the wall and this is what he said.

He said God put it in my heart that's where the dream began and he began to play. The reason it was put in his heart because he began to pray for his friends back home, he was brokenhearted. He was in tears and during that prayer. God put it in his heart.

How many times is a been when you've prayed in and that's okay you entry on prayer is whatever the Nehemiah statement chapter the way that Nehemiah shot a quick prayer because sometimes you have time to pray for a long time that such a great thought. You don't have a long time for a lot of introductory phrases you just pray to God that's called instantaneous prayer. I often thought that all of us know what that's like to say God help. I don't know what to do forward focused prayer looked like well I think you begin to pray the words of what you want God to do out loud, you begin to allow yourself to say out loud, Lord God, this is what I believe you want me to do this is where I think you want me to go and you verbalize it in very strong language so that third step is shoes I thought was interesting choosing your priorities proved in 1,000,001 directions on how to prioritize and get rid of distractions usually think Sheila is that the word priority when it was first invented the word itself. It was always in the singular. It took 1400 years for us to figure out you can say priorities and that the whole thing caused priorities are too many you need one priority and so what I've learned is if you want to say yes to something more. You have to be willing to say no to something you're already doing. That's been a really hard lesson for me because I'm a yes person when people asked me to do something, but in order for you to realize your dream and get to where you believe God wants you to go, you can't be doing everything to me a while to learn that no is a complete sentence. Yes, it is using the basics when it comes to choosing priorities. Jesus say about how we got that well, you know, one time he was asked what was the most important thing you said the most important thing is to love God with all your heart and secondly love others and then thirdly which surprises most people love yourself that often is misunderstood and misapplied, but it doesn't mean it has to go away. Love your neighbor's as yourself and into you begin to realize how important it is to take care of yourself. You don't have anything to give anybody else talk about the importance and the next step focus. I think a lot of people feel like they get stuck in the past. I was wondering how to find the right balance between balancing the past, the present and future chapters, built around maybe the theme verse for the whole book where Paul says, forgetting those things which are behind, I press toward the mark for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and what Paul is saying is doing with my past but when he was saying is I'm talking a lot the past. Control my present on my future something about it all had some awful things to forget he was the great persecutor of the church. He probably killed some people because of their faith finally imprisoned a lot of I know a lot of people that have bad things in their past and they can get beyond it but also had some good things this pedigree which is in the Bible. Twice is like none you'd ever writing a life. He was so well-qualified to be had so much going for him and Paul said neither my failures my successes control my life. I don't let those things control me. I have a goal for the future and that's what draws me forward to me when you wrote make the one thing the main thing was just, we're talking about. It's not easy to come up with one thing, but when you realize what it is that God wants you to do when you figure that out. Then you spend the rest of your life trying to make sure that it keeps its place as your priority and is attacked every single day.

Some testing I hear from a lot of women who say I want to have a ministry, and I'll ask them about their life and that what will I have three young children at home. I think it's interesting to some, as we don't see that that one think that time is the greatest ministry. Yes you if you have one thing and it's the wrong thing is really not a good picture and a lot of people get off track. Like you said maybe your mother feels like she should be on the road teaching the Bible and she neglected children shall regret that her whole life that's not God's will. We know that for sure I lock the next step risk getting out of the same zone think about as believers of taking a risk. We think that maybe as you know, dangerous, careless behavior experience as a pastor plan is that so important to be able to move out of a safe place to place. But I suppose to be honest Sheila risk is just another more secular term for faith, living in the unknown beyond where you can see and if you're not willing to risk as a believer. If you're not willing to walk by faith, you can go forward.

You always going to be waiting for the next place where you feel secure and you will never go beyond your security blanket and that's what Christians are in the Bible doesn't allow us that the Bible so filled with stories about people who risked in their walk with God and that's where the joy is that's where the advances highlight not passing through the life of Caleb yes, well, you know, Caleb was moaning about you guys who went into Canaan supposedly perspired out really just to confirm what God had already told him was there and when they got into Canaan. 10 of the guys Saul the people that were there.

The Giants and they came back and they said we can go in there were like grasshoppers.

These are huge men will be destroyed and Caleb and Joshua came back they had a much different report they were in the minority. They risked everything to say that isn't true, we are able to do this. I've always thought this would tend guys who said we can do it, made the mistake of measuring themselves against the Giants. Caleb and Joshua measuring themselves against God, and they realize that while they were not able to do it.

They had a big God who could help them take the risk and you know the rest of the story. The people who didn't believe the spies they will immediately destroy all the people who believe the spies had 40 years until they all died before they were allowed to go in the promised land when it was all said and done. Only the two guys that risked Caleb and Joshua had the privilege of going and I think the next step about chasing your dream guilty of not doing that.

We almost quit give out one of the questions I asked often is it possible to know God's will and plan for your life. I actually do believe it is, I believe you can know what God wants you to do and I think there's a passive hearts of a lot of people because they think this is what God wants me to do is going to do it now.

Just participant.

I actually hear people teach that. Wow, I tell the story in this book about how when God called me to be a pastor. I was a senior in college and I thought my life was headed toward a career in radio and I knew that God call me.

I just had no doubt about it when that happened I just sit back in my chair and say okay Lord I'm waiting for you when you have some for me to do. I got on the phone with a friend of mine that I knew was teacher at Dallas seminary and I said you know I'm supposed to be a pastor but I'm got a clue I'm supposed to do. Can you help me get in seminary wells trying to convey in that chapter was assumes you know what God wants you to do. Be aggressive about it. Be passionate about it, don't just sit there and wait for to happen to you follow your dream with all that you have and never, never stop interesting observations you make is that when God cometh change direction thing it wasn't getting his dismissing of the it was because you sing your dream is too small for you. When God called me to the ministry. She was okay with this is what you want me to do that I had low grade you every part of it and when was called to the ministry.

I thought well I guess that's it for me. I put on hold for four years while in the seminary and when I got seminary, I realized God and call me into the ministry to steer my dream he called in the ministry because my dream was way too small and amazing.

I would've been in some little radio station probably in Ohio somewhere during the 9 to 5 every day. And God has something much better than that for me and we are all very grateful slightly off script like a believer in our nation actually dared to dream and ask God what is your purpose and then embraced it to be much different world than we have right now I don't know what the percentage of people who do that, it probably is as high as we might even imagine it when you're around somebody like that. It's infectious. You can sense you know this man, this woman. God has a plan for them and their invested in that plan to talk about the next step believe getting your mind right. What's the difference between typical bookstores as whole sections on self-help and psychology. But there's a difference between leaving trusting God and just positive thinking what one of the problems that you have. If you aggressive type a person is comfortable with motivational literature you read it and you in the world which is so negative, in which we live. You probably need to do that once in a while you may not believe the theology of the person who wrote it, but if there positive in terms of videos.

I like the Scripture for a long time. I struggled with that Sheila because I grew up in a good home but I grew up in a very negative church. My church was known more for what it was against them for what it was for. I could tell you everything. We were against but if somebody asked me what he or for I could come up with anything, and I was kind of the way it was in some of those days when I was growing up and $100 seminary. I found out that wasn't the way life is. And I learned to be positive.

That whole chapter about get your mind right, which is a favorite statement of my favorite trainer Todd Durkin chapters about positive in your life, and I use Paul as an example. Paul said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me must not neutral motivation that spiritual motivation while the Bible helps you to remain positive. You've gone through tough things in your life over and over how is God's word help to to remain positive.

What when you read the Bible you just keep running into these people who like Princeton.

Joseph, his brothers wanted to destroy his take on it was you meant it for evil but God meant it for good. Amazing and are so many stories like Daniels that way if you read the Bible you just run into these people over and over again and you think I have no right to complain. The things men and women went through the Scripture make our battles today seem rather petty and there really isn't any reason for us to be negative. If we know the God we claim to know so true, that is a great perspective. I love this next step is best. I would live your life mean by that.

Well you know she will. You can live your life in such a way that after your gonna keeps on going. You know that that's not doubletalk.

I tell the story in this book about what I was 16 years old.

My parents gave me a copy of the Scofield reference Bible. Many of the younger people look at you like what's that, but when I was growing up there were a lot of study Bibles now everybody's got a study Bible you going to the bookstore shows of the but in those days there was basically one for evangelical Christians, and it was CI Scofield's study Bible. And I still have it upstairs in my office and my mom and dad gave it to me and I remember I started to get interested in studying the Bible and I would run into stuff. I didn't understand and oftentimes would be a note in the Bible that explained it, especially about prophecy because he was a great prophetic writer. One day I was reading the Bible and I looked down and I realized that it was written in 1909. While this was in the 50s 60s I realized that man was already in heaven and here I am. I'm sitting there studying his Bible. He was living even though he wasn't living and then I thought, in 2013 I wrote a study Bible.

I love it and I pray that when I'm not around anymore. Down in the future if the Lord doesn't come back right away. Somebody will be reading that as I read the Scofield Bible and I will still have an influence in their life. Even when I'm not here chapters about living your life in such a way that you invest in the word of God in the work of God and then the wealth of God in such a way that it leaves beyond you talk about not done until you done your next step is to finish reading that chapter I don't how you felt writing, but it felt like like the most personal time because it's kind of life I wanted to use the byline if you're not dead you're not done, but they would let me do that.

I better like that done or not done, and I just talk about all the things that are about finishing strong in making all the way I remember an evangelist in the Southern Baptist convention used to pray this prayer Lord, help me to get home before dark. No help me to finish strong in some really amazing things in that chapter and I told the story that chapter shoe about this guy for seminary who did a study of a bunch of people in the Bible. 49 of them that were classified in the sense that you knew how they started and how they ended and those 49 people only 30% of them finished well.

30% of those people in the Bible. And then of course you get Sampson you got Eli, Saul, and so those people that they didn't finish well and thank God for the 30% Joseph and Daniel and some of those others, and so finishing well is not always as easy as it may sound some secrets to finishing well well first of all you need to focus into your finish you need to realize it's so easy to think your finished when you're not.

We have to stay focused until he finished and then I thinks something else is you going to do with retirement and think about it right. I'm not a fan of retirement. Obviously, because I'm way past what I should have but I see a lot of people who think they have to retire to certain age and are very unhappy.

They don't know what to do with her life.

I can you say that for all the years I've been alive including up to right now I've gotten up every day excited to do what God has called me to do.

I have my bad days like everybody does.

But I've never ever thought about all my goodness what to do with the rest of my life. I'm sure my life is going to run out before I get done with everything I want to do.

I'm so glad you didn't stop after the last book because this book's already had a huge impact in my life.

We finished well. Is there one more step to celebrate and the reason I think that's so powerful is because a lot of people think is okay.

This life is like a compartment that's ended. And then after that then there's this big transition and you go to heaven they realize how much of what we do now were going to do in heaven without any of the distractions without any of the problems. For instance, in heaven work that but will never get tired will always be able to finish everything we start will not have any opposition. It will be work, as unto the Lord so joyous and wonderful and you go through a lot of things that we do now. One thing we can do in heaven is the liberty preaching, which is kind of tough on me because were going to know even as we are known to be worship that you know I just think heaven is going to be everything that we started to do here with all of the negative taken out of it. I love about this book is to talk about taking personal responsibility for living forward. God expects from us because I can imagine people thinking will I want to do all of this I can do this by myself. But God's not asking us to do that is our responsibility is to take the instruction God has given us, and put it into action. There should not be any doubt in our minds about what God wants us to do because he's given it to us in his word. We know all that were supposed to do. We just don't do it and I'm praying that maybe this book will drive people forward in the trenches that God is laid out in his word so we can begin to accomplish what is called us to do so.

That would be a prayer, that when people finish reading this book, listening to the study that they would hear from God personally in their own lives and begin to live lift alive forward looking through the windshield and not in the rearview mirror exactly and and for many of them. She really know what you're doing. It pursuant get the money right half of the multitude of people impacted by this message.

Got to Jeremiah thank you so much privilege that was Sheila just a few days ago, going over the contents of this new book which we began teaching tomorrow right here on Turning Point and I hope that you will be part of the first lesson.

As we move forward together. Have a great more information on the future of our teaching series.

Please be sure to visit our website will be offered to help you stay connected monthly magazine Turning Points and out daily email devotional sign-up today dear Michael/Jeremiah/let you know when you do your best. 14 because of creation is Jeremiah studied English to a new international version as well as in large print and you can join with helpful notes. A study Jeremiah visit David Jeremiah.old radio for the time I'm very tomorrow as we begin the new series here on Turning Point for taking time to listen to string these interesting