>> baptizing them in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit, teaching you to observe all that i've commanded you. and i'm with you always, even to the end of the age. [music] there's a road called the holy highway that once was a desert land. ry soon you'll hear the

sound of a holy marching band. everlasting joy upon them. there's a remnant strong and true. we bring the song ck to zion. we bring the praise back to you. we exalt you, god almighty. yoare worthy to be praised. let all nations bow before you. holy ancient of all days. there's a road called the holy highway where the people dance and shout. where the enemy is running

with the confusion all about. raise your banner, sing the his word is true. high. we bring the song back to zion. we bring the praise back to you. we exalt you god almlmighty. you are worthy to be praised. let all nations bow before you, holy ancient of allays. holy, holy, holy.. lord god almighty. holy, holy, holy. is the lord.

hallelujah. hallelujah. hallelujah. hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. there's a road called the holy highway that once was a desert land. very soon you'll hear the sound of a holy marching band. everlasting joupon them, there's a remnant strong and true. we bring the song back to zion. we bring t the praise back to you.

we bring the song back to zion. we bring the praise back to you. we bring the praise back to you. [applaudg] >> are you discouraged? do you know why? what's going on in your life that would cause you to be depressed, lost hope, don't see anything in your futurure whatsoever? what's going on inside of you? what causes you to be distreed? what causes you to be discouraged?

well, if you watch the news every night, that would discourageou for sure. might be you're looking at your mortgage payment and thinking, there's no way. you don't have a job. you're hurting. your family is hurting. you could lose it all. you have lots ofeasons to feel discouraged. what you have to ask is this? you have to ask yourself, how long is this going on? you may ask the question, where is god? he said he wouldld help me. at this point i don't see anything going on. maybe you feel you've been caught in this grip of discouragement. it's a cloud that covers you. like you're walking in the fog and you don't see any help anywhere along the way. onof the most powerful servants of god in the scripture was david. and he went through difficult times just like that. times of great sorrow and heheartache and discouragement. but he had an answer. he discovered how to deal with

discouragement. what i want to talk about in this messa is overcoming discouragement. i want to read two, three verses here ithe psalms t that expressed how david was feeling. he was asking himself, why are you in despair, o my soul. and y have you become hope in god for i shall yet praise him. then he said again in the next chapter. why are you in despair, o my ul, and whare yoyou disturbed within me? so here is a man that has given us so many wonderful, wonderful events in his own life through the work of the holy spirit. and we seeim brave, courageous, bold, and yet he had the same issue that many people have today. and that's he went through those times of discouragement. well the psagef scripture i want to ve you a good example of one of those times of discouragement in his life. let me give you a lile background. king saul had been chasing him for years trying to kill him.

finay he and his six hundreded men went over to the philistines and said, you know, we want to be on your side. and so, they would fight for the philistine and the king, theyecamgood friends. in facact, he couldn't have said anytything finer about d david n he said about him. here's what he said. as the lord lives, you've been up right in your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight. for i have n not found evil in u from the day of your coming into me to this d day.rtheless, you t pleasing in the sight of the lord. the lords were the commanders of the philistine army and they were lined up ready to go to war. so the king told him, you can't go. whwhy he couldn't go. well, here's what happened. the leaders asked him, confroronted the king and said,s this not david of om they said

and sang in e dance saying saul has slain his thousands and david his ten thousand? we don't want him. we may have reason to believe in the midst of the battle, we're fighting israel, he would again turn againsts. and they knew what a warrior he was. so he sends david back home to ziklag which is a town they gave him as a result of coming over their side. so something happened hehere tht put him in great despair. beginning in the 30th chapter of 1 samuel. 1 samuel 30 tells us what happened. then it happened when david and his men came to ziklag on the third day. he's left the army. he was sent home.go home because they made a raid on ziklag and overthrown it and burned it with fire and they took captive the women and all that were there, both small and great.

without killing anyone. and carried them off and went their way. when david and his men came to the city, behold, itas burned with fire, tir wives and their sons and the daughters had been taken captive. then david and the people who were with them lifted their voices and wept til there was no strgth in them to weep. let me ask you a question. have you ever cried about anything until you couldn't cry anymore? amen. you cried until you couldn cry anymore. that's where they were. david's two wives were taken captive... more over, david was greatly distressed because t people spoke stoning him. that's his own crowd. for the people were embittered, each one because of their sons and daughters. that is their so and daughters had been taken away. but david strengthened himself in the lord their god.

the word strengthened there is the same hebrew word for encouraged. the bible says he encouraged himself. then he said to prieiest. please bring me thephod and david inquired of the lord saying, should i pursue this band? should i overtake him? he said pursue. you shall surely overtake them and scue all. the ephod was a breastplate that the priest war and in it was sort of a sack and they had a couple of rocks or stones in there. and they would pray and then pu out one to make a decion. so in the process of doing so, god said to him, you should pursue h him. that's whahe does. now the scripture ys davavid pursued he and four hundred men fo200 of them were too exhausted to cross the brook they saw and remained behind. they saw this egyptian, interrogated him.

found out who did it. they found these people eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the philistines and the land of the judah. david slaughtered them all, recovered every single thing and david's spoil was what they had taken. what i want you to see in this passage is, he came to the place where he was in one of the deepest t moments of despair because he had lost both of his wives. the city had been burned. they didn't know who they were where they were, or where they went. his soldiers who were following him, he said this about him. he said, talking about his own men, the kind of crowd that was withim, it's interesting what he called them. because he said, when the wicked and the worthless men among them. that's what he called them. they were a motley sort of crowd. they were getting ready to stone

him. always blame someone else, it's easy to do that. he didn't. so they captured everything they lost. what i want us to see in this passage is what in the world does it mean to encourage yourself when you are so discouraged? well, i want us to look at this whole idea of what discouragement is about and what it's like. firsof all, you and i know discouragement is ununiversal. there's such thing as a person living out their life and not being discraged about something sometimes. you may be very discouraged right now. if you look around at the economy and the ththings happeng to people today there's a reason humanly speaking to feel discouraged. do you have to stay that way? it's a universal feeling people have. not only that. it's a recurring kind of thing. you may be discouraged today and get out of that. next weeeek something may happen and you become discouraged again.

depends upon the circumstatance and what's going on in your life. likewise, it's very contagious. you want to know when a person is really, really down and they're very discouraged and you gin to talk to them. the next thing you know, what's happening? if you're not careful, you'll walk away discouraged. some people know how to take their self pity and move it along to somebody y else's life. nonot that they necessarily mean to, but discourage. can be very contagious and destructive. likewise, it is unpredictable. never know when something is happening in your life orr children's's life or some other part of your fily. when david said he encouraged himsmself, it made me ask the question, how did he do that? all discouragement is temporary. it's not going to last forever. many people get caught up in it. it's like this cloud, this fog, this haze th settl in their life.

can't seem to see their way clear. don't see a way out. blame someone else. get angry over the whole situation. we h have to ask ourselvesw do we handle that? let's be sure we understand the difference between a disappointnt and a discouragement. a disappointment is emotional response to failed expectation or h hope or desire. we teach our children something. they disappoint us. you prepare your husband a wonderful dinner. you know it's his favorite. he comes home, sits down and eats it and d walks off and youe disappointed you got your feelings hurt. a student does his best in school and gets a grade that's very disappointing. you and i can go through life and d think of all the things tt would disappoint us. disappointment is unavoidable. situations, circumstances. but discouragement is th feeling of despair, that feeling of despondency.

so discouragement is a choice we make. i don't have to remain discouraged. i might get discouraged but t i don't have to remain discouragement is unavoidable, but if i choose to remain discouraged it's because ofof a choice you and i make. passage, you don't have to rein discouraged no matttter what is going on in your life. you don't know what i've been through. i know what i've been through. i know wt a lot of people have been through. somehow, some way, because of their lationship to christ, god's helped them in some shion to helelp them overcome it. now what are the causes? what causes a peperson to be discouraged? let me ask you this question. do you know why you're discouraged? if you're one those people disappointed and very discouraged do you know why you're discouraged? what is it that brought it on in

your life? who do you see being responsible for it? who do you see as ing one who could remove it? and do you look at your discouragement as something that's gripped you, and it's unbreakable and inescapable? or do you see this as a few momements in your life or segmet ofof your life? do you think tre's anyway to break out of it? have you decided to reresort to something that's t temporary and doesn't really truly cure anythi? it's what you're doing at the moment. when you look at david's life abt to be stoned, didn't know what happened to his two wives. and everything that they own, the scripture says, had been burned. so now, they had to travel for there it was everything wasklag, gone. not having any idea what way to turn. he was very discouraged.

eveverybody else wasiscouraged. and they had a reason to be if you went home this afternoon and your house was burneto the ground, you would be very discouraged. the things precious to you you thought you would never want to lose, gone up in smoke. here he was. beside that, his own fellow soldiers, his fighters, his warriors were thinking about stoning him to death. because they were bitter about the situation. they, listen, david didn't cause that to happen. but it's easy to blame somebody. to look around and say here's what's happening in my life. could be his fault. her fault. whatever it might be. so, first all, he was very fatigued just like a of his soldiers were. as they went to find those who would destroy them, 200 of them had to stay by the river. they were so fatigued they couldn't go any further. this was a bad, bad time in david'life.

the same david that killed goliath but now he's very discouraged. he's frustrated by it all. being a warrior, he wanted to fight in the philistine battle against israel. more than likely he had in his mind he was going to turn on them. coming from the rear, he could put the philistines in a bad position. very frustrated about the fact he had to leave. then of course, he felt like a failure. he couldn't fight. and thenen his own town was totally burned and all these men we wives andhildren were taken mewhere, somehow. it's interesting they didn't leave anybody. they didn't kill anybody. they just took them with them which made it worse in a way. he had lots of reasons to be discouraged. here he was a littttle bit afra. anyone would. when he heard his loyal deted faithful followers were talking about stoning him to death. that's what caused him to be

discouraged. so if i should ask you, what causes you to be discouraged. more than likely if you are one of those persons who are discouraged you'll hear something in a moment, that sounds just like me, that's where i am. let's think about some of the reasons people are discouraged one of them is this. if you're married and you live with someo, you cannot please no matter what y do, you try over and over and over again. you can't please them. too short. too long. too early. too late. too much of this. too little of that. you haven't been gone long enough or gone too lonong. it doesn't make any differenenc. you can't please h him. that's one of the reasons. we c can sy a ng time on that one. but then sometimes there's physical or verbal abuse. and somebody is always criticizing you. u can't do it right no matter

what you do, you can't do it right. sometimes there's physical abuse which a person should not put up with. sometimes it's the fact god's not answering your prayer. i pray. i hear other people pray god's anering their prayers. god's not answering my prayers. instead of looking inside and saying what is going on in my life to cause god not to answer my prayer, they get discouraged gauze not answering my prayer. leads them not to pray. you know i pray and it doesn't happen. they don't stotop to think whats goining on in my life to keep gd from answering my prayer pushing god on my schedule. maybe god wants to and this isn't the exact time. none of that. theyust get discouraged. of course, when a person puts forth their best efforts. where you work you give it your best. they skip right over you. someone elsese gets the raise or promotion. no one says you did a fantastic job. thank you for helping me. none of that.

you're just somebody, some number that's there but nobody gives you any recognition. that's very discouraging. we all need d to be preciated then there's the whole idea people get caught up in some sin. you don't wa it there but it's there. no sin god can't deliver you from but if you're weak in your relationshipip with god and whether you're on drugs or difference what it is, they geta caught and trapped and feel they're e in this. or may be they're lazy and they wanto change and be different but they don't know how to dea with that. so they become very discouged in the process of doing so. and then, of course, one of the things that's really bad is financial pressure. today, many, many people are living under financial

discouragement because of financial pressure. if you don't have a job you'll lose what you have. or if you have a j job and theor the is too high and you bibit of more than you could chew. here you are. you're going to have to move. your children this. in their school. all these things that are going pecially if f you don't see a way out. if the person just sees the problem and no way out, it's very discouraging to them. then of course, if a person finds themselves in a health problem, and they go to the doctor, i don't know what to do. go to this one get scans, x rays, you name it. we don't know what tdo. that can be very discouraging. if you lose your health you lose one of the most important things inin your life. as long as you're healthy and strongng and doing well mentally and emotionally you can handle a t of stuff. there's people whoho go through

very, very difficult painful periods of time that can be very, vevery discouraging. god if you love me, why do you let this happen? how long will this go on? sometimes it's just a matter of feeling unworthy, unfit and you sort of fog at that. nobody rognizes you. nobody appreciates you. they don't count on you. you can't name one person that you really and truly loves you. and figures that you're somebody important. they don't want you as a friend. here you are. you feel like an island in the midst of all these multitudes of people. and you're this important nobody liviving out here tryingo make it. you don't have any emotionalpor. support. here's david about ready to get stoned to death. and he had a reason to be discouraged. and thenen there's people who do not feel like, you know, their

life really counts at all. so they're just there. now, let me ask you a question? are you discouraged? if you walk around and listen to people, just listen to them talk, you'll fd out there's more peoplple who are discouragd than there are encouraged in the day which you and i live. once you start talking they start telling you what's wrong. there's a lot of things wrong no doubt about it. when you watch the news it c be very discouraging if you let that determine how you feel. corruption andnd all the financl problems and all the things going on around us. that's why you and i have to watch the news on the one hand. and always remember who is in charge. you don't remember who is in charge, you go down in discouragement, so we have to remembmber that. well, when i looat this

passage of scripture and see what david faced and how he faced it. and think about what is ththe consequences of a person living in discouragement? first of all, the first thing it does, it divides your attention. it divides your mind. a person who is very discouraged over here no matatter what you'e doing you cat throw yo whole heart into it and mind into it. there's something over here that'sagging you all the time. it's a discouragement. think many people e can't do their best job on whatever their occupation may be because they're so discouraged by wh's going on in ththeir home or financesr some otherer relationship. things that just destroy. you cannot give it y your best. and then, of course, one of those consequences is, blame somebody else. that's what david's soldrs did. they want to blame him. so i should ask you, are you discouraged? who are you blaming?

are you blaming yourself or somebody else? remember what we s said. we all g get disappointed. if i live in discouragement i because i have to be.ged not so what are the consequences? consequences we' going to get angry and we're going to get depressed. depressed people usually do what? they gto the doctor looking for something that, watch, will help them feel better. all you have is something you take one once or twice or three, fourimes a day doesn't settle the issue. you have to get on the inside to deal with discouragement. one is estrangement. you've met people e so discourad when you see them coming, o jesus, what am i going to say? for the simple reason when they come, all theyant to do is dump it on you. they just live that way and

sometimes some people do not want tget out of it. now, one of those consequences is a loss of confidence. when you start losing confiden, it affects everything about your life. it affects your job. it affect your relationships. it affects your relationships with husband, wives, children, everybody else. a loss of confidence is devastating. if you d't deal with it, what happens? everythihing else in your life begins to suffer. you begin to look for somebody toto blame. you get angry if things don't work out right. you develop a negative spirit. in the living bible translation, here's what the bible says. gentle, listen to this. gentle words give life and health. but, griping causes discouragement. if you walk around i don't know why shshe did that, i don't know

why he did that, you tal yourself inta mess. you talk yourself into being more and more discouraged. listen. first of all, you know you're right. yoknow you're right. so what happens? you just start spewing out all these things that are wrong and since you're right everything you're saying must be true and if all the stuff is true you have a reason to be discouraged so just get depressed and stay there. that's when you feel the best. there are people who love being depressed. because they have an excuse for not doing what they ought to be doing as far as a wife or husband or mother or father they enjoy being depressed because it an escape that's endless. they're not happy. there's no joy. no peace. no real contentmtmenin theirir life. then, of course, one of the consequences is making unwise decisions.

when you're discouraged and you get a little frantic about things you'll make unwise decisions. usually they're very c costly decisions. it's not we to make a decision when you're too tired. it's not wise to make a decision when youou're angry. and it's certainly not wise to make a decision when you're just very, very discouraged about things and down in the dumps. in other words, because u're not thinking properly. do you have to stay that way? no. i'm coming to that now. what i want you to see is the arare consequences to discouragement that are destructive that are costly, not only in money but in relationships. and also costly in your spiritual life. because here's what happens. you remain disiscouraged and dot deal with it. what happens is, god isn't't answerering prayer. god doesn't care. i know what the bible sasays. he's not with me. i know the bible says he is but he's not. i don't see him doing anythi. what happens?

little by little satan just interjects these doubts. if god cares, he would change th. if god loved me, he wouldn't let this happen. if god this. if god that. if god the other. doubts begin to growow. finally here's what happens. the natural thing is, you begin torift away from the lord in your relatnship to him. that just makes it all worse. and the next thing you know if you get to drifting far enough you're into sin and now you're really discouraged. you know where you used to be. you know where you are. you think how did i get here? by degrees. how do i get out? by making wise decisions. now, the cononsequences araren't worth it. so the question is, what is the cure for all that? well, let me just say two or three things here. the first one is this. listen carefully. all this is on the s screen but listen. it's your viewpoint.

that is, if i want to get out of my discouragement it doesnsn't make any difference where it started, whom it started and what caused it. if i want to get out i have to think right. what is my viewpoint? first of all, i have to look within myself and say, what am i discououraged about? what caused me to get this way? how long has it tataken me to gt into this position, this condition? first of all i have to look within myself. most people want to look out and blame somebody. first thing is to look within. secondnd thing ito looup. god is all powerful. i know he has the power to get me out of this. the bible says he loves me. i know the truth is he does love me. i know the truth is he's with me. i know the truth is he has the power to rescue me from this. i know that's what h he says. i'll look up. listen carefully. if you don't looup, you are in trouble.

the third thing i'm going to do. i'm going to look back. because if i look back, listen, no mter who you are, you're a believer. you look back. look how many times god's brought you through this mess, that mess, this situation, this circumstance, he got you over all these things in the past. you have all this history. listen. you have history of god's deverance of your life. so you want to look back. people say, well i've been looking back a long time. no, no, no. look. you look back at what he's done for you and you look ahead. if god can do that he can do this. i'm looking ahead. there's a lot of people who live in the rear viewirror. they're always living this way. let me tell you about the past. don't tell me about the past. tell me what god's doing in your life and tell me what you want him to do in the future. listen, if he can bring you through that and bring you out of this and take you to where he wants you to go. he has a will and purpose and plan for your life.

that will and purpose and plan for your life good. it's always good. so the f first thing i have to o is get my viewpoint right. i have to decide i'll look within and find out where did this start and how it all gan? i'll look up to thfather for help and directionnd guidance.e. i'll look back and be reminded how many tim he's helped me. and i'll look ahead and think, god, you don't change. you helped mthen. you'll help me in the future. i'm heading g to the future. i may feel i have chains on my ankle. i may feel i'm at the bottom of the row. but god doesn't change. if he doesn't change, if he got me out of the past, he canet me out of this and take me where he wants me to go. it's a matter of viewpoint. that's number one. nothe second thing i would say about that is this. that is the right response. what is thright response? well, if you turn to mark six, listen to what jesus said. he was wise enenough to know whn

his disciples needed to stop. because no matter how successful they had been preaching g and so forth here's what happened. right before this s passage is e description of john the baptist being beheaded. and so hers one of jesus' choice servas and one of his faithful loving friends. and he has been beheaded. so what happens? verse 30 of mark 6. the apostles gathered together with jesus and they reported to him althey had done and taught. and he said to them, watch this now, come away by yourselves to a secluded pla and rest a while. for there were many people coming and going and they did not even have time to eat.

yoyou know what? he knew that you get too fatigued. and there's responsibility and you're accountable and you keep going and keep going and keep pushing and keep pushing and keep pushing. finally physically it begins to work o on you. you remember the little script. h. a. l. t. don't get too what? hungry, angry, lonely or tirire. because when we do, you'll get discouraged. i can't keep going. i have all these responsibilities. so what happens? so first of all, sometimes you need to stop and rest and say, all right, i need to take a good look at myself from god's viewpoint. and find out what is going on here. so i take a a rest. secondly, i look at my life and think what needs to be organized in mlife. yosay reorganization is not my problem. it could be. watch this. you have to ask yourself the question, first of all, what am i doing that i shouldn't be doing? what am i not doing that i ought

to be doing? watch this. what am i doing that's right but i'm doing it the wrong way? which is taking energy, time and may be money that would t be necessary for you to spend. you have to sort of reorganize your life. because life is moving so rapidly. you see, as life around us moves rapidly we have to move in cadence with it. we have to ask ourselves the question, how do i do more, less time, more efficient, more effectively. in other words, we have to get reorganized oftentimes. a third thing is, watch this. this is the most important. we have to resolve in our mind and heart to trust the living god. we have to resolve to trust him. it doesn't make any difference what you're going through. i haveo resolve to trust him. one of the things jesus dealt with h disciples abobove everything else was trust him.

you of little faith. why didn't you believe me? head to deal with that. we have to resolve in our heart i'll trust him what are we going to trust? i'll trust him to be the god he says he is, that he controls everything that he has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all. i'm ing to tru him that he is the god of thisis universe. thsecond thing i'm going to trust him for r is he's a a good god. he ss he's good. he is good. i can lo at good in my life. i can look at times in my life what he thought was gogood i thought was bad. i finally opened my eyes and thought what he thought was good i thought was good. he's a gooood d god. how does good god and punishment come together? he's a good god and doesn't break s word. he's a good god. not only is that is he in control and he's good but he's with me in every single circumstance. it's interesting when i see

people who are discouraged and i say what about the verse, i'll never leave you nor forsake you. i know god's with me, what's the next three-letter word. t. he said he'll always be with his children. where is he? he's living g on the inside of u through the holy spirit who came to indwell you and seal you as a child of god. the moment you were saved you became his. i'll never leave you or forsake you. where is he? on the inside giving guidance and direction and strength and encouragement and help and everything possible to help us become the persons he wants us to be. that's who he is. if i resolve in my heart that my god is in control. my god loves me. my god has all power.. and my god is with me. it doesn't make any difference what i face in life, i will never face it alone. i can't face it alone. remember this.

you can get lonely as a believer but you can't be alone. the holy spirit is living on the inside of you in such a fashion, you and he could never be separated. now,w, whatever may be causing u discouragement, remember this. if you resolve in your hrt, i'm going to trust him. whwhy? he says, trust in the lord. with all your heart. lean not to your own understanding. in all your ways, whatever you're going through, he said in all your ways, trust him. and he'll make your paths straight. he'll direct your path. that's the pmise of god. now it's interesting people who know that they're believers, no question about it. say they trust god. what about that verse? he says, if you will lean not to your own human understanding but in all your waysys ackwledge him, seek him. lien to him. what are you sayin lord? he'll direct your path. no matter what's caused your

discouragement, listen, god with all of his power, all ofof his goodness, all of his love is going to direct you if you will listen to him. he's going to turn this time of discouragement into something good in your life. this is not the end of the world. you may think it is. you've got someone who is on your team, on your sidto help you, strengthen you, uphold you. give you a wholeew perspective on life if you just listen and believe him. if you'll jujust listen and believe him. [applauding] >> and yet, there's people that take their lives every day bebecause they get to soplace in life they can't handle it. well, thank god he didn't say we have to handle it. he said he would handle it. all i have to do is listen to him and to resolve in my heart i'll be obobedient to him no matter what. and then i have to resist, i have to resist the discouragement. listen. because disappointments can come

and they're unavoidable, you can get covered with d discouragemet in a moment. but you don't have to accept it. member. disappointmentnts are unavoidab, discouragement is a choice. i fuse to be discouraged. on what basis? god loves me. 's a good god. he's all powerful. he's with me. he'll see me through it. and he promises to ner leave me. i'm in this mess but i'm in here with god. and if i'm in here with god, he'll get me out. god doesn't hang around in my mess. what happens? all of a sudden things begin to change because, you have a ange of attitude. now you're ready to go to work. now you're ready to do what god wants you to do. i don't have a j. trust him. there's millions of people tt don't have a job. what you have to ask is this. god, in this period of time in which i can't dodo because i dot have access to do what i used to do, what do you want to do

whatat do u want to do with me? do i have so much pride i won't take less job. because it's too belittling to them. my mother taught me a mgreat lesson. she worked on the first shift and i worked on the secondnd sht in the textile mill. so i would clean up for my mom during the day when i was there, clean up for her. make s sure she got home and everything was right. she taught me to clean the bathroom, to clean the commode called me to do early in le, i must never get too big to do the dirty jobs. when you get so prideful you can't do the dirty jobs you may be in your mess because god's trying to teach you something. i would encourage you no matter

who you are, your discougement at this point is a choice. listen. if you will just follolow the simple instructions that we've tried to give you, god will get you through this. he'll get you moving in the right direction because he's god. you can't say god i need a job, i need t this, i need that. that's not the way it works. i wod say to anybody the most imrtant thing in your life when you'r're going through discouragemement is get in this book eve single day. i n remember the most li, there's things that wowould discourage anybody. and a couple of them lasted a pretty good while. what kept me going week after week after year after ar after ar was this. that i is, every sunday i had to preach. i wanted to preach but i had to study all week long. what happens, no matter how difficult and painful l and how ch i may have weptpt and felt

rejected and all the rest, i was in the getting ready for sunday. pepeople would ask me, how d dou do so and so? i didn't understanand it all unl i got t through it and said lor, every day i was reading your word and feasting on what you said a and what you thought andi was getting your thoughts and ideaeain my mind. sometimes i may have been doing it and weeping at the same time but god was doing something in myife through his word. i would say to you, if you have a closed bible at your house, you better open it up. you ne to open it up and find, god, i heard what he said. what do you want to say to me? i don't know where to start reading. start in the gospels or epistles or psalms or proverbs and say god i want you to speak to my heart. i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. i want to live my life the way you want me to live it. speak to my heart. will he speak toto you? yes.

why? because he loves you and he wants e best for you. i can tell you. if you don't get in the word of god you'll have a hard time getting out of your discouragement. my prayer is, you get in this book, get out of discouragement and d contented and fruitful and profitable once again in your life i is my prayer. where does that start? it starts with acknowledging your need of god. it begins with your acknowledgment of your sinfulness if you never trusd jesus as your savior. asking him to forgive you of your sins. tell him you need him desperately. you're asking him to clean up your life. you're surrendering your life to him. the moment you're ready to tell him that, according to his eternal word, he said he'll forgive your sin. write your name in the lamb's book of life. he'll indwell you by the holy spirit.

his children.ver you're one of and he's going to walk with you every step of the way from that moment until he calls you home to heaven. you can't beat that. that's life at i its b best and that's his offer to you and my prayer you'll make that decision while you still have time. father, how ateful we are for your awesome love for us far more than i can describe it. i pray every dissatisfied discouraged person who listens to this message however and whenever that you would jo them into this better life that you have through your son jesus christ. anwe ask this in his name, amen. [music] who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?

who told the oceans, you can only come this far? and who showed the moon where to hide untievening? whose words alone can catch a falling starar. i know my deemer lives. i know my redeemer lives. let all creation testify. let this life within me cry. i know my redeemer lives. my redeemer lives.

the very same god who spins things in orbit, he runs to the weary, the worn and the weak. and the same gentle hands that hold me when i'm broken, they conquer death to bring me victory. i know my redeemerer lives. i know my redeemer lives. let all creation testify. let this life within me cry, i kn my redeem lives.

he lives to take away my shame. he lives. forever i'll proclaim. that the payment for my sin was the precious life he gave. and now he's alivend there's an ety grave. i know my redeemer lives. i know my redeemer lives. i know my redeemer lives. i know my redeemer lives.

let all creation testify, let this life within me cry i know my redeemer lives. i know my redeemer lives.. i walk with him. i talked with him this morning. i know, i know mredeemer lives. my redeemer lives.

[a[applauding] >> god's faithful promisesre a soce of great encouragement. visit intouch.org for a better understanding of god's abibiding love. there you'll find today's messssage overcoming discouragegement and a library f faith building sermons from dr. stanley. life principles notes and resource toss help you live in hope in even the most difficult times and once you've discovered god's strength see how you can share it with your children. download the in toucap to take the teaching of dr. stanley on the go or follow us on you tube, facebook and twitter. >> the 30 life priiples, biblical life lessons from dr. charles stanley. principles to boost your everyday fth. >> if you apply these 30 principles in your life number one,ou'll succeed at whatever you do, you'll find yourself used by god, a personal,

intimate relatioionship with. in other words, you can't lose. >> lifprincipleso live by on single messages, sets of five or the entire series on cd or dvd. call toll-free or sit intouch.org. >> nothing says you ca quite like a personal touch of a ndwritten notete. say thanks, i'm thinking of you or just a bit of encouragement with these beautiful note cards featuring photography of dr. stanley. 16 cards four images of spectacular fall color. share the beauty of god's creati and keep in touch with those you love. you can also send a set of cards as a gift. order the fall note cacards at intouch.org. >> sudden and unexpeed life changes s can overwhelming. when you can't control what's happeng, feelings of hopelessness can give way to quiet desperation. and peace?ou turn for guidance christ is our comfort.

our ever present help in time of need. explore the sufficiciency of christ in dr. stanley'six part audio ries. it will encourage you and those you care about. >> you don't need to be perfect but with just a little encouragement, a lot of lalaughter, some time and attentio and a bit of patience, you'll pass along and a firm connection with god that lasts a lifetime. [music]

>> we are alalways open toto len new things in life and sometimes we have to learn the same thing over and over again so we don't know if we learned it or not. one of those things isatience. i can tell if someone is impatient as i am when they walk up to the elevator no matter what's going on, they punch it again. how many of you have donthat? that's what i thought. we all have to learn patience. but patience is a very valuable lesson especially if you're wawaiting on god to do somethin. remember he said they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strengngth and mount up with wis as eagles. they that wait on the lord, the lord himself will involve in their life, , that is theyey tht wait upon thlord, trusting him.

sometimes it's not very easy to wait upon him. he acts on behalof those w wait for him.. i want to give you a litittle examample of waiting on the lor. i was just acrs the street really from my house anand there's a lake over ththe. i saw these, i went over there because i knew the ducks would be there and canadian geese. i wanted to photographhem. since i was going on my trip i wanted to check this camera out to do what i expected it to do. the ducks d geese werere everywhere. i saw this bird fly y rosshe lakend light up there. i walked over slowly. one thing i learned you don't walk straight to a bird. you zigzag and you don't l look them in the eye or he's gone. i took my time and finally got to a place i thought would be a suitable place. i'll wait him out. i waited.

i waed. i waited. okay, buddddy, let's move on. but i knew he was too beautiful for me to lose. so i kept waiting and i kept waiting and i had to holmy mera up. i dn't have it on ipod. i ld i it right there. when he leaves he's heading that direction. not only that,t, i've got to be right on the second when he lifts off because he's going. and i waited and this is what i saw. isn't that beautiful? [applauding] that's about one second into take o off. so when you think about waiting up the lord, the truth is, whatever he has in mind for us is always the best. you know, the first bird that was a pretty good shot, but look at that. they're action, movement, purpose and everything about it. you can see so much more than you cacan see otherwise.

always get the best view ofst, e everything. we get the best of what god has to offer. i would just encourage you if you're one of those people that says god you got two weeks to answer my prayer. change your attitude. that's either getting the bird sitting or getting one flyiying. that's how different it is. touching the world with a passion for god and compassion for people in touch with dr. charles stanley is a presentation of in touch ministries. this program is made possible by the grace ofof godnd your faithful prayers and gifts

hi, everybody. welcome to "on the money." i'm maria bartiromo. the money's taken august's breather. is this a summer swoon or time to get in? why one top strategist says get ready for a 15-year bull run. the man who creed amazon.com buys newspaper. and he plays a technology superstar in the move e but is that different in real life? my conversation with ashton kutcher. "on the money" begins right now. this is america's number one financial news program. "on the money." now, maria bartiromo. re's what's making news as we head into a new week "on the

money." president obama took his economic show on the road this week pitching housing reform in phoenix. mr. obama called the winding down the fannie mae and freddie mac which hold most of the mortgages are in the united states. he called for a limited government role and increase in private lending in the housing market. >> for too long these companies were allowed to make huge profits buying mortgages knowing that if their best went bad, taxpayers would be left holding the bag. >> meanwhile the markets broke a three-day slide on thursday catching their breath and consolidating a bit. it was the longest losing streak in more than a month. the markets fell on friday. earnings season is winding down. disney beat analysts' expectations though its venues fell short. 21st century fox had its first earnings report since it split newscorp. the company beat expectations as did aol and time warner. a poor performance for many small cars in an important safety test. half of the vehicles tested by the insurance institute for highway safety did not do well.

nissan sentra was rated poor as were kia soul and fororte model. the honda civic was the only small car to get a good rating. the markets actually took a moment to catch their breath this week. is it the beginning of a summer slowdown or a good time to dive in? joining me to talk stocks and investing mary ann bartels chief investment officer and michael santoli. the markets feel like they're taking a breather this week. we had the first of three-day losing streak in more than a month. do you think this is the beginning of a consolidation? >> it's possible. markets often peak in the summer months, then the worst month of the year is actually september. we do have things going on in september. we're going to have to address. like the debt ceiling, new fifiscal budget for next year. so we might see another dip within the market, but we are remaining long-term goals at merrill lynch. >> it is a busy month, maybe it

makes sense to take chips off the table, mike. >> it might be logical for kind of a tired market maybe to pull back. we had three of these sideways to down sort of relatively shallow pullbacks. and they never really kind of flourished into a full-blown correction. and i do kind of see it august and september as being a logical place for some of that backing off activity. >> i want to talk about tapering for a minute. we all know the federal reserve put some markers in place to indicate the place, the time that they would begin to roll down the stim stlus, and that includes 6 1/2% unemployment. an inflation target of 2%. we're not near any of those things. but this week i spoke with richard fisher, the chairman and ceo of the dallas federal reserve. listen to what he had to say about the tapering. >> personally, i think it is timely, assuming the data keeps moving in the direction it's been going. for us to begin to dial back the monetary accommodation we provided for the system. >> now, he is not a voting member this year do you think

the taper begins in septeer? >> actually our firm does not think it will happen in september. we think it is obviously in december. obviously we didn't rule out september. but as you pointed out we don't even have that inflation target of 2%. we're still running about 1.3%. >> i agree with you. i can't imagine in about 40 days from today the federal reserve starts cutting the number of bond purchases. but mike you made a really important point this week, i think i heard you on cnbc. and you said maybe just the idea of talking about it was the beginning. what do you see? how do you see itlaying out? >> i do think that basically the fed has conditionedon investorsn terms of what to expect. they've been on the same pmeagen saying tapering is not tightening. you know, those thresholds you mentioned, 6 1/2 unemployment and 2 % inflation target. those are the thresholds for the fed to actually lift interest rates. they keep wanting to distinguish between the amount of bonds they're buying every month and the ultimate increase in short-term rates which is way, way, way off. i do think the market's kind of gotten this message that the fed wants to remain accomodative.

i think a lot hinges on august's unemployment number obviously. even with what president fisher said in that interview was assuming the economic numbers continue to go the way they are. we're still dependent on that. >> bank of maryland tried to pocket paper in terms of cash, research and development in the u.s. compared to the rest of the world. the u.s. spends more on r&d than all of europe and asia combined. >> that's s qck. months ago the medidia was sayi it was losing its advance in innovation. we looked at fundamental factors of what is innovation and looked at r&d spending as well. companies that invest in r&d, their stocks outperform. if you break it down into technology, those companies that are spending on r&d versus not actually outperform the ones that don't by 10%. >> is this part of the reason you're still bulli bsh on stock? >> part of the reason. the market is not that expensive.

in fact, earnings actually hit a record high in 2010. we think the market is just starting to catch up to the fundamentals. when you study market history, it takes investors a long time after you've been in a range bound market to gain confidence. and we're just, at merrill lynch, starting to see the individual investor come back to the market. and we're talking about the great rotation. getting the back up in the interest rates over a period of time. and trying to find areas where we can build wealth for our clients. and we don't feel that that's going to happen in the fixed income component. certainly not earning anything in cash. so we see the long-term bullish story really being in the equity market. > it's interesting because you had so much money, tense of billions coming into the bond market but it has yet to find its home in stocks. we're waiting for this great rotation. are you expecting that to take place? it i do expect it. but it's grudging. not something that's being pursued with aggression or enthusiasm. a natural reaction that people see the market at all-time highs

and the psychological of do you want to putut money to work fre at all-time highs. it happens. i agree with mary ann this recognition phase is what we're in right now. >> you don't think the market has seen its bestt days for 201 at this point? >> in, we're still forecasting a year-e-end target at 1755. >> on the s&p 500? >> that is correct. but what investors need to start thinking about is the equity market. what that means is the rise in stocks will happen over a number of years. we're arguing at merrill lynch that we're in a new market. when you go into a new sectorable market. it can last for 15 years. you get corrections, of course, but a meaningful correction in the market is a buy opportunity. >> good to have you both on the program. >> thank you so much. >> mary ann bartels, mike santoli.i. what is the new hobby of the superrich? newspapers it appears. while it's headliad news today,

does it make sense for tomorrow? we'll find out. ashton kutcher dropped in. the actor and prolific angel investor offering his take on portraying the founder of one of the world's most valuable companies. >> it terrified me. steve job sass pretty complicated character. s sass pr cocomplicated aracter. sass pre complicated character. i sassret complicated character. s sass pr complicated character. sass pre complicated character. a sass pr complicated character. sass pret complicated character. ass prett complicated character. ss pretty complicated character. ptt complicated charter. pretty complicated character.

welcome back. it is making front page news, one of technology's best is getting into the newsper business. amazon founder and ceo jeff bezos acquired "the washington post" this week for $250 million at a time when newspaper revenues have hit a 50-year low. what is bezos saying that other publishers may not be? kara swisher is co-executive etd eter of all thins ding ittal and

veteran of "the washington post." good to see you. >> how's it going? >> good. why do you think jeff bezos was interested in the post especially when he acquired it as an individual rather than having amazon buy it? >> it would have been very difficult for the company to buy it. they're already doing so many different experiments that are costly. jeff is someone who is putting off profits for a lot of growth. i ink that would have pushed investors over the edge if the company itself bought it. >> that makes sense. but about do you think with his e-commerce experience he can reinvent the newspaper the way he reinvented retail and publishing? >> i'm not so sure. i don't think they're going to start selling kindles from "the washington post." i don't know whathat means. he has ideas probably about circulation and distributing the paper that he knows about very well. >> you know what's interesting to me is five or six years ago rupert murdoch acquid "the wall street journal" for $5 billion. and here we are five years later and bezos is paying $250 million for "the washington post."

that's a real fire sale. >> well, yeah, or else rupert murdoch paid too much. what happened in the past five years, you think about it, the value of a print publication has gone down precipitously as online publications have risen, but the prices are still kind of skewed because the money coming in to online publications isn't quite the same as is going out of newspapers. >> so you actually started out in the mailroom at "the washington post." >> i did. >> and you worked your way up at a time when the tech scene was just beginning with aol. >> yeah. i was very good at it, i just want to say. >> what did you see at "the washington post"? did you see missteps? you mentioned in a recent piece that don graham bought personal shareses of facebook in 2005 but not on behalf of the company. >> he got them as a director, actually. and they're going to charity. so let's be fair to him. but "the washington post" had a deal to buy in one of the early rounds of facebook, and mark

zuckerberg asked him to give it to excel partners. he was honorable and did what mark wanted. but the wp if they were very aggressive had an opportunity to be in early in facebook and those shares would have been worth billions. >> you have another billionaire red sox other tha john henry paid $70 million for the "boston globe." people like him, bezos, warren buffett. are newspapers the playthings for the very rich? or are they taking them on as a serious investment or content is king? >> i think that content is king what you can do with these brand names. "the washington post" is a tremendous brand name. you know, john henry actually got it for not even $70 million because there were $110 million pension fund. so it wasorth $40 million in losses for "the new york times" to move it along, which is kind of interesting if you think about it. >> the deliveryof content is an important area. if they can manage to keep these loss ors make them -- you know, the cash flow is positive.

some of these companies make money, not very much, but the cash flow is positive. they can do something interesting. >> fewer and fewer are actually reading the actual newspaper. we know that printing is expensive. >> right. >> how come newspapers don't just go all digital? are there other issues we're not seeing? >> i don't know. i said in the piece they might as well just do that. it doesn't mean you have to get rid of print products. there's good opportunities for print products, do them. you don't have to be religious about this. but the question is do the new consumers especially young people, they love news, people love news. news has not gone out of style. online news consumption has exploded. it's they don't like the delivery medium. if they don't like print, why force it down their throats and kind innovative ways given that there's tablets and cell phones and ways to get this stuff and televisions, why not try to focus on that? >> what would your advice be to bezos and henry to turn around their papers? >> i would stop the presses,ss got to tell you. i know i put in it that piece.

i would try to hire people that like the internet. a lot of people in print publications still really despise the internet. even though they embrace it, they tweet, they try to like get around it. they put out digital versions. it's always the second part. the fact that you use the word "blog" any more, there's some really good journalism going on online. it's the -- they have to think of it as a living news organization. and you've got to bring in people that know how to do that, that are native to this. and it doesn't have to be young people, by the wayhe. it has to be people that understand the change that's being made. and it's akin -- to me it's like the peoplethat just didn't like them cars. if anyone around then, there was probably a lot of argument about cars, like i like my horse. you just have to say this is the future and this is the way we have to be. you have to get peoplele in the that are creative and interested and also still love ethic, fairness, accuracy and things like that. >> absolutely. keep journalism at the top but the distribution is clearly

changing. kara, good to have you on the program. thanks so much. see you soon. kara swisher. up next q"on the money" from "dude, where's my car" ashton kutcher is playing steve jobs. >> nobody wants to buy a computer! nobody! >> how does numbsomebody know w they want if they've never even seen it? piece ofe mind is importan when you're running a successful business, so we provide i.t. services you can rely on. with century link as your trusted i.t. partner, you'll experience reliable up time from the network and services you depend on. multilayered security solutions keep your information safe and securere. and responsive, dedicated support meets your needs and eases your mind. century link. your link to what's next.

well, actor ashton kutcher has made headlines for his film career and celebrity, but now he's all business. with a new role as the late apple founder steve jobs. kutcher's no stranger to risk in the hope of reward. he's a venture capital fund and has invested in more than two dozen start-up companies making his portrayal of one of the leaders of the digital era the role of a lifetime. >> apple. >> excuse me? apple like the fruit? >> the fruit of creation. >> it terrified me. and i'm usually found the greatest rewards in my life come from taking up something tt's a little bit scary. what this film is about is the notion that life isn't justt something that you live in, it's something that you build. >> the user can move an arrow around on the screen and simply point to english words. >> how do you prepare for such a role? >> steve jobs is a pretty complicated character, and

somewhat a psychologically complicated guy. people already have a preconceived notion as to who he was and how he was. it's usually the guys wearing the blue jeans and the black turtle neck with thehe round glasses and the shaved head. but understand that steve jobs wasn't always that guy. he became that guy. we're constantly refining ourselves and other personas through roour life. i thought it was important to live in his shoes. >> i read that you made a ten-hour file of his voice. >> sound cloud creates index of steve jobs content over the year. >> the first story isy about connecting the dots. >> and i just compiled them and listened to them while i was slping and driving in my car and 24 hours a day. there were certain things that i was able to find that were patterns that he repeated again and again and again. and if he said it publicly again and again, he was probably saying it privately ten times as much. and he had a brutal, blunt honesty that a lot of people i

think are afraid to have. and i think it was his strength but it was -- at some points it was also his thought. >> we've got to make the smsmal thins unforgettable. >> i think it isn't a pressing issue. >> get out. >> when he gave feedback thehe people he didn't care whether they liked him, he cared whether what they were doing was making his product better. >> you're also a real technologist yourself. your venture fund has invested upwards of -- it is $230 million? >> collective portfolio, $100 million. >> had you come to know about tech so much to be able to pick out winners? how do you do it? >> the first thing we look for is the density of the problem that they're solving. so we're not looking for companies, you know, off the bat that we go that company's going to make x amount of money and it has x market cap. the second thing we look for are extraordinary entrepreneurs. you know, a lot of these companies that we invest in, they are two guys in a garage

with a powerpoint and a dog. and do they have passion for the problem they're trying to solve? do they have the kind of willpower that's going to take them through the challenges? >> and you found that in companies like ab & b and uber and spotify. >> every once in a while you hear that ideand that's obvious. eb & b being one of them. because we have this layer of trus being built by social neorks, you have implicit trust because you know someone's a friend of a friend of a friend. so there's product that can sold on that network to a willing buyer. >> how much of your life is investing and how much is it, you know, your acting career? it feels like you are very, very knee deep in investing and and actually finding these new ideas. is that taking a shift in the way you spend your days? >> in essence they're very similar processes. most of the investing i dos in

consumer and technologies and most of the advising i do on behalf of those companies is around a consumer product and the way people would relate to a product. that's really similar to acting in so much as you have to understand the psychology and the wants of a character. i don't really think that there's a bifurcation between technology and art. i think steve jobs w probably the greatest example of that. steve jobs was an artist, but he was also a technologist. people who wereren't only great engineer, but they were also poets or painters, and they had a sense of artistic design. >> when can you get your hands on this? today. >> so you like him, after learning all about him, do you like him? do you feel that he's that complicated really? >> i love him. you know, while he was this great guy, this extreme leader and achieved a level of genius

and greatness that a lot of people try to attain to, he was still a person. and what makes people beautiful is their flaws. >> my thanks to ashton kutcher. jobs is in theaters august 16th. up next a look at the news this upcoming week that will have an impact on your money. then sharks in the limelight this shark week and summer. one business shoeping to ride on their fins.

for more on our show, check out the website, otm@cnbc.com.

look for @maria bartiromo. a look at the stories in the week ahead. more quarterly earnings or on deck with cisco, macies nordstrom and koouls's. on tuesday, reta sales forhe month of july will be out. also on tuesday, warren buffett's charity buzz auction comes to an end. the highest bidder will meet with buff et with proceeds going to schools in los angeles. wednesday we get an idea of inflation when the producer price index for the month of july comes out followed by the consumer price index on thursday. on friday, the very latest housing starts will be released. finally today from sharknado to shark week, we simply can't get enough of our favorite sea predator. one coany is set to cash in on that popularity. in honor of discovery channel's hit shark week, narrangansett beer is re-introducing 1970s

can design featured in the movie "jaws." at one point in the film captain sam quint played by the late robert shaw, crushes a beercan with one hand. narrangansett is the 45th largest overall brewing company in america. we'll see if customers take the bait. that will do it for us for today. thanks so much for joining me. next week the american dream. is it packed up in a moving truck? i'll tell you where it's headed. keep it right where we are "on the money." i'll see you next weekend.

the following program is made possible by the friends and partners of time of grace. in your relationship with god do you struggle with the idea that you want to see things but he wants you to walk by faith? let me ask you something today - do you know what transformers are?

well, if you're middle age you probably think they're those great big things on light poles that knock down power and bring it into your neighborhood. or, if you're a little bit older, you might be thinking of the device that powers toy trains. i don't know if kids really have train sets the way they used to, but back in the day we used to have transformers that would turn alternating current into dc to run our toy trains. but if you're a young person today and somebody says, "transformers," that's something else completely - that's a cartoon show and it features wars, constant warfare, between two families, or strains of robots. they're called the bots and the decepticons. and transformers look like ordinary humble machines that everybody uses, kind of like - you're almost like a slave. if you're an automobile or a bulldozer, you're a slave. you sit there and you wait until someone else drives you to do what that person wants. so there's this

war going on between the robots and what looked like ordinary day-to-day street machines, road machines - like bulldozers and automobiles and trucks - are secretly robots with intelligence and great strength and weapons. and when danger comes, they'll kind of suddenly rear back on their rear tires and their tires kind of ca-chunk inside out and become great big feet. and the upper tires, the front tires, turn inside out and turn into arms and one is a great big hook, or is a great big clenching fist and the other one is the gatling gun. and then the hood flips around and suddenly, there's the person's head. so these robots are only in disguise as these humble work vehicles and there are two families of robots at war - the bots and the decepticons. and their leader, optimus prime, is against his opponent, megatron. and so after ordinary life goes on and then about every four

minutes or so a great big battle erupts and these robots go crashing against each other and fight each other. well, i want to tell you a story today and discuss it with you about a completely different type of transformation that took place. and this is the transformation, or transfiguration, of jesus christ. and in a sense, he also - like those automobiles in the cartoon show "transformers" - jesus had a humble, humble life where he looked so ordinary. but on one occasion, high up in a mountain in the northern part of the land of israel, he transformed or transfigured himself before his disciples. and they got to see him as he really is, as a key part of his struggle with satan. he isn't opposing an optimus prime or megatron; he's opposing satan himself. most of his work was done humbly with a very lowly aspect. but on the mountain of transfiguration, he revealed to

his disciples who he really was. there the disciples could see him in his glory. this is, i think, a great story to help you and me as we struggle with walking by faith. we want to see things; most of the time we don't really see the glory of jesus christ. but through the eyes of jesus' disciples, in the story told us in matthew 17, we get to peek, just one, glorious, brief time, at who he really is. halfway through chapter sixteen was a high moment; it was the thrill of acceleration up to the mountaintop. jesus said, "have you figured out who i am?" and after two years of surprising them with his humility and not acting like the messiah they thought they were getting ready for, he did not act like any

kind of king they had ever imagined. he said, "now who do you think i am? have i disappointed you so much that you have given up on me? who do other people say i am, but who do you say i am?" and of course, people had all different kinds of opinions. "he's a prophet." "he's an amazing physician" and blah blah blah, this and that. and jesus said, "but who do you think i am?" and peter said, "you are the christ, son of the living god." and jesus said, "yes! flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, peter, but only my father through the power of the word and power of the spirit has helped you figure out the truth. i am so excited about what you just said i am going to make your words the bedrock for foundation. i'm going to build my whole church on that confession of faith because that's the core message you're going to carry to the world." man, that's high praise! his pupil aced that test. that was an a++. it was like a hundred and one - you know where you get extra credit when you kind of butter up the teacher and do more than you have to and sometimes they give you an extra

credit point? he aced that test with extra credit and gold stars on the top. and then a few sentences later he tries to talk jesus out of going to the cross and jesus said, "get behind me"" and what name did he call him? "get behind me, satan!" so he went from the penthouse to the outhouse in one swing! there goes the hammer. first you're up looking at the sky and then whoa, all of a sudden you're ready to heave all over the ground underneath you. then jesus said, "i'm going to die. i'm going to suffer and be killed" and vertigo again - "oh no, don't do that," like, "oh no, disaster!" then he says, " "but i'll rise again." phew! and then he says, "you're going to have to pick up your cross and follow me and you think, "i don't want him to be crucified but frankly, i'm not all eager to be crucified either." so that's bad news. then he said, "but the son of man is coming in his father's glory and rewarding each person according to what he's done." so i get rescued!

then it goes back up again. now he is going to invite the disciples to go on a death walk with him. in six months he will be hanging on a cross. but to give them a faith boost to sustain them in the whip ride of their lives, in the hammer ride of their lives, he's going to let them see something they've never seen before. and here's how it went down: "jesus took with him peter, james and john brother of james, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. there heas transfigured before them," like a transformer. "his face shown like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light." now he had gone up to pray just like in the garden of gethsemane and luke tells us that they got drowsy. just like on the night he was betrayed, they were

starting to fall asleep. so when peter wakes up it's, "huh?" he thought he was tripping and dreaming, or something, and there is this glowing figure before them and then he's got company! moses and elijah were there, too. i don't know for sure how peter knew that it was moses and elijah - maybe they had nametags. "hi, my name is elijah." or maybe he had a jacket, like a blazer, maybe like a uniform, "no. 1 elijah," across the top. somehow, he knew. maybe just by the conversation or maybe jesus just sa, "how are you, elijah," and just used his name. but the three disciples who were crouching there first in ecstasy, then in terror, figured out jesus has company. so i'll come back to that in a minute, but the point is to get a sense of the scene you're looking at here. here is jesus christ looking as he would in heaven,

glowing. he's radiant, does not look like a dusty, traveling rabbi anymore. he clearly radiates holiness and power as he truly is. they saw him as he truly is and will be when we see him. up there on that mountain four extraordinary things happened as a transformational, or a transfigurational, event that the disciples knew: "we are watching heaven touch earth. something extraordinary is happening." and four supernatural things happened. first, was the shining of christ himself; so bright that they probably needed dark glasses for about a week after it. i hope they didn't suffer any retinal scarring from the brightness coming at them. they were able to see christ jesus shine as he really is with holiness and with love. then they got some visitors, too, and these were even more extraordinary and miraculous occurrences. elijah was there! now, you maybe know

that elijah never died - he was whisked up to heaven in a whirlwind accompanied by flame and chariots - you can read that story in the books of the kings. and elijah was perhaps the greatest prophet of the old testament, joined by moses. now moses did die but apparently he got an early resurrection. there's an obscure verse in the book of jude that satan himself was arguing with god about the body of moses and i think the easiest way to understand that peculiar little verse is first to realize that god just gives us a little taste of something we don't know about just to remind us to be humble in our own ignorance. but also, the idea that the devil thinks he got cheated out of holding onto moses' body - this was not merely just an illusion or a spirit representing moses, but moses' body himself was able to come and speak with elijah and sus. and this is important because it demonstrates the

concept of resurrection thatat lies ifront of all of us christians who have faith in christ. but this is an endorsement! christ was being encouraged by this. the gospel of st. luke adds to matthew's story by telling that they were speaking to christ about his suffering and death and resurrection; to encourage him. also, endorse him that he was not bringing about a completely new religion and throwing away their era, but that he was completing it; that he was fulfilling everything that moses and elijah had said would happen and completely their revelation. then came the fourth shocker : the immense, loud voice of the father who gave his personal endorsement to his son, jesus, thus demonstrating that they're tight; that the father and the son's plan for the rescue of the world was on track and about to be fulfilledfi. and the father's voice, as it had at his baptism

when he was anointed, that anointing publicly set him apart, chose him, put the father's choice on him, and then empowered him for that superhuman job he had to do. so choosing and power are the two concepts behind anointing and the father did it again right at this moment. and he said four significant things. he said, first of all, "this is my son." once again, this is not merely a traving rabbi. he travels; he goes with my authoritynd my identity. he's my son; a stupendous mystery. sons are always younger than their fathers, but jesus was the son of his heavenly father by the eternal generation, which is doctrine talk for the fact that he's always been the son. there was nenever a moment of birth fr him, but he always had that

relationship; a relationship that was about love and function, not about being inferior. i will always be inferior to my father. he has lived longer than me, i will always owe him deference and respect that he does not owe me in return. i always will look up to my father as long as he's alive and even after he isn't anymore, i still will look up to him as i hope my children will look up to me. jesus doesn't have to look up to his father insofar as he is god. so, "this is my son." he expressed that relationship. you need to know he is part of me. second, "i love him." we don't think about this too much, do we, but there's emotions between the persons of the holy trinity. did you ever think about that? the father loves his son. not only works with him, not only operates with him, not only plans withth him, but loves him;

they love each other. and jesus fed off of that. same as you need not only to be aware of god's existence and not only benefiting by his working in your life, but we're hungry for love. god wired the human beings for that and jesus needed to hear those words because "i love you" is like gasoline in your car. it's consnsumable; you burn it up. and just as every husband knows if you say, "well, i don't need to tell my wife i love her this year because i said it once, i'm already covered. i said it in january, so i'm covered for this whole year." only an idioiot would say that, someone who is soon to be an ex-husband. "i love you" are consumable words, we burn them off, and we need to hear it expressed. and in his human vulnerability jesus christ needed that valentine from his father: "i love you." and he drew strength from that, that affirmation of that special

relationship. third, he said, "with him i am well pleased" and man, you better pay attention to that because the fatr here is saying, "he's doing everything right, just the way i laid out for him." as a human being, not as insofar he's god, but as a human being jesus needed to be obedient to his father in order to carry out the rescue plan for only if the father was pleased and satisfied with his work would he agree to transfer guilt and punishment onto christ and off of you and take the holiness and acceptance off of jesus and put it on you. only if the father liked how everything went down are you and i pardoned and free. and so when the father said, "i'm pleased with his work, i'm pleased with him and pleased with his work," that's great news for you and me for this shows that our plan of forgiveness is underway and god's loving every minute of it. at age thirty-three, or just

about thirty-three, jesus was doing everything exactly on track to carry out the marvelous plan to give you immortality and a happy relationship with your god. and the fourth thing he said was, "li ten to him." authority from the father was given to christ who is not only your priest, offering a great sacrifice to buy you forgiveness, but he's also your teacher. he is your great prophet and god said, "i want you to listen to his words because they're coming from me. you're not just hearing a rabbi giving various opinions; you are hearing a divine representative who is revealing your god to you. he is my ultimate in self-revelation." in fact, the gospel of john uses a splendid word to describe jesus christ, a splendid metaphor, and john's gospel begins, "in the beginning was the" what? "was the word." words reveal. jesus reveals our

god to us. "listen to him," this urgent call from the bright cloud is listen to this one who now shines before you. and peter's babbling. he says, "man, it's good to be here. we got to have some headquarters here. i'm going to put up three shelters; one for you, one foror moses, oe for elijah. this is going to b like our campaign headquarters. this is going to be the pentagon for the new world order." it's time. like, begun the war has. "we are ready to go now and now it's time for the power and the glory. now i see the glory! now it's time and we, of course, will be right here for some senior jobs in your new administration, king jesus. we're rolling now and let's set up headquarters, let's freeze this moment and no more talk of this crucifixion stuff," and suddenly he looked up and when

they heard the voice from god they were so terrified it knocked them flat and they did another hammer ride moment. he's in ecstasy, power and glory are here and i'm wallowing in it. the father speaks, terrifies them and whomp - all of a sudden vertigo and they're down, facedown in the ground, in terror. and somebody touched them and said, "get up. it's okay, don't worry." and they looked around and all the glory is gone and everything is normal again and jesus said, "don't be afraid. and in fact, don't tell anybody what you've seen until i've been raised from the dead. nobody else is ready for this. in fact, you're not even ready for it. in fact, the true value of what you saw isn't going to be useful to your ministry probably for some time yet. only upon reflection and help from the holy spirit will you get it." but here's what jesus wanted peter to get; here's what he wants youo get from this. first of all, as you look at this - here's the "so what," here's our takeaway - you are looking at the god you worship.

jesus is not merely an interesting philosopher with some tips about living. his word is not a how-to manual, how to tune up your life a little bit, how to get more out of life, how to enjoy life a little bit more, like incrementally to ratchet up your enjoyment. how to get a little more of this, how to be happy. it's not a how-to manual, primarily. it's the record of the coming to earth of god himself in person to bear in himself the sin and guilt of the world; to take your guilt and give you his holiness through faith, to connect you to life, to replace the death that's in you. to give you hope of immortality in a dying world. to give you your mission so you can function for something more valuable thajust striving for your own comfort and money.

second, he gives you the light at the end of the tunnel so that you have hope, you know what you're headed for; that you don't have to be afraid. that's the most beautiful way of, i think, putting the gospel's message in a small phrase easy to remember. god comes to you through christ and says, "don't be afraid." it doesn't matter what you're going through - pick up your cross and follow me - but don't be afraid. you win in the end. jesus' disciples in the upper room in a few months from now are going to be chattering with fear when jesus is laying out all the suffering he's going through and he said, "hey guys, in the world you will have trouble. but don't be afraid. i have overcome the world." and by letting you see a peek of jesus' glory it's like the light ahead. we're not just going down, down, down; things aren't just unraveling until we're crushed and broken completely. we're not just pretending and tap dancing

and faking and bluffing our way through life only to have the hammer come down at the end, but we win! "i have overcome the world," and everyone who trusts and believes in jesus christ has overcome along with him. forgiven, you are immortal. forgiven, the son of god makes you sons and daughtersrs of god. his relationship with the father which was tight, which was perfect, becomes your relationship with god. enemies are now friends. your judge is now your dadaddy. your worst nightmare has become your best friend. this is what we see as we look at that miracle. and encouraged and endorsed by the great leaders of god's old testament people. as we look at moses and elijah, now radiant, their bodies no longer bear any trace of weakness, sickness or death. and as moses was alive

again after death, you will be too. you're looking at a little preview, like a little clip, of a movie you're going to get to enjoy in its fullness. but this is your preview; this is what we're headed for. now you can pick up your cross, whatever that means. and as our lord jesus had meant much to suffer before his glory, you and i are not going to have heaven on rth. and it's so important that we not fantasize about having it all now. there is much struggle to go yet. but at the end we win. at the end is the glory. and i want to encourage you to hang on. that's why jesus said, "don't go telling anybody because everybody's going to want heaven on earth and you're going to start trying to talk me out of the crucifixion again of my suffering and death." so he said, "just keep your traps shut about this event that you just saw until the time is right." and you and i, too, have to work on guarding against cheating and trying to have it all now

because we won't. or, here's an even more important thing, if you look at what's broken in your life, don't draw the wrong conclusions from that; that god doesn't like you anymore. that god is powerless, that you're alone, that you're being judged. that you're being condemned, that you're worthless, that it's just going to keep getting worse and worse. you can look at the hardships in your life, whether it's a physical hardship, whether your body is breaking down prematurely on you. whether you have relationship brokenness, people around you have hurt you. when you have been hurt by another human being. when you've struggled financially, just in survival, keeping alive, keeping shelter over your head and food coming in to your mouth. when that's breaking down you do not have to interpret that as judgment from god or that you're a loser or thatt's just going to keep going down. that just means you are participating, as st. paul said, in the sufferings of christ. that's your piece of dirt that you've got to eat like

everybody else because of the broken world we live in. but you're not going to have heaven on earth but you will have heaven in heaven and here's a preview of the certainty of it that we're headed for. now if this sounds like good news to you then say, "amen." insert languages different languages, different countries, different kinds of people but yet, everyone is valuable and precious to our god. time of grace is bringing good news of jesus far and wide but onlnly in english. how can they hearnd understand god's word if it's in a language they don't know? help us to bring the gospel to people not only in english, but the other great rld languages of spanish and mandarin chinese. we

are not going to quit until the whole world hears. help us in this vital project. i need your support! would you pray and consider giving your best gift today? to give your best gift today, call 800-661-3311 or visit timeofgrace.org/give. i'm glad to have a chance to be with you one-on-one to say thank you. you know, through the miracle of mass media and through the unbelievable miracle of broadcast and satellite distribution and cable delivery and the internet, you and i are able to have aonversation though we may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away. that miracle is made possible by the gifts of friends of time of grace. and to all of you whose financial support has made time of grace possible, i want to say thank you. you really matter to what we do and you make my heart glad. let me invite you - if you are not t yet part of our giving team - as let me invite you

today to pray and consider becoming part of the team. i'd like to tell you a little bit about the book that i've written. it's called, "straight talk," and it's based on people's letters of things that were bugging them, things they wondered about in the bible, and they wondered if god had an answer. that book, "straight talk," is yours for a gift of twelve dollars. justst get in touch with us. either give us a call, or write to us via email, or send us a letter, or you can go on our website. i'd like to pray with you about relationships that really matter, especially about god's. heavenly father, you and the spirit and your son are tight together. your plans are one. your operations together on behalf of a lost human race are together and united. we ank you and praise you for the wonderful relationship that you have with each other and how close our savior was with his father during his ministry. we

pray that we will appreciate all that you do for us. in jesus' name, amen. for time of grace, i'm pastor mark jeske, assuring you of god's grace now and always. in the summer issue of time of grace magazine, pastor jeske reflects on our lives as christians running the race to heaven. a mother of an autistic young man relates his grace story. read about standing firm alongside jesus in a secular society. and learn more about the ministries, events, and news. request a copy or a pdf download today at timeofgrace.org/store or by calling our 800 number. sign up for pastor jeske's bible studies for busy people and receive grace moment's devotions in our email in-box each mornin visit timeofgrace.org/moments or text the word "moments" to 228-28 for more information. helping you reach the next level of your christian life is a driving

passion for mark jeske and the ministry team at time of grace. when you visit teofgrace.org you'll find more resources than ever including videoeo exteoras, social media connections, new products, plus our prayer ministry, all at timeofgrace.org. and pray about becoming a grace partner, an exclusive group of partners and donors who are committed to help us expand mark jeske's teaching ministry around the world. just call 1-800-661-3311 or visit us at timeofgrace.org. thanks for watching and join us again next time for mark jeske and time of grace! the preceding program has been made possible by the friends and partners of time of ♪

[ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. trusted heartburn relief that goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums!

good morning, america. this morning, breaking news. a massive multi-state man hunt is over. >> hannah is coming home. >> hannah anderson rescued, her alleged kidnapper shot dead in the idaho wilderness by an elite fbi hostage rescuer. how the fbi got their man and how she's doing. >> and reverse, gas prices plunging as the peak driving season comes to an end. plus why we are likely to pay even less at the pump next year. >> and the mystery and intrigue surrounding the most famous painting on earth.