The Word of the Lord Tries | Ep. 129

This episode takes you on a journey, weaving through the moments when scripture and life's trials test our beliefs. From the comforting resilience of Abraham in the face of uncertainty to the steadfast obedience of Joshua at Jericho, we explore how the experiences of these patriarchs of the faith mirror our own spiritual growth. 

Whether it's navigating the complexities of our own hearts or standing firm through the trials that shape our faith, the stories from the Bible offer profound insights into enduring life's challenges. Reflecting on Moses' perseverance against skepticism and Joshua's unwavering trust in God's unusual strategy, this episode encourages listeners to find their own strength in divine promises. As we consider the tests of faith encountered by these biblical figures, we also delve into how endurance, obedience, and humility play pivotal roles in our spiritual journey.

To conclude, I share my heart about the scriptures that have been my anchor amidst life's tumultuous seas, and the imperative of humility and reliance on God's providence. Whether you're navigating family dynamics or the professional sphere, our episode serves as a testament to the enduring strength and comfort that faith in God provides His covenant people. I encourage you to reflect upon your own experiences with His faithfulness, as you reaffirm your faithwalk and trust in God's unwavering love.

Chapters

• 0:54 Personal Testimony
• 14:38 The Word(s) of the Lord are Testing Us.
• 31:12 Exodus' Plagues tries Moses
• 37:42 Encircling Jericho tries Joshua
• 51:11 God tests us for us to know our own hearts

Transcript

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:03

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much-needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose. Good morning, saints Just remembered a testimony, so I'm going to take the opportunity to share with you very briefly on something that happened to me yesterday that only a few members of my family know happened. It's Saturday, labor Day weekend. Get your three-day weekend to yourself.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:49

I'm sitting on my recliner, I'm trying to get into the Word because I know I've got something to share and I just kind of prepared in advance for it. But I needed to sort of meditate on it again. And we get the interruptions you know the ones that knock on your door. And so we got the JWs coming in first and they want to leave a pamphlet and they've got a JW. org button on their thing and I'm like, no, no, no, no, I'm not of the JW faith. Thank you very much. And so they kind of just go away Two elder ladies. So I go back to my recliner, I'm sitting on the couch and I'm trying to get into the Word, I don't know. Maybe half an hour, 40 minutes later, another knock on the door. I'm like, are you serious? They're here again. So I get back up and I get out there and it's an independent Baptist church nearby and two elder men are talking about how they have an independent Baptist church over there down the street and and we're just, you know, trying to visit people and all of this stuff. And um, I said no, I appreciate it. And he said, well, I just want to figure out if you guys have a church to go to. And then I said yes, yes, we go to Watkinsville. He's like Watkinsville, is that that big, big, big church in Watkinsville? I said Watkinsville, is that that big, big, big church in Watkinsville? No, no, it's not the big, big, big church down in Watkinsville.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 2:10

And they said okay, okay, and so you're already going through, but that's kind of far, isn't it? I said yeah, but when the Lord has you in the right place, then it's the right place. So he says well, okay, well, let me just ask you a question. And I was like, okay. He says well, if you were to die today, would you know for sure that you were going to go to heaven and be with Jesus. And I said, yes, but you got it. Okay, now I have to describe it to you because in the moment my heart was palpitating, it was, I just went and I had to have an answer. And I knew what the answer was, but I didn't know how it was going to come out. But it just came out and when I said, I said no, I absolutely know for sure that I'm going to heaven to be with Jesus, because I know that I've obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said he was coming back in flaming fire taking vengeance on them who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord, jesus Christ. And we all know that the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 3:03

And we know that Peter preached the message to those that were listening that they needed to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And I've done that, so I'm sure. And then he just sort of, you see, he kind of backed off and he says, so, are you a preacher? And I'm like, well, technically, yeah, I am, I'm going to be preaching this Sunday and yeah, yeah, so, yeah, I'm an elder in my church and yeah, so I'm serving there. And he says, oh well, you know we don't want to take you away from your serving, from your church, but you know it's not works right. And I'm like, no, but you do have to obey. And I just kind of left it at that. We kind of just greeted each other goodbye and said, okay, so long.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 3:50

And so that was my testimony. I don't do it to impress y'all because I can honestly say it was going inside my heart and it was good that I had the answer. But I could tell you that that answer was spit out so clearly because I studied that. That's something that came from my study, something that I had to sort of give a message at Upward Basketball in the Center Hill Church and that kind of. You know that was a part of the message but it just encapsulated there. You know, I gave a like five minute thing and I just encapsulated in about 25 seconds what I, what I shared with him. So I say that to encourage you not to show off, but to encourage you that if you will get in the word, even if you got into the word years ago to get it. He'll bring it to your remembrance and you will be able to spit it out and be a testimony for the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 4:41

Amen, so I sent out a text to y'all, and it was from Psalm 1 05: 19. And it was talking about a man named Joseph, and this man had been put in bondage. He was in jail. No, he was in jail, he was in prison, and I think you all remember his story, how he got to prison and he was in jail. No, he was in jail, he was in prison, and I think you all remember his story, how he got to prison. He was in jail for about two years.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 5:07

And it says the psalmist David said, recounting that testimony, that until the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him. Think about what that means, because that's the message of today, that the word of the Lord tries. And as I thought about that, I mean I don't know why the Lord popped that out at me. I've heard that from before. Actually, bishop shared it with me and caught my attention years ago and for some reason, it caught my attention again recently that I felt like the Lord is leading me to share it in this manner.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 5:50

I don't want to talk about Joseph although I will get to Joseph but just about that scripture about him, that the word of the Lord tried him. And I began to start meditating on the word, as we we should. When we're trying to understand, when we're trying to get a deeper revelation, you start realizing that every testimony in the scriptures testifies to that scripture itself, that the word of the Lord tries him. So let's go back to the beginning. I had a picture. Can the picture be shown? I'm going to kind of, because you know we have our condition about getting into the scriptures and how many scriptures. I want to use this kind of chart here and I just want to go and kind of talk about the testimonies that were given to us. You know, this is Genesis, this is the people in the Genesis. Sorry, this is not big enough for you. And then we have the other books of the Bible and it talks about the dates, it talks about how long people lived.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 6:48

But I want to go back to the beginning. Is this word true? For in the beginning, in the beginning, we had Adam and Adam was told by the Lord Son, you can eat of every tree that you see, as far as the eye can see. You can eat of every tree that you see. Just, you can't eat from this one, from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because he said in the day that you eat of it you're going to die. He told Adam straight up. That was the word of the Lord. And almost immediately because we don't know how much time passed Adam was tried in that word. Because in that moment, a little bit later on, he had named all the animals. The Lord put him to sleep and gave him woman, and both he and his woman were to tend all that there was, take dominion over all the earth.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 7:51

And all of a sudden the serpent comes in and doesn't come to Adam, comes to Eve and begins to throw doubt on the word and throw begins to throw doubt on the word and throw a seed of jealousy. Because the serpent said in the day you eat of it, you'll be just like God. And notice he didn't talk to the man, talk to the woman and notice that when she ate of it, nothing changed. Remember how it said when he ate of it, then they saw that they were naked, but it didn't happen. When she ate of it, she gave to him to eat. Nothing had changed with her. When she ate of it, she gave to him to eat. Nothing had changed with her. But the word of the Lord was being tried in Adam through his wife, and he failed, as we all know, because we're all suffering the effects of his failure. Nothing happened to Eve until he sinned. When he sinned, their eyes were open.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 9:07

And what is death? Did they know what death was? They were in a state of perfection. They were in a state of eternity, because everything that he created was good. There was nothing that was not good. There was nothing that was not corrupt before. There was nothing that was not corrupt before them. But when he sinned, things changed. It said in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. That had a lot of different connotations, but put yourself in his position.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 9:42

What happened as a consequence of his eating, that fruit of his disobedience to the word of the Lord, is that he was rejected from the garden of Eden. He was cast out, him and his wife. And so he begins to live life on earth differently, changed. He has relations and he knows his wife and they begin to have children and it says specifically they had Cain and Abel. Obviously they must have had some other daughters, but they don't mention those. But Cain and Abel lived for a certain period of time before we know what happened to Cain and Abel.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 10:20

Remember all that time Adam was like well, what's death? I know I got cast out of the garden, was that it? When did he find out what death was? When his son died Because his son ceased to exist and Adam had a part in his son ceasing to exist and Adam had a part in his son ceasing to exist. He might not have brought down the dagger or whatever the sharp instrument was or whatever it was that killed Abel, but it was because of his sin that his own son died From the hands of his other son. And then he knew what death was A cessation of life in the existence that he had come to know. And then he continued living. The scriptures give testimony that he lived for 930 years and he must have seen many children of his born and many of his children's children born and many of their children's children born. He almost lived to when Noah was alive, but then he died and then he came to know what death was. He died, and then he came to know what death was.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 11:50

I come to another descendant of Adam. His name was Noah. Noah was found favor in God's sight and God came to him and said I'm about done with this earth. The end of the flesh of all the earth has come before me and I'm about to wipe them out, Noah. It's filled with violence. Through them. I'm going to destroy this earth, Noah. And so there, the word of the Lord comes to Noah.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 12:23

And we know that around the age of 500, Noah had his three sons, H am, Shem and Japheth. And that word of the destruction of the earth is now trying. Noah, will you believe me? Because I'm telling you, I'm taking out the earth. And his sons had just been born. But you know what? His sons weren't born and then, immediately the day after, had wives, did they? Obviously not. They had to grow. Then they probably became adults. Who knows what age they were, but they came of age where they could now have children.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 13:05

And all that time that Noah had his three children, the destruction of the earth had not come. So let's just say for speculation that they lived for at least 30 years and still no destruction of the earth. He had heard a word at 500. And here he is raising three children who are now having their own wives, and still the destruction of the earth had not come. The word of the Lord was trying him, testing him. Will you hold fast to my word Now? What do we know Noah was doing all of that time? It says he obeyed the Lord, he was building an ark and he built the ark for 100 years. It said it did not rain and begin to flood upon the earth until the age of 600. So his children must have been between the ages of, let's say, one in a hundred, and they had their wives with them. And then it is when the rains came down and the earth broke up and the floods came rushing up, and then he destroyed all the earth and the word of the Lord came to pass. But all through that time, do not think that Noah did not have any struggle with the fact that He said He was going to destroy the earth and it still has not come, because the testings of the ancestors that we have in the faith are the same testings that we have today.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 14:38

There are words that have been spoken to us either audibly, through the voice of the Lord or through the written word of God that is testing us. We have been called with a higher calling and our standards are of a higher plane and those standards are calling us and testing us and trying us today. Will we stand up for him when that moment arises and there's pressure and there's antagonism and there's conflict? The word of the Lord is trying us to see what we will do. Where is our hearts in our relationship with him? Will we stand when it is necessary that we stand?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 15:27

The next testimony comes from a man named Abram, another descendant of Adam. And you know that His father, Terah, had three sons Abraham and I forget the other two. I can go look at it, but that's not a big deal right now. But he also had triplets and it says that Abraham's brother died. And then Terah took his two sons and his son's son Lot and they went away to the land of Canaan and when they did that, then he called out Abraham and He said I want you to leave. As a matter of fact, it was Haran. That was the name. Haran was Abraham's brother and they went to the region of Haran to live, maybe in honor of him, but they went to Haran and eventually Terah died, Abraham's father.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 16:25

And then it is that the Lord spoke to Abraham, came to him and said I want you to leave your family, I want you to leave your country, I want you to leave your father's house, I want you to go to the land that I will show you and I'm going to make you a great nation and I'm going to bless you. And anybody that blesses you, I will bless them, and anybody that curses you, I will curse them. In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed, and that was the word of the Lord given to Abraham, who was Abram at the time, and that was the word of the Lord that would try him as he continued on walking with God. Will you believe that I will bless you? Will you believe that all the families of the earth will you be blessed? And he comes and tells him later. Will you believe that all your descendants will number as the stars are in the sky? And he keeps giving him words and he keeps trying, because the word of the Lord, when you receive it, will begin to try you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 17:28

But don't think that Abraham was there without any shadow of a doubt, without any moments of unbelief, because there was a moment in time where Abraham kind of confronted God and he said what are you going to give me? I don't even have a child. He said to him I have Eleazar in my house of Damascus. He's my servant, he's the one that's going to inherit everything. And he says to the Lord what are you going to give me? I don't even have a child. Don't think that Abraham had a nice brisk walk in the park on a nice cool summer day with the wind blowing and he was just all fine and dandy? He wasn't. It tried him Because he was called around the age of 75 and he did not have his son for many years. And you all know the testimony of his wife saying why don't you lay with my handmaid Hagar? Maybe that's how it's going to come to pass. Maybe that's how we'll have the blessing, because how it's going to come to pass, maybe that's how we'll have the blessing, because otherwise it's going to our servant, Abraham. And we know that he fell, we know that he tried to bring the promise of his word to pass. And then we also know how. When Ishmael was born, he was born at the age of 86 years old. That means from 75 to 86,. Abraham had been waiting 11 years and his patience was being tried. He wasn't having a walk in the park. He was wondering where is this child coming from? And so he thought let me lie with Hagar, because Sarah's just too old. And then we know what happened when Ishmael was born.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 19:25

Then Hagar and Sarai, his wife at the time, were having problems. There was jealousy in the midst. She began to hate her, so much so that Hagar one day had to run away from the hand of Sarai, run into the wilderness where there was nothing. There was no one. It says. She took her child in her arms and the child was crying and she put him next to the brook and left him there to die, because she could not stand to watch her own son die before her of hunger. It says that the angel of the Lord came to her and told her go back, go back and submit yourself to Sarai. And when the word of the Lord comes to you, it begins to try you, and it tried Hagar. Was she going to obey the angel of the Lord who told her go back, return to your mistress, submit yourself unto her hand. But she's been so wicked to me. She hates me, she told's been so wicked to me, she hates me. She told her husband to lie with me. It wasn't even my fault and you want me to go back. And what did she do? She went back Because the word of the Lord tried her as well.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 21:06

Lord came around again because he had these moments and they seem to be seasonal. It doesn't seem like Abraham was walking, you know, side by side with God every day. But it was just these moments where the Lord just come walking by and then Abraham sees him and says, oh, whoa, whoa, you know, let me talk with him. And then they sit down together and they have, you know, food. Sarah, go get the stuff. You know, go get the calf. And you know, go get dinner ready.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 21:25

And he's there and talking with Abraham and God says you're going to have a child and it's going to be through Sarai. And then Sarah laughs in her heart and God says you're laughing? And she says, no, I didn't. And God said, yes, you did. It's very comical if you read it, but it's so true to reality. Because what happens to us when we get caught in a lie? He said no, no, no, that wasn't me. Our children do the same thing. It wasn't me, it was somebody, but it wasn't me. It was nobody but it wasn't me. You know somebody and nobody. They're never around when something needs to be dealt with.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 22:10

So at the age of 99, now we're talking 24 years later he says you're going to have about this time season, you're going to have a child. And it is then that Abraham then circumcised himself. He circumcised his whole house. He obeyed the word of the Lord and noticed that there's that blood element because God made a covenant with Abraham and affirmed it to him whole house. He obeyed the word of the Lord and noticed that there's that blood element because God made a covenant with Abraham and affirmed it to him You're gonna have a son. And then Abraham did his slicing of the foreflesh, of the skin and a year later he had a child. And the word of the Lord tried him all throughout those years. Because that's what it does he gives you a word and he says are you going to believe me, are you going to hold fast to the word that I'm giving you? And just because the son came to pass the child of promise, not the child of the flesh the word of the Lord kept on trying him Because he said and through you, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, and through your son, Isaac, will I make my covenant with. And then he challenges Abraham again Go up to the mount, sacrifice your only son. And it is then, when he's about to sacrifice his only son, that the Lord says I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven, as the sand on which is on the seashore, and your descendants shall possess the gates of their enemies. And he confirmed the covenant again.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 23:57

Now, Abraham and Abram is the same man that when push came to shove, he lied to Pharaoh about his wife and said no, that's my sister. Abraham is the same man that lied to King Abimelech years later, for the very same reason, because he was afraid for his life, and he said no, no, no, that's my sister, because back then you wanted a woman. You take out the man. This is Abram. This is Abraham. This is the father of the faith. He's our example and it's not somebody we shake our head and say, oh gosh, poor guy, just dismal. No, we're just the same way. The word of the Lord is trying us and God doesn't quit on us just because we may have a moment of doubt or a moment of hesitation or a moment of disbelief, because he knows our heart and he knows what he's requiring us is difficult, but he's made a way.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 25:03

Abraham, after he had his son Isaac, lived another 75 years. It says that when his wife died, about 20, 30 years later, that he then took in another wife and with that wife he had six more sons. So he had lots of children he had, and all he needed was one to be able to populate the whole earth. But he had Ishmael, six more over here, and then he had Isaac. So he died at 175 years of age and one of his descendants is the next testimony you had Joseph.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 25:46

Joseph, at the age of 17, began to have dreams of sheaves bowing down to him, of the sun, the moon and the stars bowing down to him. He begins to receive prophetic words and immediately the word of the Lord begins to try Joseph, because after that his own ten brothers stick him in a pit, beat him up, kind of walk away for a brief period of time, and the Midianites come by, they take him out of the pit, they sell him to the Ishmaelites, who then sell him to Egypt, and his brothers come back and then they're flabbergasted. Where's Joseph? Where did he go? He couldn't get out of here on his own and so they lied to their father. We know the testimony of that. But as soon as he's in Egypt, he's then sold as a slave and then he works in Potiphar's house. And we know the testimony of how he works in Potiphar's house.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 26:53

But the thing is the time element. He received the word of the Lord at 17 years of age and almost immediately, through the circumstances of his brothers, he is sold into slavery. And now he's been taken by force to Egypt. And you know how long he serves in Potiphar's house 11 years. And that dream of the sheaves and the sun, the moon and the stars bowing down to him is on his mind. What was that all about? Was that me? Was I just prideful, like my brothers accused me of? What was that all about?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 27:36

But the word of the Lord was trying him, as the psalmist David said. And even in that moment, after 11 years, you know that he's been falsely accused. And then he has to serve prison time. And there that word of the Lord is in his mind. What was that about? The sheaves bowing down to me, the sun and the moon and the stars bowing down to me. I'm in prison for crying out loud. What are you doing? I must be hearing voices. I must have not have heard the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 28:08

But yet you know that he became second in command of all of Egypt and by the time he had met his brothers again, it was the late 30s. When did he receive the word? At 17. That means at least 20 some odd years had passed before the fulfillment of his word that his family would bow down to him. What do all of these testimonies have in common to me is this timing element. They were tried for years, years and years and years.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 28:49

Abraham, 930 years before he actually died. Noah, 100 years before the floods actually came. Abraham, 25 years before the actual son of promise came. Joseph, 20 some odd years before he actually saw what this dream was about and that truly it was of the Lord, and his heart was what you have planned for my evil, God planned for good. And he didn't hold any grief or hurt or resentment, or hatred or evil toward his brothers, but he loved them with the greatest of compassion.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 29:40

We come to Moses. Moses raised in the Pharaoh's house 40 years. 40 years. He was raised in the Pharaoh's house before he killed an Egyptian Case you didn't know. And when he killed the Egyptian he went into the wilderness for 40 years, found a wife, had a child or a couple children, and then the burning bush happens and he's called again from where he was at so 80 years have passed in his life to where he was called on Mount Horeb to go back to Egypt and get my people out. The Lord said to him 80 years, and we know the testimony of what happened when he went back to Egypt I'm going to deliver them, I'm going to get them out of Egypt, Moses, through your hand, through your mouth, you'll take the rod and you'll do it. And we know that he had to send Moses and Aaron because Moses didn't think he was capable of doing it. So Aaron had to be his mouthpiece and so he sent the both of them. And Moses is saying to him who am I to go before Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? The word of the Lord is already trying him. Who am I Like Gideon? Who am I? You must be mistaken, Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 31:12

And we know what happened every time a plague came. Talk about the first plague that came, what happened? Did they come out of Egypt? No, it got even harder for the Israelites. And when they got dumped on the Israelites, then dumped on Moses, and the dumping kept going on. Moses had to take the brunt of it. Pharaoh said you know what. You're going to bring this plague on me More work for you. I want you to do double in half the time. And so the Israelites obviously were not happy. Israelites started rising up against Moses. What are you doing, Moses? So what? You changed a staff to a snake. We're working doubly hard here Moses.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 32:07

And every time a plague came, Moses was tested. Every time a plague came, Moses was tested with the word of the Lord I am going to deliver Israel through you. I am going to get them out of Egypt through you, not once, not twice, not three times, not four, not five, not six, not seven. Ten times. It had to happen. Ten times. Moses was tried. And when the Lord told Moses, put the blood on the doorpost, he was tried with the word of the Lord Are you going to obey me? It seems silly, but the angel of death is coming and that's the only thing that's going to mark you as to not be touched.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 32:49

And then Moses is beyond 80 years of age. Yes, the Lord's word was found true. He did deliver them out of Egypt and the Lord gave him more words about taking them into the promised land. Take them into the wilderness so that they may worship me. But we're going to go to the promised land and then he has to suffer another 40 years in the wilderness with a bunch of rebellious children whom he had to stand in the gap for and intercede for them because they were about to get wiped out.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 33:24

So now we're talking about 120 years that the word of the Lord is trying this man. We don't even live that long anymore. Some of us can't stand the word of the Lord for a year or two before we're busting out and going off on our own. And the sad thing about it is he's tried for 40 years in the house of Pharaoh. He's tried for 40 years in the wilderness alone. Then he's tried for 40 years in the wilderness again after he brings the Israelites out of Egypt, only at the end to be denied even going into the promised land. He can't even go see the promised land. He forfeited his inheritance of going into the promised land. He can only see it from a distance.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 34:17

But that's what God called him to do, and he was a type of Jesus, in a sense, that someone else needed to bring them into the promised land. It could not be Moses, because Moses represented what the law. It had to be, Joshua. And so God knew that beforehand, that I'm calling you to take this role, in this position, because it would speak to my people in the future of what has to get them into the promised land, and it will not be the law that I've given you, Moses. It will be grace and truth through my son. He has to lead them into the promised land. And so we come to Joshua.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 34:59

Joshua's given testimonies, Joshua's given the word of the Lord. God said I'm going to be with you, Joshua, like I was with Moses. You know how I was with Moses and we parted the Red Sea together. You know how I was with Moses and he struck the rock and we brought water out. You know how I was with Moses doing all of these miracles and bringing manna. I'm going to be with you just like that, Joshua. We know that Moses died.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 35:25

Moses was buried, but before he was buried, Moses commissioned Joshua to go lead them into the promised land. Take them in with Caleb, because only Joshua and Caleb could go in with the rest of the descendants that had all passed away. And Joshua's testimony is a snapshot of our daily battles, of our grind, of our trials, because once we receive the word of the Lord, we have to go into the promised land, and it's not going to be a walk in the park. There's going to be contention, there's going to be conflict, but we must walk by faith, not by sight. The original Israelites that should have gone in walked by sight and they never got to get into the promised land.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 36:14

The descendants had to walk by faith and the first thing that came to them were the impenetrable walls of Jericho. Are you going to walk by faith or are you going to walk by sight? Can I not take care of these walls like I took care of the Pharaoh? Can I not take care of these walls like I took care of the Red Sea? Can I not take care of these walls like I took care of feeding them with water and with manna? Do you not believe in me Now? Joshua heard.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 36:43

Joshua obeyed Just like Noah and just like his fathers before him, but they had to go through some things. He said you need to walk around this city once for six days straight and you need to have your horns blaring. And it's not going to make much sense, because all of Israel, all the multitude, the men, the women, the children, they had all surrounded Jericho. No one was able to come in or out. They were walled up. And then he said that the men of valor, the valiant men, the army men had to go around with the Levites who were taking the ark and the musical instrument and they had to lead and they had to just go around once, blare their horns and go back to your tribes. Now that don't make much sense. How are we taking care of this wall? We should be building a battering ram. We should be building some sort of you know catapult trying to take this thing down.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 37:42

But the Lord didn't say to do that. Are you going to believe in my word Now? He told Joshua you do this seven times and then on the seventh day it's going to come falling flat when you shout. Now Joshua knew that. He didn't tell anybody else, he just said yeah, we got to walk, we're going to march around. So they did it for six days.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 38:00

Now imagine what Joshua was going through after the first day, Israelites coming back Boy, that was hot. I don't know what we're doing this for, but Joshua was the leader. He was commissioned, all right. Second day that was hot. What's going on here? They're making fun of us. Anybody ever seen the VeggieTale video? They're just making fun of them. Anybody ever seen the VeggieTale video? They're just making fun of them. What are these Israelites doing? Oh, boy, so they do it a third time, and a fourth time, and a fifth time and a sixth time. And it's like what are we doing this for? Joshua knew, Joshua heard the word of the Lord and on that seventh day they marched around seven times and they blared their trumpets and when they shouted, the walls fell flat. True to the word of the Lord. But you can imagine what kind of talk was going on every time. They came back, every day. What are we doing? This is not how you go engage in battle. What is going on here? We have swords, we have shields. What are we doing? Marching around. But then it happened. And then they saw and they knew.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 39:12

Now Brother Luther talked about two weeks ago yeah, we missed last Sunday, two weeks ago. He talked about what happened right after Jericho. He talked about how they took the things that were under the ban, the things that were cursed, into their home and they went to battle. They didn't think anything of it. We just took down Jericho. God took down the walls. We wiped them all out. Woo, let's go to battle again. And they wanted to go to battle and then they got wiped out. Oh my gosh, talk about this is not. This is not like a slide, a water slide down. That is so easy. It's like a battle up a mountain and then we fall down and we fall backward. What is going on? Yet the word of the Lord is trying us. Are you going to give up? And he made a very good Brother.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 40:04

Luther made a very good point. He highlighted the fact that every time you come engaged in a battle, your first response should be to go seek the Lord. I don't know if that jumped out at you, but it jumped out at me when he said it last week. Because they didn't really seek the Lord. When did they seek the Lord? After they got whooped. Then Joshua and the elders all prostrated themselves before the Lord. What is going on? Why did we not win this battle?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 40:32

So remember, when you engage in conflict. When there's things coming at you, don't just press up into it and try to do it in your own strength. Make sure you consult with the Lord first, make sure you're in right standing with Him before you take steps of faith. Because if you're not in right standing with Him and you take steps of faith, he may let you get beat until you come correct with Him. And then, when you straighten those crooked paths, you will be untouchable, you'll be undefeatable. But it's all about your faith. Where is your faith when he tries you? Because he's coming back to the earth and will he find faith in the earth? And biblical faith is when you hear the word of the Lord, do you obey. That is the faith he's seeking. That is the faith that he's after.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 41:28

Now remember, God said to Joshua as I was with Moses, I am going to be with you. And here he is, defeated, not knowing what was going on. But not to reiterate the message that Brother Luther gave last week, we all know what did actually take place and how they dealt with it. And then they made their crooked past straights and then they were to walk on before with the Lord. But that wasn't the only battle that Joshua had. As a matter of fact, he had to go against five kings at the same time, five armies, five kings, and he had to go against them. But yet God said to Joshua I will be with you as I was with Moses. Do not fear, do not be dismayed. Now Joshua was the one that kind of hung around Moses when Moses was ministering. So Joshua wasn't a young in then. He was probably over 20. I would say he may have been 30 or 40., but Joshua had to go through the wilderness and so that's another 40 years. So when Joshua started his campaign it's very likely he was beyond 70, 80. Because when he died he was 110. That's a long time that the word of the Lord tried him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 43:02

The next testimony, I think, is David, and you may find some similarities between the numbers and some of the numbers I spoke of previously. But David was anointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel while Saul was already the king of Israel and he waited. Anybody know how long he waited until he was actually established as the king of Israel 40 years. And all through those 40 years he tried to faithfully serve Saul, while Saul took a javelin and tried to stab him, while Saul, for the next 40 years of his reign, tried to take down David whenever he had a chance. If he wasn't fighting another enemy, he was going after David. And here he has been anointed, rightfully, by Saul Samuel, a prophet of the Lord that has been recognized by all of Israel. And yet he is not king.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 44:01

And so the word of the Lord tried David for 40 years. That's a long time, especially when the rightful king is also trying to kill you at the same time. But you know what? Even when he was established as the rightful king, he was only king of Judah for seven and a half years. He had to wait another seven and a half years before he came, the king of all of Israel. So for forty seven and a half years it did not come to pass in his life what had already been declared by the Prophet Samuel, that he is the rightful king of Israel. And then he reigned for 33 years, and so in total he also reigned for 40 years. But even while he was reigning for 33 years, he had to deal with adultery, murder, a coup d'etat from his son, and all the while the word of the Lord is trying David, and I love David's testimony because he never turned his back on the Lord. He always turned his face flat down and said my bad, I'm sorry, I did wrong. Please do it to me, not to them. David's testimony to me is the most real of what we experience in our lives today.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 45:37

But then we can talk about Elijah. He slaughters 700 of Baal's prophets and Jezebel ain't too happy. But he becomes a runner and he runs away from Jezebel and the Lord has to correct him and let him know. You're not the only one. There's 700 prophets that have not bowed their knee to Baal. You're not the only one. But to me, what would kind of prick me in my heart is when he said Now I want you to go and anoint Elisha to be prophet in your place. Ouch, I thought I was the prophet, I thought I was the only one. Now you're telling me to anoint somebody to take my place, ouch, and the word of the Lord is testing him. Will he do what I said, even though he's a prophet in your place? And we know how the chariots separated him and a whirlwind took him up to be with the Lord?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 46:45

We could talk about Mary, talk about how the angel of the Lord came to Mary and said you are going to have a son, even though you've never known a man. And the response that was in her heart was pleasing to the Lord. It glorified him. Be it done to me according to the Lord. It glorified him. Be it done to me according to your word.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 47:13

And then it tested her. She had to deal with almost being divorced by Joseph, whom she probably loved and he loved her. And then she had to deal with Herod wanting to kill her firstborn child, had to go to Egypt, strange foreign land, and she had to come back. And we know that later on in his adult life, her husband seemed to not be around. She had to go through that, but she knew something because she told her own son just listen to him, he'll take care of this marriage issue, this wedding, just listen to him. And she held on. It says that she held on to the words of the angel and cherished them in her heart. And she cherished him in her heart a long time. She cherished them in her heart at least 33 and a half years, because she cherished the word in her heart. Even while he was dying on a cross for her sins, she still held on to the fact that this child is the Messiah. He is the one that has been spoken of through the prophets, because she was found in the upper room on the day of Pentecost waiting for the promise of the Father to come unto her. She held on all throughout, but it tried her. Don't think it didn't try.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 48:38

You mothers in here know that you are tried with the daily affairs of your own child to have lost her child at the age of 12, that you are tried with the daily affairs of your own child To have lost your child at the age of 12. Where did he disappear to? We've been there in the mall with our own son. Where did he go? He still doesn't Gosh Bless. That child Just disappears. Just went to public, went to Walmart You're supposed to get yogurt and here I am following him and he's running to go get the yogurt. By the time I get there he's disappeared. Where did he go? Golly, anyways, that's life.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 49:27

What we read is real life of people and how God has never left them, has never forsaken them, has given them a word to try their hearts, to try their soul, to try their faith and see what is found. When Jesus was walking with the disciples, he walked with them for three and a half years and when Jesus spoke to them, come and follow me. There's the word of the Lord trying them. Are you going to come and follow me? And some people didn't. Some people started and then left, but those 12 were found faithful, except the one. And during the three and a half years it's not like they were just walking around doing nothing supernatural. They were sent out two by two, to heal the sick, to preach the gospel, to deliver the demons from people or to deliver the people from demons. They had power that was given to them by Jesus Christ and they had to go out there and obey and see what they are capable of doing by simply obeying his word. They were also tried. Peter was also tried when he denied him three times.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 50:37

But I prayed for you that your faith not fail and that when you're converted, establish the brethren. I've given you the word. Now I'm going to try you with it. It's going to happen, Peter, but turn around, be converted, establish the brethren. I've given you the word. Now I'm going to try you with it. It's going to happen, peter, but turn around, be converted and establish my brethren. Why is he trying us? I think it's because of Jeremiah 17: 9 and 10.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 51:11

The heart is deceitful, above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? It is so sick and so evil that no one can know it, not even you. God knows it. You think God is testing us so that he can find out where our faith and our heart is. He's not doing it for himself, he's doing it so you will know. It is you that needs to know where your heart truly is. It is you that needs to know whether you have faith in him or not. He already knows. He knew the end from the beginning. It's not for his purposes, it's for your purposes. It's to find you faithful and true, just as he was faithful and true.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 51:56

It says I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reign to do what, so that I will know? No, he says even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. In other words, I want to reward him, it's for him, I want to bless him, but if his doings are evil, then he gets the curse. Choose you this day, whom you will serve. Blessings, curses If you obey, blessings, blessings, blessings galore If you do not obey. Curses, curses, curses galore.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 52:40

It's that time element that gets me, man. They were tried for so long and we don't even live that long anymore. And it says in Hebrews that all of these died having obtained a good report of their faith, not having obtained the promise. Are we willing, are we ready to endure until the end, even though he may have spoken to us a word and we don't actually see it in this life come to pass? Are we ready to walk that type of walk? Are we ready to count the cost and endure unto the end? Because it is those that endure to the end that receive what A crown of life.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 53:32

Now I've told you from here that in my life I've received words of the Lord and they've been promises to me. As I've read the scripture, they've been promises to me and I've held on to them all of these years and continue holding on to them now. Fear thou not, I am with me, be not dismayed. I am thy God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I may not remember any of the verses in the scripture. I may mess them all up, but I always remember that one all up, but I always remember that one For me. There are words that have been spoken to you, whether it was an audible voice of the Lord, whether it was through a prophet, a faithful servant of God, or whether you read it through his word. All of those words that you've held on to try you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 54:19

I am always reminded when I come across a battle. Fear thou not, don't be dismayed. I am your God. I will strengthen you when you're weak. I will help you when you don't think you can do it. I will uphold you when you think that you've fallen and you shouldn't get up. I will bring the blind by the way that they know not.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 54:41

I always see myself as a blind man. Maybe it's because I have an inferior view of myself and it keeps me in a place of non-pridefulness. I don't think that's such a bad thing, because when I say that I'm blind is when I say here, I need to hold your hand, please take me where I need to go, because I don't know how to get there. I don't even know where there is, and so he does that for me. And every situation I've ever come across, from marriage to husbandry, to, to, to fathership, to parenthood, to teaching at a school, to teaching math only and not special ed. Everything in my life has been him taking me by the hand through ways that I did not know, that were too dark for me to see, and it says I will make the darkness light before them and the crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not forsake them.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 55:39

So I want to give you the opportunity. I want to give you the opportunity right now to glorify God. I know that the Lord has spoken to some of you here today and I challenge you to stand up and testify of what he spoke to you and how he was found faithful in your life. I don't care if it was yesterday or years ago. I challenge you right now to give testimony of what God did for you sometime in the past and how you've seen it come to fruition.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 56:09

Let us see that we have testimonies right here amongst us that are alive and well and not in a book, to show that God is trying me, has been trying me, but he has always been found faithful to me. Me, but he has always been found faithful to me because he tests us, so that we will know where our heart is, where our faith is in regards to him. Is there anyone here that would like to take the opportunity to testify of what the Lord has done with you, has spoken to you and how you've seen his word try you, but that he's been found faithful with you in that situation? Word try you but that he's be uplifted, as you were like by leaving a positive rating or review with whomever you listen to our podcast with. Subscribe to support the show monetarily with the link in our podcast description. Follow us on all our social media platforms. May god bless you and make you prosperous in him as you listen and obey his voice.