Man's Greatest Need

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

Man's Greatest Need 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

Any decent psychology textbook will probably say that man's greatest physical-level needs are water, food, clothing, and shelter. To that we might add oxygen as a basic need because without sufficient oxygen we cannot breathe and will die very quickly. Perhaps the reason why few psychology texts mention oxygen as a basic human need is because we take that for granted.

Matthew 6:25-34

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

[Note from that Verse that Jesus speaks of 3 of those 4 greatest needs of man.]

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

[The lilies of the field show forth a greater glory than Solomon in all of his glory. Why? because the lilies never became corrupted from their environment. Have you ever noticed that when newly planted grass first comes forth, it is always the greenest it will ever be?]

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Our flesh responds to that word by saying that does not make any sense. Common sense tells us that we have to prepare for the future. Jesus must not have meant what He said there. We buy into the lies that the ways of God are not as pleasing or enjoyable or practical as our own ways, or else we believe that our ways are the Lord's ways. The deceitful, wicked human heart is the reason we believe such thoughts (Jeremiah 17:9). The human heart is more deceptive or crooked than anything else; it is desperately corrupt and humanly speaking, incurable. Jesus said that all evil thoughts and actions proceed out of the heart (Matthew 15:19). Although believers have trusted God for initial salvation, the sinful tendencies of the flesh still remain in us; thus we continue to vacillate between the desires of the flesh and those of the Lord Jesus. Within this battle we need to understand that we will never be satisfied until the Lord is satisfied with us. What a profound truth! David said,

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. Psalm 17:15

I also found a blog on the internet that lists what claims to be man's greatest emotional or soulish needs: (1) certainty (including safety, security, comfort, order, consistency, and control; (2) variety; (3) significance (meaning in life); (4) love and connection; and (5) growth.

Solomon, the son of David, was given wisdom like no other. He accumulated more wealth than perhaps any other human being in the history of the world; he had almost unlimited power as king; he had the best food available; and he had 1000 wives and concubines. His fame spread throughout all nations round about. He wrote 1005 songs and spoke 3000 proverbs. Solomon is generally acknowledged as the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes in what men call the Old Testament. But when he became older, he said, "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

The basic theme of the Book of Ecclesiastes is that all of life and all human striving is meaningless, useless, hollow, futile, and vain if it is not rightly related to God. Only when based on God and His word is life worthwhile. The phrase "under the sun" is a key expression in the Book of Ecclesiastes, occurring 29 times; it refers to the vanity of this present world and the limits of what it offers. Many things appear to be new simply because the past is easily and quickly forgotten. The old ways of man recycle over the years and reappear in new guises. Therefore we need our eyes and ears circumcised to see and hear what the Lord has always required and still requires in these last days!

Human nature has never changed. Man throughout all of time always searches for happiness ... for that which satisfies him ... for meaning in life.

9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us. Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

Unfortunately, all too often man looks to things that will never satisfy. Perhaps at the top of the list of things that man pursues is money or material wealth, with which he can buy anything he desires. How much is enough money? Just a little bit more.


6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

I grew up in a Protestant Church-based home. My maternal grandmother and grandfather lived with us from before I was born until well after I finished college. My father, mother, and grandfather all had full-time jobs. Even with 3 incomes my parents almost lost their home in 1930 during the days of the Great Depression. For the first 21 years of my life I enjoyed a number of worldly successes. In addition to going to church every Sunday, I received very good grades thru high school. In 1949 I won the North Carolina State High School individual golf championship. I received a full tuition scholarship my first year (1949) at Duke University. I graduated from Duke University, magna cum laude, in 3 years, majoring in Mathematics. Then I received a full tuition scholarship at the Duke Graduate School. At that point, my life seemed to start unraveling. What followed was a series of worldly failures. I never had any real direction in my life and I do not recall anyone who tried to help point me in the proper direction.

I basically flunked out of graduate school because I stopped going to classes. After doing essentially nothing for the next 3 years I decided to enlist in the Aviation Cadet program of the Air Force. I almost resigned from that after about 6 months. In August 1957 I met a young woman named Linda at Nags Head, NC. We went out one night and only one night. Then I had to fly to Germany for my Air Force assignment as a navigator on an RB-66 aircraft. I still had no direction whatsoever in my life. So I decided that I would get married ... maybe that was my answer. So I called Linda from Germany and asked her to marry me. In December 1958 we were married. That did not solve my problem of lack of direction in my life. Instead, we had 9 years of a "bad" marriage. So I decided that having children might be the solution to my lack of direction. We had 2 children, but that was not my answer either. During those 9 years of a bad marriage I never did anything that would be called evil. I was just doing my own thing ... selfishly. I played golf every weekend and played duplicate bridge at night during the week. I left Linda at home with our 2 children. From Linda's perspective we (I should say, "I") just did not communicate. In 1964 we were transferred by the Air Force to the Northern Virginia area. My new job was in the computer field. But our marriage never got any better. At that time we were attending a Methodist church nearby, although that meant nothing to me. That was just something that "good" people were supposed to do. And I still had no real direction in my life. In the spring of 1967 Linda said she was going to divorce me. I asked her to let me first go and talk with the pastor of that Methodist church. She agreed. So I made an appointment with that pastor for the following night. I remember exactly what I said to him. I said, "I feel like my life is wasting away. Can you help me?' His response was, "No. Why don't you go talk with Jim Williams," who was also a member of that church. I knew Jim Williams by sight, but that was the extent of my knowledge of Jim. So I did nothing at the time.

About 2 weeks later one of my uncles, who lived in North Carolina, died and we went to his memorial service. It was held on August 25, 1967, in a huge Methodist Church that today would cost 150 million dollars to build. Almost 1000 people were there. At some point during that memorial service the Lord just sovereignly touched me. I cannot explain it. All I knew was that something had happened to me and I knew it was good, but I did not know at the time that it was the Lord Jesus. Neither did I tell anyone my experience at that time.

The following Sunday I drove back to our home in Northern Virginia because I had to go to work on Monday. I left my wife, Linda, and our 2 children in North Carolina because her family lived in Charlotte and my family lived in High Point, NC. All alone in our house, I remember saying to myself, "Surely this is the peace that passes all understanding." Three days later, on Wednesday, I said "I have to tell someone about this." So I called Jim Williams, who I really did not know. I must have called around the evening meal time and I could hear in the background that he and his family obviously had dinner guests. I told Jim that something good had happened to me but I did not know what it was. I asked him if he could come over to our house. He said he would be there in 10 minutes. Sure enough, in 10 minutes he knocked at our door. The two of us sat on our living room sofa. I did not know what to say except that something good had happened to me but I did not know what it was. Jim said, "I can tell you what has happened to you. You have met the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life. I have been praying for you every day for a year."

From that day and continuing thru this day, the Lord has chosen to deal with me sovereignly in every respect. I have found out, experientially, that the Lord can save people all by Himself. He can heal people all by Himself, He can deliver people all by Himself, and He can reveal the true meaning of scripture all by Himself. How do I know? Because He did all those things for me within the first 6 months after He sovereignly "saved" me. I have learned from my personal experience, from the Bible, and from testimonies of literally hundreds of other believers in Christ that man's greatest need is not physical and not emotional ... it is spiritual in nature. Hindsight, I now understand that when I told that Methodist pastor that I felt like my life was wasting away, the Lord heard my cry. Now, what the Lord has done for me, He will also do for you. How do I know? because the Word of God says that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

The most certain thing pertaining to us humans is that the Lord will always respond to a heartfelt cry to Him for help. It is true that if we sincerely cry out to the Lord, He will save us.

18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.

19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him: He also will hear their cry, and will save them. Psalm 145:18-19

But that should never be a one-and-done event. The most mature Christian on earth as well as the unsaved person needs to always cry out to the Lord. David said,

Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. Psalm 86:3

Hindsight, I am eternally grateful for all of my failures prior to the Lord touching my life, because the Lord used those failures to help bring me to a place where I had to cry out to Him. It is also interesting that after the Lord Jesus Christ apprehended me, the Lord completely restored all of my major failures and to a greater degree than I thought possible.

Forty-some years ago, the New Testament church of which we were a part would sometimes sing the following spiritual song:

Like the woman at the well I was seeking for things that could not satisfy;

And then I heard my Savior speaking: "Draw from My well that never shall run dry"

Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord! Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;

Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more--Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!

There are millions in this world who are craving the pleasures earthly things afford;

But none can match the wondrous treasure that I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.

Chorus

So, my brother, if the things this world gave you leave hungers that won't pass away, 

My blessed Lord will come & save you, If you kneel to Him & humbly pray:

Now, if you have not yet experienced the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ, you do NOT have to wait until some crisis situation arises in your life. If you see a need for the Lord, then just cry out, "Help, Lord!" If you have been walking with the Lord for 40 or 50 years, just cry out, "Help, Lord!" The Apostle Paul, who wrote about 40% of the New Testament, after 30 years of ministry prayed, "that I might know Him" (Philippians 3:10). There is no greater joy, no greater pleasure, no greater achievement, no greater purpose in life than to know the risen Lord Jesus and to walk with Him every day. As it says in Philippians 3:14, may each one of us press toward the mark [goal] for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. What is that prize? the Person of the Lord Himself ... Christ in you, the hope of glory.

My maternal grandmother was a wise woman whose wisdom came from the Lord, not from books. After she departed this earth I read many of the words of wisdom she had written in her Bible. One of those words was: "Lord, let me create hunger in their hearts for until they hunger they cannot be fed." How true! If we are not hungry for natural food we will probably not eat anything. Likewise, if we are not hungry for spiritual food, we will probably be content with our status quo.

I recently read that the world is facing a hunger crisis unlike anything it has seen in more than 50 years. It is estimated that 925 million people are physically hungry. Since the world population is now about 7.6 billion, that means about 1 out of every 8 people are hungry or suffer from malnutrition. Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. That is a tragedy! An even more important question is, "How many people in the world are spiritually hungry? ... hungry for the bread of life?" We may never know, but I am sure it is a huge multitude. Jesus said, in John 6

32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

34 Then said they unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.

Are you hungry for the Bread of Life? If so, just acknowledge your need to the Lord and ask Him to fill your cup to overflowing. He is faithful!

Man's Greatest Need (part 2)

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

Man's Greatest Need (part 2) 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

In this message we want to continue with the theme of man's greatest need. In our last message we shared about man's physical or natural level needs, man's emotional or soulish needs, and man's spiritual needs. Everyone is aware of our natural-level needs, namely food, water, clothing, and shelter. The vast majority of people are also aware of many if not most of our emotional needs, such as love, security, comfort, control, acceptance by others, and the significance or meaning in life. But every human being born into this world is born totally blind to our spiritual needs. The reason we are all born blind to our spiritual needs is because of Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When that happened the part of their spirit that was designed to have communion with God died, just as God had warned them. So just as cats have kittens and dogs have puppies, likewise we humans are born with the same spiritual DNA as Adam; namely we are unable to have fellowship with God. We are all born in sin. David said,

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5

There are three perspectives of each human being: How we see ourself, how other people (including our spouse if we are married) see us, and how the Lord God sees us. We are quick to judge others. We think we can easily see the faults of other people. And since none of us are perfect, too often we like to be critical of other people. That can come forth through gossip. But one of the most difficult tasks for all of us is to see ourselves as we really are. We just do not know ourself. We are blind to our real spiritual condition.

As a result, many of us wear three different masks or 3 different hats, depending on our location at the time. The first mask is our behavior at home; the second is our behavior at work; and the third is our behavior at church.

Around 1965, before the Lord apprehended me, I was working at a computer site in Arlington, VA. At the lunch break, a number of the young men met in a small conference room and played the card game of pinochle. I played with them a few times. One day at lunch time I walked into that conference room a bit late and the pinochle game was already in progress. When I entered the room, one of the men, about my age (early 30's) looked at me and said, "Here comes the preacher." Well I had never talked about the Lord, never had said the word church and certainly had never preached about anything spiritual. In fact at that point in time I still did not know the Lord Jesus. Evidently he must have noticed that my behavior was somewhat different from the other guys. I certainly never used curse words and I never told dirty jokes.

Hindsight, it just occurred to me today that he spoke a word of prophecy even though he did not know that himself. Amazing! But that is just an example to illustrate that other people are always watching our behavior.

When we go to church we put on our very best hat ... our very best behavior. In most churches today the predominant attitude is I am OK, you are OK. We are all morally good people, go to church every Sunday, and hope to go to heaven when we die. In the previous message, I shared about talking with the pastor of the Methodist church we were attending at the time. That was just before the Lord apprehended me. The reason I talked with him was because my wife said she was going to divorce me. I said to him, I feel like my life is wasting away. Can you help me? His first word to me was that I must have been mistaken. Well he only saw my church hat. He saw that I came to church every Sunday, sang in the choir, and was active in other ways. But he could not see my heart. He just looked at outward appearances. Then, as I related in the last message, he said, No, he could not help me and he referred me to a man named Jim Williams. The Lord said in Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

But the most important perspective of us folks is how does God see us? The final resting place of our eternal soul depends upon our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. There are only two possible resting places: heaven and the lake of fire. The Lord knows everything about us! He knows what we will eat for breakfast tomorrow, if anything, and we don't even know ourself. He is omniscient!

1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Psalm 139:1-6

In the Book of Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3, we find the messages from the Lord to the seven churches in Asia. But they are also messages to each one of us. The last of the 7 messages is to the church at Laodicea. Now it is true that the Bible does not contain an epistle to the church of the Laodiceans. However, that church received the same teaching from Paul as did the Colossian church.

And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.

Colossians 4:16

Reading now from Revelation, Chapter 3, starting at Verse 14

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.

Revelation 3:14-20

Now it is important to understand that the church of the Laodiceans consisted of born-again believers, baptized in the Holy Ghost just as it happened on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Note in Verse 17 that the church, and particularly the leaders of the church, at Laodicea say that they have need of nothing. That is called deception. So why did they say they had need of nothing? First, in the natural realm, let us go back and read Verse 18 again. It refers to 3 items in which Laodicea took great pride: financial wealth, an extensive textile industry, and a famous eye salve. It was the wealthiest city in what is now the central part of Turkey. So the Christians at Laodicea undoubtedly said, look at how God is blessing us! God must be with us. We must be doing everything right. We have great meetings, the best teaching, people are being healed, etc. Many (may I dare say, most) "big name" evangelists and teachers today make that same mistake. They have accumulated millions and millions of dollars, houses, cars, and even private jet airplanes based on selling their wares and from offerings from undiscerning Christians.

Then the Laodiceans probably said we have heard all of Paul's great teaching. And we have heard good teaching from many other great men of God. But that was their greatest problem. They had heard, and heard, and heard, but they had not allowed the word to change them. That same spirit, that same attitude, exists in far too many churches today.


9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

Verses 10 and 11 say that because some Christians received not the love of the truth, God Himself will send them strong delusion. And if God sends strong delusion, no man can stand against it. We end up with a hard heart. It is not sufficient to just hear the truth or even to memorize it. We must RECEIVE the love of the truth or else we will be totally deceived.

What does it mean to receive the love of the truth? It means that the word must become flesh within us. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Pilate in John 18:38, looked truth straight in the eye and asked, "What is truth?" Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me (John 14:6).

To continue ... 2 of the most descriptive words of man, even Christian man, are cannot and nothing. The 2 words are related.

Cannot

In Genesis, Chapter 11, all men tried to build a tower that would reach unto heaven. That was man's attempt to reach God by their own efforts. Of course that attempt failed even though the natural, carnal motivation behind that endeavor seemed good and right. The Lord will never allow man's efforts to bring about the will and purpose of God. I suppose we could say "it is God's way or the highway." Man, on his own efforts, can never reach God or know Him. Then we read of Ishmael and Isaac ... Ishmael was the result of a Godly man's efforts to bring forth God's will. We all know the result of that.

Does that truth have application to us today? YES! Many long years ago I experienced the two different approaches to doing the work of God. That was crystal clear through the life of two different Godly men. One approach is "do until the Lord says don't." The other approach is "don't until the Lord says do." With either approach it is possible to miss the will of God. That points out the need to hear the voice of the Lord for our self. We will expand on that topic in a later message. In my personal experience I have always walked in the approach of don't until the Lord says do. There are numerous examples of that in scripture.

A true revelation of the worthlessness of the natural man (or even Christian man's fleshly efforts to please God) in His sight has always been a necessary prelude to anointing for true service. The "I cannot" of Moses; the "Woe is me" of Isaiah; the "I am but a child" of Jeremiah; the "I am a sinful man" of Peter; the "In me dwelleth no good thing" of Paul, are typical confessions of all who have been called of God and anointed for ministry. Then we have Amos, who said, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: and the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Israel" (Amos 7:14-15).

The natural man cannot engage in work for Christ ... plan, prepare, organize, or enter into any type of Christian enterprise ... and thereby obtain God's seal of approval and blessing. We cannot pray as we desire or incline, even though our prayer is accompanied by passion and tears, and thereby obtain our desired Divine response.

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:8

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 1 Corinthians 15:50

Nothing

If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. John 9:33

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. John 15:4-5

Abiding in Him speaks of much more than being born from above or being baptized in the Holy Spirit. We will have much more to share about that in a later message. Without the Lord and the grace of God we can do nothing! We cannot even take our next breath except for Him.

John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. John 3:27

No man can be born from above unless the Father draws him by His Spirit. Furthermore, all ministries and gifts are given to men as the Lord sees fit.

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. John 5:19

I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

John 5:30

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:33

28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as my Father hath taught Me, I speak these things.

29 And He that sent me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him. John 8:28-29

If Jesus said He could of His own self do nothing (and He said that), where does that leave us? The same is true of every believer. Paul said,

For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me is the Lord. 1 Corinthians 4:4

When Paul said he knew nothing by myself, he means nothing of any spiritual value and useful for the purposes of the Lord. We can have a B.A., a M.S., a Ph.D., an M.D., a J.D. or any other kind of degree from any university but still know nothing of value to the Lord. Paul said,

4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

9 And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

10 That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;

11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 

Philippians 3:4-11

Paul talks about his pedigree in the natural realm. Like Paul, I count all of my natural level accomplishments but dung. Now dung is not worthless. It has great value as a fertilizer for grass and plants. But all of those things will burn up in the end.

We must come to acknowledge our "nothingness" apart from Christ. It brings a sense of completeness that even correct doctrine can never achieve. My righteousness and holiness are totally inadequate to bring any sense of wholeness.

There is an old hymn, written more than 100 years ago by a woman named Annie Hawks. The name of the hymn is, "I Need Thee Every Hour." Two of the five verses are:

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain. Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will, and Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

One of the blessings of a victorious Christian life is knowing the closeness of our Lord in every circumstance of life. Like Annie Hawks, it is very important that we develop strong spiritual lives during the peaceful hours in order that we will be able to be victorious when difficulties come, which they surely will to everyone at some time. We will share much more about those difficulties in a later message and why difficulties must come.

There are many other examples of saints of old, such as Fanny Crosby, who wrote wonderful hymns despite natural-level adversities. Although she was blinded at 6 weeks of age through improper medical treatment, Fanny wrote more than 8000 gospel song texts. Perhaps her most well-known hymn is Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! That was the very first hymn that the Lord quickened to me after He sovereignly apprehended me.

The earth has always been a reflection of the spiritual state of the inhabitants of the earth. Given all of the California wildfires, which occur every year, the hurricanes, floods, droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados, blizzards, heat waves, volcano eruptions, and epidemics such as AIDS, what is the cause? Well scientists attribute all of the natural disasters to Mother Nature or some other kind of natural-level cause. But the real cause is the judgment of God.

Whenever any severe disaster occurs, men appear very sympathetic to the victims and many leaders and people try to alleviate the suffering through assistance of different kinds, including money. But that is like putting white talcum powder on measles to cover up the red spots. It amounts to little more than a band-aid but does not get to the root of the problem. Through natural disasters the Lord hopes that we will repent of our evil deeds or our lukewarm attitude toward Him.

What is the conclusion of the matter? All human beings, and particularly believers, are totally dependent upon the Lord for everything. It is a tragedy that we don't know that! and by know I mean walk in that truth. Many times we believers have to learn the hard way. That is why Jesus said,

1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

2 And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, 

3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-4

The phrase little child and little children speaks of an infant. An infant is totally dependent upon his/her parents.

Let us conclude with the following verse from 2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Who is all? you and me and every hearer of this message. The key for us to be changed into the image of Christ is to have an open face as we behold the glory of the Lord, which is all around us. What matters most is not where we are spiritually, but in which direction we are moving.

We all, both Christians and those not yet born again, must cry out to the Lord. Lord, I repent of my lukewarm attitude. Lord, search my heart! Melt my cold, hard, heart. I submit my will to you, Lord. Show me Your ways. And may You be glorified in all things. Amen.