Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P501 (01-09-20)
Synopsis
There is nothing that has overtaken you except what is common to man. Depression and addictions of all kinds are common to man. That does not mean everybody will be addicted to alcohol or cocaine, but the root problem is the same. Brokenness and sin manifests itself in people in different ways. No matter what condition you are in, Christ Jesus is who you really need.
Are you depressed? What do you think causes depression? It really stems from a thinking problem. You are thinking about the bad things that happened yesterday, or even projecting what life will be like tomorrow, and your feelings naturally follow. At times, such depression will lead to other thinking issues and other areas of addiction, such as alcohol or cocaine. And what do people naturally do? They compare themselves with others, assuming others have it all together. The truth of the matter is, nobody has it all together. Religion also compounds the problem, making demands of you, that you could never meet. That also leads to frustration. Some respond by giving up. Others try all the harder, looking down on others, until they are just warn out.
We have a more serious thinking problem, a root problem, that keeps us from going to the One who can help us. That really is the root of our problem. We think that God is angry at us, unapproachable, or does not love us. Many people are thinking they are separated from the love of God. Some place along the line your thinking needs to be renewed. You need to sit back and ask, “Have I ever truly experienced a relationship with Christ Jesus?” If you have not, that is what is causing your depression. Your depression comes from unrealistic expectations toward people and misplaced dependencies. Any dependency you have, except Christ, is a misplaced dependency for meaning and purpose for life. The other root of all problems is unrealistic expectations, expecting everyone to love you, expecting you can find happiness from people. That is unrealistic. That is not going to happen.
Since we do not understand His unconditional love and grace, we do not feel that God is approachable. He wants you to come to Him, for He is the answer, the life, that you really need. God so loves you that He gave His only Son to take away all your sins from the eyes of God, never to see them again. That is what He did when He shed his blood on a cross. By not knowing God, not having trust in Him, that led to your sinful behaviors or actions, for anything that does not come from faith is sin. God longs to be gracious to you. But how can you go to someone you do not know, who you think is angry at you, waiting to punish you or who you think does not love you? He already took the punishment of death for the sins of the entire world. He is now risen from the dead, so you can be raised to new life in Him.
All God asks of you is for you to let Him come to live inside you so He can live His life in you and through you. Will you come to Christ for new life, accepting His unconditional love and acceptance of you, so you can start a new life, a life you always wanted to live? Come to the One who can give you the unconditional love and acceptance you are longing for, that you cannot get from people, who are incapable of providing that for you. He comes to live in you to will and to act according to His good purpose, and to give you a life of joy and peace and love, that He produces in you and through you.
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When you spend your life ministering to the needs of people, through the grace and wisdom God has given you, it is encouraging to hear people call to thank you for the help and encouragement they received from the truth that was told. Many people over the years have called to thank Bob George ministries for the books and materials that transformed their lives by the truth they heard and took to heart.
One book that has helped many people is the book titled, “Victory over Depression”. A man called on behalf of his family. His sister had been reading this book. Her son saw a difference in her life, and now her son and other relatives are being affected by what they see. One nephew of his called to thank him for the truth he heard from him and observed in both him and his mother. He could not thank him enough, for he has now been free of alcohol addiction, and is now going to all those he had hurt and making it right.
Another caller that called was a former cocaine addict, released after twelve years in prison. He called to thank Bob George ministries. He was encouraged by such materials, sent to him while in prison, testifying that those materials helped him while he was alone in prison, to not give up. He came to know and understand God’s amazing grace.
Another caller also called while driving in her car, hoping God would end her life. To have the privilege of sharing truth with someone, who sees no hope and no love at all, yet after talking with you, receives truth of the gospel, and expresses her belief in Christ alone, words cannot express the joy of that. She is now on her way starting a brand new life in Christ Jesus. What a privilege, and that makes life all the worth living!
Transcript
Dean from Colorado Springs, Colorado
Dean: I have been reading your books and listening to you guys as much as I can. I just wanted to share something with you that is absolutely a miracle. My sister in Arkansas has fallen in love with the Lord. Our middle son had got caught up in drugs and things like that. He has been living with a gal for the last six years. Finally he just got fed up with it and went to Arkansas. He saw that when he got there, he saw his mother, who is absolutely a changed person because of the Lord that is in her life now. He was absolutely amazed. She was able to share a lot of this stuff through your books and the bible, and particularly the book, “Victory over Depression”. For some reason he said “I have an emergency, mother. I have to get back to Pensacola”. He went back to Pensacola and called me and said “I want to tell you something”. He will be thirty nine in December. “My mind is the clearest it has been in a long time. I will get things straightened out. I am going to tell people that I have wronged that I am going to make it right. When I read the first two chapters of that book, ‘Victory over Depression’, that man was talking about me. My mind got so clear that I could think for the first time that I cannot remember how many years”.
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Dean: So I want to thank you for the power of truth that is having in people’s lives.
Bob: Dean, it is humbling to hear that. Again, it is back to the same old thing. Truth is what sets people free and error is what binds you. When you are in a condition that is totally contrary to the things of God, you are in error. Your mind is full of error. It is not complicated. How do you get rid of error? You replace it with truth. It is not something you have to sit down and wallow on the ground. You just begin to, like the gentleman you talked about, hear truth and truth begins to dispel error that is in your head. When you have come to the Lord, that is the whole process we are in as long as we are alive on this earth. We will be replacing the error in our minds with truth. That is all a part of the renewing of the mind that will be taking place as long as we are alive.
Dean: That young man is my nephew. My sister has three brothers, and my younger sister has three boys. I love all these boys. He told me the other day when he called me, absolutely in tears. “Uncle Dean, you have lived this life for so many years. I saw it and I denied it. But I have seen the change that was made in you. I can see the difference it is making in me now. I want to thank you for being there for me”.
Bob: Wow! That is what makes life worthwhile, doesn’t it Dean?
Yes, one day at a time to be able to share the love of the Father with these people, to let them know God is not mad at them, that God loves them unconditionally and He wants to set them free. That is the message.
Bob: Absolutely. Talking about a purpose filled life. The only purpose for us being here is to make our bodies available to the living Christ who lives in us, to live His life in and through us. It is not living by principles or by a law or by getting all the church together doing the same thing in the same way in the same place with the same enthusiasm, but recognizing God saves you and me individually and there to guide us individually.
Bob referenced the passage in scripture where Peter asked about what God was going to do in reference to John.
John 21:21-23
21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”
Bob: Jesus responded, “What is that to you?”. In essence God is saying, “Individually I will guide you. I will tell you where to go and how to do it.” If we will learn to trust the Holy Spirit of God living in you, that would be amazing the results that would take place.
Bob: I heard a comment the other day. If we would take a lesson from the migration of birds, to the voice they are listening to. Just like the swans coming back every year in California from Capistrano. They do not have a calendar. How do they do that?
Dean: They do not have a watch either.
Bob: Yes. They do not have a watch or a calendar. They just show up at the same time every year. Someone said, “Well, those are smart birds”. No, those are birds that are listening to a voice telling them what to do. They were merely listening to it. If we could ever learn to be that obedient, the Lord only knows what would be accomplished in our lives.
Dean: Like the salmon. They go back to where they are spawned. How do they know to do that? Has to be something greater than ourselves?
Bob: Absolutely.
Dean: It is not the big bang either.
Bob: Nope.
Dean: I just wanted to share that with you. I am humbled by what the Lord is doing in my sister’s life and my nephew’s life. The Lord has a hold of Buddy now. His other two brothers are going to see the difference that he saw in his mother. He is going to have an influence on the other two boys. I just sense in my spirit that great things are going to happen. I wanted to let you know. Thank God for your wisdom and insight into the mind, that we do not have psychological problems but thinking problems. We need to get our thinking straightened out and everything else will fall in line.
Bob: Thank you so much for your call, brother. You call at any time.
David from Kansas City, Kansas
David: Hi, Bob. I want to call to say thanks. About twelve years ago, I was on crack cocaine. I ran into a house and stole a purse. I served twelve years in prison for that. While incarcerated for that, your ministry sent me books and literature to help me. It really helped me a lot. It got me off the religious treadmill and the works, and into relationship. I am out of prison now. I got out two weeks ago. I just had to call to say thanks. I was flipping through the dials and you were on in this area.
Bob: That is phenomenal, David. I am so glad to hear that, that we could be of benefit to you. You are out now. You had fourteen years for the stealing of a pocket book.
David: I served a little over twelve years.
Bob: That crack, from what I understand, is one of the most addicting drugs in existence today. From my understanding on that, you do not have to do it twice. Once takes care of it.
David: Well, I guess the thing was, I was going to church and I just felt like I did not meet up to the standards. I still smoked cigarettes and was depressed. I just gave up on it. I ran from God. I ended up into alcohol and strung out. I am divorced now. I am starting anew. Things are looking up. It is not easy, by any means. I really appreciated your ministry because when I did not have any money, sitting in a lonely prison cell, facing a lot of years, your ministry came through and sent me books and literature which really encouraged me and helped me not to give up. I really felt like giving up. I found out that there is a relationship for those who are less than perfect, who do not have it all together. That God’s love is there for all of us, no matter how badly we fail. Today, I do not have to run from, God thinking that he is angry, ready to strike me with a tornado or a lightning bolt or a car wreck or something. I have learned that it is a relationship based on the grace of God through faith in Christ and His resurrected life, and it has made a lot of difference. I really want you to know, and your supporters to know, there is not a lot of people that will reach out to help you when you are down flat on your back. But I appreciate it. As soon as I get on my feet and get some finances coming in, I would like to be able to send you some support.
Bob: David, thank you, brother. I think what you are saying is so true. People do not realize that when they give to a ministry like that they are not really giving to ministry. They are giving through ministry. Money goes in and then goes back out to help people like yourself. Most people, fortunately, have not had the experience of being in a cell by yourself. You can relate a lot more to the apostle Paul, in part of his life, than we can. But it is lonely. To be able to reach out to you like that was a privilege for us, David. It is what God has called us to do, to reach out to all people. Jesus said, “I did not come for the well but for the sick”. Our whole ministry has not reached out to people who supposedly have it all together, because quite frankly, nobody has it all together. We have reached out to people in all walks of life. We have touched lives in every realm of society. We have done a lot in the prison ministries. We are grateful for that opportunity. Brother, we love you. Thank God we are able to be there for you, and we still are. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your call.
David: Well, Thanks a lot.
Bob: You are welcome, David.
Tracey from Albany, New York
Tracey: Hi, Bob. I just called on a lurch. I am listening to you while driving in my car. I have not been going to sleep for a very long time, hoping I will go to sleep and not wake up. I know it is wrong to take my life. I cannot understand why a merciful God would not take me in my sleep?
Bob: Because it is not your time to go, Tracey. Why do you want to die? What is going on in your life that you do not want to remain alive?
Tracey: There is absolutely no love in my life. There is no love and no happiness. Not a shred.
Bob: Let me ask you a question, Tracey. What is your relationship with the Lord?
Tracey: I think He does not care about me anymore? The best I can figure.
Bob: That is built upon your own understanding. Jesus said he will never leave you or forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5
5 because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Bob: He says that nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Romans 8:38-39
38 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Bob: Yet you say you are separated from the love of God. Some place along the line your thinking needs to be renewed. You need to sit back and ask, “Have I ever truly experienced a relationship with Christ Jesus?” If you have not, that is what is causing your depression. Your depression comes from unrealistic expectations toward people and misplaced dependencies. Any dependency you have except Christ is a misplaced dependency for meaning and purpose for life. The other root of all problems is unrealistic expectations, expecting everyone to love you, expecting you can find happiness from people. That is unrealistic. That is not going to happen.
1 John 4:7
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:19
19 We love because he first loved us.
Tracey: I do not expect everyone to love me. I just wish someone did.
Bob: There is one who does and He is Jesus. That is where you have to place your dependency, on Jesus Christ.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Bob: People let you down. In this world you have been insulted, you have been injured, and you have been rejected by people. I got news for you. You also have injured and rejected other people. In this world, you will have tribulation and you will be the cause of others tribulation. That is because we are fallen people. As fallen people we make mistakes. So you have to come back to the point of asking, “Are you complete?”
1 John 4:11-13
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
Bob: When you look at a light bulb, it is spectacularly made. But it will not function without being plugged into electricity. If a light bulb is not plugged into electricity, you will not get light out of it. It will not light up the room. It will not function according to the purpose it was manufactured, if it is not plugged in.
Tracey: How do I plug into the love of God?
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Bob: There is the question you have asked. That is a question I will answer for you. God living in us, Tracey, is indispensable to our true humanity. God created man to be indwelt by God because God in the man is indispensable to the humanity of the man. When a man is born into this world, without God living in him, there is a longing for something we never get.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
11 Everything is appropriate in its own time. But though God has planted eternity in the hearts of men, even so, many cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
Bob: I did not come to Christ until I was thirty six years of age. I was already searching for love, just like you are talking about. I could not find it in humans. I realized at thirty six that what I was missing was the Spirit of God living in me. I was a man running around like a car without spark plugs. I was not functioning properly. At the age of thirty six was when someone shared the truth with me of the gospel.
Romans 10:13-15
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Bob: Christ came to this earth because He loved me. If I, or you, were the only person on the face of the earth, Jesus would have gone down to a cross to take away your sins from the eyes of God, never to see them again. Why did He do that? Because of love.
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Bob: Jesus entered spiritual death with us so that through the resurrection, you can come alive in Him.
Romans 8:11
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Bob: Until we come alive in God, we are always searching for love, in frustration, until we come to that relationship with God. What you do with that, Tracey, is you come to faith in Christ by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Bob: You recognize that what God said about you is true.
1 John 5:11-12
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Bob: He says to you, Tracey, you have sinned, and all have sinned.
Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Bob: All have sinned but He came to give you life. Jesus is saying, “I went to the cross to take away sins from the eyes of God and I was raised from the dead so that that life that raised me from the dead will raise you from the dead (Romans 6:4), and to indwell you eternally with the promise I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). I want to give you the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, patience, kindness and goodness (Galatians 5:22-23). All those things will be yours.”
Romans 6:4
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Hebrews 13:5
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Bob: “All I want you to do is to accept me by faith”. All that is, is to be able to say that the Holy Spirit of God is saying to you, Tracey, “this is true”. And Stacey is saying, “I believe that with all my heart. I believe that until I come into that kind of relationship with Christ I am never going to find the joy or the love or the peace I am looking for, until I come into contact with the prince of peace and the author of love and the author of joy. I want Jesus right now to come into my heart and to be my Lord and to be my Savior.” If you are thanking Him in your heart, being able to say, “Lord Jesus, thank You that You took away my sins at the cross, never to see them again. You took them away from the eyes of God. You entered into my spiritual death with me so I could enter your resurrection life with you. I want You to come into my heart as Lord and Savior.”
Tracey: That is all you have to do?
Bob: Yes, that is all you have to do, Stacey, and you will be a new creature.
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Bob: If you believe that to be true, and you are willing to accept that by faith, or you already accepted that by faith, then I suggest you express that to God by prayer. You are not saved by prayer but prayer is the way you express yourself to God verbally. “I believe what you said about me, I believe what you said about You, and I want to be your child.” Totally loved, Tracey, for that can be your life, that nothing can separate you from the love of God, and every desire of your heart to be loved will be fulfilled by realizing that you are loved by the God of this universe. If you are ready to do that tonight, I want to pray with you. If you are willing? If you want to do that, and are willing, then I am ready to pray with you right now?
Tracey: I am more than ready.
Tracey repeated after Bob these words in prayer to God, expressing her faith in Him.
Bob and Tracey: Lord Jesus, I need You. I thank You for dying to forgive my sins, to take them away from the eyes of God, never to see them again. I now thank You for giving me Your life, Your resurrected life. I ask You to come into my heart to be my Lord and Savior and my best friend. In Jesus name, amen.
Bob: Tracey, based on the word of God, it says that to many as received him he gave the right to become a child of God.
John 1:12
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Bob: You just received Him didn’t you?
Tracey: Yes.
Bob: What have you now become?
Tracey: A child of God
Bob: There you go, a child of God. I, too, am a child of God. So what does that make us?
Tracey: Brother and sister
Bob: Absolutely. You have brothers and sisters all over the world, rejoicing that you have now been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son He loves, and in whom you have the redemption and forgiveness of sin, and you have become a child of God.
Colossians 1:13-14
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Bob: You are a child of God. That is your identity, a child of God, from this day forward. You are not a Baptist or a Catholic or anything else. You are a child of the living God, and He made you that way.
John 1:12
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Bob: You just accepted the Son, haven’t you?
Tracey: Yes.
Bob: What do you have? Life.
Bob: He who does not have Son does not have life. Until you accepted the Son, you did not have life. Now that you accepted Him, you have life.
1 John 5:12
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Tracey: Is there something I need to do now, start doing or stop doing?
You just need to start growing in grace. It is like a baby coming out of a womb saying, “What should I do?” God is saying, “Let me feed you. Let me grow you. Let me take of you. You are a child of God, and let me help you grow.”
2 Peter 3:18
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Romans 12:22
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Bob: Do you have a bible?
Tracey: No, but I know where to find one.
Bob: I want you to do that, and we are going to send you some materials that will help solidify in your heart what you just did. We have to take a break here. You just stay on the line and we will get right back to you.
1 Peter 1:23
23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
2 Corinthians 3:18
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
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