"God wants to build character in you!"

God wants to build character in you.

Hello and welcome to the weekly broadcast of Jeshurun Ministry GB in the Bahamas. The program designed to give you solutions to the challenges of this troubled season that the world is presently facing.

Yes, friend, God certainly wants to build character in you. And the Bible is loaded with the experiences of men and women of character telling us about their relationships with the Most High God. This is specifically for the purpose of using their lives to illuminate the path that God wants us to follow. He always leads His servants through the valley of the shadow of death for many years before inserting them into their calling or inserting them into the role that He wants them to play. This is sometimes called a wilderness experience.

Friend, character that is pleasing to God is formed in the hot crucible of life's painful experience, according to a wise man. Another wise mentor who counseled me in the early days of my ministry told me that God must first make the man before He will send him out on His mission. And according to DL Moody, character is what a man is in the dark. Genuine integrity is what we do when no one is looking at us.

Character is the product formed by the developmental process in which the man of God is shaped for service to the Master. It is the painful process of trials and adversities that test the faith, test the values of the one chosen by God, preparing him for higher service to mankind as a vessel chosen and ordained by God.

Dear Lord, we give You thanks and praise for this precious day that You've given the listeners to this message. We thank You for causing them to recognize Your hand in the trials that they've been facing. Bless them with the courage, the strength and determination to endure trials and hardships that Your glory may be established in them. I pray this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.

My friend, please press the subscribe, like, and share buttons on this video. Partner with us in sending forth the Word of God. Thank you very much. In the wilderness, God strips His servants down to almost nothing, their nakedness. This is the process of moving them away from self-reliance, moving them to reliance upon God. For instance, before his wilderness experience, Moses was a prince in Egypt, almost equivalent to a son of Pharaoh. He rose to a place of prominence among the Egyptians somewhat similar to that of Joseph the governor of Egypt even though he was a Hebrew.

But after killing an Egyptian slave master, Moses was forced to run from Pharaoh who was determined to take his life. He was forced to hide in the wilderness of Midian as a runner of sheep. And God humbled him for 40 years as He prepared him and as he later became known as the most humbled man that had ever lived.

At the age of 80, Moses was called to liberate the children of Israel from the bondage of slavery. Most of you know the story. He's one of the greatest men to ever walk the earth. King David, God's greatest king, was anointed by Samuel to be king from the age of 15. But he never ascended to the throne as the king of Israel, but only the king of a mere fraction of the nation when he was 30. It would be another six years before he would control the entire United Kingdom of Israel.

For David, it was first the wilderness around Bethlehem and then 15 years of running from a mad man, running from King Saul who attacked him over and over again. These were the painful years of his preparation. In fact, he had the king's life in his hand several times, but refused to kill him because he said, "Touch not the Lord's anointed."

Then there was the Apostle Paul. First struck down and blinded. Then he spent three years Arabia before assuming his mission to the Gentiles. While it is not clear what he did in Arabia, it was preparation ground for him. God always develops His servant by shaping their character in a wilderness type experience. He uses trials and difficult circumstances to bring forth His grace and a spirit of obedience in His servants. He does this to ensure that they will be able to handle the rigors of ministry of the Word of God and the rigors of dealing with the daily challenges of fighting an evil and wicked foe who is determined to bring them down.

Here are four direct references from scripture proving this. First we have proverbs 17 and 3 which says the refining pot or the crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold for the Lord tests the hearts. Isaiah 48 and 10. The Word of God says in this place see I have refined you but not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. We also have first Peter 1:7 as evidence. It talks about the proven character of your faith being more precious than gold which perishes even though refined by fire. And he said this is so that it may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And clearly friend, Job most of all knew about this testing in the worst way. He said he knows the way I have taken. When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. And indeed, Job came forth as fine gold. All these rock-solid models of Godly character in the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament have stood the test of time. No one has been able to bring dirt on those called by God in the Holy Scriptures. No one has been able to pull them down from the pedestal on which the Word of God has placed them.

And they've been an enlightenment to us throughout the ages. We've grown and developed in our relationship with God because of their stories. Because when God rebuilds a man, He does it from the inside out. And this is why it takes a long time for genuine and sincere men and women of God to develop. There's usually no overnight success in God's developmental program. Even the apostles who walked with Jesus Christ never came into their own until after three years under His stern leadership and teaching. And you better believe He was stern.

And the shame of running away when He was crucified was also their training ground as the Jews sought to crucify them also. A part of the process that the servants of God go through in their development is the process of learning which stream is the right one for them to choose going forward. At almost every turn in life, every corner, servants of God will be faced with a pair of difficult choices. The evidence that life always presents us with two choices or two streams is consistent throughout the Bible.

For instance, God says, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you that I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both you and your descendants may live. That you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him." Deuteronomy 30 and 19. And so, friend, whatever brings forth life and the blessings of God, let that always be the one you choose, ask yourself the question, will this choice bring me life and blessings, or will it bring me death and curses?

We are constantly faced with the choice of light or darkness. In an important part of the character building process, the Word of God tells the servants of the Most High God. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. Matthew 6:23.

Friend, we must always choose light over darkness. This means God is pulling His servants away from laying up treasures on earth, which is the darkness of greed for the things of the world, which corrupts the eye. He tells them to instead develop a generous heart, calling this the laying up of treasures in heaven, which gives us a healthy eye that is full of light and has no darkness. Always choose light, my friend.

We've all seen pictures of houses floating down the rivers of water after a powerful hurricane. And you can be sure that these floating houses were not built upon the solid bedrock. In the Bahamas, we call it the rock of Bahama. When your house is built on this rock, violent storms may come and go, but your house remains firm. In Matthew 7:24, for instance, Jesus Christ says, "Everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall."

The theme of the message tells us that when the trials of life come, and they will indeed come, my friend, the character of the man that is built on the truth and obedience of God's Word through Jesus Christ, who is the rock will not crumble and fall. That man, that woman of God will remain standing through every storm of life. They will endure hardness as good soldiers and make wise choices at every turn.

Here's another pair of choices that we're given. The Word of God explains to us the difference between the flesh and the Spirit explaining that the things of the flesh like adultery, fornication, and selfish ambitions are the things of the world. And the things of the Spirit like love, joy, and peace are the things of God. As the Lord God builds character in His servant, the developing man of God, woman of God, learn to consistently choose to walk in the Spirit and to turn away from the things of the flesh.

The scripture says it this way. This I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Galatians 5:16.

This scripture points to the battle that the servant of God faces at every turn. As Satan tries to turn them away from God and lure them back into the world in another place, he is told that if he lives according to the flesh, he will die. But if he lives by the Spirit of the living God, he will put to death the sinful deeds of the body and he will live eternally. And so until we come to the place where we are fully able to understand these analogies and consistently make our choices and decisions according to the wisdom of God, He's not prepared to send us out because we would be destroyed.

Many have gone out on their own initiative, having lost patience with God, and they've lived to regret their recklessness and their impatient decision making.

So finally, here is another phenomena that we see in the scriptures which God also uses to help us along in our development. We're very often presented with a pair of servants of God in which one has character and is chosen by God and the other is of no character and is rejected by God. In this way, the holy scriptures does a marvelous job of illustrating the qualities that are pleasing to Him.

All the way back in Genesis, we are presented with Cain and Abel, for instance, two brothers. The only thing we know about righteous Abel is that he made a perfect sacrifice unto God. He was careful to choose his best gift for the Lord. His brother Cain just gave the Lord something without careful thought.

Cain's gift was rejected and Abel's gift was accepted for God requires our very best. A man of character, a woman of character make it a priority to give God their very best. Then we have Esau and Jacob. Esau placed no value on his Godly heritage and sold his birthright for a morsel of food.

Well, Esau went on and lived according to the flesh, while Jacob lived according to the Spirit. He was renamed Israel and became the head of God's greatest nation. The man of character always seeks a Godly heritage, placing it ahead of the things of the world.

Another example, there were two sisters named Mary and Martha. When Jesus Christ visited them in their home and the people gathered around Him to hear His Words of wisdom. Martha was busy fussing over the meal while Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus Christ and hear His wise teachings and receive His wise counsel. Jesus Christ chided Martha for becoming angry with Mary and fussing over things that are not as important as the Word of God. As the presence of the Most High God. He told her that Mary had made the better choice. She had chosen the better thing, which is to sit at the feet of our great Lord. Godly character, friend, is developed by pursuing the Word of God more passionately than our physical needs. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

You've been listening to this message and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Well, we want to give you an opportunity as usual to make that commitment today. Please engage your heart and say this prayer after me:

• Father, I am a sinner.

• I am sorry for all my sins.

• I crave your forgiveness.

• Please forgive me, Lord. Thank You for Your forgiveness.

• I have decided to make Jesus Christ the Lord of my life.

• Dear Lord Jesus, welcome to my heart. Make it Your home.

• I give You the key to my heart because I now belong to You forever.

• Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

• Thank You Lord for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are many of us here awaiting the return of the Good Master.

In the meantime, we want to encourage you to become water baptized as quickly as possible. Yes, let your pastor know that you've committed your life to the Lord and you want to be baptized the way Jesus Christ was baptized.

Begin reading the Word of God every day. It is your daily food. It will keep you strong against temptations. If you do not eat of the Word of God, you will fall away.

Begin in the book of John and then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Pray daily. Attend at your local church. And one glad morning the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself. And we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.