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Donald Ray Luce’s legacy is a testament to a life led with purpose and faith. His grandson, Michael Enzi, shares profound insights from Donald’s “Ten Commandments for Long Life,” revealed at his funeral. These commandments offer a roadmap for living a life rich in meaning and service, rooted in Donald’s unwavering dedication to his faith, family, and community. Through heartfelt stories of his military service, ministry, and work with children’s orphanages, Donald’s life becomes a beacon of love and generosity. His practices of prayer, scripture memorization, and supporting others leave a lasting impact, teaching us the power of giving our worries to God.

Life’s challenges often require a blend of faith and wisdom, reminding us of the power of prayer and living in the present. This episode underscores the importance of maintaining relationships and choosing forgiveness over anger, advocating for peace as a guiding principle. With references to biblical teachings and practical advice, we stress the necessity of facing problems one step at a time, trusting in God’s unwavering faithfulness. As we anticipate unveiling the final five commandments in the next episode, we invite you to continue this journey with us, drawing strength and inspiration from the timeless wisdom shared.

Where to dive in:

(0:00:01) – Ten Commandments for a Long Life (18 Minutes)

This chapter focuses on honoring the life and legacy of Donald Ray Luce, a deeply respected minister and family man. We explore the practical wisdom he shared through his “Ten Commandments for Long Life,” which were revealed at his funeral by his grandson, Michael Enzi. These commandments serve as guiding principles for living a meaningful and generous life, as exemplified by Donald’s dedication to his faith, family, and community. His life story is enriched with anecdotes of his time in the military, his call to ministry, and his tireless work at children’s orphanages. Donald’s unwavering commitment to prayer, scripture memorization, and support for others in their time of need underscores his lasting impact. Through his example, we learn the importance of writing down our worries to give them to God, highlighting a legacy of love, faith, and generosity that his family and community continue to cherish.

(0:17:38) – Overcoming Fear, Trusting in God (6 Minutes)

This chapter offers insights from the book “You Don’t Need Money, You Just Need God,” highlighting how faith can guide us through uncertain times. As economic challenges mount, we often mistakenly believe that financial resources are the key to stability. Instead, I emphasize the importance of relying on God for provision and guidance. The discussion also focuses on overcoming fear, which often holds us back from achieving our potential. By trusting in God and rejecting the spirit of fear, we can embrace a mindset of power, love, and sound judgment. We explore how fear can manifest as anger or impatience, which are counter to the spirit of God, and how it’s essential to maintain faith to achieve the opportunities God presents. The narrative reinforces the idea that fear of failure shouldn’t deter us from taking risks, using Babe Ruth’s resilience as an example. Ultimately, this chapter encourages stepping out in faith without fearing the unknown or giving undue power to negative forces.

(0:23:48) – Overcoming Fear and Walking in Faith (14 Minutes)

This chapter explores the importance of placing God and the devil in their rightful positions, emphasizing that fear of the enemy should not prevent us from acting in faith. By acknowledging that misplaced fear and pride can hinder our spiritual growth, we encourage a mindset shift towards expecting God’s intervention rather than fearing disappointment. Highlighting biblical examples, such as Joshua’s courage and Jesus’ unconventional methods, we underscore the significance of obedience and faith over people-pleasing. By trusting in God’s plan, even when it defies human logic, we can walk confidently in His blessings, recognizing that His answers may manifest in unexpected ways. The key takeaway is to refrain from judging a situation prematurely, as true understanding often comes only when God’s work is complete.

(0:37:43) – Facing Problems With Faith and Prayer (15 Minutes)

This chapter focuses on navigating life’s challenges with faith and wisdom. We explore the idea of not letting fear take control when faced with an initial diagnosis or any daunting situation, emphasizing the belief in God’s promises of healing. We highlight the importance of living in the present and not worrying about tomorrow, referencing Matthew 6:34 to reinforce the message of dealing with today’s tasks today. The conversation also stresses maintaining relationships without burning bridges, advocating for forgiveness and peace over anger and resentment. We share the timeless advice that “you never go wrong doing right,” encouraging actions that reflect well on one’s faith. Lastly, we address the necessity of facing problems one at a time, trusting in God’s unwavering faithfulness to provide support and solutions for each challenge as it arises.

(0:52:56) – Final Five Commandments Coming Soon (1 Minutes)

This chapter explores the significance of the first five commandments and their potential impact on our lives. I encourage listeners to apply these biblical truths as practical tools for daily living, emphasizing that these commandments are more than just truisms—they carry the power to bring radical change. I express gratitude for the opportunity to honor my father-in-law and the Lord by sharing these insights, and I invite everyone to join me next week for the conclusion, where we will cover the remaining five commandments. Together, we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding that will be a blessing to your life.

About your host: Jaime Luce’s testimony has daunting personal mountains and treacherous financial valleys. She was trapped in day-to-day stress and couldn’t see a way forward. But how she started is not how she finished! And she wants you to know God has a plan for your life too, no matter how tough it seems. Today, Jaime has been married to the love of her life for almost three decades, owns two companies, and has become an author and podcaster. God’s way is always the blessed way!

Free chapter of Jaime’s new book: You Don’t Need Money, You Just Need God: https://jaimeluce.com/book/

Connect:

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Full Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.

0:00:01 – Jaime Luce
his advice write down your problem and give it to God. And I know why he says write it down, because this is one of those things so many people you might be one of these kind of people that and this was his personality. My husband has the same personality. If they don’t write something down, it feels like it’s never been addressed and it stays a worry in the mind. This is a practical step. He’s saying write it down, lord, here’s my problem, but then give it to God.

Welcome to the Genius Podcast. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. Podcast. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today. Today’s going to be different.

I had the very sad honor to be over the last few weeks in Texas. My precious father-in-law, donald Ray Luce, went to be with Jesus and while we were there making preparations and dealing with the grief and loss of a very wonderful man of God, a lot of things kept coming to the forefront and so many that spoke about him and the memories that were talked about all included the most wonderful character traits that my father-in-law held and lived by and, at his funeral, his grandson, who officiated the funeral and gave a message at the end. Michael Enzi had some notes that none of us knew about and those notes were given to him by my father-in-law. For those of you watching on YouTube, this is him. I’m actually going to read his obituary in order to lead us into this today. But he had given. He was a minister and you’ll hear about that. He had evangelized for many years. He served in children’s orphanages. He had evangelized for many years. He served in children’s orphanages. He was one of the most generous men that you will ever meet and taught that generosity to his children. And he was just a giver. He was full of encouragement and was always in the corner of the one who needed someone to stand with them, no matter what they have gone through, regardless if it was done to them or they did it themselves. He was in their corner for the redemption that Jesus could bring to their life. And he had passed on a message. He took notes and in these notes he titled the message Make this your Ten Commandments for Long Life.

And during the service my nephew, michael read these Ten Commandments and they were so profound it had grabbed everyone’s attention and we were all amazed by the time he was finished reading these Ten Commandments and I just felt it was appropriate today to basically teach his message. Michael will probably be doing the same in his church. He’s a minister and it will be something that, if you will take the time and spend it with me today, you will allow a very godly man to speak some very powerful truths into your spirit. These 10 commandments he did his best to live by, regardless of what he fought and what tendencies maybe were difficult or things that he had to wrestle with. These were the truths that he would stand on to pull him through and to cause him to be the overcomer that he was. I’d like to go ahead and read to you. This will be worth your time. I promise you You’re going to actually want to take notes and write down these Ten Commandments. This will be something that you can not only use to benefit your life, but these will be things I think that you’ll want to pass down to those that mattered the most to you as well.

This is his obituary. Donald Ray Luce, dr, as many of us called him at the age of 90, passed from this life on Wednesday, november 27th 2024 in Ingram, texas. He was the son of Odette Weeks, born on July 18, 1934 in Luling, texas. He was preceded in death by his granddaughter Domenica we called her Minnie Luce his son David Ray, his mother Odette Springer and his beautiful wife Charlotte May Odette Springer and his beautiful wife Charlotte May. He is survived by his daughter Rebecca Dove and husband Randy. Jonathan Charles and wife Janine, joel Nathaniel and me, his wife Jamie and Stephen Paul and his wife Donna. He will be missed by his 14 grandchildren, his 19 great grandchildren and many other family members and dear friends.

He graduated from Sam Houston High School in San Antonio, texas. Dr served in the military and was stationed in Okinawa, japan. During his tour of duty he reached the level of Golden Glove Boxer, glove globe, golden glove boxer. Notably, he became a Christian and received a call to ministry while serving in the army. He then married the love of his life, charlotte Mae Milligan, on November 19, 1955, and they began their life journey. Prompted by his newfound calling, he attended Southwestern Assembly of God College in Waxahachie, texas, for several years while working toward a ministerial degree. Dr and his dedicated wife served for a year or so at an orphanage close to Dallas, texas. He was an ordained minister and served in the ministry for nearly 60 years. In fact, he was so devoted that he never missed a day of work in his life, until the day he was taken to the hospital.

He was the most hardworking man, dedicated, as is almost an understatement. Dr was a man of prayer and his faithfulness to God and his family was unmatched. His number one priority was his time with the Lord. Each day he prayed specifically for each one of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and read God’s word and memorized scripture daily, even at the age of 90. And this is no joke. He would recite to us what he was memorizing at the time. He loved watching the Dallas Cowboys and would record each game and re-watch them when any of his kids were in town. One of his favorite pastimes was fishing and he was the most patient fisherman ever.

He enjoyed doing projects on the home, from the bright blue basketball court to the new pool, to the constant moving of rocks and dirt by the river and making sure his garages were fit for royalty. He was always dressed to the nines and even his jeans were well pressed. In the last few years he got into vans, slip-ons, and the kids would always say grandpa’s shoe game is strong. He had a set of shoes at every entrance to the house and his bedroom. He was extremely clean and organized meticulously, making sure everything was always in place just the way his beloved Charlotte left it. He was generous to a fault, always giving, always looking for someone to bless, always keeping a $100 bill in his wallet in case someone needed it. He loved buying cars and giving cars away because he had been blessed with cars during times of need. We just celebrated his 90th birthday, where he wanted a big party and it was perfect. He was surrounded by all his loved ones. Big party and it was perfect. He was surrounded by all his loved ones.

He had a regular schedule of where he would go to eat breakfast each day, rotating between the Rio Ranch Cafe and the Hunter House Cafe, where the staff knew his order in advance and would take time to talk with him. Each day. He made friends wherever he went and shared an inspirational word with those who were open to it. He walked with Jesus, he talked with Jesus and he shared the love of Jesus with others. We deeply appreciate his legacy of faith. Now, why would I share with you today this passage passage?

This obituary is just a teeny snapshot of the faithful life of my father-in-law and in his many years. You would never know, based off of his encouragement and his dedication to thinking, right thoughts and positive thoughts and doing for others. You would never know the struggle and the pain that he had gone through in his life. And I knew, based off of what I know about his life, that many of you have gone through some of those very dark and difficult places, if not in one right now, and I felt it appropriate that I knew he’d want to encourage you and I love to encourage you and I knew that these 10 commandments for a long life would definitely bring you encouragement. It’s instruction. It’s like having the tool of the book of Proverbs in your back pocket to know how to deal with life every day, what’s important, what’s not, so that you can practically make the right decisions every day in order to live a life that’s not only pleasing to God but that blesses everyone that you touch.

His life was not just about him. He lived his life to make sure that he was touching others, encouraging them, wanting them to know the love of Jesus and the depth of his forgiveness, that he has a plan for their life, and so I want to begin giving these to you. So, like I said, if you’ve got the availability to do this right now, and even if you’re driving and you’re doing something that you can’t take notes, I’m going to encourage you to go back and write these 10 things down for yourself. Later you will want to post these somewhere. We have already decided as a family that we’re going to take these and make these very, very specially printed so that we can hang them in our home and make them a part of our life. He used the verse Psalm 91, 16 as his heading for these commandments, which says with long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation Now. Dad loved the old King James and sometimes the new King James, and so most of these scriptures, if not all, are going to be taken from that. So you might have some these and some thous in there. You’re free to go and look them up in the NLT if that makes it easier for you.

But as I was thinking about doing this this morning and I read that scripture, I felt it was confirmation from the Lord when, in my own reading time, I came today to Proverbs, chapter 10. And verse 7 says the memory of the righteous is a blessing. And then verse 8, the beginning of it says the wise of heart will receive commandments. And that just settled it for me, his memory. He was a righteous man and his memory is a blessing to me, and that, because I want a wise heart, I will receive these commandments. And so that’s my hope for you today. Are you ready? Here we go.

Commandment number one thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities. And he gave us two scriptures to go with that. And he says now, if you’re not old enough to know what a record player is and how a record player works, his little note was worry is like a broken record it goes nowhere. Now, I grew up with a record player, and if you hit a scratch or a place in that record, or if it was broken? And if you hit a scratch or a place in that record or if it was broken, you would just hit, it would stop, it would never go any further, you would have to remove the needle from the record player. That was his thoughts, that was the prompting of the picture that came to him when it came about worrying that when we worry, we’re literally stuck and we won’t get anywhere. It produces nothing. So let’s look at the verses he gave us.

Philippians 4, verse 6 and 7 says be careful for nothing, but in everything. By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds. Through Christ Jesus. It’s just our little reminder. We know that the Lord tells us that, actually, that if we are someone who worries, that we’re actually in sin, it’s not a godly thing to do. To worry and most of us do it, if not on a regular basis and we have to know that the worry, if we allow ourselves to worry, it’s simply a clue to us that we are not fully trusting the Lord, that we are thinking that by worrying we can come up with an answer or something for us to do.

There is a difference between thinking critically about something that comes to you that you have to make a decision on. But if decisions are already made and there is nothing you can do, worrying will not help you. It will simply harm you, it will take you out of a position of faith and it’s hard on the body. Your body’s not meant to carry the stress of worry. You know, I’ve heard it said. Many ministers say that we are not. We were called sheep. We were not called horses, we were not called oxen. We were not called camels, we were not beasts of burden, we were sheep. We’re not meant to carry loads, we are meant to be cared for. And our good shepherd says you’re not supposed to worry. If you trust that I am your shepherd, I will take care of you. It reminds me of the Psalm, the 23rd Psalm, and we know that he is a good shepherd and I don’t have to have worry of anything. I don’t worry about anything because he will take care of me. His rod, his staff, they comfort me.

Okay, let’s look at the next scripture, joshua, chapter one, verses eight and nine. Scripture Joshua, chapter one, verses eight and nine this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success. So if we want success and we want long life, we want to be prosperous, we need to know how to do that. This scripture plainly says that if we are in the word of God and know what God says about it and we meditate on that day and night. It doesn’t depart from our mouth. We are talking about what God says all the time. If a problem arises, we’re talking about how God’s going to deal with it. We stand in a position of faith because of what God has said in his word. That will ensure that we have made our way prosperous and we will have good success. Verse nine says have not. I commanded you, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord, thy God, is with thee whithersoever, wherever you go, no matter where you go, no matter where you are, no matter what you’re facing, the Lord is with you. He has promised never to leave you and never to forsake you.

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Okay, commandment number two Thou shalt not not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass. And boy is that true. We spend so much time worrying and being afraid of things that never manifest, and yet we have felt and spent the energy and the time and the emotions fearing those very things when instead we could have been enjoying and standing in the joy of the Lord and in faith and not be troubled, knowing that the peace of God that we just read about, that passes all understanding will guard our heart and mind. We end up wasting valuable time, we end up wasting opportunity because we are sitting in the worry and the fear of what might be instead of living what is actually in front of us. He says that rose franklin d roosevelt once said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

But let’s back that up with scripture. Let’s go to 2 Timothy 1, verse 7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Now, this is a really important verse, because we tend to read it knowing that, okay, god tells us we have a sound mind and that he’s not given us the spirit of fear.

What we forget sometimes when we read this is to truly make this personal and realize that if I am not seeing or having a mind that is in a position of power because of my position with Christ, and if I am not standing in a position of love, knowing that he loves me and is caring for me, and I am acting instead out in a way that isn’t showing love, it’s showing fear. And I don’t know if you’ve ever witnessed this, but people who are in fear, their response is usually anger, or it lashes out or it is very impatient. It is counterintuitive to the spirit of God. So if I’m operating out of a spirit of fear, what I fail to realize is I am not operating out of the spirit of God. I can be saved, be a Christian and know what God has done for me. But if I am not cooperating with the Holy Spirit, I am not letting him rule and reign over my heart and my emotions. I have to understand that by kind of dethroning him, I am allowing a spirit of fear to then have the place of power and a place of position that is contrary to love, and then I am not in a sound mind. So it’s really to allow us to understand that God has not given us a spirit of fear. So if I am not operating by the spirit of God, I am inviting a spirit of fear to operate in God’s place. Well, that’s idolatry. I don’t want to bow to that spirit. And this is exactly what he’s trying to tell us.

Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass. The fear of failure keeps people from stepping out for God and doing more. And it’s true, we get afraid to do things, we get afraid to take the next step, we get afraid of the what-ifs and what might not be. Babe Ruth actually struck out more times than he hit home runs. Now, if he was afraid he was going to strike out, he may never swing again and then miss the opportunity for that home run. But this was not something he feared. He simply knew that he’ll keep swinging and eventually he’s going to hit a home run. He didn’t allow fear to get in the way of what he was doing, what he was gifted to do. And we have to be in that same position of knowing I’m not going to allow fear to rob me of the things that God has called me to, or the steps that I need to take, or the people I need to approach, or the things that I need to get accomplished. The fear, let’s see let me read this to you one more time Most things, let’s see let me read this to you one more time most things, for most of the things we fear, never come to pass.

Well, some of the things that hold us back are speaking in faith. There is a fear of speaking in faith. Now, why would we have a fear of that? That the devil will fight us over it? Some people and I’ve actually met people like this they’re afraid to step out in faith because they think, if I say it, they actually give the devil credit for being omniscient, omnipotent. You know, he hears everything, knows everything. He doesn’t, he doesn’t, he’s not God. He’s a created being. He’s not. He’s not the same as God. He’s not even comparable to God. Something that is created is no comparison to the one that created it period, end of story.

But what we do is, if you’re not putting God in his rightful place and seeing God for who he is and putting the devil in his rightful place, under our feet, where he belongs, then we might have a misappropriated fear, thinking that if I speak this out, then the devil’s going to fight me. He’s going to fight me if I try to do this and we allow a crazy, not manifested fear, something that’s just out there, it’s not existent to to stop me from doing something. It’s, if you really think about it, that’s crazy. And yet people do it all the time. These imaginary fears of what could be stop us from actually doing the thing that we should do.

We’ll say things like what if he does not do it? Meaning the Lord. What if he doesn’t answer my prayer? What if I stand in faith and God doesn’t do it? Or we say things like what if he does do it?

I mean we should be saying that right, instead of saying what if God doesn’t do it, because all that is is pride. If you declare that God’s going to do something and your fear is that God isn’t going to do it, you already are needing him to do it, so your position hasn’t changed. So what are you really afraid of? You’re afraid you’re going to declare something and then God doesn’t do it, and then you think you’re going to look foolish. Well, that’s pride. I would rather stand on the side of believing God than stand on the side of pride. If I stand on the side of pride and we’ll get to this later then I’m most likely agreeing with the enemy’s position and that the enemy has power, and the enemy is the one who is the. He was cast from heaven because of his pride and he wants us to walk in pride. It’s a false humility that we walk around. We call it humility and it’s not. It’s pride, it’s just disguised, it’s subtle, and so we need to be careful of that. What we should be doing instead is be constantly on our lips thinking what if God does it? What is the possibility, what could happen if God does this? Let’s stand in faith and see what God will do.

There’s a change in not just the mindset, but in the words that you speak, he writes down what are you afraid of? What are you afraid of today? Instead, use your faith. The encouragement for you today is use your faith. You may have a fear of being misunderstood. First of all, we have to please God. So the fear of being misunderstood means I’m afraid of what others will think of me or what I’ve said. And my first concern should not be what others will think of me. My first concern should be Lord, what are you asking of me and what is my response then going to be to what you’re saying? Am I speaking your truth? Am I speaking in faith? Am I walking in obedience? Am I doing the things and taking the steps, ignoring fear, but like Joshua, like we read in Joshua that I have a good courage, that I am willing to go forth in courage.

It’s the ones who are willing to go after it, to be obedient, regardless of what people think. It’s those whose way is made prosperous. If you need prosperity in the way you’re going today, then it is to first seek the Lord. What does his word say? Walk in obedience to that. Please him first, and when you do, regardless of if others are pleased with you or not your way will be made prosperous. We almost think that if people think lower or differently or are confused by us or misunderstand us, that somehow that will stop us from walking in the blessing, and it won’t. You could have the blessing of the Lord all over your life and there will be tons of people who don’t like you for it. They aren’t pleased with you for it. The two are not related. It won’t matter if you’re blessed or not blessed. People pleasing is never the way to go. It’s just never the way to go.

Jesus did some very strange things in the Bible that were very contrary to natural thinking. For example, he put mud on a blind man’s eyes and then he told him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash the mud off and at that point he would be able to see. You know, not only did he put mud on the man’s eyes, but he spit on the ground and made the mud to put on his eyes. Sometimes the things he did seemed crazy and he would stand against the religious leaders of the day, not caring what they thought about him. They called him every name possible. They said that he was, you know, the son of the devil. They called him everything. They refuted his glory, they refuted the miracles that he did. They stood against him in every possible way, but Jesus never allowed what they thought about him to dictate or deter him from whatever it is or he was going to do. Whatever thing he wanted to accomplish, however, he wanted to do it.

And there were many times where I wouldn’t be surprised if he did these things just to shock people, so that they would be forced to realize something miraculous just took place, just to bring a right kind of confusion, because we can get so stuck in thinking that God’s going to operate a certain way, he’s going to do it this way or not do it that way. There are many times that we’re afraid to offer up our faith about a situation because we have it worked out in our minds the way we think that God’s going to answer that prayer. And God may answer that prayer, but it may look nothing like the thing that you thought it would look like. It may take a completely different course. It’s why I like to kind of say one of my own little commandments for my life is and the Lord gave this to me earlier this year and I have meditated on this many times but that we cannot judge a thing until it is finished.

You can’t judge a thing in process. While it’s in process it will never look right, it will never feel right, it will always look wrong. It’s not until the thing is finished. Making a recipe, just making some kind of food item in a recipe, will never look right until it’s complete. So we need to just know this is the way it is in life and sometimes we preconceive what we expect God to do and how we expect him to do it and we think it’s wrong. We think the process is wrong. But God is God and our faith needs to not be in the process, folks. It needs to simply be that God’s going to do what God’s going to do and whatever he does is going to be right and beautiful and accomplish what needed to be accomplished. And whatever he does is going to be right and beautiful and accomplish what needed to be accomplished.

Then there is the fear that it’s too late in life. So many, if you’re over the age of 50, you tend to think I’m in the last half and I don’t have much time left. And what can God do with me now? My youth is gone, my years are gone, and it’s such a deterrent and we allow that to be something that stops us. We allow the fear of not having the energy or not having the same time or resources or whatever we think we might be lacking, simply because of age and I love the notes he wrote for this. It is not our strength that we labor in anyway, it’s his strength.

So if God has called us to something, it is also that same God who equips us in our body and graces us with whatever knowledge and tools and pathways that we need to get that thing accomplished. It is God who endues us with power. God can revitalize your life. Let’s look at Philippians 2.13, which says for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. It’s God who works it in you. He puts the will in you, not only to have the will but to do it. He enables you for both. And Psalm 27, verse 1, says the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?

Examples of people who ignored this fear of late in life were Colonel Sanders. He started out at age 65. Now think about that Colonel Sanders. The Kentucky Fried Chicken is still around today and it is still popular all over the United States, and he didn’t start that conglomerate. He didn’t start that business. He didn’t start that empire until he was 65 years old.

There are a lot of examples. I did a previous podcast and I gave you many examples about people who were older, and they were much older than 65. They were in their 70s and 80s when they began massive projects that we are all benefiting from today. But he wrote down his own life. My father-in-law did not own a home his own home until he was 60 years old when he passed from this life. He owned five acres and three homes on that property, not to mention another property. He did not allow the late beginnings in any way to stifle what he accomplished in those later years. He had another 30 years from the time that he did that, another 30 years from the time he bought that first home. 60 is only old if you tell yourself it’s old. We’ve got time left, folks. You’ve got time. If you’re listening to this and you have breath in your lungs, you still have time to do what God has asked you to do. You still have time to accomplish. Even today, I thought about this.

My father-in-law was 90 years old in July is when he turned 90. And even though this is now December of 2024 and he was what? Five months into his 90th, into his 90th year, he is still ministering. These notes were passed to us and he ministered at his own funeral. He ministered at his own funeral to over 200 people and now he’s ministering to you by these notes and by the life that he lived and the example he left, and that was at 90 years old. We received these notes at his home, going at 90 years, and look what he’s producing. He’s still ministering the gospel of Jesus Christ, still encouraging people. Folks, you never know.

I have a friend his name is Matt Rogers and I interviewed him on this podcast a few years ago and two of his three children suffer from a very serious illness and he was getting ready to have a fourth child and we were praying that that child would not be born with it as well. And they were, so now three out of the four children have this and it’s a 50-50 chance that you get it, that both parents had the gene and it’s a 50-50 chance whether the child will receive it. Cystic fibrosis, the name of the disease, and he has lived his life in the example that was left for him by his mother, that he never allowed the fear of a diagnosis to diminish in any way his faith in what the Lord Jesus would do. And he got that from his mother because his mother battled cancer. I believe she battled three different times breast cancer and the first two times she had overcome it. Her last time of having cancer, while she was in the hospital, she was literally witnessing regularly to those in the hospital with her, bringing people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And her life, to her very last breath, was used to glorify God and she did it with joy. She did it in faith and she never allowed what she went through physically to determine what she believed about God and about his healing power and what he would do. He had healed her before and she believed that if he didn’t manifest a physical healing on this earth, that that was part of his plan. And I have watched her son live out that exact same tenacity, dealing with the daily issues of having children with this disease. The miraculous thing did happen for one of his children after 12, I think it was 12 years of having the disease, they came upon a medication that actually worked for him and his numbers became normal, which is amazing. And he has taught his children never to allow a diagnosis to stop them. These issues affect their lungs and their ability to breathe. And these kids run, play soccer, play every kind of sport, do gymnastics, do all kinds of things, and they have never allowed it to stop them because they know that God heals and sustains and gives life.

Fear has not been a factor for this family. I mean, you get an original diagnosis and at first there is a fear of an unknown. What does this mean? And the questions pile up. Of course they do, but they have determined we believe who God is and what he has said. And if God says he heals, then God says he heals what he has said. And if God says he heals, then God says he heals. And they’ve never allowed fear to stop them.

Let’s go to the third commandment Thou shalt not cross bridges before you get to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this. I love this. Don’t borrow from tomorrow. Let’s read Matthew 6, 34, which says 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. What is that saying? He’s saying that Don’t worry about tomorrow, don’t try to accomplish tomorrow.

Today you can only do today. What you can do today, tomorrow will be there. Tomorrow, tomorrow will end up being a today and you can deal with it then. But you can’t cross that bridge too early. You won’t be able to. You know you could have. Isn’t it funny how you can have after hours of business hours, you could think of something and you think, oh, I got to call and talk to that person and it just can grate on you because you can’t call them. You want to call them right now because it’s on your mind right now. You want to get it off your mind and you think but I can’t, they’re not open, I can’t do anything until the business opens and the next morning comes and you’re sitting there, chom something an answer, do whatever you got to do. It’s true, we end up wasting our energies of today on tomorrow. You can’t do it, it’s impossible. Tomorrow is always in the future. You cannot deal with the future till the future arrives. You just can’t do it. So relieve yourself of the pressure after you cross the bridge, that is before you. Don’t burn it. You may have to cross it again. Wise words Don’t burn your bridges.

You know, sometimes in our zeal for getting through a thing, we think I’m done with that, I’m never doing that again and we make decisions that later could have made life easier had we kept things intact that needed to be kept intact. I don’t know what that is for you. It might be relationships. I’m not saying that some don’t need to be walked away and never crossed again. I’m not saying that all bridges don’t that. Maybe there is a bridge that needs to be burned. That’s not the kind of bridge we’re talking about. But you never want to do something permanently that you don’t know what God may have for that. Pray about that. Pray about that. Do your best to keep relationships intact.

Even if you have to walk away from relationships, you don’t have to burn the bridge. You can simply go the other direction. Keep yourself, keep your heart, keep your mind, keep your emotions settled and at peace. It only stirs you up to think about burning something down, and that’s a waste of your energy. It’s a waste. And not only is it a waste and a pull, it’s a drawdown, it’s a depressor, it’s, and it’s something that can um be a a a clog in the wheel for the Holy Spirit to be moving and working through you. You don’t want to create space for um, for regret, and you don’t want to create space for anger, and you don’t want to create space for unwanted uh, resentment. We want create space for unwanted resentment. We want to let those things go. We want to let them go.

When someone does you wrong, you do the right thing. Now, according to scripture and he’s probably got them listed Let me go to them just to make sure. I’ll read them in a minute. He didn’t write it down, okay. The scripture that pops in my mind is you turn the other cheek. You don’t give back evil for evil. You exchange good for good, but you don’t exchange evil for good. That’s scripture, that’s Bible.

But he had a saying and I’ve mentioned this before in the past and I love this saying. In fact, over the last couple of weeks, while being there at his home, my sister-in-law was always she said this quite frequently because this was something he always said to her. He raised them saying this and this was a saying that meant so much to her life and since I’ve known him for 30 years. He has said it around me and I have also remembered and made it a part of my life and his little saying was this you never go wrong doing right. You can never go wrong doing right Doesn’t matter what somebody else does, doesn’t matter how wrong they do it. Keep your spirit right. You do it right. You’re not living to exonerate the flesh. You’re not living to appease a carnal man inside of you, to make your flesh happy. You live to please the Lord. You are now bought and paid for by Jesus’ blood and you belong to him. You serve him and he wants you to serve him under his character. Making sure that those who see you and your actions, your thoughts, your ways are the kind of things that would bring a beautiful reflection of who he is. You represent him, is you represent him? Make sure that you represent him well. You can never go wrong doing right.

Let’s go to the fourth commandment, which says thou shalt face each problem as it comes, one at a time anyway. James 1 17,. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither a shadow of turning. God is faithful. He doesn’t change. If he’s faithful today, he’ll be faithful tomorrow. Which means, whatever problem you face today, god is faithful. He will be faithful to help you in that situation. He’ll be faithful today and he’ll be faithful with tomorrow’s problem. He’ll be faithful with tomorrow’s problem. Simply face each problem as it comes. You can only handle one at a time anyway.

Now how are we supposed to face those problems? We’re supposed to pray. God cannot answer prayers that you do not utter. If you don’t pray, you can’t expect an answer. If I am expecting something of someone you know, they say in marriage, this is a big issue, because either partner in the marriage will put an expectation on their spouse without ever verbalizing that expectation. And if I don’t ever tell them what I expect, how can I expect them to actually do the thing? I’m expecting them to read my mind. I’m expecting them to know what I think and how I feel, and they’re supposed to anticipate my every need regardless of knowing what all I’ve dealt with that day.

I’m actually asking an impossible task. If I do not verbalize what my expectation is, then I am surely setting myself up for failure. The same is true with God. Does God know what we need before we ask yes, is he our creator and he knows our thoughts? Yes, but he wants a relationship with you and, just as a husband and wife need to communicate, we need to communicate, we need to indulge that communication, we need to participate in the relationship. You can’t call it a relationship if you don’t participate.

Well, what is my participation? To pray. I am to pray to make my requests known. Patient to pray. I am to pray to make my requests known. That’s what scripture tells us to do To bring our request to the father. He is faithful to hear and to answer prayer. But it is my part to pray. So if I’m worried about each problem, I need to bring them to the Lord, who is faithful, who has promised to be faithful, and I need to make that request known to him and trust him. All of these commandments kind of lay one on the other, and that means I won’t have fear or worry. That will put me into a position of faith that God will hear me, he will meet me where I’m at, he will do what I cannot do, he will give me answers, he will lead me, give me direction, comfort me, whatever is needed, whatever’s necessary.

Let’s look at a and I’m turning there to Jeremiah 33, verse three Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. And show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. I love that verse because so many times that is exactly the issue. We come up on problems and we just don’t know what to do. We just simply don’t know what to do. It’s not that we’re afraid to do what needs to be done, but we don’t know what to do. We would do it if we knew what to do. And it says call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. God will show us what we need to know. He’ll show us great things, mighty things, the things that we can’t know without him. He promises to show us.

And then let’s look at Psalm 91, verse 15. He shall call upon me and I will answer him and I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. Deliver him and honor him, amen, amen. I will deliver him and honor him. Let’s go to Psalm I’m sorry, not Psalm.

Let’s go to commandment number five. Thou shalt not take your problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bed partners. That’s a quote from CM Ward and he says give God your problems, give God your problems. Let’s look at 1 Peter, 5, 7. Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you.

If you believe in who God is the character that the Bible declares about God then you understand, by the gift of Jesus Christ, how much he loves you. You understand that he gave everything for you, that while we were yet sinners, christ died for us, that he loved us when we were unlovable, when we were rejecting him, when we were disobeying on purpose, when we were running from him, and yet he continued to be available to us, going after us the way a shepherd would go after a lost sheep. And we can know that because of this, that God does truly care about us. He is the good shepherd, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. We don’t have to make problems.

The things that we lay our head at night on the bed thinking about are nightmares. We don’t need to take those problems and turn them into nightmares. We need to give them to the Lord. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth. Give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

What is he saying? He’s saying I don’t give to you the way the world gives. You can count on what I give you. What I give you, I don’t take back, even the gifts that God gives to us. He never takes back. He never takes those gifts. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. That’s why you can see so many gifted people who serve the devil, who don’t serve the Lord. They’re gifted, they were born with those gifts. Those gifts came from God. Every good and perfect gift is from the Father of lights. It’s from God above. He gives us those gifts. Whether you ever acknowledge him in those gifts or not, they’re from him, they’re for you.

What he gives, he gives freely. He doesn’t. So many on this earth will give, but only if they’re giving to get. They give to get or they give because they want to have a reason to force you into doing what they want you to do, out of manipulation, out of power, out of position. Not God, he gives freely. He said to us freely give. I freely gave to you. You freely give. That’s what he commands us to do. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. He doesn’t do it the way the world does it. So let not your heart be troubled and neither let it be afraid. So beautiful, neither let it be afraid, so beautiful.

His advice write down your problem and give it to God. And I know why he says write it down, because this is one of those things so many people you might be one of these kind of people that and this was his personality. My husband has the same personality. If they don’t write something down, it feels like it’s never been addressed and it stays a worry in the mind. This is a practical step. He’s saying write it down, lord, here’s my problem. But then give it to God. Don’t pick it back up, don’t let it become a source of worrying, don’t let it be something that constantly takes you into your tomorrow. And trying to control things you can never control. This is self-sabotage and it takes us out of a position of faith. We need to remain in that position of faith.

Well, that’s a good stopping place for today. If you will come back next week, we will have the last five commandments for you. I know on their own, just one to five is a blessing, and there’ll be a treat, something that you could use this week, if not today, but I do encourage you tune in next time while we go over the last five. That way you have all 10 commandments. I know this will be such a blessing to your life. These things are not just little truisms. They’re more than true. They’re Bible and they have the power behind them to make a radical difference in our life. So that is my encouragement to you today. Thank you for taking the time with me to indulge me, to be able to bring honor to my father-in-law and to bring honor to the Lord, as well as to give you some real tools, practical tools for life. Today it was my pleasure to be with you and we’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.