GINA: Well, welcome to FJM TV. I'm
Gina here with Joe and Cristy, and we are talking today
about finding God's direction. This is going
to be good guys, and we're just glad you joined us. I think
you're going to be as encouraged as well, but first of all, we
want you to get connected with us here at Fred Jordan Mission,
and you just need to go to fjm.org and see all the ways
that you can volunteer and connect with us on social media,
how you can give financially, how you can pray for us. We've
got so many wonderful things happening and the most important
thing is is we have our 80th year anniversary coming up, and
we want you to be a part of all the things that are going on
here at Fred Jordan Mission. So today talking about
finding God's direction in our life.
JOE: Absolutely. And Cristy, first because I want to
read a little devotional, part of this little devotional
that I send out every day. So tell us
about the text from Joe and what it means and how to get it.
CRISTY: Yeah, we would love for you
to get a text from Joe every day. Basically
you get a Bible verse and an encouraging word alls you
have to do is text the word Bible to (626)314-7703, or you
could scan the QR code below and we're just going to have Joe
text you a Bible verse and a word of encouragement every day.
It's a great way to start your day. We all hear from everyone
constantly that it's just such an encouragement to them at
just the perfect moment that they
need to hear it is when they hear it.
GINA: You can go right to your phone. It's right there and
it's just a wonderful tool. It's small, but it's powerful.
JOE: And I even get encouraged you know, and I'm the one
writing it except for of course, the Bible,
that's God's Word. And we have a little
Bible verse, and then I just try to give a little word
of encouragement through it or what it means and how we can
apply it to our life, but in this whole thing of finding
God's direction, there's something I wanted to share from
a little devotional. And so it's this, finding God's direction in
your life is key in order to fulfill your calling and your
purpose. Jesus assures us from His Word that the Holy Spirit
will guide us, and then the Bible verse for that is John
16:13, and this is what it says, but when the spirit of truth,
the Holy Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth. He
will not speak on His own, He will speak only what He hears
and He will tell you what is yet to come. Do you know how to get
direction in your life? Do you know how to get direction in
your life? Well, I didn't for a long time until I placed my
faith and trust in Jesus, read His Word, and then realized if I
want to figure out the calling and the purpose and why I am on
this earth and how to fulfill that and have joy and passion
and just fulfillment, I need to trust Jesus, be in His Word, and
then let the Holy Spirit guide me. And just know this from
God's Word and from Jesus's promise here in this Word, the
Holy Spirit will guide us if we will seek Him every day.
GINA: That's so good. Be still and
seek the Lord. And I also love that
scripture that says, behold I stand at the door and knock.
And that's not just about salvation, but it's about He
wants to commune with us. You know and the Bible also says He
is a light unto our path and a lamp unto our feet, and He's
there to guide us every day, but the importance for me is just
being in God's Word. So whatever direction I'm going, I know that
I'm equipped knowing I will make the wise decision, I will be
forgiving, I will be doing the things that He's called me to
do, to go in the right direction. No matter
what I'm faced with, I'll be able to stand
sure on that foundation of God's Word.
JOE: And I know in ministry, and especially on this show because
Fred Jordan Missions from 1944 to 2024 is 80 years this year
our anniversary of Fred Jordan Mission, serving Jesus by
serving those in need, declaring and demonstrate His love. But
also it's our 73rd year in television. Fred Jordan Mission,
FJM Television has been on since 1951. And I know I say this
verse a lot, but it's just one of my favorites, and it's one
that ties right into this just like John 16, that to follow the
spirit of God and His truth and He'll guide us, but also
Proverbs 3:5 and 6, trust in the Lord with all your heart and
lean not on your own understanding, but in all your
ways acknowledge Him and He will not, maybe not hopefully He will
direct your path. And isn't that what we're talking about,
finding God's direction? Christy, how do we find God's
direction if we're going to lean on our own understanding?
Because usually when I lean on my own understanding, it falls
way flat and I get myself in trouble. So reading and knowing
Proverbs 3:5 and 6, trusting in the Lord with all your heart,
don't lean on your own understanding, but
acknowledge Him, it says He will direct your
path. So what do you think of that?
CRISTY: Yeah, I think it's amazing how
as humans, I think we try and find direction
for our lives. We try and think, well, I must know it
all. I must be able to figure it all out on my own. And you
know what I think is so interesting is what you were
saying, Gina, the whole concept of that God is constantly
knocking. Something I love about God is that He never stops
pursuing us. It's really when we realize that we need Him, right?
It's not until we lose our way that we find direction in God.
It's not until we realize that we need Him, that He's able to
meet our needs. It's not until the darkest moments in our life
where light shines through. So I think it's so interesting to
think about that sometimes we're not very prone to look to God
for direction. Sometimes we lose our way, we get lost. We don't
know what to do, and then God meets us with that direction. So
it's like I want to be a little more intentional about trying to
find direction through God instead of those moments of need
or worry or hurt that lead me to it. But as humans, a lot of
times it's in the moments that we fall apart, that God is able
to put us back together and show us where to go next.
JOE: Absolutely, because we all make bad choices. Right?
GINA: We always bad choices. JOE: And don't the bad choices
sometimes lead us to a bad direction?
GINA: Into darkness. Absolutely. But that
was so exciting, what you say is because
then when we come back into alignment with the
Lord and we move in that direction, now we're moving in a
direction where we are the light. Let your light shine. I
love that little song. Let your light shine. What is that? This
little light of mine, and so that's the beauty of, well,
right now I'm thinking about a quote my dad used to love, he
says, be a great advertisement for the Lord. No one wants to
see a sourpuss Christian. And my dad is always so full of light
and love and light and all of that. But that's the beauty of
following the Lord is when we are on our direction, our path
of life, we bring that extra life and joy and light to
those around us where we want them to say, hey, what
do you have? I want what you have.
JOE: But we all fall into that human thing,
the flesh. And we think we know best and we think we
can make the right decisions and the right choices and kind
of make the roadmap and we can follow our own roadmap
and we can get to where we need to, but I don't know.
GINA: Get out on that detour. JOE: You sometimes even whether
it's our phones, tablets, or anything else,
or in your car, you hit the GPS and say, take me here.
And before you know it did not take you there, so as good as
technology is and everything else, as good as we think we are
in knowing how to get us where we want to go, there is nothing
better than perfection. And perfection is God, God, His
Word, His truth, Jesus, what He did for us on the cross, His
Holy Spirit leading and guiding us, we already read it here,
that God and His Word is going to give us the truth and His
Holy Spirit will guide us. That's what the Word of God
says. If we want to find God's directions, the key is
fulfilling our calling and purpose by following God's Word,
His plan, and the Holy Spirit's guidance. But so many times we
don't or we get off on our own track, in our own directions, we
get lost, we get frustrated. And then I know for me when that
happens, you get discouraged, you get bummed out, you get
like, ugh. The enemy starts lying to you and you're like,
before you know it, instead of pressing into God to get
redirected. Same way that when you're using Waze or one of
those apps on your phone and you're in LA and you're like,
ah, traffic, it's redirection. Redirection or you make a wrong
turn, we're going to redirect you. And it does a pretty good
job at trying to redirect you, but God's even better than that.
He wants to redirect us before we make the mistake. But if we
make a mistake, He loves us, and wants to get us back on track,
right direction. But so many times because of our guilt and
our shame and our fear and our just, we blew it. We get lost.
And if you're viewing today, I just want you to know that no
matter what you're going through, no matter what
direction you're headed, if you're not headed in the right
direction, just know this, God wants to redirect you today to
the right direction, His direction, His path, but you
have to trust Him. You have to look to Him. You have to ask Him
to help you, and He will. Don't be ashamed, we all lose
direction at times, but know this, God loves you and He will
get you on the right path if you trust Him.
GINA: Amen. That's a great thought. We'll be right back.
ANNOUNCER: If you ever visit the streets
of Skid Row in Los Angeles, you will
see ragged tents, compromised easy up, which is someone's
home. If you walk down the streets of Skid Row, you'll
pass dirty blankets or old newspapers lying on top of
broken wooden pallets, which is someone's bed. If you come to
the corner of 5th and Towne, you will see people lined up
to join team Jesus for a hot meal in
our dining room or a time of song
and worship in our chapel. What you also see at Fred Jordan
Mission is smiles and hugs and hear wonderful stories of love
and care. Serving those on Skid Row for 80 years, feeding
millions of meals, caring for the saint and the sinner by
declaring the goodness of God through love and action. Please
continue to give right now while it's fresh on your heart. Pick
up your phone or your tablet, go to your computer and type
fjm.org. It is there you can give a generous gift to help us
continue what we have been doing for 80 years.
ANNOUNCER: Join the conversation by connecting with
us on social media. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and more. Visit us at social.fjm.org.
GINA: Well welcome back, and we're talking
about finding God's direction. Before we
go any further though, if you haven't connected
with us here at Fred Jordan Mission, just go to
fjm.org and see all the ways you can connect with us here. Again,
we've been talking about the wonderful 44 to 24, the 80 year
anniversary is here upon us, and this is going to be exciting
year. So we just want you to get connected and be a part of all
of that celebration with us. And we are just talking about
finding God's direction. And sometimes we can get so off
base, like you said, taking all the wrong detours. And next
thing we know, we're just down a whole different path,
overwhelmed with guilt and shame and exactly where the enemy
wants us separated from the Lord. But the beautiful thing is
He meets us right where we're at every time. The minute we stop
and call out to Him and say, okay, Lord, I don't want to do
this on my own anymore. And He just picks us up and just gets
us right back on that beautiful right direction that He has for
us because all of us have a plan and a purpose, and He wants to
give us a hope and a future, and He's with us, He's for us
every step of the way, but sometimes that direction we can
just get off in the wrong direction.
CRISTY: Yeah, you know it reminds me
just a couple of weeks ago I was going
down to the Mission and for some reason I put it in my
GPS. I think I was trying to avoid traffic, because I don't
need a GPS to get there, right? But I put three-4's, I put 4445
Towne Avenue, and it took me through all these different
exits and I thought it must be because I'm avoiding traffic,
you know and I was with Michelle from here, our FJM team, and
she's like, I really think we're going the wrong way. I am like,
no, this is what the GPS said. I end up in East LA and we keep
going, we keep going. And I started having so much anxiety
and I'm like, where am I? Because we get to it and it's a
neighborhood, we're nowhere close to the Mission. I'm like,
what did I do? What did I do? And alls I had to do is put in
the right address, 445 Towne Avenue, and it took me 25 more
minutes to get back to the Mission, but I got there
eventually. And I just think how so often we think we're so
close, I was almost positive I was going the right direction. I
had the right address. So I thought, right, and yet I got in
this whole detour, and I was just thinking about that how God
so often redirects us. You know alls we have to do, like the
only GPS I want is the God GPS. It's like God, because then the
detours, it's not like my life won't have detours. It's not
like I won't go on detours, but I'll know that they're for me
and not against me. I'll know that He has me and that if I go
through detours, He's going to be walking through it with me.
So it was just so funny. It reminded me of that as we're
just talking about direction, but just how beautiful it is to
think that we have God directing us every step of the way.
GINA: And how you said when you were
off on that wrong direction, that
you were so full of anxiety. I mean, that's what
happens for us in life when we're just away from the Lord,
we're trying to do our own thing, we're lost, and just that
anxiety, that stress and anxiety can just overtake us.
JOE: If we allow that to happen it
just takes us even in a worse direction.
If you think about it, all of us as humans, because I
know I'm a human and you guys are humans, and all of you
watching are humans too, and not ashamed to say this because the
older I get, the more I realize that transparency and just being
real and authentic is really the only way to be in life. But
there's those times, I remember we were on vacation once on our
honeymoon, Kris and I like 35 plus years ago, and we were in
Hawaii, and back then there wasn't the same GPS and you pick
up your iPhone and take me here and to the Seven Sacred Pools,
and so we're driving, we're driving, and Kris is like, just
ask the guy at the gas station. I'm like, no, I'm not going to
ask the guy at the gas station and we'll make it, we'll make.
You know I saw the map, we'll make it. A few wrong turns, and
before you know it, you're in the wrong direction. And it's
like, honey, we've been going for like 3 hours. What's going
on? And yeah, you can get stubborn. It doesn't matter if
it's a guy or girl, it happens to all of us. But I just
remember not wanting to get directions, and she's like, but
honey, wouldn't it be good to ask a local, someone who has
probably been to the Seven Sacred Pools a hundred times,
seen the waterfalls and probably gone there since they were a
baby? And so they could do it with their eyes closed. And it's
like, no, but we'll find it. We'll find it. And when you keep
getting more lost and more in life too, off your direction of
where God wants you or you think God wants you to be, can be, it
can be prideful at first, but then it can be just shame that
keeps you from asking somebody or asking God for help. And I
just realized that it's just not worth all that. Just drop the
pride, drop the machismo. I am a man. I can do it. I'm a human.
I'm smarter than this. And just say, you know what, God, I've
lost direction. I surrender. I'm a sinner. I need you. You're my
savior. Now I need you to be my director, and I need directions
on this. And it's funny, I finally did ask just the local,
and they're like, yeah, go up to the next street, turn right, and
you go. And there it was, right? Simple, simple.
GINA: When we surrender, it just, God makes it so
simple. We don't have to push and strive and dah, dah,
dah, dah. It's like He makes it easy.
JOE: And the Word of God talks about
the birds of the air and the animals
and everything else. If God takes care of them, how much
more does He love us, His children, who He died for? And
so it doesn't matter what we do or what direction we've lost. I
know I lost direction for a long time through my teens and stuff.
I mean a long time. I used to look back at it with regret and
feel like, man, I really messed up all those years of not
walking with God, and I knew I should try and do my own thing
and a lot of guilt and shame. And if you're watching today,
maybe you've lost direction and there's guilt and shame, and
then it just takes you further from God though. It takes you
from asking God to redirect you and get you back on course to
just a dark place of being lost even more. And I know for me, I
did that for a long time. And then probably 25 years ago or
so, I just realized that like this is dumb. I have the King of
kings and Lord of lords as my Savior. I have the Creator of
the universe as my Father. Why not just go and ask God, I'm
sorry, I've been going my way. I've been doing my thing.
Forgive me, cleanse me, and get me back on track. Because His
Word says He will. He promises to always be with us. And so I
just think of those times, and I don't look back now with regret
or remorse or I wish I could have a do-over, but it makes me
now just realize, don't be stubborn and don't keep getting
lost further in the jungle when God has a very bright light in
His Word to get you where you need to go.
GINA: It's a beautiful example of you
really got emotional thinking about
your life without the Lord and your life with the Lord, but
that's kind of like the beauty right there is that you know
life without the Lord was empty. It was not fulfilling.
You had no joy, you had no peace. And then when you come
back to the Lord and you surrender all, it's like it just
floods over you. And it's like, why did I wait so long? Why did
I put you at arms length? Why didn't I let you in? Because
that peace and that joy, and it really, it's a comfort and a
trust that just wraps us up that it's like you can't
even articulate the beauty of it.
JOE: Yeah, I really like something I
read about Billy Graham and what he
said about our plans and directions and how to stay on
course. First he said, read and trust in God's Word. Then he
said, understand your circumstances and what you're
going through. See the big picture of what God's trying to
do. Then seek Godly advice. Trust the Holy Spirit to guide
you and then trust God with the outcome and for the outcome. And
if you're watching today, I just want you to know that we all
make mistakes. I made a lot in my past and it was scary and it
was lonely and it was hard being away from God for all the years
that I was. But for 35 years now, I've served Him because He
never gave up on me, and He's not giving up on you. And we
need you. We need you to know that Jesus loves you and He's
not giving up on you, and that all you have to do is believe
and receive, and He will take you from where you're at. It'll
save you or He'll redirect you and get you back on path, but
every day, we serve so many thousands and thousands of every
week, men, women, and children that are hungry and homeless and
helpless and hopeless with the hope of Jesus. But we can't do
it without you. This television program wouldn't be on without
you the last 73 years, the last 80 years, we wouldn't be Fred
Jordan Missions without you. You help us take Jesus to this lost
and hurting world. Look around because I do. Every day, I look
around, every day that I'm at Skid Row, I look around and my
heart is broken because I know it breaks God's heart to see His
creation, living the way that people do on the streets with
the problems they have, with the emotional problems, the mental
problems, the addictions, the heartache, the broken dreams
everywhere. God looks down, and I'm sure it breaks His heart,
but guess what? We make a difference. Not we can. We make
a difference. And if you continue or you start partnering
with us today, we will continue to make a difference in seeing
God's creation that's broken and lost and without direction
redirected by God into that personal relationship where He
can fix the addictions. He can heal the illnesses. He can take
care of the mental problems, and if He can take care of the birds
of the air and the animals in the field, He can take care of
every homeless person, every hungry person that live in our
city and in this country, but we need to be the hands and feet of
Jesus. Will you stand with us today in the 80th year? Give $8,
$80, $800, $8,000. Whatever you can do, every dollar will help
us to win a soul and change a life. God bless you.
ANNOUNCER: Life is busy. It is easy for
the little things in our everyday routines
to get lost in the shuffle, even when everything is
going good. There are still things that get overlooked. At
Fred Jordan Mission we strive to help those we serve on Skid Row
with the little things such as having access to a bottle or
even just a cup of clean water when they're thirsty. How about
a cup of coffee and a donut just to get your day going or taking
for granted having shelter from the weather hot in the summer,
cold in the winter? Did you know a high percentage of those here
on Skid Row, who we call homeless are not drug addicts or
alcoholics or even mentally unstable? No they are fellow
Americans who maybe a few months ago were paycheck to paycheck
from eviction or recently laid off from their job or just down
and out on their luck. Your active kindness through prayer,
through your financial gifts today, help those who come
through our doors for socks, toothbrush, soap, a lunchtime
snack, and yes, even water. So let this be a reminder to
be thankful for the little things.
ANNOUNCER: Join the conversation by connecting with
us on social media. We are on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and more. Visit us at social.fjm.org
FEMALE: (Singing) When the night comes,
and there's no one and you feel hopeless
and abandoned. Just take my hand and lift your eyes.
Change is coming, love has arrived. We will overcome this
sorrow. We will see the dawn tomorrow. We will soldier on
down this road as we reach for hope, reach for hope.
ANNOUNCER: Please will you join us in feeding hungry children
and their families by phoning today? (844)-FJM-FOOD or
donating online fjm.org. That's fjm.org or mail your
check to Fred Jordan Mission, P.O. Box 12345,
Covina, California 91722. Please will you help?
ANNOUNCER: The proceeding program was sponsored by
generous friends and partners of Fred Jordan Missions.