Dr. Bill Thrasher
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First Person is produced in cooperation with the Far East Broadcasting Company, who rejoice in the stories of changed lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Learn more at febc.org. Sometimes we need to hear Jesus say, I will remember your sins no more. Micah 719, Corrie ten Boom, that's the verse that says, he takes our sins and he puts them in the depth of the sea. Corrie ten Boom says he puts up a sign saying, no fishing. ♪

Welcome to First Person. I'm Wayne Shepherd, and I'm pleased to have Dr. Bill Thrasher as our guest here early in the new year to help us prepare spiritually for the future. I'll introduce Bill, and we'll begin our conversation in a moment.

As we look ahead to bringing you more first-person interviews this year, I want to remind you that you can also go back into the archive of past interviews. Perhaps there are some you remember that you'd like to hear again, or maybe you'd like to share what you've heard with friends or family. Just go to FirstPersonInterview.com for a list of past programs going back many years and choose what you'd like to listen to or download for later. Again, that's FirstPersonInterview.com.

Dr. Bill Thrasher of the Moody Theological Seminary has been with us previously, but with a new year upon us, I wanted Bill to come back and challenge us spiritually. Listen now as he teaches us about trusting God. You know, it was in maybe over 40 years ago that I remember there was a Christian leader that shared faith.

how he took the principle of first fruits and applied that to his time. That was in April of 1982. And he talked about how given just the first few minutes of a day to God, the first day of the week to the Lord, and the first part of a year. Well, one of those areas that I had never thought about was the first part of a year. I'd sought to honor the Lord with the first part of a day and the Lord's day, but in order to know what that meant,

So when the new year came around, I'd put in my day timer, a paper day timer, which I actually still use. I and three other people. I've succumbed to computers now. Well, most of the world has. But I put there in my day timer, okay, when January comes around, I'm going to give the first part of that day –

those days to use because I was a little bit more available in those first few days. I didn't know what that meant. I remember I was single at that time. I went through some of my belongings and I decluttered, gave away things I didn't need. And also I was looking through some past journals and three things sort of came to the surface. And I thought to myself, well, why don't you go into this year trusting God for these three things? I still remember those three things. And

uh, maybe I'll talk about one of them. The, I remember the first thing was, um, uh, I saw, you know, first Corinthians 13, one to three, all our listeners will know that. Okay. He says, love is the most important thing. If I speak with the tongue of men and angels don't have love, I become a noisy gone. I have all faith. So as to move mountains and, uh, all knowledge and, but I don't have love. I'm nothing. If I give all my possessions to feed the poor. So, um,

deliver my body to be burned. So love is everything. But then as I saw, okay, it says, okay, love is everything. I'm not sure I know fully what it is, but it's love is most important thing. And then in first John, he says, we love because he first loved us.

So I put those two together, and that was one of the things I lay before the Lord, as long as two others. But that, okay, if love is the most important thing, and we love because you first loved us, is it the most important thing I could trust you for, God, for you to overwhelm me with your love so that I could better respond in loving you and loving others? Now, I kept those three requests before the Lord, and that was a very, very special year. I remember that year I saw...

well, the uniqueness of God's love. I said, you know, as I got in touch with my heart, I said, you know, only God can think about me day and night. How precious are your thoughts to me, oh God? How vast is the sum of them? If I were to count them, they would outnumber the sands of the sea. Psalm 139. And so no one, no matter how much they love you, they're going to have to sleep. They're going to have some bad days. But so God is unique in the way he can love me. Also, I saw that that

Not only he can love me uniquely, but the depth of his love. I mean, I could have quoted for you Romans 5, that he died for me when I was weak and ungodly and a sinner and his enemies, those four descriptions there in Romans 5. But I remember one day,

I felt particularly ungodly, but it's like my spirit could just drink up God's love for an ungodly person in ways I never had before. So God is a living God. He can take things that sort of we know. And also I remember looking at, okay, every time God would tell me to love somebody in a certain way, I'd back up. I said, Lord, I know you want me to do that, but God, how is it that you love me if we love because you first loved us? Scripture says a friend loves at all times.

Now, Lord, I know you want me to be that kind of friend, but Lord, I think you're ultimately that to me. You love me at all times. Or he who repeats a matter separates them, my friends. But he who covers that transgression seeks love.

What if I woke up and God rubbed that into my face? He doesn't do that because he's seeking to build a love relationship. So what I'm just encouraging our listeners to do, nothing says you have to do this, but just consider this. God, what do you want me to trust you for for this year?

in my book, Putting God Back in the Holidays, pages 24 to 26, I've listed some of those first-of-year prayers that I've laid before the Lord. And I've seen him work, and I've seen him answer. But the key is, what does God want you to trust God for, for that year? So the idea of taking the principle of firstfruits, the

giving that to God, maybe he'll give you another thing. But for me, it was decluttering my life, but also asking God, what do you want me to believe you for? That was such a special year that every year when the next year came around, I said, God,

What do you want me to trust you for for this year? And so that's been a very helpful practice. Well, I love the concept of first fruits and applying it in this way. And it's exciting to hear the difference that it makes and has made in your life, Bill. And I want that for myself. I want it for our listeners as well. So that's the reason for this conversation today. But it's different than making New Year's resolutions, isn't it? Yes, it is. The...

Well, I like in an old Andrew Murray book, he talks about three stages of the Christian life. And I think you recycle through these stages more than once. But he says the first stage is I can do it. Hmm.

And that's going to lead to failure at some point. And so the second stage is I can't do it. And that's where we built up a resistance saying, don't anybody tell me to make any resolution or any resolve. I'm not going to set myself up for failure. Right. I'm just not even going to try anymore. Exactly. But the third stage is I can't do it, but I must do it, and I'm going to trust God to do it. And so that's why I even like looking at it.

This idea of resolutions is, God, what do you want me to believe you for for this year? What do you want me to trust you for for this year? So I think that's a very freeing thing. Right. Resolutions and the way we normally think of them have become almost a cliche. We joke about them. Right. How long did you keep that resolution? Right. You know, that kind of thing. And that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about a resolution that is faith-based. Exactly. Exactly. It's believing God.

It's believing God. And I think that's the posture of our heart as we go about, God, what do you want me to believe you for? I know I always appreciate the late Dr. Bill Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ, what was called then now called CRU, really was used in my life in college, used in one of my son's life. But he said he was studying for a Hebrew exam when God laid on his heart

the vision for the ministry we now know as CREW. And he went to how he was trusting God to reach college students all around the world. And he went to one of his professors. And one of his professors says, yes, I'll tell you what you can call it. Call it Campus Crusade for Christ. He said there wasn't necessarily anything deeply spiritual about studying for that Hebrew exam, but that's where God laid on his heart. So, I mean, evidently what we know of the story of

D.L. Moody, somehow he was drawn to his knees saying, God, give me this land for my school there in Chicago. And so, you know, I'm excited for our listeners, wherever you are, what does God want to put on your heart? It may be a vision that God would even...

fully achieved beyond your lifetime if the Lord tarries. Okay, tell me more of your process. I'm learning here, so I want to learn more about how you go about doing this. These are non-resolutions. They are asking God in faith, especially at the start of something new, in this case, a new year. Right, and even if you back up even further, you know, in what I call life goal, a life goal. Okay. Once again, God...

Take out a sheet of paper. Put on the top of that sheet of paper.

God, what do you want me to trust you for? I remember I had done that. And I remember one particular summer, which I felt was just sort of a blah summer. I felt like it wasn't wisely used or invested. And I remember I had done this, but I said, God, you know, I'm not sure it's as clear to me as I think it is what I'm trusting you for for my life. And I don't know that I'm as near as committed to it as I think I am. So I did that again.

But you can do that. You know, we talk about a life goal. We're not talking about, okay, God, whatever, what can I dream up? No, it's laying hold of what God's dreams are for you. I like Philippians 3, verse 12 to 14. He says, I want to lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. When God laid hold of

of you, he had plans and things he wanted to do in and far and through you and goals he wanted you to accomplish. So Lord, what do you want me to accomplish? And you know, his plans, you have to sort of die to your plans. The wisdom that comes from, not from above, but from the world is full of selfish ambition. So when you die to that, sometimes you can feel like you're dying if you give up that, but it's like you're really opening yourself up to God. What are your ambitions for me?

So take out a sheet of paper. If that's all you do, write that on top of it. Okay, God, the paper is blank. You fill this out. You know, this life is really, it's not...

It's not that long. You know, it may seem like it, you know, where we sit, you know, Wayne. But I remember when I was 26, I took Moses literally. Teach me the number of my days that I may acquire the heart of wisdom. He tells us there in Psalm 90. He's an older man when he writes that. He says, you know, you basically have 70, maybe 80 years to live. So at age 26, and I'm 72 now, at age...

I multiplied 70 times 365 and a fourth, that total number of days. I subtracted the number of days I'd lived up to that time, and I put on my paper day that number. Every day since then, I have numbered

one lower course that could be the last day I live it could be a day the Lord comes back I'm what a great way to look at it though yes well now I'm numbering up I'm happy I'm gives you perspective doesn't it really does but a but it's long enough now but you see it's only when you're old like Moses was that you see how short life is understand I'm and then that's why the prayer some 39 forces make me to know my end what is the extent of my days

But, you see, life is short, but it's long enough. It's long enough. Our Lord just lived 33 years, but he could say at the end of his life, I glorify the Father by accomplishing the work he gave me to do. So, you see, God gives each of us a work to do. I don't have to compete. I so appreciate the expertise, the

And it's been just such a thrill to know you all these years and even more intimately in these last few years of just how God's provision for you, your pilgrimage, all of that was what? A part of his plan for you. It puts a whole...

new spin on it when you express it the way you expressed it. Lord, what can I trust you for this year? It's not the plan that I have for my life. Here's what I'm going to do in the next six months here. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. It's, Lord, what can I trust you for?

And that answer is not going to come immediately sometimes, is it? No, no. I think lay it before the Lord. Sometimes it comes progressively. So prayer needs to be persistent. Absolutely. Prayer persistently, one day at a time. You know, I remember asking God when I sensed he wanted me to go to seminary.

Now, I wanted to go right into the ministry after college, but older, wiser men told me I needed training. I certainly did. But I said, okay, God, if I'm going to get training, I said, God, I want you to give me a vision for my life.

so that I could maybe make direct hits in my preparation. I could be preparing for that. It seemed like God did that to Hudson Taylor. China, China, China was all he could think about, and he tried to prepare himself for that. Well, God never gave me that. It's not guaranteed to us that way. Well, and usually I remember working with a pastor one time. He says, if you're the kind of person, if you knew that kind of certainty in regard to visions for the future, you'd grow discontent in the process.

I think I also would have missed out on all the developmental aspects of God's will. You know, John Wesley said, don't seek for a ministry, anticipate the fruit of a disciplined life. So you allow God to do a work in you, he'll do a work through you. So really when you give your love,

you know, lay it before the Lord, I think then you can sometimes see the graciousness and the goodness of some of those prayers God did not answer the way you seem to want Him to answer. There's more we can learn from Dr. Bill Thrasher, and we'll get to it next as you continue listening to First Person.

Here's Ed Cannon on the Vision for FEBC's weekly podcast. The primary purpose of Until All Have Heard, of course, is to share the experience that FEBC has because we have staff on the ground in so many oppressive places. But in addition to that, we're trying to speak to you in a way that only the kind of testimonies you'll hear from around the globe can do. Discover how the gospel is making a difference around the world.

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My guest is Dr. Bill Thrasher. Bill, for many years, has been professor at the Moody Theological Seminary, works with spiritual formation, applied theology, and just has a great understanding of the Word of God, which has led him to write a number of books. Too many to recommend here at the moment, Bill, but I've been especially blessed by your book, How to Resurrect a Dead Prayer Life, which we talked about a little bit a few months ago. And by the way,

You have told us your testimony here on First Person. Yes. And that program is in the archive, and I'll try to remember to put a link to it in our program notes for this time together so that people can go back and hear your story, which is exciting in and of itself. But here we are in this new year. It's still very early, and we're talking about what can we trust the Lord for in terms of historically would have been known as resolutions, but we're calling them something different here today. You know there are people listening who

who say, well, that's all well and good, but you don't know me. You don't know where I come from. You don't know my past. You don't know the mistakes I've made, the disappointments I've experienced, the issues I'm facing in my life, relationship issues or financial issues in my life. You don't understand. How can I do this?

You know, I remember this statement that I heard in college, and it just has riveted in my heart then. Here, all these years later, anytime a person surrendered to God, God has a will for their life. I like Proverbs 24, 16, the righteous man falls seven times, but rises again.

I had a person I lived with on the seminary floor, the dorm floor there, and he quoted this. I don't know who it was originally with. He said, Our greatest joy is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. I remember there was a church father, Christendom, who said, The danger is not that we fall, but that we stay on the ground. Yeah, so true.

So, you know, walk in the light. Walk open, honest, transparently before God, and the blood of Jesus cleanses you. It's the opposite of covering your sin. He who covers his sin shall not prosper. I like the God of Scripture, Psalm 86, 5. God is ready to forgive. Had a dear businessman who became like a second father to me, and he had that

the word tetelestai behind his desk. It is finished. That's the Greek word tetelestai. What Jesus said, yeah. What Jesus said. And every client that came to him, he was a CPA, had to look at that funny Greek word. And he preached the gospel many times when he talked to him about paid in full, paid in full. Great strategy. There's just two religions, he says, tetelestai.

and do? You try to do it or has it already been done? Perfect. And rest in that salvation. So, you know, that's good news. We need to, sometimes you need a first scripture that uses the word all in it in regard to forgiveness. Colossians 2, 13 to 14. I remember one of Martin Lloyd-Jones' books. He never wrote any books, but his daughter, after he died, took some of his sermons and put them into books. I didn't know that. Yeah. No, he never wrote any books, but his daughter wrote

He basically transcribed his sermons in the book. One is a book called Spiritual Depression. Each chapter is a different cause of spiritual depression. One of those chapters is this one thing I did. This one thing I did. Sometimes we need to hear Jesus say, Hebrews 10, 17,

I will remember your sins no more. I'll remember you. Hebrews 10, 7, I should say, I'll remember your sins no more. Or maybe it is 10, 17. But Micah 7, 19, Corrie 10, boom, that's the verse that says he takes our sins and he

puts them in the depth of the sea. Corrie Ten Boom says he puts up a sign saying no fishing. Well, this is a verse I've told people to stare at. Ezekiel 36, 25. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idolatry. Yeah. You mentioned that word all. It's sprinkled throughout the scriptures, isn't it? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. And we need that word all because sometimes, well, I remember there was a pastor's wife. He

she really confided in a godly friend of mine and she said, you know, I go to church and she was a pastor's wife. She said, I'm not worthy to praise God. These other people are. And she said, if you knew what I did, you'd understand. And she says, I've had an abortion in my life. And

And my friend, very wisely, lovingly, tenderly, it may not sound like it, but that's the way it was, because he said, you're a whole lot worse off than you think you are. She said, oh, yeah, but I didn't have that abortion. No, he backed her up. He said, you know, if all we ever did was thank one and pure thought, God would be perfectly just. Born into sin, yeah. Exactly. And so I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness. God can even restore the years of sin.

the locusts have eaten. So don't let that hold you back. Don't let that hold you back. Absolutely. Trust God in the new year. Absolutely. Pray and be open to what he wants you to trust him for. Absolutely. Yeah, okay. Let's talk about, in a few moments we have left here, some practical steps to take. Here we are at the threshold of a new year. Mm-hmm.

Um, you know, for me, uh, my birthday happens in January as well. So it's always kind of a new start, you know, to the new year and then a new year of life through a birthday celebration. But, uh, let's talk about some steps we can take to grow closer to Christ this year. You know, this is something that's been an incredible blessing to me this, these, this past year. Um,

is to begin my day, and I'm not talking about something ritualistic, something very relational. So just consider this before the Lord. I start the day, try to, before I get out of bed. Before your feet hit the floor? Before my feet hit the floor. Now, sometimes it's a little bit after my feet hit the floor. But first, I praise God for some attribute. I have a bookmark. I have in my book, God as He Wants You to Know Him, I have 16 attributes that

Today, God was love. The day we're recording was the 12th. And so I know what tomorrow is. God is sovereign and is merciful and gracious and good. And then I go through that cycle again. I go through twice. And one day on day 30, I do two of them. But yeah, praise God for an attribute. Secondly, I praise God for what he's done for me. I have a list of all the blessings that are mine in Christ. But I try to summarize it at least –

beginning of the day in these three things. God, I thank you for your acceptance. I thank you that I'm secure in you. I thank you that I'm significant in you. And praise God for that. Thirdly, I ask him for a fresh filling of the Spirit.

God, I'm not adequate. I'm not supposed to be adequate. But, God, I thank you that that's available. I don't have to go anything and approach anything by myself. I ask you for a fresh filling of the Spirit. A fresh filling. We have the Spirit. Right. But as D.L. Moody said, I leak. Exactly. Exactly.

And fourthly, I claim my position in Christ above all principalities in power in regard to the spiritual warfare. The spiritual warfare is very real. And so I claim that authority over my life, my marriage, my family, my children and their families and their concerns and my ministries. And so those four things is a great way to start the day. And that's been a tremendous help to me. This has been a perfect conversation to begin a new year. I

I knew it would be. Bill, thank you so much. Praise God. Let's seal this conversation with asking the Lord's blessing on this new year, just briefly, if you would. Thank you, Father, for the great privilege of talking to individuals who love you, desire to please you. And I ask God, in Jesus' name, this would be the best year of our life. As you put things on our heart, we're to trust you far. Would you do above and beyond we could ask or thank? We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Yes, amen. What a powerful way to approach the new year with confidence in God that he will do above and beyond all that we can ask or think. You've been listening to Dr. Bill Thrasher, professor at the Moody Theological Seminary, leading us into having a fruitful spiritual life throughout the year. If you'd like to go back and listen again or share this conversation, go to FirstPersonInterview.com.

These programs are made possible by the Far East Broadcasting Company. FEBC is excited about the opportunities for ministry in the year ahead and invite you to join in prayer for the many people whose lives will be changed by the gospel message through FEBC's programs and outreach. For prayer guidance, ask for the prayer target when you visit febc.org. That's febc.org.

Now, with thanks to my friend and producer, Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Join us next time for First Person.