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Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #2: Gain Situational Awareness (Part 1)

May 12, 2026 | 27:29

Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #2: Gain Situational Awareness (Part 1)
Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
#War #Bullying #Self-Denial #Culture #Accountability #Wisdom #Ethnicity #PromiseLand #ChildofGod #Victory #Overcoming #RobertJeffress

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #2: Gain Situational Awareness (Part 1) | May 12, 2026
  • ...
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  • Male announcer: join us on the pathway to victory journeys of
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  • Paul cruise, may 14 through 23, 2027.
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  • Dr. robert jeffress: you know what i love most about
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  • These journeys?
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  • It's not just the destinations, it's about the people you
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  • Experience the destinations with.
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  • There's something powerful that happens when like-minded
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  • Believers gather together, open god's word, and then explore the
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  • Very world where that word was first proclaimed.
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  • Announcer: nine nights aboard the beautiful
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  • Celebrity infinity.
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  • Every meal prepared, every detail taken care of,
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  • So all you have to do is be present.
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  • Casual conversations over coffee, fellowship around the
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  • Table, and afternoons walking the same roads paul walked in
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  • Ephesus, kavalah, and more.
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  • Jeffress: come be a part of our community.
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  • This journey will refresh your soul and renew your sense
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  • Of purpose.
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  • Call ... or visit ptv.org.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Announcer: from the pulpit of the first baptist church of
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  • Dallas, texas, this is "pathway to victory" with dr.
  • 00:01:10.527 --> 00:01:13.696
  • Robert jeffress.
  • 00:01:13.696 --> 00:01:16.232
  • Jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress and welcome again to
  • 00:01:16.232 --> 00:01:18.568
  • "pathway to victory."
  • 00:01:18.568 --> 00:01:19.936
  • Have you ever been driving down the highway when another driver
  • 00:01:19.936 --> 00:01:23.273
  • Suddenly swerved into your lane?
  • 00:01:23.273 --> 00:01:25.675
  • It's frightening because that driver had no awareness of the
  • 00:01:25.675 --> 00:01:29.312
  • Danger he was creating.
  • 00:01:29.312 --> 00:01:31.347
  • Well, the same is true in our spiritual life.
  • 00:01:31.347 --> 00:01:34.551
  • A lack of awareness can be deadly.
  • 00:01:34.551 --> 00:01:37.220
  • God calls us to stay alert, and today i'll show you how to
  • 00:01:37.220 --> 00:01:41.024
  • Do that.
  • 00:01:41.024 --> 00:01:42.358
  • My message is titled "survival tip #2: gain situational
  • 00:01:42.358 --> 00:01:47.096
  • Awareness" on today's edition of "pathway to victory."
  • 00:01:47.096 --> 00:01:51.301
  • ♪♪♪
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  • Announcer: each day, millions of lost people are searching for
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  • Hope and truth.
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  • Homes across america and around the world, but there are still
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Jeffress: in the early hours of june the 30th, 2013, 43-year-old
  • 00:02:35.945 --> 00:02:41.784
  • Eric marsh, superintendent of the granite mountain hotshots,
  • 00:02:41.784 --> 00:02:47.290
  • Emerged from his sleeping bag at prescott, arizona's fire station
  • 00:02:47.290 --> 00:02:52.495
  • Number seven.
  • 00:02:52.495 --> 00:02:54.130
  • He brewed a pot of coffee which he drank black.
  • 00:02:54.130 --> 00:02:57.734
  • "there's no milk or sugar on the fire line, so why get used to
  • 00:02:57.734 --> 00:03:01.304
  • Any other kind?" he would often say.
  • 00:03:01.304 --> 00:03:04.307
  • Carrying his steaming mug, marsh walked into the ready room where
  • 00:03:04.307 --> 00:03:08.511
  • His tight-knit team of wildland firefighters met every morning.
  • 00:03:08.511 --> 00:03:14.117
  • Tacked on the wall behind him was a poster that featured
  • 00:03:14.117 --> 00:03:17.987
  • Devastating pictures of wildfire fatalities in which skilled
  • 00:03:17.987 --> 00:03:22.925
  • Firefighters had been caught off guard while battling small
  • 00:03:22.925 --> 00:03:27.163
  • Wildfires that escalated unexpectedly.
  • 00:03:27.163 --> 00:03:31.601
  • In ominously large letters, the poster asked, "how is your
  • 00:03:31.601 --> 00:03:37.774
  • Situational awareness today?"
  • 00:03:37.774 --> 00:03:41.277
  • By 5:15, most of the crew had gathered in the ready room.
  • 00:03:41.277 --> 00:03:45.281
  • "we've got an assignment to yarnell," eric marsh said.
  • 00:03:45.281 --> 00:03:49.185
  • "it's 300 acres and burning on the ridge top in
  • 00:03:49.185 --> 00:03:53.089
  • Thick chaparral.
  • 00:03:53.089 --> 00:03:54.691
  • It's gonna be hot, real hot."
  • 00:03:54.691 --> 00:03:57.660
  • By 5:40, marsh and his crew of 19 firefighters, his kids as he
  • 00:03:57.660 --> 00:04:02.999
  • Referred to them, loaded their two fire trucks and headed
  • 00:04:02.999 --> 00:04:06.703
  • Toward the small town of yarnell, about an hour south
  • 00:04:06.703 --> 00:04:10.740
  • Of prescott.
  • 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:12.375
  • Once on the fire line, marsh set his team to work while he
  • 00:04:12.375 --> 00:04:16.245
  • Scouted out the fire.
  • 00:04:16.245 --> 00:04:18.514
  • Noticing a shift in the weather, he sent one of his firefighters
  • 00:04:18.514 --> 00:04:22.485
  • Back down the mountain to serve as a lookout in case the
  • 00:04:22.485 --> 00:04:26.389
  • Fire pivoted.
  • 00:04:26.389 --> 00:04:28.257
  • It did.
  • 00:04:28.257 --> 00:04:29.759
  • The firebreak his men had been cutting was suddenly
  • 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.695
  • Compromised, so they had to retreat.
  • 00:04:32.695 --> 00:04:35.998
  • The radio crackled, asking if the granite mountain hotshots
  • 00:04:35.998 --> 00:04:39.669
  • Were okay.
  • 00:04:39.669 --> 00:04:41.037
  • They were.
  • 00:04:41.037 --> 00:04:42.372
  • They had reached the black, an island of ash that the fire had
  • 00:04:42.372 --> 00:04:46.976
  • Left the day before.
  • 00:04:46.976 --> 00:04:48.911
  • The brush had already been incinerated, robbing the fire of
  • 00:04:48.911 --> 00:04:52.715
  • Fuel, making it the safest possible place they could be.
  • 00:04:52.715 --> 00:04:57.720
  • Then the fire pivoted again and raced downhill toward yarnell,
  • 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:02.725
  • Threatening homes and ranches.
  • 00:05:02.725 --> 00:05:05.094
  • Eric marsh decided to leave the safety of the black in hopes of
  • 00:05:05.094 --> 00:05:09.599
  • Saving some of the homes.
  • 00:05:09.599 --> 00:05:11.968
  • He couldn't have imagined that by heading for town, he was
  • 00:05:11.968 --> 00:05:15.638
  • Leading his crew toward a series of increasingly compromised
  • 00:05:15.638 --> 00:05:19.842
  • Circumstances, each one more desperate than the last, a
  • 00:05:19.842 --> 00:05:24.247
  • Reporter later wrote.
  • 00:05:24.247 --> 00:05:26.115
  • As the firefighters hiked down the mountain, the raging
  • 00:05:26.115 --> 00:05:29.585
  • Wildfire became obscured by a ridgeline.
  • 00:05:29.585 --> 00:05:33.289
  • Without eyes on the fire, marsh had a decision to make: bail off
  • 00:05:33.289 --> 00:05:37.894
  • To his right and head for the safety of the desert floor, 2000
  • 00:05:37.894 --> 00:05:41.597
  • Feet below, or continue toward yarnell in hopes of
  • 00:05:41.597 --> 00:05:45.968
  • Saving homes.
  • 00:05:45.968 --> 00:05:47.570
  • He decided to continue toward yarnell.
  • 00:05:47.570 --> 00:05:51.274
  • Descending an additional 500 feet through thick chaparral,
  • 00:05:51.274 --> 00:05:55.178
  • Marsh and his team found themselves in a basin walled in
  • 00:05:55.178 --> 00:05:59.215
  • On three sides by granite boulders.
  • 00:05:59.215 --> 00:06:02.985
  • This was an extremely dangerous place because it offered no
  • 00:06:02.985 --> 00:06:07.089
  • Means of escape.
  • 00:06:07.089 --> 00:06:08.991
  • Just then, the worst happened.
  • 00:06:08.991 --> 00:06:11.360
  • They heard the roar of flames that had been obscured by
  • 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:14.530
  • The ridgeline.
  • 00:06:14.530 --> 00:06:16.065
  • Through the smoke, marsh saw the fire ripping up the hill
  • 00:06:16.065 --> 00:06:19.702
  • Toward them.
  • 00:06:19.702 --> 00:06:21.070
  • They were trapped.
  • 00:06:21.070 --> 00:06:23.573
  • Eric marsh and 18 of the firefighters with him died in
  • 00:06:23.573 --> 00:06:28.010
  • That basin, the most wildland firefighters ever killed in a
  • 00:06:28.010 --> 00:06:33.282
  • Single incident.
  • 00:06:33.282 --> 00:06:35.017
  • Their bodies were found under fire shelters, small aluminum
  • 00:06:35.017 --> 00:06:39.422
  • Tents meant to protect firefighters from extreme heat,
  • 00:06:39.422 --> 00:06:43.726
  • But not from direct flames.
  • 00:06:43.726 --> 00:06:46.295
  • The fire had burned over them so quickly and with such intensity
  • 00:06:46.295 --> 00:06:51.033
  • That the massive granite walls of the basin cracked
  • 00:06:51.033 --> 00:06:54.971
  • Like eggshells.
  • 00:06:54.971 --> 00:06:57.106
  • After the fire, marty cole, a friend of eric marsh and the
  • 00:06:57.106 --> 00:07:00.877
  • Safety officer on duty, stood among the charred bodies of the
  • 00:07:00.877 --> 00:07:05.615
  • Granite mountain hotshots.
  • 00:07:05.615 --> 00:07:08.484
  • "what were they doing here?" he wondered.
  • 00:07:08.484 --> 00:07:11.621
  • "eric was too good of a wildland firefighter to have led his men
  • 00:07:11.621 --> 00:07:16.292
  • Into this situation."
  • 00:07:16.292 --> 00:07:18.928
  • But he did.
  • 00:07:18.928 --> 00:07:22.532
  • You and i will probably never face a fiery inferno of a
  • 00:07:22.532 --> 00:07:30.907
  • Wildland brush fire of 300 acres coming toward us like eric
  • 00:07:30.907 --> 00:07:36.245
  • Marsh and his men did that day.
  • 00:07:36.245 --> 00:07:39.916
  • But nevertheless, you and i are surrounded it seems like on
  • 00:07:39.916 --> 00:07:42.952
  • Every side by fires that are racing toward us, threatening to
  • 00:07:42.952 --> 00:07:48.958
  • Destroy us.
  • 00:07:48.958 --> 00:07:50.626
  • From one direction, we have the fires of culture racing toward
  • 00:07:50.626 --> 00:07:54.730
  • Us that threaten to consume everything we hold valuable and
  • 00:07:54.730 --> 00:07:59.535
  • Dear in our faith.
  • 00:07:59.535 --> 00:08:01.437
  • From another direction, we have the fire of satan's test and
  • 00:08:01.437 --> 00:08:06.175
  • Temptations in our life.
  • 00:08:06.175 --> 00:08:08.210
  • The bible says we have an adversary, the devil, who prowls
  • 00:08:08.210 --> 00:08:12.515
  • About like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
  • 00:08:12.515 --> 00:08:17.253
  • And then in another direction, we face challenging
  • 00:08:17.253 --> 00:08:20.156
  • Circumstances in our family, in our work, in the world in which
  • 00:08:20.156 --> 00:08:24.493
  • We live.
  • 00:08:24.493 --> 00:08:25.828
  • And if that were not enough, from another direction come the
  • 00:08:25.828 --> 00:08:28.598
  • Attacks from our very own sin nature that wages war against us
  • 00:08:28.598 --> 00:08:34.403
  • And wants to pull us away from god.
  • 00:08:34.403 --> 00:08:37.773
  • We are in many ways in a situation where there seems to
  • 00:08:37.773 --> 00:08:40.776
  • Be no escape.
  • 00:08:40.776 --> 00:08:42.878
  • How can we ever survive those kinds of ordeals?
  • 00:08:42.878 --> 00:08:47.383
  • Well, in our series titled "courageous," we're looking at
  • 00:08:47.383 --> 00:08:51.621
  • Ten survival tips, if you will, to not just survive, but thrive
  • 00:08:51.621 --> 00:08:57.893
  • In the hostile environment in which we live right now.
  • 00:08:57.893 --> 00:09:02.331
  • And last time we began looking at the first of those
  • 00:09:02.331 --> 00:09:04.967
  • Survival tips.
  • 00:09:04.967 --> 00:09:06.302
  • Remember what it is?
  • 00:09:06.302 --> 00:09:07.937
  • Don't panic.
  • 00:09:07.937 --> 00:09:10.306
  • Every first responder knows that if you're in a threatening
  • 00:09:10.306 --> 00:09:14.143
  • Situation, you cannot panic.
  • 00:09:14.143 --> 00:09:17.146
  • You've got to gain control of your emotions.
  • 00:09:17.146 --> 00:09:19.915
  • As god told joshua in joshua 1, "be strong and courageous."
  • 00:09:19.915 --> 00:09:26.555
  • The second tip is the one that we're going to look at today to
  • 00:09:26.555 --> 00:09:30.760
  • Survive and thrive in threatening situations, and that
  • 00:09:30.760 --> 00:09:34.497
  • Is gain situational awareness.
  • 00:09:34.497 --> 00:09:38.934
  • The question that hung over eric marsh's shoulder in that ready
  • 00:09:38.934 --> 00:09:43.139
  • Room every day is a haunting question.
  • 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:47.176
  • How is your situational awareness?
  • 00:09:47.176 --> 00:09:51.447
  • And that's not only a question for first responders, it's a
  • 00:09:51.447 --> 00:09:55.384
  • Question that all of us need to ask.
  • 00:09:55.384 --> 00:09:57.286
  • How aware are you of the testing situations you find yourself in?
  • 00:09:57.286 --> 00:10:03.793
  • How aware are you of what is really happening around you?
  • 00:10:03.793 --> 00:10:06.996
  • You say, "well, pastor, that's a stupid question.
  • 00:10:06.996 --> 00:10:09.365
  • I know what's happening around me."
  • 00:10:09.365 --> 00:10:11.867
  • Do you?
  • 00:10:11.867 --> 00:10:13.235
  • Do you really understand the situation you're in?
  • 00:10:13.235 --> 00:10:17.473
  • You know, the single greatest enemy of situational awareness
  • 00:10:17.473 --> 00:10:22.645
  • Is denial, and we all engage in it.
  • 00:10:22.645 --> 00:10:25.614
  • When we substitute what we wish were happening for what is
  • 00:10:25.614 --> 00:10:30.753
  • Actually happening.
  • 00:10:30.753 --> 00:10:32.421
  • I saw a good illustration of that a couple of years ago.
  • 00:10:32.421 --> 00:10:36.125
  • I got a call to come down to the news studio immediately to
  • 00:10:36.125 --> 00:10:39.695
  • Comment on a breaking news story.
  • 00:10:39.695 --> 00:10:41.664
  • You may remember it.
  • 00:10:41.664 --> 00:10:43.466
  • A gunman had positioned himself in a hotel room in las vegas,
  • 00:10:43.466 --> 00:10:47.803
  • Nevada, and he began opening fire on concertgoers below him.
  • 00:10:47.803 --> 00:10:53.743
  • And it was interesting, those who were attending the concert,
  • 00:10:53.743 --> 00:10:56.946
  • They heard the gunfire, but they assumed it was fireworks going
  • 00:10:56.946 --> 00:11:02.351
  • Off, even though there was no sign of fireworks in the sky,
  • 00:11:02.351 --> 00:11:06.355
  • Even though people were dropping around them, hit by gunfire,
  • 00:11:06.355 --> 00:11:10.659
  • They substituted what they wish was happening instead of what
  • 00:11:10.659 --> 00:11:14.730
  • Was actually happening.
  • 00:11:14.730 --> 00:11:16.999
  • And by the way, before you're critical of them, realize we all
  • 00:11:16.999 --> 00:11:19.769
  • Have a tendency to do that, to practice denial of what is
  • 00:11:19.769 --> 00:11:23.539
  • Really happening.
  • 00:11:23.539 --> 00:11:24.874
  • For example, we read about the rise of online harassment and
  • 00:11:24.874 --> 00:11:29.011
  • Cyberbullying among adolescents, and they--we say, "oh well,
  • 00:11:29.011 --> 00:11:33.048
  • That's not that big of a deal.
  • 00:11:33.048 --> 00:11:34.383
  • It's just normal teenage behavior."
  • 00:11:34.383 --> 00:11:37.453
  • Or we look around and we observe our first amendment rights as
  • 00:11:37.453 --> 00:11:41.323
  • Christians being threatened.
  • 00:11:41.323 --> 00:11:43.259
  • We deny that's really what is happening and we say, "well,
  • 00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:45.661
  • That's just the culture in which we live."
  • 00:11:45.661 --> 00:11:48.330
  • Or we hear pastors, religious leaders saying, "you know,
  • 00:11:48.330 --> 00:11:51.967
  • There's really more than one way to heaven other than faith in
  • 00:11:51.967 --> 00:11:54.770
  • Jesus christ."
  • 00:11:54.770 --> 00:11:56.138
  • We hear that, but we just assume, "well, they're trying to
  • 00:11:56.138 --> 00:11:58.207
  • Be compassionate toward other people."
  • 00:11:58.207 --> 00:12:01.343
  • But if we're going to survive the culture in which we're
  • 00:12:01.343 --> 00:12:04.446
  • Living, the situation in which we're living, we've got to see
  • 00:12:04.446 --> 00:12:07.850
  • Things the way they are.
  • 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:09.919
  • We've got to have situational awareness, and for that we
  • 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:14.323
  • Need wisdom.
  • 00:12:14.323 --> 00:12:17.126
  • Now, wisdom seems to be in short supply today, doesn't it?
  • 00:12:17.126 --> 00:12:21.831
  • Never have we lived in a culture before when there was such a
  • 00:12:21.831 --> 00:12:24.900
  • Shortage of wisdom.
  • 00:12:24.900 --> 00:12:26.569
  • I mean, we can't even figure out what a man is and what a woman
  • 00:12:26.569 --> 00:12:30.472
  • Is and who is either one.
  • 00:12:30.472 --> 00:12:33.342
  • I mean, this gender fluidity is everywhere, but it's not only
  • 00:12:33.342 --> 00:12:38.113
  • Gender that is fluid.
  • 00:12:38.113 --> 00:12:39.481
  • Apparently, ethnicity is fluid as well.
  • 00:12:39.481 --> 00:12:42.518
  • Many people are identifying themselves as transracial, that
  • 00:12:42.518 --> 00:12:46.956
  • Is caucasians wanting to identify as african americans,
  • 00:12:46.956 --> 00:12:50.960
  • Island pacificers wanting to call
  • 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:53.696
  • Themselves native americans.
  • 00:12:53.696 --> 00:12:55.664
  • It's not only gender and race that are fluid, but did you know
  • 00:12:55.664 --> 00:12:59.268
  • Even age is becoming fluid as well?
  • 00:12:59.268 --> 00:13:03.005
  • I was reading this week, this is a true story about a dutch
  • 00:13:03.005 --> 00:13:07.142
  • Businessman who is suing an online dating service because
  • 00:13:07.142 --> 00:13:12.615
  • Even though he is 69 years of age, he wants to identify as
  • 00:13:12.615 --> 00:13:16.552
  • A 49-year-old.
  • 00:13:16.552 --> 00:13:18.320
  • He said, "that's how i really feel."
  • 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:20.356
  • And so to him, age is fluid.
  • 00:13:20.356 --> 00:13:22.958
  • And if that were not enough, did you know even being a human
  • 00:13:22.958 --> 00:13:27.496
  • Being is fluid?
  • 00:13:27.496 --> 00:13:28.864
  • There are some people who don't wanna identify as humans.
  • 00:13:28.864 --> 00:13:31.767
  • Instead, they wanna call themselves otherkin, i guess
  • 00:13:31.767 --> 00:13:35.471
  • Like et or something else.
  • 00:13:35.471 --> 00:13:38.040
  • You know, whenever i hear that kind of idiocy, it reminds me of
  • 00:13:38.040 --> 00:13:42.144
  • The prophecy from isaiah 5, verse 20.
  • 00:13:42.144 --> 00:13:45.481
  • God said, "woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who
  • 00:13:45.481 --> 00:13:53.389
  • Substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who
  • 00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:57.726
  • Substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"
  • 00:13:57.726 --> 00:14:01.964
  • You know why you see this kind of lunacy in our culture today?
  • 00:14:01.964 --> 00:14:05.601
  • It's because people have rejected the knowledge of the
  • 00:14:05.601 --> 00:14:08.604
  • True god.
  • 00:14:08.604 --> 00:14:09.939
  • And the bible says in romans 1, if you reject the knowledge of
  • 00:14:09.939 --> 00:14:13.475
  • The true god, god will send you into darkness.
  • 00:14:13.475 --> 00:14:17.379
  • You become deluded in your thinking.
  • 00:14:17.379 --> 00:14:20.749
  • That's the culture in which we live.
  • 00:14:20.749 --> 00:14:24.019
  • Well, how do we gain situational awareness and know exactly what
  • 00:14:24.019 --> 00:14:28.891
  • Is happening around us?
  • 00:14:28.891 --> 00:14:30.559
  • It begins with knowing what time it is.
  • 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:34.163
  • Knowing what time it is, you say, "well, it's about time for
  • 00:14:34.163 --> 00:14:36.899
  • Lunch, pastor," and that's not what i'm talking about.
  • 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:39.535
  • Turn over to 2 timothy chapter 3, verse 1.
  • 00:14:39.535 --> 00:14:43.706
  • Paul warned his protégé, timothy, about the coming moral
  • 00:14:43.706 --> 00:14:49.445
  • And spiritual decline in the world, and the single insight is
  • 00:14:49.445 --> 00:14:54.616
  • Like a flashing caution sign for all of us.
  • 00:14:54.616 --> 00:14:57.619
  • Look at 2 timothy 3, verse 1: "but realize this, that in the
  • 00:14:57.619 --> 00:15:03.525
  • Last days difficult times will come."
  • 00:15:03.525 --> 00:15:08.998
  • Now, i want you to notice two phrases in this verse that are
  • 00:15:08.998 --> 00:15:13.135
  • Key to gaining situational awareness, to knowing what time
  • 00:15:13.135 --> 00:15:17.406
  • We're living in.
  • 00:15:17.406 --> 00:15:18.741
  • First of all, the phrase "the last days."
  • 00:15:18.741 --> 00:15:21.443
  • In the last days.
  • 00:15:21.443 --> 00:15:24.480
  • Now, you may be thinking, "well, people have been claiming it's
  • 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.049
  • The last days since the time of christ.
  • 00:15:27.049 --> 00:15:29.918
  • Pastor, are you saying we are living in the last days?"
  • 00:15:29.918 --> 00:15:33.322
  • Most definitely.
  • 00:15:33.322 --> 00:15:35.424
  • We are in the last days.
  • 00:15:35.424 --> 00:15:39.194
  • How do i know that?
  • 00:15:39.194 --> 00:15:40.529
  • Well, the last days begin the moment christ ascended into
  • 00:15:40.529 --> 00:15:44.333
  • Heaven, into the mount of olives after his first coming.
  • 00:15:44.333 --> 00:15:48.470
  • Because before he ascended into heaven, he said to his
  • 00:15:48.470 --> 00:15:50.973
  • Followers, "i'm coming back again."
  • 00:15:50.973 --> 00:15:54.009
  • And the moment he ascended into heaven, the stopwatch started,
  • 00:15:54.009 --> 00:15:57.980
  • The countdown to his return.
  • 00:15:57.980 --> 00:16:01.750
  • You say, "well, paul thought jesus was coming in his day, and
  • 00:16:01.750 --> 00:16:04.820
  • That was 2,000 years ago."
  • 00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:06.588
  • That's exactly right.
  • 00:16:06.588 --> 00:16:08.457
  • And guess what?
  • 00:16:08.457 --> 00:16:09.825
  • We are 2,000 years closer to the coming of christ today than we
  • 00:16:09.825 --> 00:16:14.329
  • Were back then.
  • 00:16:14.329 --> 00:16:15.697
  • Every second that passes moves us closer and closer to that
  • 00:16:15.697 --> 00:16:19.735
  • Greatest event in human history.
  • 00:16:19.735 --> 00:16:22.171
  • So, we are living most definitely in the last days.
  • 00:16:22.171 --> 00:16:24.940
  • It's the period of time between the first and second comings
  • 00:16:24.940 --> 00:16:27.943
  • Of christ.
  • 00:16:27.943 --> 00:16:29.311
  • The second phrase to notice here is the word "difficult."
  • 00:16:29.311 --> 00:16:31.914
  • He says, "know this, that in the last days, difficult time
  • 00:16:31.914 --> 00:16:36.785
  • Will come."
  • 00:16:36.785 --> 00:16:38.120
  • The greek word translated "difficult" only appears one
  • 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:40.923
  • Other time in the greek new testament, in matthew 8, verse
  • 00:16:40.923 --> 00:16:45.494
  • 28, when it's used to describe two demon-possessed men who
  • 00:16:45.494 --> 00:16:50.032
  • Could not be restrained.
  • 00:16:50.032 --> 00:16:52.434
  • They were extremely violent or difficult.
  • 00:16:52.434 --> 00:16:56.972
  • That word "difficult" literally means without restraint,
  • 00:16:56.972 --> 00:17:01.543
  • Without moral restraint.
  • 00:17:01.543 --> 00:17:04.213
  • What paul is saying is, in these last days, before the lord
  • 00:17:04.213 --> 00:17:08.550
  • Returns, it's going to be a time without any moral restraints.
  • 00:17:08.550 --> 00:17:14.022
  • Isn't that a great description of the age in which we're living
  • 00:17:14.022 --> 00:17:17.259
  • Right now?
  • 00:17:17.259 --> 00:17:18.627
  • We need to gain situational awareness.
  • 00:17:18.627 --> 00:17:22.030
  • You know, i remember something billy graham said years ago.
  • 00:17:22.030 --> 00:17:28.003
  • If you wanna understand what is happening in the world today,
  • 00:17:28.003 --> 00:17:32.708
  • You need two things: you need to have a newspaper in one hand.
  • 00:17:32.708 --> 00:17:38.547
  • Today it would be your facebook newsfeed.
  • 00:17:38.547 --> 00:17:41.383
  • But back then it was your newspaper in one hand, and you
  • 00:17:41.383 --> 00:17:44.786
  • Need to have a bible in your other hand.
  • 00:17:44.786 --> 00:17:48.023
  • The newspaper tells you what is happening in the world, but the
  • 00:17:48.023 --> 00:17:52.394
  • Bible tells you what it means.
  • 00:17:52.394 --> 00:17:56.031
  • If we're going to gain situational awareness and
  • 00:17:56.031 --> 00:17:58.667
  • Understand our world, we need both a newspaper and we need
  • 00:17:58.667 --> 00:18:04.573
  • A bible.
  • 00:18:04.573 --> 00:18:05.908
  • You know, a great model of having situational awareness and
  • 00:18:05.908 --> 00:18:09.978
  • Why it's so important is found in an obscure verse in the
  • 00:18:09.978 --> 00:18:14.416
  • Old testament.
  • 00:18:14.416 --> 00:18:15.751
  • Turn over to 1 chronicles chapter 12, verse 32, where we
  • 00:18:15.751 --> 00:18:20.956
  • Find a model of situational awareness.
  • 00:18:20.956 --> 00:18:24.293
  • 1 chronicles 12:32.
  • 00:18:24.293 --> 00:18:26.762
  • And as you turn there, i can see some dust poofing up from your
  • 00:18:26.762 --> 00:18:30.465
  • Bibles as you go back to 1 chronicles.
  • 00:18:30.465 --> 00:18:34.069
  • I stole that line from somebody, but it's a good one.
  • 00:18:34.069 --> 00:18:37.406
  • 1 chronicles 12:32.
  • 00:18:37.406 --> 00:18:39.841
  • Now, look at this verse: "and of the sons of issachar, men who
  • 00:18:39.841 --> 00:18:45.113
  • Understood the times with knowledge of what israel should
  • 00:18:45.113 --> 00:18:48.684
  • Do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen
  • 00:18:48.684 --> 00:18:53.922
  • Were at their command."
  • 00:18:53.922 --> 00:18:56.325
  • Now, a little history here will help you understand why this
  • 00:18:56.325 --> 00:18:59.494
  • Verse is so relevant to us today.
  • 00:18:59.494 --> 00:19:02.431
  • The sons of issachar-- who was issachar?
  • 00:19:02.431 --> 00:19:05.100
  • Remember jacob had 12 sons.
  • 00:19:05.100 --> 00:19:07.836
  • His ninth son was issachar.
  • 00:19:07.836 --> 00:19:11.573
  • And before jacob died, the patriarch of israel pronounced a
  • 00:19:11.573 --> 00:19:17.079
  • Blessing on his sons and predicted their future.
  • 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:21.116
  • And when it came to the ninth son, issachar, jacob said, "you
  • 00:19:21.116 --> 00:19:26.054
  • Will be a strong donkey."
  • 00:19:26.054 --> 00:19:29.558
  • Now, if your dad said that about you, what would you think
  • 00:19:31.493 --> 00:19:33.962
  • About that?
  • 00:19:33.962 --> 00:19:35.330
  • Probably not take it as a compliment, but in jacob's day,
  • 00:19:35.330 --> 00:19:38.400
  • That was a compliment.
  • 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:40.535
  • But he went on to predict, not only that, "you would find rest
  • 00:19:40.535 --> 00:19:44.439
  • In a pleasant land," and that's exactly what happened.
  • 00:19:44.439 --> 00:19:49.177
  • Years later, when the israelites actually conquered the promised
  • 00:19:49.177 --> 00:19:52.814
  • Land, they divided the land according to the sons of jacob.
  • 00:19:52.814 --> 00:19:57.552
  • And the sons of issachar were given a small, fertile tract of
  • 00:19:57.552 --> 00:20:02.624
  • Land between the kishon and the jordan rivers.
  • 00:20:02.624 --> 00:20:06.895
  • It was fertile land that was perfect for farming.
  • 00:20:06.895 --> 00:20:10.299
  • The sons of issachar became farmers, and to be an effective
  • 00:20:10.299 --> 00:20:15.504
  • Farmer, you had to be great in skills of observation,
  • 00:20:15.504 --> 00:20:20.776
  • Correlation, and application.
  • 00:20:20.776 --> 00:20:24.313
  • To be a successful farmer, you had to study the weather and
  • 00:20:24.313 --> 00:20:27.816
  • Know what time it was.
  • 00:20:27.816 --> 00:20:29.685
  • You had to know the condition of the soil.
  • 00:20:29.685 --> 00:20:32.454
  • You had to be able to know when it was the right time to plant
  • 00:20:32.454 --> 00:20:36.258
  • And the right time to harvest.
  • 00:20:36.258 --> 00:20:39.528
  • Now, the sons of issachar were skilled in observation,
  • 00:20:39.528 --> 00:20:44.299
  • Correlation, application.
  • 00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:46.468
  • But that didn't just help them with agriculture.
  • 00:20:46.468 --> 00:20:50.105
  • You see, the sons of issachar were also keen observers of
  • 00:20:50.105 --> 00:20:53.942
  • Their culture, and the bible says they sensed unrest in the
  • 00:20:53.942 --> 00:21:00.182
  • Nation of israel.
  • 00:21:00.182 --> 00:21:02.150
  • And they sensed that this was a time for david to expand
  • 00:21:02.150 --> 00:21:05.887
  • His kingdom.
  • 00:21:05.887 --> 00:21:07.389
  • They discerned that there was such unrest in israel, this was
  • 00:21:07.389 --> 00:21:10.792
  • The time to anoint david as king over all israel, and they were
  • 00:21:10.792 --> 00:21:14.963
  • Instrumental in helping him do just that.
  • 00:21:14.963 --> 00:21:18.767
  • They understood not just the soil, they understood
  • 00:21:18.767 --> 00:21:21.870
  • The culture.
  • 00:21:21.870 --> 00:21:23.338
  • They understood their times, and the bible says they knew what
  • 00:21:23.338 --> 00:21:28.677
  • They should do.
  • 00:21:28.677 --> 00:21:30.779
  • And god says, if we're gonna be effective for him in this world,
  • 00:21:30.779 --> 00:21:34.416
  • We've got to be like the sons of issachar.
  • 00:21:34.416 --> 00:21:37.085
  • We've got to understand our time so that we can know what we
  • 00:21:37.085 --> 00:21:39.955
  • Should do.
  • 00:21:39.955 --> 00:21:41.289
  • Have you ever heard people, christians who say, "you know, i
  • 00:21:41.289 --> 00:21:44.259
  • Don't tune into the news very much.
  • 00:21:44.259 --> 00:21:46.862
  • I don't read the newspaper.
  • 00:21:46.862 --> 00:21:48.230
  • I don't watch television.
  • 00:21:48.230 --> 00:21:49.564
  • I just read my bible and pray.
  • 00:21:49.564 --> 00:21:51.833
  • I just kinda keep my blinders on so i don't get distracted by
  • 00:21:51.833 --> 00:21:55.604
  • What's happening in the world."
  • 00:21:55.604 --> 00:21:57.672
  • You know, there's a word that describes people like that.
  • 00:21:57.672 --> 00:22:01.443
  • "stupid."
  • 00:22:01.443 --> 00:22:04.679
  • If you're just reading your bible and praying and have no
  • 00:22:04.679 --> 00:22:08.450
  • Observance of what's happening around you, you are stupid,
  • 00:22:08.450 --> 00:22:11.887
  • Stupid, stupid, and god does not place a premium on stupid.
  • 00:22:11.887 --> 00:22:18.560
  • Some people think he does.
  • 00:22:18.560 --> 00:22:19.895
  • Some people think, "oh, people who aren't aware of the world
  • 00:22:19.895 --> 00:22:22.564
  • Around them, they're so spiritual."
  • 00:22:22.564 --> 00:22:23.999
  • No, they're stupid because they cannot know what they're
  • 00:22:23.999 --> 00:22:28.303
  • Supposed to do if they don't understand the culture in which
  • 00:22:28.303 --> 00:22:31.173
  • They live.
  • 00:22:31.173 --> 00:22:32.541
  • They need to be like the sons of issachar.
  • 00:22:32.541 --> 00:22:35.510
  • God didn't leave us here, ladies and gentlemen, just to take up
  • 00:22:35.510 --> 00:22:38.613
  • Space waiting for the rapture to come.
  • 00:22:38.613 --> 00:22:40.982
  • God left us here to make a difference in this world in
  • 00:22:40.982 --> 00:22:43.985
  • Which we live.
  • 00:22:43.985 --> 00:22:45.387
  • And if we're gonna make a difference, we've got to
  • 00:22:45.387 --> 00:22:47.722
  • Understand what's happening around us.
  • 00:22:47.722 --> 00:22:49.858
  • God calls us to be salt and light in this decaying and
  • 00:22:49.858 --> 00:22:53.195
  • Dark world.
  • 00:22:53.195 --> 00:22:54.563
  • Now, that's what i mean.
  • 00:22:54.563 --> 00:22:55.897
  • We've gotta understand the situation in which we're in so
  • 00:22:55.897 --> 00:22:58.934
  • That we can know what we should do.
  • 00:22:58.934 --> 00:23:01.436
  • But the situational awareness i'm talking about is not only an
  • 00:23:01.436 --> 00:23:05.006
  • Awareness of our culture and the spiritual temperature of the
  • 00:23:05.006 --> 00:23:08.777
  • Nation as a whole.
  • 00:23:08.777 --> 00:23:10.412
  • God wants us to ascertain the situation we're in right now so
  • 00:23:10.412 --> 00:23:14.783
  • That we can know individually as christians what we're supposed
  • 00:23:14.783 --> 00:23:17.819
  • To do.
  • 00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:19.154
  • Parents, grandparents here today, how's your situational
  • 00:23:19.154 --> 00:23:22.858
  • Awareness about the spiritual condition of your children and
  • 00:23:22.858 --> 00:23:26.661
  • Your grandchildren?
  • 00:23:26.661 --> 00:23:28.563
  • Are you aware of the temptations that are coming into their life?
  • 00:23:28.563 --> 00:23:33.034
  • Are you aware of what you can do to help strengthen and
  • 00:23:33.034 --> 00:23:35.804
  • Encourage them?
  • 00:23:35.804 --> 00:23:37.706
  • Husbands and wives here today,
  • 00:23:37.706 --> 00:23:40.408
  • Do you have a situational awareness of the condition of
  • 00:23:40.408 --> 00:23:43.211
  • Your marriage?
  • 00:23:43.211 --> 00:23:44.579
  • Where are the weak spots?
  • 00:23:44.579 --> 00:23:46.781
  • Where are the points that satan could gain a foothold in your
  • 00:23:46.781 --> 00:23:50.018
  • Marriage and destroy your home?
  • 00:23:50.018 --> 00:23:52.888
  • Pastors who are watching or listening to this message, are
  • 00:23:52.888 --> 00:23:57.025
  • You aware of the spiritual condition of your church?
  • 00:23:57.025 --> 00:24:00.495
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:24:00.495 --> 00:24:05.634
  • Jeffress: situational awareness is crucial not only to our
  • 00:24:05.634 --> 00:24:08.937
  • Spiritual survival but to our effectiveness for god's kingdom.
  • 00:24:08.937 --> 00:24:13.742
  • Now, let me close today's program with a note i received
  • 00:24:13.742 --> 00:24:16.578
  • From marie in washington.
  • 00:24:16.578 --> 00:24:18.713
  • She wrote, "by listening to pathway to victory, i feel like
  • 00:24:18.713 --> 00:24:22.050
  • I've been brought back to knowing jesus after a long
  • 00:24:22.050 --> 00:24:25.554
  • Time away.
  • 00:24:25.554 --> 00:24:26.922
  • Your messages are a great source of inspiration and give me a new
  • 00:24:26.922 --> 00:24:31.092
  • And better understanding of the bible."
  • 00:24:31.092 --> 00:24:33.828
  • Well, thanks, marie, for your encouragement, and thank you to
  • 00:24:33.828 --> 00:24:37.132
  • All of our pathway partners and everyone who supports this
  • 00:24:37.132 --> 00:24:40.569
  • Ministry for reaching friends like marie and countless others
  • 00:24:40.569 --> 00:24:45.073
  • With the truth of god's word.
  • 00:24:45.073 --> 00:24:47.375
  • Now, please stay right there.
  • 00:24:47.375 --> 00:24:48.910
  • I'll be back with more "pathway to victory" in just a moment.
  • 00:24:48.910 --> 00:24:53.214
  • Jeffress: christians today are living in hostile territory.
  • 00:24:53.281 --> 00:24:56.818
  • The attacks are real,
  • 00:24:56.818 --> 00:24:58.186
  • The opposition is fierce, and the stakes couldn't be higher.
  • 00:24:58.186 --> 00:25:02.457
  • That's why i wrote "courageous," to give you the biblical tools
  • 00:25:02.457 --> 00:25:06.127
  • You need not just to survive, but to stand strong and thrive.
  • 00:25:06.127 --> 00:25:10.832
  • Announcer: in "courageous," you'll find ten biblical
  • 00:25:10.832 --> 00:25:13.301
  • Survival strategies drawn straight from scripture that
  • 00:25:13.301 --> 00:25:16.338
  • Will give you fresh fire and real hope, no matter what
  • 00:25:16.338 --> 00:25:19.474
  • You're facing.
  • 00:25:19.474 --> 00:25:20.842
  • Jeffress: survivors have two things in common: a different
  • 00:25:20.842 --> 00:25:23.712
  • Response to trouble and a different perspective on life.
  • 00:25:23.712 --> 00:25:27.682
  • In "courageous," i'll give you ten biblical strategies to
  • 00:25:27.682 --> 00:25:31.286
  • Develop both and come out stronger on the other side.
  • 00:25:31.286 --> 00:25:35.223
  • Announcer: request your copy of "courageous" when you give a
  • 00:25:35.223 --> 00:25:37.592
  • Generous ministry gift to "pathway to victory," or when
  • 00:25:37.592 --> 00:25:40.729
  • You become a pathway partner.
  • 00:25:40.729 --> 00:25:42.697
  • And when your ministry gift is $75 or more, we'll send you the
  • 00:25:42.697 --> 00:25:47.002
  • Courageous leadership kit, containing the "courageous"
  • 00:25:47.002 --> 00:25:49.904
  • Book, the personal and group study guide book, ten
  • 00:25:49.904 --> 00:25:53.108
  • "courageous" encouragement cards, plus the complete
  • 00:25:53.108 --> 00:25:56.011
  • Teaching series on cd and dvd.
  • 00:25:56.011 --> 00:25:58.647
  • Jeffress: as christians, we're living in a
  • 00:25:58.647 --> 00:26:00.849
  • Threatening environment.
  • 00:26:00.849 --> 00:26:02.751
  • We have an adversary, the devil, who is intent on destroying
  • 00:26:02.751 --> 00:26:07.088
  • Everything important to us.
  • 00:26:07.088 --> 00:26:08.590
  • Announcer: thank you for partnering with "pathway
  • 00:26:08.590 --> 00:26:10.425
  • To victory."
  • 00:26:10.425 --> 00:26:11.793
  • Your generosity funds the proclamation of god's word
  • 00:26:11.793 --> 00:26:14.529
  • Across television, radio, and online, bringing bold biblical
  • 00:26:14.529 --> 00:26:18.466
  • Hope right here at home and around the world.
  • 00:26:18.466 --> 00:26:21.670
  • Jeffress: when we substitute wishful thinking for reality, we
  • 00:26:25.540 --> 00:26:28.877
  • Put ourselves in danger.
  • 00:26:28.877 --> 00:26:30.745
  • Like the sons of issachar, god calls us to understand the times
  • 00:26:30.745 --> 00:26:34.849
  • We're living in so we can know what we're supposed to do next.
  • 00:26:34.849 --> 00:26:38.920
  • And next time, i'll show you how to gain the wisdom needed for
  • 00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:42.590
  • That kind of awareness and how to maintain it every single day.
  • 00:26:42.590 --> 00:26:46.995
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
  • 00:26:46.995 --> 00:26:49.497
  • Series, "courageous."
  • 00:26:49.497 --> 00:26:52.467
  • Jeffress: what does he mean by be of sober spirit?
  • 00:26:52.467 --> 00:26:54.269
  • He doesn't mean walk around with an expression on your face like
  • 00:26:54.269 --> 00:26:58.006
  • You've been sucking on a dill pickle, he's not talking
  • 00:26:58.006 --> 00:27:00.608
  • About that.
  • 00:27:00.608 --> 00:27:02.043
  • He simply means be serious.
  • 00:27:02.043 --> 00:27:05.213
  • Don't be frivolous, be serious as you understand what is
  • 00:27:05.213 --> 00:27:08.917
  • Happening and what is about to happen.
  • 00:27:08.917 --> 00:27:12.454
  • That's how you maintain situational awareness.
  • 00:27:12.454 --> 00:27:16.091
  • Announcer: set your dvr and join us next time for part two of the
  • 00:27:16.091 --> 00:27:19.027
  • Message, "survival tip #2: gain situational awareness," here on
  • 00:27:19.027 --> 00:27:23.965
  • "pathway to victory."
  • 00:27:23.965 --> 00:27:23.965