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Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - Choosing Intimacy With God Over Isolation (Part 1)

February 2, 2026 | 27:29

Robert Jeffress - Choosing Intimacy With God Over Isolation (Part 1)
In this episode of "Pathway to Victory," Dr. Robert Jeffress explores the journey of King Solomon as he searches for meaning and fulfillment in pleasure, wisdom, and work, only to find emptiness and futility. Through Solomon's experiences, listeners are guided to choose intimacy with God over isolation, recognizing that true fulfillment is found in remembering and prioritizing their Creator. The message challenges individuals to evaluate their relationship with God and center their affections around Him, leading to a deeper connection and a life filled with purpose and significance.
#WordofGod #SpiritualFoundation #Worship #Intimacy #Wisdom #Forgiveness #RobertJeffress

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - Choosing Intimacy With God Over Isolation (Part 1) | February 2, 2026
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Male announcer: from the pulpit of the first baptist
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  • Church of dallas, texas,
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  • This is "pathway to victory" with dr. robert jeffress.
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  • Dr. robert jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress, and welcome
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  • Again to "pathway to victory."
  • 00:00:16.339 --> 00:00:18.141
  • Have you ever felt distant from god, even though you're going
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  • Through all the motions of the christian life?
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  • Maybe you're attending church regularly, reading your bible
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  • Occasionally, but deep down, something feels missing in your
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  • Relationship with the lord.
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  • Well, today i wanna show you how to move from spiritual isolation
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  • To genuine intimacy with god.
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  • My message is titled "choosing intimacy with god over
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  • Isolation" on today's edition of "pathway to victory."
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Male announcer: we all want to live a life of meaning and
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  • Significance, but we often dream too small.
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  • Jeffress: my friends david green, founder and ceo of hobby
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  • Lobby, and bill high, ceo of legacy stone, have written a
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  • Brand new book called "the legacy life."
  • 00:01:09.492 --> 00:01:12.162
  • Jeffress: you've said it in this book several times, legacy is
  • 00:01:12.162 --> 00:01:16.232
  • Not what you leave behind, it's what you set in motion for
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  • The future.
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  • Jeffress: this book will challenge you to point your life
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  • Heavenward and set in motion a legacy of eternal significance.
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  • David green: bill, i've found that it's much easier to run a
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  • Business, but having a family, a wife, children that serve the
  • 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:34.517
  • Lord is much, much more difficult, and that's who
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  • We are.
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  • We're not about hobby lobby, we're about mission, vision, and
  • 00:01:38.221 --> 00:01:40.390
  • Values, and it's all based on god's word, and that's what
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  • We're excited about.
  • 00:01:42.992 --> 00:01:44.360
  • Bill high: no matter what stage of life you're in, "the legacy
  • 00:01:44.360 --> 00:01:46.930
  • Life" will help you understand how to apply god's word and set
  • 00:01:46.930 --> 00:01:51.534
  • In motion a great legacy.
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  • Male announcer: request "the legacy life" when you give a
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  • Generous gift to "pathway to victory" or when you become a
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  • Pathway partner.
  • 00:01:59.375 --> 00:02:00.743
  • You'll also receive the powerful book by dr. jeffress, "choose
  • 00:02:00.743 --> 00:02:03.746
  • Your attitudes, change your life," and when your ministry
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  • Gift is $100 or more, we'll also send you the "choose your
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  • Attitudes, change your life" personal and group study guide,
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  • Plus the complete teaching series on cd and dvd and a set
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  • Of attitude booster cards for your encouragement.
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  • Thank you for supporting "pathway to victory."
  • 00:02:21.864 --> 00:02:25.768
  • ♪♪♪
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  • Jeffress: maps can be crucial for providing direction,
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  • Especially when you're in an unfamiliar territory, and
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  • Especially if you don't have access to google maps, but the
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  • Only thing worse than having no map when you're in an unfamiliar
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  • Territory is having the wrong map.
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  • Steven covey writes about that, the importance of having the
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  • Right map, in his book "seven habits of highly
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  • Effective people."
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  • He said, "suppose you wanted to arrive at a specific location in
  • 00:03:04.140 --> 00:03:08.211
  • Central chicago.
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  • A street map of the city would be a great help to you in
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  • Reaching your destination, but suppose you were given the
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  • Wrong map.
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  • Through a printing error, the map labeled chicago was actually
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  • A map of detroit.
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  • Can you imagine the frustration, the ineffectiveness of trying to
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  • Reach your destination?
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  • You might work on your behavior, you could try harder, be more
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  • Diligent, double your speed, but your efforts would only succeed
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  • In getting you to the wrong place faster.
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  • You might work on your attitude.
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  • You could think more positively.
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  • You still wouldn't get to the right place, or perhaps you
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  • Wouldn't care.
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  • Your attitude would be so positive, you'd be happy
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  • Wherever you were.
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  • The point is, you'd still be lost.
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  • The fundamental problem has nothing to do with your behavior
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  • Or your attitude.
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  • It has everything to do with having the wrong map."
  • 00:04:04.801 --> 00:04:10.573
  • You know, the problem with most motivational books, motivational
  • 00:04:10.573 --> 00:04:15.778
  • Sermon series, even the christian ones, is they talk
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  • About things like setting goals and persevering and having the
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  • Right attitude without providing you with the right map, and by
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  • Map, i'm talking about the way of viewing life.
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  • You know, a geographical map is helpful in getting from point a
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  • To point b, and it's based on certain geographical realities.
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  • In the same way, a spiritual map shows us how to get from where
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  • We are into the place we want to be in our relationship with god
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  • In heaven, and it's also based on certain spiritual realities.
  • 00:04:50.713 --> 00:04:56.319
  • Just imagine you did arrive in chicago, and instead of asking
  • 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:00.590
  • For a map of the city, you decided to draw your own map of
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  • Chicago, even though you've never been there.
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  • You decided to base your map on what you wish chicago was like
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  • Instead of what it is actually like.
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  • The result is gonna be a disaster, isn't it?
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  • It's the same thing when we try to create our own spiritual map,
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  • When we try to worship the god of our own understanding.
  • 00:05:20.576 --> 00:05:25.314
  • When we just make up reality, the end is going to be
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  • A disaster.
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  • No, we've got to have the right spiritual map if we're gonna be
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  • Successful in life.
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  • In this series, "choose your attitude, change your life,"
  • 00:05:36.359 --> 00:05:39.562
  • We've been talking about biblical decisions, biblical
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  • Attitude choices that are absolutely crucial in life, but
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  • As we close out that series we're gonna end by talking about
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  • The most foundational attitude choice of all, the only one that
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  • Will give you a proper spiritual map of life, and that is the
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  • Choice to choose intimacy with god over isolation from god.
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  • If you have your bibles, turn to ecclesiastes chapter 1.
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  • You remember, thousands of years ago
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  • There lived a man named solomon.
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  • He was the king of israel, and yet, as he surveyed the endless
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  • Cycle of seasons and of nature, he came to the conclusion that
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  • There was no purpose to life whatsoever.
  • 00:06:25.174 --> 00:06:28.244
  • "'meaningless! meaningless!
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  • Everything is meaningless,'" but before he came to that final
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  • Conclusion, he decided to set out on a personal pilgrimage to
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  • Discover the right map that would give him direction in
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  • His life.
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  • Look at verses 12 to 13 of ecclesiastes 1, "i, the teacher,
  • 00:06:43.159 --> 00:06:46.896
  • Was king over israel in jerusalem.
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  • I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom, all that is
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  • Done under the sun."
  • 00:06:54.303 --> 00:06:56.138
  • By the way, we're gonna see this again in a minute.
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  • Notice, he was king of israel already.
  • 00:06:58.741 --> 00:07:01.644
  • He started out strong in his relationship with god, but then
  • 00:07:01.644 --> 00:07:06.115
  • He began to wander away from god, and he started to say,
  • 00:07:06.115 --> 00:07:10.052
  • Maybe there's something else to life.
  • 00:07:10.052 --> 00:07:11.921
  • I'm gonna see if there's some other system of belief that can
  • 00:07:11.921 --> 00:07:16.092
  • Give me true fulfillment in life.
  • 00:07:16.092 --> 00:07:19.061
  • He devoted the study everything to explore wisdom all that is
  • 00:07:19.061 --> 00:07:23.299
  • Done under the sun, and so he tried three different maps to
  • 00:07:23.299 --> 00:07:27.169
  • See if he could find meaning in his life.
  • 00:07:27.169 --> 00:07:29.805
  • The first map he used was pleasure.
  • 00:07:29.805 --> 00:07:33.009
  • Perhaps experiencing pleasure was the key to meaning in life.
  • 00:07:33.009 --> 00:07:37.146
  • Chapter 2, verse 1, he said, "'come now, i will test you with
  • 00:07:37.146 --> 00:07:40.716
  • Pleasure to find out what is good.'"
  • 00:07:40.716 --> 00:07:44.887
  • And so in verses 10 and 11, he says, "i denied myself nothing
  • 00:07:44.887 --> 00:07:49.525
  • That my eyes desired."
  • 00:07:49.525 --> 00:07:51.594
  • He tried everything, wine, laughter, women, great houses,
  • 00:07:51.594 --> 00:07:57.533
  • Great possessions, and he came to the conclusion that it was
  • 00:07:57.533 --> 00:08:00.870
  • All, "a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under
  • 00:08:00.870 --> 00:08:05.808
  • The sun."
  • 00:08:05.808 --> 00:08:07.176
  • Key phrase in the book of ecclesiastes, under the sun.
  • 00:08:07.176 --> 00:08:10.546
  • Well, if that doesn't work, what would you do next?
  • 00:08:10.546 --> 00:08:12.748
  • Well, solomon thought to himself, you know, i've always
  • 00:08:12.748 --> 00:08:14.850
  • Been more of a thinker than a playboy at heart anyway, so
  • 00:08:14.850 --> 00:08:18.220
  • Maybe i'll try something else.
  • 00:08:18.220 --> 00:08:19.589
  • Maybe i'll try the pursuit of wisdom.
  • 00:08:19.589 --> 00:08:23.292
  • You remember, solomon had always placed a premium on wisdom.
  • 00:08:23.292 --> 00:08:27.697
  • When he was 20 years of age, at the beginning of his reign as
  • 00:08:27.697 --> 00:08:30.633
  • King of israel, remember god came to him and said, "solomon,
  • 00:08:30.633 --> 00:08:34.003
  • I will give you anything you want," and if you told a 20 year
  • 00:08:34.003 --> 00:08:38.174
  • Old male, i'll give you anything you want, what do you think most
  • 00:08:38.174 --> 00:08:42.612
  • People would choose?
  • 00:08:42.612 --> 00:08:44.013
  • It wasn't any different in israel at that time.
  • 00:08:44.013 --> 00:08:46.716
  • Most 20 year old guys would have chosen a flashy chariot or a hot
  • 00:08:46.716 --> 00:08:51.387
  • Concubine or something else, but not solomon, said no.
  • 00:08:51.387 --> 00:08:55.558
  • He said, "i want wisdom."
  • 00:08:55.558 --> 00:08:58.394
  • I want wisdom.
  • 00:08:58.394 --> 00:08:59.762
  • God granted him wisdom and every other thing his heart could have
  • 00:08:59.762 --> 00:09:02.832
  • Wanted as well, but then he came to this conclusion, verses 14
  • 00:09:02.832 --> 00:09:06.802
  • And 16, "but i came to realize that the same fate overtakes,"
  • 00:09:06.802 --> 00:09:11.707
  • The wise and the fool, "both.
  • 00:09:11.707 --> 00:09:14.076
  • Like the fool, the wise man too must die!"
  • 00:09:14.076 --> 00:09:18.414
  • If you're a wise person, you might be buried at westminster
  • 00:09:18.414 --> 00:09:21.651
  • Abbey in london.
  • 00:09:21.651 --> 00:09:22.985
  • If you're a fool, you might be marked in an unmarked
  • 00:09:22.985 --> 00:09:25.521
  • Grave--buried in an unmarked grave, but the fact is, in the
  • 00:09:25.521 --> 00:09:29.191
  • End, it really doesn't matter.
  • 00:09:29.191 --> 00:09:30.726
  • Dead is dead, no matter where you're buried.
  • 00:09:30.726 --> 00:09:33.696
  • The same fate overcomes everybody.
  • 00:09:33.696 --> 00:09:36.532
  • Verse 15, "so i said to myself, 'the fate of the fool will
  • 00:09:36.532 --> 00:09:40.202
  • Overtake me also,'" that is, i will die, "'so what do i gain by
  • 00:09:40.202 --> 00:09:44.407
  • Being wise?'
  • 00:09:44.407 --> 00:09:45.741
  • I said to myself, 'this too is meaningless.'"
  • 00:09:45.741 --> 00:09:49.945
  • Having found no meaning in pleasure or in wisdom, he tried
  • 00:09:49.945 --> 00:09:54.583
  • Work itself.
  • 00:09:54.583 --> 00:09:56.719
  • Maybe if i throw myself into my work, that will provide meaning.
  • 00:09:56.719 --> 00:10:01.123
  • Verses 18 and 19, "i hated all the things i had toiled for
  • 00:10:01.123 --> 00:10:05.461
  • Under the sun, because i must leave them to the one who comes
  • 00:10:05.461 --> 00:10:09.198
  • After me.
  • 00:10:09.198 --> 00:10:10.533
  • And who knows whether that person will be a wise man or
  • 00:10:10.533 --> 00:10:13.169
  • A fool?
  • 00:10:13.169 --> 00:10:14.537
  • Yet he will have control over all the work into which i have
  • 00:10:14.537 --> 00:10:18.307
  • Poured my effort and skill under the sun.
  • 00:10:18.307 --> 00:10:21.777
  • This too is meaningless."
  • 00:10:21.777 --> 00:10:25.414
  • You know, i have an incident in my mind i will never forget.
  • 00:10:25.414 --> 00:10:29.585
  • Do you all have things that have happened to you in the past that
  • 00:10:29.585 --> 00:10:32.021
  • You just will never forget, snapshots in your life?
  • 00:10:32.021 --> 00:10:36.459
  • It happened to me about a month before my dad passed away.
  • 00:10:36.459 --> 00:10:39.695
  • He knew he only had a few weeks to live, and we were seated at
  • 00:10:39.695 --> 00:10:43.466
  • The kitchen table, and he was going through his papers showing
  • 00:10:43.466 --> 00:10:46.535
  • Me where everything was and preparing for his death, and he
  • 00:10:46.535 --> 00:10:50.306
  • Showed me where his savings account was and where his bank
  • 00:10:50.306 --> 00:10:54.343
  • Cd was and these things, and he stopped in the middle of
  • 00:10:54.343 --> 00:10:57.513
  • The explanation.
  • 00:10:57.513 --> 00:10:59.315
  • He looked at me, he said, "you know, i just can't believe this.
  • 00:10:59.315 --> 00:11:02.785
  • I've worked all of my life for this, and now i'm gonna end up
  • 00:11:02.785 --> 00:11:07.223
  • Leaving it to somebody else."
  • 00:11:07.223 --> 00:11:10.526
  • You know, that's the wisdom that only death brings.
  • 00:11:10.526 --> 00:11:14.663
  • Doesn't matter what you have, doesn't matter what you
  • 00:11:14.663 --> 00:11:16.766
  • Accomplish, you're gonna leave it to somebody else, and who
  • 00:11:16.766 --> 00:11:20.703
  • Knows what will happen to it then.
  • 00:11:20.703 --> 00:11:24.006
  • Whether it's money or a business you've built, you're gonna leave
  • 00:11:24.006 --> 00:11:27.676
  • It to somebody else.
  • 00:11:27.676 --> 00:11:29.044
  • Who knows what will happen to it?
  • 00:11:29.044 --> 00:11:31.046
  • That's what solomon was saying, "i've worked building this
  • 00:11:31.046 --> 00:11:34.083
  • Kingdom of israel.
  • 00:11:34.083 --> 00:11:36.552
  • I've brought it further than even my father david did, and
  • 00:11:36.552 --> 00:11:40.356
  • Now i'm gonna leave it to my son?"
  • 00:11:40.356 --> 00:11:42.091
  • I think he had a premonition that his son rehoboam wasn't
  • 00:11:42.091 --> 00:11:45.661
  • Gonna do well with this.
  • 00:11:45.661 --> 00:11:48.164
  • Who knows what's gonna happen to it?
  • 00:11:48.164 --> 00:11:49.799
  • By the way, his premonition was correct.
  • 00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:52.468
  • After solomon died and rehoboam became king, he made a series of
  • 00:11:52.468 --> 00:11:56.739
  • Bad decisions that within a period of a short time, ended up
  • 00:11:56.739 --> 00:12:01.043
  • Causing a civil war in the country, and the country
  • 00:12:01.043 --> 00:12:03.612
  • Was divided.
  • 00:12:03.612 --> 00:12:05.815
  • That's what happens.
  • 00:12:05.815 --> 00:12:07.149
  • And even if the person who comes after you builds that company,
  • 00:12:07.149 --> 00:12:12.021
  • Builds that business, builds your wealth, so what?
  • 00:12:12.021 --> 00:12:16.292
  • You're not gonna know it.
  • 00:12:16.292 --> 00:12:17.626
  • You're still going to be dead.
  • 00:12:17.626 --> 00:12:20.362
  • Everything we have, everything we achieve is left behind.
  • 00:12:20.362 --> 00:12:25.367
  • Jesus talked about that reality in luke chapter 12, beginning
  • 00:12:25.367 --> 00:12:28.704
  • With verse 16.
  • 00:12:28.704 --> 00:12:30.039
  • Remember the story he told?
  • 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:31.974
  • "'the land of a certain rich man was very productive.
  • 00:12:31.974 --> 00:12:36.111
  • And he began reasoning to himself, saying, "what shall i
  • 00:12:36.111 --> 00:12:39.215
  • Do, since i have no place to store my crops?"'"
  • 00:12:39.215 --> 00:12:43.052
  • He would stay awake at nights, not because he had
  • 00:12:43.052 --> 00:12:45.788
  • Too little, but because he had too much.
  • 00:12:45.788 --> 00:12:48.791
  • He didn't know what to do with all of his excess.
  • 00:12:48.791 --> 00:12:51.126
  • "'and finally he said, "this is what i will do: i will tear down
  • 00:12:51.126 --> 00:12:54.396
  • My barns and build larger ones, and there i will store all of my
  • 00:12:54.396 --> 00:12:58.467
  • Grain and all of my goods.
  • 00:12:58.467 --> 00:13:00.336
  • And i will say to my soul, 'soul, you have many goods laid
  • 00:13:00.336 --> 00:13:04.406
  • Up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink,
  • 00:13:04.406 --> 00:13:08.878
  • And be merry!"''"
  • 00:13:08.878 --> 00:13:10.613
  • He had spent his life accumulating wealth, and he
  • 00:13:10.613 --> 00:13:13.983
  • Calculated, now i've got enough that i don't have to do anything
  • 00:13:13.983 --> 00:13:18.387
  • Except enjoy myself in retirement, and what did god say
  • 00:13:18.387 --> 00:13:22.925
  • To him?
  • 00:13:22.925 --> 00:13:24.260
  • Verse 20, "'"you fool!
  • 00:13:24.260 --> 00:13:28.297
  • This very night your soul is required of you."'"
  • 00:13:28.297 --> 00:13:34.203
  • That word required is a banking term
  • 00:13:34.203 --> 00:13:36.605
  • That means literally to call in a loan.
  • 00:13:36.605 --> 00:13:41.510
  • God was saying to this person, "'you fool.'"
  • 00:13:41.510 --> 00:13:45.247
  • God is gonna call in this loan, the loan of your life.
  • 00:13:45.247 --> 00:13:49.618
  • "'your soul is required of you, and who will own what you
  • 00:13:49.618 --> 00:13:54.156
  • Have prepared?'
  • 00:13:54.156 --> 00:13:55.824
  • So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not
  • 00:13:55.824 --> 00:14:00.462
  • Rich toward god."
  • 00:14:00.462 --> 00:14:03.832
  • Really doesn't matter what treasure you're spending your
  • 00:14:03.832 --> 00:14:06.435
  • Life to acquire, pleasure, wisdom, or wealth.
  • 00:14:06.435 --> 00:14:10.339
  • Solomon and jesus both affirmed the idiocy of trading the
  • 00:14:10.339 --> 00:14:14.143
  • Eternal for the temporal.
  • 00:14:14.143 --> 00:14:16.779
  • You know, after this journey, the first 11 chapters of
  • 00:14:16.779 --> 00:14:19.815
  • Ecclesiastes, solomon came to the conclusion that wisdom is
  • 00:14:19.815 --> 00:14:24.620
  • Futile, pleasure is vain, work is meaningless, life is short,
  • 00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:28.557
  • And death is absolutely certain, and that's why he says over and
  • 00:14:28.557 --> 00:14:33.462
  • Over again, meaningless, meaningless, life under the sun
  • 00:14:33.462 --> 00:14:37.599
  • Is meaningless, but there's the key, under the sun.
  • 00:14:37.599 --> 00:14:44.139
  • That's a phrase solomon uses 29 times.
  • 00:14:44.139 --> 00:14:47.409
  • It refers to life from a horizontal perspective.
  • 00:14:47.409 --> 00:14:52.014
  • If we just look at around--what is around us instead of looking
  • 00:14:52.014 --> 00:14:55.184
  • Up, if we look at what is around us, life does seem meaningless,
  • 00:14:55.184 --> 00:14:59.621
  • Futile, useless, but there's another way to look at life, to
  • 00:14:59.621 --> 00:15:04.994
  • Look at life above the sun.
  • 00:15:04.994 --> 00:15:08.530
  • Have you ever had this experience of taking off in an
  • 00:15:08.530 --> 00:15:11.834
  • Airplane when it was gray and cold and raining, and as you go
  • 00:15:11.834 --> 00:15:17.673
  • Down the runway, the rain streaks across the window of
  • 00:15:17.673 --> 00:15:22.211
  • Your passenger seat, and yet as the plane goes upward, within
  • 00:15:22.211 --> 00:15:26.515
  • Just a few moments, as soon as it gets above the clouds,
  • 00:15:26.515 --> 00:15:30.386
  • Everything is sunshine.
  • 00:15:30.386 --> 00:15:32.454
  • I mean, both realities are true.
  • 00:15:32.454 --> 00:15:34.123
  • On earth, it is dark and gloomy.
  • 00:15:34.123 --> 00:15:36.925
  • Above the clouds, it is sunshine.
  • 00:15:36.925 --> 00:15:39.128
  • You have both realities true at the same time.
  • 00:15:39.128 --> 00:15:42.531
  • For the first 11 chapters of ecclesiastes is under the sun,
  • 00:15:42.531 --> 00:15:46.769
  • The meaninglessness of life, but then when he gets to chapter 12,
  • 00:15:46.769 --> 00:15:51.407
  • He gives the above the sun perspective, and look at what he
  • 00:15:51.407 --> 00:15:54.643
  • Says in chapter 12 verse 1.
  • 00:15:54.643 --> 00:15:56.678
  • Here's the key to finding meaning in life.
  • 00:15:56.678 --> 00:16:01.884
  • "remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the
  • 00:16:01.884 --> 00:16:07.423
  • Days of trouble come and the years approach when you will
  • 00:16:07.423 --> 00:16:11.527
  • Say, 'i find no pleasure in them.'"
  • 00:16:11.527 --> 00:16:16.732
  • Remember your creator.
  • 00:16:16.732 --> 00:16:19.601
  • What does that mean?
  • 00:16:19.601 --> 00:16:21.103
  • That word remember doesn't mean just a call to mind.
  • 00:16:21.103 --> 00:16:24.073
  • Oh, i remember god.
  • 00:16:24.073 --> 00:16:25.407
  • I'd forgotten him for a while, but now i remember him.
  • 00:16:25.407 --> 00:16:28.343
  • No, the key to that word is understanding its use in 1
  • 00:16:28.343 --> 00:16:31.947
  • Samuel 1:19.
  • 00:16:31.947 --> 00:16:33.348
  • Remember the story of hannah, who prayed to god that god would
  • 00:16:33.348 --> 00:16:37.152
  • Give her a child, and finally he answered her and gave her a son
  • 00:16:37.152 --> 00:16:41.490
  • Named samuel.
  • 00:16:41.490 --> 00:16:43.092
  • 1 samuel 1:19 says, "and god remembered hannah."
  • 00:16:43.092 --> 00:16:48.931
  • It's not that he had forgotten about her.
  • 00:16:48.931 --> 00:16:51.200
  • To remember means to act decisively toward.
  • 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:55.771
  • God acted decisively for the benefit of hannah, and for us to
  • 00:16:55.771 --> 00:17:00.943
  • Remember god means for us to act decisively in our relationship
  • 00:17:00.943 --> 00:17:05.747
  • With god.
  • 00:17:05.747 --> 00:17:07.116
  • It means to put god first.
  • 00:17:07.116 --> 00:17:10.853
  • What solomon is saying is the most important choice we can
  • 00:17:10.853 --> 00:17:14.289
  • Make is to build our life around god.
  • 00:17:14.289 --> 00:17:18.527
  • He is the only one capable of giving us the right perspective
  • 00:17:18.527 --> 00:17:22.998
  • Of life and eternity.
  • 00:17:22.998 --> 00:17:24.933
  • How do you do that?
  • 00:17:24.933 --> 00:17:26.368
  • How do you choose intimacy with god over isolation from god?
  • 00:17:26.368 --> 00:17:31.707
  • As we close out today, let me just share with you four
  • 00:17:31.707 --> 00:17:34.443
  • Practical principles for making god first in your life.
  • 00:17:34.443 --> 00:17:39.348
  • First of all, realize that true fulfillment is impossible apart
  • 00:17:39.348 --> 00:17:45.154
  • From god.
  • 00:17:45.154 --> 00:17:46.655
  • You have to come to the understanding that true
  • 00:17:46.655 --> 00:17:48.624
  • Fulfillment is really impossible apart from god.
  • 00:17:48.624 --> 00:17:52.161
  • You know, nothing will block intimacy more than
  • 00:17:52.161 --> 00:17:55.464
  • Divided affections.
  • 00:17:55.464 --> 00:17:58.634
  • If i'm trying to build an intimate relationship with my
  • 00:17:58.634 --> 00:18:02.371
  • Wife, amy, and yet i'm carrying on with some other woman at the
  • 00:18:02.371 --> 00:18:06.441
  • Same time, is that gonna affect my intimacy with my wife in
  • 00:18:06.441 --> 00:18:10.412
  • Any way?
  • 00:18:10.412 --> 00:18:11.747
  • Of course it is.
  • 00:18:11.747 --> 00:18:13.248
  • The truth is, there's no such thing as divided affections,
  • 00:18:13.248 --> 00:18:18.086
  • Divided loyalties.
  • 00:18:18.086 --> 00:18:20.756
  • We build our life around one thing, not many things.
  • 00:18:20.756 --> 00:18:25.894
  • Jesus said that in matthew 6:24.
  • 00:18:25.894 --> 00:18:28.363
  • He said, "'nobody can serve two masters.'"
  • 00:18:28.363 --> 00:18:31.567
  • You just can't do it.
  • 00:18:31.567 --> 00:18:32.935
  • You may think you can, but you can't.
  • 00:18:32.935 --> 00:18:34.970
  • "'for you will either hate the one and love the other, or he
  • 00:18:34.970 --> 00:18:38.140
  • Will hold on to the one and despise the other.
  • 00:18:38.140 --> 00:18:40.542
  • You cannot serve god and money.'"
  • 00:18:40.542 --> 00:18:44.646
  • And the fact is, if you are under the illusion that a
  • 00:18:44.646 --> 00:18:50.052
  • Certain position, a certain amount of possessions, a certain
  • 00:18:50.052 --> 00:18:53.922
  • Amount of prestige or pleasure, that those things will really
  • 00:18:53.922 --> 00:18:57.593
  • Provide the fulfillment you need in life, you can't be intimate
  • 00:18:57.593 --> 00:19:00.696
  • With god and serving him at the same time.
  • 00:19:00.696 --> 00:19:03.599
  • You're gonna build your life around whatever you think is
  • 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:06.435
  • Gonna satisfy your deepest needs, and that means if you
  • 00:19:06.435 --> 00:19:09.638
  • Wanna have intimacy with god, you've got to come to the place
  • 00:19:09.638 --> 00:19:12.941
  • Where you realize you can't be fulfilled any other way.
  • 00:19:12.941 --> 00:19:17.346
  • You know, i had the funniest thing happen.
  • 00:19:17.346 --> 00:19:18.780
  • Not long ago i came across in my files a piece of paper, yellow
  • 00:19:18.780 --> 00:19:24.319
  • Piece of paper from a tablet, something i'd written down 35
  • 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:27.889
  • Years ago.
  • 00:19:27.889 --> 00:19:29.224
  • It was a list of my four major goals for that particular year,
  • 00:19:29.224 --> 00:19:34.396
  • And i looked back, and you know what struck me about it was i'd
  • 00:19:34.396 --> 00:19:38.533
  • Marked off each of those goals.
  • 00:19:38.533 --> 00:19:40.135
  • I'd accomplished them that year, but did that keep me from
  • 00:19:40.135 --> 00:19:44.339
  • Setting any more goals?
  • 00:19:44.339 --> 00:19:46.408
  • Of course not.
  • 00:19:46.408 --> 00:19:47.976
  • I mean, year after year after year, i had more and more goals.
  • 00:19:47.976 --> 00:19:52.381
  • Here's what struck me.
  • 00:19:52.381 --> 00:19:53.715
  • If those goals i thought were so important had been enough to
  • 00:19:53.715 --> 00:19:56.818
  • Fulfill me, i wouldn't have set any more goals, but it
  • 00:19:56.818 --> 00:20:00.656
  • Wasn't enough.
  • 00:20:00.656 --> 00:20:02.424
  • It's never enough.
  • 00:20:02.424 --> 00:20:05.127
  • I believe solomon had reached the same conclusion.
  • 00:20:05.127 --> 00:20:08.530
  • He had built the most powerful nation in the world at
  • 00:20:08.530 --> 00:20:11.566
  • That time.
  • 00:20:11.566 --> 00:20:12.901
  • He became the wealthiest man of his day, and yet he realized he
  • 00:20:12.901 --> 00:20:16.805
  • Wasn't fulfilled.
  • 00:20:16.805 --> 00:20:18.273
  • It is only when we come to the point that we realize
  • 00:20:18.273 --> 00:20:21.310
  • Fulfillment is impossible apart from god, that we will begin to
  • 00:20:21.310 --> 00:20:25.714
  • Build our affections around god.
  • 00:20:25.714 --> 00:20:28.717
  • Secondly, to gain intimacy with god, honestly evaluate your
  • 00:20:28.717 --> 00:20:33.555
  • Relationship with god.
  • 00:20:33.555 --> 00:20:35.657
  • Do an honest x-ray of the condition of your heart.
  • 00:20:35.657 --> 00:20:39.928
  • What right now is the center of your affections?
  • 00:20:39.928 --> 00:20:42.964
  • What are you building your life around?
  • 00:20:42.964 --> 00:20:46.601
  • The temporary or the eternal?
  • 00:20:46.601 --> 00:20:49.671
  • You know, a good way to really evaluate your heart is to ask
  • 00:20:49.671 --> 00:20:52.974
  • Yourself the question, how would you respond if suddenly you lost
  • 00:20:52.974 --> 00:20:58.246
  • All of your material possessions, you lost your most
  • 00:20:58.246 --> 00:21:04.252
  • Important relationships, you lost your health, you lost your
  • 00:21:04.252 --> 00:21:10.292
  • Children, would your life completely spin out of control?
  • 00:21:10.292 --> 00:21:15.030
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:21:15.030 --> 00:21:20.635
  • Jeffress: solomon discovered that chasing after pleasure,
  • 00:21:20.635 --> 00:21:23.472
  • Wisdom, and material success left him empty and unfulfilled.
  • 00:21:23.472 --> 00:21:29.010
  • Life under the sun will always leave us feeling like everything
  • 00:21:29.010 --> 00:21:32.848
  • Is meaningless.
  • 00:21:32.848 --> 00:21:34.616
  • Well, before we close today, i want to share a powerful
  • 00:21:34.616 --> 00:21:38.286
  • Testimony from brenda in indiana.
  • 00:21:38.286 --> 00:21:41.323
  • She wrote, "my husband died last july and his loss has
  • 00:21:41.323 --> 00:21:45.127
  • Devastated me.
  • 00:21:45.127 --> 00:21:46.561
  • I have been at such a physical and spiritual low point,
  • 00:21:46.561 --> 00:21:50.599
  • Dominated by fear and discouragement, that i thought
  • 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:53.769
  • About ending my life.
  • 00:21:53.769 --> 00:21:55.404
  • But when i checked my mailbox, i found a letter from dr. jeffress
  • 00:21:55.404 --> 00:21:59.641
  • And the title on the envelope stopped me in my tracks: "take
  • 00:21:59.641 --> 00:22:03.845
  • Courage, fear not."
  • 00:22:03.845 --> 00:22:05.914
  • I tore open the envelope and i read the letter and it felt to
  • 00:22:05.914 --> 00:22:09.684
  • Me like god was intervening.
  • 00:22:09.684 --> 00:22:12.087
  • I felt like i should talk to someone, so i reached out to
  • 00:22:12.087 --> 00:22:15.624
  • "pathway to victory" and spoke with a wonderful care associate
  • 00:22:15.624 --> 00:22:18.994
  • At the ministry.
  • 00:22:18.994 --> 00:22:20.562
  • I honestly believe getting that letter and talking with your
  • 00:22:20.562 --> 00:22:24.499
  • Ministry was an answer from god."
  • 00:22:24.499 --> 00:22:27.569
  • Friends, this is why we do what we do at "pathway to victory."
  • 00:22:27.569 --> 00:22:31.740
  • Because of your support, we're able to reach people like brenda
  • 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:34.543
  • With hope and encouragement exactly when they need it most.
  • 00:22:34.543 --> 00:22:39.381
  • Now, stay right there.
  • 00:22:39.381 --> 00:22:40.715
  • I'll be back with more "pathway to victory" in just a moment.
  • 00:22:40.715 --> 00:22:44.186
  • Male announcer: each day millions of lost people are
  • 00:22:45.320 --> 00:22:47.722
  • Searching for hope and truth.
  • 00:22:47.722 --> 00:22:49.691
  • Through "pathway to victory," god's word is reaching into
  • 00:22:49.691 --> 00:22:52.661
  • Homes across america and around the world, but there are still
  • 00:22:52.661 --> 00:22:56.264
  • So many who haven't heard the saving message of jesus christ.
  • 00:22:56.264 --> 00:22:59.868
  • You can help change that by becoming a pathway partner.
  • 00:22:59.868 --> 00:23:03.171
  • You'll join a dedicated team of broadcast missionaries who are
  • 00:23:03.171 --> 00:23:06.341
  • Sharing the gospel through television and radio.
  • 00:23:06.341 --> 00:23:09.044
  • Your monthly support will help reach people worldwide with the
  • 00:23:09.044 --> 00:23:12.681
  • Life-changing power of the cross.
  • 00:23:12.681 --> 00:23:16.952
  • Jeffress: karen, your question is a great one, and it's the
  • 00:23:17.018 --> 00:23:19.654
  • Most frequently asked question at "pathway to victory."
  • 00:23:19.654 --> 00:23:23.091
  • Cremation is certainly becoming more popular with the increasing
  • 00:23:23.091 --> 00:23:27.128
  • Cost of funerals, with covid, that changed the way people
  • 00:23:27.128 --> 00:23:32.300
  • Treated their loved ones who had died, but let me cut to the
  • 00:23:32.300 --> 00:23:35.637
  • Chase on this.
  • 00:23:35.637 --> 00:23:37.305
  • The fact is, our bodies are temporary.
  • 00:23:37.305 --> 00:23:41.209
  • God made them as temporary dwelling places.
  • 00:23:41.209 --> 00:23:44.212
  • They were never meant to be our eternal home, and the bible
  • 00:23:44.212 --> 00:23:48.250
  • Tells us that one day we're going to leave our bodies
  • 00:23:48.250 --> 00:23:50.752
  • At home.
  • 00:23:50.752 --> 00:23:52.120
  • 2 corinthians 5:8 says for a christian to be absent from the
  • 00:23:52.120 --> 00:23:55.323
  • Body is to be at home with the lord, and it really doesn't
  • 00:23:55.323 --> 00:23:58.927
  • Matter how you die, whether you're blown up in an airplane
  • 00:23:58.927 --> 00:24:02.764
  • Over the pacific ocean, you're in a car crash, or your organs
  • 00:24:02.764 --> 00:24:07.302
  • Deteriorate, one day this temporary dwelling place is
  • 00:24:07.302 --> 00:24:11.239
  • Going to be reduced to dust.
  • 00:24:11.239 --> 00:24:13.375
  • Our bodies were formed out of the dust, they're going to
  • 00:24:13.375 --> 00:24:16.611
  • Return to dust.
  • 00:24:16.611 --> 00:24:17.946
  • Cremation only accelerates the process.
  • 00:24:17.946 --> 00:24:21.483
  • Now, it used to be in the first century when the bible--new
  • 00:24:21.483 --> 00:24:25.120
  • Testament was written, that the romans and other pagans would
  • 00:24:25.120 --> 00:24:29.858
  • Stack bodies on top of one another and burn them.
  • 00:24:29.858 --> 00:24:33.261
  • They weren't expecting any resurrection, but christians
  • 00:24:33.261 --> 00:24:37.365
  • Carefully buried their dead as a sign that they were looking to a
  • 00:24:37.365 --> 00:24:41.436
  • Future resurrection.
  • 00:24:41.436 --> 00:24:43.171
  • Now, in truth remember this, our bodies are gonna be made new.
  • 00:24:43.171 --> 00:24:48.043
  • What we haul into heaven with us isn't gonna be this body,
  • 00:24:48.043 --> 00:24:51.780
  • Thankfully, it's going to be a brand new body.
  • 00:24:51.780 --> 00:24:55.016
  • 1 corinthians 15 describes that new body and what it's going to
  • 00:24:55.016 --> 00:24:59.387
  • Be like.
  • 00:24:59.387 --> 00:25:00.722
  • It's going to be free from sin, from sickness, from broken
  • 00:25:00.722 --> 00:25:03.692
  • Relationships, and we all look forward to that.
  • 00:25:03.692 --> 00:25:06.628
  • So my short answer now to your question is there's nothing in
  • 00:25:06.628 --> 00:25:10.465
  • The bible that prohibits cremation.
  • 00:25:10.465 --> 00:25:13.435
  • It doesn't matter how your natural body dies, one day god's
  • 00:25:13.435 --> 00:25:17.439
  • Going to give you a brand new body.
  • 00:25:17.439 --> 00:25:21.443
  • Jeffress: solomon spent his life chasing after things that
  • 00:25:21.509 --> 00:25:24.512
  • Couldn't satisfy him.
  • 00:25:24.512 --> 00:25:26.414
  • Pleasure, wisdom, and work all left him empty because he was
  • 00:25:26.414 --> 00:25:30.318
  • Looking at life under the sun instead of above the sun.
  • 00:25:30.318 --> 00:25:35.557
  • Well, solomon finally came to an important conclusion in
  • 00:25:35.557 --> 00:25:38.660
  • Ecclesiastes chapter 12, "remember your creator in the
  • 00:25:38.660 --> 00:25:43.765
  • Days of your youth," and next time we're going to discover
  • 00:25:43.765 --> 00:25:47.168
  • What it means to remember god and how to put him first in
  • 00:25:47.168 --> 00:25:51.406
  • Your life.
  • 00:25:51.406 --> 00:25:52.741
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next on
  • 00:25:52.741 --> 00:25:55.543
  • "pathway to victory."
  • 00:25:55.543 --> 00:25:58.446
  • Jeffress: in a lot of ways, ecclesiastes was solomon's
  • 00:25:58.446 --> 00:26:01.750
  • Spiritual journal, and he left it so all of us could read it
  • 00:26:01.750 --> 00:26:07.222
  • And learn from his mistakes.
  • 00:26:07.222 --> 00:26:10.392
  • Solomon said, don't be like me.
  • 00:26:10.392 --> 00:26:13.228
  • Remember god, make him first in your life before it's too late.
  • 00:26:13.228 --> 00:26:17.599
  • Male announcer: set your dvr and
  • 00:26:18.433 --> 00:26:19.801
  • Join us next time for part two
  • 00:26:19.801 --> 00:26:21.136
  • Of the message
  • 00:26:21.136 --> 00:26:22.470
  • "choosing intimacy with god over
  • 00:26:22.470 --> 00:26:24.172
  • Isolation," here on
  • 00:26:24.172 --> 00:26:26.041
  • "pathway to victory."
  • 00:26:26.041 --> 00:26:29.310
  • Male announcer: experience a journey that will refresh your
  • 00:26:29.377 --> 00:26:31.980
  • Spirit and renew your faith on the "pathway to victory" cruise
  • 00:26:31.980 --> 00:26:35.550
  • To alaska, june 13 through 20, 2026.
  • 00:26:35.550 --> 00:26:39.154
  • Jeffress: sail aboard holland america's luxurious koningsdam
  • 00:26:39.154 --> 00:26:42.524
  • Through british columbia's beautiful inside passage.
  • 00:26:42.524 --> 00:26:46.194
  • From the pristine waters of glacier bay to the charming
  • 00:26:46.194 --> 00:26:49.664
  • Frontier towns of juneau, ketchikan, and skagway.
  • 00:26:49.664 --> 00:26:53.668
  • You'll witness god's handiwork on full display.
  • 00:26:53.668 --> 00:26:57.238
  • Male announcer: imagine standing on deck surrounded by towering
  • 00:26:57.238 --> 00:26:59.974
  • Glaciers and snowcapped mountains while enjoying
  • 00:26:59.974 --> 00:27:02.610
  • Powerful bible teaching from dr. jeffress.
  • 00:27:02.610 --> 00:27:05.380
  • Then enjoy spirit lifting worship led by michael o'brien,
  • 00:27:05.380 --> 00:27:09.184
  • And share plenty of laughter with dennis swanberg, america's
  • 00:27:09.184 --> 00:27:12.420
  • Minister of encouragement.
  • 00:27:12.420 --> 00:27:14.022
  • Jeffress: this is more than just a vacation, it's a sacred pause
  • 00:27:14.022 --> 00:27:17.692
  • To reconnect with the lord.
  • 00:27:17.692 --> 00:27:19.594
  • Male announcer: to reserve your cabin on the 2026 "pathway to
  • 00:27:19.594 --> 00:27:22.197
  • Victory" cruise to alaska, call ...
  • 00:27:22.197 --> 00:27:27.102
  • Or visit ptv.org.
  • 00:27:27.102 --> 00:27:27.102