This sermon by Joshua Daniel emphasizes the transformative power of encountering Jesus Christ, leading to confession of sins, restoration of relationships, and a life filled with joy and peace. Joshua Daniel shares personal experiences of realizing his need for God's forgiveness, making amends for past wrongs, and the profound impact of surrendering to Jesus. The message highlights the importance of genuine repentance, forgiveness, and the blessings that come from living a life dedicated to serving God wholeheartedly.

Welcome to the Lord's Challenge with Joshua Daniel. The Layman's Evangelical Fellowship International is a ministry reaching people from all walks of life since 1935. After a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ at the age of 16, Joshua Daniel has been declaring the marvelous deliverance from sin, which is freely given to all those who turn to the Savior. From small villages to large cities, in many parts of the globe, through revival meetings, literature, radio, internet, and television, Joshua Daniel has been tirelessly laboring, trusting God to supply all that is needed. Wherever this message has gone out, broken relationships have been restored, sickness healed, ill-gotten money returned, and thieves turn into givers. We now invite you to watch and receive the invaluable blessing that God has for you. Hello, everybody. You'll be wondering who this new fellow is. Well, you know, I want to be quite direct with what I have to say. You know, I began as a student back many years ago. You might almost say once upon a time when there was an emptiness in my heart. There was a vacuum. And I said, I want the best out of life. Where was I to find it? Well, if it was sport, well, I had arrived, or very much so, very nearly so, because I was accounted as an all-rounder in many games. And, well, that did not fill that vacuum. What happened was there were young fellows whom I met who told me, well, we were searching, and we were as empty as anybody else. And the Lord Jesus met us. And I could see that it was real. They wanted, as young people, something worth living for. And what happened was, when the Lord Jesus Christ met them, they were literally bowled over, you know. And they said to themselves, hey, we didn't realize all these things that have been carefully tucked away in our lives, our sins, that they come between us and God, and that they are a real barrier and hindrance. Therefore, when they went to the Lord Jesus and said, through Lord, this is exactly what I have been up to, no honesty about me. And where I have stolen, I will return the stuff. Where I have cheated, where I have given people a totally wrong picture, a deceitful picture, you know, justifying myself, putting the blame on somebody else, I will own up. I will come clean. And the Lord Jesus gave them the grace and the strength to go to their enemies to ask pardon, likewise to return stolen stuff. And where there was vandalism, they went and put things right. And so, you know, one of their fathers reacted in this way. I remember that this man was a superintendent of a huge high school. And he said, today my son has become my son, because I hardly knew my son and what was actually stacked up in his life. You know, folks, when I saw these things and this marvelous transformation that made them people who could look anybody in the eye, I said, look, why am I running away from the Lord Jesus? Now, I felt this philosophical stuff, this pie-in-the-sky business was not at all my bent or up to my taste. Well, I said, now that I have not succeeded in filling the vacuum in my life, let me give one chance to God. Folks, it happened right away. I could not go to my games that evening. Why? Simply because I felt ill at ease, out of sorts. I said, I need to see what's wrong with me. Then at that point, the love of Jesus stood before me. That is the cross of Jesus. Mark you, we all love mirrors, I suppose. And some of you might have asked, your mirror, mirror, mirror, tell me, who is the fairest of us all? But let me tell you, at the cross, what I saw was a really ugly picture of my real condition. I had been a hypocrite. I had cheated my parents. I had totally misled them. And as for my friends, they scarcely knew what I was up to. I knew how to cover up very cleverly. Well, the Lord tore the mask away. The wallpaper was gone. And what was behind it? Cracks. Ugly, dirty cracks in my character. In my whole demeanor and way of life. Well, I said, Lord, I've done with this. I need real joy. And if you give me that real joy, by all means, I'll seek you and I know I'll find you. Well, you know, I called my mother and I told my mother, mother, this is the way I cheated you. Lied to you. And the Lord Jesus is showing me all my sins. Mother Nelton prayed with me. Now, this went on till two in the morning. You know, huh. You talk about fellows who cannot concentrate on anything for more than three or four minutes. Well, I was a kind of butterfly myself, but not then. Not at that time. The love of the cross was such that when I was really opened up and saw the true condition of my life, I said, okay, I'll put these things right. And now for years we had a family tailor. And he knew me from my boyhood. I cheated him. In his billing, he had forgotten to bill me for a court. I said, okay. I cheated him. And so I said, I'll return the money. I had had a fight with a schoolmate. And from that point, we would talk to each other. I was too proud to say, sorry. I said to the Lord, I will go and ask his pardon. Then around midnight, the next day, it happened. A wonderful joy flooded me. And a peace, which I can honestly tell you, have, it has stood the test of time. Not merely of the years that rolled by, but, you know, critical times. When I had my heart attack, when my plane was almost about to catch fire in midair, fear was banished. You know, folks, how many people today are captives of fear? And after the Lord Jesus showed me that my sins were forgiven, you know, when you are promised something out of the Bible, like he did. Now also we join God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. That made it clear as daylight that my sins were atoned for. They were gone. And mark you, a new character, a new taste took over from that point. People could see the change, the transformation. Well, as I started preaching at the age of 16, being a student, I never appealed for money. I never asked anybody for my bus fare either. You know, folks, some people seem to think it's all for money. It's some way by which you make a lot of money, the easy way. Listen, my dear friends. But during all these several years of speaking worldwide or in many countries, I never asked anybody for a penny. Why? If I'm only a hypocrite, a cheat, a charlatan, why should God support me? Now, if I'm really out to help people, to lift people, to see them come through to the living Savior, if I'm true, do you think he is going to be behind hand or he is going to be holding back what is required? I never asked God for wealth. You know, many people have a strong prejudice. Well, it may be that sometimes there are preachers who have just made a living out of preaching. But you know, living for Jesus Christ does not mean just filling your own stomach. There are in many parts of the world people who when they hear of a national calamity or a tsunami or something, they want to do something. They want to help. And in fact, some of them volunteer and go out and help. Great. But how is it possible for one who says, if it cost Calvary, the shamefully noble death upon the cross to the Lord Jesus. Now, should it be some of the something which I hold at arm's length or should I treat it cheaply? You know, folks, if it cost Calvary to the Lord Jesus, what should my reaction be? I want to tell you, when I played my big games and so on, I put my whole soul into it, my heart. It was not just an entertainment of the evening to me. I threw myself, body and soul into the game. Now, if the Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood indeed for a rich like me, should I not be willing and happy to serve him with all my heart? Yes. So must you be. Because, you know, we give God a lot of lip service all the time. It's all lip service. Prayers are easily said. But when you go to God and say, Lord, I want to be forgiven. The Lord Jesus taught us this prayer. Forgive us our trespasses, our sins, as we forgive those who trespass against us. See, folks, that forgiving spirit is hardly to be found. Well, our divorce courts would be pretty empty if we filled our homes with a spirit of love and forgiveness. You know, I can't take this any longer. I'm walking out. I've had enough of you. Well, my dear friends, you ought to be saying I've had enough of myself. Isn't that true? If you're honest, you will say that. I've had enough down the years of all the crookedness of which I am capable. Well, it takes some honesty to own up that way. We're always saying that fellow is wrong. Or some people say to me plainly, oh, if my wife would only be transformed, then I wouldn't have any problem, you know. Or if my husband were not an alcoholic or one of those addicts. Well, you know, we wouldn't have all the trouble making it. We always like to put the blame on somebody else. But you know, folks, from the time that the Lord Jesus Christ touched me, it has been seeking those who are in real need. One such fellow was a university student, of course, but he was a communist activist. He said, there's no God, but I withstood him. I said, if you mean business, God will speak to you. Well, he took up the challenge. And you know, folks, I couldn't help but weep for that fellow. He had corrupted his life and corrupted so many others, wasted his time as a gambler, and just run through many of those sins of which anyone would be really ashamed. But he said to God, if you're there, speak to me, I said, I guess. Because he heard the voice of Jesus saying, you are crucifying me. He heard this voice. He described it like this. It seemed like a voice that spoke from a deep well, and I could hear it clearly. You are crucifying me. That settled it. And that young fellow turned to Christ. He became a new person. His life became a blessing. And how many people his life touched, because he became a teacher subsequently. And of course, he was the only son of his parents. And oh, the joy of those parents. I knew those parents. I got to know them later. But let me tell you, my dear friends, our homes have become rather dysfunctional. That's an understatement. My dad used to say, your family is not a hotel that you just walk in at dinnertime and grab your bite and walk out again. You know, the family, how neglected is the family today? Now, I can really believe that some children who are given a lot of toys around this time of the year have already got tired of their toys in a matter of a few days. And they say, I want dad. A lady said to me, my child is growing up. And she says, where is dad? Why is he missing some nights? Well, when somebody saw the man with another woman and told this lady about it, her heart was broken. Well, there are so many people today with broken hearts and broken lives. And what is worse, they think nothing of wrecking the lives of children. They think nothing of it. Self-gratification is sin. Of course, if I just let go and say, hey, I'm going to do my thing. Well, the animal in you comes out. And I do not know to what depths you're likely to go. But you're going to hurt a lot of people in the bargain, in the process. Oh, my dear people, what a lot of people I see who are carrying a wounded spirit. Ah, their potential is being snuffed out. Because when you're free inside, when you can look anybody in the face, when you're right with God and fear is banished, what happens? You begin to become a blessing to those around you. Listen, don't you imagine that meeting the Lord Jesus Christ is going to turn you into an old, boring person? Not at all. During my life, as I met person after person, seen miracle after miracle in the lives of people, practical issues were dealt with. And lives turned around, families that were broken, brought back together. Now, who can do it? Can I do it? No, not at all. It's the good Lord Jesus who says, come unto me. All you that are laboring, come unto me. I will give you rest. And that's true. I want you to meet the Savior today and receive his forgiveness. This program is brought to you by the Layman's Evangelical Fellowship International, an interdenominational missionary and prayer group working for revival around the globe. We invite every lay person to become God's ally in changing his or her corner of the world. Please write, and if you have a problem or concern you would like to share, please do let us know. You can email us at post at lefi.org or visit our website at www.lefi.org. Our mailing address is LEFI P.O. Box 14, South Lyon, Michigan, 48178. You can also call us at 248-486-6326. Until we meet again next week, may God bless you.