A Perfect Work | Ep. 171

This profound exploration of adversity's revealing power cuts straight to the heart of spiritual maturity.

Most of us have heard the saying that adversity builds character, but that's not entirely accurate. Adversity reveals character—exposing what's already within us when pressure is applied. Like sweat that exudes from our pores during intense exercise, our true nature emerges during difficult times. And this revelation isn't for God's benefit (He already knows what's in our hearts), but for our own understanding of who we truly are.

Through powerful biblical examples—from the wilderness-wandering Israelites who revealed their unbelief when tested, to Job who blessed God even after losing everything, to Hannah who turned to prayer rather than bitterness when persecuted—we see how responses to adversity determine spiritual outcomes. Most powerfully, we see Jesus himself, who "learned obedience through what he suffered" and became the prototype for all believers.

The message becomes crystal clear: God's testing process isn't punishment but revelation. When He tries the reins and hearts of His people, He's allowing them to see what they're made of—and to grow through that knowledge. The trials we face today are preparing us for glory, for the day when Christ will be "glorified in His saints." As one character wisely observed in a movie, "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."

Are you being squeezed by adverse circumstances right now? Don't waste your adversity. Understand that your response reveals your spiritual condition more honestly than any words spoken in times of ease. And take courage—Christ has overcome the world, and through Him, so can you.

Chapters

• 0:00 Blood Cells Vision and Open Hearts
• 1:37 Adversity Reveals Character
• 6:21 Biblical Examples of Testing
• 16:42 Hannah's Faith Through Persecution
• 40:55 Jesus as the Prototype
• 48:51 The Perfect Work Through Tribulation
• 1:02:23 Closing Thoughts and Call to Action

Transcript

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:04

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much-needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose. I don't know about you, but I feel like heaven was not brass during praise and worship. You know what I mean by brass. Brass is just this hard ceiling and you can't get past it. But it wasn't that way today and I think that happens when you just open up your heart. This really has to do with you, because God is waiting. He's waiting to receive of the glory and the praise that is due him and if you have a broken and contrite heart, he is ever ready to listen and he is ever patient and waiting for us, because he's always waiting for us and we have very little time to to wait for him and that's really our fault. But today I want to talk about a perfect work, and there's some someone said and I think if you've been any type of sports competition, you've probably heard this, but if you haven't been in it, you may never have heard this but it is said that adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it, and that's a very true statement, as I well. I was actually reading into the scriptures and then I remembered that statement that I had seen somewhere else. And I remember that statement that I had seen somewhere else. Let me repeat it again Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it. And I've seen that very, very clearly with my children as they meet situations that are adverse to them.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 2:03

I think I had a teaching recently. I had an acronym, something about adverse Stand. That's it stand. Oh geez, now I forgot the acronym. Something through adversity, not desire. Stable through adversity, not desire. That was right. Okay, so adversity. I guess the Lord wants to continue this theme.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 2:23

But adversity brings about and a lot of people think no, it actually builds and forms your character. And it actually doesn't. Cause when the heat is on, when the pressure cooker is intense, you begin to exude that which is within you. And so when that quote says it simply reveals your character, that's true, it's like character is like sweat. When you are exercising and you just start working up a sweat, well, you can't help but sweat come out. And you can't help but taste that. It's salt, it's salty. You can't help, that it just exudes from you. There's nothing you can do to control it. Well, adversity in our life circumstances does the same thing. It simply reveals what is already there. So it's like the sweat that pours out of our pores when we're in the hot sun or when we're exercising or when we're in a sauna.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 3:17

Adversity, when we experience it in life, it just comes out of us who we really are, what we are truly made of. And for some people, when adversity comes, we find the most bitter, the most angry, the most spoiled, cantankerous person we would ever want to meet. And sometimes we meet in others, these laid back, docile, passive people that the world can be crumbling all around them and they're just sitting back and like not a care in the world. And so that's a different type of person that we see when we see the adversity.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 3:59

Our responses to adversity reveal to us. Let me say that again our responses to adversity reveal to us what state of man we're in. It's not for the Lord. The Lord already knows who we are, what we're made of. When adversity comes and we just begin to sweat and exude something from ourselves. It's not for the Lord, it's for us to see what's still inside of us, what still remains. It's like when you're purifying gold and just the impurities start coming out. The master goldsmith knows that there's impurities. It's not for him, it's for the gold to become more pure and letting go some of that impurity that it has contained within itself.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 5:04

And David, I think, understood that. In Psalm 26.2, david says Examine me, o Lord, prove me, try my reins and my heart. Somehow David understood, not having the Old Testament and the New Testament Maybe we have a few books of what transpired in the past because he came after Moses. He probably had the what is it called? The Torah? He probably had that. But in that he realized that God is doing something with mankind. He understood that God was dealing with David. And what was in David? Why did he go through all of these trials and circumstances?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 5:54

And you know his story. I don't want to delve too deeply into it, but you know that he came up as a little shepherd boy. You know that he fought Goliath. You know that. You know they said something about David, his ten thousands, but Saul, his thousands, and he just began to create great fame and he grew in wisdom and he grew in understanding. Yet he never touched Saul, he never touched the anointed, and that was his response.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 6:22

Yet we know, David fell many a time, even though he's raised up as a humble person. But he seemed to understand that God was always testing and proving mankind. And in knowing that he accepted the challenge, David understood. Yes, examine me, yes, prove me, prove me, but not for God's sake, it was for David's sake. David wanted to know who he really was.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 6:56

When everything came down to it, when we say the rubber meets the road, who are you really? There's another prophet of the most high. David was a prophet of the most high. But there was another prophet of the most high, Jeremiah. And he recognized also that the Lord tries the reins and the heart, but specifically He tries the righteous. He specifically mentioned you try the righteous. So if you will turn to Jeremiah 11, 20. Jeremiah says but, o Lord of hosts that judges righteously, that tries the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them, for unto thee have I revealed my cause. If you know anything about Jeremiah's story, he kept standing up for the Lord and everybody kept beating him down, either verbally or physically, I mean. They literally had their way with him and if he ever spoke up and said something of the Lord, they would immediately smack him and punch him and throw him in jail. He had a hard life being a prophet of the most high, but it was the way that he responded to it.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 8:13

That is our focus today. He says in Jeremiah 20, verse 11,. He says the Lord is with me as a mighty, terrible one. Therefore, my persecutors shall stumble and they shall not prevail. They shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper. Their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. But, o Lord of hosts, that triest the righteous and seest the reins of the heart.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 8:58

And when I read that, for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of the evildoer, and when I read that, I see Jeremiah squeezed like an orange and the juices just come out. But look at what those juices are. There is faith in God. There is a knowing that God is for him and not against him. There isn't any blame that, oh God, why'd you do this to me? I'm here speaking your word. There's nothing like that. There is a steadfast faith that comes out of him, that is proclaiming what God is going to do, knowing that the Lord is going to deal with those that are persecuting him and singing unto the Lord. It reminds me of Paul and Silas in the jail. What, when they were pressed, came out of them? Worshiping the Lord in the middle of the night. That's why David wanted to be proved. What is going to come out of me? What am I going to exude? What am I going to sweat? Is it going to be a fragrant aroma in the presence of my king and my God?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 10:19

David said in Psalm 7, verse 9, oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just For the righteous. God trieth the hearts and the reins. Now, what we see in these last two verses is that you see that in the process of God trying the reins and the heart, he is establishing justice for the righteous. He is establishing deliverance of the just and judgment upon the wicked. But all of that is dependent on how did you respond to the adversity. Did you respond in faith or did you respond like a spoiled brat wanting to know why this and that is happening to me? It's all about your response to adversity. Now there are a few examples that I want to highlight in the scriptures of how the Lord tries the hearts and the reins and let's see the outcome. The outcome is always dependent on the response we have.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 11:39

The Israelites in the wilderness. If you'll turn to Hebrews 3.6, we're just going to summarize it because I'm not going to read all of the old stories, but Hebrews summarizes it. Hebrews 3, verse 6, it's speaking of Christ, but Christ as a son over his own house. Whose house are we? If we hold fast, I say it again, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end, there's a condition if we hold fast, wherefore the Holy Ghost sayeth today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me. God says your fathers tempted me, they tried to prove me and they saw my works for 40 years.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 12:43

Now, what did the Israelites in the wilderness see of God in those 40 years? Faithfulness, yeah, they were corrected. Yeah, they were chastised. But if you look at the whole picture, for 40 years, when they tested and when they proved God, god showed himself faithful in every way Food, water, clothing, safety, protection. The only time they didn't have it is when they rebelled against them and he withdrew from them and the enemy came in. But other than that, he was faithful, he remained true to his word and he said I was grieved in verse 10 with that generation and said they do always err in their heart. They have not known my ways. So I swear in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest. The Israelites did not enter into a greater rest and a promise that God had for them because of their rebellion, because of the way that they responded To the wilderness experience.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 13:50

The wilderness experience was the adversity that God had for them. He purposely put them in the wilderness to prove them, to see what was in their heart. But does God need to see what was in their heart? Who needed to see what was in their heart? They did.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 14:08

They needed to know why they were going to be condemned, and so there's a warning in Hebrews that says take heed, Listen to the stories of old brethren, lest there be any of you or in any of you. Oh, what? An evil heart of unbelief. That's what exuded, that's what came out of the pores of the Israelites when adversity came and trials and tribulation came. They exuded an evilness of unbelief in the God that delivered them out of Egypt, in the God that protected them from the angel of death, in the God that saved them from Pharaoh's army. And they saw them washed in the sea. And then they began to have golden calves and they began to rebel and to murmur and to complain. While it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 15:17

And here's another condition we are made partakers of Christ, blanket statement if we hold to the beginning of our confidence. Steadfast them to the end. Our destiny in him is conditional. We can start off on the right track. We can start off by coming in through the gate, but somehow we can get off that narrow road and find ourself in great demise and destruction. It's all dependent upon your response. It says Today, if you will hear his voice. Here's the warning. Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation For some, when they had heard, they had heard the Lord, they provoked the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 16:07

How be it not all that came out of Egypt by Moses, but with whom he was grieved for 40 years. Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? So we see I'm gonna skip to verse 19, that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Prove me, lord, because I want to know do I really have a heart of belief and faith in you, or is it really an evil, unbelieving heart? He's proving you to show you what you really are. To show you what you really are, we can read of 1 Corinthians, we can go through 1 through 13, but I'm just gonna highlight some of these points. Because he talks about that they were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and how. That's a type of us in the new covenant who are baptized in Jesus, in water and in Spirit. It talked about how the rock was Christ that gave them water in the days of old.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 17:13

It says in verse six these things, these stories, were en samples for us, to the intent to warn us that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. So what exuded out of the Israelites was unbelief. What exuded out of them was lust for the things of the old world. It just came out of them. They squeezed and that's what came out? They lusted after evil things. And what else? It says neither be ye idolaters. What was really in their heart was not faith in God, it was idolatry. They worshiped every other God. I've said this before. They got out of Egypt, but Egypt never seemed to get out of them.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 18:08

It says also neither let us commit fornication. What was it that they did when they were squeezed? They started to commit fornication. What was it when they were squeezed? It says neither let us tempt Christ. Then they began to tempt Christ. Notice, it didn't say God, it said tempt Christ, because Christ was the God of the Old Testament. What else did they do? Neither murmur ye. When they were squeezed, they complained, they murmured. We see that all the time today, even in ourselves. Now, all of these things happened unto them.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 18:48

For ensamples, verse 11, and they are written for our admonition. Take heed. Take heed of these stories lest you fall in the same manner. God is faithful. It says in verse 13,. God is faithful. It was tested, he was proved and He showed Himself faithful all those 40 years. And when he brings trial and tribulation in your life, He will make a way of escape that you can bear it.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 19:33

But your response is the key. I see my children's attitude. What is your attitude when you look in the mirror, when you step back and you stop listening to this person on the left and this person on the right? What is it that God is telling you about you that you need to deal with? No-transcript, because if we admit that, then we are going to be destroyed just like they were. Why should God treat us any different? Who respond with an unbelieving heart, who tempt him, who murmur and complain to the left, to the right, who commit fornication, who are really idolaters and just lusting after the things of the world? Why should he treat us any different? Another example King Saul.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 20:47

King Saul was of the least of the tribes of Israel. He was the least of the family in the tribes of Israel. Yet God selected him. Yet we know his story, the power that was given to him, the fame. He responded and his heart was corrupt. It was found to be corrupt because of the way that he responded. He was jealous of David. When he beat Goliath, he wasn't happy. Finally, someone stood up to take on this. Goliath defeated them and all of the armies of Israel, wiped them out. But he's not happy about that because he's worried about what. I killed a thousand and David kills 10,000. And there was jealousy in his heart and you know what he did with David. He kept trying to kill him, flinging javelins at him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 21:49

There's Judas. Judas walked with the disciples for three and a half years. He was selected and God knew what was already in his heart because he said, one of you is a devil. And none of them knew who it was, not even Judas. Judas did not know what was in his heart until he betrayed him and when he saw what was in his heart, he killed himself. When he saw what was in his heart, he killed himself. And that's what exuded out of Judas.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 22:29

And there is a scripture, because we've been talking about the last days so much what comes out of the wicked in the last days when the wrath of God comes upon the earth? It says in Revelation 6, 15,. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every fiend man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. That is what is going to exude out of the wicked and that is why their demise will be just and why it will be swift, because when the tribulation came they still did not repent, they still did not come to the Lord in humility. But there are some very good examples for us to follow. There is Job.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 23:39

In Job 1, we see Satan frolicking around to and fro throughout the earth, walking up and down on it, and he goes before the Lord. And I find this interesting. But it has to do with what David asked for. It has to do with what Jeremiah understood. It says and the Lord said unto Satan hast thou considered my servant Job? Because he is the one that tries the reins and the hearts.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 24:12

Does God need to know what's in Job? God said of Job there's none like him on the earth. He's perfect and an upright man. He fears me, he eschews evil. God already knew him and he declared who he was. But he needed to show Job who he was. He needed to reveal to Job this is the man you really are. And Satan said what. God knows how to push his buttons to get Satan to do what he wants. And as soon as Satan heard that, he said what Doesn't Job fear God for nothing. You made a hedge about him, about his house, about all his side. You bless all the work of his hands and his substance and his increase. Of course he's perfect. You bless him in everything he does. But take your hand away from him. He'll curse you to your face.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 25:13

Satan thought he knew Job, but God is the one that knows who you are and he let Satan do what he will to us to try us. He gave Job a way of escape. He didn't violate his word. His way of escape was to not curse God. He didn't do that. Yeah, he went through trouble. Yeah, he was squeezed.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 25:39

And what came out of him when he was squeezed? Faith. He did not turn his back on God. Matter of fact, let me show you the proof. Because when it happened, when his children were killed and all of everything else was wiped out, it says Job said naked, I came out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord take it away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. When he was squeezed, blessed be the name of the Lord. That's what came out of him no murmuring, no complaining, no tempting of God, no idolatry, no fornication. He stayed faithful, he stayed steadfast. And finally and this was Satan's defeat for me he tried to get into his wife and his wife said you still retain your integrity, curse God and die. That was Satan's words. And what did he say when he was squeezed? Thou speakest as one of a foolish woman. What? Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 26:58

When he was squeezed, he was steadfast. He didn't rebuke God, he didn't correct God. Sure, he wanted to know why. Sure, he wanted to understand. And he wanted to sit down and talk with God. God, what happened? I know you're faithful, but what happened? And that was all he did. But he never turned his back on God. He wanted to sit down with God, he wanted to get before God's face and have a discussion. Lord, what's going on? And that's all right. But he never turned his back on God, never lost his faith. And then he was put in check anyway. Were you here when I created this, that and the other? Did you tell me how high to make it, how small to make, you can tell me nothing. And he got in check. He got a little bit more pure, purified, and then he was doubly blessed.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 27:52

Afterward we have Abraham. You know Abraham's whole story. You know the things that he was went through. You know the things that were commanded of him and how he had to sacrifice family, the land that he knew, his friends. He had to go away. He had to sacrifice his only son and when he did, the angel said don't lay your hand upon that child, for now I know that thou fearest God. The angel said that Now I know that thou fearest God. Was that really for God? God already knew what he was going to do. Who was that really for Abraham? Abraham, had that really for Abraham? Abraham had to know for himself that if I was brought between a rock and a hard place, I would still obey the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 28:52

Look at what God said of Abraham, four chapters before. He says in Genesis 18, 19,. For I know him. This is four chapters before. He says in Genesis 18, 19, for I know him. This is four chapters before Abraham was about to come down with the night, God said I know him. He will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord. To do justice and judgment. That the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he'd spoken of him. The Lord already knew him before the foundation of the world. He knew what Abraham was going to decide, how he was going to respond, how he was going to choose. It wasn't for God, it's never for God, it's for you. The adversity and the squeezing and the tribulation and the persecution is for you. It is a purifying process, it is a knowing of who you really are. If you turn to 1 Samuel, chapter 1, it's interesting because I had given a teaching to my children about this and I thought it was going to be on this, but it wasn't. But there was something that was highlighted that sort of veered me off in this direction of adversity. I'm not going to read the whole chapter, I'm going to highlight some verses, but it's all in 1 Samuel 1 and chapter 2.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 30:16

A woman named Hannah. She was the wife of Elkanah. But Elkanah had two wives, hannah and Peninnah. Now, already, that's already a bad deal. I'm not the only wife of the husband. I got to share what Already, already. But we see that Elkanah loved Hannah. It says Elkanah loved Hannah because the Lord had shut up her womb.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 30:53

You see, in that day and age, one of the blessings, one of the things that brought favor to you and to your household, was for you to have children, and lots of them. And if you didn't have children you were the scum of the earth. Everybody looked down on you, you looked down on yourself. I mean, we're talking about the early days, we're talking about a little bit after A Adam. I mean that's what they did. They didn't create a new invention. Mean that's what they did. They didn't. They didn't create a new invention. And that's how they create, got fame. No, it was about having children, and the more they had, the more blessed they were. But the lord shut up her womb. So there's lord squeezing her. What are you gonna do, man, when I don't allow you to have children? But I know that's what you want, but what are you going to do if I don't give them to you?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 31:47

Elkanah loved her, but Peninnah provoked her verbally, abused her I don't even know if she laid hands on her, but Peninnah did not make life easy for Hannah. Hannah was constantly abused and persecuted and Elkanah the husband, probably saw that and treated her with more favor. Talking about Hannah treated her with more favor, which then caused Peninnah to be more jealous and start abusing her even more. So there's this vicious cycle of Peninnah feeling down on herself because she can't have children, elkanah granting her more favor, peninnah getting jealous and then Peninnah getting down more on Hannah, and it just happened year after year and every year they would go up to celebrate the feast.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 32:39

But for Hannah you got to understand the feast was a time of celebration. It wasn't a time of of. You know, give me sackcloth and ashes and let's just repent and let's everybody get on her knees and wail. No, this was a celebration. You had a feast. You were eating for days on end, thanksgiving seven times, because sometimes you were feasting day after day after day for at least seven days, sometimes three days, depending on what the feast was. But they went up yearly for the feast and it wasn't an enjoyable time for him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 33:13

It says hannah was grievous because panina provoked and vexed her sorely during that time, especially during the feast, because the feast was a time of happiness and joy. But Peninnah was not going to allow Hannah to have any of that. She made sure that Hannah was going to be out of the feast and the celebrations and Elkanah tried to be more of a blessing with her than with any of the others, but that did not fill Hannah's void. Our mate, husband or wife is not going to be able to fill you in that area that you lack the way that God can. Elkanah couldn't do it.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 34:04

And so what did Hannah do after the celebration? She then, while they were full of eating and drinking, she left the feast and she grieved and was in bitterness of her soul and she prayed In tears and she vowed to the Lord to dedicate to the Lord her man child All the days of his life. She did not turn from him. She actually went to him, to the only one that could solve her situation. She could have got angry, she could have got rebellious, she could have left the house, she could have caused more trouble for Elkanah, she could have started fighting with Peninnah and there could be chaos in the house. But she went to the Lord In that deep grief, she vowed and she was sorrowful and you know the story how the high priest Eli saw her thought she was drunk and I find this so you've got to understand that sometimes, in you seeking the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 35:26

The Lord answers you through a human. Here she is crying in the bitterness of her tears, just devoid of any sanity, and she's just crying and bitterly crying, and she's crying out to the Lord and vowing to the Lord, give me a child, I'll give him to you. And all of a sudden this man thinks she's drunk, says what are you doing here? And she says no, I'm not drunk, I'm actually praying to the Lord. And then he says Eli answers her prayer. Eli answers her prayer and Eli says go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou has asked of him. And that happens all the time. God is speaking to us and we don't listen because it came from a human. And the human doesn't even know that he's giving the word of the Lord to you, because Eli didn't know. She thought she was drunk. All right, go in peace, may the Lord grant you his petition. It's not like he heard the Lord Go and tell her I'm going to give her her prayer. He just whoa sorry, I thought you were drunk. Go in peace, let the Lord grant you his petition. And that happens all the time. And we don't recognize that. We don't recognize how God just favors us in the most inopportune situations, when we're not expecting him to answer in such a way.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 36:55

And the next time that Elkanah and Hannah get together she conceives. Reminds me of when I got married Ten months later we had a baby. I mean, it was just like that and you do the timing man. That was right when we were married. Okay, so the Lord remembered. It says the Lord remembered her.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 37:22

And when Elkanah and Hannah got together, boom, she conceived. She got a son named Samuel. And you would think that after she vowed that she would give up the baby immediately, she didn't. And that doesn't mean that she was being disobedient. She just kept the baby long enough to give him the milk, to have him grow up to a certain age, so that then he can give into the house of the Lord. And so I wanna read verse chapter two, because after she was squeezed, she began to exude all of these things faith, not rebellion, not fornication, not, you know, turning away from the Lord. But she exuded faith. She got, excuse me, her prayer answered. And then, when she had the baby and gave up the baby, it wasn't like she was sad, it wasn't like she was disappointed and down After she gave up Samuel to the house of the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 38:23

It says Hannah prayed and my heart rejoiced in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over my enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee. Neither is there any rock like our God. Talk, no more so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken and they that stumbled and girded which this is all coming out of Hannah's mouth as she's praying and they that were full have hired of themselves for bread, and they that were hungry ceased, so that the barren.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 39:00

And that's what came out of her. I mean, she's just talking about how the Lord is in this and he's in that, and he's in this and he's in that. And she continued how the Lord is in this and he's in that and he's in this and he's in that. And she continued the Lord killeth and he maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave and he bringeth up. The Lord maketh the poor, he maketh the rich, he bringeth the low and lifteth up and raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them up in princes and to make them inherit the throne going off on the Lord. She is boasting in the Lord, her God. That's what came out of her. He will keep the feet of his saints, she says, and the wicked shall be silent in the darkness. What do you think happened to Peninnah when she had a baby? Elkanah already had all her love. Now she's got all Elkanah's love and a baby. How about that, peninnah? I bet you that shut her mouth, because that's what she's saying. The Lord shut up the mouth of my adversaries. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces out of heaven. Shall he thunder upon them, and the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. He will exalt his own people, she declares. And as we read the other scriptures, they just confirm what she's saying. When adversity caused her to sweat, that's what came out of her. And the last, for me, is a prototype. It is Jesus.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 40:55

In Hebrews 5, verse 7, it says of the man Jesus, who, in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers. Don't get me wrong when I say this, but Jesus was God from the womb to the tomb and all thereafter. But you have to understand that in the days of his flesh he was a man. He didn't have his omnipotence, he didn't have his omniscience, he didn't have every. He was a man Make like his brethren in every respect. This is why he needed to pray, which is why he sweated on the garden of Gethsemane. He was a man and it says that when this man offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying, the man cried in his prayers and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared the reason. The man. Jesus was heard of God because he feared him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 42:17

It says of Jesus that he didn't do anything unless the father said it, or he didn't say anything unless the father said it. He didn't do anything unless the father said it, or he didn't say anything unless the father said it. He didn't do anything unless the father did it. He was completely yielded to the spirit of God without measure within him and as a man he was completely led of the Spirit, doing no wrong, taking no wrong turns, never misspeaking as a man I'm stressing that because I'm gonna get to a point with it Because as a man, him being led by the spirit in every respect God was unable to perform his word. To that man, it says, though he were a son, yet learned he obedience? Why did Jesus get pressed? He was learning obedience by the things which he suffered and being made perfect. He was made perfect. He was made perfect, learning obedience through suffering. He was made perfect and he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 43:36

Why do I say he was a prototype? A prototype is the first of its kind. He was the son of man. He was the son of man. He was the quickening spirit. He was the first of his kind to live as a man in the days of his flesh and be completely submitted to the spirit of God. And if he did it as a man, he's setting the example for you. He suffered temptation in every way. He suffered rejection. He suffered all the things that you think. No, he can't possibly understand that. He lived at least 33 and a half years in the days of his flesh. He suffered what you suffered Hunger and thirst, not having friends or maybe having friends for a while and then having them leave you. He suffered all of that, probably suffered the loss of his earthly dad, because we don't know much about Joseph after about two to three years. He suffered it all and yet he was still able to be led completely by the Spirit of God, and so he sets the example for you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 44:59

Follow in the assembly line. I am the prototype, but I'm here to make children of God. I'm here to have sons of God. He was called of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a king and a priest. What do you think you're called to If he was the trailblazer? He was the forerunner, like John the Baptist was a forerunner to Jesus, Jesus was a forerunner to the sons of God. He set the way for you to follow. You are called a king and a priest in the house of God. You are called unto the order of Melchizedek. He was the first trailblazer, the first to lead the way by example to love the Lord and loving the Lord. Did you ever see Jesus blow God a kiss? Did you ever see him hug the Lord? What I saw Jesus do was keep his commandments, and that's how we love the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 46:30

There is a work of perfection that only comes about through God-ordained tribulation and suffering. The work of God's perfection in you cannot come any other way. There is no easy way. There is no shortcut. It's going to be hard, it's going to be difficult, it's going to be trying and it's supposed to. He tries the reins, he tries the hear t.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 47:06

In Romans 5, paul speaks of this, verse 3, romans 5, verse 3. He says, and not only so we glory in tribulations, knowing that the tribulation worketh patience, patience, experience and experience, hope and hope, and maketh not ashamed. Paul is saying here we learn to wait on God In our tribulation because there's nobody else to turn to to deliver us out of the tribulation that he put forth in our lives. So we learn to wait on him and if it doesn't happen the moment that we think it needs to happen, we have to wait a week, a year, seven years. We learn to wait on God, knowing that God is going to bring about the deliverance.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 48:03

Because when you learn to wait on God, it teaches you that God remains ever faithful. When he finally answers, you realize how faithful God was in the midst of your circumstance, whether it lasted a day, a week or seven years. You see how faithful God was. The Israelites, if they had repented, would have seen how faithful God was those 40 years. And when you learn how faithful God is, it leads you to hope in him more because you saw how incredibly faithful he was to deliver you out of that past situation you found yourself in.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 48:57

Because when you hope in God, you must hope that God will bring you to completion in the day of Christ Jesus. That is what he will do. His word says so. If you endure steadfast to the end, He will be found faithful. And you know what. We will not be ashamed. We will not be ashamed. We will not be let down. We will not be disappointed, for we know in whom we have believed, even when everyone else around us chides us, mocks us, doesn't really follow alongside us, talks behind our back. I'm talking about those who call themselves Christian. Because the world? I don't expect the world to walk with me. I expect those that call themselves Christian to walk with me. But those are the ones we get the most persecution. Those are the ones that hurt the most Our family, our friends supposedly calling themselves Christian. But regardless of that, I know in whom I have believed. My hope is in God, not in the saints, because I can't judge before the time.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 50:14

Peter speaks of tribulation. He says in 1 Peter 4, verse 12, beloved, think it not a strange thing concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as if some strange thing happened to you. In other words, you're supposed to expect it. God is going to try you. When he speaks to you and he tells you what you ought to do, you get baptized, you begin to seek him, you begin to tear, you want to receive of his spirit and he tries you. Are you going to? And when you receive the spirit, he tries you. Are you going to obey me In that area that you don't want to change, that you don't want to touch, that you don't want to give up to me? I'm trying you. Yeah, I'm going to try you in every facet of your life, until it's mine, because I purchased you, I redeemed you, you're mine, all mine. Peter says, but rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy. My question is when is this glory going to be revealed? How is it going to be revealed? Where is it going to be revealed, this glory that's supposed to be revealed? Paul takes over this kind of thought in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse 3. Same type of spirit Peter was speaking in about beloved rejoice in the fiery trials. Paul says we are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is me, because your faith groweth exceedingly, you, the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all persecutions and tribulations that you endure.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 52:52

It's like a muscle If you don't work the muscle, it doesn't get strong. If it doesn't find any resistance, it doesn't get big, it doesn't get. So you can start carrying 50 pounds. If you can't carry 10, how are you going to carry 50? You have to start with 15. And then you have to start with 20 and keep moving up and it keeps getting harder and it keeps getting more trying. But it strengthens you all the while. When I used to lift weights, I know some of you that lift weights. You know exactly what I'm talking about and I'm telling you that when God deals with you, that's exactly how you should take it. He's trying me, he's strengthening me, he's making me firm, he's making me steadfast. That's what he's doing Now. That depends on your response. You don't work with him, you're going to injure yourself. You don't work with that dumbbell, you start doing something crazy. I broke my arm. That's what he's going to do to you. He'll break you. That's not his choice. But if that's what's necessary to do a perfect work in you, that's exactly what choice. But if that's what's necessary to do a perfect work in you, that's exactly what he'll do.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 54:11

When faith is perfected, it leads to your charity. When it says, your faith groweth exceedingly, notice what came right after and the charity of every one of you. It's called the perfect bond, the bond of perfectness, and that's charity. That's love, perfected, matured, brought to its culmination, its completeness. Notice what it says. All of these patience and faith, and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, so that you may be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you suffer.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 55:03

You see, you need to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you suffer. You see, you need to be counted worthy. You're not like some superstar quarterback that just comes in out of nowhere and he gets to start on the team and you get to just break records. It doesn't happen that way. That's a figment of your imagination. If you want to start on the team, if you want to perform well on the team, you need to go through trial, you need to go through practice. It's not going to happen any other way. Were you born a great tennis player? Were you born a great wrestler? Were you born a great pianist? None of that came by. I just started playing and it just happened.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 55:43

No, sorry, you need to work at it. Your education you need to work at it. Your humility you need to work at it. Your teachableness you need to work at it. You need to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 56:12

It is a righteous thing, with God, to recompense tribulation to them that troubles you. In other words, it's a good thing for God to bring vengeance upon those that are tribulating and persecuting you. He's ready and willing to do that, but you need to be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God for him to do that. And to you who are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord, here it is again, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. So there was a question when is his glory going to be revealed? Jesus will be revealed in heaven with mighty angels. I need to keep reading In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord, jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 57:03

Here it is, here's the kicker verse 10. When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, the perfect work in you is Christ in you. Then we say the hope of glory, because Christ is perfectly formed in us. The glory of God is now revealed in me, his saint, in you, his saint. That's what it's all about. There is no other higher calling than to you be conformed into the very image of his son.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 57:40

Don't talk to me about being a king. Don't talk to me about being a priest. Don't talk to me about being a priest, an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist. Those are all lower grades. The standard and the target is that Jesus Christ be formed in me. That's it. That's the culmination. There is no higher glory. You can't talk to me about anything else.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 58:00

That's what the man child is the perfected, fully mature son of God, and that's going to happen on earth. There is a manifestation of God that's going to happen in the earth through his sons, for he will be revealed in his saints. It's not just well, I'm going to wait for him to be in his saints, it's not just well, I'm going to wait for him to, you know, be in the clouds. He's going to be revealed in his saints and if you don't get that, you're not going to allow God to work in you now, because you think it's not for now, it's going to be for later. So I guess God is using me to help us shift our paradigm and we're not waiting for the Lord of glory to come in the clouds in heaven.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 58:53

The glory is to be revealed in his saints, to be admired in all them that believe. So I say again in verse 11, I pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of his calling Worthy Peter. I come back to Peter, because he also speaks of this again in 1 Peter. I'll go to verse 5. He speaks of those who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In other words, the salvation that we're all waiting for is going to be revealed in the last days, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now, for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that's, your tribulations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth though be tried with fire, might be found unto the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. The appearing of Jesus Christ is Jesus glorified in his saints, and in verse 9 it says receiving the end of your faith. What is the end of your faith? It is the complete salvation of your soul. It is God fully perfected in you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:00:49

Here's a man named Charles Swindle. He had another quote, one that I remembered and I said that fits with this. He said the longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts, is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. He said I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it, and so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes. How do you respond to the tribulation that God puts on you? How do you respond when he squeezes you?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:02:10

It says in Zechariah 13, and I will bring a third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and I will try them as gold is tried. And they shall call on my name and I will hear them. I will say it is my people and they shall say the Lord is my God. Isn't that what Timothy said? My Lord and my God? Isn't that what Timothy said, my Lord and my God? There was a movie called the League of their Own. I watched it recently, at the end with my daughter. She didn't catch this so maybe I'll highlight this for her.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:02:59

This woman was leaving the baseball team. Her husband had finally come back from the army. He was serving in the war. He lived great and she didn't really want to play baseball. She just wanted to be with her husband and family. So, anyways, he came back and she was leaving the team.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:03:11

They were about to go to the Women's World Series and the coach comes to her and starts talking about how could you quit, how could you give up on this? He said baseball is what gets inside you, it's what lights you up. You can't deny that. And she said it just got too hard. And he said it's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everybody would do it. The hard is what makes it great.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:03:51

Can you imagine all of the trials and the tribulations that you will go through? And then, when you make it to the end, it's going to be why it's so sweet what God has just done. If God didn't take you through anything dangerous. What's an action movie without danger? What's a drama without drama? Boring? Why am I going to watch this movie and spend my life? No, you watch it because it grips you, the trial and the struggle and the venture and the action that they go through, so that at the end it makes it all the more sweet.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:04:34

And what God is doing through you is how you need to look at this. It doesn't feel great at the time, but you have to see beyond the present circumstances. You have to see into the realm of glory and say how sweet it is when God is done with me. I will not quit, I will not relent, I will not give up. I will see this truth to the end, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:05:09

He had a vision of the glory to come. It's not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, because the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. The creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. The creature, all of creation, is going to share in the liberty that the sons of God will bring and that they will also experience. We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. That is the end of the salvation of your souls, because the glorified body is the righteousness of Christ that will clothe you. This is the end of our faith. This is the salvation of our souls, and it doesn't come easy. It doesn't come without pain. It doesn't come without getting wounded in battle. It doesn't come without a struggle or an obstacle or any type of temptation. It doesn't come without a fight, and that fight is the good fight of faith.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:06:39

Jesus said these things have I spoken unto you that ye might have peace In the world? Ye have tribulation, but be of good cheer. What did he say? I have overcome the world, and if I have overcome the world, so can you Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world, and so can you. Amen. If you were blessed and appreciate listening to this podcast and you would like to support us in our efforts, consider lifting us up in prayer first. Then remember these four social media buzzwords share, like, subscribe or follow. Share this podcast link with someone else by text, email or word of mouth in the hopes that they might be uplifted, as you were Like, by leaving a positive rating or review with whomever you listen to our podcast. With Subscribe to support the show monetarily with the link in our podcast description. Follow us on all our social media platforms. May God bless you and make you prosperous in Him, as you listen and obey His voice.