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A Word for Today

April 29, 2020

Be not discouraged, God Still Cares about you!

At first this is not going to sound very encouraging, but please read on. I know this past several months has been a difficult time for everyone, and I am not really surprised to say, especially many in the body of Christ. I also have been having a most difficult time.
I have not contacted the virus, but I am amazed what has happened to me in the last several weeks regarding my health. Just when I am in the process of launching my YouTube Channel I was having difficulty breathing and my respiratory physician diagnosed me with COPD, Emphysema and, when he ran a routine blood test stated I have Valley Fever. Say what I said. I was losing some weight but then the weight loss did not stop but I continued to drop and I was losing almost a pound per week. My energy went south and, as I have a wife that has some dementia, I have to do all of the laundry, cooking a dish washing. Try doing that when you think you have the flu and you can barely get out of bed.

Now.. I thought this was going to be a word of encouragement you say. Let me tell you how the Lord has intervened in my situation during this time. If you’re really a Christian the first thing you do or should do is go to prayer and seek the Lord. That’s what I did, It
is always interesting and really amazing when one humbles themselves before the Lord what begins to happen.

1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

First of all, self-introspection begins right! I began to look at my relationship with the Lord and began to seek Him as to what was going on in my life. That is a real eye opener I want to tell you. At first not so much was happening. I was sick and tired and praying and seeking God and really, nothing much was changing. You know I am firm believer that the Lord is always listening to our prayers.

1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

However, when we are caught up in a very intense personal situation and nothing appears to be happening we begin to think God doesn’t hear us. However, I have discovered these are times that try our faith. That is really, just how much faith do I really have. It’s easy to believe the bible and say, Yes and Amen, when we hear a good sermon in church, but what happens when the rug gets jerked out from under us and we feel like we’re falling into the abyss? Are we still going to trust the Lord and know He is working on a solution for us. Especially when day after day goes by and, instead of getting relief things get worse and we think some strange thing has happened to us and our life is over.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as

though some strange thing happened unto you.

You know the verse of scripture that really gets to me is in the book of James.

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; :3  Knowing
this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4  But let patience have her perfect
work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. :5  If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him. 6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a
wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7  For let not that man think that he
shall receive any thing of the Lord.:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Count it all Joy, REALLY, YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! Now I could preach on that scripture for a long time, but suffice it to say, I looked up the word “Patience” in the Greek and it means to be persistent and constant, a cheerful expectancy. There’s a lot I could say but I’ve already preached a sermon so I want to conclude with these thoughts. I discovered that it is really IMPOSSIBLE to rejoice when you are in a really really hard place, especially for an extended period of time, unless you understand what these few verses mean. Notice it says a “Cheerful Expectancy”? What I have discovered is every problem comes with a promise. Did not the Lord say,

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

First of all that word in the Greek “Temptation of Tempted” also means discipline” and the word “Escape” means “To Exit or go out”.
Therefore, if you combine James and 1Corinthians, what I have discovered is that every trial becomes and opportunity to excel in the Lord if we keep the faith. So I can rejoice in the God’s truth that He is going to, not only provide a way of escape but, if I am persistent and remain in faith and trust Him he will, not only deliver me, but I will see a wonderful revelation of His faithfullness to me. Thus, my faith will grow exponentially.

Let me tell you what has happened.

1. We are on very limited income and just prior to the virus hitting, my good
Christian neighbors brought not one, but 2 boxes of food that filled my panty and
house.

2. As I was too ill to clean the house and take care of my wife, even do the dishes, I
was praying for some help and low and behold, I was put in touch with an agency
that could not only do those things but assist my wife in taking care of her daily
needs, with very little cost to me.

3. Additionally, a door opened up for someone to do our laundry.

4. And, though I am still not out of the woods, so to speak, I have renewed
confidence that He is more than able to meet all my needs and I continually
thank Him and praise Him for His faithfulness to us.

Hopefully, this has been an encouragement to you and I trust you will continue to thank the Lord for His blessings and faithfulness toward you and know that He has not forgotten you and Is continually with you and you will see the glory of the lord if you persist.

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A Word for Today

2017

“God is not trying to change you, He’s trying to replace what’s missing!”

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

What this means to me is, that God wants to introduce you to the “New You”. We have been so busy trying to live “Good Lives” and to “Please God” by cleaning up the “Old Man”, i.e. “keep the Law”, which leads to “Condemnation and Failure” that we have forgotten the primary directive which is our relationship with Him. There is a whole sermon on this that I am going to be “Streaming” in the near future.

“We don’t have a sin problem, we have a sin habit!”

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Please note in the above scripture that, via our relationship with Him that we are “FREE” from sin and that sin “NO MORE HAS DOMINION” or “Control” over you. WOW! Ask the Holy Spirit what this really means. But the real issue here is “How do we move from a “Bad Habit” to being free? *I will soon be covering these issues in sermons on the internet.

(The above one liner “Clips” were taken from sermons by Graham Cook) I thought they were very enlightening so I am passing them on. I added the scriptures.