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DoveMinistries -> How to Stay Steady and Strong in Unstable Times (6/28/2009 8:31:51 PM)
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Posted for all who are in Christ Jesus
This passage is a call to trust God as the "PRIORITY IN LIFE" and this is the answer to the human tendency to worry. We find it easier to feel secure with things that we can control and when something is beyond our control, we worry. But, when we have found the greater security in God, we can trust Him for our needs. We are so unsettled in this country and don’t know when the next shoe is going to drop? What news will we hear next that will shake us to the core of our beings? Because it seems like every time, every day you are hearing that “it hasn't been this low in the last sixty years”, or on the other side “it hasn't been this high” and it's always the wrong thing. In sixty years or fifty years or forty years. And so these are difficult times and if we're not careful we get stuck in the mire of fear, and we focus on all the things that are going wrong in this country instead of the things that are going right.
When President Obama was sworn in he chose to use Abraham Lincoln's Bible, and I'm told that in that Bible if you turn to Psalm 34:4 there is a smudge because Abraham Lincoln put his thumb on this verse so many times that it left a spot. And the verse simply says, "I sought the Lord and He heard me and He delivered me from all my fears." And that's a verse for us. The title of today’s message is how to be steady and strong in unstable times, I want to first read a passage from Proverbs 3:1-12 because this is just good stuff for a new year right from the word of God. Listen to verse one," My son do not forget My law, but keep My commands in your heart for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your pathways straight." One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean on Him, Not on your own understanding, not on your own wisdom, but on His wisdom. And in all your ways, trust and acknowledge Him. Do not be wise in your own eye.
When any man who says he understands what's going on in our world and how to fix it will lie about other things. Nobody knows but God.
Fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth with the first fruits of all of your crops then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine. My son do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent His rebuke because the Lord disciplines those He loves as a father the son He delights in.
Both democrats and Republicans are in agreement for a change and acknowledge that we are in a recession. And some believe that we are headed for another depression if things are not changed. So do we worry about this or trust in our Lord? Well the fact is that everything we now have belongs to the Lord, and everything we will ever have belongs to Him. Why then do we worry about His taking from us what really belongs to Him? Amen
1Chron. 29:11, "For all that is in heaven and in earth is yours." .12 "Both riches and honor come from You….in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all." .14 "For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You." (.16 "O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own.")
You can worry yourself to death, but not to life. Dr. Charles Mayo, of the Mayo Clinic, wrote, "Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, and the whole nervous system. I have never met a man, or known of a man, to die of overwork (I’m sure there a few, but I’ve never met them personally), but I have known a lot who died of worry."
There may be greater sins than worry, but very certainly there is no more disabling sin. Oh, and by the way – a sin is a sin is a sin.
needs. Amen
This is a great N.T. stewardship passage, reminding us that we belong entirely to God, that we have no rights of our own, and that we are managers of His possessions.
"Many perceptive observers have sensed that the greatest danger to Western Christianity is not, as is sometimes alleged, prevailing ideologies such as Marxism, Islam, the New Age movement, or humanism, but rather the all-pervasive materialism of our affluent culture. We try so hard to create heaven on earth and to throw in Christianity when convenient as another small addition to the so-called good life. But Christianity should be with God first, and everything else thrown in with him to create the good life he intends for us. Amen He really wants the best for us.
Psalm 56:3-4 "Whenever I am afraid. I will trust in You." 4. "In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?"
I am sure Abraham Lincoln must have read this verse also. We must remember that the people were uncertain of the times then also, with civil war own our on soil. Can you even imagine? Brother against brother. But this great man never wavered from his faith. Trusting in the Lord with not only his life, but also with every life in this great country of the United States of America. He truly understood that the master was not greater than the slave. But that all are equal in Gods eyes. Amen
We must stay in prayer and rejoice always, even when things are not going as we think that they should be, for our God is greater than we and has a plan for us that will take us through the fire to test our faith. We must pass the test or he will not give us greater things.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 16 "Rejoice always," 17 "pray without ceasing," 18 "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 19 "Do not quench the Spirit." 20 "Do not despise prophecies." 21 "Test all things; hold fast what is good." 22 "Abstain from every form of evil."
If God is for us, who can be against us? Lift up your heads when you greet your fellow brother, when he asks you how you’re doing? Tell him how blessed you are. Stay off the negative and on the positive. Amen
Romans 8:28 "and we know that all things work together for the good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
2 Timothy 1:9 "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began."
It’s Gods purpose folks, not ours. We must surrender to the Holly calling in our lives, and all things will work together for the good of those who love God. Hey that’s us!!! LETS GO. Don’t be scared during these times be holy. For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind.
Power to pray and ask the Father in Heaven for our needs and believe. Love to love one another as he has loved us, and a sound mine to receive the wisdom and knowledge he freely gives.
Do you realize that we can go straight to the Father now because of what Christ did on the cross? So, when we are praying, we who are chosen, they are now super powerful. Think of what we can accomplish in these ‘hard’ times with our prayers.
God Bless Us All.
R Dove
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