HABAKKUK 3: 17-19, “17Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.”
Phillipians 4:4, “4Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.“
Our time on this earth is short. See Psalm 90:9-10,
“9For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
10The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
Our days may be 70 or 80 years +/-
according to the will of the Lord. The things we spend time doing while we are
here matters to God.
God does want us to take time to be Holy and to listen often to His Word. He
also wants us to be happy for He is the One that told us to rejoice in the Lord
always. He wants us blessed and happy even if we go through trials. This world
we live in does have it's trials but we can be of
good cheer because Jesus told us He has overcome the world.
Blessed does mean happy.
The Lord is not the author of depression or confusion.
God is the God of hope. He wants us to be blessed & happy.
He wants us to walk in the light of His Holy Word.
God wants us to persevere through the dark days.
Let's face it there are severely rough times and it's not
always easy to praise the Lord in all circumstances. We will
have times of tears. We will have times when we feel as though
our strength is weak.
We must not give up. We must keep on doing what we know is right
no matter what anyone else does.
"If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!" ~Proverbs 24:10
How many people can join me in saying that they know they have had times
when they have faltered in times of trouble? How many can say they
realize how small their strength is?
Be not dismayed. Take courage from the Living God. He says to you
that you strength will come from Him. He says that joy in Him will
give you strength. See Nehemiah 8:10 for a reminder of how His joy
becomes your strength.
It is not by your own strength that you can overcome during trials.
You need Jesus. We need Jesus. We need God's Holy Spirit to help us
in our times of need. We need God's Living Word in us to help guide us.
Our Pastor told us yesterday that God will direct our paths. We know our
steps are ordered by the Lord. God may even redirect our paths if we
are headed in a wrong direction. The Pastor also reminded us that God will
not lead us to do anything contrary to His Word.
God's Word reminds us that we are to be different than the rest of the world.
We are a chosen generation and a peculiar people. We are different because
we believe in the power of the Living God to help us. We are different because
we walk by faith not by sight. We willingly choose to follow God doing what we
know is right no matter what others may do or say.
When we make commitments to the Lord we are expected to fulfill every Godly thing we
said we would do. God wants a people that will be faithful to their Word.
God is faithful. You can trust in God. He will never fail you or forsake you.
Keep your trust in God. Obey Him and do what you know is right.
Ignore the voice of the enemy. The enemy wants you to walk around like a defeated foe
because he is a defeated foe. The enemy of God's people wants them depressed.
The enemy of God's people wants them to falter in times of trouble.
God wants a people that will walk around like Job. Job blessed God even though
he lost everything. Ha...... Of course Job lost a lot. The worldly possessions
Job lost were bad but losing all his children in a day was a sorrow far greater
than most people have known. Job still blessed God. Job's body hurt and he still
blessed God. Job got his mind on God. Job reached out to the Lord when others
may have quickly listened to the voice of the devil.
The devil wanted Job to turn away from God. The enemy believed and said that
it was only because Job was blessed that he had the mind to bless the Lord.
We want to be ones that will rejoice in the Lord always. We want to give praise to
God during the storms. We want to be the kind of Christian people that will have
spiritual strength that comes from God no matter what goes on around us.
We must always recall to go to God asking Him for strength to do things His way. His way
is the Only good way. He will guide us to do things His way if we really want to.
The Pastor also talked about how a person should be ready and willing to obey the Lord.
If you want to hear from God then you must be prepared to do what He says. Many people
think or say they can't hear from God. It makes sense that there may be times when
God's voice can't be heard because God knows the heart of a man.
If you don't plan on obeying God's Word it is very possible He will keep you from hearing
what He has to say because He knows you haven't obeyed Him in the past or you are walking
in disobedience when you ask Him for direction.
When the Pastor talked about how rebellion could keep a person from hearing from God I
knew this to be true. It may be that there will be times when God is
waiting for you to obey Him before He will give you new direction.
If you want to be really happy and blessed God has made a way for you to be happy.
Hearing from God is something that brings joy. Obedience to God brings blessings.
If you will not obey God once He has spoken to you it is possible you will miss the
blessing of hearing clearly from Him in a time of need.
It seems right and good to encourage fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to go
to God in prayer asking Him if there is anything hindering your prayers being answered.
Ask Him if there is anything you have done or are doing that displeases Him. Ask Him
if there is anything you need to do to fulfill a promise you made to Him. Seek His
forgiveness if He shows you an area of your life that needs corrected.
If there is any way
you can correct something you've done that is wrong then do it with God's help. Recall
that God will not tell you to sin. Two wrongs do not make things right. There are times
when you can't go back and correct the past. You can determine in your heart that you will
do things God's way from now on. God will help you do things His way. I believe God
delights in helping you do things that are right and good.
If you want to be happy for the rest of your life then obey God. Obeying God gives you a peace
in your heart that passes understanding.
Recall that the enemy of God does not want you to
have God's peace at all times. The enemy of God wants to steal that peaceful relationship you
have with God. The enemy wants to destroy the Godly relationships you have.
If you want to hear from God show Him that you are a person that will obey Him when He speaks
to you. Do not falter to do the right thing especially when the enemy attacks you.
May it be that your faith remains in tact every minute of the day.
May it be that your strength will come from the Lord.
May it be that you will be able to rejoice in the Lord always.
Know that God inhabits the praises of His people and many times it is sacrificial
to praise Him when the days look dark and gloomy. Praise God anyway! Praise the Lord
no matter what. God will give you strength to do things His way. God wants you to do
things His way.
Recall the words of John 14:6, "Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man
cometh to the Father but by Me." - Words remembered -
We want to do things God's way. God's way will bring joy and happiness that has no limits.