Podcasts about finally god

February 14, 2024 Today's Reading: Daily Lectionary: Job 10:1-22; John 5:1-18[Job said,] I loathe my very life;    therefore I will give free rein to my complaint    and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.I say to God: Do not declare me guilty,    but tell me what charges you have against me.Does it please you to oppress me? Job 10:1-3In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Do you want to argue with God? Sounds blasphemous. Job argues with God. Scripture shows us many people of faith arguing with God. Jacob wrestled God, telling God he would not let him go. Finally God said, “Let me go …” But Jacob did not let go until God blessed him (Genesis 32:22-28). Did these men of faith sin by arguing with God? The key is the word “faith.” Faith holds onto God even when God seems your enemy. When everything in life is down the drain, when no blessing can be seen, faith holds onto what cannot be seen. Faith holds onto the promise. And when we don't see the promise, we are given to argue with God, to say to God essentially, “You have given me your name as an oath, I belong to you, yet I don't see the blessing, and, as Job said, I loathe my very life .” (Job 10:1)Faith calls on God to once again speak His promise. To see this, we need only to look at how God teaches us to pray. Among the Psalms of praise, of thanksgiving, of extolling the Word, our Lord gives us to pray also Psalms of complaint. Look at Psalm 13, where the Lord gives us words by which we are to argue that He has forgotten us (Psalm 13:1) and to demand that He give us an answer (Psalm 13:3). The Lord answered Job's prayer. Job's account began with him giving sacrifice for his family, knowing that by the Lord's gift of sacrifice the Lord was forgiving sins and making Job and his family holy (see Job 1:1-5). After going through much affliction, Job argues with God. God answers the argument. He calls Job to account where he was wrong, but more importantly, speaks to Job again the word of promise. Not only that, but the Lord tells Job's friends (who have been giving Job bad counsel regarding God) to go to Job so that Job could give the sacrifice to atone also for their sins. Can you argue with God? Yes. Just remember Job. Use the words the Lord gives you in Psalm 13 (or other Psalms of complaint). Call on God to speak His promise to you. Ask for His Gospel. Don't let Him go. He wants to hear your prayers. He wants to answer your complaint. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord, in the midst of my doubts, my despair, my loss of hope, bless me! Let me hear your promise! Keep me steadfast in your Word. Amen.-Pastor Warren Graff is retired from Grace Lutheran Church, Albuquerque.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.The Lutheran Reader's Bible helps you develop a habit of devotion and Bible reading so you can slowly but intentionally understand and grow in God's Word. Through introductions to the sixty-six books of the Bible, guided reading plans, and more, this Bible builds your confidence to study Scripture on your own.

Sometimes an open door isn't opened by God. ~~~ Last week we observed where Jonathan reminded David of God's promise to David that God would make Him king. That chapter ended with Saul being forced to stop his hunt for David and face the Philistines because they were raiding the land. But now, finally, it looks like Saul will get what is coming to him. Finally the tables have turned and David now has the upper hand. I mean, what are the chances that Saul would choose the same cave that David was hiding in, along with his men, and that Saul would enter the cave, not with an entourage, a torch and a spear or sword, but comes in for a quick potty break and makes himself completely vulnerable? This seems to be the text book, “open door” situation that we often pray for, and that it seems God intends David to walk through! Finally God's people will be rescued from a crazed, tyrannical king! The kingdom of God will be ruled by a righteous man! The army of God will be led by a military hero! Enemies Beware! Let the people rejoice! So at the end of verse 4 in chapter 24, we see David sneak up behind Saul, maybe duckwalking his way there, in the darkness. He reaches for Saul's robe, grabs his pocket knife, and quietly slices off a piece of the robe. Wait, what? Slice off a corner of his robe? What is this? Why not send a shank right through him like Ehud did Eglon? Doesn't the end justify the means? Come back tomorrow to hear the rest of the story.

Whitney Akin felt overlooked,and that her life didn't matter and she didn't have any purpose in the grand scheme of things. Insecure and shy, she hid in the back of any group gathering so that she wouldn't make a mistake and bring even more perceived criticism onto her heart and life. Finally God reminded her who she was and more importantly who He was: beloved by God, created for his purpose and mission. Her mission now is to let everyone know that they count, that our worth isn't based on our big splash in society or our numbers on social media. Listen today to hear what it means to live seen by God and how you can make that a lifestyle vs only a moment.  Her book, OVERLOOKED: Finding Your Worth When You Feel All Alone is a gem and you may need to get one for yourself and one for a friend who is feeling the same way. Good news: A Giveaway for your first copy! Leave a comment below to be entered to win. Some gems from today's conversation: God gives us all the approval that we need, we just need to remember that. God's name, El Roi, means he is the God who sees so he can't help but see us—we are never overlooked. We like to measure our worth based on how many more eyes are on us, but its the Father's eyes that matter. There's a difference between knowing that God loves me and experiencing it for myself in my grief and doubt. Feeling like  was unseen translated into severe, self-consuming insecurity so that wanted to hide in any social situation. If I hid inside myself there was less of a chance of being hurt. I want my children to live seen, but also take it a step further to help others feel seen by God. Being seen is a moment, living seen is a lifestyle.  Whitney Akin is a wife and mother of three young ones, author and speaker. You can find her here.

June 21, 2023 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stjohnrandomlake/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stjohnrandomlake/support

Nahum 1 Nahum Chapter 1 chronicles a vision about Nineveh that the prophet Nahum received from God and relayed to the people. God began His message in Nahum Chapter 1 by stating He is a jealous and angry God. He said He would take vengeance against those whom He deemed were His enemies. He will not allow the guilty to go unpunished. Nahum Chapter 1 goes on to say that the Lord is also good and merciful. He proves this by the way He seeks to help those who need His assistance in times of trouble. Finally God said that although the plotters had numerous allies, they would all be destroyed. God noted that He may have afflicted Judah in the past, but He would do so no more. He said He would free Judah from its shackles. Lessons. Our God is a righteous judge. He will definitely fight our battles when we depend solely on Him. Nahum 2 The chapter is about the fall of Nineveh. It was a poetic overview of how things went down in the city. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God when He is unleashing the power of His wrath. Those who imagine themselves to be untouchable are the very ones whom God will bring crashing down. There is no strength or defense that can stand up against the Almighty. Nineveh was fortunate enough to receive the opportunity to repent under the preaching of Jonah; but here we see nothing but decreed devastation. There comes a time when God's patience has been exhausted. But likewise the Lord encourages His people that He will restore the afflicted to splendor in His good time. All this was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar, in the first year of his reign, in conjunction with Cyaxares, or Ahasuerus, king of the Medes, conquered Nineveh, and made himself master of the Assyrian monarchy. Nahum 3 The LORD used the Assyrian empire and its capital city, Nineveh, to carry out His judgment on the northern kingdom of Israel, which it conquered and exiled in 722 BC, “the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria” Therefore, the LORD would judge Nineveh, causing her to lose her power and disappear from the scene. The LORD's action against Nineveh would demonstrate that He alone has complete control over the world He created. God, not Nineveh, is all-powerful. God is about to completely disgrace the proud and arrogant world power. Assyria's intent was evil. And now the LORD was about to judge Nineveh for her wicked deeds. So He used Nahum to pronounce an oracle of judgment against the city. God used Jonah to pronounce destruction upon Nineveh roughly a hundred years earlier, and Nineveh had repented. Now Nahum's pronouncement of destruction upon Nineveh marks its end. Nineveh fell in 612 BC to the Babylonians in alliance with the Medes --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/irtwbey365/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/irtwbey365/support

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: GENESIS 21:1-7 - The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” MENTIONED ON TODAY'S EPISODE: Become a Morning Mindset Media partner: https://MorningMindsetMedia.com/partner  ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

God's promises to Abraham The next great development in the unfolding of God's promises for the future was made to Abraham (originally Abram). He was called by God, about 2000 B.C., to leave his home in Mesopotamia to journey to Canaan, which was to become known as the Promised Land. The promises God made to him were amazingly wide in scope: “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great . . . and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:2,3); “Lift up now thine eyes, and look . . . for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever” (13:14,15); “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (15:5). Abraham's belief in the last of these promises from God was “counted . . . to him for righteousness”, in other words, his sins were forgiven because of his faith (v. 6; cf. Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Jas. 2:23). These promises once again focused on the promised seed, descended from Abraham, eventually revealed as the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:16). The multiplication of that seed “as the stars of heaven” refers to the multitude of people of all ages who would gain salvation through Jesus, by believing the same promises (Dan. 12:3; Heb. 11:12,13). God endorsed His promises to Abraham by covenants, first a covenant for the land of Israel (Gen. 15:18) and then one with his seed, that He would be their God. This was marked in Abraham's natural descendants, the nation of Israel, by the rite of circumcision (17:1-14). Finally God sealed all of His promises and covenants with a solemn oath: “By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD . . . that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven . . . and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (22:16-18). These promises, subsequently reiterated to Isaac and Jacob (Israel), are the very founda- tion of the gospel of salvation (Gal. 3:8,9). They require that Abraham and all the faithful must rise from the dead, as Jesus did, in order to enjoy them (Acts 24:14,15; 26:6-8). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/christadelphians-talk/message

"Are your ears tingling in horror?"Husband and Wife cover 2 Kings chapter 21: The Reign of Manasseh / The Reign of Amon. God allows Manasseh to reign for 50+ years even tho he is super murdery and gross. Finally God has enough and takes away Manasseh's dishwasher. Or something like that. Also... Sorry for the audio. We accidentally recorded this using our computer microphone because... Husband wasn't paying attention. Join Acast+ to enjoy our podcast adfree and get EARLY access to our episodes! https://plus.acast.com/s/sacrilegious-discourse-bible-study-for-atheists. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Sheppard - As we come to the end of Job, it's still hard to trust the Lord in the face of suffering. Finally God speaks, and we are given great reasons to trust him. Despite what it looks like to us, God is in control of chaos and evil. In the end, he will defeat them. God showed this to Job and now in Christ we have even more reason to believe it.

Hebrew name of the Book: In Hebrew the book is called Vayikra Who wrote the book: The book was written by Prophet Moses Number of Chapters: There are 27 chapters in Leviticus Date The Book was written 1467 BC Highlights of the Book The book of Leviticus talks about the Laws which the Lord gave the Israelites and I will be highlighting some of those laws which also apply to our Christian life A peace offering should be from the herd or the flock slaughter it at the Tabernacle. The priest shall burn it on the altar as food. If anyone sins unintentionally, they should slaughter a bull, a goat or a lamb. The priest shall burn it to the Lord to make atonement. The meat of peace offering must be eaten within two days. A male child shall be circumcised on the eighth day. A woman who gives birth shall bring offerings after her days of purification. Don't have sex with a relative. Be holy. Keep my Sabbath. Don't turn to idols. Love your neighbor as yourself. A priest must not make himself unclean and must marry a virgin. Finally God said if you keep my laws I will give peace in the land and make you fruitful. If not I will scatter you but I will not break my covenant. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/irtwbey365/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/irtwbey365/support

Key Bible Verse: Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind and said, “Who is this who darkens the divine plan by words without knowledge?Now [a]tighten the belt on your waist like a man, and I shall ask you, and you inform Me! Job 38: 1-3

Mike shares the story of the Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon and struggled to complete the task of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem because of discouragement from within and opposition from without. Their disobedience was understandable, but that doesn't make it acceptable! God withheld His blessing from them while they continued in disobedience to Him. Finally God used the prophet Haggai to both rebuke and encourage the people, who responded with faith and courage to recommit to the work. In the end God achieved far, far more than they would have dreamed possible to bless them and to bless many others through them. We take some time to think about what the Temple means to us today and realise that all of us are in the same position as the people Haggai spoke to! We've been called to build the Temple, but in our case the Temple is people who make up God's Church. We can all be discouraged and distracted from our core purpose. We could all use a reminder of God's power to do what we cannot. We all need a vision of how glorious it is when He does that!

Acts 2:1-13 (NIV) Read by: Tammy Eckhart From the beginning of the world, the Creator has longed to share his power. He made humans to be his image bearers—to care for creation, to cultivate and create—to make something of the world with Him. But from the almost-beginning, humans wanted to be God rather than bear God's image. They wanted to define for themselves what was good and what was bad. And this led to disaster. Rather than human space (the world) and God's space (heaven) overlapping and interlocking like it did in the Garden, humans were exiled from the Garden and therefore disconnected from God's presence, but also from His wisdom and His power, to be the kinds of humans they were made to be. But God would not abandon us. He bound himself to humanity by making a covenant with a family, a nation who will live under God's wisdom and power and bring the blessing of the Garden to the whole world. But this family is a mess and it ends up in captivity. God liberates them from Egypt, and brings them out into the wilderness. And there He makes a covenant with them, has them construct a dwelling for Him so that he can be with them, and the Spirit of God descents on that dwelling like a pillar and fills the Temple. Finally God and humans are back together and they have a way to live under God's wisdom and power. But that doesn't really work out…. The same kinds of failure lead Israel through generations of turmoil, into another exile and once again separate from God and in need of His Spirit to come and dwell not just in a temple, but in their very hearts. This is the only thing that will get humans back on track—for God to dwell inside them. ----------REFLECT---------- 1. The Holy Spirit transforms humans into the dwelling place of God... What's your initial reaction to that reality? 2. In this passage God chooses to take up residence in a group of people who were outside the traditional structures of influence and power, and the Spirit causes them to proclaim the wonders of God in the native languages of the people who were gathered. The Spirit could have used people already in positions of religious authority and probably could have gotten away with making them all speak Greek... What does this passage reveal about God's desires? 3. One of the harsh realities in this passage is that sometimes when the Holy Spirit moves in God's people, many won't recognize him. They might say instead, we're crazy… or drunk. How willing do you think your heart is to bear criticism from others for doing the thing that the Spirit leads you to do? Ask the LORD for courage to be used by him today. ----------GO DEEPER---------- Bible Project: Acts 1-12 Overview >> InterVarsity Press Selections: Acts >> ----------CONNECT---------- Find an InterVarsity Chapter >> Start an InterVarsity Chapter >> Learn More >> --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dailyread/message

For years I wanted to pursue Jesus with my all but I just couldn't stay committed and faithful to him. I would keep falling into sin and was in an endless cycle of shame and guilt because of it. Finally God let me up a mountain with an old friend who had been involved in some witchcraft at the time and there I spoke directly to Satan, telling him that Jesus alone was my Lord and I was no longer afraid of Him. Everything changed after that...

This is a short chapter revealed in Mecca and found towards the end of the Quran.  It has twenty six verses; the first 7 serve as a warning to the disbelievers.  The dire warning is then contrasted by a description of the pleasures and delights the believers will attain in Paradise.  Next God asks us to consider the creation.   That is followed by Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, being absolved from responsibility for those who will not listen to the warning and heed his message.The title, Al-Ghashiyah, or in the English language, The Overwhelming Event, comes from the first verse.  The Overwhelming Event is another name used for the Day of Judgement.  The Arabic word ghashiyah means something that covers entirely.  Thus this overwhelming event will both overwhelm and cover the entire earth.  As with many of the chapters in the last part of the Quran the themes are the Oneness of God and the Hereafter. Verses 1 – 7  On that DayGod asks, "Has the news of the Overwhelming Event reached you?" This is a rhetorical question and it is directed to everyone who hears or reads these words.  It is a reminder and yet another way to describe the events on the Day of Judgment and the reward or punishment that awaits all humans in the Hereafter.  Thoughts and descriptions of the event arouse fear.  On that Day there will be downcast faces.  These are people who believed they toiled hard in this world but now see no good result for their actions.  There deeds were not accompanied by faith or done for the sake of God.  Thus their works have been rendered worthless.Once they have entered Hell, thirsty and exhausted, they are given nothing to appease that thirst except water from a boiling spring.  Their food is no better.  It consists of bitter dry thorns that do not nourish them or satisfy their hunger.  It is an ultimate affliction whose true and terrible nature is almost incomprehensible except to those who will experience it.Verses 8 – 16  Gardens of ParadiseIn stark contrast to this, other faces on this Day will show pleasure and happiness.  Some people will be radiant with bliss and they will be well pleased with their efforts.  These people will be shown into an elevated Garden.  They are happy, reassured and enjoying the feeling of both spiritual and physical satisfaction.  In this Garden they will hear no vain or evil talk.  They will not use nor will they hear any unsuitable speech whatsoever.  Within this lofty Garden will be a flowing spring and the description of water flowing implies fresh clean water.  They will recline on raised couches.  Filled goblets will be placed before them and comfortable cushions will be arranged with beautiful carpets underfoot and spread around. The descriptions of Paradise are both sublime and brilliant.  The senses are satisfied.  They will have their thirst appeased.  The décor is luxurious and appeals to the eye.  However, once again the true nature of this reward is incomprehensible except to those who will experience it firsthand.  These descriptions help us to imagine the ultimate reward for those who strove for the Hereafter.Verses 17 - 20  The Wonders of natureWhen the warning and description of the Hereafter comes to a close, the chapter goes on to refer to the present world.  We proceed to a reminder of the perfect planning and power of God.  Do they not look at how the camels are created? Or look at the sky and how it was raised high? What about the perfection of the mountains firmly set in place or the earth spread out? We are given a scene from the universe of an elevated heaven and an outstretched earth and asked to ponder.  Consider this.  If God is able to create these wonders of the universe why would the Hereafter not be real? Consider the opening verse.  Has the news of the Overwhelming Event reached you?Verses 21 – 26  Admonition and accountabilityGod says to Prophet Muhammad, "Warn them".  He is told his only task is to warn the people; he is not able to control them.  Prophet Muhammad is the admonisher who reminds them of the future and of the consequences of their actions, but he is not the enforcer.  There is no compulsion in religion; to heed the warning or not or to believe or not to believe is a choice given to humankind.  However they are accountable for their deeds and those who turn away in disbelief will be punished.  In other words Prophet Muhammad is told that once his obligation to warn is complete God will take it from there and punish those who have knowingly turned away.Finally God says, "Indeed to Us is their return and then indeed upon Us is their account".   To God is the final return and a final accounting or reckoning will take place._______________________________________By Aisha Stacey (© 2015 IslamReligion.com)Copyright © 2006 - 2021 IslamReligion.com. All rights reserved.Used with permission.The source of this article is: www.IslamReligion.com

Well, we are in our advent series entitled “love what has changed” where each week we are looking at some aspect of change that we experience as a result of Christ’s coming. Things were this way and then Christ came and now they are this way.Well today we talk about the change from sorrow to joy. Now we are going to illustrate this from just a single paragraph in the Christmas narrative.Some of the most centeral characters in the Christmas story are the shepherds who tend their sheep just outside of Bethlehem. And they are central because the they are the first to hear about the birth of Messiah. This Messianic announcement doesn’t come through a phone call, a friend of a friend or a post on social media. It comes from a rather startling angelic announcement.For our purposes today, we want to focus on the reaction to that announcement. That’s what we are after. Now let’s reconstruct the moment.It’s night…obviously. You can imagine the coolness of the night featuring in their minds. The rocky ground is getting intorable. The sheep of course are quite docile in the dark. They are laying down in clusters. Every once in a while one snorts and beats away a fly by shaking its head and flapping his ears. And then SUDDENLY the sky tears open.The Bible has developed in my reading a reputation for understating things. If the Bible adds the adverb VERY pay attention. If the Bible says, GREAT it means EXTREMEL, extraordinary, incredible, phenomenal …Now here’s my point, when the angels tear open the night sky and the glory of the God of the cosmos illuminates the night sky the text says “they were filled wtih great fear.” Straight up trauma. Read PTSD worthy dread, raw fright, heart-arresting trepidation.The shepherds are shaking in TERROR. Give that phrase FILLED WITH GREAT FEAR everything it deserves. Picture these shepherds screaming in fear. Picture them smashing their face in the dust in submission. Picture them cowering in clusters for safety. But the angels, terrifying as they were, did not come to terrify. They came to deliver a message.Now in the same way we just tried to fill up the phrase, FILLED WITH GREAT FEAR with meaning, we are going to try to fill up the phrase GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY with meaning. The Christmas story is primarily a story of NEWS - NEWS that changes everything. Something has come that is going to change how you feel. The NEWS changes your perspective. It’s going to change your feelings from feelings of SORROW to feelings of GREAT JOY.Now in order for us to do our job of understanding the ESSENCE of this GREAT JOY here’s a reality that you must understand. GREAT JOY is only possible when it follows great mourning. Deep sorrow is the seed bed out of which great joy grows.And so this morning I want to tell a story of SORROW.We will trace the story of brokenness, pain, and tears from Eden to Bethlehem. Today we want to listen to the groanings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, David suffering under the sorrow of sin. And in so doing, it allows us to fully hear the GOOD NEWS of GREAT JOY - the bright white paint against the jet black canvas.That is the story of the OT; it’s a story of SORROW AND HOPENow let’s illustrate this SORROW against HOPE through 5 exhibits. Imagine going through a museum and you’ve got various exibits. Here’s Exhibit A.The BeginningSo rewind in your mind to the beginning. The space-time continum unfolds from the mind of God. Creation itself blooms and man is placed in the center of the garden, naked and without shame, without fear. Perfect security, perfect fellowship, perfect commuinon with God.Now the worst way to think about this is just roaming around an orchard looking at plants. That just sound boring. What’s the purpose in that?But if you study the narrative closely, you will realize that there is tremendous purpose built into the fabric of creation and it can be distilled down to a two-part concept. Man is:made in the image of God andgiven dominion over the entire created order.What does it mean to be made in the image of God. We get hung up on this, but it’s such a simple idea. If you lived in Biblical times, you probably lived under a king and that king often times claimed to be god.And because he was god he got to define good and evil by making and enforcing laws. Now in order to rule a large kingdom it was important to be present. But a mortal king is not omnipresent so to solve that problem, he would often make statues of himself. He would make representations of himself to remind the people in his kingdom that he was in charge. So this image would function as the reprsentative for the king. So when you bowed before the image, you were functionally bowing before the king. Now the Hebrew word used to describe those images is Tselem which means idol or image.Now you remember that Israel’s kings were not allowed to create idols or images of their God. Why? Because God had already made images of Himself. Where? In the human race. We are the images of God who are representatives of God to rule.It’s a centeral feature of the creation narrative. God gives mankind authority to rule over creation by making them in His image. So to rule over creation means to cultivate it, to harness its raw potential, to move creation and culture forward. This means families, this means art, this means social organization, mechanical inventions, work, career, creativity.This was the design. God looked and said, behold all this is good. This is VERY GOOD. We are talking here understatement of the millenia. When God adds VERY to anything, perk up. The creation was perfect. It was complete. It lacked nothing.GOD IS FAITHFUL! NO? IS MAN FAITHFUL?The FallBut then Eve sinned and Adam next. The serpent deceived by planting the fundamental question in her mind, “Is God really Good?” He says he loves you but he’s withholding this thing from you. Is he really good?And the great sin, the sin of all sins, is to say, “No God does not have the right to determine good and evil. I do. I am not the reprentative of the king. I am not the image of the king. I am KING. God ought to submit to my determination of good and evil. It is good for me to have this fruit even though God says it is not good.”And in OVER-ruling God, Eve first, then Adam, plunged the created order into ruin. The poison of sin was injected in the fabric of creation.We tell a story today of SORROW which is nothing more than watching sin spread and leach into the world like a bottle of ink spilled onto a sheet of paper.Now here’s the primary way in which the world changed in terms of their experience. It went from JOY to SORROW.What was that sorrow? We tend to think in terms of the pain of childbearing and thorns and thistles. Those are consequeneces but that is definitely not the primary consequence that comes out of the text.Think about it. Think about the closeness they had with God. Adam walked with God and just talked with omnipotent power, with an all-knowing God peering into the deepest parts of his heart and he did so with absolute joy and peace.But all that is shattered. That intimacy which they had formerly cherished and treasured was displaced by terror and fear of god. Adam hides from God. Eve hide from God. Their nakedness is known. For years I could not understand why nakendness was featured as part of the story.But think about it. When you are naked, you have nothing to cover you, nothing to prevent someone from looking at you completely. That is a position of extreme vulnerability. It is only when you are totally and completely accpeted, that you are completely unashamed of being naked. Security and purity makes nakedness unproblematic. The pre-fallen Adam and Eve could’t even understand why it would be a problem. Of course. Why would I care if the eyes of my maker looked at me; look at every corner of my heart? Why would it matter in the slightest? I know you are pleased with everything you see.But when sin entered, suddenly they knew that God would no longer be pleased with everything he saw. They knew that there would be anger, wrath, displeasure, they knew that they would no longer be accpeted if that thing was seen, so their dispostion changes. They were INSECURE. They shrink back in fear. They melt in terror. What do they need? They need a COVERING. They need something to COVER them up. They need a covering to save them from the shame so they can at least exist.So God made a provision. He gave them skins of animals. Now that covering came at the cost of the life of that animal. The animals didn’t zip off their skins if you know what I mean. Blood was shed. Sacrifice was introduced. Atonement was introduced. This was a gracious provision to COVER the sin but it did not fix the problem. In the same way that clothing allows us to relate with people who would otherwise condemn us, the covering of sacrifice allows us to relate with God even though there is much sin beneath. It’s a covering not a solution.TTerror has entered the world and to horror of Adam and Eve’s consciousness, it’s absolutely hopeless. It’s not a reversible action.But something unexpected is introduced. There’s a prophesy of hope. There’s a prophesy of a future resolution. The prophesy is not given to mankind.God is not speaking to Adam or Eve. He’s speaking to Lucifer. He’s speaking to Satan directly. Adam and Eve are just happy bystanders. He says, Lucifer, because you deceived the woman, you will be cursed. And yes, your deception introduced incredible suffering in the world, but you do not get the last world.You tempted Eve and the created order crumbled. But here’s what I decree: your intent to destroy has limits. You will continue to try to hurt the offspring that comes from this woman. But the best you will be able to do is bruise the heel. But there is coming an offspring of Adam, the greater Adam will plant his heel on your throat.And the picture is of an ANE warrior vanquishing the enemy king. The enemy king is acustomed to basking on his throne with purple fineries wielding absolute power; when he is conquered, he stripped of all those royal trimmings and the cuffed king lies in the dirt with the heel of the boot of the victor on his throat. It’s a graphic image of total surrender and submission.In other words, I will raise up a seed of woman who will undo this curse. He’s talking to Lucifer. This becomes the seed promise out of which all gospel truth emerges.The Promise.So emerging from Genesis 3 we have two lines of gospel truth.There is coming from the seed of the woman an ultimate deliverer. That’s Genesis 3:15.And the second line of gospel truth is that God will provide for the seed of the woman an ultimate covering. That’s Genesis 3:24.And the rest of the OT is simultaneously the cancerous spread of the stain of sin as it smears it’s bloody paw across the fabric of the human race and the progressive unfolding of that twofold promise of God to give us a savior and a covering. God provides a covering for Adam.GOD IS FAITHFUL! NO? IS MAN FAITHFUL?The world post-Adam world goes into self destruct mode.You have the promise of Genesis 3:15 here and then immediately we read of the failures of Adam’s offspring. Immediately there is tremendous pain. Tremendous sorrow. Cain in a fit of anger, jealousy and unchecked rage, beats in his brothers head with a rock and spills blood and kills him. It’s horrific. Immediately Adam and Eve feel the fangs of death. They see the irreversible nature of death.You have all sorts of wickedness multiply on the face of the earth until God says in Genesis 6 that he looks down.And you know what this does? It creates sorrow.The entire created order is wrecked. So much saddness. So much sorrow. God, holds his nose for centuries and finally says enough. I am going to destroy all civilization and start over so he sends a world-wide flood sparing Noah through that ark of deliverance. The seed promise is carried on through Noah and his descendants and particularly through the line of Shem.The world continues to multiply with sorrow because the problem of sorrow is not outside of mankind; it’s in mankind. And we can demonstrate this through.The promise that God would deliver the world through the seed of a woman increases in specificity. God calls Abraham out of the city of Ur. And he says to him, yes this coming deliverer will be from the seed of a woman but he will also be a descendant of Abraham. And so God makes a promise to Abraham. You will be a blessing to the entire world. The promised seed will come through you.GOD IS FAITHFUL! NO? IS MAN FAITHFUL?The Patriarchs have flashes of faith but for the most part they are men who make choices that produce incredible sorrow.Abraham’s faith is accompanied by massive failure ranging from cowardice, to deceitfulness, to presumption and prejudice.Isaac is portrayed more as a vacillating, gullible, even ineffective husband and father than as a deserving heir and role model.Jacob is an unscrupulous schemer who has a serious favoritism problem. He’s a terrible father. He’s insecure.All Jacob’s sons are trainwreckes.The Sorrow of sin is evident. It’s everywhere. It wrecking marriage. It’s destroying trust.But as we learned from our study of Joseph, that doesn’t stop the plan of redemption. The central character of Genesis 12-50 is not Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Joseph. No, the prime actor is none other than the One who refuses to be thwarted in propelling forward His redemptive project and prospering fulfillment of His redemptive promises.You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.And it’s a good thing that God isn’t thwarted by the SORROW resulting from faithless men, because Exhibit D is filled with them.Jacob goes down into Egypt, 70 in number. And the nation of Egypt functioned like a womb in which that seed grew into a nation of 2 million people that needed to be delivered. This pregnant nation needs to expel this foreign body.Keep in mind that God had foretold to Abraham of this period of bondage in Egypt.And God raised up a man Moses to be the deliver. He grew up in the palace of queen Hatshepsut and I believe was being bred to be the next Pharaoh. But god had other plans for Moses. Moses could do arithmatic. 400 years. I’ve been given this privileged position. I am very possibly the tool that God will use. And God delivers the children of Israel in a most dramatic and powerful way. If anything is going to demonstrate the FAITHFULNESS of God and give the Israelites HOPE it’s the exodus from Egypt.God deliberately orchestrates things so that the Israelites and the Egptians are awestruck by this covenant keeping God. God could have just started with the 10th plague. But he started with staff to snake, flies and frogs and blood, things that the Egyptian sorcerers could imitate. Slowly, more deliberately the pressure is increased and Pharaoh’s heart gets harder and harder. Until finally in a moment of weakenss he lets the Israelites go along with the entire nations supply of gold.Pharaoh hears that they had stumbled into a blind canyon and he thinks this is my chance to go after them. And just as they come upon the scene, the last Israelite is just making his way through the Red Sea passage. Now let me ask you honestly, if you saw a wall of water being held up by the God who decimated your nation, would chase after?And yet Pharaoh’s heart was so hardened that he cried out full speed ahead. And I always think that coming from Pharaoh’s charioteers, that was probably the most weak kneed giddy up you’ve ever heard. The entire Egyptian army is destroyed.Is God faithful? Can he be trusted?Think of all the ways in which God provides for them.He delivers them through 10 dramatic plagues and parts the Red SeaHe gives them manna from heaven.He gives them drink from a rock.- Their shoes and clothes don’t wear out. - They watch Moses go up on the mountain without food or drink and subsist on nothing more than the glory of God for 40 days.GOD IS FAITHFUL! NO? IS MAN FAITHFUL?While he is up on the mountain what do they say? They are like, forget this guy. I think he died. We don’t like this god of Moses. And they make a golden calf.Now think with me for a moment. Why in the world would they choose to worship a golden calf over the God who had just so obviously and powerfully delivered them from Egypt. Did they really think their was something more powerful about this blob of gold then the God who delivered them from Egypt? Get real!No. This is about allegiance and surrender and lordship. Don’t reduce this incident to a flanelgraph. When Moses comes down from the mountain, I hate to put it so crassly, but it was an orgy. There was sexual licentiousness of the highest order.Let me explain what’s going on there. What is the attraction of a golden calf. Nobody thought this was real. Right? What was the attraction of these powerless gods of the ANE who obviously can do nothing in comparison to YHWH GOD! In the ANE almost across the board what you have are fertility gods. You’ve got a male god and the one we know best is Baal. And you have a female god and the one we know best is Ashtor or in the plural ashtoroth. The fiction was that the male God would come together sexually with the female God once a year and that is what would cause the earth to green the crops to sprout, the animals to bear young. The way you honor those gods is duplicate their activity. That’s the attraction. That old generation loved the things of Egypt.It was great that the god of Moses could deliver us from slavery. It was great that he was going to give us new land. **But you know what was not so great, the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.** Thou shalt not covet they neighbors wife.” Not sure I like a God that demands that kind of submission.YHWH God demanded absolute allegiance. And the people rebelled against it.Which is why when Aaron is declared to be the exlusive high priest of God you have this showdown.If you remember the story, the people revolt. Why does only Aaron get to be a priest? Now hear that correctly. That is another way of saying, “Why does there need to be just ONE god?” And so you literally have a mount carmel showdown. If Aaron is the priest of God let his sacrifice be accepted. And there’s this dramatic scene with Aaron standing before his alter with his sacrifice laid out upon it and the dark glory cloud is behind him and fire comes out from behind him and consumes the sacrifice as if to say, "I have accepted it."But then you remember, Nadab and Abihu offer strange fire. What is the strange fire? Almost certainly that fire, coals, brought off the alter of another god. YHWH is great. He saved us from Egypt but we don’t have to worship him exclusively. Why do you have to be so narrow?And fire does come out of the glory cloud but this time consumes Nadam and Abihu. God shortens his aim if you know what I mean.The point is there is one god who demanded absolute allegiance.So they get to the edge of the border of the promise land. 12 go in 10 come back and say forget it. These guys will consume us. They are mounting a sedition. Moses, we want to remove you as our leader.And they, in their sinister rebellion say, would to God that our carcasses just die in this wilderness. That can be arranged. 80 funerals a day for 38 years. Its not that they couldn’t trust yhwh. Its that they loved the wickedness of egypt. Hell is full of one kind of people, the kind that loved sin more than he loved what he knew to be the truth.God used the desert to refine that generation.A new generation was raised in the desert who was untrained in battle, untrained in building houses, untrained in virtually every apsect of life, but were totally and completely trusting in the Lord. It’s a generation of faith.Now to illustrate this, consider that Israel in her journeys crosses two bodies of water. The Red Sea and the Jordan but those crossings could not be more different. And it can be illustrated by asking the simple question, "Where was the enemy." In the first case the enemy was behind them. How much faith did it take to the cross the water?In the second case where was the enemey? You cross the river to face an enemy and then the door closes behind you so to speak. That takes tremendous faith. It demonstrates that this generation had swore allegiance to YHWH.And so you have the 7 year conquest of the land. And time and time again, God does the fighting for them. The Israelites are gifted houses they did not build, vineyards they did not plant.But once again the sorrow of sin destroys. Instead of remaining loyal to God and following His laws, these generations of Israelites wander in their faith, worshiping idols, indulging in violence, and descending into chaos. Because they forgot the Lord. THEY WERE FAITHLESS.This cycle continues for a couple hundred years and Israel demands a king. And God concedes to this request but says, “Listen I don’t want the power to go to this king’s head.”God said, the first thing I want this king to do is handwrite his own personal copy of the law. I want my law sitting right there next to him. And also don’t want this king to multiply money, horses, wives. In that day horses were the sophisticated military machinery of war and your herem was symbolic of your grandure as a king. I don’t want you to depend on those things God says. Yes, you have a king, but this is still a theocracy.And King Saul starts out well but is eaten up by bitterness and jealousy and resentment and destroys himself and his kingdom.David succeeds Saul and a promise is given to him. This promise given in the garden, the promise made to Abraham, the promise made to Moses, I’m making with you. This deliverer will be a king that rules his people and he will be a descendant from your throne.But David disobeyes. The sin of Bathsheba, the murder of Uriah, his failure as a father. And he spends the rest of his life living out the consequences of this sin.Remember how the kings were not supposed to multiply money, horses or women. It’s almost like he’s got a checklist. Solomon seems to have a penchant for women and round numbers. He’s got 700 wives and 300 concubines. I mean you don’t get there by accident. We studied Ecclesiastes this last year and which is Solomon’s embarrassing hedonism experiment.Solomon’s kingdom holds on by a thread and after he dies nation plunges into civil war and then it splits. It’s embarrassing. Here’s the nation from which the future king will come, divided, following after other gods.God during this 400 year period of the kings sends prophet after prophet after prophet after prophet to turn the hearts of Israel back to her God but to no avail. The prophets are stoned, rejected and eventually says, okay, your getting hauled off.Finally God washes his hands of Israel. The glory cloud departs.And what you have as the OT closes down is God keeping his covenant clear back in Deut 28. If you disobey, I will raise up a nation to carry you off? Is God a covenant keeping God? You bet. In order for God to be a FAITHFUL covenant keeping God he’s has to allow them to be carried off.So God sends the Assyrians to destroy first the northern kingdom in 722 and then the southern kingdom in 586. Solomon’s temple is reduced to a pile of rubble.But God is working despite it. God is working through it. Do you remember the prophet Daniel. What Joseph was to Egypt, Daniel was to Babylon. He got there first, he rose to power, he interpreted the dream. He showed God greater than the gods of the pagans.The OT closes with a pathetic scrawny group of Jews living under the thumb of the Perisan King Cyrus. The OT ends not with a bang but a wimper.It is the story of the sorrow of sin. It is the story of the cancerous spread of the stain of sin as it smears it’s bloody paw across the fabric of the human race.But it is also a story of HOPE as the result of the faithfulness of God. It’s the progressive unfolding of that twofold promise of God to give us a savior and a covering.The OT closes. You have Israel no longer sovereign in her land. Power exchanges take place as foretold by the prophet Daniel, Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece and then Rome.And then we get to LUKE 2!Do you remember the two lines of prophetic truth emerging from Genesis 3?There is coming from the seed of the woman an ultimate deliverer. That’s Genesis 3:15.And the second line of gospel truth is that God will provide for the seed of the woman an ultimate covering. That’s Genesis 3:24.Here’s where things go supernova.CommunionWhen we open the pages of the NT we have Israel under the thumb of ROMAN rule. They are oppressed. They are broken down. They want to be delivered. They are in SORROW. When have they NOT been in sorrow. Sin has wrecked EVERYTHING.And here are the shepherds, chilling in Bethlehem. Now keep in mind even though we find these shepherds in the pages of our NT, these are OT shepherds. JESUS has not yet come for them. That is until that night.And here’s what so amazing.Now those two lines of gospel truth run parallel all through the OT. The OT saint thinks they are two distinct things. But in the birth of Messiah they are beginning to merge. The life of Jesus tells us (REVEALS TO US) that the covering for sin and the deliver from sin are one and the same. In other words, those two lines of gospel truth merge at the cross.And that is what we have come to celebrate this morning. We celebrate that God is both just and the justifier of those who believe. The sin problem, the SORROW of the OT, the pain is finally dealt with. Behold, I bring you “good news of great joy” that will be for all people.The Christmas story is primarily a story of NEWS - NEWS that changes everything. Something has come that is going to change how you feel. It’s going to change your feelings from feelings of SORROW to feelings of GREAT JOY.That sin is no longer COVERED it is REMOVED. And that pre-fallen state of ADAM where he is perfectly fine with God looking at him with his perfect eyes, that can be restored. You can be totally fine with God looking at any part of your life because you know that your sins have all been forgiven.After the CupNow we are going to end by marvelling at the plan of GOD being pushed forward through history. God is still working. Do you believe that? The redemptive narrative is still being pushed forward despite the faithlessness of men.We too are waiting for the real, physical coming of Jesus Christ. We too are awaiting the redemption of our souls. And he’s coming this time not to redeem but to remake.amazing dramacrafted to build in suspense. move forward. takes your breaththree septads. seals trumpet bowls. history is only moving forward if a seal is being broken or a trumpet is being blown or a bowl is being poured outeverything else is setting scene. at the end of the seventh bowl everything is ready. Your at the end of rev 16.And its the 70th week.an the angel has planted one foot on land and once foot in the sea and annouce to the world, “The kingdoms of world have become the kingdoms of god and his messiah”before the messiah descends.And upon that black canvas is painted the bright white hope of the angels good news.

Our kids need prayer at the start of every school year. But this year, the need to pray feels a bit more urgent. We love our kids and know how worried, excited, nervous, and ready they are. So what we can do is pray. And while we’re praying for our children today, please remember to lift up teachers, administrators, and school leaders. In this episode, we pray for freedom for our children in three areas: Freedom from fear Freedom to be who You created our children to be And freedom to grow in their faith Dear God, we ask that you grant our children freedom from fear. God, it seems like there is so much for our kids to fear these days. Deliver our children from any anxiety, when everything seems to be telling us to freak out. You gave us a sound mind so we cling to that truth.  If or when fear rises up, we ask that Your presence envelopes our child in a tangible, unmistakable, personal way. May they know that You are always with them and Your perfect love casts out fear.  Will you bless our kids with confidence this year? That they would be leaders of quiet calm as everything swirls around them.  And that they would be an example of trust and faith. May they be so sure of Your power and plans for them, that they have absolutely zero reasons to fear. Next God, we ask for freedom for our kids to be who You created them to be. God, You lovingly designed and knit together each child. You equipped them with just the right personality, the right interests, the right temperament, and just the right gifts to do what You created them to do. We pray that they shine as girls and boys who are fearfully and wonderfully made. We ask that you bless their gifts and talents and personality. We want their talents to bloom in Your light. May our children grow in stature and favor in your sight and the sight of others. We ask that this year, our kids discover the gifts and talents You lavished upon them so they can serve and love others and glorify You in ways that fill them up and make them come alive. Surround them with people, friends, and teachers who can see their talents and point them out. Help us as we parent to be quick to see what their gifts are and to nurture them. You’ll grow and develop our kids in Your perfect timing. Do not let us rush them. Finally God, we ask that they grow in their faith. God, you desire that each and every person You created develops a vibrant and personal relationship with you. So if our child doesn’t know You as their Lord and Savior, we pray for his salvation now.  For those who do know You as their Redeemer and Friend, will you grow that relationship this year? Will you give them opportunities to deepen their trust in You?  Will you make our children fruitful because they long to know you? Put in them a desire to spend time each day praying and reading Your word. This may sound far-fetched or too big or too ridiculous in a culture like ours.  But big jobs are light work for you.  You are a good Father who loves to give good gifts to your children and to give us far beyond what we could ever ask or imagine.  We boldly approach your throne of grace and ask for blessings for our girls and boys.  Bless them. Keep them. May Your face shine upon them.  All day. Every day. When they sit and when they rise. When they come and when they go. When they study and when they learn, lavish them with peace, hope, joy, patience, kindness, and strength.  You promise us your presence and we take you up on that. Give us the grace to begin.  Amen. Key Quotes Big jobs are light work for God. Surround them with people, friends, and teachers who can see their talents and point them out. When our kids study, lavish them with peace, hope, joy, patience, kindness, and strength.  Previous Episode Mentioned Episode #24: A prayer for the mom deciding what to do for school next year  Here’s how to connect GraceInRealLifePodcast.com Instagram Facebook group Facebook page Subscribe to Jill’s weekly “the good + the grace” email

Dear Manna Family, The Bible tells us that God is always present. However, many people go through life without being aware of God’s presence. Two men in the Bible who had this experience were Samson and Jacob. Samson was not aware that God had left him, and Jacob didn’t know that God had visited him. Before he was born, Samson was called by God to be a judge and a deliverer for Israel. He was a Nazarite who was set apart for God’s special service, and he was forbidden to drink alcohol or cut his hair as a sign of his dedication to God. The Holy Spirit gave him supernatural physical strength to deliver Israel from the Philistines. For most of his adult life, Samson disobeyed God, and used his power to satisfy his own lusts. Finally God had enough, and when Delilah cut off his hair, the Holy Spirit left him. Judges 16:19 And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair, Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him. Vs 20 Then she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. Vs 21 Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes… Samson thought that his great strength belonged to him, so he could live independent of God. His disobedience had so broken his fellowship with God, that when God left him, he didn’t even know it. Jacob had the opposite experience. When Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau, God visited Jacob in a dream, and promised to be with him. Jacob didn’t recognize that it was God, until he woke up. Genesis 28: 15 “And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Vs 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” Vs 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob had the right response. As soon as he understood that it was God who had visited him, he set up a pillar, poured oil on it as an act of worship and promised to follow God. (vs 18-22). The proper response to the presence of God is always worship and obedience. Both Samson and Jacob teach us that constant awareness of God’s presence is crucial. If your spouse or child moved out of your home, and you didn’t discover they were gone for 2 weeks, we’d say your relationship with them was not very important. God is working in our lives every day, and most of the time, we are not aware of His presence. Let’s make our relationship with Him our number one priority. Remember, God designed us to “do life together!” Love and prayers, Brad ••• Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life. Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California. Manna believes in doing life together. If you’re in need of prayer, email us your request at mannabiblepodcast@gmail.com and our class will be happy to add it to our prayer list. Members of Manna get together each week to pray for those on the prayer list. For more information, visit mannapodcast.com. ©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Finally God speaks to Job. It turns out that the answers to Job's questions are bigger questions-

 We are warned of the evil workers that have come into our mist. We are to have no confidence in our flesh or what we feel we can accomplish on our own merits, who were are born to, what status we have in life, etc,. Our citizenship is in heaven and that's more important than anything here on earth. God's peace passes all understanding. We are to think on the things that are honorable, right, pure, and lovely. Finally God provides for His own. We are to be satisfied with what He gives us. He will provide all of our needs. Intro music by Scott Holmes (Corporate Uplifting)    

A daily devotional walking through God's word together using The Bible Reading Plan at http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.html. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com. Bible Reading Plan - www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 18; You Version Bible app Engaging God's Story Reading Plan Days 120 through 126 Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are not exactly household names. Maybe Daniel, but certainly not the other three. Of course, if you've been around the church for a while, you might have heard the stories of these three young men and their exploits with a furnace. You might remember their refusal to bow and the king's fury that put them into a furnace so hot that it killed the guards as they approached it. You might remember the fourth figured that appeared in the fire that resumed them from the flames so that they didn't even smell like smoke. But I don't want to talk about Daniel and his escape from the lions' den today or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their escape from the furnace. I want us to recall today that these three young men were exiles in Babylonia. I want us to remember how they got there in the first place. Then I want us to see what God's upper story then and now tells us. You'll recall that the Israelites had every chance to return to God. He sent prophets and priests to try His best to get them to return to Him and follow His teachings, but they refused. They wanted to be like all the other nations around them and so they abandoned God and sought after the gods of the nations around them. Finally God withdrew His protection from the nation He built and they fell first to the Assyrians and then to the Babylonians. These two ancient civilizations were pretty smart in their capture of their enemies, though. They dispatched their captives to several other nations and instead of putting them in prisons, put them to work. They became farmers and masons and musicians and in the case of the best and brightest, Nebuchadnezzar even brought them into the palace to teach them about the country and its government to make them officials in their new adopted land. Many don't realize that the same thing happened to thousands of those imprisoned in World War I and II. They weren't just kept in prisons, but many were “loaned” to cities and farmers and industries as workers. Many were even paid and became close friends with their “employers”. The goal of the king was to assimilate the young into his kingdom to reduce any resistance. Rather than spark rebellions from poor prison conditions, he gave them meaningful work and good living conditions and showed them a better way to live than they had seen in their homelands under siege. But one thing these a group of these Israelites failed to do was change their ways with respect to their God. You see, to be totally immersed in the new country meant believing the way the adopted culture believed. It meant adopting their gods as well. Start thinking like the local populace. But some of these Jewish captives, notably people like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused to change their religious habits. They refused to let their faith in their Creator diminish. Our culture bombards us with information every day trying to get us to ignore our God. The off color jokes at the water cooler, do I participate or stand up for God's standards of morality and equality among all people? The sexual innuendos toward the waitress by my table mates, do I let it slide or remind them that sex is God's gift for married couples to enjoy intimacy in their relationships and not to be exploited otherwise? Do I fudge my travel expenses just because everyone else does, or do I provide honest and accurate accounting because God expects it of me? You see, it doesn't matter what the culture we live in might think or do because we live here as exiles. We are not of this place. Even though I was born and raised in the United States, my citizenship changed when I accepted Christ as my Lord. I entered a new kingdom and gave sovereignty and allegiance of my life to Jesus. So this place is no longer my home. Peter tells us we are foreigners and exiles, just passing through this place. If we remember that and don't get caught up in the culture of this place but remain true to the culture of our Father and His Son, we never need to worry. He will take care of us. Does that mean we'll never have trouble? No, by no means. Just look at these three young men. They were probably teenagers when their first test came. Daniel said, “I won't defile myself by eating the king's food. Just give us vegetables and water.” Then I love what his three companions told the king when they refused to bow to the golden statue made in his likeness. “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from your Majesty's hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, you Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” That is faith. That is the testimony of so many thousands of martyrs who have given their lives for Christ through the centuries. It tells of the faith of so many today who are refusing to renounce their faith in Him even though they face the executioner's blade or bullets. I would like to think my faith is strong enough to refuse to recant if faced with that situation. I'm afraid too many in our culture would not, just as was true in Daniel's day. Knowing I don't belong here helps my faith. Knowing this place is just a temporary stopping point in my journey the garden God is preparing for us helps my faith. Knowing others have gone before me and have had the courage to stand before the crowd and kept their faith when others failed helps me to keep my faith. Knowing that if I can stand firm in the face of adversity that my testimony might help someone else stay strong as well helps me to keep my faith. Knowing God never fails and even though I can't see how His upper story plays out in my lower story, I have the assurance that if I love Him and obey Him, all things work together for my good and His glory, I can keep my faith no matter what might happen around me. We can go back to one of those very early lessons we had. Job never knew why he faced the adversities he faced. God never revealed to him the questions Satan raised or the contest God allowed behind the backdrop of heaven. God's upper story encourages us because we know God will never allow us to face more than we can handle. God's upper story encourages us because we know in the end we are rewarded for our faithfulness. But like Job, we often cannot see around the bend in the road and may never understand why we face the difficulties in life that come our way. But with God on our side, we can know that a better day is coming. We are only exiles in this world and one day He will come to take us back home to the place He has been preparing for us for an eternity. Take courage as an exile, a foreigner, a child of the King of kings. He will never let you down.

The words in our text were spoken to a people who had experienced great loss. They had been overrun by another culture because of the failure of their faith and their sin. Isaiah was a prophet sent to these people. The first 50 chapters of Isaiah are God communicating his unhappiness with them. But by the time of our text, God begins to outline the plan of the Messiah coming to the world. He outlines how God is going to give them back their song. Their grace would allow them to bear children and re-populate a nation. The once broken and desolate people would be revitalized because of what God was about to do. There are three promises spoken in Isaiah 54. First is the promise of a restoration of joy. God promised them a restoration of fruitfulness. He would replace their losses with greater gain. Finally God promised to restore a confidence in them. These promises given to Israel so many years ago is also for us. The same God who promised to make their tomorrows better than their yesterday is the same God saying the same thing to us today. The bible tells us that the blessing that were coming would require them to enlarge their tents and strengthen their foundations to make room for what God would provide. God understood that the promises would be hard for them to believe. For that reason God commanded them to “spare not.” Don’t hold back. Don’t try to limit God. Because all the promises sounded too good to be true, man’s tendency would be to do a little, but not too much. God said to spare not. Today is our moment. Some have lived with a darkness overshadowing us for a long time. If we will believe God and give Him all that he asks. If we do not hold back, He will do all that He said He would do. God does not want an effort, He wants all in. Many want all that God has, but are not willing to give all that they have in order to get it. We cannot sit back and wait for God. We have to first believe before God’s blessings will come. When God offers to do a great thing in our life, the greatest insult would be to not embrace all that He wants to do. God was telling Israel (and us) to let their effort to equal their opportunity. As good as the past may have been, God has greater plans for our future. We must not hold back. What matters right now is that we have an opportunity. We must not look at God and say that what He is asking is too much. Christ went to the cross for our sin. We owe all to Him. Thinking in the weakness of our present circumstances will cause us to fall short of God’s promise. “God I now you can do all but…” This kind of thinking will sabotage what God is trying to do. Don’t let the weakness of our flesh get in the way of what God has in store.

God wants us to have a pure heart. David ask's an important question of God in today's psalm, " Who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your Holy Mountain? God answers, "Whoever walks without blame doing what is right, speaking the truth from the heart." Jesus says, "blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God. All of our readings today ask for a pure heart. Four things God wants from us. To follow his commandments not adding or subtracting from them. Second, he wants us to be active and sincere in our worship. Third, God wants us to allow his word to be planted in our hearts. To not be just hearers only but doer's of his word. Finally God is way more interested in what is happening on the inside of us than he is on our outward appearance.

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The earth has been filled with idolatry and false worship of false gods since the beginning of time. Finally God will remove all that is false and destructive and will establish permanently the true worship of the only One worthy of worldwide worship – the Lamb. The post Preparation of the Earth for Worship of the Lamb (Revelation 14:14 – 15:8) first appeared on The Oasis.

In God’s Upper Story goal of doing life with us, He was very patient with Israel in their Lower Story lives. For over two centuries through the reign of 19 kings, God kept sending His messengers, the prophets. These men were faithful and passionate in their delivering God’s message and warnings to His people. God’s call for His people to come home was often ignored. Finally God said “enough” and divided the nation of Israel into two nations. Now He would work through the Southern Kingdom of Judah to accomplish His plan of a restored relationship with humanity.

In God’s Upper Story goal of doing life with us, He was very patient with Israel in their Lower Story lives. For over two centuries through the reign of 19 kings, God kept sending His messengers, the prophets. These men were faithful and passionate in their delivering God’s message and warnings to His people. God’s call for His people to come home was often ignored. Finally God said “enough” and divided the nation of Israel into two nations. Now He would work through the Southern Kingdom of Judah to accomplish His plan of a restored relationship with humanity.

Jesus physical resurrection is a sure sign that God is in the business of redeeming this world, and is not just interested in what happens later. That means we have to be interested in God’s work of redeeming, recreating, resurrecting this world, bringing it from death to life. Finally God is compassionate, and invites us as far as we are able to go, for now, but keeps on inviting us to go further

The story is told that Michelangelo is walking though a stone yard one day when he saw a block of granite and he said “I must let the angel out of that rock” He began to work on the stone until he had carved the stone to a beautiful angel. God sees in us far more in us than we see in ourselves. He sees more than we can imagine possible. It has always been God’s desire to release that which He placed in us. John offers in our text, the first glimpse of a man who will become one of the most influential apostles. When we meet him here, he is far from what he would become. There was something inside Simon that God would eventually transform into Peter. God saw something there that was hidden inside. God saw beyond all the shortcomings, and sees what can become when His love and His Grace are applied. God knows how to do it, if we will just yield to His touch. Few of us know all that God had to work through in Simon’s life that was trying to defeat God’s purpose. Jesus would have to battle issues in Simon before he could work out that better man. There are three specific roadblocks that Jesus had to go through in order to release the man inside Simon. The first thing that God had to deal with was Simon’s own personality. Simon was known among his peers as someone who was hotheaded, mouthy, and brash. Many people let their mouth overload them. They come to God, but they do not bring their sharp tongue to Him. Eventually Simon allowed God to bring his personality under His grace and this allowed the man inside to come forth. The second thing God had to deal with was Simon’s heredity. We all have a history. We all have baggage. There are some people who excuse their failures based upon their parents, their upbringing or their history. If we will let grace have say in our life, God can release the better man inside. We do not have to be a victim of our past. Finally God had to deal with his environment. Simon was from Bethsaida. Bethsaida was a bad place that the bible tells us that Jesus passed judgment over. God was able to overcome the wickedness of this environment to bring Peter out of Simon. If Grace can have a say in our life, it can overcome our personality, our past and our environment to release the man or woman that God desires for us to be.

Have you discovered the secret? Paul discovered it! The secret is Christ, spending time alone with Him and devoting our lives to sharing Him with others. If you are a Christian and yet you don't have "peace" then the question is, "Do you understand grace"? After Paul's conversion God sent him to Arabia where he would spend time sitting with God daily for three years. Finally God sent Paul out to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles. Are you pouring into the lives of others? Does your fruit show?

Have you discovered the secret? Paul discovered it! The secret is Christ, spending time alone with Him and devoting our lives to sharing Him with others. If you are a Christian and yet you don't have "peace" then the question is, "Do you understand grace"? After Paul's conversion God sent him to Arabia where he would spend time sitting with God daily for three years. Finally God sent Paul out to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles. Are you pouring into the lives of others? Does your fruit show?