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WEEKLY ENCOURAGEMENT
Updated: Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Have you ever felt totally helpless in a situation? Perhaps you have a lost husband or child or parent, and it seems there is just nothing you can do to open their heart or to get them to understand about their need for salvation. Or maybe you have a wayward child that knows the truth, perhaps even grew up in church, but now seems so far from the Lord and so uninterested in the things of God. Perhaps there is a broken relationship, that no matter what you try to do, just does not seem to get any better. When we face such situations, we realize how totally powerless we are. It is very clear, that only God can change a heart. Only God can convict of sin.
The Bible is full of situations that we hopeless, except for God's intervention. There was the man in Gadarene that was possessed by 2,000 evil spirits! Can you imagine that?! He was totally over powered without any hope at all. Then Jesus came. He commanded and the spirits left and the man was in his right mind and totally free to serve the Lord. Mark 5:1-15
In Matthew 17:15-18, we read the story of the burdened father whose son was a lunatic, sorely vexed by an evil spirit. The man most certainly tried everything he knew and had even brought him to Jesus' disciples, but to no avail. But when he came to Jesus, "Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour." Matthew 17:18
Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was sick and died. He had been buried for four days when Jesus came to them. It was over. It was too late. The situation was hopeless. But Jesus told them to roll away the stone, and He said, "Lazarus, come forth." And Lazarus rose from the dead!!
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo were faithful to their God. They refused to bow down and worship the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar. Therefore, according to the king's commandment, they were thrown into the fiery furnace. This furnace was so hot that in Daniel 11:22, we read that the men that threw them into the furnace we killed due to the heat! If there were ever a hopeless situation, this was one. No way could they, being thrown into the middle of this tremendous heat, survive. But God!!!!! Not only did they survive but, "the fire had no power over there bodies, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, not the smell of fire on them. " Daniel 3:27
Impossible? In the human realm, all these situations were hopeless and totally impossible! But "For with God NOTHING shall be impossible." Luke 1:37 This last week I was reading the book of Jonah again. I notice something that fit with our subject today. In chapter 1, it tells us, the Lord sent a great wind. In chapter 2, it says God prepared a great fish and that the Lord spoke to the fish. In chapter 4, it says God prepared a gourd, a worm, and the east wind. Stop and think about these things. God clearly has power over all of nature, over ALL things. He was active in the small details of a rebellious mans life. He had a plan and a purpose and He always knew what was going on in and around Jonah.
It is no different with you and me. The Lord knows all about us and our situations. He knows all about those "impossible" people and circumstances. I would encourage you today, to turn them all over to our Lord. Claim His working for His glory. Don't limit God by your own understanding! For years, I believed God did all these wonderful miracles that we read about in the Bible. I even believed He would do them for you. But I did not believe He would do them for me. My reason was simply, I didn't deserve it. How foolish!! God never did any of the about miracles because the people deserved them. He did them for His purposes and for His glory!!! And that is the very reason He will do them for me and for you.
We are so powerless in many areas of life. But look to our God. The God of the Bible is our God today!
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." Hebrews 13:8
"But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
What impossible situation is facing you today? Have you honestly given it over to the Lord? Do you truly believe He can work here? If not, why not?
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- Sandy Hastings June 3, 2008 |
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