Song-"...Into the darkness you shine...
Out of the ashes we rise...There's no one like You."
Missions video-I was moved by this video clip. I thought about it all this week. Sometimes, we glamorize the work of a missionary. But effective missions work looks a lot like this-Jesus, and Peter, James, and John. I saw photos of missionaries discipling just a few, or even one. This is what works permanent change in individual lives. Jesus had His times with the masses, but it was the few He invested His time in who took His message to the world. It's because of one of those disciples, that I know Jesus now.
(My perception on the sermon and what I think I heard Pastor Frank say.)
(I wish I could figure out how to word the perfect disclaimer-one that would give honor where honor is due and yet leave room for my human error in the process of hearing and writing.)
"Kadesh"-holy-'There is no one like You.
Our God is greater and stronger and higher than any other~~
~situation
~debt
~consuming sorrow
~addiction
~you name it
~god
God calls us our new name now.
He calls us by His finished product.
(Just like He called the 'sinner' a new name-'forgiven.'
What a great new name to have!)
What we are experiencing in the Spirit is in direct proportion
to our hunger for the Word of God.
Take a step of faith and a step of works.
Eventually, it becomes as natural as walking
and we will be unable to separate the two.
Faith will cease when we see Him because we'll be like Him.
When we see Him, all that remains is love.
He holds the universe and He mourns when a sparrow falls.
If He is holding us in the palm of His hands,
then we can cry "'Kadesh' , Holy. There is no one like our God!"
Paul, under house arrest, wrote Philippians.
He exhorted the church to 'Rejoice evermore.'
How could Paul rejoice under confinement?
He was learning to know an incomparable God
and his circumstances no longer mattered.
There is no room for other gods.
We're living in a culture of relativism;
tolerance abounds.
There is no one like our God.
He is the King of Kings,
the Alpha and Omega,
The Bright Morning Star,
Our Wonderful Counselor,
The Prince of Peace.
Don't try to bring my God down to an even playing ground.
He will shake things up and you will see that He is 'I AM'-
the God above all.
Phil 1:18-Paul rejoiced that the Word of God was being preached even though those preaching had the wrong motives.
Light overcomes darkness; darkness doesn't overcome light.
Dryness doesn't overcome fire; fire overcomes dryness.
Your fire will catch dryness on fire.
Your light will make the darkness light.
The power of the Word of God overcomes any wrong motive for preaching.
Therefore, rejoice!
Phil 2:17-Paul rejoiced that His life was being poured out.
The Bible says that the latter days will be greater than the former days.
The former days were glorious with salvation.
Someone is about ready to step into an arena of favor,
of power, and of doing the greater things Jesus talked about.
Someone is about ready to step into your latter and leave your former behind.
Story: A family's house was burning. A man's son climbed up to the roof. His father yelled for him to jump. The boy screamed, "But I can't see you!" The father cried, "That's all right. I can see you!"
God can see me even when I cannot see Him.
God can hear me even when I cannot hear Him.
Phil. 3:7-10-Paul just wanted to know Jesus. He counted all else as loss.
Phil. 4:4-Paul exhorted the believers to just 'rejoice.'
Stop worrying about the mouths of lions, the bigness of the giants, prison, chains, depression, your marriage, your children and grandchildren.
There is no one like Your God.
Rejoice in Him.
Help us to understand how big You are Lord.
We try to find our answer in so many things.
The Spirit of God in my life is a stronger opposing force than anything that would come against me.
Thirty-five pounds of chains were holding Paul and Silas in a prison cell.
But they began to sing because they knew the joy of sharing in His suffering.
They worshiped the God who was like no other.
The prison cell could not contain that kind of worship.
And there is no depression or discouragement that can hold you like a prison cell
when you worship the God who is like no other. God looks for a people who love and worship Him just because He's God and not because of what He does or does not do.
I want to experience everything God has for me.
We've lost a generation because we've tried to keep God in a religious box.
I want to look at Jesus.
If we don't know the fellowship of His suffering,
we won't experience His death and the power of His resurrection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even as we step into the latter from the former, each latter day
will become a former day as we go deeper into the latter,
and we will be changed from glory to glory
and we will go from strength to strength.
Paul wanted only 'to know Him' and because of this,
he was content in every situation,
because each circumstance-
whether he had much or little,
whether he was full or hungry-
gave him opportunity to know Christ.
I wonder if it would be accurate to say
that when life was difficult,
Paul experienced the fellowship of His sufferings,
and when it was great,
he experienced the power of His resurrection,
so that no matter what happened,
He was experiencing the fullness of Christ
and was getting to know Him
and therefore, he rejoiced.
Truly, it would change our lives if we lived like this.
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