Generated Transcript:
it’s always a joy to be able to
open the Word of God from that word be
able to appreciate things that make our
lives better focus in recent days is
very easy to figure out the coronavirus
has people concerned all over the world
what it offers is many many things and
many opportunities one of those that
offers is for us to be able to learn I
want to share for just a few moments
some things that I am learning through
this process Jesus teaches us that we
ought to be good learners he says come
and learn of me Jesus talked about
learning himself he said that he learned
through patience and through struggling
he learned obedience through difficulty
and so I want to share some things with
us that I’m learning that I hope will be
helpful for you you may be learning
these things as well I’m learning
through this process number one that
patience is a virtue we live in a time
and in an era in a civilization that
there’s not a lot of emphasis on
patience because we want everything and
mostly we have everything that we want
and we have it quickly from the
microwave to the drive-through to the
compact to whatever we don’t usually
have to wait very long and if we do you
may be like me and not be a very good
waiter in that sense the Word of God in
Luke chapter 21 it was Jesus that said
in your patience possess or win your
souls in Romans chapter 8 verse 25 we’re
reminded we wait with patience it’s one
of the virtues that Peter talks about in
second Peter chapter 1 when he talks
about the Christian Grace’s as we often
call them he said
faith virtue and knowledge and
temperance and self-control and patience
what does patience really mean and how
do we learn patience patience often is
receiving what me we may warn or desire
or even need at a pace that may be
slower I need to be patient with other
people I need to be patient when
expecting what God has promised to give
sometimes we just need to be patient
with ourself and the person that we get
the most frustrated or impatient with is
ourselves patience truly is a virtue
it’s a Christian grace and the things as
they transpire around us give us an
opportunity to learn more about patience
secondly I’m learning to trust more in
God to trust more in God because we talk
about trust and we talk about faith but
we often have so much and we see so much
and we’re reminded that we walk by faith
and not by sight that when things are
different when things are uncertain when
we don’t exactly know what the next
thing the next step the next process is
going to be we’ve become a little bit
fearful we forget can begin to wonder we
can begin doubt you remember when Jesus
was walking on the water he told Peter
he said come on out because Peter said
Lord I want to come to you and and Peter
began to walk then he looked at the
waves and the wind and as he took his
eyes off Jesus his trust his faith began
to waver he began to sing he said Lord
save me the consistency of God is
amazing but sometimes when we think
about the circumstances rather than
trusting in God we can lose some of that
faith
we can lose some of that trust and times
like these give us an opportunity to
trust Paul said in first Timothy chapter
4 we labor and we suffer now we don’t
mind so much the working part for the
Lord but we don’t really like the
suffering but he said we do that because
we trust in the Living God what is God
promised that the coronavirus is
challenging not a single thing what is
God told us that he is doing and will do
for us that the krona virus can take
away and the answer obviously is nothing
in first Timothy chapter 6 and verse 17
charged those that are rich in this
world that they be not high-minded nor
trust in uncertain riches but in the
Living God that offers us richly all
things to joy if we’re not careful we
can let our trusts lie we can let our
trust lose its focus and we may begin to
focus on our jobs we may begin to trust
in our jobs or in our wealth or in the
stock market or in our health or in the
economy or in recreation or in other
things that they’re just always going to
be and then we’ll change this take place
some of those things are removed some of
those things are in doubt where’s our
trust at I’m learning to trust more in
God because his promises are all true
and he’s always faithful in proverbs
chapter 3 in verses 5 and 6 we’re
encouraged at martyrs challenged by
solid trust in the Lord or trust in
Jehovah with all your heart and lean not
on your own understanding acknowledge
him in all your ways and he’ll direct
your path he did just say trust him with
a sun-shining
trusting when there’s no national
emergency trusting when the states are
not shutting down
he said trusting him with all your heart
and lean not on your own
understand I’m learning to trust God
more I’m learning that God is superior
God is over God is in control of all
things I need to be less self-sufficient
and more God sufficient thirdly I think
about things that I can learn and I am
learning through this process of
difficulty to some degree certainly the
uncertainty of it I’m learning to be
more thankful we all could recognize we
all could agree it’s easy to take things
for granted it’s easy just to soon
assume that what has been is and will be
and I don’t know a person that could
probably say I I’m too thankful I’m too
grateful I suppose all of us could say I
could be more grateful and I could be
more thankful thankful for the little
things thankful for things such as just
the Sun rising in the morning and we
rising in the morning and being able to
have life and breath and health and
whatever other things God has blessed us
with it was to the church at Colossae
Paul said in Colossians chapter 3 let
the peace of God rule in your heart –
which you’re called in one body and be
thankful I want to make a connection to
a couple things in that first the first
part he says allow the peace of God to
be the ruler of our heart and then later
on he says be thankful sometimes the
lack of Thanksgiving or the lack of
focus on being thankful may be the
result of lot not letting the peace of
God rule in our heart it’s hard to be
thankful when we’re worried isn’t it
it’s hard to be thankful when we’re
frustrated isn’t it it’s hard to be
thankful when we’re scared or concerned
overly about other things the psalmist
said in Psalm chapter 100 that we are to
enter
gates of our God with Thanksgiving his
courts with praise and be thankful to
him
and bless his name James tells us that
every good and every perfect gift comes
from God that’s a reason to be thankful
Paul discussed on more than one occasion
the fact that he was thankful for his
trials and for his trouble and through
his tribulation job gave thanks for the
things that he suffered and that he went
through and so we can understand why the
scripture would tell us and everything
give thanks for the good that we have
for the challenges that we have for the
pain that we may suffer though that’s
much tougher so one of the things I
think about in this time of difficulty
in this time of distraction and
uncertainty is I’m hopefully learning to
be more thankful number four I’m
learning and/or being reminded that
worry does not does not help again and
again and again and again that fact has
been proven and never has it been
successfully refuted that worried this
hell so why do we do it why do we as
human beings worry Jesus somewhat
scolded his disciples in the sixth
chapter of the book of Matthew in about
verse 31 where where you ask why are you
anxious in other words why are you
worried you’re questioning what are we
gonna eat what are we gonna wear what
are we gonna drink and then he used some
really simple illustrations he said what
about the lilies of the field they they
don’t work they don’t spin yet Solomon
and all his glories not arrayed like one
of these he talked about the bird
to the air how the father cares for the
homeland why do we worry we might carry
worried back to one of the other things
that we’ve already talked about and
that’s learning to trust God more
worried well what will happen if this
happens what’s going to be the end
result of that sometimes people use this
phrase and I like the phrase God’s got
this but not only does God have this God
has everything the promises that he is
made
he’s always kept I’ll never leave you
I’ll never forsake you I’ll never let
you down I’ll never let you have a
temptation without a way of escape
Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6 says
don’t worry that’s kind of a more modern
interpretation but but he says don’t be
anxious about anything I can’t put
anything on the worry list and please
God he didn’t say don’t be anxious
except about those really really serious
viruses that come through he said don’t
be anxious about anything that’s a broad
spectrum and yet he says but in
everything by prayer supplication with
Thanksgiving there’s our word again let
your requests be made known to God so
what’s the cure for worry when we start
worried when I’m learning not to worry
where do I need to carry my falls I need
to carry them to prayer I need to carry
them to supplication I need to carry
them to Thanksgiving and I need to carry
them to God what have you ever asked God
that was good yes you know he tells us
to ask can I ask according to his will
that God ultimately did give what’s best
for you now I didn’t say that he gave it
to you or he gave it to me remember how
Paul one time asked God three times he
said three times I won’t have the thorn
in my flesh to be
removed I didn’t remove the thorn but he
did give him something better he said my
grace is sufficient for you sometimes
what we ask is what we don’t necessarily
need sometimes our worry is misguided
because God has a purpose in what’s
going on can you imagine what the good
could be through this virus issue if
people return to focus away from how
many people are going to contract it how
many jobs you’re going to be lost how
many businesses are going under how many
people are going to die if people turn
the focus away from that to the focus of
seeing the virus of sin and how that the
precious blood of Jesus Christ cures
every person that desires to be cured
from seeing what if you could get that
message out today we have a solution for
every person it will 100% cure every
person that has a coronavirus guaranteed
by every person that ever contracted
that with any sense of mine would say
give me that cure sins far worse than
the coronavirus and there is a 100% cure
what if we turn worried and to focus on
the solution the medicine the blood of
Jesus Christ that cures the sin virus
I’m learning number five but there’s a
lot of a bandwidth in perception you may
not have heard that term a lot I don’t
know that I’ve ever used that term
before but with a lot of different
options and situations everything from
how we assemble or how we worship God
people have different ideas and people
have different opinions and and the
things that I’m learning from that are
this there may be more than one way to
do something and sometimes because we’ve
traditionally done things in a certain
way we may without even
make that tradition higher than what God
said we may close our minds to other
things that would be just as acceptable
and pleasing to God Jesus talked about
those in his days that had elevated the
traditions of men above the will of God
I think about Matthew chapter 7 and I
think about how Jesus says judge not
that you be not judged I realize there’s
a lot of misuse and misinterpretation of
that and some people take it to an
extreme that Jesus didn’t intend it to
go and said well it just means nobody
can judge anybody that’s not true if you
keep reading he talks about where the
same judgment we judge will receive
judgment but he was talking about using
the golden rule I think about Romans
chapter 14 and it’s a great study and we
don’t have time for that study today but
he talks about different matters of
judgment and he says be cautious
don’t say my way is the only way in the
only right way don’t condemn someone
just because their way may not be my way
what ultimately matters is is it
pleasing to God and I understand that
Jesus said he is the way and obviously
there’s no other way with Jesus I
realize there are some very specific
things that the Bible teaches us that
there is only one way and there is only
one process that it can be done but for
every one of those there are multitudes
of other things and other matters of
doing the will of God that have a broad
bandwidth the perception for example go
into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature when they were limited
to what we preach it’s got to be the
gospel but it’s in of all the world
where’s all the world was next door it’s
across the street it’s in our town it’s
in our cities in our state but how do we
go and do that we have to go to another
country can we do it by a personal Bible
study can we do it by inviting someone
to take a Bible correspondence course
can we do it by encouraging someone in
another way can we do it by handing them
a book like muscle and shovel and say
here’s a great read to simply point out
one or some combination and say this is
the only right way and no other way can
be right it’s certainly in violation of
what God intended there many arenas that
God has given us judgment and God has
given us the opportunity to choose ways
that still are pleasing unto Him and so
I’m learning through this process that
there are some different ways of doing
things and different ideas and people
think more strongly or people think less
strongly about certain things I don’t
want to sit in that judgment seat if
it’s not in opposition to the will of
God I want to be patient with others and
I want others to be patient with me
number six I’m learning that love never
fails never fails that’s first
Corinthians chapter 13 and verse eight
where those words are found depending on
your translation it may say charity or
it may say love Paul beautifully
describes what true love is in that
chapter he talks about symbols and he
talks about speaking loudly and giving
in front of other people and and if we
do our things just to be seen of others
that’s no good we’ve gotten our reward
here that’s not what God’s after our
doing things so that others would praise
us but he talks about love being patient
and being kind and being long-suffering
and he gets to this point in this
section of the chapters we divide the
chapters and verses up where he has
talked about some spiritual some rock
the spiritual gifts that were limited to
that day in that time but he said love
never fails he talked about the
miraculous prophecies the miraculous
speaking in tongues the miraculous
things of that day but he said love
never fails
and that’s exactly true in 1st John
chapter 3 and verse 16 we know by this
john said the love of God because he
laid down his life for
us that’s a never-failing love he goes
on to say we ought to love each other we
ought to love the Brethren and have that
kind of love and whatever else may fail
whatever else may crash whatever else
may not go well in a virus time or
something else that we see as an
emergency or a crisis
love never fails I’m learning that to a
greater degree I hope you’re learning
that to a greater degree in the
surroundings don’t change love and
finally number seven I’m learning that
God is good all the time I don’t know
who originally coined that phrase my
friend mr Elam has said it many many
many times I don’t know that I’ve ever
been around
damar when he didn’t say that phrase but
God truly is good at all the time God’s
good when the economy is good God’s good
when the economy is bad God was good
during the Great Depression God was good
during the Asian flu plague God is good
during the krona virus God is always
good Psalm chapter 73 in verse one truly
God is good to Israel and he’s good to
us he’s good to you he’s good to me
and those circumstances may be different
around us and may be uncertain and maybe
causing issues and problems that hadn’t
changed the goodness of God whatsoever
Psalm chapter 84 and verse 11 says for
Jehovah God is our Sun and our shield
he will give grace and glory no good
thing will he withhold from those who
walk uprightly you and I are walking in
his path
no good thing is God going to keep back
from us God truly is good all the time
and all the time God’s good what are you
learning what are you learning through
this different time what are you
learning through this difficult and
uncertain time I’ve overall learning
good things I hope we’re all learning to
grow closer to God to be better servants
of God
and better servants of others thanks so
much for joining us for this
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