Good morning everyone. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. As I sit here this morning I’m grateful to the Lord for another wonderful day to move on the path that leads to Him and His glory. We are in some crazy times so says the world indicators but the spiritual indicator (Holy Ghost) says that it is high time that those that rule this world are brought down and exposed for what they are. Open your spiritual eyes and ears and be blessed.
Today’s Prayer
Father, I come before you this morning on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Christ to admit that “we’ll never really know that You are all we need, until You are all we have,”* will we? Remind us that You are indeed faithful; even in our darkest hour, or in our loneliest moments, We can count on You to sustain us. Help us to know this in our spirits, and in our hearts. How sincerely we believe this will depend on how closely we have walked with You, won’t it? Help us to resolve to spend some quality time with You each day and we will be sure to give you the honor and glory in the wonderful name of Jesus, amen and Amen.
Let’s eat.
Embracing the Lean Times
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. ~ Jeremiah 17:7
So many of us, whether you will admit it or not are frightened by what is happening with the financial markets and how the government is having to bail out some of the biggest financial institutions in this country. Those that have retirement funds and 401K accounts are starting to panic from the fear of losing their money. Have you ever considered at what point a test becomes so difficult that you decide you can no longer trust in God and you must take over to solve the problem? Things of this sort have been happening for a long time. The prophet Jeremiah describes a situation in which the temptation to solve a financial problem can become so great that we trust in man’s way to solve it.
This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:5-8).
Jeremiah drew a sharp comparison between the man who trusts in his own effort to solve his problem and the man who trusts in God when he can’t see the outcome. The man who trusts in God bears fruit despite the circumstances in his life. He does not shrivel when the heat comes; in fact, his roots go deeper into God’s grace. He continues to bear fruit in spite of his circumstances.
Recently, I read where a person who owns a plant nursery explained to the person who was conducting the interview that whenever a plant lives in an arid climate, the roots drive deeper and deeper into the soil to get the water they need. This forces the plant to develop a root system that is far beyond the normal plant because it is forced to go deeper to gain the water it needs.
Sometimes God forces us to go deeper into the grace of His love in order to build a greater foundation in our own lives. These lean times are designed to accomplish this in us. If you find yourself in this condition, ask the Lord who provides the water for our soul for the grace you need today to continue to bear fruit in the desert.
Jesus is the ultimate 401K and retirement plan. Store your treasures in heaven and let God take care of what goes on down here. I know that there is going to be people that are not going to embrace this message and that’s okay but those who do really trust God.
Quote of the Day
God is there to meet you in the centre of all your trials, and to whisper His secrets, which will make you come forth with a shining face and an indomitable faith that all the demons of hell shall never afterwards cause to waver.
E. A. Kilbourne
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REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
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James H. Taylor Sr. – Kankakee City News has published my Daily meal message for a decade.