Monday's Message: Rebel

Psalm 107 “Rebel”

Text:  Psalm 107:10-16

The Rebel: one that we are all familiar with to some degree

This one, I find, is easier for us to understand God’s perspective!

107:10  Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;

“Such as sit in darkness”

The light of truth is not acceptable or appreciated by this group of people. They choose to neglect the instruction they have been given. They have determined to resist the commands of God and go their own way.

-          They were led to the “City of habitation” & “By the right way”

John 3:20-21

“Men loved darkness rather than light.” = men love sin rather than Jesus!

20 “Lest his deeds should be reproved” = put to the proof!

21 “BUT he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be manifest”

-          Dear friend, Darkness and light could not be more different!

·          notice the difference! = It is the behavior and desire!

“In the shadow of death”

-          A shadow is cast away from the source of light. 

James 1:15 “sin when it is finished bringeth forth death”

-          If sin & death stands between us and God we would be in its shadow

Ephesians 5:8  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

“Bound in affliction and iron”

-          Sin makes captives of us all when we surrender to it rather than fight against it with the power of God!

-          It is not easy to walk away from sinful habits, IS IT? = We Chose them!

107:11  Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:

“Because they rebelled…and contemned”

[Rebel]:  One who disobeys the King's proclamation; a contemner of the king's laws.

[Contemned]: Despised; scorned; neglected, or rejected with disdain

[Condemned]: Guilty, worthless or forfeited; judged; sentenced to punishment

107:12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.

“Therefore”

-          “He brought down their hearts with labour”

·         God is after your heart!!

-           “they fell down”   I just don’t see why!

·         Pride is always the root of rebellion

·         Humility is always part of their redemption and repentance

-          “There was none to help”

·         It is important that we who are in submission to God realize that God is acting according to His Word, and that we do not stand in His way on behalf of a rebel who has reached this point.

·         When He is forced to, God will put rebels in a position where they are all alone and He becomes our only option

·         To avoid that, we must humble ourselves and choose Him!

107:13-14 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

“Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble”

-          Complete surrender brings complete deliverance!

“he saved them out of their distresses”

-          God’s plan is proven successful when a rebel reaches this point

“He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.”

-          It is a complete and marvelous deliverance

Family Friday: Rules of Engagement

Rules of Engagement

          Disagreements happen.  We call them different things such as arguments, fights, discussions, etc., but no one can agree with everyone else all of the time.  As much as we want to get along, we are going to disagree with someone at some point.  Unfortunately, this seems to be normal in some households.  Husbands and wives are not going to agree on everything; God made them different!  This does not mean that spouses must argue, even when they disagree.  My husband and I came up with “argument rules” when we were dating.  They started as a joke, but in reality these rules are Godly principles that will greatly help your relationship. 

1. Do not yell.  Proverbs 15:1
2. Do not bring up past mistakes.  Hebrews 8:12, Proverbs 19:11 
3. Do not leave the discussion feeling angry or upset.  Sometimes we must “table” a conversation due to timing or circumstances; if that happens, make sure you are not staying angry because the matter is not resolved. Ephesians 4:26
4. Do not argue in front of other people, especially your children.  Parents should always present a united front before their children.  Arguing should be done in private.  Yes, others will know we disagree sometimes, but we should not argue in front of them.  Proverbs 29:11
5. Do not expect perfection from each other.  I Peter 4:8

There will always be things on which husbands and wives do not agree, but that does not make it acceptable to have a fight with each other!  When no solution seems to be reached during an argument, then stop and pray together.  It is difficult to fight with someone if you are praying with them!  This is not an exhaustive list of the correct way to handle disagreements, but it surely has been a help to my marriage. 

Thoughtful Thursday: Even in the Cornfields

Luke 6:1-2:

And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.

And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?

Multitudes followed Jesus from town to town listening to every word He spoke, watching Him heal the sick and even being healed themselves. Some of them brought friends and loved ones to Him, laying them at His feet or lowering them from the roof top for Christ to heal them.
The Son of man healed them all.  Not only did He heal the ones brought to Him on stretchers or those standing on the street corners, He sometimes journeyed to where the sick folk were.
Jesus always drew a crowd no matter where He went and He spent valuable time with them teaching them about the kingdom of God.  He loved them and showed them through the acts of kindness He did.
Yet, there were always those people who no matter what Jesus did, they were never pleased.  They were like puppies nipping at your heels, a constant irritant following Him, pointing out things that displeased them and ways Jesus needed to change.
Even in the cornfields.  Sometimes I think Jesus walked through the cornfields just to get away from the people constantly around, continually talking and pushing at each other.  I'm sure it wasn't peace and harmony when you have that many people in one place.
If you've ever walked in a cornfield, you'll understand that only a few probably actually followed Him in, besides His disciples who probably welcomed the times they could have Jesus to themselves.
But, look at who He found in the cornfields...Luke 6:2 the Pharisees!!!
The Pharisees were so intent on finding Jesus' hidden sin that they just knew He had to have, that they followed Him into a place where the stalks were harsh against your skin, scraping, scratching and irritating.
Notice what they said to Jesus though, "Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?"
Now get the picture, here is Jesus and His disciples sneaking a little R&R before going back out to the crowd.  But there is always someone there to nip at your ankles waiting for the right time to attack.
Wait a minute!  This was the Sabbath day when Jesus did this horrible sin?  Well then why were these Pharisees in the cornfields?  Were they also doing unlawfully in not being in their synagogues?  I mean it is the Sabbath day.
People are so quick to judge you, but not themselves.  Maybe we need to take the beams out of our eyes so we can help take the splinters out of others.
Like 6:41, 42

We Pray Wednesday: People of Prayer - Hezekiah

People of Prayer-Hezekiah

We read in the Bible about men who had great prayer relationships and wish that we could have the type of relationship that men in the Bible had with God.  King Hezekiah is usually not one of those men that we think about in this way.  However, as we read about the life of the king, there are several things to notice about his walk with God.  There are some things that he prayed to God about that are synonymous with our daily prayers.

1.   He had a person to pray with him about his needs.

Throughout Hezekiah’s life, he had a friend and counselor named Isaiah that was his partner to pray with.  Anytime there was a difficulty in Hezekiah’s kingdom or person life, he would call on the prophet Isaiah to partner with him and bring his request to God.  Many times when we have difficulties and trials in our life that are too heavy for us to bear, we need to find a friend that we can ask to partner in prayer with us to God.

2.  He prayed to God when an army was attacking his people.

You may think that you have never prayed to God because an army was attacking you or your family.  If you are a Christian, you have an enemy that is attacking you and your family every day.  We need to pray to God on a daily basis that he will deliver us and our family from the constant attack of Satan and his army.  He comes to God daily and accuses us.  He also bombards us daily with temptations.  If a physical person was trying to attack you and your family on a daily basis, would you not pray earnestly to God?  Why then do we not pray to God because of the constant attack Satan has against us and our family?

3.  He took big problems directly to God.

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent a letter to Hezekiah that blasphemed God and told Hezekiah that he would destroy Jerusalem.  Look what the Bible says that he does: “And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD.”  (I Kings 19:20-21)  When a problem came to the king that was big and not one that he created for himself, he took it directly to God and prayed.  He did not worry, complain to others, or try to figure out a solution to the problem.  He went directly to God, told God the problem, and asked God what He was going to do with the problem.   This is exactly what we should do on a daily basis.

4.  He prayed to God for a miraculous healing.

Isaiah, Hezekiah’s friend, came and told Hezekiah that God said he was going to die.  Hezekiah turned toward the wall and asked God to heal him.  God not only miraculously healed him but also had the sun go back ten degrees on the sundial.  Do you ask God to heal others from diseases or infirmities that they have?  We think that God no longer heals, but uses doctors or medicine to heal.  This is also what He did for Hezekiah. They used medicine to help heal him from his disease.  Remember this was a disease that Hezekiah was supposed to die from, yet God healed him.

5.  He did not realize the consequences of his prayer.

The result of Hezekiah’s prayer was that God healed him of a disease from which he should have died.  The result of this prayer led to men from Babylon coming and bringing a present to Hezekiah because of his sickness.  The men came and saw all the riches of his kingdom.  Later his friend Isaiah prophesied to Hezekiah that the men from Babylon would return, take all of the riches of his kingdom, destroy the city, and take his people captive.  How many things in our life may be different had we not prayed for what we wanted?  Had Hezekiah just died instead of praying for his life, would Babylon still have destroyed Jerusalem?  We need to be sure that we pray according to God’s will, not our own.  Many times we want things that God does not want us to have, but we pray earnestly for it. God may eventually give it to us, knowing that it is not best for us.  We then turn around and blame God for the problem that we have because of the thing that we prayed so hard for in the first place.  We need to be sure that we pray according to God’s will.