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Picture
Stella saw a picture of a kite:
“The more we release the string of the kite the higher it goes! It’s the same with us as Christians – the more we release ourselves to the Lord the more He will be able to work through us to His praise and glory, Amen!”
Worship
Word
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.
Prov. 3:5-6
How much do we need to trust the Lord? Take the example of Israel – In Isaiah 54:1, the Lord tells the barren, desolate, woman, to rejoice and sing; for more are her children than of her who has a husband, This applies to Israel and means that it will never die out (e.g. Iran regularly proclaims that it wants to wipe Israel off the map), but it will again grow, multiply and spiritually prosper as the Lord originally promised Abraham. Abraham at 90 years of age and Sarah at 80 years of age were required to continue believing the Lord for a son, and that his descendants would be more than the stars in the sky.
It’s quite a high standard. I do not think faith, or that which we believe in, is initiated by ourselves. Rather God makes Himself known to us and also His plans, His purposes, His ways, and what He is about to do. He reveals these things to churches, to believers, to both groups and individuals, and then requires the response of faith, of trusting in Him with all our heart and not relying on our own insights e.g. Sarah didn’t think up the idea “Oh I think I will have a child when I am 90 years of age and my husband is 100 years of age.” What does the Scripture tell us?
And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Hebrews 11:11-12
God appeared to Abraham and Sarah and promised them a son:
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. ‘I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him …
Gen 12:1-4
There are a number in the Christian Church who believe in ‘Replacement Theology’ that the Church has replaced Israel with regard to the promises of God. NEVER! We will hopefully come to Romans Chapter 9 to 11 one day, in our morning services:
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.
Rom 11:25-27
Now there’s something to trust in the Lord with all our hearts for, Amen!
Quote of the week
”I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”
Corrie Ten Boom
Verse of the week
See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
Isaiah 41:15
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, Your ways and thoughts are so much higher than our ways and thoughts. May we never stumble on account of You Lord, but rather trust in You the more, in Jesus Christ, Amen!