"The enemy wants to keep us fragmented in our lives and prevent faith from being established in our hearts" (Pastor John Kempf, Sunday Sermon).
The word that Pastor John spoke to the church last Sunday was both a challenging and an encouraging word. He encouraged us to guard what God speaks to our hearts and hold on to it carefully. We are in the middle of a spiritual conflict and the enemy wants to take away God's Word from us. Satan cannot stop God from accomplishing His purposes in our lives if we remain open and pliable in God's hands. God's Word is true and He will always honor His Word.
There is no doubt that there are many people going through some difficult times today. Sometimes the pressure can become so great that we despair or we want to give up on God. I was personally challenged by this statement that Pastor John made, "Maybe we are suffering not because we have sinned or refused God, but because we have refused to fail God." Wow- that gives me a whole new perspective on some of the difficulties I have gone through in the past. As John mentioned Sunday, Daniel was in the lion's den, not because he failed God but because he refused to fail God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace, not because they had sinned but because they refused to deny the goodness of God. The disciples suffered hardships not because they failed God, but because they chose to suffer hardships to stand with Jesus. John the Apostle was exiled to the island of Patmos, not because he failed God but because he refused to fail God.
Satan wants to convince us that our problems disqualify us from testifying about God's goodness and walking in His blessings. NOT TRUE! God is faithful even when our situation appears hopeless. Never allow discouragement or the accusations of the enemy prevent you from looking back and remembering what God has done for you in the past and believing that He is just as present with you today.
We can trust in God's love towards us because of what Christ did on Calvary. As John concluded Sunday, "We must be moored to Calvary (Jesus and the cross) in order to remain unmoved by adverse circumstances.
Remember, we serve a faithful God!
After John's sermon a week ago, I thought that I was just going to the alter to worship. I had felt that God was already starting to bring me off my current island sitution, but God had other plans. Thank you, John, for your wonderful prayer and prophecy.
ReplyDeleteFurther, I just want to encourage everyone to take advantage of prayer at the alter, whether it's during worship, after the service, or on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I know that God can and does meet us in our individual prayer times, but there is something very powerful about collective prayer and we know that..."one can put a thousand to flight, and two can put ten thousand to flight." There is a wonderful dynamic of corporate prayer and agreement in prayer. It knits us together with cords that cannot be broken better than anything.
Michele