* Resting In God's Promises

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing , that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

(Romans 15:13)

As always, I am thanking God for his goodness and His mercy.  And so even today, this is the day that the Lord has made and allowed us to participate in!  And because we know His will is good, it is perfect and it is acceptable, we should rejoice in that!  

Today, I would like to focus on the peace, joy and hope that we are promised through Christ Jesus.  The only hope we have today in this sin-sick darkened world is in Jesus.  Our prayer should be like that of Isaiah who said:  

LORD, show us favor; we hope in you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in times of distress.  (Isaiah 33:2)

The word tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength and our salvation.  In Philippians, Apostle Paul exhorts us to be full of Joy in the Lord.

In a world full of animosity, strife and confusion, Jesus lets us know that we should keep our focus on things above and not on things of this earth, because our heavenly father knows our need and He will take care of us.

We also know that God will give us a peace that transcends our understanding.  So all of our cares and our issues should be given to God and we can rest in God knowing that He can and He will take care of us. 

Psalms 91:1 is a promise that is often misconstrued.   It states:

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

Our goal, our aim, our desire is to dwell in the secret place of God.  But the promise is the assurance that we shall abide under the shadow - the protection, the favor, the grace, the mercy, the love, the strength of the almighty God! 

Think about what God told Joshua as He was preparing him to possess the promised land.  He told  Joshua:  

“No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)  

That’s a promise from God!  He also tells us that if we obey Him, meditate on His word day and night that we will have success and not just success, but good success!  

The word of God tells us:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Matthew 6:25-34

So, with that word of encouragement, let’s pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, it is an honor and privilege to come before You this day giving You all the honor and glory for keeping us yet again; for keeping us in our health and strength; having the use of our limbs and being in our right faculties, but most of all, dear Father, we thank You for a right mind; a mind to serve You in spirit and in truth.  We thank You Heavenly Father because You are our keeper, the lover of our souls, the comforter, the King of kings and Lord of lords, You are the great ‘I AM’.   You are the one true living God and there is none like You; You said in Your word that “before Moses, I am”.   We know and acknowledge that You are the author and finisher of our faith, You are the beginning and the end, alpha and omega.   There is none other like You; You are incomparable; You are the creator and it is through You that we live, move and have our very being.  Without You, we were nothing, but through You, we are now heirs to Your holy throne.  Without You, Lord, we would be nothing.  It was through no goodness of our own that You allowed us to be a part of Your fold.  And we thank You Lord.  We thank You Lord for being Jehovah – Jireh:  our provider, Jehovah-Shalom: our Peace, Jehovah – Rapha:  our healer.  We worship You and adore You Lord for all of these things; we worship You Lord for who You are and for allowing us to be active participants in Your plan of salvation; for touching our hearts and directing our steps to you!    We thank you, oh Lord, for the dawning of a new day; for the rising of the sun; for allowing us to wake this morning and even as we open our eyes – to say thank You Lord, thank You for another day; a day that You have made and allowed us to see.  Lord we just worship You in the beauty of your holiness. 

Even Lord, as we meditate on Your word, we realize that everything we need is in You oh Lord. You said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and You will give us rest. You said to take Your yoke upon us and then we’ll have rest for our souls. You tell us Heavenly Father that we can

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7

We thank You Father because You loved us so much that You gave Your son as the final sacrifice for us.  We thank You God for the holy lamb, Jesus, who You sent here to save us and wash our sins away.  We thank You God, because we know that it is through His blood, and Your holy spirit residing within us that we have the  power to endure every bad and evil thing that comes against us.  In the name of Jesus, we have the power to plead the blood against every demonic force that tries to come against us; that tries to attack our minds and our emotions.  We plead the blood against  every yoke of bondage, every deceitful spirit and every other spirit that is contrary to Your will and Your way.   We thank you Lord because we know that the blood still works; that there is power in the blood and authority in your name!
   

Help us Lord to give our burdens; our cares, our concerns, our issues to You trusting in You that You can and You will work out everything in Your time and according to Your will. We need You Lord to be the center of our joy where everything that we think and do revolves around You and Your word. Keep our minds stayed on You in all of our comings and in our goings; we want to be centered on You.

Lord we praise You and honor You because You saw fit to call us out of a world of sin and shame.   We thank You Lord for the grace and strength to endure.  For the grace and strength to run on in Your name and see what the end will be.  We thank You Lord for Your precious gift of the holy Spirit; the comforter, that You sent back to keep us in our journey.   

Lord, give us an ear to hear Your word and not only to hear Your word but to obey it.  Lord in this critical time, we need to draw nearer to You, we need to commune and meditate on You and Your word.

I thank You Lord for the ‘yes’ in our soul, for a determined mind to worship You in spirit and in truth.  I thank You Lord because You said because we love You, you’ll rescue us and protect us and because we acknowledge You, that when we call upon You,  You’ll answer us and You’ll be with us in trouble, You’ll deliver us and honor us.  Hallelujah!  With long life You’ll satisfy us and show us your salvation.   

My God, You’re an awesome God!  I thank you Lord, that there is a place in You where I can dwell; a secret place where You will hide me from my enemies and protect me from all hurt, harm and danger. 

I thank You Lord, because in You we can have peace and joy.  All our hope is in You Lord.   Lord, I pray that you help us to heed Your word and to make good decisions based on faith in You and the knowledge and power of Your word.  You said in Your word Lord to trust You with all of our hearts and to lean not on our own understanding.  In all of our ways, we are to acknowledge You and You will direct our path.  Help us Lord to lean on You and to heed your word.   When we trust in You, Lord, we don’t have to be worried or be concerned about the cares of this world because we have a hope and that hope is in You Lord.

This is a prayer of thanks Lord; Lord we can’t enter Your presence or leave Your presence without saying thank you. And so Lord, we thank You this morning for all that You've done and for all that You’re going to do, for grace and for mercy and for protection and, Lord. for this prayer. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I pray that all minds are clear and that something was said to encourage us to go on in Jesus name. 

In closing, I want to leave this final scripture with you:

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.  For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.   Psalms 61:10-11 

Be blessed on this day!

Elder C. L. Henry


03/19/17