Video Bible Lesson - The Power of Yet By Brent Rinehart

1/2 Hour of God’s Power with Scott Ralls

6/19/2020

The Power of Yet
By Brent Rinehart

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength” - Habakkuk 3:17-19b)
Have you experienced times in your life where you can’t feel God’s presence? When the worst happens in our lives, while we do our best to cling to our faith, it’s easy to question God. Where is He when a loved one dies far too young? Where is God in divorce, disease and death? Where is He when war rages? These are age-old questions humans have struggled with for centuries, and questions we can easily ask today. It seems as if the world is on the brink of disaster, so we are left searching for God through all of it.
Habakkuk wrote his prophecy at time when he and God’s people were asking the same questions. The Babylonians were preparing to invade Judah where the remnant of God’s people remained. This was a direct judgment from the Lord, for they had experienced rapid moral and spiritual decline. Habakkuk complains against God, not understanding how he could use a downright wicked nation in Babylon to judge a less wicked one in Judah. But, we know that God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).
The Lord answers Habakkuk and reminds him that He is a God of justice and mercy and that the righteous have to live by faith (2:4) and trust Him. Habakkuk’s ultimate summary is that no matter what comes, he will choose joy and trust God. Though the world seems to crumble, YET he will rejoice in the Lord.
I can’t read this passage and not think about the classic hymn “It is Well With My Soul.” Many people know the dramatic story behind it. Horatio Spafford wrote the lyrics after a series of traumatic events: his two sons died in the Chicago fire of 1871 and the rest of his family perished two years later when their ship crossing the Atlantic sank. YET, even after all of those things, he was able to write: “When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
What are you going through today? Does is seem like your world is falling apart? Know this: you don’t choose what you go through, but you can choose how you go through it. Choose joy, and know that God is good, just and merciful. No matter what you face, you can choose to say, “YET, I will rejoice in the Lord…the God of my salvation.”

#Jesus, #Christian, #Bible, #Salvation, #Heaven, #God, #HolySpirit

Our Gifts for His Kingdom.....Dr. Charles Stanley

Our Gifts for His Kingdom

Dr. Charles Stanley

1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Many people hear the word "serve" and feel that they do not have the necessary qualities to make a difference in others' lives. This is true - apart from God. But He has gifted each of us in unique ways with a purpose in mind. His plan for us involves using these talents to serve Him for the good of others.

Satan would like us to believe otherwise. Our Enemy wants us to notice what others are doing and then to feel inferior. For instance, I have heard women say, "I am just a homemaker." They see people preaching and singing in the choir and wish they could accomplish something so great for God. Friends, there could be nothing further from the truth. An enormous responsibility rests with those who train their children in righteousness.

In fact, the Holy Spirit has gifted each believer for specific work in God's kingdom. Scripture explains this idea by a comparison with a human body: each person has gifts and purposes that make the entire system function well. But if the heel wants the eye's role, the whole being will lose balance.

Each part is crucial, even though some are less noticeable than others. Truthfully, those with less apparent talents have an advantage because pride and self-sufficiency may be less of a temptation.

Notice how Peter defined himself: "a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 1:1). He was no longer a man motivated by self-interest. Once He followed Jesus, he saw himself as a servant of God. We, too, are called to serve the King of Kings with whatever abilities we are given.

Hope for Women With Father Wounds

Hope for Women With Father Wounds
KIA STEPHENS

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1a (NIV)

“I don’t want you to die,” I mustered up the courage to say. My voice trembled as I held on to my last little bit of resolve to keep my emotions at bay. It didn’t work.

Hearing those words come out of my mouth ushered in a vulnerability I wasn’t prepared for. Death is difficult for me to talk about, especially when it’s in relation to someone I love. In this case, it was my uncle-cousin.

Biologically, he’s my second cousin, but he was raised as my mother’s brother. Throughout my life, he has modeled what it means to be a man, husband and father. From him, I learned masculinity could be tough and no-nonsense, while still embracing a tender heart.

It was this heart that embraced me in ways I didn’t know I needed.

For a little girl raised in a single-parent household, his presence was priceless. In many ways, our relationship became a semblance of the one I longed to have with my own father. This is why the thought of his death gripped me with fear.

Tears, like rivers, streamed down my face as we discussed his declining health. My stubborn will wanted to resist the possibility that his life was coming to an end.

Without him as a father figure, I would be left with an inconsistent and difficult relationship with my earthly dad. Although I love my father, our relationship has been characterized by a series of devastating disappointments. I know my experience is not unique.

Countless women have been wounded by their relationships with their biological fathers. Often these wounds linger, leaving women with a gnawing ache for the love and affirmation of their fathers. I know this ache well.

For many years, I fumbled around looking for hope on the pages of Scripture, believing God had something to say to women who, by no fault of their own, experienced father wounds. My quest led me to discover that God has woven intentional hope throughout the Bible for women just like me.

In 1 John 3:1a, John offers these comforting words: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” John expresses his amazement at the marvelous love of God. This incomprehensible love was demonstrated by sacrificing a sinless Christ for sinful humanity. Christ died a painful and agonizing death not just so our sins could be forgiven, but so we can have direct access to God as our heavenly Father.

There is no barrier between us and the unchanging Creator of the universe, who is intimately concerned about every detail that concerns us. Christ has escorted eternal hope and heavenly adoption into the life of every father-wounded woman who chooses to believe in Jesus as her Lord and Savior. John is letting us know that this extravagant and lavish love makes us children of God, daughters of the King.

Tears, like rivers, streamed down my face as we discussed his declining health. My stubborn will wanted to resist the possibility that his life was coming to an end.

Without him as a father figure, I would be left with an inconsistent and difficult relationship with my earthly dad. Although I love my father, our relationship has been characterized by a series of devastating disappointments. I know my experience is not unique.

Countless women have been wounded by their relationships with their biological fathers. Often these wounds linger, leaving women with a gnawing ache for the love and affirmation of their fathers. I know this ache well.

For many years, I fumbled around looking for hope on the pages of Scripture, believing God had something to say to women who, by no fault of their own, experienced father wounds. My quest led me to discover that God has woven intentional hope throughout the Bible for women just like me.

In 1 John 3:1a, John offers these comforting words: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” John expresses his amazement at the marvelous love of God. This incomprehensible love was demonstrated by sacrificing a sinless Christ for sinful humanity. Christ died a painful and agonizing death not just so our sins could be forgiven, but so we can have direct access to God as our heavenly Father.

There is no barrier between us and the unchanging Creator of the universe, who is intimately concerned about every detail that concerns us. Christ has escorted eternal hope and heavenly adoption into the life of every father-wounded woman who chooses to believe in Jesus as her Lord and Savior. John is letting us know that this extravagant and lavish love makes us children of God, daughters of the King.

Good Gifts

Good Gifts
by Caroline Madison

Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? (Matt. 7:9)

I was afraid, but I asked. I laid bare the deepest desires of my heart—even the little ones that we don't really think God cares about. I wanted a dog.

And a few months later, Iroh came: 35 pounds of silky fur, slobbery affection, and issues. So many issues.

He was barely three years old and had been left alone in an outdoor pen for most of that.

We taught him as much as we could, and he improved every day, though there were many times I questioned if it was wise to keep him. At best, he was skittish and unpredictable, balking at everything—the heater, a car starting, a knock on the door.

But each time I questioned it, I received the same answer: "Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”(Matthew 7:9-11)

Iroh is a good gift. I clung to that belief through bouts of food aggression, resource guarding, and lunging at my roommate with no provocation.

We had good days too, like the moment he realized the squeaker in his ball wasn't a demon but a deliriously fun noisemaker.

But when he severely bit my roommate, puncturing her hand, the good days vanished. Everything I had been clinging to trickled through my fingers like grains of sand leaving me with the absolute certainty that we could no longer keep him and a vague sense of betrayal.

God knew this would happen. I felt like he'd given me a gift-wrapped grenade.

Aren't we so quick to question God’s heart toward us? We take that step of faith (a move, a new job, a relationship), and something doesn’t go right. Our foot falls through empty space, like when we’re expecting more stairs than there are.

That sick lurch is not something I would wish on anyone. But it’s part of the imperfect world we live in. Maybe you asked God for a child, and your child now has a serious disease. Or you asked Him for a job and the company goes under a few months after you start.

We cry and rage and demand answers. We want to call that ‘gift’ a stone and throw it back at heaven. And we make the pain we’re experiencing so much worse than it has to be.

Everything in this world is so unstable, pitching like a ship on the ocean. Only one thing remains unmovable—who God is. His character and intentions are not called into question just because everything else is shifting. In fact, He’s the only thing we can depend on to never change.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”(James 1:17)

Intersecting Faith and Life: When the ground shakes beneath you, don’t run away from God. Press into Him with the full assurance that He will hold you close while everything crumbles. That He will give you the answers you need when you need them. And that His heart toward you is good all the time.

He Lives in You

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’” – Galatians 4:6

He Lives in You
By Adrian Rogers

“Heavenly Father, fill our hearts with your spirit. Let us face the day with the knowledge that you are with us always. Amen.”

When I first got saved, I learned about Jesus in the Bible, and that was wonderful to me. And then as I began to live the Christian life, I would see what Jesus would do in the lives of other people, and I saw Jesus in history and Jesus in action, and that was wonderful. And then as I studied more, I began to learn about Jesus in heaven, ruling and reigning from His throne, and that was wonderful.

But I’ve learned a great truth, and that is that Jesus is in the Bible, and Jesus is in history, and Jesus is in heaven, but—here’s the great truth—Christ lives in me. He has possessed me. I am His purchased possession, and therefore, I am under new management.

If you have made Jesus your Lord and Savior, He lives within you. You can rejoice today with the apostle Paul who said, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

A Prayer for Time to Bring Healing

A Prayer for Time to Bring Healing
by Chrystal Evans Hurst

“God has made everything beautiful for its own time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11a

Even when the source of our pain remains a source of constant heartache, time can bring a healing like no other. King Solomon, one of the wisest men to ever live, authored Ecclesiastes where he reminds us: “God has made everything beautiful for its own time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11a). Psalms 118:17 says, "… I will not die, but live, and tell of the works of the LORD" (NASB).

Simply put: If you just keep on living, you’ll be able to tell the story of how God has brought you through. Because one way or another, He always does.

With the passing of time, I’ve seen the deep pain I experienced equally matched by many moments of unexpected joy. And when I reached the end of all that was humanly possible, God’s worked through His never-ending power to make all things beautiful with time.

How is that possible? He’s changed me.

God in His goodness works to change us. He changes our perspective. He allows us to see what He sees … that even when things aren’t as perfect, easy, or as straightforward as we would like them to be … they still can be beautiful.

You or someone you love may have to live with the reality of an injury of the mind, body or soul. With all your heart, you might want to fix something and not be able to. That something or someone may never be perfect.

But you need to know time can bring healing. With time, God can take the hard moments and make them happy. He can replace sorrow with a smile. He can make the mountain of grief or regret you’re climbing now, into a place where you can later view the beautiful landscape of your life.

Not perfect, but beautiful.

God does bring healing in time. Take courage and hold on. And know that even from your pain, beauty can blossom. God makes everything beautiful in its time.

Dear God, if I’m honest, there are times where I feel deep pain. It’s hard to continue. There are no smiles. I don’t feel joy. Please help me trust You when it’s hard. Help me believe that, with time, You can make something beautiful of my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.