The Bible is a combination of 66 books written by 40 authors over a period of thousands of years yet it is an integrated messaging system that tells a story completely connected from first words to the last….let’s take a little quirky things from the first 10 people in Jesus genealogy…their names tell a story from Adam to Noah…there is something important in every word in the Bible including the genealogies
What makes the difference between the Christian and the world is not whether we will go through trials it is whether we can trust God through them. By faith we choose to rejoice not in the circumstance but in the God who causes us to get through and rise above all circumstances.
As we enter into the Christmas season some take the story to heart, other just accept that it is what everyone believes so they just go along with it, and others think it is foolish and that there are so many mistakes or made-up facts in the narrative that it can’t be true. I hope to prove to you that everything is true, every word and that there are no contradictions or made-up facts at all. The story, primarily supplied to us by Matthew and Luke is true and accurate in every detail. Afterall if we can’t trust this story, can we trust any of it. I want to take it from the image so familiar that it is almost a fairy tale to a truth you can stand on.
Freedom – you may be saying I live in the freest nation in the world, I have never been in bondage but we do end up in bondage sometimes to shame, guilt, anger, fear, unforgiveness, debt, alcohol, drugs, food, spending, as well as the little boxes of limitation we place ourselves into, and so many other things. Here are some promises regarding your freedom.
I want to encourage you today about God’s promises regarding meeting all of your needs often when we talk about these promises we are talking about finances and while I will touch on those today, we have many greater needs than simply financial. God wants to supply in exceeding abundance as we allow His power to work within us.
You hear me say all of the time you are the one God loves the most and with that idea comes the promise of his blessings. Today I want to remind us of some of the many blessings God has for us, as it is easy to forget in seasons of chaos.
In both the Old and New Testaments, the Lord ordained testing for his people. God doesn’t do it to beat us up or knock us down instead to help us see who we are and who he is in us. We can be at peace always knowing God is in control of the testing itself.
From a practical standpoint, exercise, proper rest, proper diet, and a daily devotional life spending time in the word and in prayer will often provide the refreshing we need. But Paul gives a description of some things that may be causing our weariness that we may want to look into….so eat right, exercise, get proper rest, develop that devotional life and let’s look a few other things that may be making you weary that you may not be thinking about.
So far Joseph has taught us… -the way we communicate with others has a large impact. We must communicate with others with the goal to not just win the argument but to win the hearts – keeping an attitude of trusting the Lord causes us to have favor and success …
