Genesis chapter Eight
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(Clicking on these links will move you down this web page) Genesis chapter eight- encouragement for you | |
| Are You Keeping at Your Work? | Encouragement For Suffering |
Be proud of your scars
This is a continuation of my teaching on encouragement to those believers who are discouraged because they are in pain. If you are suffering persecution right now, you might gain some comfort from this gospel tract that I have had in my possession for years. I did not write it and I do not know who did but I want to share it with you here:
"The Lord has given to every man his work. It is his business to do it, and the devil's business to hinder him, if he can. So sure as God has given you a work to do, Satan will try to hinder you.
He may present other things more promising, He may allure you by worldly prospects, He may assault you with slander, torment you with false accusations, set you to work defending your character, employ pious persons to lie about you, editors to assail you, and excellent men to slander you.
You may have Pilate and Herod, Annas and Caiaphas all combined against you, and Judas standing by ready to sell you for thirty pieces of silver; and you may wonder why all those things come upon you. Can you not see that the whole thing is brought about through the craft of the devil to draw you off from your work and hinder your obedience to God?
Keep about your work.
Do your work.
He has not sent you to make money.
If you do these things, you will do nothing else;
Keep about your work.
You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted, slandered, wounded and rejected;
you may be abused by foes,
If you are a discouraged pastor or minister or Christian worker I hope that this information has been used by the Lord to help you. Or, if you know someone who is going thru a tough time, then you might want to share this information with them.
The true Christians in the early church needed encouragement (Revelation 1:4). It has been said that discouragement is one of Satan's greatest weapons against God's saved children. Sometimes there is a bitter circumstance that comes to the life of a believer when it is not a result of a sin issue. Things might be great for awhile but then you are hit with an apparent over-whelming unsolvable problem that just seems to come out of no where. You might be hit with a problem that involves (but is not limited to):
persecution due to your Christian faith including bullies, torture, martyrdom, etc.
abandonment issues including kidnapping, betrayal, divorce, death of a loved one, etc.
emotional issues including puberty, menopause, mid-life crisis, surfacing memories from childhood, self blame, self guilt, suicide, hatred, revenge, etc.
addiction or compulsion issues including gambling, sex, drinking, drug addiction, etc.
unsaved loved ones including the predictaments that they can get themselves into, etc.
church including a minister problem, a member problem, false cult, false doctrine, false religion, women and/or money, etc.
occupational problems including job termination, burn out, being cheated in business, political problems, military problems, or boss or employee problems, etc.
money including not enough to make end's meat, making too much, loss of money in stock trading, or loss out of your control, etc.
sex including temptation, fornication, homosexuality, adultery, dealing with a child molester, etc.
friends and relationships including the ones that turn bad, betray you, or lead you down the wrong pathway, etc.
family including the ones who don't share the same value system as you, etc.
bad choices including being taken advantage of, being used, etc.
God's will including being out of God's timing, or not knowing for sure where to go or what to do, etc.
violence issues including rape, spouse abuse, child abuse, and dealings with criminals, etc.
anxiety and worries including the cares of the flesh and this life, etc.
other things that the world, flesh, and devil may throw at you, etc.
Moses was leading 2-3 million Israelites out of Egypt into the desert per God's instructions. But then this congregation gets discouraged. The first thing that Moses does is to turn to God and God moves in a mysterious way to solve the problem. Moses is writing here for us a formula with his life. When you get discouraged you go to God first. Then expect God to eventually work in a mysterious way to solve your problem(s).
23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
25 And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them,
26 "And said, if thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee."
27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters"
Let us examine this passage of scripture. The Children of Israel were going on along in life just fine. And you and I can go along in life just fine as well.
But then they hit a problem. This problem came out of the blue. They weren't expecting it. They had water that they couldn't drink. It was a life and death issue for each of them. And we might have a problem hit us all of a sudden that we were not expecting. It might be one of the ones above that I just mentioned above.
The first thing that hits these Israelites was panic and then anxiety. And the first thing that hits us is panic and then anxiety when we face our apparent over-whelming problem.
It's always good to first inquire of the Lord as to whatever your problem is because there is no problem that He cannot solve.
13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree"
God says that He was using this problem to test their faithfulness to Him. Is God saying the same thing to you and me? There are a lot of voices in the world and there are many ways that you can go. Satan will always offer you the counterfeit before God offers you the genuine. Will you go to God first with your problem?
Does not God's promise to them sound a little bit non-relevant here? God says, "I am the Lord who heals you" but the Israelites were not seeking healing, rather, they were seeking water to drink. So why then why does God say this to them?
When Jesus would talk to His disciples He would talk in spiritual terms and the disciples would listen and understand in human terms. It's hard for one with a finite mind to understand One with an infinite mind. Take for instance when Jesus was talking about the leaven of the Pharisees- the disciples thought that He was talking about bread. He was actually talking about the teaching of the Pharisees
So, here with Moses, God is talking about spiritual things, not human things. God is saying that He wants to heal all of humanity spiritually. He wants all of humanity to come to the cross of Christ to be healed of it's terrible adverse condition- it's sin condition. Christ is the only way- He is that special Vine. The waters of humanity without Christ are bitter. Only Christ can make the waters of humanity sweet with His presence. But God also heals emotionally and physically as well. God includes all healing here and this is reinforced by Jesus Christ who healed all sicknesses and diseases.
How about you? Have you invited Jesus Christ to come to live inside of your heart? He is the only One who can make your life sweet regardless of the bitter circumstances that you face.
God uses setbacks
But I believe that verse 26 is a multiple reference verse. What does that mean? It means that a verse of scripture can have more meanings rather than just one.
God healed that bitter water. This is what God deals with second here in this passage of scripture. And He can heal the bitter water of your adverse circumstance just as easy as He healed that water.
Thirdly, God is also indicating here that He is the God who can heal your body as well. God is bigger than any physical problem that you or I have. He healed in Old Testament times, He healed when He was here on the earth in the incarnation (Jesus Christ), and He heals today in New Testament times. God has never changed.
Now, let us talk about the Apostle Peter. Peter (and the other disciples) spent a lot of time in Bible Study with Jesus Christ as their own personal teacher. Jesus was known as a great teacher
I believe that Jesus taught this Old Testament teaching of Him being that special Vine for all humanity to His disciples. He taught them that when circumstances were contrary that each of them should go to God first and foremost. I further think that Christ taught them that if they did this, then God would not fail them.
I believe that this is where Peter got the idea to walk to Jesus in the midst of that terrible storm. It was now adverse conditions in his life and Peter was ready to test his master's teachings for truth. If it was the truth then he wanted it. If it was not the truth then he wanted no part of it. Peter took the story truth and acted on it literally. He literally set out to go to God first by walking on the water. (Remember that Jesus Christ is God the Son). Peter was impetuous and just that way...
Here's the Biblical account:
25 And in the fourth watch of the night (three o'clock in the morning) Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying,
"Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water.
29
"And He said, come.
And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him,
"O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying, of a truth Thou art the Son of God."
I believe that Jesus was pleased that at least one disciple of His out of twelve believed the truth of the Bible Study that He had previously taught them and was willing to act on it. Notice what Jesus did not say. He did not say, "Do not be stupid, Peter, no one can walk on water as on dry ground." By not saying this, Jesus is encouraging Peter to believe Him for the impossible- for a unique answer to prayer because God works in mysterious ways. Jesus said twice that if you have enough faith you can move a mountain
Jesus waited for Peter to take the first step. You see there is another principle of faith in action here. God always waits for each of us to take that first step of faith in His direction. There is an old saying that goes: if you take one step toward Jesus, He will take two steps toward you.
God worked in a mysterious way allowing Peter to walk on the water in response to Peter going to God first, just like God worked in a mysterious way in allowing the Vine to make the waters sweet in the desert. God will also work in a mysterious way in His own timing to solve the problem of your adverse circumstance.
Peter was doing so good. But then he began to doubt God. He trusted in and believed his senses. He trusted in and believed his own depraved and sin tainted human reasoning. And what was the result of his doubt? Did his doubt help him? No. He was doing so well walking on the water but then he started to sink. Like Peter, the moment that you and I take our eyes off of Jesus, we forget about His wonderful promises, we forget about Him being bigger than the adverse circumstance in our life. The formula of
Peter was afraid that he was going to drown. Are you afraid that this is the end for you? That your adverse circumstance is going to sink you? That you are finished with no hope of starting all over again? There's an old saying that goes something like this: when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on! What did Jesus do? Jesus reached out and saved him physically. Jesus did not allow him to drown. Jesus will reach out to you also and will also save you physically, God willing, just like He did to Peter. If one of His children asks Him for a loaf of bread He will not give him a rock to eat
What did Jesus say to him?
In spite of Peter's doubt, God worked in a mysterious way to solve the problem of an adverse circumstance in their lives at that moment. He calmed the sea instantly. God worked a miracle here turning the waters calm just like He worked a miracle in the desert in turning the waters sweet. And God can work a miracle in your life in turning your bitter water into sweet water and in calming the storm in your life.
And what do we do with the problem of having low faith like Peter had? Why do we need greater faith? Because without faith it is impossible to please Him
That means that we need to study the Bible more and by doing so our faith will increase. We can attend church services more frequently where we hear more of the Word of God read and proclaimed. We can read testimonies of others of what God has done for them and in so doing we will realize how big God really is. We can have others pray for us for a specific reason- that adverse circumstance in your life. Contacting as many church "prayer chains" as possible with your prayer request is valuable because there are folks there with the gift of prayer intercession to touch the hem of His garment for you with your petition.
When you first look to Christ in your circumstance He is going to reassure you just like He did the disciples when He said, "It's all right. I am here! Don't be afraid."
We can follow the example of Peter. He had God's formula down pat. The formula is: go to God first when an adverse circumstance comes into your life. Peter went to God. Peter did it literally but we can do it by faith in prayer and praise.
He came to His disciples in the above story at 0300 in the morning- three hours after midnight. It's possible that Satan had kicked up that storm in order to try to kill Jesus' disciples. Or maybe it was just natural law. Regardless of the cause, the adverse circumstance was deadly. Jesus delayed in coming to them right away. Why? Maybe He was testing their faithfulness. Maybe He was seeing if they would go to Him first. Maybe He was waiting until they got desperate and started praying to Him. Maybe He wanted the circumstances of this story to be acted out in a living sermon in the lives of these men.
You ask, Why would He go to so much effort? Well, there had to be a good reason or He wouldn't have done it. I believe that it is because He knew that Satan would use discouragement so effectively as a main weapon against God's children. He wanted these circumstances to be acted out by His disciples so they would learn this lesson. And then after they learned this lesson to pen down this true story so we could study it and so we could learn it also.
Do not give up
It means you are stronger than
that which has hurt you
Do not flinch because the lion roars;
do not stop to stone the devil's dogs;
do not fool away your time chasing the devil's rabbits.
Let liars lie, let sectarians quarrel, let corporations resolve, let editors publish, let the devil do his worst;
but see to it that nothing hinders you from fulfilling the work that God has given you.
He has not commanded you to to get rich.
He has never bidden you to defend your character.
He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood which Satan and his servants may start to peddle.
you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.
Let your AIM be as steady as a star.
Let the world brawl and bubble.
forsaken by friends,
and despised and rejected of men,
but see to it with steadfast determination,
with unfaltering zeal,
that you pursue the great purpose of your life and object of your being, until at last you can say,
"I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do."
-Amen and Amen.
a health crisis including an injury, a surgery, medicine issues, a disease, old age issues, or possibly a life or death issue of some kind, etc.
A circumstance like just one of these may cause one to become discouraged. Is there any help from God in all of this? Is there any hope? Where can I turn to when I am so discouraged? Well, do not feel so bad because the Bible gives us the answer. Here's the passage of scripture for us to now consider.
22 "So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
Just why did God place this true story in His holy Word, the Bible? This true story is for you and I. There is a message in it from God. It's one of those nuggets of truth that you have to mine out of the word and that is why Bible Study is so important. A nugget is often concealed in the Old Testament but revealed in the New Testament.
(Exodus 15:22-27).
The Lord's answer was to place a vine (or branch) into the water. That would solve their problem. What does this mean? In Biblical symbolism or typology, Christ is the Vine
(John Chapter 15) and the water is the sea of humanity. It had to be a special Vine, not just any vine. Remember also that Christ was crucified on a tree (wood stock). The special Vine refers to Jesus Christ. Any other vine could refer to other religions such as Islam, Satanism, Hindu, or Buddhist. Those other vines will not work with God. Only the special Vine would work. So God is telling us that only Jesus Christ is the way that humanity must follow as He is The Way.
(John 14:6).
(Galatians 3:13). A tree, a vine, a branch- all are made of wood stock.
(Matthew 16:6).
to move us forward
God says, "I am the Lord who heals you." The most important healing is spiritual healing and that is what God deals with first here in this passage of scripture.
After the people proved their faithfulness to God what did God do? He gave them multiple blessings. First, He healed the water and made it safe to drink for them. And secondly, God worked in a mysterious way and sent them to Elim- the place of blessing. God loves to bless His children. If you turn to Him with praise and thanksgiving for the circumstances in your life, if you turn to Him in prayer and faith, then expect an answer from Him. He will not leave you or forsake you. You are important to Him and He loves you.
(Acts 1:1). There was never a greater.
"But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Now, let us examine this passage of scripture because I am going to tie it in with the first passage of scripture that we just read about in
(Matthew 14:24-33).
(Exodus 15:22-27). Peter had the formula down right. When adverse circumstances hit you, then go to God first. So here was Peter in adverse circumstances- in a life and death struggle for him. He was afraid, he had panic, and he had anxiety.
(Matthew 17:20 and 21:21). I believe that Jesus is making a point to us here also because of what He did not say to Peter. The point is that Jesus wants each of us to come to Him no matter how impossible the adverse circumstance in our life may appear.
Jesus gave Peter the ok to come to Him. Jesus gives you and me the ok to also come to Him because He is the Way (not only spiritually but also in your time of adverse circumstance).
BIG GOD-little problem
reverses to
little God-BIG PROBLEM.
(Matthew 7:9).
"Why did you doubt Me?"
Doubt is the same as unbelief. Unbelief is a killer. It will keep us in our adverse circumstance and keep God from working a miracle on our behalf. Nevertheless, God sometimes comes to our rescue in spite of our doubt. He does this because of His grace, compassion, and kindness. Jesus rescued Peter and then what did He do?
(Hebrews 11:6). We need to keep our eyes firmly planted on Jesus in the midst of this adverse circumstance. Each of us needs to increase our faith. How do we do that? We need to ask God for faith. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God
(Romans 10:17).
You might be sailing on along ok in life for awhile. If you belong to Christ you also know that you are an Ambassador for Christ living in a hostile environment. The devil rules over the evil world system. The devil is going to make sure that he sends you an adverse circumstance in your life. Or it might be a circustance that comes from the flesh or a natural disaster or what have you. This problem is seen in the storm in which the disciples found themselves. There was darkness and peril. There was panic, worry, and anxiety. It was a life and death situation for them.
We must remember several things:
If each of us will follow God's simple plan as outlined above it is the solution to the problem of overcoming discouragement.
We must remember that God heals spiritually and physically. "I am the Lord who heals you."
We must remember to keep our eyes on Jesus.
We must remember to have faith continually in Him.
We must remember that God works in mysterious ways and that you can always expect an answer of some kind from Him in response to your faith.
We must remember to thank and praise Him for solving the problem of that adverse circumstance in our life. Share your testimony so others can also be helped. That way we can all say in praise and awe "You really are the Son of God!"
Notice how Jesus delayed in coming to them until the storm was about to kill them. He also delayed in going to the funeral of Lazarus right away as well. His timing is always perfect. He is teaching with His life and actions besides His words. He waited until Lazarus was 4 days dead in the tomb before He raised him from the dead. Why? To eliminate all doubt that Lazarus was dead so many would believe on Him.
even Moses was once
a basket case
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Testimonies of Miracles
Do you need a miracle to happen in your life? God still works miracles. Maybe He has one for you...
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As of June 20, 2014