Whilst I was waiting

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Whilst I was waiting

Psalm 40: 1-5 “..I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered..”

   Sadly we all to often these words ‘Your God must be very cruel, to let this person suffer this way’. I then would reply our God Almighty has a reason for keeping us around’. It may not be the answer they want, but I want you think of this way …
Genesis 3 : 1-8 ‘The Temptation of man’
… I’ll not show this chapter because it is a lot. It tells of the conception of Adam & Eve, how God gave them all they needed to eat, with exception of one tree. They had free will to as they pleased, but we know man can’t help themselves to do wrong. So you see it’s not a cruel God it’s man and his free will.

   This kind of conversation happens more than you think. I actually have a confession here. I do have to wonder myself from time to time, and more so when our Heavenly Almighty father is not forth coming to help comfort with a reply.

    In life it seems that we are always waiting, waiting for that special person to come along, waiting for the perfect job to come along, or tell you that your hired. When waiting it seem like an eternity, (as the old saying goes ‘ a watched kettle never boils’). These feeling often end up with impatience, and if unchecked these feelings will send you to being out of control with Anger/Frustration. These feelings if not sorted out will stop you from sleeping.

    We all are waiting for something, today what is that you are waiting for? Might it be one of these …

• Something exciting, like the birth of your first baby being born..
• It might be those all important test results..

   I know some of you might not want to praise the Lord, when you can’t see what to be joyful about, and not want to be joyful at all. OK, lets say your anticipating that holiday you have paid for since last year. Give praise for your job, and thus the means to pay for it as many are not able to do this. If you take time to stop and think there are many many things to give thanks for, green lights – when you to get somewhere in a hurry, you partner wishing you to have a good day at work, am I sinking in yet?

   On the other hand you could be waiting for your exam results? You could be waiting for a partner – to share your life with. NOW is the time to praise the Lord. Those of you that know how I met my wife. (One of these days I’ll share how we met & my testimony).
Psalm 27: 13/14 “..I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord..”

I hears a prayer that goes like this…

“It is hard to wait Lord, sometimes waiting takes a big toll on me, 

and in the midst of waiting and yearning I forget to praise you, 

help me to remember you whether I’m waiting for something 

potentially painful. Teach me patience and the gift of 

resting in your goodness as I fix my eyes on you”

   I’m sure that ‘discouragement’ is not discriminating, or does not matter which Country you come from, some seem to suffer more that others. For when evening falls across the land and a hush comes over the night. When getting ready for bed, which we all have our rituals, like washing your face; cleaning your teeth; letting the dog out; making sure the doors and windows are locked; even alarm set. ‘Discouragement’ comes in many guises, it could be a fit (like Epilepsy), that has been going on for years, it may also be born out of tense family feuding, or a physical ailment (of which I bear witness as I have a broken spine), or it could be a career that has left you some what down. May be your discouragement comes from a recent moment that has left you feeling discouraged and deflated.

   Oh dear, we have all felt the discouragement at one time or another. The question is what are we going to with it? It’s all to easy to to wallow in discouragement and turn your face away from hope. This sort of apathy is not of the Lords thinking. However it does deliver you straight into the devils hands, now the devil is laughing as your 100% focus is on the problem, instead of on our Saviour. Instead of wasting time & energy on things we need to worry about.
Psalm 31:9/10 “..Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, my soul and my body! For my life is spent with grief..”

   I know many of you have felt this way, with many of you going through these times right now. If you are, before we go any further, stand up (come on don’t be shy), now shake your arms, now shake your legs, OK now your body, now sit and continue reading*. Having shaken off your old feeling, it’s time for a new feeling a new attitude. Now to help[ with reading the following I want you to stand again, then read the following Psalm ...
Psalm 31:14/17 “..But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me. Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me for Your mercies’ sake. Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You..

   Our enemies are wanting us to give up the fight, and for us to look down cast at the days to come ...1 Peter 5:8 .. “..Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour..” … The devil is sleeked, and wants nothing more for us than to trip us up and lying face flat down in the earth. He will use every trick up his sleeve to keep us there. It is time to put on those work books because no matter how discouraged we may feel there is always new hope for a better hope for tomorrow.

   In Romans 5:5 it clearly says that this hope does not disappoint us, God’s love has already been poured out in to our hearts .. Romans 5:5 “..Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us..”

   You may not feel a lot of love right now. You may not even see any victory a head of you, you don’t even know how you can change thongs. Because of this you may not have any thing planned out yet. Even not sure what it is you can do to turn things around. The thing is you don’t need things figured out yet, just lean on the only One who is the author of your unique life’s story. He will how ever use this disappointment your feeling, and turn them around for good. Always remember when your down, the good times are just around the next corner.

   When hope is your heart and the unfailing love of God is on your side, you can over come every obstacle in your path, for God is with you where ever you go. I read this next statement along time ago, but concludes this sermon perfectly …

“You may feel an over whelming sense of God’s hope permeating 

in your spirit tonight , as you approach the Lords throne, 

you may see God for He is - king over your life - and worship 

Him in gladness for He is doing a good work in you”

7 Points for Mose

7 Points for Moses

Exodus 3 v10/11   "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

# 1  A Gods given dream establishes Identity. Moses asked God . . "Who Am I?" . . At this time he was seeking identity. God wanted Moses to become established in his in-identity in Him. Your identity in God is vital to fulfilling your dream. It lets you know that god is the author of your dream and NOT you.

# 2  A God given dream establishes Authority. In Exodus 3 v13/14 "Then Moses said to God, Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you" . . All the Authority that you need to fulfill your dreams are in God - the 'I AM' is the one who backs you all the way"

#3  A God given dream establishes Credibility. In Exodus 4 v1-5 " . . Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you. So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), “that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
   When you have a God given dream and you know your divine destiny. Some people will say what right do you have to doing what you are doing? They may be skeptical of the fact you are endeavoring to accomplish something well beyond your natural means. They may even criticize for you surpassing their expectations for you. However, when you have a dream, whether you have the praise of man or not, you know you have the credibility with God. Because He is the one who gave the dream in the first place.

#4 A God given dream establishes Ability. . Moses had a habit of talking about his inability. But, when God gave him a dream, it established in him ability. When you have a God given dream, then like Moses, you will have God's divine ability to get the job done.

#5  A God given dream establishes Courage. Exodus 4 v18 " . . So Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace . .”
   After a long discussion in which he was extremely honest with God, he finally accepted the dream that God gave him. There for verse 18 tells us, and Moses went... The dream established within Moses the courage to do what God had told him to do. This kind of courage enables us to go after what God says is ours.

#6  A God given dream establishes Boldness. Here is Moses first confrontation with Pharaoh; Afterwards Moses & Aaron went in and told Pharaoh . . (Exodus 5 v1-2)   "Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go”
   Moses is no longer fearful. He's not afraid of stepping out in faith. This is not the same man who had been saying . . "I am not . ." or "I can't do . .". This man is now boldly demanding that Pharaoh "Let My people go"!

#7  A God given dream establishes Perseverance. You will see that the story of Moses that he had to continually approach and confront Pharaoh. He (God) had finally developed within him perseverance. He would not give up until he saw God's dream become reality. God is looking for you not to be afraid but to persevere. He is looking for you to be willing to talk more about what He can do, rather than about what you cannot do. God's divine ability is available to you if you will take the first step of faith to follow after what He has called you to, and refuse to quit until His dream if fulfilled. So as Moses was given . . 7 points we also will be given these to complete God's dream for us today.

Are you willing to take that first step?? If so then get ready to see your mission become possible, 

in the Almighty God's name.