EMBRACE THE LEAN TIMES 04-01-17


(CLICK THE TITLE) Good morning and rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoice. You opened your eyes and stretched your limbs this morning because of Him. You better praise Him! It’s a new month with new mercies. I have shared this message at one time or another over the years and decided that today was a good day to do it again. Let it bless you.

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, teach us to roll with the punches when even family and friends seem to delight in pointing out our faults, sometimes in chorus! Perhaps some of their criticism might be justified, but when several at one time point out a person’s faults and give unsolicited advice, this is hard to take. Remind us that You too often faced criticism and verbal attacks, and yet even in Your time of extreme suffering on the cross You were able to say: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!”* Help us to learn to forgive and to forget; but often forgetting is the hardest! You know our faults and shortcomings better than others, and You know our hearts. Teach us to live out Your love even in such trying times. It is our challenge, to “turn the other cheek,” isn’t it? In Your holy name we pray, Amen.

Let’s eat.

Embracing the Lean Times

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. – Jeremiah 17:7

OK, this is where I’m at today. Have you ever considered at what point a test becomes so difficult that you decide you can no longer trust in God and you must take over to solve the problem? The prophet Jeremiah describes a situation in which the temptation to solve a financial problem can become so great that we trust in man’s way to solve it.

This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:5-8).

Jeremiah drew a sharp comparison between the man who trusts in his own effort to solve his problem and the man who trusts in God when he can’t see the outcome. The man who trusts in God bears fruit despite the circumstances in his life. He doesn’t shrivel when the heat comes; in fact, his roots go deeper into God’s grace. He continues to bear fruit in spite of his circumstances.

A while back, a friend from Africa explained to me that whenever a plant lives in an arid climate, the roots drive deeper and deeper into the soil to get the water they need. This forces the plant to develop a root system that is far beyond the normal plant because it is forced to go deeper to gain the water it needs. Sometimes God forces us to go deeper into the grace of His love in order to build a greater foundation in our own lives. These lean times are designed to accomplish this in us. If you find yourself in this condition, ask the Lord who provides the water for our soul for the grace you need today to continue to bear fruit in the desert.

Quote of the Day

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

WITH HOPE AND FAITH

REV. ELDER G E STERRETT


FOUNDER


GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION – THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY


http://gckrs.com

Written by Glenn Sterrett, Founder and CEO of the GCKRS™ Helping Hand Foundation.

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