“Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. Therefore the sisters sent to him, saying, ‘Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.’” John 11:1, 3 Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were personal friends of Jesus. But when Jesus was notified that Lazarus was sick, instead of going to heal him he delayed a few days. When he finally went, Lazarus had been dead for four days. When Jesus arrived, both Martha and Mary were in mourning and cried to him that IF ONLY he had come earlier, Lazarus wouldn’t have died. Timing is everything. We know that Jesus lingered before going because he knew he was not sent to heal in this case, but to raise Lazarus from the dead. When we do not see answers to our prayers right away, it can be very frustrating and can even damage our faith. But we need to realize that to answer our prayers God needs to set up circumstances in order to bring about the answer. He sets up stories. He’s working behind the scenes. Unseen by you. Have you noticed from past stories in your life, what lengths the Father went to to create those stories? “If I hadn’t been in that store at that exact time, and if I hadn’t been in that exact aisle at that exact time, if I had been ten minutes later or earlier it would not have happened…" Think back on the times in your life when incidents took place that you know were God-ordained. Then look at those stories one by one and see the details of what God had to do to bring that story to pass. “If I hadn’t…” “If he hadn’t…” “If…” Each story brings us to understand that “this was a God thing,” and they make us realize how personal God is, how intimately involved he is in every detail of our lives. The stories of our lives touch us so deeply that they create a foundation of trust, and that’s the point. God is at work bringing us to understand his ways and to work with him. They lay a foundation of faith so strong that later when we find ourselves in circumstances that are hard, we can remind ourselves of what we’ve seen the Lord do in our stories in the past, which assures us that he has this one under his control also. And then we trust, even when we cannot see the forest for the trees. If you are in a hard place right now, bring to mind the stories God has created in your life. Perhaps even write them down and encourage yourself in them, knowing that the same God whom you have seen SO marvelously work before is right now watching over the story you’re presently in. The stories from your past will establish your faith for the present, reminding you that God IS present with you in this as surely as he was in stories past, and that you can trust him because God is FAITHFUL. “…casting all your care upon him, for he CARES for you.” 1st Peter 5:7
God has used Israel to teach us many lessons. For example consider the following: "Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven..." Deuteronomy 9:1 First of all, the basis of the argument has to rest on one principle, and that is that the earth belongs to God who made it. This alone should silence all claims and all arguments. "The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters." Psalm 24:1-2 But we know that unbelievers care not who God is nor that all belongs to him. So they will cry "foul" if there seems to be some unfairness in who sits on what land and who doesn't. Could there be unfairness with God? - Of course not. This message today isn't purposed to debate this issue, we're returning to the basic principle that the earth belongs to the God who made it, and he settles it according to his own wisdom. In this passage in Deuteronomy, God has brought the Israelites to the borders of the land he is about to give to them, and he's telling them to go in and take it. But he also tells WHY the occupants of the land are going to be dispossessed: "...it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you." Deuteronomy 9:4 To say the occupants of the land of Canaan were wicked is putting it mildly. First of all, they were of the families of the Anakim and others like them. The Anakim were the giants, those whose DNA was corrupted. There was no evil these tribes were not guilty of. Satan had put the worst of the worst in the land of Canaan. So God was bringing HIS people to the borders of this land, and giving them instruction before going in to take the land and totally dispossess the occupants. In the very chapter describing the covenant, God reveals to Abraham the extent of the land he will be giving to the Israelites, and naming the corrupt tribes who were presently occupying that land. God said to Abraham: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates, — the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” Genesis 15:18-21 But at the time of the promise to Abraham, the wickedness of the occupants of the land had not yet reached its full, so God had been waiting for their iniquity to be complete: vs 16: "But in the fourth generation they (the descendants of Abraham) shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” And so we see that there comes a time when a nation becomes so wicked, so polluted, that God will drive them out and destroy them. Was it not so when God drove out the natives of the land now called America? The natives of this land were idolatrous peoples. They worshiped false gods with similar practices to the ancient peoples of Canaan, posting totem poles to their family gods and carrying out all sorts of occult practices with rites and rituals and shamans (witchcraft.) God brought Christians from Europe to this land, and the natives were dispossessed. In the land of Israel today, the same story continues. Israel is accused of occupying land that "belongs" to the "Palestinians," when the truth is just the opposite. That land was given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in an everlasting covenant, and the principle that it is an everlasting covenant is repeated throughout the Bible. "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, ALL the land of Canaan, as an EVERLASTING possession; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:8 Today, the present occupiers of much of that land are a people who worship a false god called Allah the moon god, a people vile and vicious, a people of carnage and destruction. God is in the process of restoring Israel to the land given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and to their descendants the Jews, and he will most definitely drive out the Muslim peoples of the moon god. When God establishes a covenant and calls it "an everlasting" covenant, you can be sure that it truly IS everlasting. The Israelites were driven out of their land long ago because they had rebelled against God. He had sent prophets to them for many years warning them to turn from their rebellion; but they didn't, and after many, many warnings and pleadings, they were driven out of their land. That was a judgment that came upon them for their sin. But ownership of the land was never an issue, it was COVENANTED to the descendants of Jacob FOREVER. And now that the judgment pronounced upon Israel has run its course, God is bringing them back to their land. What is so fearful is that America has become wicked, and her doom is unmistakably near, we can actually see it coming. There is no evil America isn't delighted in. God has sent men to warn them, several men of God who have brought their message to the American people, speaking on radio and television to the people of America, posting on the internet, writing books and taking every opportunity to appeal to America, pleading with them to come to repentance. But America has nothing but scorn for these men, and America is nearing her judgment. Even now, believers are seeing the developing forces of judgment being set up to bring her downfall. When God is finished with this last window of mercy for the sake of his people, judgment will come. And if there will be no hope for America, still there IS hope for individuals. Even as judgment falls, the opportunity remains for individuals to realize their sin and turn to God for forgiveness. In fact, the greatest revivals often occur during a time of judgment, because the peoples are often shaken into seriousness when they face terrible suffering and loss. Here's a call to individuals today: don't wait until you're in so much pain that you begin to take God seriously. He has sent his servants to warn this country and this country has refused them. Judgment is coming swiftly, but there is still time for YOU to repent. Repent, therefore, before the door is closed and you're locked into the great Tribulation that is looming even now. You don't have to go down with the masses - God is still holding out his hand of mercy to you. Repent, therefore, and be saved.
"Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness. He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous." Psalm 112:4 Our journey through this lifetime presents us with many dangers, many afflictions, and times of great darkness; but if a man or woman walks uprightly he can be sure that whenever he walks through a time of darkness the Lord will shine a light to show him the way and to reassure him he is not alone. vs 7: "He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Today is a time in the history of the world when great and looming dangers are threatening ominous times ahead. There are scientists venturing into places they should not be. The project called CERN is a project in which scientists are experimenting upon the dividing line between this world and "other dimensions." There have been reports that they have been encountering supernatural exchanges which they cannot explain. Clearly, they are opening "portals" into the abyss, and bringing forth through those portals beings whose domain is not of this world. In addition, there have been large earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, fires, and other disasters which have come upon the earth since they started this project. Only terrible things can come from this kind of experiment, and several top physicists such as the late Stephen Hawking have solemnly warned them they shouldn't be messing with these things because the damage to the earth could be incalculable. And then there are the signs from heaven, a series of "blood moons" appeared which were total lunar eclipses. What made them special is that each fell on Biblical feast days. It's clear that God is signaling those who will understand - what time it is! Add to that a total solar eclipse canvassing the US from coast to coast - and a configuration in the constellations some believe is portending the soon beginning of the Tribulation ...to say terrible and unprecedented times are coming is without question. Earthquakes and hurricanes, tornados and floods ... the signs Jesus told us to watch for are all here, concurrently in the same generation. But the Word of God says that the believer must not be afraid in a time of evil tidings. Why? Because there is nothing that can affect the believer without first going through the hands of his Lord. The believer knows full well that his Lord has promised to be with him in all he experiences. "For he himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'” Hebrews 13:5-6 "Oh but," one might ask, "believers in other countries are being tortured and beheaded. If that's happening to them, that and more could happen to us." Yes, it could. But we are called upon to not cling to this life because we're only passing through and time here is short in comparison to eternity. Watching a beheading can fill one with terror, but the one being beheaded feels no pain. He instantly finds himself standing before his Lord in heaven, and is reunited with those who have gone there before him. So one could say that it's not the terror it appears to be, but it's one of the most glorious things that can happen to a believer, a quick and painless transport into the very portals of heaven and to joyous reunion with loved ones long since passed. Plus, he gets the "martyr's crown," which will be his forever. "But what of torture?" one may ask. That question brings to mind the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsie. During the Holocaust they were taken to a concentration camp, and the conditions there were so terrible that Betsie became very ill. As she lay dying, Corrie asked her how she could stand it and Betsie replied, "There is no pit so deep, that God is not deeper still." That is called "dying grace," the help of the Lord in the worst of circumstances. Corrie survived the camps and went on to become one of God's most gifted and anointed speakers. She brought the message of the Gospel throughout the world and testified of the tremendous grace of God in all circumstances. The apostle Paul suffered terrible things during his mission. Read 2nd Corinthians 11:23-29, where he tells all the things he went through. He was stoned and left for dead, he was whipped and thrown into a dungeon, and that's just the beginning, read it. Paul was just a man. Indeed he ends that passage saying, "Who is weak, and I am not weak?" But through it all he was never without grace, and he was never forsaken. One has to experience something terrible to be convinced of the truth of the all-sufficient grace of God in times of trial. That grace and that love will demonstrably be with the believer always and everywhere. Therefore, we are not to fear, but to hold fast to the One who will see us through. Do NOT be afraid of evil tidings; let your heart be steadfast, trust the Lord.