This is a message first preached in April 2019, but it’s just as powerful for today, as it was then.
Psalm 73:25, ""Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you"
Bad things are not always bad things.
Hebrews 12:7-11, “As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”
Midnight singing & dungeon faith
“Those who wish to sing, will always find a song.”
“God will not look you over for medals, degrees, or diplomas--but for scars.” Elbert Hubbard
SUDDENLY--
We are citizens.
Here’s what I’ve learned about battles…
BATTLES are not always bad things.
We need the battles, to shape who we are, and to teach us who God is.
Faith isn’t what makes it all work out in the end (God has already done that)...faith is what gets us through the middle part. It’s the substance of things hoped for, it’s the evidence of things not yet seen...it’s mysterious and magical and amazing..It creates, it imagines, it hopes, it designs, it’s the language of God, because it is CREATING. CREATING LIFE.
True faith does not merely resign itself to a divine plan, nor trust detached promises; faith embraces a promising Person. That person, values spiritual health, above everything, because physical health and physical wealth don’t last for eternity.
We must remember the promises in which Christ is clothed, but let us never preach a set of clothes. It’s the person of JESUS that stands at the center of saving faith.
In the end, this series about been about faith. Faith in the face of battles. Enemies that cannot be overcome. Walls that cannot be torn down. Relationships that cannot be restored. Faith in the face of the impossible. But not faith in yourself. Or the universe. Or love, or faith in faith itself. Faith in Jesus Christ, the overcomer. The victorious savior of our souls. We are citizens in HIS kingdom. And we fight our battles as HIS warriors, ‘cause there is nothing that can stop our God.