SPIRITUALITY AND FAITH
circumstances usually wake us up and show us We Need God and the Church. Instead of experiencing heartbreak, stumbling around confused or hurt, when you get Back to God & His Church, you are going in the right direction! Heb. 10:25 says “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Prayer, God’s Word & Church attendance helps us overcome old ways and live as Gal. 5:1 adds “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be entangled again with the yoke of slavery.”
B. As you go after the Presence/Power of Jesus, He will grant you everything pertaining to LIFE! Difficult circumstances should cause us to go where we can find God. This is the reason Jesus came! John 10:10 says “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”. Jesus’ Name is your support and defense in life. You do not need to fear because God has given you 365 “Fear Nots”--one for each day the year! Isa. 41:10 promises "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Also know…
1. His NATURE is to save you, keep you and birth His purpose & character in you. See I Peter 1:3-5. We Need God and the Church!
2. His NAME is your force of power to defeat all evil that comes against your life. Prov. 18:10 “The Name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous RUNS into it and is safe.”
3. His PRESENCE/POWER is your deliverance from all fear & oppression. Acts 3:19 “Repent & return, so times of refreshing may come from presence of the Lord.”
4. His PROMISES confessed over your life are a shield of faith & foundation to build your life on! Eph. 6:16 says “taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one!”
CONC: You can experience the power of a changed life and the peace JESUS gives…like the 25 yr. old woman I read about who jumped from a bridge in Biloxi, Miss. on Jan. 25, 2020. Pressures and disappointments of life overwhelmed her, so she climbed over the railing & jumped off a bridge over the Mississippi River. A man fishing saw her jump into that very deep water. Though not a swimmer, he jumped in to rescue her. He had forgotten that he didn’t know how to swim so now facing death himself, began waving his arms urgently crying “help”. When the suicidal woman’s head popped up and saw this man’s plight, the woman forgot her own problems, swam to the drowning fisherman & pulled him to shore. Since he was choking, she gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, while somebody called 911. Both of them were taken to the hospital and urvived. She told reporters--in that moment her life had purpose. She had something to live for. In saving someone else, she saved herself. Coming to Jesus, can release God’s Purpose & Eternal Change in Life! You can be Saved from your past! Saved from your sins! Saved to do greater things for God, His Church, Your Eternal Future!