PRAISE YOU IN THIS STORM... YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE...

MEDITATION MONDAY

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Yesterday was a day that many from our church family, here in Pitman, will meditate on for many years to come. It began with much preparation paved with years of prayer! We are on a journey to heaven and yesterday there were multiple signs of God's approval. Oh, there have been nay-sayers along the way, who have wondered why we are erecting a building during these economic hard times. From the beginning God was asked to be the pilot of all of it. Yesterday, we saw HIS GLORY AND GRACE manifested in many ways.

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Our services in the local high school auditorium began with the generator going out and leaving us in the dark. Only emergency lights! No microphones! No power point of songs or sermon!

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We sang songs from memory led by Brian K. We prayed. Brian M. led us in communion thoughts via the help of a flashlight. He shared about life being full of struggles... challenges... things we don't understand. He said that we often ask "Why?" like in the case of our daughter, Jessica, and her chronic pain and isolation or the death of Scott McEndree (a righteous man who left behind 4 little children and a wife). He shared that all week he had a scripture on His heart that He believed the Holy Spirit had put there for him to share with us. I began to have goosebumps as he began to read. You see, it was the same scripture that God had put on my heart the day before as I was choosing which one of several scriptures would be our scripture memory for November on this blog. I had posted that scripture Saturday night. Here it was, Sunday morning, and it's the same scripture Brian is reading. Read on down and when you get to the words in bold, note that that was what Brian was reading when the power came back on!

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Romans 5:1-8 .

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Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

2 through whom we have gained access by faith

into this GRACE in which we now stand.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

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3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

5 And hope does not disappoint us,

because God has poured out His love

into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,

whom He has given us.

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6 You see, at just the right time,

when we were still POWERLESS,

Christ died for the ungodly.

7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man,

though for a good man someone

might possibly dare to die.

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8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners,

Christ died for us."

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My husband, Steve, will tell you that I began to laugh. For someone who doesn't have a great sense of humor, I know that my God does. I know He was smiling! Not necessarily because it was funny, but because we would know He was getting His point across to us in His way and in His timing.

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There was so much more! There are a lot of our church family who are going through some big storms in their lives. They need encouragement! God sent it to us in multiple ways through Steve's sermon:

1. I got an email letter on my Blackberry (right before the power went out) from my friend, Debbie, who is a professor at ACU. When Steve preached in Texas, her parents and brother were part of our congregation. Of all the families that we have ever known, her family is acquainted with suffering. Her email was long, encouraging, and inspiring... Curtis, her brother, who has suffered with Cystic Fibrosis for over 40 years has been taken to hospice. Embedded in the letter were these words, "He and I have had a number of good talks about the meaning of life, about death, and about his moving to hospice. As is usually the case, I began the talks as teacher and quickly moved to the role of humbled student. ...I remain always amazed by and grateful for the varied ways each of you has supported one or all of us, at times in ways I wonder if you realized. It's always breathtaking the ways the LORD uses us as instruments, even when we're not fully aware of our role(s). Thank you for your friendship." Notice the bolded words. Debbie did not know that she was being used as God's instrument at that time... Steve began his sermon encouraging our church family by telling of the lives Curtis and the Jay and Williams families. He then prayed for them. God orchestrated this across the miles.
2. Steve gave more encouragement to our church family about running this race strong to the finish by telling about the life and death of Roger Collins, a devout christian and devoted husband, father, grandfather, teacher, friend, track coach, and elder. I share more here at GIGATTAATTGIG. As Steve introduced his sermon from the book of Luke, he used the "excellent life of Roger Collins" to connect to Luke's beginning statement "Oh, excellent Theophilus" - Luke 1:1-4.
3. Then, came Steve's lesson entitled: IDENTITY vs. IDENTITY THEFT - it seemed evident that the devil did not want Steve's lesson to be preached either. He wanted us left in the dark! But God brought LIGHT back so we could see what Steve had prepared. Here is Steve's lesson handout with my comments interspersed in italics:

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• A. WHO ARE YOU? LUKE 4:1-13 The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy! He wants to steal our identity! He tried and tries it over and over again with Jesus, too.

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• IDENTITY:
• 1. Lk 1:31-32 JESUS, SON OF _______
  2. Lk 1:35 SON OF GOD
  3. Lk 2:10-11 SAVIOR; CHRIST THE LORD
  4. Lk 2:26 THE LORD’S _______________
  5. Lk 3:21-22 MY BELOVED SON
  6. Lk 3:21-22 JESUS OF NAZARETH; THE HOLY ONE OF GOD
  7. Lk 4:40-41 SON OF GOD; THE CHRIST
  8. Lk 5:5-8 ____________; LORD

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• IDENTITY THEFT: LK 4:3, 9 “IF _________________”

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• B. WHERE DID YOU COME FROM? The devil tried and tries to get people to believe that Jesus was just a man "the son of Joseph" and not the Son of God.

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• IDENTITY: Luke 1:30-35

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• IDENTITY THEFT: LK 4:22 & 3:23 “Is__________?”

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• C. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Lk 4:18-19 The devil tried and tries to get people to believe that Jesus cast out demons in the name of Beelzebub... instead of by His power, the power of God.

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• IDENTITY: Luke 7:22-23; 4:43-44; 4:38-39

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• IDENTITY THEFT: LK 11:15 “He ________________”

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• IV. WHERE ARE YOU GOING? The devil tried and tries to get people to look at Jesus as a man who just went around stirring up trouble. They did not understand the whole idea of a Spiritual Kingdom and that Jesus is and was, in fact, the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.

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• IDENTITY = Luke 9:43-45; 18:31-33

• IDENTITY THEFT: LK 23:5 “HE’S JUST GOING AROUND _____________________UP THE PEOPLE!”
  

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We left Sunday morning and headed for an afternoon together as the family of GOD who were NOT having an identity crisis. We are convicted and convinced that:

1. Jesus Christ is God.
2. Jesus Christ came from God.
3. Jesus Christ was and is about God business.
4. Jesus Christ went back to God.

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As CHRISTIANS, we are His family:

1. We are the family of God.
2. We came from God.
3. We have been, are, and will be about God's business.
4. We are going back to God.

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Join me tomorrow as I gratefully share about Sunday afternoon. It will be then that you understand why I have posted the picture above on this post.

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