Wednesday, November 16, 2011

JUST ANOTHER MOUNTAIN...

http://youtu.be/DICw_NtdI68 - Nothing is impossible - Planetshakers

Philippians 4:4-13
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.


6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.


8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.


10 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Because all things are possible with God, all things are possible for us through the strength that Christ gives freely.  I can do ALL things, not some things, not a few things, not most things.  I can do ALL things through His strength. 

There is a caveat, however... Romans 8:28
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
We must read the full passage to understand what God has for us.  He is not a genie who offers to grant us unlimited wishes.  He makes all things possible according to His perfect will for us.  Read the rest of the passage in Romans 8:

Romans 8:26-39
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.


31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.


35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

All things are possible for us according to God's perfect plan.  His plan is for us to spend Eternity with HIM. He will cause all things to work together FOR OUR GOOD if we have been called by Him. 

What seems to be the "GOOD" to us, may not really be "Good" in an Eternal sense.  The wonderful thing about our loving God is that HE refuses to allow us to settle for what we perceive as the "good" answer to our prayers.  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we pray with groanings that cannot be expressed as words.  He pleads for us in harmony with God's will for our lives.  It gives me great comfort to know that even when the world seems to be falling down around me, the Holy Spirit is pleading for me in harmony with God's loving and perfect plan for me.  JESUS is my advocate and pleads for me before the Father, too. 

All things don't always work out according to what I want.  Thank You, FATHER!  I don't always know what is best for me or for my family.  I'm so very thankful that I can trust YOU to work everything out just the way it needs to be so that we can experience the greater good that You provide - not my little idea of what's right and goo.  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for trusting your Father, even in death.  The single most unfair, evil, hurtful event in the all of time was Your death on the cross.  You pleaded for another way, but yielded to Your Father whom You trusted implicitly.  HE knew the good that was coming because of Your suffering.  And I know it must have been so very hard to watch You suffer alone, HE knew the future blessing You were providing through this great sacrifice.  Because You trusted our Father, I know I can trust Him, too.
My suffering is no where close to what You went through, yet I know it matters to You, Father.  I know You don't want me to hurt or suffer.  You don't want my family and friends to hurt.  But because You hold the future - You know all things, I know that Your Will is only best.  So I can say with conviction, LORD GOD, Your Will be done, not mine.  In Jesus' all powerful Name, I pray. Amen. 

http://youtu.be/qt8MpHbE-3c - Just another mountain - Jamie Slocum

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The following is from Streams in the Desert.  I'm very sure I'm not the only one who needs to be reminded that God is God of the impossible.  

Is anything too hard for the LORD?(Genesis 18:14)


This is God's loving challenge to you and me each day. He wants us to think of the deepest, highest, and worthiest desires and longings of our hearts. He wants us to think of those things that perhaps were desires for ourselves or someone dear to us, yet have gone unfulfilled for so long that we now see them as simply lost desires. And God urges us to think of even the one thing that we once saw as possible but have given up all hope of seeing fulfilled in this life.

That very thing, as long as it aligns with what we know to be His expressed will—as a son was to Abraham and Sarah— God intends to do for us. Yes, if we will let Him, God will do that very thing, even if we know it is such an utter impossibility that we would simply laugh at the absurdity of anyone ever suggesting it could come to pass.

"Is anything too hard for the LORD?" No, nothing is too difficult when we believe in Him enough to go forward, doing His will and letting Him do the impossible for us. Even Abraham and Sarah could have blocked God's plan if they had continued to disbelieve.

The only thing "too hard for the LORD" is our deliberate and continual disbelief in His love and power, and our ultimate rejection of His plans for us. Nothing is impossible for Jehovah to do for those who trust Him. from Messages for the Morning Watch

from the Streams in the Desert Devotional, by L. B. Cowman. For devotionals like this one for your iPhone, visit us at 43rdElement.com
 

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