June 1, 2011 Storms

Listen! Listen to the roar of His voice, to the rumbling that comes from His mouth. He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of His roar; He thunders with His majestic voice. When His voice resounds He holds nothing back. God's voice thunders in marvelous ways. He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, fall on the earth and to the rain shower, be a mighty downpour so that all men He has made may know His work. He stops every man from his labor. The animals take cover; they remain in their dens.

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters and it is a beautiful day here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. Today is Wednesday, Salvation Wednesday, and I am sorry that I have missed a few days. So today we pray for the unsaved and for those of us who are saved to be working to bring in the lost.

Let me get right to the message as we have phone service people coming today, our home/ministry phones are not working and have been out since the storm last Thursday. We do have a phone coming in as this old man has a line running in from the service box bypassing the problem areas. A no/no, I know, but people need to be able to call about getting food. I think I mentioned we lost several freezer loads of food, but our old Honda Generator did keep the biggest one frozen and we had most all of the meat in that one. Praise God for that.

Storms: Job 37:2 - Listen! Listen to the roar of His voice, to the rumbling that comes from His mouth. 3 He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. 4 After that comes the sound of His roar; He thunders with His majestic voice. When His voice resounds He holds nothing back. 5 God's voice thunders in marvelous ways. He does great things beyond our understanding. 6 He says to the snow, fall on the earth and to the rain shower, be a mighty downpour, 7 so that all men He has made may know His work. He stops every man from his labor. 8 The animals take cover; they remain in their dens. (NIV)

I have heard so many, many times that we have an all-loving God and He would not send storms upon us that would hurt or kill people and destroy property. God is not like that. Let me remind all of those folks that God is all loving EXCEPT FOR THE FACT HE REALLY HATES SIN. And what are we, even those of us who have come to Jesus, yes. go ahead and say it, we are SINNERS. We who have come to Jesus are saved by His grace and forgiven of those sins, but the fact remains we are still sinners. And while I do not know about you, and I am not going to judge you, I know I am saved, and I have repented, but I still from time to time still mess up and I sin.

So let me review a tad from this scripture and also please look at these verses also from the book of Job.

Job 37:10 - The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. 11 He loads the clouds with Moisture, He scatters His lightning through them. 12 At His direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth TO DO WHATEVER HE COMMANDS THEM 13 He brings the clouds to PUNISH MEN or to water His earth and show His love. (NIV)

The message this morning is in the scriptures and you can read them yourself. God is so good to us, He sends His rain and storms to water our gardens, fill our wells and rivers, bring the seasons, etc. But those same winds and rains when He turns up the power can level big buildings, uproot the mighty oak trees and humble men and women in their cellars or in a bathtub in the middle room of a house... The direction of the storms can fall on one person and miss the next, and as the Bible tells us this...

"He does great things beyond our understanding."

I want to go now to the book of Romans as I heard a lot of pastors on the news being quoted on this one. One was a priest whose flock had lost the church building and the church school and the only thing remaining was the cross on the roof and the supports holding it up. He stated this...

Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (NIV)

Key words, God works for God, for those who love Him and have been called. Even in our neighborhood where homes were not destroyed but basements were flooded and trees were downed as this small twister, an F1, went down the street. I sat with some neighbors as one after the other gave thanks that no one was hurt and they still had a home. I watched as neighbors helped each other, not waiting for government to come, but went helping each other clearing trees from homes. In some areas church services were held on the ground. When the storms come, it seems to me people gather to gather to ask the Lord's blessings and give thanks...

Dear Father in Heaven, Your mighty, mighty forces of wind and rain show us You are still in control, and we give thanks for that, please help us to bring people to the feet of Jesus before that final storm hits us. Our work, dear Lord, is to clean up a mess, and I am not talking the tress and branches I am talking about cleaning up the mess that comes from men and women who sin, the mess coming from their mouth and falling on the ears of others and children. Lord, please, when the storms of life hit us, help us dig deeper and deeper in Your love and help us to stand by You... In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Yes, brothers and sisters, I changed the words in that prayer. The song says, when the storms of life are passing stand by me... But I just want to tell all of you, when the storms of life are passing stand by Him, for HE IS ALREADY STANDING BY YOU. And someone said AMEN and AMEN.

Now go forth sharing those blessings. I must get to work now, we have families coming for food and I must get it packed... Love ya, Pastor Dan.

Carry The Light Ministries,
16 Dewalt Drive
Mechanicsburg, Pa 17050
Pastor Dan's cell phone.. 717 991 0754

Remember to RSVP about the Picnic on July 2nd. More details coming...