Friday 7/6/12 Total Trust 3

Isaiah 12:1 - In that day you will say, "I will praise you, O Lord.  Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.  2 Surely God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid.  (NIV)


John 14:1 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  TRUST in God and trust also in me.  2 In my Father's house are many rooms.  If it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  4 You know the way to the place I am going."  5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"  6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  (NIV)

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters.  Our Picnic is STILL ON.  It will be  hot, we have lots of water, we are under a roof, which is under some trees, along a creek.  More than likely we will start serving food at 11:30 AM while Tim is still singing, so that the seniors coming in can leave if need be.

Remember this is not an afternoon or evening picnic, it is AM before the hottest part of the day.  Hey, it is Friday and the day we pray for all those going out and working for the Lord.  And please pray for Tim Beitzel who will be singing at our picnic on Saturday.  Let me get to the message.

Total Trust Day 3.

Our dogs trust in us for their food and water and shelter.  When they want out they go to the door and bark (most of the time).  When they want that "good stuff" at 5:00 AM they wake me if I am still asleep and keep right at my feet until they get fed ... Well, God provided us with a real nice shelter, heat, air conditioning, a potty inside (I don't need to go to the door an bark), and my fridge and freezer are full of food that God provided.  And I just need to go to the sink and turn a valve and the water comes out.  My friends, if you don't think God provides all these things, you better rethink what you have.  For if God did not send rain, the water would soon not come out of the valve, and the food would not grow, and the world would dry up.  If God would not provide the shelter, we would, not we might, we would be living out in the weather.

Our dogs talk to us by winding around our feet, by crying a little if they want something to eat or also barking to get our attention.  And might I say that when we talk to God (you know, pray) do we wind around His feet?  (We should, and someday I am going to sit at them.)  Do we cry sometimes when talking to Him?  (More often than you might think.)  And do we sometimes "bark" at Him when things are not going our way?  (Sadly, I must say yes to this one.)

So, my friends, take a lesson from our pets today, and relate it to our good Lord.  Even the fact He gave us free will, we do depend on Him for all we have, even those who do not believe in Him, they depend on Him for those things, they are just too stupid to realize it.  And just one more.  At the end of time for my little dogs, I have held them in my arms as they passed, and I fully expect when my time comes, my Lord, my God, my Savior, my Jesus will be right with me holding me ever so tight in His loving arms (as He does daily now) and will carry me off to be with Him.

I don't know if dogs go to heaven, but I think they do, but to be safe, I will enjoy them now here on earth.  I do know that I am going to Heaven (not all will) but I am going to enjoy God here on earth and then even get to know Him better when I go face to face.  In closing, I might add that I never know until I sit at the computer just what God might plant on my mind to send out.  Often times He uses the most simple things in life to show us that He is in control.  So stop looking for something tough and just look for Jesus, look for the Light and Trust.  Hear these words of Jesus again today.  They come from John 14:1 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  TRUST in God and trust also in me."  (NIV)  They are the words of Jesus.  Now let's talk to Him.

Dear Father in Heaven, we are so blessed, and Lord, if it be your will, please send some rain on the wild fires and some rain on the drought, and maybe some cooler weather our way.  I the meantime, Lord, help us love and appreciate what you do send.  I love You, Jesus, protect those coming to the picnic as they travel, bless Tim as He sings for You, and Lord, bless the food.  In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Now go forth sharing your blessings.  Hope to see a bunch of you tomorrow.  Love ya, Pastor Dan.

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