Friday 3/15/13 Strength 5

Dear Father in Heaven.  Thanks for another day and thank You in advance for taking us through the day and days ahead of us.  Thank You for carrying our burdens and troubles, and thank You for washing away our sins.  You are wonderful and I love You, Lord.  In Jesus' name, I pray today that You renew us to do Your work in the Fields of Harvest and that You help point out the lost to us so we might try our very best to bring them to You to be saved.  In Jesus' name, I pray this day.  Amen.

Good Salvation Friday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters.  We are still looking for some helpers for this coming Wednesday afternoon as we distribute food for Easter.  Please pray this day for healing for Bob Everhard and Stanley Rodkey, also for Patsy and Burt Emig, for Barbara.  And please give a shout of PRAISE THE LORD, for the beautiful grandchildren of my dear brother in Christ, "Rick," from Lancaster.  What beautiful kids, brother Rick.  Let me get to the message right away today.

Strength 3/15/13 Day Five.

Hebrews 13:5 - Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  (NIV)

Psalm 23:  The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.  2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters.  3 He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.  5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  (NIV)

Isaiah 41:10 - So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, we know that we need strength when we need to lift things or carry things.  We need strength when we shovel snow or stones, when we put on a roof or dig a ditch.  We need strength of body to do these things.  We need strength in mind when we deal with things of math, figure out budgets, do school work or help with school  work, we need strength in our brains, even to make our strength in our bodies work.  And I talked to you about these things this week.

I have talked to you also, brothers and sisters, about needing strength when we are tempted by evil, or tempted to do things that we cannot afford to do, even if the bottom line is not evil.  I also talked to you when we needed to have strength in times of danger or fear.  In all cases, I put forth scripture telling you that all of our strength comes from our Lord to us.  I pointed out other times when God gives us strength.  Now I have put down some more scriptures, and these scriptures give us strength when we are lonely.  Think about it now, have you ever been really lonely?  I mean really lonely.  I know when I go away, I get homesick and I get worse as time passes by.  I would get so homesick I would get sick.  It started when I was a child and would go to see my aunt and uncle on their farm.  In three days I was a mess.  I was the same way when going on a vacation, and that is the reason we rarely went on one.  After my mamma passed away, I was lonely, even in a crowd, even when in school or with friends, I was still lonely.  One thing that would help me if I was lonely was working,  just keep working.  However, brothers and sisters, the best way, the really best way, in fact the only way to really overcome being lonely is grab hold of Jesus, invite Him into your life and walk and talk with Him.

The scriptures of today, starting with:

Hebrews 13:5 - Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?"

First, we see in this scripture the love of money will not keep you from being lonely.  Even a car guy like me, when lonely, two new Caddies would not cut it.  When really lonely, a bright new red pickup did not cut it, I tried that one.  Nothing money could buy, will not buy that happiness nor stop you from being lonely.  What will stop you from the loneliness is what God said.  "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."  God is good, and if we are TRULY SAVED, then we will find HIS STRENGTH in all things when we need the strength, regardless of when or how we need it.  Someone please say AMEN.

One of the most comforting scriptures, one that we can pull on for strength, is the 23rd Psalm.  We use it in church, we see it used often in funerals or memorial services.  I learned this Psalm when in elementary school.  We had to take turns reading the Bible and as I have told you, I was a very, very poor reader.  So I learned this by heart with the help of mamma.  She also taught me what it meant.  I would ask all of you to learn this scripture by heart, and when in trouble,  when lonely, or if depression starts to set in or just when you need to call on God, just talk to God and do not be afraid to use this scripture.  In fact, as we close today, as I send you forth to do God's work and try and bring in the lost, let us use this scripture when we talk to God, for it is about Him ... Ready ...

Psalm 23:  The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.  2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters.  3 He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.  5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Thank you, dear Lord, for this great scripture inspired by You for us ... In Jesus' name, Amen.

Now  go forth sharing your blessings, working for Jesus bringing in the lost and remembering that the Lord is your Shepherd and you shall not want.  Be brave warriors and receive your strength from God daily.  Love ya (pass it on.)

Pastor Dan.