Salvation Wednesday 7/24/13 The Thorn 3

Praise Report ... We had prayed for Patsy and Burt's daughter Jan as she had to have surgery on her breasts for caner.  Surgery over, lumps removed, cancer is gone.  All glory and honor to God.  SOMEONE SHOUT PRAISE THE LORD!

Dear Father in Heaven, we lift You in praise this day for the report of no cancer in Jan, all glory and honor is Yours this day.  Please, dear Lord, protect Pope Francis as he travels.  Thank You for looking after all of us each day.  Lord, what a beautiful day You gave us this day, and again I give thanks for Your taking care of those on this line and their families.   Lord, help us each day to become more and more like You.  As we share our blessings, help us to share them with those who love You and also those who don't, but Lord, as we share with those who might hate You, help us to bring them to Your feet by obeying Your command to take the Good News to all people.  Lord, please help Patsy and Burt each day and now, Lord, please also be with Bob Coburn as he readies for surgery next week.  Now, if You will, dear Lord, please help me with the message and then dispatch it for me.  In the Name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

Hi, brothers and sisters.  Yes, it was, sure was, a beautiful day here at the Southern Location of the North Pole.  Wednesday, and it is Salvation Wednesday, and the day we pray for the lost, and pray that God will use us who are saved to go into the fields of harvest for Him.  Our biggest blessing is of course being saved, and we need to share that blessing.  Please, folks, be you of the Catholic faith or not, please pray for Pope Francis as he travels in some pretty rough areas.  Let me get to the message.

2 Corinthians 12:7 - To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 - But He said tome, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.  (NIV)

Job 2:1 - On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him. 2 And the Lord said to Stan, "Where have you come from?"  Satan answered the Lord, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."  3 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?  There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.  And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited Me against him to ruin him without any reason."  (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, once again I brought forth the scriptures so you might review them as the series goes forth.  Today the Lord led me back into the first testament.  It hate to call it the old testament, for regardless of its age, there is lots of good stuff in there.  Anyway, it looks to me like our Lord is having a conversation with Satan.  Now let me point this out to you right now, I must do this right now.  If the Lord would take time to talk to Satan, the master of evil and deceit, then I am sure, very sure, that He will talk to any one of us, who talks to Him.  I know He talks to me, now, folks, I don't hear a loud voice calling out ... HEY, PASTOR DAN, THIS IS THE LORD SPEAKING.  No, our Lord Jesus talks tome by laying things on my heart.  I know of people who have heard Him out loud and I believe them.  But He speaks to my heart, and oftentimes when I mess up.  And I confess that I do not always listen to Him, and I guess that is why I am still a sinner, an old sinner saved by grace.  Think about it, brothers and sisters, if our Father, our Lord, had time to talk with Satan, don't you think He would take time for you?

The Lord and Satan talking about Job.  We see the Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"  Satan replied, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."  Okay, now we have proof that Satan is roaming around the earth, going back and forth in it.  In other words, he is covering all of it,and even to this day the devil is roaming around the earth, and why?  He wants to get his dirty, dingy hands on all of us.  I love this book, it just keeps on telling it like it is.  And God keeps opening more and more of it each day.  I love it.

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?  There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."  Wow, our Lord really has that high opinion of Job.  Can you name just one of the others who God found blameless and upright?  How about Noah?  Yes, he was found blameless along with his wife and family.  This is different, and our Lord is about to do something.  He is going to, well, show Satan that the Lord knows His people.  So might I add a few things, with a message called The Thorn, I think Satan is really a thorn in the side of the Lord, and I think we are also that way.  I wonder how often as Jesus forgives me, He says, this Danny guy, he is a thorn in my side, but I love him and forgive him.  But look, something is going to happen here, and yes, we will look at it on Thursday.  Is the Lord going to "throw Job under the bus?"  Okay, a term of today, I know, they did not have buses back then, but I must try and keep you awake.  Anyway, God is building up Job, and will He hand him over to Satan, and if He does, how will Job handle it?  It is getting good.

Now go forth and share your blessings, and remember this, you just cannot out-give the Lord.  Love ya.  Pass it on.

Pastor Dan

Pastor Dan's Safety Tip:  Men, for those who drive trucks or sport utility vehicles, I know you set up high in those vehicles, you might want to keep your mind on your driving instead of watching the ladies' legs in the car beside you, for is the traffic stops ahead of you, you might hit someone ...