Wednesday 3/4/15 Talking to God (8)

Dear Father in Heaven: I love You, and I want to thank You for a granddaughter who stopped by and put salt on our very unsafe driveway this day. All honor and glory goes to You. Lord, thanks for a good report today on Dolores from one of her doctors.  All honor and glory is Yours. Please, Lord, on this our Salvation Wednesday, may we keep serving You by bringing in the lost. I pray, Lord, that the work that You have given to us, we are doing it the way You want it done and people are coming to You through this work. Lord, again I pray for all those working outside, and I give thanks for them. Please keep them safe. Watch over our leaders and our military and our police also, Lord. Please help me with the message and then to get it dispatched. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Brothers and sisters, the ice was thick here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. Our son Glenn sent us a couple bags of driveway salt with our granddaughter Mellissa, who took time to spread it around. You folks all know how I feel about safety on the roads. Today I called ABC 27 out of Harrisburg, PA, and suggested that instead of each day the weather is bad showing us PennDOT or some shot along the highway they might show what a school bus driver does to get a bus ready in the cold, messy weather we have been having. Don't know if they will or not, but ABC 27 Daybreak comes on at 4:30 AM tomorrow and they are calling for snow. Check it out. Okay, it is Wednesday, and that means it is Salvation Wednesday on this line. It is also March 4th, so a really good time to try and put a message together about talking to God as we "March 4th" with Him.

Salvation Wednesday: March 4, 2015: Talking to God (Day Eight) (March 4th)

Luke 3:21 - When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, who I love; with You I am well pleased." (NIV)

Yesterday I talked abut how we could feel the earth shake after praying. I received a note from Pastor Larry Hale, who gave God the Glory as he told me about his mother coming to him when he first received his license to preach, how she felt the "church shake," Praise the Lord. Then he went on to say how his wife Luella and he were heading south, before he left his AC in his car did not work and he did not have the cash to get it fixed, as he was told it needed a compressor, about a $600 repair. So off they went with no AC. Along the way it got so hot in the car they had trouble standing it. They laid hands on the dash, prayed for the AC, and turned it on and it blew cold air and the repair never did need done as God sent the Holy Spirit and the AC sprang to life. Prayer works, folks, prayer really works.

The scripture above shows how heaven opened up after Jesus was baptized and He was praying, and God talked to His Son. Well, we are children of God, and if we pray and we listen, God will open up His heaven, lift His voice and speak to us. Will He say to us, I love You? Yes, He will, for He loves us all. Will He say, "With you I am well pleased"? Well, if I answer that question about me, I might get a different answer on different days. As a sinner I am sure there are days that God is not pleased with me at all, while other days I would think He would be. What answer might He give you?

Now here is another way God might talk to us, as we are Talking to Him.

Exodus 9:22 - Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt, on men and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt." 23 When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky the Lord sent thunder and hail and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; 24 Hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. (NIV)

The earth shook that day, I am sure. It is still true these days that when God sends a storm past us, sometimes it is to get our attention. I am telling you nothing gets my attention any faster than a "bolt of lightning" striking down and hitting the ground and bouncing back up. Or that "bolt of lightning" splitting a big tree right in our own yard. And we as kids would say when the thunder rolls that the angels were bowling. I can tell you many times in my lifetime that the "Thunder Crashed" so hard that the earth shook. The awesome power of our Lord God can be outdone by NOBODY OR NOTHING.

Now how about we just March 4th with this scripture.

Joshua 6:3 - March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams horns in front of the Ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, h ave all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in." (NIV)

The walls were up at Jericho and Joshua was praying and listening to the Lord. Praying face down according to the Bible before the commander of the Lord's Army. The commander of the Lord's army first told Joshua to "take off your shoes for you are standing on Holy Ground." Joshua did just that. Joshua wanted to know whose side God was on. He was told neither. God was not and is not on one side or the other. He loves all people, but He also loves those who defend God and listen to Him. How can I relate this? God does not pick a side in a football game nor does He pick a winner in a car race. However, if we obey the Lord, in the very end we will win. Sometimes in life it seems like we lose the battle, but remember in the end we will win the war. Let's go back and see what happens to Joshua. Joshua was given his "Marching Orders," and he followed them to the letter. Now think about this, you are to march around a place for seven days, and then have all the people shout, and the wall of that city will fall. Joshua did all those things and what happened? Let us go back to the Bible and look!

Joshua 6:6 - So Joshua "son of Nun" called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." 7 And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the Ark of the Lord." (NIV)

So the march started, Joshua was carrying out the orders from God. The trumpets were sounding but the people were to keep quiet, no war calls until the seventh day when Joshua would give the order to shout. Okay, all said and done, when all the orders were carried out, THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN. Please, brothers and sisters, get out your Bibles and go to Joshua 5:13 and read through Chapter 6. If by chance you do not have a Bible, please call us at once, 717 691 8200, and let us know. Carry The Light Ministries will get you a Bible of your very own, and if you are out of the area, we will have it shipped to you.

By the way, Joshua was the only man who never had parents. Yes, he was indeed the "Son of None." Okay, just a joke, folks. But Joshua carried out his marching orders. And this, the message of today, let us make the earth shake, let us please God by carrying out His orders without question. AND GLORY, THE WALLS WILL COME DOWN. If you let God into your heart and you work for Him, people will come after you, but He will protect you in the end. WE WILL WIN, FOR WE HAVE GOD AND FOLLOWED HIS MARCHING ORDERS. And no better time to start Marching with God than on Salvation Wednesday and March 4th. Let's pray.

Dear Father in Heaven: I do not want to go one step more without You. I want to March 4th with You. Please come into my heart this day and save me and protect me. In Jesus' Name, I pray and ask this of You. Amen.

Now March 4th sharing your blessings. Love ya, and as you March 4th, share my love.

Pastor Dan