“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17 NIV)

We all go through very trying times. Our first reaction in these situations is to bring in the command center and take over all emergency operations from communications so that all directives are under our management. When our loved ones are in a crisis, we feel that we must be able to rescue and save them. But is our grasp of the situation greater than the Lord’s? Are we doing His will or our own?

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV)

Trust in Jesus. Pray for Him to direct with His infinite wisdom and authority in these times of weakness, and take your hands off the controls!

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” (Matthew 28:18 NIV)

There is no other that can do what the Lord can do. In your times of weakness, pray and receive God’s strength.

Scriptures: 
2 Corinthians 4:1-6
2 Corinthians 4:13-18
Psalm 116:1-9
Romans 5:1-5
Psalm 56:13

(Listen to entire sermon below.)

As believers in Jesus Christ, we must pursue and embrace the path of life and light that God has arranged for us. Jesus made it profoundly clear that all mankind must “enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” God does not leave it up to man to determine right from wrong and truth from lies but has given all the opportunity to choose the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ to illuminate his path and turn from a life of darkness and destruction.

As followers of Jesus, we must trust him completely and lean not unto our own understanding. We must acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He will make our paths straight.

As we grow in Christ and embrace His path of life and light, we will learn to discern His voice of truth from Satan’s voice of deception and lies.

In Proverbs 4:14-19 we read, “Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; and they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.”

Are you determined to allow the Holy Spirit to help you avoid this stumbling and darkness and follow Paul’s example to embrace and REACH FORWARD TO WHAT LIES AHEAD AND PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL FOR THE PRIZE OF THE UPWARD CALL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS?

References: Matthew 7:13-14; Proverbs 3:5-6, 4:14-19; Philippians 3:13-14

Are you ever afraid to believe God? It’s a faith thing…believing and being “bound” to the Lord. Someone once said that faith means believing in advance what would only make sense in reverse! I like that.

Two things keep coming up, though, which interfere with that belief and a smooth alliance with God and what He has promise. Those two pesky problems are WORRY and STRESS.

When we worry and stress, we really are saying that it’s okay not to trust God. That's because the stuff in my life is somehow so important and so exceptional that I just have to keep controlling it and running it, all the while not ever knowing how it’s going to turn out but hoping it will. What a rat race that is! And you know what…both worry and stress reek of arrogance before God! Ouch!

There are some things you can do regarding worry and stress:

1. Reconcile relationships: Dealing with a broken relationship can sap your coping abilities.
2. Rest: Set aside some time each day for quiet and rest…even 15 minutes can help.
3. Set boundaries: Learn to say, “I’m sorry, but I can’t”…those 5 words can save you hours of grief.
4. Choose to get enough sleep: Sleep is God’s idea, not ours!
5. Do the right thing, not the most things! Set priorities.
6. Pay attention to your physical health: Eating right and exercise = more energy.
7. Schedule FREE TIME…Make an appointment to do nothing.
8. Live within your means: Stress about finances is killing us today…spend less, save more…simple.

Now those are all well and good and scripturally sound things…but they are all physical things you can do and measure.

We also need to take a direct look at the scriptures so we can follow what God has said to do in our souls regarding our hectic lives.

Philippians 4:6-7 – be anxious for nothing
Psalm 4:8 – lie down in peace
Romans 8:6 – mind set on the Spirit is life and peace
Psalm 29:11 – the Lord gives peace
Isaiah 26:3 – trust God, get peace
Matthew 6:25-34 – in everything give thanks
1 Peter 5:6-7 – cast your cares on Him

Wow! Maybe we could write a book on how to handle today’s worry and stress. Oh, wait…God already did – it’s the Bible! Read it!

(Listen to entire sermon below.)