We have a good good Father
Today our pastor taught about how to trust in our Sovereign Lord by remembering all of His good works. Are you struggling to understand why things are happening in your life or in the lives of others? Do you find yourself wondering where God is in all of this? This pain, this illness, this relationship, this job? In Psalm 106 David recounts all the miracles of the Israelites over the years including the escape from Egypt. This is an example that is set out for in all throughout the Bible, recount, recount, recount what the Lord has done. Our God holds the power to bring us peace.
In the Old Testament He had the power to harden Pharaoh's heart until it was time to release the Israelites. In the New testament Jesus told Pilate that the only power you have over my death is granted by MY FATHER. God has all the power and we can rest into that! Lean into that, press into that, fall into that!
I write this now as I know so many have unanswered questions about their current trials. I find peace in knowing that we don't have to come up with reasons or answers, but we can simply TRUST. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path." We may not know the answers, but the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE DOES, and He calls us HIS OWN!
1 John 3:1 says, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" God has lavished His love on us and adopted us. So often we wrestle with His plan because, like our own children, sometimes we are not able to see the big picture yet. I have a new favorite song about this that I will post at the end. We. Are. Loved. That's. Who. We. Are.
I recently became aware of a letter that Pastor Saeed sent to his daughter on her eight's birthday this past fall. He has been in prison for three years in Iran for his faith. He wanted his daughter to understand that even in all the pain, God has a good plan. Here is an excerpt from his letter that includes one of my favorite passages from Habakkuk.
"And so I want you to know that the answer to all of your prayers is that God is in control, and He knows better than us what He is doing in our lives and all around the world.
Therefore declare as Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-‐Nego did in Daniel 3: 17-‐18!
"If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
And learn and declare as Habakkuk did that even if we do not get the result that we are looking for, God is still good and we WILL praise His Holy Name.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
"Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills."
Then my dear beloved daughter Rebekka Grace, I pray God will bring me back home soon. But if not, we will still sing together as Habakkuk did HALLELUJAH, either separated by prison walls or together at home."
In the Old Testament He had the power to harden Pharaoh's heart until it was time to release the Israelites. In the New testament Jesus told Pilate that the only power you have over my death is granted by MY FATHER. God has all the power and we can rest into that! Lean into that, press into that, fall into that!
I write this now as I know so many have unanswered questions about their current trials. I find peace in knowing that we don't have to come up with reasons or answers, but we can simply TRUST. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path." We may not know the answers, but the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE DOES, and He calls us HIS OWN!
1 John 3:1 says, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" God has lavished His love on us and adopted us. So often we wrestle with His plan because, like our own children, sometimes we are not able to see the big picture yet. I have a new favorite song about this that I will post at the end. We. Are. Loved. That's. Who. We. Are.
I recently became aware of a letter that Pastor Saeed sent to his daughter on her eight's birthday this past fall. He has been in prison for three years in Iran for his faith. He wanted his daughter to understand that even in all the pain, God has a good plan. Here is an excerpt from his letter that includes one of my favorite passages from Habakkuk.
"And so I want you to know that the answer to all of your prayers is that God is in control, and He knows better than us what He is doing in our lives and all around the world.
Therefore declare as Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-‐Nego did in Daniel 3: 17-‐18!
"If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
And learn and declare as Habakkuk did that even if we do not get the result that we are looking for, God is still good and we WILL praise His Holy Name.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
"Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills."
Then my dear beloved daughter Rebekka Grace, I pray God will bring me back home soon. But if not, we will still sing together as Habakkuk did HALLELUJAH, either separated by prison walls or together at home."
For the full letter click on this link to Samaritan's Purse:
May we be encouraged by the Word of God, He is the Word. His power is alive and active in us and through us as we proclaim His Name. We are loved, let us love others. 1 Peter 1 is full of encouragement:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. "(1 Peter 1:3-9, 15-25 NIV)
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. "(1 Peter 1:3-9, 15-25 NIV)
Good Good Father by Housefires II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0gwz_IDY7w
Philippians 1:4-7
Paul's Prayer for the believers
"always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. 6For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 7For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. 8For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; 11having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
Psalm 105:18-20
God had a beautiful plan for Joseph and God was glorified!
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