2020 will always be remembered as the year of the global COVID-19 pandemic. During this unprecedented year many dreams where shattered. Restaurants were closed, concerts cancelled, weddings shrunk, and holidays cancelled, just to name a few. Perhaps, you too, had a dream shattered in the last months. So how should the believer respond to a shattered dream?
In the book of Psalms, David states he would have despaired or lost hope, had he not known that despite what he heard and saw happening, God would show His goodness to him. In times of trouble it may look like there is little hope, but wait on the Lord and He will give your courage and strength.
In the book of 2 Kings there is an interesting story that teaches us a lesson in leadership and trusting the power of God to help us in times of trouble.
Jesus replied with six simple, but beautiful words that would delight any parent, “Go your son will live!” In faith this nobleman goes, meeting his servants the next day on the way home who confirm that at the very moment he accepted Jesus’ word, his son was healed. Now not only did he believe, but his entire household believed!
The Church that Paul writes to in Colossae faced similar challenges. Their culture had crept into the church and was pressuring the believers to conform to its perspective.The “good philosophies” of Paul’s day did not deny Christ, but it did dethrone Him. It gave Jesus a place, but not the supreme place. The heresies at that time included the worship of angels, mysticism and legalism (a spiritual diet of rules) that would give them eternal life. There was a pressure on the believer, like it is now, to be a culturally correct.
There is more and more interest these days in finding our family histories. Where did I come from? What is my ancestry? We are encouraged to search the Web to find our roots, to find our particular branch on the family tree. You can even mail away a sample of your DNA and the results should tell us what particular part of the world we originated from.
Having a healthy vibrant relationship doesn’t happen by accident. It takes work and a little bit of creativity to keep it fresh.
Persistent prayer is perhaps the weapon our enemy Satan fears the most. This is why he will try and discourage us to keep praying if we don’t see a breakthrough right away.
In Luke 15 we find the “Lost and Found” chapter. Here in this discourse we see Jesus respond to some of His critics by telling them about three things that get lost; a sheep, a silver coin and a son. All three of them are pursued, all are found and each restoration is celebrated.They all represent God’s heart for those that have wondered from His love. But it is interesting to think about who does the pursuing in each case.
5) Judge the land according to God’s ways.What did King Solomon pray for? When he judged the land, he said, “God, I want one thing. I’m not asking for riches, I’m not asking for fame, I’m not asking for power, I’m not asking for perks, but I just want wisdom to judge the people.” What’s the church’s role? Our role is to pray, “God, help our judges judge according to the way You would judge.
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