G'day
Posted by: grosey2 <grosey2@...>
Isa 43:1-5
But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. 3 For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. 4 Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you;
- The Problems Of Life
John 16:33
- Severe Problems
- Several Problems
- Swallowing Problems
2. The Promise Of The Lord
That term Dreadnought summons up fear doesn’t it. Sounds terrible. A Dreadnought was a Battleship. It had lots of guns on it at the turn of the Century during the 1st World War. They even had Super dreadnoughts. But think of that word. Dread nought. Fear Nothing. That’s what that term means.
a. A Dreadnought from the Past. "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I once heard the story about a little fellow who spent his summers with his sister on his grandparent's farm. They would go to the farm in the summertime and spend the summer riding horses, playing with the cows, and running in the woods. The just had a
real big time. On day the little boy decided he would make a slingshot. He got where he was quite an expert ar hitting things with it. So, he looked out and there was his grandmothers prize goose. And he thought to himself, "I wonder if I could hit that goose?" He got a big rock and he put it in his slingshot and took dead aim at his grandmother's goose. Sure enough he hit that goose right on the head and he killed it and he knew he was in trouble. So he said to himself, "I'd better dig a hole and bury it before anyone finds out." So he dug a hole and put the goose into it and he was covering the goose over when he heard his sister say, "I caught you, I caught you, I caught you! I saw what you did. I was you kill grandmother's goose and I'm going to tell on you!" She really had him. I mean she really had that poor fellow and she made life miserable for him. When it was her turn to get the water, he had to go get it because he was being blackmailed. When it was her time to bring in some wood for the stove, he had to do it because he feared she would tell on him. She just made life miserable for him. He was guilty and he knew he was guilty. He was under condemnation and the guilt of what he had done. It began to eat away at him and finally he just couldn't stand it anymore. It was just eating him alive and tearing his little heart up. Finally, one day he went running into grandma's room. He threw himself into her arms and said, "Oh, grandmother. I killed your goose. I did it. I didn't think the rock would kill it. I buried the goose and I have been so afraid that sister was going to tell you that I just can't stand it! Would you please forgive me for killing your goose?" His grandmother said, "Why son, I was looking out the window and I saw you kill that goose. I have know you did it all this time. I just wanted you to come and ask me to forgive you for it."
The one reason many people will not seek a close relationship with god, is the same reason why a burglar can’t find a policeman. He is fearful of Him. God invites you to fear not Him. He has redeemed you. He values you. How much does God value you?
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I have called you by your name; John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
You are Mine. neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Rom 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
b. A Dreadnought for the Present. 5 Fear not, for I am with you;
The facts of everybody’s life is that there are problems everywhere. Yet god promises to be with you through whatever you go through.
I've seen the lightning flashing, I've heard the thunder roll. I've felt sin's breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul. I've heard the voice of Jesus telling me still to fight on. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. No, never alone, no never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.6
Yet if this is so, why do we panic in times of difficulty? It depends on what you focus on.
Natural park grandad and kids, Nudist camp, 4 nude people on bikes “WHOOA grandpa, look at those people! Those people, they don’t have their safety helmets on!” When you actually take time to list the good things in your life, you are able to appreciate what you have even while struggling with the things you do not. Do not take life for granted. Recognise that in each problem God is with you.
I being of sound mind, do hereby acknowledge that I have not or will I ever control the universe, therefore I resign as general manager of the Universe. One of the things that causes you most stress is you are trying to straighten out the universe. If you want to straighten things out, you better become a funeral director they are the only ones who straighten things out and they stay straight. He’s God and you are not. Ever got swept down in a current. We drift. A fellow at the conservatorium would ask the music professor each morning, “What’s the good news today” Music Professor “The good news is that this is middle c.today, and it was yesterday, and it will be tomorrow. Even though the lady next door sings off key, even though the piano in the room hasn’t been tuned in months, even though everything else change, This is still middle c and it always will be.” You need something unchanging in this changing terrifying world. You need something rock solid or you’ll just drift. His truth endures forever. He will never change. He is God.
The first part of dealing with the hang-ups and bang-ups of life is learning to change the way you think. You must find something stable that keeps your thinking straight. Focus on what is true and right – those things that are not subject to change.
One thing that will not change is God’s promise that he will be with you always. He will never fail you nor forsake you.
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go; Anywhere He leads me in this world below;
Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade; Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid.
Anywhere, anywhere! Fear I cannot know; Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go.
c. A Dreadnought from the Future. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. 3 For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; Isa 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'
Take the long view. His mercy is everlasting. He has promised a ferar not for your future. No matter what, if you are one of his redeemed, He will strengthen you. He will take you through whatever your future holds. He will be with you. He will not change.
God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread,
Are filled with mercies, and shall break, In blessings round their head.
Take the long look and recognise That He will be with you.
Stonewall Jackson was visiting Niagara Falls. His sister was with him. They were on the boat crossing the torrent just below the falls, when his sister became terrified by the tossing of the current. Jackson seized her by the arms, and turning to the boatman said, "How often have you crossed here?" "Continually, Sir, for the past twelve years." "Did you ever meet with an accident?" "Never, Sir" "Never capsized? Never lost a life?" And the boatman replied, "Nothing of the kind, Sir." Turning to his sister, Jackson said: "You hear what the boatman said, and unless you think you can take the oars and row better than he does, sit still and trust him as I do." The Lord has been around a whole lot longer and given His strength and grace to so many going through deep waters. He has promised He will be with you.
When dealing with the hang-ups of life you don’t know what is good or bad. I encourage you to not make value judgments until the end. What might have been a mess could easily turn into a miracle. Country and Western singer Garth Brookes, “Thank God for unanswered Prayers.” Do you having the urge to merge when all the hormones start going out together? Remember the girl that you saw at school, and how you were besotted with her? Then 30 years later you met her at a reunion somewhere or other, and you just sighed, “Well thank God for unanswered prayers.”
He knows the future and He has promised to take you through it. He knows what is ahead and promises that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Will you make the decision to trust Him today?
Will you trust His fear not for the past. Let Him be your redeemer.
Let him take care of your life. Trust yourself to Him as your Saviour.
Will you trust Him for the present. No one can know the burdens that are yours to bear, yet this dreadnought, this fear not, reminds you He is with you right now. Undertaking for all your needs.
Will you trust him for your future? He promises ot accompany you through the deep waters and carry you over to the other side. Will you trust Him now?
3. The Practice of Liberty
Remember when you were a kid and just knew there was a monster lurking at the foot of your bed? How did you get over that fear? Most likely someone turned on the lights and pointed out that your monster was nothing more than a sweater hanging on a chair. Once the lights came on, the monster was no longer frightening. The same principle applies to overcoming our fear of failure. When we look at our fear in the light of day, we discover that what we are afraid of isn't so frightening after all.
The following acrostic gives us a handy tool for remembering the steps to take in order to shed light on that which we fear most.
*F*IND A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.
We often admit defeat simply because we failed to achieve the results we had anticipated. Those results may not be failures at all. Spencer Silver, a chemist at the 3M research laboratories, was trying to invent a stronger adhesive in 1970. The results were exactly the opposite of what he had intended. The adhesive stuck to objects, but could easily be pulled away. It was super-weak instead of super-strong. Four years later, another 3M scientist named Arthur Fry put some of Silver's adhesive on slips of paper to mark pages in his hymnal as he sang in his church choir. From Silver's failure, Post-it notes were developed in 1980 and have become one of the most popular office products on the market. Take another look at your failures. You may find that, from a different perspective, they open the door to a whole new market for you.
*E*NGAGE YOUR PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, reportedly told of a time when he climbed into a taxicab in Paris. Before he could utter a word, the driver turned to him and asked, "Where can I take you, Mr. Doyle?" Doyle was flabbergasted. He asked the driver if he had ever seen him before. "No, sir," the driver responded, "But this morning's paper had a story about you being on vacation in Marseilles. This is the taxi stand where people who return from Marseilles always come. Your skin color tells me you have been on vacation. The ink-spot on your right index finger suggests to me that you are a writer. Your clothing is very English, not French. Adding up all those pieces of information, I deduced that you are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."
"This is amazing!" the writer exclaimed. "You are a real-life counter-part to my fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes." "There was one other clue," the driver said. "What was that?"
"Your name is on the front of your suitcase."
If only all clues were that obvious! I've found that those who cannot overcome their fear of failure are often those who walk away from a failed attempt without making any effort to discover why they failed and how they can avoid the mistake next time around.
*A*SK FOR HELP.
Somewhere in your network is someone who has information you need to solve a given problem. Someone in your network can offer you encouragement when you struggle. Someone in your network has been where you are now and can suggest ways to get to where you want to go. What's keeping you from calling them right now?
*R*ESIST THE TEMPTATION TO GIVE UP.
Persistence is really the only difference between those who finally reach their goal and those who just talk about it. Who can forget the image of Rocky Balboa, the boxer who overcame a more skilled adversary simply because he refused to stay on the canvas after being knocked down?
Fear not the temporary setback. It will fade as soon as you attempt success again. Fear instead a life spent thinking, what if...? Face your fear of failure, my friend. You'll discover it is no more frightening than that imaginary monster of your childhood..
If you know Jesus Christ as your Saviour then know how incredibly rich you are.
Ballet, If they got taller ladies they wouldn’t need to stand on their toes all the time.
Art gallery We went to the art gallery, if you are a guy like me and you have the opportunity to go to the art gallery pass it up.
At Louvre most people went to see where the Mona Lisa used to hang after it got stolen.
Most people don’t know what they got until after they lose it.