THE ' BUT GOD ' PRINCIPLE : EXPERIENCING GOD'S INTERVENTION WHEN WE FACE A CRISIS IN LIFE
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OUTLINE
1. WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS
2. WHEN WE FACE SICKNESS
3. WHEN WE FACE DEATH
4. WHEN WE FACE CHEATING
5. WHEN WE FACE JEALOUSY
6. WHEN WE FACE EVIL
7. WHEN WE FACE ENEMIES
THE MESSAGE
THE ' BUT GOD ' PRINCIPLE : EXPERIENCING GOD'S INTERVENTION WHEN WE FACE A CRISIS IN LIFE
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1. WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS
When we were dead in our sins , God intervened in our lives and showed His mercy and grace and saved us from our sins through the death of His Son , the Lord Jesus Christ. We were facing eternal damnation and the wrath of God. But God who is rich in mercy , showered His love upon us and quickened us and made us alive together with Christ.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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EPHESIANS 2:1-5
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
ROMANS 5:6-8
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
2. WHEN WE FACE SICKNESS
When we face sickness , God will intervene in our lives and heal us . Epaphroditus , a fellow worker of the Apostle Paul was seriously ill and almost died . He was a very useful helper and a right hand man for the Apostle Paul. Naturally Paul was also deeply grieved about his illness. In this critical situation , God intervened and showed His mercy and healed Epaphroditus and also spared Apostle Paul from experiencing great sorrow. When we face such a crisis of health in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones , we can also experience God's intervention and healing and deliverance.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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PHILIPPIANS 2:25-30
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.
Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.
Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him,
because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.
3. WHEN WE FACE DEATH
When we face death , we can have the assurance of God's faithfulness and presence with our loved ones. Death can come to any of us at any time . All the people whom the Lord raised from the dead and all the people whom the Lord healed, as recorded in the Scriptures , died at a later time . It is appointed unto man to die . But the Lord has promised to take care of the descendants of those who love Him and obey Him. Jacob had this assurance when he faced death and promised Joseph that God would be with them and fulfill the promises that He had given to them.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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GENESIS 48:21
Then Israel said to Joseph, "I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers.
PROVERBS 20:7
The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.
DEUTERONOMY 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
4. WHEN WE FACE CHEATING
When we face cheating and deception , the Lord will intervene and deliver us and protect us . Jacob was being deceived by Laban , but God intervened on his behalf and delivered him and prospered him. Laban changed his attitude towards Jacob and was no longer favourable towards him . But God was with Jacob and blessed him. When we face deceivers and cheaters , we must commit our matters into the hands of the Lord and He will thwart all the plans of the crafty and save us from all their cunning plans.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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GENESIS 31: 1-9
Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.â€
And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before.
Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.â€
So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock,
and said to them, “I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.
And you know that with all my might I have served your father.
Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.
If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked.
So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
JOB 5:12-16
He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
5. WHEN WE FACE JEALOUSY
When we face jealousy , the Lord will intervene and save us from all the attacks motivated by envy and jealousy. Joseph faced jealousy from his own brothers. They sold him as a slave and did their best to make his future bleak. But God was with Joseph and delivered him and granted him favour and wisdom and exalted him and gave him a bright and glorious future. We can face jealousy even from our own family. Therefore the Lord calls his disciples to love him more than anyone else including their own family. When we face attacks of jealousy to pull us down , the Lord will intervene and lift us up.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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ACTS 7:9-10
"Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
PROVERBS 27:4
Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?
PSALM 75:6-7
No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man.
But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.
MATTHEW 10:34-38
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to turn " 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
6. WHEN WE FACE EVIL
When we face evil , the Lord will intervene and deliver us . Joseph faced evil in his life , but God turned it into good. Jabez prayed that God would keep him from evil and God granted his request . Jesus taught his disciples to pray that the Lord would deliver them from evil. When we face evil attacks in our life , we can experience God's intervention to save us and deliver us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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GENESIS 50:20
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
1 CHRONICLES 4:10
And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!†So God granted him what he requested.
MATTHEW 6:13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
7. WHEN WE FACE ENEMIES
When we face enemies , God will intervene and deliver us and protect us . David faced King Saul as his enemy . Saul was searching for David everyday but God did not give David into his hands. David faced threats and secret plots and rebellion and bitter words and hidden snares and scheming devices from his enemies. But God intervened on his behalf and destroyed all the plans and the attacks of the enemy. The devil is seeking for ways to devour us , but the Lord will protect us and deliver us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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1 SAMUEL 23:14
David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.
PSALM 64:1-10
Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,
Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
That they may shoot in secret at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
They encourage themselves in an evil matter; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who will see them?â€
They devise iniquities: “We have perfected a shrewd scheme.†Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.
But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they shall be wounded.
So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away.
All men shall fear, And shall declare the work of God; For they shall wisely consider His doing.
The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.
PSALM 3:1-3
O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him." Selah
But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
JEREMIAH 20:10-11
I hear many whispering, "Terror on every side! Report him! Let's report him!" All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, "Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him."
But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
1 PETER 5:8-9
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
JOHN 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
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