Are we a target for fear or blessings?
Psalm 37:1-11
1 Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers.
2 For they will wither quickly like the grass, and fade like the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret, {it leads} only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.
10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be {there.}
11 But the humble will inherit the land, and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
(NAS)
What is the major target of terrorist activity?
To establish a spirit of fear within a group of people.
Were they successful in their attempt?
In many cases the answer is yes.
What was God’s reply?
Psalm 37:1
1 Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers.
(NAS)
Fretting to me speaks of an annoyance or just a nuisance type of feeling about a situation.
It’s not a quaking gripping fear that we have seen on some faces these past days.
The Lord says don’t even give evildoers the place of a nuisance within your lives.
He goes on to say don’t even envy their power or influence.
The reason he treats their efforts on this way, is because whatever they do is only temporary.
So don’t fret about or envy the power of an evildoer.
That’s point #1.
Point #2 is this.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
What has happened within the last few days?
God’s value has gone up in surprising numbers and the spirit of doing good deeds has increased sharply.
There is a law in physics that says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
When evil tried to prevail and destroy our nation, we have now rallied for the good things of God and began to throw our trust in His corner once again.
Now for point #3
4 Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Have you ever looked around when people start ministering to one another at the explosion of blessings that take place?
The way we delight ourselves in the Lord is to totally immerse ourselves in one another.
The Church and the move of God within the last few years has been likened unto a river.
Church we need to get into this river and swim a little.
In the process, blessings we haven’t even thought of will begin to take place.
We have come to a place where society and the world is just beginning to start into the curve as they move around another corner in history.
World War 1 and WW2 were started by assassinations.
In this war another assassination has taken place.
Many lives have been taken in a fatal strike against humanity.
How can we foretell what the future may hold as the events unfold before us.
Our President made a brave speech of very heavy warrior like mentality, that will provoke many things in the near future.
We as a church need to support Our President and every person even down to the pencil and paper pushers with our prayers and our faith.
We are able to meet within this place of worship because people were willing to withstand oppression for the sake of their children’s and grandchildren’s futures.
We owe many numbers of ancestors an enormous debt of gratitude.
We owe many numbers of neighbors and friends and loved ones the same respect to support them with our prayers.
But also to stand and be the Church God called us to be.
Not a Church filled with fear, but a Church filled with faith, a Church filled with Love, and Church filled with power!
How do we get there?
By delighting ourselves in the Lord.
God will gladly inhabit any Church that will truly begin to praise and worship Him.
But then that praise and worship must go beyond our four walls and delight ourselves with God’s creation, the lost people of this world.
It’s a great thing to shout and praise the Lord, but it’s even greater to extend God’s hands of Love by extending our own hands to people that are lost and wandering in a world of chaos and fear.
God isn’t just found within the walls of a church, but He is found within the confines of his whole creation.
Only a partial blessing is within the walls, but an unending supply awaits us when we destroy the walls and go forth with the message of what God has given us.
Point #4
5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it.
How much plainer can you get?
Give your way or your life yo the Lord, really give it to him.
Then you will find all of your dreams being fulfilled.
Who gave you those dreams anyway?
James 1:17
17 Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. (NAS)
Point #5
7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do you ever just get weary and bone tired of the way things are going?
Do you ever get tired of being tired?
Then do what God said, "Rest & Wait".
Then comes Point #6
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Let’s take up another thing our President spoke of the other night.
Turning our anger and wrath into resolve and action.
The way we overcome evil is with good.
Simple truth but a hard pill for us to swallow at times.
These six points come to us with promises attached.
9 For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.
10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be {there.}
11 But the humble will inherit the land, and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
What are we truly looking for?
When you boil it all down, we want something left over when it’s all over.
We want an inheritance.
We want someone to be able to remember us in a positive way.
We honestly want to leave this place in a better shape than when we found it.
Every parents dream is to see their children in a better state than they were ever able to provide for themselves.
That parents dream was birthed within us by our heavenly parent.
He was the one who created this good thing we call life and that we share with one another within this world.
Are we a target for fear or a target for the great and wonderful blessings of God?
