Video Illustration: So will I – the song and video from Hillsong
Sermon: Breakthrough comes from a proper view of God!
Thesis: With the wave of coronavirus impacting everything from economy, to people’s health, disrupting peoples lives, causing shortages to food supplies, impacting businesses, causing more mental health issues and bringing grief to many family units. We need a fresh perspective of God for a breakthrough.
Key Point: We overate ourselves and under-rate God.
Introduction:
Listen to some of the authors of the Bible as they look at how great God is and how majestic He is:
Isaiah 40:28-31:
28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Reality Check: We need a fresh perspective on the power and the majesty of God today in the midst of this pandemic. It is causing some people to grow weary, people are stumbling and fainting under the pressure of this prolonged stress. But if we get a fresh perspective on how great God is - we will gain strength, power, encouragement, and peace to press on through this pandemic.
To get a fresh perspective of God! Let’s look at Psalm 19:1-6:
1The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
3There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
4Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
What does this psalmist tell us about God? He tells us God is incredible – powerful – the Creator – majestic – how does he know this by just looking at the stars, the earth, the sun! The observation is made that every person on the earth and in the universe has heard His voice and seen His glory. You just have to look up!
Lou Giglio from his sermon https://evanslifescience.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/notes-for-indescribable-louie-giglio.pdf:
“Did you know that on a clear night, away from the city lights and using only your eyes, you can see all the way to the Andromeda Galaxy, which is located an astonishing 2.5 million light-years from Earth? And on a really good night, you can see all the way to a star called Deneb, one of the brightest stars in our Milky Way Galaxy. Scientists aren’t sure exactly how far away Deneb is, but they think it’s at least 9 quadrillion miles away — or 9,000,000,000,000,000. That’s a lot of zeroes! God made your eyes amazingly powerful so you can see just a bit of His magnificent creation.
But as powerful as your eyes are, God’s eyes are even more powerful. He can see the farthest star in the farthest galaxy of the universe. He can also see the shortest hair on the left leg of the tiniest bug. And He can see every hair on your head — and count every single one (Luke 12:7).
God sees absolutely everything!
And He sees you — perfectly and completely. But when God looks at you, He doesn’t look at just the outside — your clothes, your hair, or your nose. God looks much deeper than that. He looks at your heart, and He sees all the things that are filling it. He sees the worries and the doubts, what makes you happy and what scares you. He also sees the anger, the jealousy, and all those secret sins you think no one else knows. God already knows everything in your heart, so you can tell Him anything at all. When you talk to Him, He promises to fill your heart with peace. Ask God to help your heart look more like His — filled with wonderful things like love, joy, and kindness.”
Excerpt from https://www.faithgateway.com/what-god-sees-indescribable-by-louie-giglio/#.XqmF5GhKivs
We need to be willing to ask God to reveal to us How great and mighty He is! We need to look at the sun, the stars and be reminded of how majestic God is!
Why? Key Point: Because we overate ourselves and under-rate God.
Put up pictures of milky way galaxy! On PP.
These following verses will also give us a proper perspective on God!
When Job is complaining to God – God reminds Him of who He is!
Job 38:31-32 (AMP) Can you bind the chains of [the cluster of stars called] Pleiades, or loose the cords of [the constellation] Orion? Can you lead forth the signs of the zodiac in their season? Or can you guide [the stars of] the Bear with her young?
In a prophetic word from God He reminds us who He is and how great He is!
Isaiah 40:12 (BBE) In the hollow of whose hand have the waters been measured? and who is able to take the heavens in his stretched-out fingers? who has got together the dust of the earth in measure? who has taken the weight of the mountains, or put the hills into the scales?
So, the question is how big and majestic is the God of the Bible?
Key Point: Today many people over rate themselves and under-rate God.
Illustration of the golf ball in comparison to the sun! Have picture of sun on PP. Look at the difference between this creations by God.
Look at our solar system in comparison to others.
Perspective – we need a fresh perspective on God – who He is – What He can do – How indescribable He is!
Giglio states, “On October 13, 1994, the famous astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan stated: " "We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam. The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.”
Previous picture of the dot which represents earth.
Illustration: Picture of earth from Apollo 17 put up. God is far greater than you or I – and we need to realize that and call out to him to intervene in our world today! We need to get a fresh perspective on the greatness of God.
Captain James Lovell, a NASA astronaut who was navigator on the Apollo 8 mission and commander of Apollo 13, describes how he could look out the window of Apollo 8 and cover the Earth from view with his thumb as he spoke – it did not make him feel big but actually very small in comparison to the universe.
Key Point: We overate ourselves and under-rate God.
Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article143199169.html#storylink=cpy
Perspective on God - He has the ability to stop this disease and reveal the cure to some Christian Scientist! By the way God is all for science. The truth is God and science go hand in hand. They are not to be separated ever – He is the Creator and he is the originator of the study of science – which is His Creation!
Breakthrough in science – NEWS FLASH in regards to coronavirus vaccine?
Christian lady found possible cure for coronavirus FOX News by Frank Miles
'Brilliant' scientist, 34, cheered for helping lead coronavirus vaccine trials
Put her picture up on screen.
Kizzmekia Corbett, 34, who is proudly Christian and was born in a small town in North Carolina, has been leading a team of scientists working around the clock at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for an experimental vaccine against the coronavirus. Earlier this month, her team had a breakthrough. It was time for a key test. If the vaccine revs up the immune system, the samples in a lab dish -- blood drawn from immunized mice -- would change color. Minutes ticked by, and finally, the samples started glowing blue.“Especially at moments like this, everyone crowds around,” said Corbett, an NIH research fellow leading the vaccine development. When her team sent word of the positive results, “it was absolutely amazing.” Her team has already begun first-stage clinical trials of a vaccine, according to The New York Times. The COVID-19 trials began in Seattle in March, and according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, in “record speed” -- just two months. The vaccine could be ready for patients by early to mid-2021, if effective…
…Corbett says the work couldn’t have moved so quickly had it not been for years of behind-the-scenes lab testing of a possible MERS vaccine that works the same way.“ I think about it a lot, how many of the little experimental questions we did not have to belabor” this time around, she said. When she saw the first promising mouse tests, “I felt like there was a beginning of all of this coming full circle.”
She has long been called a superstar scientist. Corbett got a full scholarship to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she majored in biology and sociology. She got a doctorate from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill in 2014 and joined the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center as a postdoctoral fellow the same year. “She’s brilliant and doing this complicated work and yet, somehow, is also this person who manages to remember everybody’s birthday. She’s really great at bringing together groups of people with different skills and understanding the value and contributions of each of them in ways that really maximizes scientific impact,” Andrew Ward, a Scripps Research professor who is part of Corbett’s team, told NBC News. Her job seemed to be in the cards, according to her family. Her mother Rhonda Brooks told NBC News that her daughter was a very curious and questioning young girl, “always like a little detective.” “I would say that my role as a scientist is really about my passion and purpose for the world and for giving back to the world,” Corbett said. (The Associated Press contributed to this report).
T.S. - When this all pans out and goes to the next level and she gets the acclaim she deserves she will not have been the first Scientist to proclaim that the Lord guided her hand in finding a vaccine for a cure for a illness.
Illustration: The bottle of Listerine:
History of LISTERINE®: From Surgery Antiseptic to Modern Mouthwash
Ever wondered where LISTERINE® rinse got its name? Dr. Joseph Lawrence, the creator of LISTERINE® mouthwash, wanted to name his work after a scientist who paved the way. Lister, an English doctor and surgeon, became the first surgeon to perform an operation in a chamber sterilized with pulverized antiseptic. The result? More patients survived than ever before. Inspired, Lawrence created a unique formulation of his own that was perfect for killing germs in tissues, like your mouth.
The Story of Dr. Lister by Lindsey Fitzharris
A new biography of surgeon Joseph Lister called The Butchering Art is not about food. It tells the story of how the forward-thinking Lister changed medicine forever by getting other surgeons to understand that germs spread disease but that they could do something about it.
The operating theaters of 19th century England were dirty, crowded spaces where patients screamed and spectators bought tickets to watch life and death struggles. Surgeons wore blood-encrusted aprons, never washed their hands, and speed was prized over skill, since most patients were awake during surgery in the pre-anesthesia days. Many patients died of infections soon afterward, if they didn't die from shock or blood loss right on the table.
Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine was epic:
"It was hard for people to believe, because here comes this young guy saying there's these invisible creatures and you can't see them with your eye but they're killing your patients,"
"In a plot twist worthy of a public TV period piece miniseries," notes Siegel, "Queen Victoria was a catalyst for wide acceptance of antiseptic surgery."
Lister was the closest surgeon to the queen's residence in Scotland, Fitzharris says, so she directed Lister to come drain a large abscess growing under her armpit. Before the surgery, Lister's assistant sprayed carbolic acid with a machine Lister invented called the donkey engine all over the operation area, sterilizing it but also accidentally spraying the queen in the face.
"She was not amused," says Fitzharris. "But he ... ends up saving her life. And because she allowed him to do this operation, she kind of gives her blessing to the antiseptic techniques and germ theory by default," she says.
"He joked later in life that he was the only man able to plunge a knife into the queen and survive that experience."
From ATC host Robert Siegel, ATC producer Melissa Gray, and ATC editor Jolie Myers contributed to this story.
Timeline:
1860
Louis Pasteur’s theory that invisible germs are the cause of numerous infections inspires our English doctor named Joseph Lister.
He read Pasteur’s article encouraged by a chemist friend and after reading it that night his wife asked him what’s a matter – he had sat their motionless for a long time – he said to her just like the apostle Paul’s eyes were opened when he saw Jesus – He has opened my eyes to see what is wrong with our medical practices and why so many die from infection. The scales have been removed and I can see! Just like the apostle Paul saw. I know what to do now!
1865
Lister becomes the first surgeon to perform an operation in a chamber sterilized by pulverizing antiseptic in the air. Mortality rates begin to fall.
Lister’s early life
Joseph Lister was born in Upton, Essex, England, on April 5, 1827. He was the second of three children born to Joseph Jackson Lister, a very successful wine merchant and amateur scientist. Joseph Jackson Lister’s design of a microscope lens which did not distort colors opened the way for the microscope to be used as a serious scientific tool. This contribution to science resulted in Joseph Jackson Lister’s being made a Fellow of the Royal Society—the prestigious British association of experimental scientists.
The Listers were Quakers who led a quiet, simple life. Young Joseph attended Quaker schools in Hertfordshire and London, where science subjects were emphasized. Following matriculation, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of London in 1847. Shortly after this he contracted smallpox. When he had fully recovered, he returned to the University of London as a medical student, qualifying as a doctor in 1850. Lister obtained a Bachelor’s degrees in Medicine and Surgery, and in the process won two university gold medals for his outstanding marks. Further study saw Lister easily pass the examination to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in 1852.
Overcoming hurdles
Modern surgery as we know it today was not able to develop until three great hurdles had been overcome. These were the control of bleeding, the control of pain, and the control of infection. In 1552, a leading French doctor, Ambroise Pare, developed and systematized the idea of tying off the ends of broken or cut blood vessels with threads called ligatures in order to minimize bleeding. The control of pain through anaesthesia was just being introduced during the time when Lister was a university student. Before this, surgery had involved agony for the struggling patient, which in turn meant that doctors had to operate as quickly as possible.
The introduction of anaesthetics opened up a new era in surgery, as doctors were now able to take the time necessary to improve their techniques. The third major hurdle, the control of infection, remained unconquered when Lister began working as a surgeon.
LISTER HAD DECIDED NOT JUST TO PRACTICE MEDICINE, BUT ALSO TO CONDUCT RESEARCH TO IMPROVE MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE.
Preventing infection
Lister’s first clue as to the cause of infection came from comparing patients who had simple fractures with those who had compound fractures. Simple fractures do not involve an external wound. These patients had their bones set and placed in a cast, and they recovered. Compound fractures are those where the broken bone pierces the skin and is exposed to the air. More than half of these patients died. Lister reasoned that somehow the infection must enter the wound from the outside. But how exactly did this occur? And what could be done to prevent it?
Lister began washing his hands before operating, and wearing clean clothes. (Others such as Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing, had already found that increased cleanliness reduced the death rate from infection among hospital patients. However, these ideas had not yet gained widespread acceptance because the reason behind their success was not understood.) Even though Lister’s procedures were scoffed at by some of his colleagues, who considered it a status symbol to be covered in blood from previous operations, his talent was becoming recognized. In 1860 he became Professor of Surgery at Glasgow. There, a friend lent him some research papers by the outstanding French chemist, Louis Pasteur. (Like Lister, Pasteur was a committed Christian.)
Enter scientist number 2 chemist Louis Pasteur hold up Milk carton and his process of pasteurization which saves countless lives – actually Dr. Lister’s wife would pass away from drinking infectious milk.
As the son of a wine merchant, Lister was all too familiar with the problem of wine going bad because of faulty fermentation. Pasteur had shown that the problem was caused by germs which entered from the air, and that organisms did not come to life spontaneously from non-living matter within the wine. Pasteur had demonstrated that life arose from life. His experiments gave no support to the evolutionary idea that the first life arose from non-living matter—a belief still held today by evolutionists. Unlike the evolutionists, whose thinking was held back by their attachment to the idea of spontaneous generation, Lister immediately recognized the truth and usefulness of Pasteur’s work. If infection arose spontaneously within a wound, it would be virtually impossible to eliminate it. However, if germs entering from the air outside the wound caused infection (in the same way that the wine became contaminated), then those germs could be killed and infection prevented.
Pasteur had used heat and filters to eliminate the germs in the wine, but these techniques were not suitable for use with human flesh. Instead, Lister needed to find a suitable chemical to kill the germs. He learned that carbolic acid was being used as an effective disinfectant in sewers and could safely be used on human flesh. Beginning in 1865, Lister used carbolic acid to wash his hands, his instruments, and the bandages used in the operation. Lister also sprayed the air with carbolic acid to kill airborne germs. After more than a year of using and refining these techniques, Lister had sufficient data to show that his methods were a success. He published his findings in the medical journal, The Lancet, in 1867.
Lister was always eager to acknowledge Louis Pasteur’s invaluable contribution. In a letter to Pasteur in February 1874, Lister gave him ‘thanks for having, by your brilliant research, proved to me the truth of the germ theory. You furnished me with the principle upon which alone the antiseptic system can be carried out.’
Slow acceptance
Lister was neither angered nor discouraged by the controversy that raged about his work. Instead, ‘Lister went on his gentle, unconcerned way saving his patients and trying to cheer them while doing so’. His compassionate personal involvement with his patients was quite a contrast to the arrogance of those surgeons who believed that such involvement would ‘somehow lessen the holy awe and respect in which patients should hold their doctors’..
Lister died on February 10, 1912, at Walmer, Kent, England. He had retired in 1893 after a long and outstanding career. Although the materials and procedures used have changed over the years, the antiseptic principle itself remains today as the cornerstone of modern surgery. The importance of Lister’s antiseptic principle is emphasized by eminent creation scientist, Dr. Henry Morris, who says, ‘This development is probably second only to Pasteur’s contribution to the saving of human lives’.
His Spirituality:
Lister was a committed Christian. He wrote: ‘I am a believer in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity’. Lister’s character readily showed the outworking of his faith. The World Book Encyclopedia says that ‘Throughout his life, he remained a gentle, shy, unassuming man, firm in his purpose because he humbly believed himself to be directed by God.’
Ephesians 1:17 “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”
Paul prayed for this for the church and Ephesus and we need to pray for it today that a spirit of wisdom and Revelation would come over God’s people! Especially Christian Scientists!
From https://answersingenesis.org/creation-scientists/joseph-lister-father-of-modern-surgery/
The Story of Christian Chemist Louis Pasteur
Illustration: Hold up the milk carton
Louis Pasteur – French born December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895 was a French biologist, microbiologist and chemist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of diseases, and his discoveries have saved many lives ever since. He reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax.
His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization. He is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch, and is popularly known as the "father of microbiology"…
…Today, he is often regarded as one of the fathers of germ theory. Pasteur made significant discoveries in chemistry, most notably on the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals and racemization. Early in his career, his investigation of tartaric acid resulted in the first resolution of what is now called optical isomers. His work led the way to the current understanding of a fundamental principle in the structure of organic compounds.
Faith and spirituality
His grandson, Louis Pasteur Vallery-Radot, wrote that Pasteur had kept from his Catholic background only a spiritualism without religious practice. However, Catholic observers often said that Pasteur remained an ardent Christian throughout his whole life, and his son-in-law wrote, in a biography of him:
Absolute faith in God and in Eternity, and a conviction that the power for good given to us in this world will be continued beyond it, were feelings which pervaded his whole life; the virtues of the gospel had ever been present to him. Full of respect for the form of religion which had been that of his forefathers, he came simply to it and naturally for spiritual help in these last weeks of his life.
The Literary Digest of 18 October 1902 gives this statement from Pasteur that he prayed while he worked:
Posterity will one day laugh at the foolishness of modern materialistic philosophers. The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. I pray while I am engaged at my work in the laboratory.
Maurice Vallery-Radot, grandson of the brother of the son-in-law of Pasteur and outspoken Catholic, also holds that Pasteur fundamentally remained Catholic.
Victory over Rabies
Undeterred by this opposition, Pasteur moved on to the next, and perhaps greatest, step—diseases in humans. In 1882, he began studying rabies. This deadly disease is contracted by being bitten by an infected animal, usually a dog or wolf.
In 1885, a small boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog was brought to Pasteur. Although he was not yet sure whether the treatment would work on humans, Pasteur knew the boy would die without the vaccine. After several tense weeks of treatment on the boy, it was clear that the rabies vaccine was a success.
In 1888, the Pasteur Institute was established in Paris to continue the fight against diseases. Pasteur by then was almost 66 years old and in failing health. He served largely in an advisory capacity while those whom he had trained took over responsibility for continuing the research.
Trials in his Personal Life
Louis Pasteur’s personal life had been punctuated by sickness and tragedy. Three of his five children died of childhood diseases. Also he had been brought up with a sister left mentally retarded by a childhood disease. Rather than crush his spirit, these tragedies spurred him on in his efforts to spare others the heartbreak of losing their children to disease. His own life was touched by a brain hemorrhage and several strokes which left him partially paralyzed. His condition was often made worse by overwork. Despite his great contributions to medicine, many doctors and veterinarians strongly opposed him—the very people who should have seen the enormous potential of his work. Through all these trials, Pasteur was sustained by his Christian faith.
Pasteur always worked for the benefit of others, not for praise or for financial gain. However, he did not shun publicity as this was an important factor in gaining recognition of his work.
He has been described as ‘a person of simplicity. He remained humble despite the medals and honors.’ Pasteur’s dedication and thoroughness enabled him to make many great discoveries.
Pasteur saw no conflict between science and Christianity. In fact, he believed that ‘science brings men nearer to God’. In his work as a scientist, he perceived evidence of wisdom and design, not randomness and chaos. Pasteur stated that: ‘The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator’.
Louis Pasteur died on September 28, 1895, after a long and fruitful life. His contributions to science were truly outstanding. His Christian faith sustained him through many trials. He firmly believed in creation, and strongly opposed Darwin’s theory of evolution because it did not fit well with scientific evidence.
From https://answersingenesis.org/creation-scientists/profiles/louis-pasteur/
Illustration Hold up Peanuts – The Story of George Washington Carver
GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER: HIS LIFE AND FAITH IN HIS OWN WORDS By Jason Benedict
For starters, this book startled me! It startled me because it revealed a George Washington Carver that I have never seen in any other history book. It startled me with the poignancy of this man’s life and work. I was startled by the lengths that other biographers would have had to take to tone down his walk with Christ. This book is best described as a compendium of personal correspondence and brief autobiographical excerpts from the pen of Dr. Carver. It is a quick read and I heartily recommend it. I found myself being caught up in this man’s simple faith and delight for God, as he went about the work he was given to do.
Born the son of slaves Dr. Carver became one of the most notable chemists of his day. Working in the laboratory at Tuskegee institute, that he affectionately called “God’s Little Workshop,” he developed over 300 innovative uses for the peanut as well as breakthroughs in the use of sweet potatoes, pecans and soybeans. His efforts in chemistry and food science paved the way for the growth of a peanut industry. In his day peanuts we often used for little more than animal feed, but today it has grown into a 2 billion dollar market domestically.
The boldness of Dr. Carver’s faith can be observed in the account of his address to the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee in Washington DC. Initially he was given only ten minutes to speak but, the committee became so enthralled that the chairman said, “Go ahead brother, you time is unlimited!” He spoke for an hour and forty five minutes expounding on the potential of the peanut. At the end of his address the chairman asked him how he had learned of all these things, and Carver answered:
“From an old book”
“What book? Asked the Chairman.
Carver replied, “The Bible.”
The Chairman inquired, “Does the Bible tell about peanuts?”
“No, Sir” Dr. Carver replied, “But it tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did.” (p. 36)
This book reveals Carver’s holistic approach to faith and work. He was a model of someone who was used by God in a powerful way to impact the sphere of society.
The following is an excerpt from Dr. Carver’s comments when asked for some of his observations about God.
“As a very small boy exploring the almost virgin woods of the old Carver place, I had the impression someone had just been there ahead of me. Things were so orderly, so clean, so harmoniously beautiful. A few years later in this same woods, I was to understand the meaning of this boyish impression. Because I was practically overwhelmed with the sense of some Great Presence. Not only had someone been there. Someone was there…
Years later when I read in the Scriptures, “In Him we live and move and have our being,” I knew what the writer meant. Never since have I been without this consciousness of the Creator speaking to me…
Man, who needed a purpose, a mission, to keep him alive, he had one. He could be…God’s co-worker… My attitude toward life was also my attitude toward science. Jesus said one must be born again, must become as a little child. He must let no laziness, no fear, no stubbornness keep him from his duty.
If he were born again he would see life from such a plane he would have the energy not to be impeded in his duty by these various side-trackers and inhibitions. My work, my life, must be in the spirit of a little child seeking only to know the truth and follow it.
My purpose alone must be God’s purpose – to increase the welfare and happiness of His people. Nature will not permit a vacuum. It will be filled with something. Human need is really a great spiritual vacuum which God seeks to fill…
With one hand in the hand of a fellow man in need and the other in the hand of Christ, He could get across the vacuum and I became an agent. Then the passage, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,” came to have real meaning.
As I worked on projects which fulfilled a real human need, forces were working through me which amazed me. I would often go to sleep with an apparently insoluble problem. When I woke the answer was there.
Why, then should we who believe in Christ be so surprised at what God can do with a willing man in a laboratory?” (Pg 68-69).
Why should we be surprised at what God can do with a willing man or woman in the classroom, the boardroom, and the halls of state, or any other sphere where God is leading us to make a difference?
*Federer, William J. (2002). George Washington Carver: His life and Faith in His Own Words. St. Louis: Amerisearch.
Closing scriptures:
Psalm 111:2: “Great are the works of the Lord; They are studied by all who delight in them.”
Psalm 19:1: “For the choir director. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”
Job 38:4-30:
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding,
Who set its measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it?
“On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
Isaiah 40:12:
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens by the span,
And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
Psalm 104:5: “He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever.”
Colossians 1:17: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Proverbs 14:15: “The naive believes everything, But the sensible man considers his steps.”
Job 26:7: “He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.”
Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
What do we need to know from this message?
Answer: Christian scientists and doctors know they need God’s wisdom and revelation to get breakthroughs in their fields.
Why do we need to know this?
Answer: If they needed God and received divine revelation and wisdom to come up with cures to diseases and medical practices how much more do we need God’s wisdom and revelation in our lives to get spiritual breakthroughs.
What do we need to do in light of this message?
Answer: We need to get a fresh perspective on God’s majesty – might- power and desire to speak to us in our lives. Why so we can get breakthroughs in our fields of work and life.
Why do we need to do this?
Answer: When we see God’s greatness it puts everything into perspective that we need God. We need His wisdom to make right choices and knowledge wisely and correctly. We need fresh revelations of the ability of God to do the impossible! Do you see how great God is? Do you see His greatness – His creatorship – His position in the cosmos and then look at where you fall in this grand picture of the universe – it makes us look small in comparison – does it not!
Key Point: We overate ourselves and under-rate God. (say this 3 times)
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tells CNN that “Our behavior has stopped the spread of the virus. God did not stop the spread of the virus.”
Cuomo, speaking with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota about the current coronavirus pandemic, and how he plans to move forward, said: Look, anyone who tells you, Alisyn, ‘I know what comes next,’ doesn’t even understand the question, let alone have the answer. Nobody has been here before, this is totally unchartered territory. And you’re right, you have different peaks of that curve in different areas, so we’re not talking about the next two weeks or three weeks, we’re talking about months, we’re talking about a phase to reopening, and the safe reopening. We’re talking about a reopening that has a public health plan and an economic plan totally coordinated. Our behavior has stopped the spread of the virus. God did not stop the spread of the virus. And what we do, how we act, will dictate how that virus spreads.
We need to humble ourselves before God not mock Him and or dismiss Him as irrelevant.
1. Proverbs 18:2-3 Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. Doing wrong leads to disgrace, and scandalous behavior brings contempt.
2. Proverbs 1:5-7 Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles. Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
3. Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.
We need a right perspective of God – We need to not over-rate ourselves and under-rate God.
Closing Article from Charisma Magazine:
7-Year-Old Has Prophetic Dream of COVID-19 Ending—Perhaps as Soon as April 30
https://www.charismamag.com/blogs/prophetic-insight/45048-7-year-old-has-prophetic-dream-of-covid-19-ending-mdash-perhaps-as-soon-as-april-30
Today while I was teaching my online class, I overheard my 7-year-old son tell my wife, "Mom, I believe the coronavirus is gonna end on April 30."
"That would be amazing, sweetheart," Dehavilland said. "What made you think of that date?"
"God told me," he said. When I finished the class, my wife and I asked him to explain how he heard this from the Lord.
He then said, "Well, God gave me a dream last night. In the dream, I saw this huge green plant that had a crown on its head, and it was squeezing the world. The more it squeezed the world, the more hands or tentacles it grew. Out of nowhere, a lion that had the body of a lamb appeared, and it destroyed the plant and ripped it to pieces. Then a date appeared in my dream: 'This will end April 30.' And the dream ended."
I was blown away. First of all, my son hasn't heard any talk regarding a date linked the end of the coronavirus. Neither my wife nor I have spoken about an end date. Also, my son didn't know that corona means "crown." Though he didn't know this, my son associated the crowned green plant that was choking the world to be the coronavirus. He didn't know what to make of the half-lion and half-lamb that destroyed the plant, but I interpret it to represent Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who also is the Lamb of God who passes over us and cleanses us of our sins. It was the blood of the lamb that stopped Egypt's plague against the Jews, and the blood is warring for us now in ways we probably can't imagine…Now, I'd love for this to mean that the coronavirus pandemic will suddenly end on April 30, but it could mean the beginning of the end of this plague. Or, it could also mean that something significant will happen on April 30 connected to the demonic, ivy-like tentacles of the coronavirus. All I know is I'm contending for my son's dream to manifest. I'm fasting until April 30, and I'm praying this dream…I shared this with a few friends, and their children are also having dreams and visions, hearing from the Lord about this coronavirus coming to an end.”
So, my question to you today is do you believe God is able to stop this deadly disease in it’s tracts? Or is all of your faith in mankind to stop it?
My faith is in God not mankind to bring this to an end. I do not think it wise to mock God or to minimize Gods power in this pandemic.
I will look to God for help and healing!
If you are with me then join with all the Christians around the world praying, fasting and crying out to God to heal our lands.
