Sister Sue Sunday School 10/21/12

Sister Sue Sunday School 10/21/12

Mic 6:1  Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

Mic 6:2  Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.

Mic 6:3  O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.

Mic 6:4  For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

Mic 6:5  O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.

Mic 6:6  Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

Mic 6:7  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Mic 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Deu 10:12  And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

Deu 10:13  To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

The requirements of God are for our Good.  He has showed you what is good.

Psa 4:6  There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

Ask God to lift His light on you if you cannot see the good in your situation.  If everything is looking dark around you, ask God to shine His light on you.  Things are not always bright in our life; when we have our dark places if we don’t let God shine His light on those places then we are in the dark. 

There are many dark places; they include dark situations in our health.  When Brother Gary was sick, it was a dark place for his family and for the congregation.  We wondered what was going to happen to him and how things were going to work out. 

I’m sure that God showed His light in Brother Gary’s heart in that situation, in his family’s heart, and in the heart of the congregation through that situation.  Brother Gary learned some things and God worked through them in his family and in our congregation.

There are dark places in our family.  There may be dark places in our marriages.  We need the light of God’s counsel to shine in those situations and to help us.  In our job, we need God to shine His light whether we are learning a new skill or have a difficult situation.  Blended families need God to shine His light on them so that they can see the good.

Sometimes we cannot see the good with our eyes but we must look with our heart to see the light of God in a situation.

A professional packer in the woods wrote:  I’m home again out of the wilderness until next week.  Last Monday, I was packing equipment out of the wilderness on a perfect fall day in Western Montana.  My string of mules was packing their load along a steep-sided trail with exuberance.  There were a couple of miles of this steep walled trail along a canyon wall.  I hoped that all would keep their feet on the trail. 

I and my horse led.  I prayed that my horse would confidently keep his feet on the trail.  Any wavering of the leader would lead to disaster for the pack train.  There could be no pushing in the followers, no wavering, or no trying to pass any of these would lead to disaster. 

We were riding through a dead forest and the wind was whistling and screaming like a bunch of demons.  I couldn’t hear the 36 iron-clad feet on the trail behind me.  I expected a tree to fall at any time.  It was cold, the wind whipped through my clothes and my hands felt stiff and numb.  I felt my chapped lips and the wind forced the cold into my lungs. 

Amid this tumult of sensations I began to sing:  “I once had a friend that though he lost his dew said, ‘Man I’m living in a world of wonder.’”  The song goes on “Up above the darkened cloud there is a light to be found, far above the dark and thunder, Oh lord hear my plea and help me to see that I am living in a world of wonder.” 

The man that wrote and sung that song was blind.  I, like him, could see nothing with my eyes in the dark around me.  At this time I realized that just to feel is wonderful; just to be alive is an immeasurable gift.  To be able to see is more than many can.  I came out of the canyon fine, but I see everything differently now.  Friend we are living in a world of wonder. 

Let’s see things with our heart.

Psa 88:10  Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.

Psa 88:11  Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?

Psa 88:12  Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

Psa 88:13  But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.

His wonders can be known in the dark places of our life.

Isa 45:1  Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

Isa 45:2  I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

Isa 45:3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

This is beautiful!  God will give us the treasures of darkness.

Psa 4:6  There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

Psa 4:7  Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

If we will live in the light, the joy in our heart will be more than the joy we receive while looking in the cellar and seeing all the beautiful things put away after the harvest.  It will not deplete like the wonderful harvest will.

Mic 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

It is God that is good.

1Jn 1:1  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

1Jn 1:2  (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

1Jn 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

1Jn 1:4  And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

1Jn 1:5  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

1Jn 1:6  If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

We cannot see these things with our eyes; we must look with our heart.  Every message that Brother Gary brings is brought so that our joy might be full.  Whether it convicts us or lets us know that we need to apologize it is so that our joy may be full.  God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Joh 1:5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Joh 1:6  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Joh 1:7  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

Joh 1:8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

Joh 1:9  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Joh 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

For God’s countenance to shine upon us, for the light of His countenance we can go to the Word of God.  The Word was God and the Word was made flesh in Jesus. 

In our deepest times of disaster:

Gen 16:8  And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

Gen 16:9  And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

Gen 16:10  And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

Gen 16:11  And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

Gen 16:12  And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

Gen 16:13  And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

This was about Hagar, after Sarah dealt hard with her and she fled.  She was in a very bad place.  Sarah gave her to Abraham.  Hagar hadn’t snuck in there or done anything wrong.  Now Sarah was against her and God told her to go back.  Has God ever told you to go back into a difficult situation?  She said, open heart and open mind, “Thou God, seeth me.”

This is the way that we have to be.

Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

God wants to live in our heart and being; He wants to live there all the time.

Job 33:12  Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.

Num 23:19  God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

1Ki 18:21  And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Rom 3:4  God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

1Jn 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

Psa 99:9  Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.

Psa 27:7  Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

1Co 1:9  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mic 7:8  Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.

Mic 7:9  I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.