Brother Gary Wednesday Evening 1/1/14

Brother Gary Wednesday Evening 1/1/14

The word Selah appears 71 times in Psalms.  What was it that caused David to think, “I need to stop, I need to pause, I need to consider.”

It means there is a definite pause.  One of the thoughts was that it was the singing and the music together and then the singing would stop and the music would go on so that they could consider what had been said and perhaps prepare for what was to be said. 

I thought of the song, “When first I started to seek the Lord, I’m glad I counted the cost.”  It would be alright if there was a long pause where we consider when we got saved and decided, “God I’ll serve you and I’ll be true to you.” 

It is still alright to stop and consider not only what we have told God yes to but to say, “God do you have something to say to me.”

I’ve been thinking of, “What is the thought and the emphasis for the beginning of the year?”   I knew that God was talking to me to stop and rest and hear from God and not rush into work.

We all need to pause and be thankful for the blessings of the past.  God has been so good to us.  We think of the many things that God protected our children from as they were being raised.  We think of the many times that God came to our rescue for: a school test, or sickness, or... 

We have experienced many seasons in our life where there were no jobs and there were bills to pay.  God has never failed us and we serve a God that we can trust supremely.

There is no way that we can be totally caught up on all the praises to God.  I say as I pray, “God magnify my praises.”

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Jesus was given to us and it is our choice whether we serve him and allow Him to be wonderful, the miracle worker.  The miracle of healing the blind man, of healing the lame man, of loosing the possessed of devils, the greatest miracle is that He never gave up on me and I am still God’s son.

Our own miracle of being saved from the life of sin, from the broad road or the religious confusion; that is in the world today is wonderful.  God has been so good!

I think back on the miracle that in the forties there was a little lady that had a burden that the gospel be preached in Sanders County.  She had a little retirement from her husband that had passed away.  There was a work started in Plains because of that burden.

There my mother went to a funeral and heard that the burden of her heart could be rolled away and she got saved.  The goodness of God that we found Him!

How we need to pause, consider, stop and think of the visitations that we had from God in 2013.  God has been really good to us.  Thank God for every rest-home service and every soul that sought Him.  Thank God for a good VBS.  He has been good over and over again.

We need to stop and consider how good God has been from our youth.  Most of us can remember in our youth when we were headed down the broad road and some of us had real brushes with death.  The mercies of God!  He was good!  Selah, stop and consider.

As I studied this, I wondered “When did David become concerned with Selah?  What was the incident?  Was it when he was herding sheep?”  He was probably anointed as king when he was a teenager.  He didn’t become king then but God was with Him.

As a young man he met Goliath and Goliath mocked him.  David said, “The God that I serve will deliver you into my hands.”

We cannot go back to the age of 3 or 5 but we can have the wonderful experience to say, “I’ve been taught to Selah, to stop, to consider, to rest.  The words of Jesus, “Come apart and rest a while.”

Everyone here can remember that time or times when you had a warning from God.  Old Brother and Sister Dykstra were called to be missionaries to the Navahos.  They went to Kingman, Arizona and would come however often with a load of rugs from the Navaho and the congregation would bring cloths to take back to Arizona.

I can still see Old Brother Dykstra.  In my mind he was 6’ 6” and 178 pounds.  He got up and told of one day he was going to take some clothes and cross a railroad bridge to some poor people.  As he got ready to climb on the bridge, God said, “Don’t go.” 

There were people on the other side beckoning to him, “Come Brother Dykstra.”  He obeyed God instead and went the other direction.  When he looked back, he saw that there were three men hiding under the bridge.  He was convinced that they intended to throw him over the bridge.

Whenever you that have children feel uncomfortable, heed the warning.  We have to face our children when they come back and say, “You said when we felt uncomfortable to take off and you would not scold us for it.”  That is not only good for little girls and boys it is good for all of us.

The deliverances:  God has delivered all of us.  There is no place on earth where there are people that sin is not. 

The challenges:  We need to pause, stop and consider the challenges that we had in 2013.  There were some big challenges and some of them are not over.  It is important that you use that experience of Selah, “I’m going to pause, stop, and consider this before I rush into something that then I don’t know what to do about.”

Is 9:6, His name is wonderful, counselor.  Aren’t the visitations from God wonderful?  When God comes it is alright to say, “I’m in a season of Selah, I am pausing, considering. I wonder what the counselor has to say.”  We can see to the corner but God sees around the corner.

There are spiritual, personal, and health challenges.  God challenges us everyone spiritually.  However much you prayed and studied in 2013.  There are promises in the Word, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.”

I was going to preach last Sunday on the thought of the manifold mercies.  The word manifold is mentioned in the Old and New Testament.  The words ‘manifold mercies’ mean multiplied mercies.

The young man that lives in the trailer by the name of Dillon:  Oh for the manifold mercies of God that he will escape where sin will take him.  He is headed down a broad road the companions that were with him when I stopped to ask him to church are all really scary.  Can you imagine heading down the broad road of sin and having house buddies, sin buddies, and I’m not sure what other kind of buddies that are scary?  God is merciful.

Sin will take one where they don’t want to go and leave them where they don’t want to stay.  We were all there.  The manifold mercies of God caused light to shine on our path way and we were saved.

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

There are seasons where we really feel that we need the wisdom of God.  They may be personal or business, should we buy or not buy, how shall we do this or when?  We need wisdom from God.

I think of all in this audience that are grandparents.  Grandparents want to be loved by their grandchildren but there is another responsibility that we have, we need to love them not just to show them a good time but to teach them what is right and what is wrong. 

You don’t want to be the grandparent that is always on them but they need to obey and be taught what is right.  We need wisdom. 

We husbands need wisdom to know how to treat our wife as the weaker vessel.  My wife is smarter and stronger than I am and yet I am to have wisdom to know how to treat her as the weaker vessel. 

We need wisdom from God.  You sisters need wisdom to let your husbands treat you like you are the weaker vessel.  You say, “I think my husband needs a brush up course; pray.”

1Pe 4:10  As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The manifold grace of God:  the inspiration of the divine upon the soul and its reflection out in the life.

The manifold grace of God:  There is grace when we have a tough day.  There is manifold grace.  We all felt bad that Brother Gyme’s car was hit by a snow plow in Missoula.  It shouldn’t have happened but it did happen. 

There is manifold grace even when things go wrong and there is an injustice.  There will be injustices; things don’t always work out right when you are saved.  You don’t always get a fair deal.

1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

We have such a wonderful treasure.  God knows that he can trust us.  The enemy can offer us whatever is out there and we can say with the song writer, “I’d rather have Jesus.”

This New Year is a fitting time and place for all of us to pause, please consider the past.  Let us be full of gratitude for the manifold blessings of God.  Pause and allow the echo of the wisdom of God come by us again.

Way back in time, God spoke something and it protected me and I have been blessed 40 some years because of that wisdom from God.  It did not just happen to me it has happened probably to everyone here.  Sometimes we get tied up and don’t hear the echo of wisdom of what God has done.  That means that He will pass by again and we need to listen.

Let us pause and consider our ways and get direction.  The music plays on but the words are not being sung.  We pause and God’s music comes back to our soul over and over and over and over.  As we pause and rest and consider, we are thanking Him for the blessings of the past and the marvels of a new year.

Sometimes he speaks to us of unfinished business.  Maybe God has laid it upon your soul, “I want you to take care of this.  I want you to reach out.  I want you to broaden your circle.” 

Those that seem to have everything need lots of things.  They need love.  We look at people and think, “They have lots of money.”  That is not the issue.  People need to have that one-on-one touch.  You may say, “They don’t even like me.”  If you make deposits it brings kindness.

It doesn’t matter how much a person makes, it is the word fitly spoken, and it is the expression of whatever it is.  You can buy tomatoes but if you grow them you can deliver them and they are the best tomatoes that they ever had.  You know why?  They were given with love.

You have any unfinished business?  We all have neighbors that are challenging.  “God is there anything that I can do to help this situation?”

Maybe there is an area in your life that you have been convicted on.  Maybe your speech in the way that you talk to your husband or wife, the way you behave whenever.  Maybe you are convicted to send a letter.  The mail goes out tomorrow.

We have spiritual ground to gain.  Yes I’m saved, yes we do what we know is right, but it is the hunger to have more of God.  Pausing to the music as it plays and God speaks, “Rest a while.  Place your burden at the foot of the old rugged cross.” 

Isn’t it wonderful to take the one that you are so burdened for, place them at Jesus feet, and leave a few tears.  “God is bottling them up I don’t need to worry.”  Place that son, daughter, niece and nephew.  You may not be able to get them out of trouble but there is a place you can go and rest a while there.

You can listen to the music and then you can go to God and say, “God, this nephew, this son, this daughter, this grandson, this friend…”  Isn’t it wonderful that He said, “It is alright to rest awhile.  I will meet you there and supply every need.”

The last thought I want to leave is this:  as the music is playing, we love music here.  We love coming in on Sunday Morning and hearing the violins.  There is another way of music and that other way is while we are resting God playing some music and you and I waiting to be renewed with a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. 

You can trust the Bible.  The Holy Spirit never has anyone do anything that is uncomely nor causes people to say weird things.  The Holy Spirit is a guide, a comfort, a teacher, and gives us power to be a witness at home and away from home.

As we go through this week there will be occasions when God speaks to you and says, “You need a Selah in your life.”  It could be in your lazy-boy.  Brother Peters would start the fire and leave the draft wide open and would be praying and worshipping and enjoying being saved and his wife would come in to find the stove red hot.  Wherever your Selah is, shut off the phone, leave it in the car and go for a walk. 

Listen to the Music that God has for you.  Learn to rest and listen.  When did David learn to Selah?  If you cannot find out then pick it up and practice it anyway.