Sister Brenda Sunday School 4/6/14

Sister Brenda Sunday School 4/6/14

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Strong means to empower, to endue with ability, and to enable.  God is able to empower us and give us ability to do His work.  I want to have the power of God in my life and be strong.  I want to be able to endure whatever comes in life.

I could be one that gets upset with what is happening in our country.  I want to be strong enough spiritually that whatever life brings I can stand.  God wants us to stand against evil spirits and evil.  Jesus said that He would give us power.  I want to have the power of God in my life to not be afraid of what we have to stand against, but be used in the way God wants us to.

Mar 6:7  And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

God gave them power over unclean spirits and wants us to have power too.

Luk 9:1  Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

Isn’t that awesome?  We want to be like that too.  We want to have the power in our lives

Luk 10:19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Luk 24:49  And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

That is the secret.  We have been preached to about having the power of God and the Holy Spirit in our life.  It will only be by praying and spending time with God.

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:

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

We know by all these scriptures that it is God’s will and plan that all of us as his disciples have this power alive and active and real in our lives.

How are we going to be strong in the Lord and have this power alive in our life?

Listen to what God is sending us in our services.  I went back in just the last month.  It is such a wealth to go back and see what has been brought to us in the last week.  Monday morning that is my devotions, to go back and review what was brought in Sunday school and what Brother Gary brought.  It was sent from God for what we needed. 

I have books and books of notes.  It is fun and encouraging to read what has been brought say 10 years ago. 

Last month Brother Gary preached of the beginning and the ending and how God can bring an end to what is going on in our lives.  He brought on doing justly and being just to our self.  It has been a new concept and a good thought to me. 

God doesn’t make holy days, He makes men holy.  We need to keep that real because we may fall into a trap of “I’m doing ok because I don’t do this or that.”  God wants us to be holy. 

We want to prevail in prayer.

Mar 4:23  If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

Mar 4:24  And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.

Heb 2:1  Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

Listen to what God is sending to us in church.  We need to give earnest heed to what we have heard in the last month even.  It will make us strong. 

Take heed to what you hear; it will help us to be strong.

The lessons on our need of God and our need of prayer:  We were encouraged to spend more time in prayer and extra time in prayer.  It is good for us and will make us strong if we will take heed to that message and pray more, pray earnestly, and be fervent in our prayer.

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray.  We all are flesh and blood.  We are all human.  The enemy knows our weak points and will try us.  We will be tempted and tried as the saints through the ages have.  We need to be strong so we can avoid the snares that would cause us to backslide.

As the son of man, the flesh was weak, but he was strengthened by “Not my will but thine be done.”  We all have flesh but our flesh must be crucified.  The angel strengthened Him and they will strengthen us.  God wants us to make it.

I was reading in a book that said, “Our will has to do with us being strong.”  Jesus willed to do God’s will.  We must want to please God whatever it takes.  We need to make sure that our will is totally: “I want God’s will.”

We need to watch and pray.  It will make us strong.

There are some paths that we should not go down.  There have been incidences in my life where I see good saints feel comfortable doing things that I personally cannot do because it makes me feel weak spiritually and hinders me from doing my best for God. 

I have examined that and God has helped me to see, “You are different than that saint.  That doesn’t bother them and they are clear with God to do it.”  We cannot just justify our self and say, “If they are doing it then why can’t I do it?”  It had to do with Bob.  We must do things that will be for others benefit.

What you are doing, if you don’t feel that you are holding your strength as you do it, then give it up.  We want to be strong.

God knows my weak points, and wants me to succeed.  Don’t do or want to do something just because someone else does it.  He knows you and wants to keep you.

If we want to be strong then we must let God keep us.  We must be willing to give up anything that would keep us from being kept.

Gen 28:15  And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

God was talking to Jacob here.  How would you like God to say that to you?  I like that.  I want to be kept, wherever I go and whatever I do.

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

I send an angel to keep you in the way.  Do you think that God is just saying that to them or do you think you can apply this to your life?  I do.  Don’t you feel that God has sent angels to help you?

Num 6:24  The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

Num 6:25  The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

Num 6:26  The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Num 6:27  And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

Don’t you love the benediction?  When I was in Babylon they said it at the end of every service as a form.  This is for us.  We can claim it for ourselves.  Having this benediction on our lives will cause us to be strong.  It was the job of the priests to state this benediction.  As kings and priests it is a part of our job. 

My thought for Sister Margaret was, “The Lord bless thee and keep thee.”  Isn’t that good to say to one another?  You can say it to me whenever you want to.  The Lord watch over you.

Psa 25:20  O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.

Can’t you just hear David saying this?  David went through many battles and persecutions.  “God keep my soul and deliver me.  Let me not be ashamed.”  I don’t want to be ashamed or have the saints or God be disappointed in me.

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Beautiful!

Psa 140:4  Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.

Say this from your heart, “Keep me from the hands of the wicked.”  We have violent people out there.  God is able to save us from the violent.  Think of someone purposing to overthrow us!  They don’t sleep to try to think of how to make you fall.  Let integrity and uprightness preserve us.

Pro 3:26  For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

Isa 42:6  I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

I read this week about a preacher in a huge service that got up and disannulled the doctrine and in his flowery preaching made it so there was no power in the blood.  When he got done it was quiet.  This dear elderly lady stood in the background in the silence and stood up to sing, “There is a fountain filled with blood.” 

Imagine in the thousands of people this little elderly lady singing.  People started singing with her and she sang every verse and the people sang with her.  It didn’t matter what that big man said, there is still a fountain filled with blood.  There is still power in the blood. 

This elderly woman was strong.  Would you have done it?  It is awesome that she did it; she had the power of God to stand and refute the lies that this man had said.  Our thought is to be strong in the Lord and if we are put in a situation like that, to be strong enough to do it.