Brother Gary Wednesday Evening 1/6/16

Brother Gary Wednesday Evening 1/6/16

Psa 80:17  Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

Psa 80:18  So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

Psa 80:19  Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

My life is like your life.  Every day, especially if we go out in the world, we are met by demands.  I have been having a slow leak in one of my tires.  I took it to the Service Center to get some air and I came in contact with two men.  My heart is burdened for them.  They are lost. 

Many people are lost and some of them don’t know that anyone cares for their soul.  There is a lot of religion and a lot of religious people in the world.  We are not religious.  We serve the true God.  How we need His hand upon us!

Isa 59:1  Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

Six considerations:

1. Behold – it is vital that we look at the Lord’s hand.  That we look at His power.  That we look at His ear. 

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

There is a lot of fog and a lot of storm.  There are a lot of things going on in the world today.  It probably hasn’t changed that much because spirits never die.  We are probably facing the same spirits that the church in the Morning Time faced and that the church in the Dark Ages faced. 

If the enemy can destroy our faith.  Then all we will see is problems that are insurmountable and think there is no answer.  God gave this Word to Solomon:  “Where there is no vision the people perish.” God wants you and I to have a vision of what He can and will do.

Beholding God:

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Sister Sue said that her burden is for a fresh anointing of the Spirit of God.  We need to position ourselves before Him so that He can.

2. The Hand of the Lord – God’s hand is not shortened.

We look at these prayer requests that came in and some deal with material needs: house fires.  Some deal with grave physical conditions as this man that Brother John transported for kidney dialysis.  He has had many surgeries and His condition is bad.  His only hope is God.

In spiritual conditions people will just wander on.  When I was in Babylon for a funeral they sang the song, “I am prone to wander.”  There is nothing so dangerous as wandering. 

We have a strong challenge among us today.  Children lose hope way too young.  Parents give up way too young.  May God help us as grandparents to not give up but to pray and praise God and have a good back wall.

God formed man from the dust of the earth.  I can see God and see His hands.  He made man of the dust of the earth.  We don’t want to underestimate His power in any way.  He is God and He has all power.

As I thought of themes and desires in my personal life in 2016, going into areas that perhaps I have never worked, knocking on doors.  We will not conquer or get it done in just one trip. 

If you love someone then you will go back.  We love souls.  There are some that we don’t even need to have on the list: our children and grandchildren.  Precious souls!  We go back and pray over and over again.

Neh 2:8  And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

God’s good hand can be upon us. 

We all do our best when we feel our need of God very pronounced.  When we feel that we are walking on eggshells, then we seek God in a greater way than other times.  When we feel that we will be among people that weigh our every word and read our every action according to their mentality, we seek God.

Tonight.  Would the good hand of God be upon someone that will have the opportunity to talk to Connor?  There have been boys whose entire lives have been changed when they were his age. 

Girls.  My heart goes out to young people today.  They are raised in atmospheres with no virtue or valor.  There are things that are available to children at school that I didn’t even know existed.  It sets them up at a young age to never be normal.  It is sad.

Nehemiah had the testimony that the good hand of the Lord was upon him.  Whatever theme that you think God would have you to work on of being an encouragement to the saints, as brother John expressed, “to help those that are terminally ill.” 

Oh may the good hand of God be upon us! 

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;

This is a prophecy of Christ and the Father right there together.  The Lord’s hand is not short.  When we get saved, we get Jesus on the inside.  To think that that hand is right there in our hearts and our lives!

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.

Isa 45:4  For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

When someone that loves reaches out and takes a hand, it brings something to the needy one.  I think of you and me as we are traveling the road of life.  When we feel His hand slip into our hand, when we feel that we are not in this alone, we know, “This burden that I am carrying I am not carrying by myself.”

All thy burdens once so heavy
Light and easy seem to be;
In my soul is heaven’s sunshine
When my savior talks with me. 

In the very climate of our day, it leaves us in such a situation that we need God so bad!  It is not the thought that our refrigerator is empty.  We had lunch and supper but our refrigerator still has food in it.  That is not our need.  We have money in the bank.  That is not the need.  It is the reality of spiritual needs of individuals. 

Souls are wandering.  There are souls where there is no church.  God is the same.  Our headquarters are in heaven and it is the same distance from here to there as from Australia to there.

Isa 43:13  Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?

You and I are not exempt from the onslaught of the enemy.  Stay in God’s hand. 

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

Act 4:30  By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

Can you see, “Oh God, stretch forth thy hand.” 

3.  The hand of the Lord is not shortened.  When God hears the cry of the broken and the contrite heart, His hand is like a telescope.  It reaches there. 
4.  The hand of the Lord still saves. 

Mat 14:23  And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

Mat 14:24  But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

Mat 14:25  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

Mat 14:26  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

Mat 14:27  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

Mat 14:28  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

Mat 14:29  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

Mat 14:30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

Mat 14:31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

There are times when you feel like “God, I need your help in a desperate way.”  I am not saying that you lose faith or give into unbelief, but the storm is all around you and you cry out to God.  He stretches out His hand. 

Peter was a distance from Jesus.  He was coming toward Him and then looked around.  The sea was boisterous.  He began to sink. 

There have been times in my life when I felt the waves trying to overcome me.  The storm was trying to take me away and I cried unto God.

When Peter began to sink, he may not have been close to Jesus. But when He cried out to God, Jesus reached forth His hand.  You can count on God!

5. His ear is not heavy.  God has heard millions of prayers and answered many prayers. 

God has answered millions of prayers for children.  God is ready to hear the prayers of His children tonight.

6. His ear is open to the cry of His children, to the cry of the sinners, the broken hearted, the needy, and the captives. 

For those that are sick, those that are terminally ill, for those that in their mind don’t feel that they are wandering, “I am at the right place for now and if it doesn’t work out I will try something else.”  We know how dangerous that is.

God is ready to hear the cry of the needy, the captives.  His hand is not shortened.  I am going to live so that I have confidence that God is hearing prayer.  I am going to believe so that I have confidence that God is hearing prayer.

His hand is not shortened that He cannot save; His ear is not heavy that He cannot hear.