Learn about the fire of God and all of the things that it wants to be as a part of your life!
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Sermon Notes: https://www.heartofgraceministries.com/blog/after-the-fact/fire-god/#.VdvF_CVVhHw
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Faithful
Valley Faith: Finding The Rose of Sharon
God is the beauty and hope in unlikely times and unlikely places
Song of Solomon 2:1-3
2 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
The rose of Sharon is a large hibiscus shrub. It grows about 12 feet tall, has large three-lobed leaves, and a lovely rose, purple, white or blue flower. The uniqueness of the rose of Sharon lies in the fact that it blooms at an unlikely time and in unlikely places. The rose blossoms in the fall, when few other shrubs are in bloom. It grows well in unfavorable conditions and does not seem to be partial to the city or the country.
Unfavorable growing conditions? In our honest moments we sometimes marvel that the soil of our lives could produce anything beautiful. It is full of the stones of selfishness, the weeds of deceitfulness, and the acidity of our pride. Yet the Rose of Sharon persists, blooms, and grows, even when other plants are dormant.
The lily is a very noble plant in the East; it grows to a considerable height, but has a weak stem. The church is weak in herself, yet is strong in Him that supports her
While it doesn’t look like God is among you it is simple not in natural view. If you pray you will see him.
Hebrews 11:2-4
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
If we never endure the valleys we will not learn to hope when we are struggling to survive.
James 1:12
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Help Me Be Faithful To Believe In The Things I Cannot See
There was a season in my life recently where I was beginning to desire things to really move to the next chapter of what I was desiring to happen (new home, updated job, an ease in some stresses, etc.). As I began to pray God spoke to me through many sermons about the things in my life that must learn to be guided by faith and not by sight. Not too long after I began a serious pursuit for change in prayer I walked outside of my house at the time and beheld this:
At first glance this appears to be a normal beautiful day. Most days I would have probably looked over this and marched right in the car and went on…but something was different this time. What makes this picture different is that the clouds were covering the mountainside entirely and were taking the shape of the mountain in its entirety. IMMEDIATELY my spirit was quickened within me and I heard the words: “see the mountain by faith and not by sight”. What a mighty blessing this was to me!
I cannot hardly put into words this experience that I had but what it helped me to realize is that faith helps us shape what does not appear to be what we want into what we are desiring. Faith simply reveals what our sight is covering. My prayer has been since this experience: “God help me to see the things that I cannot see with my own understanding. Help me to see things by faith and not simply but what my perception tells me” Since this experience God has blessed me many times over what I ever expected to happen. However my friends I must say that the biggest life changer for me that goes beyond the materials things was the lesson I learned that day about faith. Faith helps me move mountains by seeing beyond the fact that I cannot see it move. Faith helps me believe in the things that would seem impossible. And without faith our purpose is dead. Live to grow your faith to see Christ and the wonder of His love for your life. Be faithful to receive the goal of your faith. I close with this passage:
1 Peter 1:5-9
“who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
What Lies Ahead
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Today we stand at the threshold of the unknown; before us lies a New Year. Who knows what lies ahead? What new experiences or changes will come our way? We definitely know what has happened in the past year. This may have been a very difficult year for you. You may have lost a precious loved one, you may have been very sick; you may have went through family struggles or financial difficulties.
There is no doubt that we live in a depressing time. The economy of our country is very unstable, and many families have lost their jobs, their homes, and other possessions. Drugs and alcohol abuse are at an all time high. Many lives have been lost this past year because of this abuse. Many children have been neglected and abused as a result of drug and alcohol abuse. Cancer has become a common illness. Most every family has had to deal with this illness in one way or another.
Although there is something about the start of a new year that brings hope or optimism, in reality all of the problems that we have faced this past year will be there in the coming year. The only real hope or change that anyone can depend on is the hope and peace that can be found in God and His son, Jesus Christ. Everything around us is subject to change, so our trust should not be placed in the hope that life will always be what we want it to be; even that it will remain without change.
The only real constant, the only true security lies only in God. It is entrusting Him with our lives and His will for our lives that will bring peace to our heart. God, having all knowledge, knows what is best for us because He alone sees the whole picture of our lives. And because He is a God of pure love, His will is to bless our lives with goodness. However, it is then that we must pause and acknowledge that only God knows what is good for us.
In our limited vision, we may feel that God’s will cannot surely be one of good will toward us because we often desire things to be different, and sometimes we cannot see the “good”. But we can rest assured that it is our to our good, even though we may not discern it as such, because He, our heavenly Father, can only act out of love, an enduring and unchanging love for His children. The greatest and most profound manifestation of His love toward us was giving His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sin. Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, took our place and became the atonement for our sin, so that we could have eternal life.
Jesus loved us enough to give His life so that we could have life. It is in accepting Jesus as our Savior that the only true peace and security can be found. Jesus said that any that would come to Him that He would in no wise cast out or not save. He waits without wavering to welcome whosoever will. Come and find peace and unchanging hope in Him today.
