Encouragement
THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH!
Nehemiah 8:
10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength
JOY is Jesus and you....with nothing in-between!
I have learned to rely on this verse and use it as a Mary Psalm.
The joy of the Lord is my strength!
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from which cometh my strength
When I think about the hills, I think about the hills of glory in heaven with all the fruit trees just hanging with fruit and the joy of Jesus all round and there will never be another pain, another tear or sorrow.
Because I know that if I have no other joy in the whole world then the Joy of the Lord is enough for me.
If I have the real joy of Jesus, then I am not concerned with the things of this world.
Even though my physical body is still a part of this world, my spirit and my soul are abiding in heavenly places.
I have learned this and it has made me a new person in Christ, because he said, "My Peace I give you, not as the world giveth"
If my brother turns against me then I still have God.
If my sister turns against me then I still have God
If my children turn against me then I still have God
And even if my husband turns against me, then I still have God!
If the whole world turns me down The Lord will never turn me down
And He will still be right there no matter what through thick and thin
During the day, during the night, all the way till the morning light
He is my Lord
He is my Redeemer,
He is my Savior,
He is my Guide,
He is my Peace,
He is my Joy,
He is my Comfort,
He is my Friend,
He is my Hope,
He is my Lord,
He rules my life!
He is the shade upon my right hand!
Psalm 121
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore
I serve him because:
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face death, He will guide me across chilly Jordan.
A couple of weeks ago I was in the hospital and the doctor suggested a scope of my stomach, and It was kind of scary having to be put to sleep and all, but I learned so many lessons with this one.
I was made very comfortable in the room before the scope, my husband was right by my side, and after I got into the surgery room, a nurse stood right beside me and held my hand while we were getting ready for the doctor to get in the room. The guy who put me to sleep put a little mask on my nose and said, take some deep breaths please.
I took three deep breaths and then it was all over with for me until I woke up. When I woke up, I was praying very softly to Jesus and it was like I had never been asleep. The nurse was talking to me and I did not respond because I was talking with someone else and he was more important. His name is the Holy Ghost.
One nurse said, “What is she mumbling?”
The Lord taught me this lesson;
Death is just one second away from Eternal life, I always knew that, but he brought the vision home to me and let me realize what death is like.
Your eternity starts immediately, just as soon as the eyes are closed in the sleep of death, so where will you spend eternity?
You can go to sleep in Jesus and wake up in Jesus. No matter if you have been in the grave for 1000 years it will be like you have only been there one minute. There is no time lapse between death and eternity.
I would like for you to read these scriptures with me and let’s talk about verse 2 and 3. The Lord Jehovah is my strength. I will draw waters from the wells of salvation.
I Isaiah 12
1 And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
5 Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
I would like to tell you a little story about me and my little family.
We lived in some of the darkest parts of Perry County Kentucky and life was very hard for a family way back in the hills in the fifties.
One night the dog started barking really loud and my step dad when outside to see what was wrong with him. He came back through the door with two gangsters behind him with a gun held right to his head. The gangsters made us all go in the kitchen and sat at the table.
I sat at that table with my teeth chattering so hard, I could hear them in my ears. I was so very scared. I was about five years old.
They jerked the curtains off the windows and put blankets up so no one could see what they were doing to us.
They said they were going to murder us, but I had a praying mom and what a combination that was, God and mom!!!
They kept us hostage until day light with the guns pointed at us.
After it got day light, one of the gangsters went to the cupboards looking for food. He said to mom, “there is no food here, what in the world are you going to feed these children for breakfast?” I know what mom wanted to tell them that she fully relied on God.
Before the gangster left our house, he took a ten dollar bill out of his pocket and gave it to mom and said, “go to the store and buy these children some food for breakfast.” A ten dollar bill bought a lot of food back in 1951.
God is wonderful, he comes to us in the darkest hour and he always comes right on time. Thank you Jesus for your love….
I would like for you to turn with me to the Book of Habakkuk
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (King James Version)
17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.
To the chief singer on my stringed instruments
If I have not one gallon of milk in my refrigerator and the car has no gasoline, and I don’t have not one loaf of bread, then I can call upon the God of my salvation and he will come to me and supply all my needs.
What I am trying to teach you is to:
FULLY RELY ON GOD!
I THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR LISTENING TO ME, PLEASE LET GOD BLESS YOU!!
Sermon by Mary Alice Bowles
Crothersville Church of God
11/16/08
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