The story of Joseph is one of the most powerful in the bible. Joseph’s story contains many power principles for life. Our text picks up with the end of Jacob’s life where he admonishes Joseph to forgive his brothers. It is here that Joseph tells his brothers “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” The twists and turns of life can be likened to a thread. The thread weaves in and out in an intricate pattern. The weaving of these treads forms a garment. Life will weave a garment for us. We do not get to pick or choose the circumstances that life brings our way. What we do get to choose is how we respond to the things life brings. We get to choose who is the tailor of the garment that live weaves. If we focus on the wrong, the unfairness, and all that is not right, the world will weave our garment. But God’s garment is one of purpose. If we allow it, God will take the very things that life brings that can make us bitter, and turn it into a garment of praise. He can turn it into something about which we can rejoice and see that all things work together for the good.

Our world is gripped by fear of this present circumstance. If we are not careful, the thread of this global pandemic can become a garment of fear, uncertainty, and panic. Now is not a time to be discouraged, it is a time to look to God to do what God does best: Bless His people. We must not let the present circumstances cause us to lose sight of the hand of God in all of this that is working to turn what others meant for evil and use it for good.

his pandemic has moved the entire world from their comfort zone. There is something going on beyond what we can see in the natural world. There is an effort in the spiritual world to break open a dam. This spirit has unleased a fear in our world. We no longer feel safe. Bro. Hughes has begun to question “When will feel safe again?” Will it be when the CDC says so? Will it be when the President announces that we can return to normal? The message that God spoke so clearly in Isiah was that the people had replaced God with Man. They had moved from God Led, God Worshiping and God Trusting to Man led, man worshiping and man trusting. There are many parallels between our text and our world. The first thing noted is that they were trusting in their military and their government. Our text says that the people had become worshipers of man-made idols. All of these idols would be cast away. Our text concludes with a stark statement: Man cannot save you. Our current situation demonstrates plainly, that no matter what we have built or orchestrated as humans, is not enough; we have to rely on God. The danger of trusting man to do what only God can do is disastrous. Who or what is keeping us safe? Is it the news? Is it the masks, or hand sanitizer? This is not about masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Anything that displaces God as our security, will fail. We need to obey the law of the land, but we have to trust in God for our salvation. We need to elevate our eyes from what man can do to what God can do. When will we feel safe? When we place our trust in the one who can do abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think. If we look to the world to feel safe, we never will. What is going on down here is temporal, what is going on up there is eternal. We must fix our eyes on the eternal to feel safe again.

his pandemic has moved the entire world from their comfort zone. There is something going on beyond what we can see in the natural world. There is an effort in the spiritual world to break open a dam. This spirit has unleased a fear in our world. We no longer feel safe. Bro. Hughes has begun to question “When will feel safe again?” Will it be when the CDC says so? Will it be when the President announces that we can return to normal? The message that God spoke so clearly in Isiah was that the people had replaced God with Man. They had moved from God Led, God Worshiping and God Trusting to Man led, man worshiping and man trusting. There are many parallels between our text and our world. The first thing noted is that they were trusting in their military and their government. Our text says that the people had become worshipers of man-made idols. All of these idols would be cast away. Our text concludes with a stark statement: Man cannot save you. Our current situation demonstrates plainly, that no matter what we have built or orchestrated as humans, is not enough; we have to rely on God. The danger of trusting man to do what only God can do is disastrous. Who or what is keeping us safe? Is it the news? Is it the masks, or hand sanitizer? This is not about masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Anything that displaces God as our security, will fail. We need to obey the law of the land, but we have to trust in God for our salvation. We need to elevate our eyes from what man can do to what God can do. When will we feel safe? When we place our trust in the one who can do abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think. If we look to the world to feel safe, we never will. What is going on down here is temporal, what is going on up there is eternal. We must fix our eyes on the eternal to feel safe again.

his pandemic has moved the entire world from their comfort zone. There is something going on beyond what we can see in the natural world. There is an effort in the spiritual world to break open a dam. This spirit has unleased a fear in our world. We no longer feel safe. Bro. Hughes has begun to question “When will feel safe again?” Will it be when the CDC says so? Will it be when the President announces that we can return to normal? The message that God spoke so clearly in Isiah was that the people had replaced God with Man. They had moved from God Led, God Worshiping and God Trusting to Man led, man worshiping and man trusting. There are many parallels between our text and our world. The first thing noted is that they were trusting in their military and their government. Our text says that the people had become worshipers of man-made idols. All of these idols would be cast away. Our text concludes with a stark statement: Man cannot save you. Our current situation demonstrates plainly, that no matter what we have built or orchestrated as humans, is not enough; we have to rely on God. The danger of trusting man to do what only God can do is disastrous. Who or what is keeping us safe? Is it the news? Is it the masks, or hand sanitizer? This is not about masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Anything that displaces God as our security, will fail. We need to obey the law of the land, but we have to trust in God for our salvation. We need to elevate our eyes from what man can do to what God can do. When will we feel safe? When we place our trust in the one who can do abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think. If we look to the world to feel safe, we never will. What is going on down here is temporal, what is going on up there is eternal. We must fix our eyes on the eternal to feel safe again.

Our two texts tonight are connected. In Samuel, David was dealing with a stressful situation because of bad choices. The grief that David and his men were great and they wept until they had no more strength. When David calls out to God, he is not simply praying, but actually screaming to God for help. But then the tone of the text changes and the bible tells us that David encouraged himself. He did this by remembering all that God had done for him. Dr. Hughes uses this story to teach us to encourage ourselves.

Our two texts tonight are connected. In Samuel, David was dealing with a stressful situation because of bad choices. The grief that David and his men were great and they wept until they had no more strength. When David calls out to God, he is not simply praying, but actually screaming to God for help. But then the tone of the text changes and the bible tells us that David encouraged himself. He did this by remembering all that God had done for him. Dr. Hughes uses this story to teach us to encourage ourselves.

Our two texts tonight are connected. In Samuel, David was dealing with a stressful situation because of bad choices. The grief that David and his men were great and they wept until they had no more strength. When David calls out to God, he is not simply praying, but actually screaming to God for help. But then the tone of the text changes and the bible tells us that David encouraged himself. He did this by remembering all that God had done for him. Dr. Hughes uses this story to teach us to encourage ourselves.

It is amazing how quickly our lives have been turned upside down by this global crisis. Many people live in fear of not what has happened, but what might happen. We are being tried on so many levels, patience, peace, confidence. Some speculate that this is the fulfillment of the end times. It may or may not be, but there are spirits and forces working today that are trying to take advantage of an opportunity. We can be certain of one thing; this event is a wake-up call. Now is the time for the church to work for God harder than we have before. Times like this show us what is important. Home, family, and relationships are more important than money, possessions, and things. Some many temporal things occupied our lives, and this pandemic has shown us what is truly important. We are looking at life through a different filter than before. This situation has shown us the debris and things in our lives that are not necessary and that we can do without. We have poured our lives into things that we believed were important, and lost sight of the things that truly matter. Situations like these serve as an opportunity to refocus us. It causes us to evaluate where our hope is anchored. We can clearly see where our priorities are centered. In shaking times, God speaks and it is critical that we listen for that voice. What is God saying to us right now? With all the changes in life, and the removal of the noise that we have had, what is God saying? Our lives have all been shaken. The shaking removes the things that don’t need to be there. With all that gone, what is God telling us? This shaking reveals what has eternal significance. The shaking reveals what is important.

It is amazing how quickly our lives have been turned upside down by this global crisis. Many people live in fear of not what has happened, but what might happen. We are being tried on so many levels, patience, peace, confidence. Some speculate that this is the fulfillment of the end times. It may or may not be, but there are spirits and forces working today that are trying to take advantage of an opportunity. We can be certain of one thing; this event is a wake-up call. Now is the time for the church to work for God harder than we have before. Times like this show us what is important. Home, family, and relationships are more important than money, possessions, and things. Some many temporal things occupied our lives, and this pandemic has shown us what is truly important. We are looking at life through a different filter than before. This situation has shown us the debris and things in our lives that are not necessary and that we can do without. We have poured our lives into things that we believed were important, and lost sight of the things that truly matter. Situations like these serve as an opportunity to refocus us. It causes us to evaluate where our hope is anchored. We can clearly see where our priorities are centered. In shaking times, God speaks and it is critical that we listen for that voice. What is God saying to us right now? With all the changes in life, and the removal of the noise that we have had, what is God saying? Our lives have all been shaken. The shaking removes the things that don’t need to be there. With all that gone, what is God telling us? This shaking reveals what has eternal significance. The shaking reveals what is important.

It is amazing how quickly our lives have been turned upside down by this global crisis. Many people live in fear of not what has happened, but what might happen. We are being tried on so many levels, patience, peace, confidence. Some speculate that this is the fulfillment of the end times. It may or may not be, but there are spirits and forces working today that are trying to take advantage of an opportunity. We can be certain of one thing; this event is a wake-up call. Now is the time for the church to work for God harder than we have before. Times like this show us what is important. Home, family, and relationships are more important than money, possessions, and things. Some many temporal things occupied our lives, and this pandemic has shown us what is truly important. We are looking at life through a different filter than before. This situation has shown us the debris and things in our lives that are not necessary and that we can do without. We have poured our lives into things that we believed were important, and lost sight of the things that truly matter. Situations like these serve as an opportunity to refocus us. It causes us to evaluate where our hope is anchored. We can clearly see where our priorities are centered. In shaking times, God speaks and it is critical that we listen for that voice. What is God saying to us right now? With all the changes in life, and the removal of the noise that we have had, what is God saying? Our lives have all been shaken. The shaking removes the things that don’t need to be there. With all that gone, what is God telling us? This shaking reveals what has eternal significance. The shaking reveals what is important.