Treasured Truth

In Psalm 23 we read, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I’ll fear no evil.”  How could David say this, when his enemies wanted to kill him?  Because he knew that God was with always with him.  And just like David, we can overcome our fears knowing that God is always with us, so we don’t ever have to be scared.

When you really know Who God is and you don’t just “talk” about Him, but you also “walk” in the realization of Who He is, then you’re in a good position to overcome any fears you may face.  That’s because when you’re rightly focused on Him, then you never lose sight of Who God is and what God is able to do in, through and around you.

Ministry can be very hard some times.  And the very people to whom we are trying to minister, are often the people who hurt us the most!  But Pastor Ford explains today that we need to decide that there’s no opposition—even from those who cause us the most pain—that will make us stop doing what God has called us to do.

When we serve God through ministry—whether vocationally or voluntarily—there are many challenges we can face.  But when we realize that serving God is a privilege, then that realization brings everything together and helps us face those challenges effectively. Considering how God chooses to use people like us to grow His kingdom, despite our shortcomings, is a humbling insight and makes us understand even moreso what an awesome God He is!

Jesus said, “...I am with you always, even to the end of the age…” So, based on that statement, we can be sure that when God is silent, He’s actually working behind the scenes and doing things that we don’t even realize in order to get us to the place where He wants us to be.

As we continue this study from Luke 16, Pastor Ford will identify some of the characteristics of hell. He’ll explain that souls will still have consciousness there. And he believes that every opportunity a person has had to receive the good news of Jesus Christ, is going to be playing over and over again in the computer of their minds for all of eternity. Can you imagine what kind of agony that will be?

There are some who would say that they’re going through hell right here on earth, because things are pretty bad for them. But, as Pastor Ford will remind us, what those people don’t understand is that hell is a real place. And no matter how bad things are for them now, it’s not as bad as it’s going to be in eternity, if they don’t have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Because if someone is on their way to hell, they need to realize that this is as good as it is ever going to get for them. To find out more, join us on today’s Treasured Truth.

Our praise should not be to impress God or others, but to express our love for God alone. As we continue to look at Psalm 34, we’ll see that the degree of our gratitude should equal the degree of the glory that we give to God. It’s not about us, it’s all about Him!

If you’re a follower of Jesus, have you come to the place where everybody knows that you are not ashamed to praise Him? To lift Him up, anywhere, anytime, and for any reason at all, in front of anyone? In other words, Pastor Ford will ask today, have you gone public with your praise?

Isn’t it amazing how people who generally don’t get along, can find a way to do it when it comes to not getting along with you? Isn’t it amazing that people who don’t like each other, can find a common ground when it’s time to come against you? These are just a few of the observations that Pastor Ford makes today as we continue our study about criticism from the book of Nehemiah.