Treasured Truth

We need to understand that failure isn’t final.  Sure, we fail.  But we get back up and brush ourselves off.  It’s not final!  How do we know?  Because we’re still alive! And if we’re still alive, that means that God still wants to use us.

God’s delays are not denials, but they’re always for our development.  God is consistent and always doing something on our behalf.  Whatever He’s doing is either for our development, our deliverance, or setting up the details of our destiny, to get it ready for us or to get us ready for it.

As we begin to look at Joshua 14, we’ll see that Caleb knew when you have a promise from God and a word from Him, what you need to do is just move forward on the word that God has given to you. So, knowing that, Caleb claimed his promise, despite the plans others had for him.

We need to remember that because Jesus is invincible, we can be victorious through our trials.  We need to know that life is more than just what’s happening to us.  Life is about what’s happening for us. All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes.

When we consider what the Lord Jesus did for us, we see the magnitude of it—He paid for the sins of the world.  We see the magnificence of it—we were enemies and while we were yet sinners, He died for us.  The majesty of it—the Creator died for the creature.  And the mystery of it—why would someone so holy die for a world of messed up sinners like us?

As we continue to look at why God deserves all of our praise, we’ll learn that we can’t just join God’s family. We have to be born into it. So, what did Jesus do for us?  He traded places with you and with me, which allows us to become part of God’s family.

The precipitation for our praise is based on Who God is.  Because He has intrinsic glory.  That is, there’s nothing that’s added to Him that makes Him glorious.  We praise because He’s God all by Himself—He’s omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient.  He’s worthy of our praise!

The Psalmist says that he sought God with all his heart and God had every part of Him as a result.  So, Pastor Ford explains today that the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.  Does God have your heart?

Pastor Ford will explain today that praise should be done volitionally, as an act of our will.  It doesn’t matter how we feel, we should give God some praise!  We could feel like ten miles of bad highway, but we shouldn’t walk out of a worship service without saying something to God in a corporate setting and letting Him know that we appreciate Him, we’re grateful for Him, and we love Him!

As we continue to look at 2 Corinthians and understand what made the mindset of the Macedonian believers such an example for us, Pastor Ford will explain that the basis of their sacrificial spirit was a result of them understanding God’s ultimate sacrifice. God gave the best of heaven—Jesus, for the worst of earth—us!