Weekly Encouragement
Good Wednesday Everyone,
After last week’s hurricane, we have seen its impact upon our fellow countryman. Lives have been lost, mourning is real, and rebuilding is difficult. Therefore, we must give what we can, go where we can, and pray without ceasing for those suffering. Resilience is not automatic nor is it universal. Pray for those who are suffering.
Tonight, we shared our monthly business meeting and dinner, and this prepared Bethel to go forward. Next week, October 12, we begin our Wednesday Night Fellowships. There has been an excellent response and several families have signed up. On Sunday morning there will be a sign-up sheet in the bulletin, but you don’t have to have sign-up to join. Please come. We will begin at 6:00 with a spaghetti dinner, then transition to a Bible study time, and conclude with a corporate prayer time. If you can bring a dish or dessert to pass, please do so. Don’t miss the blessings of Christian fellowship. Later this month we have our Fall Festival on Sunday, 10/30/2022 with “Trunk-or-Treat”, a hayride, and dinner. Bring friends and neighbors for this wonderful opportunity.
This Lord’s Day we introduced the man in the center our latest sermon series – King Asa of Judah. The great-great grandson of King David, “Did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.” Did you catch this: God was Asa’s God? What an incredible and humbling way to be known for in Asa’s days, and to be remembered all these centuries later. This is an incredible compliment to receive, but also an incredible challenge to live up to.
The first thing King Asa did was to establish a righteous foundation for his godly intentions. King Asa intended to return Judah’s government to an environment where his people could be holy before the Lord THEIR God. King Asa wanted his God to be each person’s God. King Asa will realize his intentions are bigger than him, but they are not bigger than God. God will place great if not impossible inspirations deep into your heart. Then only God can bring them out. What God was beginning in King Asa was for all of Judah and all was for God’s glory.
Doing God’s will for yourself, your family, your church, and your country is a great place to be in life. Church – Whenever we choose God the enemy surfaces. The enemy is big, relentless, powerful, and tenacious and you are in his cross-hairs. What do you do? The answer’s found in the next part of King Asa’s life. In the midst of Judah’s peace and prosperity was God, not King Asa. In the midst of your peace and prosperity is God, not you.
King Asa met an enemy he didn’t anticipate, and whom Judah could not defeat. The same will happen to you. The enemy will show up to attack your health, your marriage, your family, your church, your finances, and your witness. But God is your strength. King Asa prayed this before his people and before his enemy, “O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” King Asa depended upon the Lord. So many times, we fight, we grind, and we struggle, when God wants us to depend on Him. King Asa has done good things, King Asa has done godly things, and to do holy things, King Asa will have to depend on the Lord!!
In this worldly life, we are taught at a young age to be independent in all things. Stand on your own, make you own decisions, and be your own person. This is easy when it’s easy. You and I have hard enemies. Jesus Christ had enemies everywhere He went, and He depended completely upon His Heavenly Father. So must we.
Times of difficulties, sufferings, trials, and tribulations will come. Not because God is silent, weak, or unaware, but because we are in a sinful world. We must not ask ourselves, “Why do we have evil in this world?” To that question, no one has a good answer. Rather, we must as God, “How do we overcome evil in this world?” Bethel family, you are not your own. You are God’s and other, “People really want what you have – They just don’t know it yet.”
Blessings in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Michael
