Selah Seasons of Life

Proverbs 31:25 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. 

There is a season of a women’s life after children are raised, maybe approaching retirement. It’s often where a lot of women describe finally feel sure of themselves and not caring so much what other people think, “enjoying the skin they are in.” But it is also often the time in life referred to as “empty nest” or “midlife crisis.” This is sometimes where a marriage fails or a new one begins, or when a second career begins. It’s where grandchildren start to come into the picture. So many endings but so many beginnings all mixed in together. It’s enough to make your head spin or make you want to tap out. It’s a big basket weave of I don’t know how I feel!!! 

But I’m here to offer a road sign, a warning, if you will of this crossroads ahead.  

It can be the greatest season of your life if you are prepared for it. At least I think so but it’s also the season I’m in so I’m partial. I’m loving this season of life. I feel the most fruitful, the most productive, and the most satisfied that I’ve ever felt.  

I almost feel like I am getting a redo of my 20s. My cousin who is also single later in life told me the other day it’s like being a luxurious teenager! 

I was married at 20- started having children immediately- divorced at 39 – put all my energy into protecting my children and nurturing them through that very difficult time. I had to provide for them financially, help them get to college and make sure their little dreams could all come true and then one day … those jerks left!  

All joking aside, I was all of a sudden faced head on with the death of a dream. I had dreamed and prayed and believed for the 19 years of my marriage that it would change, that my faith would be enough to get my family to the end story, but I had to come to the conclusion that it didn’t all depend on me. No matter how much I believed or hoped, and because of circumstances outside my control, it was over. And not only was it over it was never going to happen. 

This season may require facing some harsh realities. It might be a medical diagnosis for yourself, a spouse, a friend. It might be your children going off to college or moving away. It might be a divorce or the end of a career or an actual death.  

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer,I have overcome the world.” 

By this time in life, you either have faced or will face some trouble. It is unavoidable. I’m not prophesying doom and gloom or speaking negativity over you. I’m a road sign remember…there are potholes ahead! 

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”  

Full Disclosure- I thought I was quoting Closing Time from the 90s but its actually a Roman Philosopher Seneca who died in 65 AD!!! 

But I am here to tell you of the beauty found in endings, and mourning those endings. The Word says there is beauty found in ashes. Ther is an intimacy with God available to you in sadness if you will sit in it and allow God to speak to you, to change you, to walk with you.  

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. 

Left without a husband, left without children to care for, left without a home of my own … who am I? Not only left without things that I had had, I now had some additional baggage that I had NOT had before. What do I do about that? I’m road weary and a little banged up from the journey but man I’ve seen some glorious geography and made some valuable memories along the way.  

But … When everything else was gone, there was my King. Where he had always been, ever present despite my busy-mindedness, ever faithful despite my failures, wanting a relationship with me even though it might seem like no one else did.  

This is a season in life when I think it is imperative to stop and reevaluate. This is a natural stop on the roadtrip of life. I think everyone should plan ahead for it. Even if you don’t experience traumas or tragedies, it is still a natural place, halfway through life to pause and reflect. 

Selah – this is a word found in Psalms and Habakkuk and its exact meaning is uncertain but it functions as a cue to stop and reflect and contemplate the preceding text or music. Its assumed desired effect is to allow us to absorb a profound truth or to let the instruments play alone.  

Everyone stop and close your eyes for a moment, take a deep breath and let it out slowly and think about the last really happy thing that happened to you. Maybe it was laughing so hard you couldn’t breathe or a beautiful sunset or great meal. Now take a deep breath again. Selah. Now say it out loud with me. Selah. Open your eyes. That’s selah. A deep appreciation and consideration.  

74 times in the OT 

“Amen” is used 28 times 

“Hallelujah” 23 times 

Selah is said almost three times more than Amen or hallelujah.  

A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. 

3 Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! 
Many are they who rise up against me. 
2 Many are they who say of me, 
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah 

3 But You, O Lord, are a shield [a]for me, 
My glory and the One who lifts up my head. 
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice, 
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah 

5 I lay down and slept; 
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. 
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people 
Who have set themselves against me all around.

7 Arise, O Lord; 
Save me, O my God! 
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; 
You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. 
8 Salvation belongs to the Lord. 
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah 

Notice the progression that takes place inside David. His strength and courage are building as He reflects on Who God is and what He has done for Him. 

This season is and should be a selah moment in life.  

It’s right to pause and give honor to our experiences, to reflect on how they impacted us and how they might have changed us. This is a time to seek to hear God’s voice, to find out what He thinks about it, a time to check ourselves for defense mechanisms or unhealthy habits but also take note of healthy habits and growth. You’ve been so busy for a couple decades!  

I found in this time some simple instructions, adjustments, and corrections but I also found that God was actually really proud of me and I could be proud of me. I found in this time that my girls were really good and I could be proud of them. I found in this time, all of a sudden without the distractions all my roles had required, I got to be with Jesus again just me and Him like it was before I got married. My hunger for my relationship with Him grew and now I had all of these life experiences and when I read His word, the wisdom was so much deeper. It began to give me such inspiration and excitement about the Word of God and His faithfulness. It made me want to reengage in life in a deeper more meaningful way! 

Psalm 126:1 When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream.  

In so many ways, I personally had been held captive. For some of us we are held captive by a poor self esteem, or an addiction. Or maybe you haven’t felt like you were in captivity, but just a little road worn from the trip. Everyone deserves a fresh dream or renewed hope in a dream.  

KE Learning Center is my newest dream. Going on a road trip in France with my kids is a new dream. Making the relationships in my life as deep and purposeful as possible is my dream. 

I urge you, I compel you to carve out a time for you as an individual and for your spouse as an individual and then a coming together as a couple for Selah. I think it can be done quietly each morning or done by literally taking time to go to a cabin and quietly reflect. Selah moments in life are necessary and while it may at first seem selfish it ends up benefitting everyone around you.  

For Example – my friend Lee Ann and I go away every January for Selah. We reflect on the year and set our faces toward the new year. It’s a very purposeful time of prayer and reflection. We spend the mornings alone in prayer and reflection and come together in the afternoon for a time of intercession and discussion. God has been faithful to equip us with powerful words we will need for each new year and graciously helped us process the previous events.

Also in this selah season of life, I didn’t attempt to fill the voids with more responsibilities and hobbies and busy activity. I leaned into it and sat in the quiet and asked God questions and waited for the answers even when it sometimes took weeks. In the process, I left the captivity behind and I began to dream.  

Psalm 126 goes on to say in v 2  Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing.  

Proverbs 31:25 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.  

The strength this Proverbs 31 woman gained came from all she had endured and walked through, all the “exercising” she had been doing. That is afterall how you get strength.  

The dignity comes from finally liking yourself. If you don’t, guess what, you’re strong enough to change now. Just become the person you want to be. Why waste any more time?  

And laughing comes from confidence, the confidence of knowing that your King is with you. I don’t know about you but I have nothing to worry about when the King is in the room. He takes care of everything.  

Takeaways:  

• 1. Find your place of dignity and laughter, unafraid of the future.  
  
• 2. Being like men who dream came after being led by God out of a season. Let God lead you to the place of dreaming again.  
  
• 3. Selah is written into the Psalm on purpose. Write Selah into your life.  
  

Seasons and Chapters

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Time, as we calculate it, may only exist in our minds. 

Perhaps time is but a container into which we place memories.  

We experience time as the distance between memories. I’ve yet to come up with a calculation that explains why some memories seem like yesterday and others, even though they’re closer, feel so far away.  

Memories can make us smile and they also have the power to haunt us. Some are loud while others only whisper softly. 

Maybe our greatest challenge is to make more memories so we can crowd the box and fill the days we have left with recollections of pleasant things. 

We have lived our lives making memories and we will spend the rest of our lives continuing filling that box with one memory after another. Our hope, especially as we get older, is to create more pleasant memories of how we spend the time we have left. 

Today we are going to go to the Word of God and explore some truths about the seasons and chapters of life. We all go and grow through seasons of life from childhood to old age. Although we may not be able to alter the season we are in, we have been given the power and the freedom to begin writing new chapters at any moment we desire. 

You have been blessed with a great advantage … you can be the person you want to be … it is within your grasps. You can close the current chapter of your life by simply putting a period right where you stand, right now. Each person has the ability to write their next chapter and make themselves out to be the hero, the villain, or the victim. Regardless of the season or the circumstance, there is always a step you can take towards God and always something you can do to please Him. 

First impressions are important but last impressions last. You will write your epitaph not by what you did but by what you do about what you did.

If anyone is looking for a way to win with God and man, they need never look beyond the next person they see. Everyone needs Jesus; everyone needs encouraging; everyone needs someone to listen; everyone needs someone to care. Perhaps your next chapter could begin with a simple apology or with a small gift. Or maybe the next chapter of your life demands a complete reversal of what you believe and the way you have acted or reacted in life.  

This morning we are going to take a brief look at a Bible character who was in a bad season of life and see what decisions they made and how they began writing the new chapter of their life. 

We cannot and should not try to re-write history … but … we can begin to write a better ending to our story.

The first person we are going to survey is a Canaanite woman who lived in the town of Jericho back in the days of Joshua. She was a well-known, and evidently fairly prosperous businesswoman. Her name is Rahab, and she was a prostitute.  

Joshua 2:1  Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. 

• · I find it interesting that after 40 years in the wilderness, the first place the two men whom Joshua sent to spy out the Promise Land was a house of ill repute. And the first person they trusted was a prostitute. 
  
• · The two spies made a promise to Rahab. In exchange for her help, she and her family would be spared when the Children of Israel captured and destroyed the city. 
  
• · She agreed and hid the two men from the Canaanite soldiers. 
  

Joshua 6:17  “Now the city shall be doomed by the LORD to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.”  

Joshua 6:25  And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father’s household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

James 2:25  Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?   

Every time Rahab is mentioned in these verses, we are reminded she was a harlot. That’s how she is known today. She was a harlot and now she’s not. God is not hiding or attempting to rewrite history. He is faithful above and bigger than your past. God also tells us over and over that Rahab hid the messengers. Why did Rahab hide the messengers? Because Rahab believed it was time for her to change. We decide when it is time for us to change. She did this by faith. Rahab took a step of faith. 

Faith doesn’t make things easy … Faith makes things possible. 

Hebrews 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. 

With that one decision, Rahab closed the current chapter of her life with a simple period and began writing a new story about herself. The power of a decision is seen in Rahab’s life. She had faith that she could change who she was, and she did.  

Rahab did not make excuses or try to re-write history … she had been a harlot and she was stuck with those memories. However, she started stacking her memory box with better memories. She wrote herself into a new story line. She married Salmon, a prince in Judah. She had a son named Boaz who had a son named Obed who had a son named Jesse who had a son named David who became King of all Israel.  

You know what are Rahab’s greatest memories now? She is the great grandmother of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, Savior of the world! All because of one decision. She couldn’t change her past but she sure could make a better future. It took faith and works! Just like it does with us. 

You cannot change your season of life.  

• · If you are young … you are young. 
  
• · If you are old … you are old. 
  
• · If you are single … you are single. 
  
• · If you are the parents of young children … 
  
• · If you are in a season of having to work overtime … 
  
• · If you are a widow or a widower …  
  

You cannot change the season of life … it will change when it is time. But you can decide to be the best you for Jesus in every season. And, if needed, at any time - you can put a period right here, right now, and close this chapter.  

Beginning a new chapter starts with one decision. Here are three things I encourage every person to do today: 

• 1. Ask God to forgive you of every past or current thought, word, and deed that is contrary to His will and purpose for your life. 
  
• 2. Make a commitment before God to think and pray before you say and do. 
  
• 3. Act like the person God needs you to be. 
  

Repeat these steps if needed, as needed, as often as needed. 

We don’t have unlimited time, if we have time at all. So – you had better get started writing the new you today.

The Book of Colossians Part 4 — Guarded in Christ

SERIES REVIEW              

Part 1 — Rooted in the Gospel 

• • The roots of our faith as believers are only strong when they are founded in Christ. 
  
• • Rooted in the Gospel — The same message that saves us is the one that continues to sustain and grow us daily. 
  
• • Rooted in the Word — God’s Word anchors us in truth, fills us with wisdom, and keeps us from drifting. 
  
• • Rooted in Relationship — A close walk with God gives us strength, patience, and joy through His power, not our own. 
  
• • Ultimately, your roots determine your fruit—so make sure your life is planted firmly in Christ. 
  

Part 2 — Supremacy of Christ 

• • Lord over all creation —Everything in heaven and on earth was created by Him, through Him, and for Him. He holds all things together and rules over all that exists. 
  
• • Lord of the church — As the head of the body, Jesus leads, directs, and sustains His people. The Church must take its direction from Him alone. 
  
• • Lord over redemption — Through His death and resurrection, Jesus reconciled us to God. The fullness of God dwells in Him, and peace was made through His cross. 
  
• • Lord of over your life — He made you, saved you, and sustains you. Therefore, He deserves full authority over every area of your life—don’t let culture redefine who He is. 
  

Part 3 — Christ in You: The Hope of Glory 

• • Jesus lives in you — The same power that raised Him from the dead is alive inside of you right now. 

• • You’re never alone — Wherever you go, God goes with you. His presence doesn’t leave when life gets hard. 
  
• • He changes you from the inside out — Real transformation happens when you let Jesus work in your heart, not just when you try harder. 
  
• • There’s always hope — No matter what’s going on, Christ in you is the guarantee that your story isn’t over and the best is still ahead. 
  
• • Let Him shine through you — The way you love, forgive, and treat people should show the world that Jesus is alive in you. 
  

PART 4:  GUARDED IN CHRIST           

Introduction 

If someone handed you a fake $100 bill today, would you know it? Most of us wouldn’t. That’s because some counterfeits are very convincing. It looks like the real thing, feels like the real thing, and it almost is the real thing. However, how many of you know that “almost right” is still false. 

This is something that experts in the secret service understand when looking for counterfeit money. They are the best at spotting fake money. How? They don’t waste their time studying every fake. Instead, they study the real thing. They learn the genuine bill so well — every detail, every watermark, every line, the feel of the paper, the raised ink, everything — so that when a fake shows up, they can tell when something feels off. They may not spot the problem right away, but they know its not right. Why? Because they know what is true. 

It’s the same with our faith. The more we know the real Jesus, the more we know the real gospel, the easier it is to recognize the fake versions the world tries to sell. 

That is what Paul is doing in Colossians chapter 2. After reminding his readers that they are rooted in Christ and that He resides on the inside of them (the great mystery revealed), he warns the church to guard that truth. Why? Because false teaching and empty religion were creeping in. Paul saw it coming and he was encouraging them to be aware. 

Paul’s message to them was true then, and it is still true today. 

“Don’t be pulled away from the reality you already have in Christ.” 

As believers, we must stand firm against the three things Paul lists out here in chapter two: deceptive philosophies, empty religion, and man-made rules. It is only through Christ that we find the truth. 

• 1. Guard Against Deceptive Philosophy (vv. 8–10)
  
  Colossians 2:8 — “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”
  
  Paul warns that false teachers were using persuasive words and clever ideas that sounded good to pull believers away from the simplicity of the gospel. They mixed truth with error, human wisdom with the Word of God — and it sounded spiritual, but it was hollow. Paul was warning them to unsubscribe from these ideas, as they would lead them away from God. 
  
  “Takes you captive” = To kidnap; to carry off as spoil
  
  When we allow ourselves to listen and be seduced by good sounding deception, we will be “carried off as spoil” without us realizing it. 
  
  So what are some deceptive philosophies today? 
  
  
• • “Follow your heart” — Culture says the answer is inside of you.
  
• • Scripture says the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9)
  
• • The answer is found in Christ 
  
  
• • “Find your truth” — Culture says that truth is relative
  
• • Jesus said “I am the Truth.”
  
• • Truth is not fluid. Truth is found in the person of Jesus Christ.  

• • “Good people go to heaven” — Culture says being good is enough
  
• • The Bible says that no one is good
  
• • The only way to eternal life is to be born-again through Christ 
  
  
• • Ask yourself:
  
• • What voices am I letting shape my beliefs — Culture or scripture? 
  
• • Do I measure truth by what Christ said or what feels right? 
  
  
  
• 2. Guard Against Religion (vv. 16–19) 
  
  Colossians 2:16-17 — “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”
  
  Paul also warns them against false teachers who were religious rule keepers. Now there is nothing wrong with rules. But there is a problem when it is what we are relying on to save us! That is what these false teachers were doing. Going to church, reading our Bibles, going on missions, praying, these are all “good works” that we are called to do as believers. However, these good works don’t save us. Instead, because we are saved, we do these good works. (Water baptism) 
  
  
• • “I have to earn God’s love” — Performance driven Christianity
  
• • “If I do enough, then He will love me.”
  
• • This is opposite of the gospel (it’s about His love for us not)
  
• • It leaves you on a roller coaster of pride and shame.
  
• • Truth = God’s love for you never changes (Romans 8:38-39) 
  
  
• • “If I mess up then God won’t bless me” — Fear driven Christianity
  
• • This keeps us in constant anxiety about losing favor with God.
  
• • We find ourself obeying out of fear instead of our love for God.
  
• • This thinking makes you act like an employee rather than a child. 

• • You have been saved by grace — Ephesians 2:8-9 
  
  
• • While religion says to do more, Jesus says, “it is finished.”
  
• • Let us be careful not to pray, read our bibles, go to church just to prove something. 
  
• • Instead, let us do so in order to draw closer to God. 
  
  
• 3. Guard Against Empty Practices 
  
  Colossians 2:20-23 — “20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
  
  What are empty practices? Paul here is referring to man-made rules that have no spiritual merit for the believer. However, I believe Paul is getting at deeper concern, and that is spiritual emptiness. That is, people doing religious things without the life and power of Jesus behind them. It is practicing spiritual disciplines but lacking the heart behind it. It is just doing it and going through the motions. We may be doing these things on the outside, but become hollow on the inside.  
  
  Key verse — “23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining the flesh…”
  
  Doing so causes our faith to become “old and cold.” We are just going things because we have always done them. We lose the connection to the reason we are doing these “good works” in the first place. Jesus says to “abide” in Him, because without Him we can do nothing. Without our connection to Christ, we lose His transformative power operating in our life.  

• 
  2 Timothy 3:5 — “Having a form of godliness but denying its power…”
  
  The fact is that, Religious Activity - Spiritual Reality = Powerless Christianity.
  

TAKEAWAYS 

How can we stay guarded in Christ? 

• I. Stay in the Word — know the real thing so counterfeits stand out. 
  
  
• II. Stay in Community — isolation makes deception easier. 
  
  
• III. Stay Alert — Realize the devil is prowling looking to devour 
  
  
• IV. Stay Connected to Jesus

The Midnight Hour

Gtcotr/ss110225 

God’s presence makes the difference. 

Key Scripture: Luke 5:17 ¶  Now it happened on a certain day, as Jesus was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  

Psalms 16:11  You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

David’s greatest concern after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, was that God would take His presence from him. 

Psalms 51:11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 

Moses interceded for the Children of Israel when they sinned against God. 

Exodus 33:15 Then Moses said to God, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” 

When Cain murdered his brother Abel, he was punished with the most severe punishment he could have received. 

Genesis 4:16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. 

In fact, hell is the eternal abode of all who reside forever outside of the presence of the Lord. 

The presence of God is important both in the here and now and throughout eternity. 

• · There is life in His presence 
  
• · There is joy in His presence 
  
• · There is hope in His presence 

• · There is peace in His presence 
  
• · There is happiness in His presence 
  
• · There is fulfillment in His presence 
  
• · There is comfort in His presence 

There is power in His presence! 

How do we find the presence of the Lord when we need Him? 

This morning I want to share two primary ways you can find the presence of God when you need Him. 

#1 – Prayer 

• · Over and over the Bible tells us: 
  
• · Seek Me and you shall find Me …
  
• o Deuteronomy 4:29 – with all your heart
  
• o Proverbs 8:17 – seek Me early
  
• o Matthew 7:7 – seek and you will find
  
• o Acts 17:27 – He is not far from every one of us
  

Jeremiah 29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 

In 1985 I was in my office when I received a phone call from Brenda. She was crying and told me my son Ashley had been injured and I needed to come home. After a two-minute drive I arrived at our house to find the city was resurfacing our street with hot asphalt. My barefooted young son was riding his bicycle in the neighborhood, and his tires sank into the freshly melted, extremely hot asphalt causing his bicycle to stop in its tracks.  

When he put his feet down, they sank into the hot asphalt. At the same time the huge machine which rolled the pavement into a flat surface began backing towards him. Praise God a worker saw him and stopped the machine in time. The worker then pulled Ashley out and carried him home. His feet were completely covered in dried tar as though he had on rubber shoes. 

We rushed him to the hospital where they ended up having to get commercial tar remover from the maintenance department and sprayed it on his feet to dissolve the asphalt. His feet were badly burned, leaving him with large open wounds. The prognosis was not good. The doctor wrapped them, gave him something to help with pain and said it would make him sleepy. Then he told us to make an appointment with our family doctor who would refer us to another doctor the following week.  

We were told the recovery period would be six weeks to six months, and we should expect some long and painful procedures. That night Brenda and I laid Ashely in our bed and knelt at the foot where we could touch him, and we spent the whole night in prayer. When I say prayer … I mean prayer with our whole heart and soul. We cried out to God in our midnight hour. We cried out and we thanked God all night long and we continued to feel waves of His presence undergirding us. 

God gave me a word from the Bible that night. I’ll paraphrase the passage as it came to me: “I have heard the cry of My people and I know their sorrows and I am come down to deliver them.” (Exodus 3:7&8) Right then and there that word came alive to me. God often speaks in scriptures to give us a reference for our faith.  

The next morning when Ashley woke up he said his feet didn’t hurt anymore. I unwrapped one and it was completely healed … no wounds, no sores, no pain, no evidence anything adverse had ever happened. I unwrapped the other foot and there was one small spot that looked like a blister about the size of a dime. He said he felt good so we put socks on both feet and a shoe on one foot, and he went with me. He carried my golf clubs for 18 holes and by the time we got home the other foot was clear. The next week our family doctor couldn’t imagine his injuries were ever as bad as the report he received. He blew it off, but we knew it was a miracle.  

There is power in His presence and those who seek Him will find Him. 

#2 - Praise 

When Paul and Silas were in the Philippian jail in their midnight hour, they needed help … help which only God could give them. How did their find God in their darkest hour? 

Acts 16 NKJV 

23  And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 

24  Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 

25 ¶  But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 

26  Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 

Suddenly! … Don’t lose heart … the Lord will suddenly appear; suddenly deliver; suddenly turn your mourning into dancing. 

Did you read that the prisoners were listening? Prisoners who don’t know the Lord are listening to you to see what you say and do in your midnight hour. Notice … when God answered the prayers and responded to the praises of Paul and Silas, everyone’s chains were loosed. 

There is power in His praising the Lord because:  

Psalm 22:3  But You are holy, Inhabiting the praises of Israel. 

God inhabits the praises of His children. Seek God’s presence in your midnight hours of life. Seek Him in prayer and seek Him with praise.  

Allow me to ask you a question: What do you think Paul and Silas were praying for? I don’t see them praying for themselves as much as praying for the reason they were in Philippi. They were there for the lost. I imagine they prayed for the prisoners and perhaps even the jailer and his family. Maybe they were praising God for the answered prayers before they saw it.  

What will you do in your midnight hour? What will the prisoners hear you saying? Will anyone else be set free?

God Is Not The One With The Problem

Gtcotr/ss101225 

Jonah was a prophet who lived around 750BC. You probably remember the account of Jonah and the great fish. God spoke to Jonah and told him to “go to Nineveh and announce judgment against the city.”Jonah did not want to obey God, so he went instead to the port city of Joppa and purchased a ticket to sail on a ship that was headed to Turkey. 

God caused a great storm to arise on the Mediterranean that endangered the ship, the sailors and the cargo. When the crew found out Jonah was running from God and was ultimately the cause of their problems, they tried everything to keep the ship afloat. Finally Jonah convinced them to throw him overboard. They reluctantly complied and the storm ceased. 

The account continues by recording how God had already prepared a great fish which swallowed Jonah alive. Jonah lived in the belly of that fish for three days. It was then Jonah cried out to the Lord and began to pray and worship. Jonah finally recommitted his life to God’s service, and with that, the Lord caused that great fish to vomit Jonah up on dry ground.  

The story of Jonah teaches several great lessons of life. Like, “You will never catch God unprepared for what you are going to do.” The 3rd chapter of Jonah refocuses our attention on the heart of God and His message to the people of Nineveh. After Jonah got out of his personal hell:  

Jonah 3 NLT 

1 ¶  Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time: 

• · Everyone say: “Thank God for a second time!”
  
• · Jesus came to save us from an eternity in hell and from the hell of this life … even the hell we often cause ourselves. 

2  “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” 

• · Have you noticed when God speaks: The second time sounds a whole lot like the first time. 

3  This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 

• · The next time does not have to look like the last time.  
  
• · The last time Jonah ended up: 
  
• o Wasting time and money;  
  
• o Running from God; 
  
• o Caused bad things to happen to good people; 
  
• o Was thrown overboard; 
  
• o Spent 3 days in the hell; 
  
• o He finally prayed, repented and was given a second chance. 
  
• · What made this time different than last time? 
  
• o Obedience to God’s Word. 
  
• · If Jonah would not have obeyed God, no doubt God would have revoked probation and then there would have been a third time. 

4  On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 

5 ¶  The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. 

• · Most people, just like the Ninevites, just need a chance. 
  
• · It’s amazing what an honest word from God can accomplish in the hearts and minds of men and women.  
  
• · Even the leaders hearts were touched and changed … 

6  When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. 

7  Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:     “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. 

8  People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. 

9  Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change His mind and hold back His fierce anger from destroying us.” 

• · There’s always a chance. 
  
• · God is in the second chance business. 
  
• · God will give anyone another chance. 
  
• · Any time you earnestly ask Him for one … 

10  When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, He changed His mind and did not carry out the destruction He had threatened. 

The next verse takes us into chapter 4. The mood and the message of the story changes from God dealing with the Ninevites back to God dealing with Jonah. We won’t read the whole chapter but let’s cover the first 2 verses to confirm our word for today. God changed His mind about destroying Nineveh at this time. God gave them another chance because they sincerely ask for one.

Jonah 4 NLT 

1 ¶  This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 

2  So he complained to the LORD about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.” 

Jonah gives us candid looks at both God and man. 

I am so thankful I serve a God of second chances. History tells us that the Ninevites finally returned to their previous sinful wicked acts of violence and ultimately the city was destroyed about 138 years later, in 612BC, as prophesied by the OT prophet Nahum. It lies in ruins today along the eastern shore of the Tigris River outside the modern-day city of Mosul, Iraq. However, that’s not God’s fault. (Jonah 750BC; Nahum 713BC) 

Neither was Jonah’s attitude God’s fault. Jonah, like the people of Nineveh, had a choice. Jonah recognized God as a merciful and compassionate God who was slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Jonah recognized God was eager to turn back from destroying people … only Jonah did not appreciate that quality of life. But God was not the one with the problem. 

Jonah was a harsh, critical, judgmental type of person, much like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. People with whom there is no second chance, no compassion, and no appreciation for unfailing love. 

Jonah, who one of the most successful servants in the Bible, lived and died an angry, critical, depressed life. Jonah obeyed God when he had to, but he never appreciated or agreed with God, and he never expressed compassion for others … especially people he did not like. 

This morning I want to encourage you to be thankful and be appreciative of God’s unfailing love. Let God judge others while you strive to be content with whatever He decides. You can trust God, and you should agree with Him. He is aware of the situation and the circumstances surrounding you. He is committed to fixing your problem, even though He didn’t cause it.  

Malachi 3 NKJV 

13 ¶  “Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the LORD, “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 

14  You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the LORD of hosts? 

15  So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ” 

16  Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name. 

17  “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.” 

18  Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him. 

I thank God for being the God of another chance … for me and for others. He will not forget about your labor of love! You will be rewarded.