Does Jesus Care?

Psalm 43:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. 

The Psalmist seeks the Lord, but the Lord remains silent. Have you ever prayed and nothing happens? I have. We all have. 

We need to remember that the Lord operates in ways we can’t comprehend, Isa. 55:8-9. His timetable is not the same as our timetable. 

Remember the delayed answer to the prayer for Lazarus? Remember Jesus calming the raging sea after the disciples questioned His concern?

God's silence in your life doesn’t mean He doesn’t care. It merely means He has something greater and more glorious waiting on you than that for which you are currently praying. 

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their permission. 

Elijah And The Duel

All the training, all the trials, and all the trusting have been to bring Elijah to the place where he could stand in the pure power of God and show a lost nation that Jehovah, not Baal, was Lord of all. 

Elijah is just one man against 450, yet, he challenges these false prophets to a duel.

They will offer a bull and pray. The God who answers by sending fire from Heaven will be worshiped as God. It seemed a fair challenge to the people and to the prophets of Baal. 

From early morning to noon these false priests prayed, screamed and called on Baal, but no fire came down.

Elijah mocked them. "Surely he is a god! You better cry louder! Maybe he’s too busy.  Maybe he’s asleep and you need to wake him." 

After six hours, Elijah stepped up to his altar and prayed a sixty-three word prayer, 1 Kings 18:36,37. 

1 Kings 18:38-39 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.

God will honor that person who is sold out to His will. If you live by faith you need never fear the Lord letting you down. He will always come through for you.

We must never underestimate the power of a totally dedicated life. If you are sold out, the Lord will use you greatly. 

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their permission. 

Believe

An overwhelming obstacle — name yours — tends to make us forget who God is. 

Let me remind you. He is the Creator, the Master of the Sea, the Lily of the Valley, The Bright and Morning Star. 

He’s the One Who was, Who is and Who is to come. He is still God and we need to remember this.

Do you have a problem? Whether it be personal, work, church or related to someone else — look at it, then look at the greatness and power of your Lord and Savior. 

Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Believe. 

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him : for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit without their permission. 

Saint Building

— God is always Guiding you - Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.

— God is always Guarding you - Psalm 121:7-8 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

— God is always Gaging you - constantly measuring our growth. God is far more concerned about how we react to what we face than what we face. 

— God is always Growing you - God isn't as concerned about delivering us out of our mess as He is about us growing out of the mess we are in. He is in the saint building business.

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers