Jesus Restored My Soul

Psalm 23:1,3 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. . . . . He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Many years ago I got out of church for five years. It’s hard to return when you get out of church. One day at work, overcome with misery, I said, “This isn’t right. Lord, How do I get back?”

It seemed Jesus was patiently waiting for me to ask. The next day I received a call to play the piano at church for a funeral. I said yes. A desire to permanently return to church began to grow in my heart. 

After the funeral a deacon asked if I would play the piano for the church again. They had been paying a young girl to play. I said yes and asked the Lord to forgive me for straying. 

He graciously restored my soul with ever so abundant blessings. That’s what the Shepherd does for His sheep. 

He replaces their deadness with His life. He melts the coldness of their hearts with the warmness of His embrace. He restores them. 

This is always accomplished with confession and repentance, 1 John 1:9. 

If things in your life are not as they should be, I encourage you to get to the Shepherd. He will restore your soul and put you where you need to be if you ask. 

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

Heavenly Peace

Jesus comforts His troubled disciples as they grieve His pending death and ascension back to the Father. 

Their world is about to be shattered, but they can face it with the assurance that they have His peace to keep them during the difficult hours ahead.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

We have the same assurance today. Our world is in turmoil, yet, through it all, the saints of God have a peace that defies all description. 

According to Jesus this peace is Heavenly, and it can’t be affected by the events of earth. 

In times of trouble, we can lean on the peace of Jesus and trust Him to take care of His own - Phil. 4:6-7; Isa. 26:3.

“He gives us hope when hope is gone — He give us strength when we can't go on. — He give us shelter in the storms of life. — When there's no peace in earth, there is peace in Christ.” — by Hillary Weeks

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. 

Because He Lives

Matthew 28:5-6  And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

The message of the resurrection is to “stay calm, have faith and peace through any situation we face”.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead proves that our God is sovereign and in absolute control. If He can raise His Son from the dead, there is nothing He can’t do. 

The resurrection should give us courage because he lives and is seated at the right hand of God, praying on our behalf, Heb. 13:5; Heb. 7:25!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. 

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. 

True Greatness

When you get right down to it, a right relationship with the lord is the first, essential step on the path to true greatness in life.

1 Samuel 18:14  And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him. 

David had favor with man because God was with him. He had humility and grace in his life because God was with him. 

There are people in this world who are not famous and never will be, but they are leaving a legacy of greatness in the church and the lives of others. Why? 

Because the Lord is with them and using them to do great things in and through them. 

True greatness is knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior and living out your life for Him.

If you have Jesus, He’s all you need. 

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. 

The Comforter

Before Jesus returned to His Father,  He encourages His Disciples, promising a Comforter — The Holy Ghost . This promise is to every believer who reads and heeds His words. 

John 14:25-26  These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

One purpose of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to instruct us in the things of God, to teach us about the Bible and how to reach our fullest potential for the glory of God.

When we become discouraged, the Holy Spirit wraps the comforting arms of Heavenly love and protection around us and reminds us that we belong to Him. 

He encourages us to keep on living for Jesus, to press forward for the glory of God. 

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. 

A Lively Hope

When we, as believers, speak of our hope of heaven, we’re not talking about “pie in the sky, by and by”.  We are talking about a sure thing.  We are talking about something that is more solid than the ground under our feet. 

We are referring to something that is settled by the inerrant, infallible, Word of God! 

1 Peter 1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

4. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 

5. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The world may be in turmoil today, but those who are a born again child of God possess a hope that is out of this world. Glory to God in the highest!

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. 

Renewed Strength

The strongest of humans are prone to weakness and failure. 

But those who “wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.”—-  those who don’t look to their own power, but trust in God’s unfailing strength. 

As grass appears in the spring, magically turning the brown landscape into a brilliant green, so the believer is renewed by the Lord. 

His provision of strength promises us that there will be grace regardless of where the path of life might lead.

Isaiah 40:30-31 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

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.