2-2/3-2019 Take It Through The Week

Monday – Ps. 107:41-43 …and makes their families multiply like flocks… That might
scare you at this point in life. Flocks multiply exponentially. And some of us are past the
age of wanting flocks of children. Now grandchildren, that’s different. What is being
conveyed here is that God blesses the needy. Remember last week in Job? Same point,
God blesses the needy. Here in Ps. we learn that God blesses the needy out of their
suffering and makes their families multiply like flocks. Why? So that the upright see it
and rejoice… God wants witnesses to his blessing. God wants everyone to see what
happens to the needy who cry out to God. He blesses them immediately with their
suffering and He blesses them long-term with their families and children. Claim those
promises. Walk in God’s favor toward. Be needy and humble. Pray and seek Him daily.
Carry all your cares to him and let all injustice shut its mouth. He is willing, if we are
willing.
Tuesday – Ps. 118:5-7 …put me in a spacious place. Notice the Psalmist says that
God did not just answer his prayers. Instead because the writer called to the Lord in
distress, the Lord answered me and put me in a spacious place. God has a way of
meeting both our emotional needs and our physical needs. When we pray to God
instead of talking negatively about our situation, God says He will act on our behalf.
Instead of feeling like we’re standing on a ledge with nowhere to go but down, the Lord
answered me and put me in a spacious place. We’ve all been in that place where we felt
we had no room to move and nowhere to go. Here the promise is …spacious… Around
the world, there are believers in prison. Historically, Christianity has been the most
persecuted religion of all time. Thousands and thousands of believers have been put in
prison and even martyred for their faith. And yet, there are more now than ever before.
Why? Could it be that the more difficult the persecution, the more powerful the Holy
Spirit in a man’s life? The Lord if for me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
The Lord is my helper, Therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me. And
ultimately, we will do just that. Read Phil. 2:9-11. Focus on the phrase, under the earth.
That means all of those who have died will bow and acknowledge Jesus as Lord. We will
see it. If you have been born again, you will proclaim it and then move to your spacious
place. He has a mansion prepared for all those born-again by the blood of Jesus. Take a
moment and thank Him for your spacious place. Now and later.
Wednesday – Isaiah 54:2 Build it a little bigger, deeper, longer and with a better
foundation. That’s what this passage says. I have seen it. I have seen many believers
Enlarge the site of your tent. As they grow older and more mature as believers, I see
God blessing them and prospering them. I see Him answering prayers they didn’t even
know how to pray, if they are needy and are walking daily with Him. …let your tent
curtains be stretched out… This means exactly what it sounds like. As God blesses you
better, move those walls further out because that’s simply not enough space. Do not
hold back; lengthen your ropes, and drive your pegs deep. Don’t fear, expand. Let God
bless you and give you good foundations. Drive your pegs deep. Go after Him. Know
Him. Follow Him. Rely on Him. Seek Him. Cry out to Him. For those who do this, I have
seen it with my own eyes. God blesses them. Pray with me. My Lord, I am poor and
needy. You are strong and mighty. All things are Yours. All creation is Yours. I need to
know more of You. Open Your Word to me. Help me to desire Your Words more than my
words. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. May Your presence fill my cup and flow out to bless
others. And then Lord, because I walk with You, enlarge the site of my tent. In Jesus
Name I pray, Amen.
Thursday – Galatians 2:19-21 Dead men can’t talk. Dead can’t decide which way
they’re going to go. Dead can’t rebel against God. I have been crucified with Christ and I

no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Paul regarded his life after being born again to be
the life of a dead man. There is a lesson for us in this. Believers tend to have places they
make exceptions. They are one way when things are good and easy. Then they have
places where they are willing to act the way they have always acted. But Paul said He
was dead to that. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God. What an
amazing attitude. Even more amazing that Paul didn’t walk with Jesus while Jesus was
on the earth. Paul walked with Jesus (after his Damascus Road experience) daily in
exactly the same way you and I do. And yet He was used more than all the other
Apostles. I do not set aside the grace of God. Paul was clear. What He was, he always
was, not just in public circles. Take a moment to pray and ask God to help you to be His
all the time.
Friday – 1 Timothy 1:15-17 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- and I
am the worst of them. A few years ago, there was a very popular writer who had some
faulty teachings. A man who believed those teachings and attended our church would
regularly correct me. “Pastor, you said we are sinners saved by Grace. Now we are
Saints, we are no longer sinners. There is nowhere in the New Testament believers are
called sinners after salvation. We are Saints, not sinners.” And the man who regularly
said that was one of the most prideful, arrogant, and difficult to be around men I have
ever pastored. I believe that is because He believed something that is not true. He
believed that believers will continue being perfected even if they are not willing to be
perfected or paying attention to be perfected. But notice Paul didn’t say he was the worst
of sinners. Paul said I am the worst of them. Present tense. And that is how we need to
operate. We need to be present tense Christians. Not past tense, and not future tense. I
am confessing my sin today. I am not dwelling on the past. I have already confessed
that. But I am monitoring myself today and being careful not to judge or criticize others. I
examine myself daily and confess my sin to God. And I apologize to others when I need
to. Why? I am the worst of them. I am a sinner saved by Grace, daily. Eternally secure,
but daily needy.
Saturday – Titus 2:14-15 to redeem us from all lawlessness…to cleanse for Himself a
people.. This is the reason He gave Himself for us. It wasn’t just what the Father
wanted. Jesus gave Himself. Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, willingly. He did it for who
we can become, in Him. The only way for our sinful hearts to be cleansed and redeemed
was for Jesus to shed His blood for us. These are the things we are commanded to
teach. Say these things, and encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one
disregard you. Paul is writing as one leader to another. One pastor to another. And
Paul’s message is as clear today as it was then. The willing sacrifice of Jesus is what
cleanses and redeems us. He gave Himself for us… so that we could give our lives for
others. He cleansed us so that others could hear the message and be cleansed. Who
are you praying for? Pray for them to go to church tomorrow to hear the message of
redemption and cleansing.