Encouraging Words from the Word of God message 3

Encouraging Words from the Word of God

Message 3

Someone Who Cares

Me:

1. Special Report with Brit Hume

a. What have you done for me lately?

ii. I loved this show

iii. They were talking a candidate running for office and votes wanted to know

“What have you done for me lately”

iv. For some reason that has stuck with me.

We:

The Malfunctioning of the Memory

a. We forget easily

i. We forget what someone has done for us in the past

ii. We want to know what you are doing for me now.

We can treat God the same way

i. Israel did this

ii. We do this

iii. One of the worst sins we can commit is

Prideful Ungratefulness

iv. Like God did with Israel in the book of Deut we need a reminder of God’s constant care

v. Listen to this passage

vi. Deuteronomy 8:1–2 (NLT) — 1 “Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.

Deuteronomy 8:1–2 NLT

“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.

vii. Remember how UNDERLINE THAT

God:

Constant Care

a. How God cares

i. They were hungry, and God gave them food.

ii. They were thirsty, and God gave them water.

iii. They were attacked by an enemy, and God gave them victory.

iv. They sinned, and God gave them forgiveness.

v. Has God feed you? Has God forgiven you?

vi. There was no situation too hard for God.

Ebenezer

i. The Philistines came to attack Israel

ii. They were routed by the hand of the Lord.

iii. 1 Samuel 7:12 (NIV) — 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

1 Samuel 7:12 NIV

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

iv. We need to echo the same words

Jehovah-jireh

i. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son

ii. Genesis 22:14 (KJV 1900) — 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

Genesis 22:14 KJV 1900

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

iii. Genesis 22:14 (NIV) — 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

Genesis 22:14 NIV

So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

iv. The Lord does provide

You:

God’s care for His own is not an occasional thing

a. It is constant

i. God is not like a physician who comes to us only when there is trouble.

ii. He is constantly walking with us and watching over us.

When you go through the fire

i. He is there

ii. He was there in the fiery furnace

When you go through the storms

i. He is there

ii. He was with the disciples in that storm on Galilee.

When you go through that dark valley

i. He is there

ii. He our Shepherd

The Shepherd Provides

The Shepherd Protects

The Shepherd Guides

iii. Never doubt in the darkness what God has told you in the light

e. It’s not easy

God doesn’t promise us an easy path

ii. But is more interested in your character than your comfort

We:

Why does God help us?

a. The purest of love

i. What our culture calls love in not

ii. How God loves is the purest of love

b. We don’t deserve it.

i. It’s not what we deserve

His grace marvelous grace