"For He says, and it happens; He commands, and it exists." (Psalm 33:9) He has the ultimate authority. We serve the true, living, true God. What He declares is 100% truth. Apart from Him, there are no words of truth and life. He is the only one who should receive the glory.
Time is getting shorter, time is no more, we are going home. We are not of this world, there is nothing that can hold us here. "I and my house will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)
1 Kings 18:30-40
This is how Elijah was recognized as a servant and prophet of God. Elijah had also prophesied about the drought for 3.5 years. During this time, God took care of him by sending him to Zarephath, to be cared for by a widow. Why did God take the trouble to care for Elijah?
"My house shall be called a house of prayer. But you make it a den of thieves." (Matthew 21:13) We have decided to give Him everything and follow Him 100%. To come back to this Jesus is an absolute happiness.
We have just passed the year 2022 into 2023. 2022 has been a richly blessed year, a special year. God has been with us, He has done much.
Man gets very weary if he does not take pleasure in the thing. To love this God, there must be something inside him. "As a hind sighs for streams of water, so my soul sighs for you, O God!" (Psalm 42:1) Finding water for this hind is survival. We don't force her to drink, but it is an imperative for her. It is the same for us. We long for Jesus Christ!
God has offered Himself freely, you are not obliged to follow Him. From the beginning, God had to take care of man. Everything He did was good for man. God did not force Adam, but Adam loved to have fellowship with God. He forbade Adam to eat from the tree of knowledge, but He never forced him. God gave advice for his own good. It is always God who takes care of man.
Acts 15:13-18
God turned away from the people of His choice. "But as for the election, they are loved because of their fathers." (Romans 11:28) Abraham, the father of faith. God cannot forget the seed of Abraham because He made the promise to Abraham.
We take part in this series of meetings to end the year. We want a new beginning. We see that time is getting shorter, our departure is near.
Acts 15:13-18
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Our God is always present, never absent. A Christian lives in faith and in certainty. Our God will do great things. "I will not die, I will live, and I will declare the works of the Lord." (Psalm 118:17) We proclaim our healing, our victory.
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you what your heart desires." (Psalm 37:4) "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7) Our God is not deaf.
"You will have tribulation in the world; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) He is the good Shepherd. He suffers when you suffer. He gave his life for you. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1) He shows us the way.
We must be certain of what we have received, what we have been taught, and what God has given us for this time. Everyone has a role to play in this age.
"Fear God and keep his commandments." (Ecclesiastes 12:13) In the end, this will be the judgment. Let us do what is right. "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting; for that is the end of every man, and he that liveth taketh the thing to heart." (Ecclesiastes 7:2)
"We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) Even death!
Job 1:1-21
This man was of the same nature as you and me. This man had a characteristic like you and me: he knew God in his time. There are men like us who lived with the pressures of their time.
"What is man, that you should remember him? And the son of man, that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:4) God owes us nothing, but I recognize that without Him, I can do nothing. I come to Him because He is necessary for me. Coming to Christ is my survival.
"By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35) God gives us gratitude to Him but also to all those God has given us. We walk and support one another. Let us look after each other. We no longer live for ourselves but for the Lord and for those who have given themselves to the Lord.
The day we gave our heart to the Lord, we gave Him everything. So in return, He takes care of us. There was a beginning, there must be an end. God is completing His work. He is going to finish it in a glorious way.
Many give themselves to the Lord with some hope, but God gives assurance of salvation to His children. When God's people came out of Egypt, there were two categories: those who hoped to go to Canaan, and those who were certain to reach the goal. They were certain that God would be faithful to His promise. If we fail in this time, it is sad.