I always count it a privilege to visit with you like this. As I have said before, I wish I could call on each of you face to face. With some of you I can. I have ten visits scheduled so far this week, and I am looking forward to being in each home. Most of you though, live many miles away, so this will have to do for now. In this blog I do all the talking, but I always enjoy hearing from you as well. A good visit features both sides talking. Please feel free to e-mail me if you’d like to talk. If you prefer a phone visit, e-mail your number and I’ll call you. Be sure to let me know what would be the best time to call. For 42 years I have had the honor of being in the ministry. During that time I have met, and gotten to know some of the finest Christian people who have ever walked this earth. I am thinking of several at this time, but if I start naming names, I fear I’d leave someone out and I wouldn’t want to do that.
We had a great service at church yesterday. Dustin Jenkins came from Tennessee to minister to us in song. His singing was inspiring, uplifting, and glorified the Lord Jesus Christ. Dustin travels and sings professionally, and our church was so blessed to have him. I am proud to count him as a friend. Many have asked if he will be returning next year. We will talk with him about that when he returns home and has the opportunity to look at his 2015 schedule.
There will be no video this week. As I mentioned, Dustin is a touring professional, so we did not tape due to possible copyright infringements. I did, however, preach a short message from Isaiah 14:1 which says, “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.”
The southern kingdom of Judah and Benjamin were in captivity in Babylon. The large majority of us do not fully understand what that would be like. We have never been physically enslaved. Some of you who are reading outside the United States might know, but most do not. The bottom line is this: they felt abandoned by, and forsaken by God. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt like God has led you out into a hot, dry, desert, then walked off stranding you there? If that is true, it could be real, or simply perceived, but you must ask your self three questions.
The first is, “Why am I here?” Judah was in bondage because she had turned her back on God. He was using the bondage as corrective punishment. It was punishment because they had rebelled against God, but it was also corrective. God used it to bring them back to a right relationship with Him. Is He perhaps doing that for you? Remember, everything God does He does for a reason. God never acts just for the fun of it. God never punishes because He is a cosmic bully. God’s reasons are always in the best interest of His people.
The second question to ask yourself is, “What is God teaching me?” Judah was being taught what they should have remembered all along: to trust, serve, and love God. When you can come to terms with the why am I here question, the “what is God teaching me” is easy. When you see what it is God wants you to learn --- learn! The quicker you learn the lesson, the quicker the bondage ceases. God had to totally break Judah’s stubborn will, but break it He did.
The final question can be answered when the light bulb comes on in your head and you find yourself saying, “Now I get it!” The last question is, “If God is teaching me, then has He really abandoned me?” You will already know the answer: no, He hasn’t. Our verse in Isaiah 14:1 teaches that God will have mercy on His people. He will not forget them, nor will He forsake them. Didn’t God tell Joshua in Joshua 1:5, …I will not fail thee nor forsake thee?” God has never abandoned His people and He is not going to start now. Be encouraged if God has led you into what you feel is a place of bondage. He is right there with you.
May the Lord bless your upcoming week. Remember what I said earlier. If you ever want to visit, even if by e-mail or phone, please let me hear from you. My e-mail address is preachercooper@hotmail.com. Even if you just write to say “hello,” I’ll be glad to hear from you. I’ll see you next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!
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