OMBS7/ Don’t Serve The Problem

PRAYER - "Just A Little Talk With Jesus"

Two men en route to Emmaus met a man and had an interesting talk with Him. They invited Him to have dinner, and while He blessed and passed the food, "their eyes were opened, and they knew Him." It was Jesus. He was risen. They went to Jerusalem and told the eleven, "The Lord is risen indeed," sharing what they knew. The Lord often comes into our midst unawares. Take care to recognize when He is speaking to you.

Luke 24:36 - "As they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."

PRINCIPAL - "The Sepulcher Was Nigh At Hand To Golgotha"

Joseph of Arimathaea, a good man who "had not consented to the counsel and deed of them" who crucified Jesus, begged the body of Jesus from Pilate, wrapped it in linen, "and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone." "Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus ...for the sepulchre was nigh at hand," John 19:41-42.

Luke 23:55 - "The women also, which came with him ...beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid."

PRINCIPLE - "Even Eyewitnesses Were Incredulous At Resurrection"

Although Jesus clearly prophesied His resurrection, the women who went to Jesus' tomb "found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. ...they were much perplexed." When they told the apostles, "their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not." Even Peter ran in and saw the linen clothes laid by themselves, but departed, "wondering in himself at that which was come to pass."

Luke 24:25 - [Later, Jesus] "said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken."

PROPHECY - "The Powers Of Heaven Shall Be Shaken"

From the day Antichrist commits the Abomination in the Third Temple, the three and a half years until Armageddon will be hellacious. "There shall be signs in the sun, ...moon, ...stars; ...distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring." Great wars among heavenly demon principalities will reek havoc on earthly events. Satan knows he has but a short time, and he will be in an earth-shattering rage.

Luke 21:25 - "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."

Don't Serve the Problem

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him.

- Isaiah 55:7

You can't win a victory as long as the problem is the biggest thing in your life!

The Lord woke me up to that fact a few years ago. At that time I was facing some difficulties in my ministry that seemed so big to me, I thought about them from morning till night. Even though I was standing against them, I was thinking more about those problems than about the scripture promises I was standing on.

Then I saw something in Matthew 6:24-25: "Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life...."

I'd read that scripture hundreds of times, but that day I saw something I'd never noticed before. I saw that immediately after Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters," He said, "Take no thought." Suddenly it hit me: We serve our thoughts!

That's why Isaiah 55 says for us to forsake our thoughts, and by the Word, take God's thoughts. That's why 2 Corinthians 10:5 says to cast down thoughts that challenge the Word and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Do you want deliverance from your problems today?

Then quit serving them! Quit allowing them to consume your thought life. And don't wait until circumstances change to do it. Instead, realize that circumstances won't ever change until you switch from wrong to right thinking.

I know that's not easy to do, especially in the midst of heavy darkness and trial. But you can do it if you'll do these three things:

First, remember you aren't alone. You have the Word (God's thoughts). You have the Holy Spirit to strengthen you and you have the mind of Christ.

Second, get around people who are full of faith. Instead of rehearsing your problem, let them do the talking. Make yourself listen. Join in with their faith and resist darkness.

Third, praise God. Do whatever it takes to make yourself praise. When you begin to praise, God's presence will turn back those worried thoughts and make them fall!

Your problems are not the biggest thing in your life. Jesus is. Serve Him with your thoughts and He will set you free.

Plan of Salvation read acts 2:38

Happy Birthday today Sheila Ashcraft 8/18!