My son says he knows how to survive. His 12 year old answer is “work” solves the problem (what problem though?). You find work and all will be well. But what I believe is that it takes more than just work. God is causing this, working through this… My daughter interrupts me to say, “but why are there so many people dying?” How can I say that God causes this? (I’m not saying that God caused this virus; what I am saying is that God can and has worked in very hard to hear/read ways in history. It is recorded in the Bible (and all around us) but in my mind as I responded to my daughter’s comment, I was thinking about “Coronavirus & Christ” audiobook/book by John Piper. Have you listened to it yet? I need to re-listen to it again.)
In the Old Testament, we read times where God caused great affliction to the people. Do you remember this when you read through the Bible? It is hard to read sometimes when we see this, yet it is in there. I asked my kids about examples from the Bible and then we went to the Bible to confirm what we were saying (rather than bicker about who was right🤣). Here is one example – Genesis 18:22 but there are others. Some God caused but ALL of the events that happen and happened God allows; he knows about it all. God doesn’t hide these difficult things from us in the Bible; it is there. God’s ways are right and good. How can I say that and believe that God is good? I made a choice. I’ve spent a lot of time with God over the years and immersed myself with people and environments and my own personal study that grew my confidence in the character and attributes of God.
I pray you give God the opportunity to show you that He is “I AM.” God is definitely at work and what He is doing goes beyond our generation to our children and our children’s children from generations to generations. When God speaks, and he does in various ways today but one way is through His Word, the Bible. Priscilla Shirer said in her “Discerning the Voice of God” Bible study that, “God doesn’t speak just to be heard; God speaks to be OBEYED.” May we listen and obey the Lord.
God still worked through Moses even though he was not perfect, in fact he messed up before God called Him and then also later in his leadership of God’s people. Nevertheless, when I hear this song, “The Blessing,” I am reminded that God is in control of all things. We can go to God to intercede for others. We can declare the truths of God. Our words have impact because of God who has the power; we just simply tell of who He is. I pray you will have the peace from God that only He can provide. The peace that surpasses all human understanding. Even the opportunity to have children, may we raise them with the knowledge of the Lord. May they grow up in the world knowing who God is and learning how to trust in Him. (Deut 11) May they not forget and raise their children and their children’s children to obey the Lord as they see us going to God and choosing to trust in the Lord. It starts with us taking personal responsibility by making a decision to keep going to God. Even in our weaknesses, he is with us. Amen. Where do you stand with God?
When the flowers continue to bloom, it is so beautiful. You can live here where there are lovely cherry blossoms every spring and miss it. You can miss it because the time to see them is short. Our lives are also short. Is is long and it is short at the same time. Regardless, the Lord is here and at work all around us. He is in the blessings and he is in everything else. He is here even among all the deaths and the sickness and the many unexpected situations going on right now around the world. He is with us; he is for us. How do I know? Because God has provided the way through His son Jesus that we may be with Him for eternity. He did not have to do this, yet He did. John 3:16. We do have a part to play in all of this though – that is to choose to go to God and be a willing participant as He works in and through you before we miss the opportunity He has lovingly provided us. Life. Each day is a gift. Thank you God.
SONG:
“The Blessing” by Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Steven Furtick and Chris Brown
(transposable chords here; I played in G (no capo))
Bible Verses:
Numbers 6:24-26 The Verse of “The Blessing” uses these words
‘“ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’ ‘ Numbers 6:24-26 https://my.bible.com/bible/111/NUM.6.24-26
Deuteronomy 11:18-28 If God entrusts us with children we need to teach our children about the Lord that they may know Him, trust and obey Him.
‘ “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. No one shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you. “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. ‘ Deuteronomy 11:18-28 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/DEU.11.18-28
Exodus 33:12-14 We can have personal moments with God too, like Moses did with God in the way that Moses spoke with God and requested his presence to be with him.
‘Moses said to the Lord , “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ‘ Exodus 33:12-14 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/EXO.33.12-14
Exodus 33:14-20 Moses and God continue to discuss together, that is just amazing to me. Moses responds to God saying that He will be there with Him by asking to see His glory. Have we prayed this to God? Is this our desire to see the glory of God?
‘And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord .’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” ‘ Exodus 33:14-20 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/EXO.33.14-20
We didn’t read these passages today in the video but you could also read 1 Chronicles 7-36, Psalms 105:8, Exodus 20:4-6 as well to name a few.
We are indeed set apart and holy now by Jesus’s blood and death on the cross, his purification of our sins makes us set apart for his Him. We are now made holy. (1 Peter 1:13-19) We will see the Lord face to face one day because Jesus went to prepare a place for us. May you find comfort in this and have peace.
Thank you again for joining in and praying for us #togetherathome and others around the world. I pray this time encourages you to dig into your Bibles and to seek #truth and the understanding that comes from the Lord. My children are continuing to go to school online after spring break here in #Daegu, South Korea. I am in prayer as I see the news of the spread of this virus and many deaths around the world. God is able and #Godisbiggerthanxyz (any situation we may be facing) even if it is scary. It is in Jesus that I continue to place my hope and trust. I pray this videos/blogs have been helpful to point you back to Him too. Feel free to share your thoughts with me as well if you like.
Sincerely,
Sejana
#homeworship #thankful #familyBiblestudy #Killthevirus #Godisbiggerthanxyz #onlineministry #discipleship #faithoverfear #bestrongdaegu #parenting #togetherathome #prayer #worship #encouragement #coronavirus #covid19 #theblessing
Looking for a Bible Study to watch and reflect on during this time? Try these: https://sejanashines.com/2020/03/07/bible-time-worship-every-episode-summary/
Sejana Shines 