November 15, 2020
Morning Service

2020 is a year that we will never forget.  If strange or odd things are going to happen it seems this is the year that it will.  Who would have believed that our churches would be empty on Easter morning?  Who would have believed that our cities would be overrun with rioting and protests?  Who would have believed that over a week after elections, we still are not sure who our next president will be?  Who would have believed that this political unrest would be so divisive that it is dividing families from the inside out?  Who would have believed that Covid 19 did not go away with the summer heat, but has returned to us with a vengeance?  The pandemic has affected each of us to the point that when we even cough, we become concerned.  The combination of all these things has my heart struggling this week.  I feel the weight of all of these issues that are facing our country, state, community, and family.  I struggle to understand just where all this unrest is leading us on a national level, with the church and on a personal level.  After completing Galatians last week, I was undecided in knowing where to go and prayed that the Spirit would lead me to bring the message we all needed for this moment.  It was about midweek that my brother in law sent this to me:

Video:

Hab 1:1-5 The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.  (2)  O LORD, how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, "Violence!" And You will not save.  (3)  Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises.  (4)  Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore, perverse judgment proceeds.  (5)  "Look among the nations and watch—Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.

            Habakkuk here describes a very similar situation that was happening then to what we are experiencing now.  The Lord tells him that “even if I told you what I was doing you would not believe it.”  God is at work in 2020, I certainly hope you have not missed that point on a worldwide scope, with the church, and also personally.  One thing for sure that He has taught us is this earth we are now on is not heaven.  Things are not perfect here as they will be there.  As we see the unrest in our world it does cause our hearts to be troubled as mine has been all week.  But Jesus knows that and tells us this today:

 

Joh 14:1-6 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  (2)  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  (3)  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  (4)  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  (5)  Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  (6)  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

            These indeed are comforting words in a time of storm in our lives.  Jesus shows us clearly where our minds should be focused as we wind down the year 2020.  He alone is our hope, our joy, our peace and our comfort.  He indeed is still on the throne and is in total control of all that is going on around us.  We all find ourselves like Habakkuk crying out to Him for answers of where this is all going, but we too would not believe it if He told us.  Know that God hears our cries, but sometimes answers us by simply saying, “Trust Me.” Through faith, however, we are able to do that and place our trust in the One who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life,” because without Him we have no path to the Father or to eternal life.  Christ alone is our Deliverer, Savior, and Salvation.  If everything in our world comes crashing down, Jesus will still be there.  When the smoke all clears, He promises that in the end we win!  “If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am you may be also.”  We may never truly understand what God is up to, but we can take comfort in knowing that He is in control even with all the chaos around us.  When there is turmoil and chaos all around, He just simply instructs us to “Follow Me.” In the Gospel of John, we see that Peter understood that even when things went crazy and he didn’t really understand what was happening.  This is Jesus speaking.

Joh 6:47-54 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  (48)  I am the bread of life.  (49)  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  (50)  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  (51)  I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  (52)  The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  (53)  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  (54)  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

            This had to be a very difficult thing to understand for the disciples at the time.  It appears that He is teaching some sort of cannibalism here, but He was only giving the people part of the story. Later at the Last Supper, Jesus revealed to His disciples that this refers to the communion service that He instituted that night; partaking of His body (bread) and His blood (fruit of the vine).  But at the moment, the disciples had a choice to make about something that they really did not understand, in a way similar to what we are going through at this time.  There was a big shake up in the ministry that day as John explains it to us.

 

Joh 6:66-69 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  (67)  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  (68)  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  (69)  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

            Some lacked the faith and trust needed in Jesus to continue to follow Him at a time of difficulty and chose to leave Him.  Peter on the other hand was convinced of who Jesus was fully trusting Him and despite not fully understanding what was happening in the moment.  He still chose to follow and even testified rightly that Jesus was the Christ and that is what mattered the most.  It was Peter’s relationship with Jesus and his faith in Him that allowed him to follow even when things did not make sense. He knew there was nowhere else to go, so he continued to follow.  His faith dictated his actions.

Today I challenge you as well to rely on your relationship with Jesus that we talked about last week to be your anchor in this time of storm.  Our boasting, and hope lay solely with all that Jesus says and promises.  Let His Words dwell in your richly and guide you in times like this.  Continue to follow keeping your eyes on our Savior and knowing that Jesus is walking down this path with us.

 

Mat 28:20 Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

 

Heavenly Father allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to trust You in this time of trouble and to choose to follow even when we don’t understand.