Do you find yourself all over the place, pulled in numerous directions by worries and cares? This excerpt is from: Distracted And Depressed? Help Is On The Way! (30 Aug 2020)
Shalom, shalom church.
I always look forward to
this time when I can just
share the Word with all of you.
And every week, I want you to
know that I seek the Lord
to have the now word.
And it’s called the
“rhema” word in the Bible.
There’s a “logos” word
which is the general word,
the one that you find
in the Scriptures
when you read the Scriptures.
But it is only when you read
the Scriptures generally
and widely that God can
speak to you from
His Word that “rhema”.
“Rhema” is like a now word.
It applies to
the situation that we have.
So I always seek the Lord
for the “rhema” word
and I believe I have the
“rhema” word for you this week.
Jeremiah 15:16
says it like this:
“Thy words”—
“words” there is plural.
“Thy words were found
and I did eat them;”
So it’s like you come
to the Scriptures and
you read the Word.
You just eat God’s Word.
You don’t have to worry
about the “rhema”.
“Thy words”—plural.
“Thy words were found”
Supposing you are reading
the book of Ruth and
you read God’s words.
It says “Thy words were found
and I did eat them;”
Enjoy God’s Word.
Amen.
Get into the Spirit
of God’s Word.
Get into the story itself.
Let God’s Word feed you.
Amen.
“Thy words were found
and I did eat them;”
And then he says this:
singular—“and thy word”
—that’s the “rhema”.
“And thy word was unto me
the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”
So always spend time
in the Word until you have
that joy and rejoicing.
A word that leaps out at you.
A word that seems to have
hands reaching out to you,
arresting your attention
and saying:
“Read me again!
Feed on me!”
That’s the word that
God has for you.
And if you will memorize that
Scripture and you will just
meditate on it and
hold it in your heart
throughout the day,
it will speak to you.
And that’s how
I get my messages.
Of course, I’ll write in my
wide margin Bible,
the words that
jump out at me.
At different seasons,
I can be reading the
same passage and
different words will just
jump out at me.
So we need both.
We need the “logos”.
We need the reading
of God’s Word, and then
be alert when the
Holy Spirit lights up like
the “Urim and Thummim.”
It lights up
a Scripture verse.
And then you start to
investigate that verse,
study that verse,
memorize that verse
and it becomes your
verse of meditation for that day
or even for that week.
And it would surely be the
joy and rejoicing of your heart.
I’m telling you,
the world does not know.
The world really does not
know about this kind of joy,
this kind of enjoyment
that we have in God’s Word.
But I know you do
because you are the
children of God
and you have taste.
Heavenly taste.
When you are
so hungry sometimes,
even food from the
garbage looks good.
If you are really desperate
and you are in starvation.
But friend, God wants you
to have healthy food
that will nourish your faith.
And that’s the word that
I seek to bring every week.
Praise the Lord.
I remember as a young boy,
my parents would bring me
to a circus and I would see
these tigers performing.
And the tamer,
the lion tamer or
the tiger tamer
will have a whip.
And he has a chair
and he will point
the chair to the tiger.
Only much later,
a few years ago,
I found out the reason
why that chair was there.
I understand that
maybe the whip,
even then, was not
to whip the animal.
It is just to show his power.
But what was the
chair there for?
Later on, I found out
the chair was to
distract the lion.
If the lion is not distracted,
all the power,
all the energy of the lion.
The moment it is
focused on its problem,
that’s the end of its problem.
But the chair has four legs.
It is the four legs that causes
the lion to be confused.
The lion will start looking here
and looking there.
And the lion will get distracted
as long as the lion sees the chair.
No matter how powerful
the lion is, no matter
how fierce or ferocious the lion is,
it matters nothing if
the lion is distracted
and not know that the
person holding the chair
is the real problem.
It’s the person holding the chair
that is causing the frustration.
Amen.
Because of the four legs.
He is trying to figure out
the four legs.
And as long
as he is distracted,
he can be tamed.
That’s exactly what
happened to Martha.
“Martha, Martha,”
Jesus says.
“You are careful.”
The word “careful” there
in the Greek is the word
“merimnao” and that word
actually means to be distracted.
If you look at the Greek word
for “merimnao”, where Jesus
used the same word
in the Sermon on the Mount.
“Take no thought
for your life,”
“what you shall eat,
what you shall drink.”
“Which of you by worrying
(‘merimnao’)”
To take no thought is
to take no (‘merimnao’).
“Which of you by worrying
(‘merimnao’)”
“can add one cubit to
your stature.”
“Look at the lilies
of the field.”
How they grow,
they toil not.”
Amen.
“And Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these.”
And He is telling us
to stop worrying!
Stop worrying.
Stop toiling!
“Look at the lilies of the field.”
“They are so well clothed
and they are better clothed”
“than Solomon in all
his wealth and all his glory”
than the richest billionaire.
“But I tell you,
the little humble lily”
“is better clothed.”
In what sense?
Better than Solomon
in all his glory.
Because Solomon can put
clothes on his body.
The richest man
can put clothes on his body.
But he can’t guarantee health.
Whereas the clothing of the
lily is from within.
Amen.
If it’s not healthy, it will fade.
It will turn brown.
The leaf will fall off!
But the fact that Jesus says:
“Look at the lilies
and how they grow.”
means that it’s a healthy lily.
It is clothed from within by God.
Hallelujah.
And He’s talking about
your health, my friend.
Stop worrying
and health will
spring forth speedily.
In the name of Jesus,
I speak against all the stress,
the cares, the worries,
the anxieties that has beset you.
And in the name of Jesus,
I command them to flee
from your life in
the name of Jesus.
And I release upon you
right now, the aggressive,
supernatural shalom
peace of God to garrison
and protect your heart
and mind right now, my friend,
in Jesus name.
Hallelujah.
It’s a joy to leave
all the working and the
doing to the One
who loves to do it for you.
Amen.
Who gives everything.
And He only asks that you receive.
Abraham believed God and
it was accounted to him
for righteousness.
Abraham did not
stand before God
as a doer or
as a worker.
Abraham stood before God
as a believer,
as a recipient of His blessings,
as a depository of
all of God’s promises.
That’s Abraham’s position.
And that’s your position
and my position today.
I was just sharing with someone
about the work of the Lord.
As we do God’s work,
whether it’s cutting hair,
whether it’s studying
the Scriptures,
whether it is cooking for
the household and
whatever you’re doing
or taking care or
even in parenting,
you’ve got to believe
right at that moment,
as you are doing that,
that God is supplying you
the wisdom.
God is supplying you
even the words.
God is supplying you the grace.
God is supplying you
the right measure of
what you need to do,
in whatever you’re doing.
Amen.
You’ve got to trust that God
is always blessing you,
God is always ministering
to you the Spirit,
God is always equipping you.
That is to live the
life of grace, practically.
Amen.
The other way, you can
believe about law and grace
as much as you want,
as long as they are
just in theory.
But in actuality, when you
are doing these things,
when you’re working,
when you’re parenting
your child, when you are
disciplining your child—
if you feel that everything
has fallen on your shoulders,
that you are responsible
and you have this:
“I must do this.
I must get to the bottom of…”
“I must, I must, I must.”
You are doomed to frustration
and the result would
not be good and it will
not be a prosperous result
because you are under law.
So the devil brings
distractions into your life.
By the way, I mentioned
about the word “merimnao”
just now?
“Take no thought
for your life.”
“Take no (‘merimnao’).
Which of you”
“by worrying (‘merimnao’).”
Anxiety, worry in
the Greek is “merimnao”.
Jesus says to Martha:
“You are careful,”
“you are (‘merimnao’)
about many things.”
The word “merimnao”
comes from the root word—
the etymology is
to be distracted.
When you are distracted
with so many things,
you start to worry.
In fact, the word “merimnao”
comes from the word
“apart, as opposed
to the whole.”
Amen.
So you are being torn apart.
You are distracted.
You’re torn apart by distraction.
That’s worry and fear.
Do one thing at a time.
Jesus says:
“Don’t worry about tomorrow.
Today has its own problems.”
“Sufficient unto the day
is the evil thereof.”
God’s grace comes
one day at a time.
So attack your problem
one day at a time,
one problem at a time.
Amen.
And trust God that when
tomorrow comes,
the grace, the supply
will be there.
Amen.
Whether it is
the favor you need,
whether it is
the wisdom you need,
whether it is
the words you need,
God will supply.
But don’t worry about tomorrow.
Focus on today.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
You don’t pray to God
to give you monthly bread.
God always only answers
daily bread.
Live one day at a time.
Allow yourself to be present.
Even right now,
as you hear this sermon,
are you distracted?
All of a sudden,
when you’re watching,
you thought of:
“Oh, I need to do that.
Oh, I need to do that.”
Guess who is bringing
all these distractions?
Who is bringing the chair
with the four legs
in front of you?
Who does not want
you to receive God’s Word?
Like Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet.
And Jesus says:
“Only one thing is necessary.”
Compared to all
these distractions
that Martha is involved in,
only one thing is necessary.
“Only one thing is needful.”
—in the Old King James.
“Mary chose the good part,
which shall not be”
“taken away from her.”
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