Monday, September 12, 2011

Be Ye Comforted

Psalm 119:49-56
49 Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
51 The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.
52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord; and have comforted myself.
53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept thy law.
56 This I had, because I kept thy precepts.

Be Ye Comforted
Seasons are just that...seasons. Periodic...cyclic in nature...they come, they go. Each may seem familiar, but none are exactly the same.

We know weather seasons. You don't have to look at a calendar to know autumn is close in Atlanta. Leaves are changing from green to bright vibrant reds, oranges and yellows. The mornings are cooler and the heat of the day doesn't hold the same level of opression it did in late July/early August. Same temperature, different season.

And this Fall promises to be similar, but not the same to last Fall. We can't expect the same conditions this September 12th as a year ago on this date. Each season has the same framework, but the specifics vary.

This is true for the seasons in our lives as well. Maybe you're smack dab in the middle of a season of prosperity and abundance. Like the best spring and summer of your memory, you're experiencing only gain. That's wonderful and I pray it continue for you as long as the season may.

And yet, you may be in a season of utter loss. Loved ones have left. What you once considered immovable in your life - your job, a marriage, your sense of self - may be crumbling away as you read this. Its a season. A mean one, but a season nonetheless. Like Winter into Spring, it will pass.

The Lord is far too often blamed when there is loss in our lives. He is far too often ignored when there is abundance. But like rainfall and sunshine, Ecclesiastes reminds us that to everything there is a season. Our job is not to focus on the abundance or lack, but to know that God is still God, no matter our particular circumstance at the time.

And sometimes, that's not easy. What's really amazing is that it can be just as hard during a season of plenty as in a season of loss. Time after time, the children of Isreal were chastised for how they prospered and forgot about God. Then they would find themselves in captivity, crying out as though God had forgotten them. Things haven't changed much, have they?

Dear friends, the word today is to be comforted. No matter your season, God is still there. He still cares. He is as invested in our loss as He is in our gain. He is concerned when we cry - even if the cause is of our own doing. He's concerned when we cheer so that we do not take our faith off Him and place it on ourselves, lest we fall. That's the essence of that 'so loved' in John 3:16. It isn't a love based in obedience or works. Its a love that comes from the very depths of His heart. It's real love. It's complete love. It comes from God, toward us and always toward us...even when we don't return it.

Whatever your challenge, your state, I pray you know the comfort of the Lord God. That you feel His very presence in all that you do. That you receive all that He has available to you. That every need is met, the ones you know you have and the ones you don't realize that you have.

I pray that if you do not know this 'so love' personally, that you will come to know it, and know it fully. That if you do not believe that our God 'so loves' you, that you will be open to receive Him fully. I also pray that if you do know His love, that it will move you squarely into the calling He has placed on your life and that you will lay aside any hesitation, fear or obstacle that is keeping you from it.

I pray all of this for you, and myself, in the name of Jesus.

Please know that you are always welcome at Fellowship when you need a church body that will support you, no matter what your season may be.

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

1 Thessalonians 5:8-11

8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Peace. Comfort. Joy. Mourning into dancing. Abudance now into supply later.

Lifeline is produced from the Evangelistic Ministry of Fellowship Church in Jonesboro, GA. You are encouraged to share this message. The Fellowship Church website (www.fcchosengeneration.com) includes a link to the Lifeline Blog (www.lifelineatfellowship.blogspot.com) where you can find previous messages. Evangelist Robinson also posts her entries on Facebook and Twitter. To subscribe to the mailing, or for questions and comments, tweet (@evangeliststeff) or send email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com. Fellowship Church can be reached at chosen.gen@att.net.

Fellowship Church
Where Passions Become Reality
Because You Are a Chosen Generation
455 Highway 138 W, STE C
Jonesboro, GA 30236
Alton Watkins, Pastor