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Sunday 31 August 2014

'HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD'

Rev. Brent Russett
By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/   

_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, August 31st, 2014:
 ____________________________________________

How Great is our God’
   
            Good morning. And welcome to good news in the morning. Happy Labour Day weekend.  My name is Brent Russett. I am the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church. It is my pleasure to look at some of life’s challenges, and then bring you some good news in the morning.

            This program is brought to you by Good News Christian Ministries.

            You can find Good News in the morning on the internet at Goodnewsinthemorning.ca . There you can hear past episodes and find interesting articles.

            This morning I want to talk to you about the Greatness of God, Because the size of your God matters
           
            J.B. Philips, translator of the Philips translation of the Bible, wrote a book entitled “You’re God is too small” I read this book over a decade ago and at the time I remember thinking, some people’s God may be too small, but I have a grand view of God, I have a big view of God. My God is not too small. Mr. Philips your title may apply to many people but it doesn’t apply to me.

            And indeed I do have a grand view of God. But as I come before our passage of scripture in Isaiah 40, I find that indeed my view of God is too small. For although I know God to be bigger than the oceans, and grander than the Grand Canyon, and mightier than a hurricane, and more spectacular than thunder and lightning, - as I read over this passage God is indeed bigger yet, and grander yet, and mightier yet, than my impoverished imagination can conceive. He holds the universe in his hands, and names the stars.   Mr. Philips was right, my God is too small, and so probably is yours.

            So this morning I want you to come and sit before this passage of scripture with me. My prayer is that God would open our eyes anew to see who he really is. My prayer is that he would expand our vision and enhance our imaginations and embolden out faith to reach out an hug the infinite, and embrace the almighty, to fall in love with God as he is all over again.

            Life has a way of diminishing our view of God. Fear of what will come, has a way of causing us to cocoon causing us to lose our vision of God. The minutia of life has a way of causing us to stare down at our feet, causing our horizons to shrink.

            God understands this.  The book of Isaiah when it was written, was divided into two scrolls. Many scholars would call these two scrolls 1st Isaiah and 2nd Isaiah. 2ND Isaiah starts here in chapter 40. The prophet is writing to prophetically to the captives in Babylon. God knows that the years of suffering will take their toll. He understands that the years of being disenfranchised and expatriates in a foreign land will cause faith to falter. Some will be asking, “Where is your God?” Others will say like vs 27  Isa 40:27, ‘"My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"?  God has forgotten me. God is not remembering me.’

            You see, the forces arrayed against the people of God were on a global scale. Babylon ruled the world. No one could defeat the armies of the great king of Babylon. One of the seven wonders of the world, “the hanging gardens of  Babylon” were in their back yard. They were a testimony to the grandeur and power of technical prowess of the Babylonian empire.

            Israel had been divided into a Northern Kingdom and a Southern Kingdom. Those the Northern Kingdom had all but disappeared. Now only Judea survived. It’s main city Jerusalem had been decimated. It was oppressed by the rulers of the earth. The people of God had been carried off to Babylon where they were held captive. What could they do. Global powers were at play, and they were powerless in the face of those powers.

            Can you imagine being one of those captives in Babylon. You can’t go back to your country. You feel distant from God because the place where you found God has been leveled. Your heart is homesick, your body is tired and your soul is in grief.

            So sentiments like--- God has forgotten me, or God is not big enough to deal with this, or just a diminishment of faith were normal. And into that situation God calls his prophet to speak.

21  Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
 22  He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
 23  He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
 24  No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 

            The global powers that you see are nothing compared to me.

            That is not a bad message to remember when you feel powerless in the face of global powers. What is happening in Russia and the Ukraine. What is happening in Israel and Gaza. The world has huge issues.

            But the global issues are not the only kind of storm that we see around us. The Babylonian captivity can come in many forms in our lives. For some of you, your storm comes more in the way of pain, or sickness, or depression, and your view of God narrows. For some of you, your Babylonian captivity comes in the form of dysfunctional bosses, or wayward kids, or unmanageable stress, or relational discord.  For others of you it comes in unrealized dreams, dashed hopes, and real fear.

            What I want you to know, is that wherever you find yourself, God is there. And God wants to expand your vision of who he is. He wants to increase your faith in who he is. He wants you to  trust him for who he is.

            So he asks you these questions.

21  Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

            These questions are asked kind of like,  Do you not know? Of course you do. Have you not heard? Of course you have. People of God you know who God is, but in these questions is a call for you to know who God is. To know who God is in the face of the Babylonian empire. To know who God is in the face of global power in front of which you cannot stand. To know who God is right now where you are.

            You may think that the problems are big. You may think that the situation is big. But Verse 22

 22  He (Yahweh, the Lord God) sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

            Not only is he above the earth. He is enthroned above the earth. He rules the rulers of the earth. The people that stand in your way are like grasshoppers. You may think the issues are big, but that is only if you see it from your perspective. If you see it from God’s perspective, the issues aren’t all that big.

 23  He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
 24  No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.  

            The global forces that look so insurmountable, the rulers of this world that look unconquerable, well – they are scarcely planted, they are scarcely rooted and they are blown away.

            The King of Babylon is great. But really people who are you going to compare me to, God says.
25  "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
 26  Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
 
            Who is my equal asks God. Look at the sky, who created these. As an example God says, look up, I am  so great that I know each star, and I call them by name.

            In the 2500 years since this was written, we have come to know a lot more about the stars. We have been able to view them close up. I understand that you can even apply to name a star. But what God says is I have named them, and the milky way with its millions of stars, I know them all.

            I think is God were speaking into today,  He would say, to whom would you compare me. I know more than Google,  I see further than the Hubble Telescope, I mapped the genome before you even knew there was one, and although your knowledge base doubles every few years, you will never catch up to me in a million years. To whom will you compare me.

            With what power will you compare me, with a hurricane or a Tsunami, or a nuclear bomb. They are but sparks compared to me. Nothing compares to my great power and mighty strength.

MUSIC Chris Tomlin – How Great is our God

            People it is important that you have a sense of how big God is. It is important that you have a sense of how strong and great and wondrous God is. God, in this passage is trying expand the vision of the people of God. He is trying to get their eyes off their problems and on to himself. He is trying to move their vision of life from staring at their feet to looking up at the sky. He does this because, the size of your God matters.

            When you go to visit your doctor and the news isn’t good. The size of your God matters. When you are sitting in uncertain circumstances when you are fearing the worst but hoping for the best, the size of your God matters. When your vision of what could be done is beyond your ability, the size of your God matters. When you approach death’s door, the size of your God matters.

            An expanded vision of God will not only carry you through life, it will increase the adventure of life. It will cause you to trust in the face of adversity and take steps of faith in the face of opportunity. That is why you need to know the greatness of your God.

            And now a transition comes to this passage. The focus moves from God to the people of God.

            Isa 40:27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? 

            Or has some people would argue, yes maybe God is big, so big that he can’t see me. Maybe he is strong, but he has forgotten me. Yes maybe he is amazing, but that is all the more reason why he shouldn’t take note of me.

Isa 40:28  Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no-one can fathom. 

            God is so big and so powerful and his understanding is so vast that not only does he know the stars by name, he knows you by name. He created this world and he knows it minute detail.

            Or as Psalm 139 says
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
 2  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
 3  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
 4  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
 5  You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
 6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
 
            That is what Isaiah means when he says “his understanding no-one can fathom.

            This helpful to know when you are tempted to think, God doesn’t know, God doesn’t care, I am just one of billions of people. Or as our passage says "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? He wants you to know that you have not escaped his attention.

            Verse 28 says that he does not grow tired an weary. He is not tired of you coming to him with your problems. You are going to wear him out. He loves you.

            It is also important to know that he does not grow weary because it is precisely that part of his character that he wants to speak into you.

Isa 40:29  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 

            He is going to speak out of who he is, into who you are. He is going take from his character and add into your character.  Now God recognizes this isn’t the way it usually works. He realizes that he is speaking against the human condition.  Isa 40:30  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;   Even when you are in your prime, life can get you down. Being held a captive in Babylon can wear on you. Life can wear on you.

            So the question is how do you access this strength. How do you access this power. How is the strength of God infused in your life.

            Come with me to verse 31.
Isa 40:31  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. 

            Now many of you will recognize this verse better from the KJV.
Isa 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint. 

            To access this strength of God one version translates it hope in the Lord. One translates it wait upon the Lord. You can tell that this is a hard Hebrew verb to translate.  The Amplified Bible tries to bring out the nuances on the translations. Here is how it translates it.

Isa 40:31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power.

            But those who wait, and look for and expect and hope for the Lord, they shall renew their strength.

            God wants to speak strength into your life. The people were stuck in Babylon and the years were wearing on them. Life was wearing on them. They were just surviving but they were not thriving.

            What he is saying is wait on me and I will strengthen you on the inside so that you are going to soar like the eagles, you are going to be able to run with endurance, you are going to be able to walk and not keel over.

            I know what it means to just survive in life. So, what does God call us to do?

            He calls us to wait on him, to look for him, to expect him, to hope in him.

            You might guess that this is not a passive activity. This is not like waiting in line at the grocery store. There is a looking towards God with quiet expectation. There is a coming before God in all of his greatness and goodness with the confidence that he is going to speak into the core of your being.
           
            This is not about coming before God with a lot of words. It is not about coming before God with the right prayers. It is about coming before the greatness of God with a quiet confidence that he will be great for me.

            As the Psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God”.

            I want you to hear the heart of the Lord today. So I am going leave you with Isaiah 30:18.

Isa 30:18  Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!  

            The Lord longs to be gracious to you so wait on him.

Let’s pray,

Lord, I want to thank you for today, and for the message that you come to those who wait. Lord, I pray for those whose vision of you has been lessened by the troubles of this world; that you would expand their vision of you, once again; that they would see you for all of who you are. I pray that you would speak into their lives in some exceptional ways. Thank you Lord for what you’re about. Thank you Lord for how you are at work in peoples’ lives. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

            Thank you for your words of encouragement, and for keeping us in your  prayers.,   Keeping this program on the air continues to be a work of faith. If you can help with that, please make out a cheque payable to Good News Christian Ministries, Box 184 , Rideau Ferry , On. K0G  1W0. Or you can give online by going to goodnewsinthemorning.ca

“ If Good News in the Morning has been a factor in your journey of faith, we would love to hear your story. Nothing could encourage us more in this work.  Contact us by e-mail or Twitter via the web site

May you know   Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.  May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your heart .  And may the heavenly Father surround you with His constant and abiding and accompanying love

MUSIC George Beverly Shea – How Great Thou Art. 3:00 min

By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, August 31st, 2014:

Sunday 24 August 2014

'A WAY IN THE WILDERNESS'

Rev. Brent Russett
By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/   

_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, August 24th, 2014:
 ____________________________________________

A Way in the Wilderness’
 


            Good morning. And welcome to good news in the morning. My name is Brent Russett. I am the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church. It is my pleasure to look at some of life’s challenges, and then bring you some good news in the morning.

            This program is brought to you by Good News Christian Ministries.

            You can find Good News in the morning on the internet at Goodnewsinthemorning.ca. There you can hear past episodes and find interesting articles.

            This morning I want to talk to you about A Way in the Wilderness

            I have been doing a lot of reading in the Old Testament book of Isaiah lately. This morning I am going to take you to Isaiah 35. But before we get there I want to take you to the gospel of Mark. It is one of the first four books of the New Testament that tells the story of Jesus’ life.

             One of the things about the gospel of Mark that you may not know is that the locations that are in the gospel of Mark matter. They matter on a theological level. Where something is said, tells us something about what is being said.

Mark 1:1–4 (NLT)
This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.* It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written:
“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way.*
He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!’* ”
This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.

            So Mark starts off his book and says, I want to tell you the good news about Jesus. But what is the setting of the start of the story. It is a wilderness.

            The book of Mark starts out by quoting Isaiah, 40 about how there is a voice crying out in the wilderness. And we find John the Baptist, the one who is a forerunner of Jesus introducing Jesus in the wilderness.

            In fact Jesus goes out into the wilderness to see John, He is baptized by John in the Jordan river, and then he himself goes further into the wilderness where he is tempted by Satan for 40 days.

            Remember, in Mark the setting of where something happens tells us something about what is going on.

            Jesus, who we as Christians believe is God come to earth, choses to start his earthly ministry, and meet humanity in the wilderness.

            The reason, the wilderness is a telling metaphor to illustrate  what sin has done to our souls.

            The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. There is life in the wilderness, but not a lot of it. It doesn’t tend to be a place where things flourish.

            I have been in the wilderness in Israel, and it is really barren. Vegetation is sparse. Water is sparse. It is inhospitable. You get the feeling that humans were not meant to live there.

            Jesus chose to meet us in the wilderness.

            He came and said, I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full. He said, I will forgive your sin. I will take the toxic from your heart that stops things from growing. In fact, I will give you a new heart, a place where life can really flourish.

            But there is a condition for him to do that. You need to turn over the drivers wheel of your life to him. Jesus says, if you will come to me and give your life to me, I will meet you in the wilderness of your heart, and I will make it live.

            If you are listening and have never given Jesus the wheel of your life – I would urge you to do that even today. Pray a prayer something like, Lord Jesus I give my life to you, take over the drivers seat of my life. Forgive me of my sin, take my sin away and give me your life. A prayer like that is a great way to start your spiritual journey with Jesus.

MUSIC  Brian Doerksen – Change me on the inside – 4:27

            What a great prayer- Change me on the inside. Sometimes change doesn’t come easy. Sometimes the only place that God can teach us is in the wilderness.

            In scripture the metaphor of the wilderness is used in another way. It is used to talk about dry times on the spiritual journey.

            In the second book of the Bible, named Exodus we find that the Hebrew people had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. God by the power of his mighty hand brought them out of Egypt, but he lead them into the wilderness. Now the journey from Egypt to the promise land should only take 40 days. It took the people of Israel about 3 years to complete the journey.


            The reason was, God needed time to teach is people about himself. It was in the wilderness that they saw the provision of God. It was in the wilderness that they received the law of God, the ten commandments. It was in the wilderness that they witnessed the glory of God. It was in the wilderness that they experienced the leading of God. It was in the wilderness  that God taught his people about Himself and his relationship with them.

            Fast forward into the era of the church.---- I don’t know any substantial Christian who has not gone through a wilderness experience.

            One person put the wilderness experience this way.
“Scripture often depicts the experience of God’s presence or blessing with the imagery of water — streams, oases and rivers (Ps 1:3; 92:12-14; Jer 17:8). Conversely it describes times of distress, doubt, and alienation from God with the imagery of a desert or wilderness.  The wilderness is where water is scarce… where a traveler walks alone in the heat and the cold without shade or protection… and where wild animals live. In a spiritual wilderness God feels far away, distant, absent, and unresponsive… faith feels doubtful or uncertain… we feel alone, vulnerable, lost, and unprotected… there is the fear of hopelessness and the unknown… and it’s the place where Satan resides.

 It can take the form of depression… a crisis of faith… or one or more traumatic life events, of which the list is endless. It is not a joyful time. It is a time when we feel alone, deserted, and dying of spiritual thirst in the midst of a debilitating spiritual draught. All true saints go through a wilderness experienced in their life; some more than others.  


            The experience can last for weeks, or months and sometimes years. But here is what I know, if God leads you out into the wilderness, he is going to teach you. The only reason he takes you there is that there is something that you can learn there that you cannot learn anywhere else.

             I know the wilderness experiences in my life have forced a change of faith. The typical pat answers of Christendom don’t work for me. God has taught me about himself and myself in the wilderness.

            I heard one guy speak, who said he loves it when Jesus leads him into the wilderness, because he knows that he is moving into a new season in his life.

            I am not there yet, where I love the wilderness. Maybe that is why Isaiah 35 speaks deeply into my life. Maybe, you can hear it for your life as well.

Isaiah 35 (NLT)
Hope for Restoration
Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days.
The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses.
Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers
and singing and joy!
The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon,
as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon.
There the Lord will display his glory,
the splendor of our God.
With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands,
and encourage those who have weak knees.
Say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, and do not fear,
for your God is coming to destroy your enemies.
He is coming to save you.”
And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind
and unplug the ears of the deaf.
The lame will leap like a deer,
and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!
Springs will gush forth in the wilderness,
and streams will water the wasteland.
The parched ground will become a pool,
and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.
Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish
where desert jackals once lived.
And a great road will go through that once deserted land.
It will be named the Highway of Holiness.
Evil-minded people will never travel on it.
It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways;
fools will never walk there.
Lions will not lurk along its course,
nor any other ferocious beasts.
There will be no other dangers.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.
10 Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem* singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

            I want to say to those of you, whose life has become a dearth of joy, and speak to those of you who feel like it has been a long time since you  have seen the glory of the Lord, - your God will come.

            I want to encourage those of you who are tired and wonder how much further you can go – your God will come.

            I want you to hear the words of scripture, those of you who have hearts full of fear.

Be strong and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.

            I know that some of you are feeling parched - Spiritually parched. I want you to know that it is God’s way to meet us in the wilderness and bring water.

            Now to get imagery of a highway through the wilderness you need to understand that Jerusalem was where the temple was. The temple was where God was. You went to the temple to meet with God.

            But to those on the backside of the wilderness, it felt impossible to get to God. There were bandits who would beat you up and rob from you. There were lions and other beast who could attack you. There were dangers on every side. How could one get to God.

            Some of you are in the middle of the wilderness. You understand

1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

            You have felt him nipping at your heels and tearing at your heart. Some of you are licking your wounds. You are wondering, how to I get to God.

            There are some of you who have people around you that are constantly sowing doubts and stealing faith. They seduce you towards what is not good.

Hear the word of the Lord.

Isaiah 35:8–10 (NLT)
And a great road will go through that once deserted land.
It will be named the Highway of Holiness.
Evil-minded people will never travel on it.
It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways;
fools will never walk there.
Lions will not lurk along its course,
nor any other ferocious beasts.
There will be no other dangers.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.
10 Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem* singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

            The Lord is coming

            So what do you do if you find yourself in the wilderness. One of the best things that you can do is recognize it for what it is. You probably didn’t ask for it, and you probably don’t want to be where you are, but it is helpful to recognize where you are.

            There are some people who think that Christians should be happy all the time. But that is not the case. Own what is. Don’t deny where you are or what you are feeling. And don’t try to distract yourself from it.

            We have television and Netflix and You Tube and novels and a whole lot of other distractions that can be wonderful, but they can also take us into worlds where we don’t live. Which is alright in small doses, but many immerse themselves in those other worlds, to distract themselves from where are. They miss what God wants to do.

            So the first step is recognize where you are, and where ever you are be all there.

            The second step is to remember that God has a purpose for the wilderness. Remember I told you about the people of God who came out of Egypt.

            It was in the wilderness that they saw the provision of God. It was in the wilderness that they received the law of God. It was in the wilderness that they witnessed the glory of God. It was in the wilderness that they experienced the leading of God. It was in the wilderness  that God taught his people about Himself and his relationship with them.

            But in the middle of the wilderness, they complained because while God provided food for them, it felt bland. They complained that while God was leading them, they sometimes didn’t have what they need until the last minute. They sometimes even felt abandoned by God and they turned to false gods. They turned to idols.

            That did not help them get out of the wilderness. In fact doing those thing made their stay much more miserable. And then when God lead them to the edge of the wilderness and said, I’m willing to take you out, but you are going to have to trust me to do some major things – and they wouldn’t trust him, so they were in the wilderness a lot longer than they needed to be.

            You see, it is not your job to transform the desert. That is God’s job. Your job is to let God do what he wants to do in you. Your job is to let go of the idols around you. Your job is go where God wants you to go. It is his job to transform the desert.

            One of the keys to surviving the desert is to not focus on the desert. Whenever you focus on what you don’t have the desert grows harsher and God grows smaller. Whenever you focus on your fears and on your doubts and your worries and on your dryness, the desert grows bigger.

            But whenever you focus on God then you will find the power of the desert weaken.

            I remember a time when I was in the wilderness It felt like God had abandon me. I had no sense of him. I would read the bible and nothing would pop. I would pray, but it felt like I was talking to myself or the ceiling.

            So it is easy to say, focus on God, but when it feels like God is absent how do you do that?

            Well a wise person told me, “Never doubt in the darkness what you learned in the light.” So the Psalms became my friend, because they would express my heart to God. The Hymn book became my friend, because so many of those hymns express the truth about God. And while my emotions were in a desert place I chose to make declarations of faith about who God was.

            It was in the wilderness that God taught me about grace. It is not about my performance, but it is about his favour. It was in the desert that God taught me about faith – I can trust him with my stuff. I don’t know what God wants to teach you in the wilderness.

            But I am comforted by the fact that Jesus’ ministry was announced in the wilderness. John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the world in the wilderness. Jesus went out into the wilderness and wrestled with Satan ----and so he has been there before us.

            So what I want you to  know is that Jesus wants to meet you in the desert. So today if you in the wilderness, acknowledge it. Recognize that it not your job to transform the desert but let God transform you.

And take heart from Isaiah 35
The parched ground will become a pool,
and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.
Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish
where desert jackals once lived.
And a great road will go through that once deserted land.
It will be named the Highway of Holiness.


           
Let me pray for you,

Lord, I thank you for the people who you know, and they’re walking through a wilderness, and Lord, the road is rough and it’s hard, and it’s tough going, and their souls feel parched and they’re thirsty. I’m praying Lord that you would meet them, right where they’re at. Lord, I pray that you would allow faith even to rise right now, that their God will come. I’m praying, Lord, that you would do some amazing things in their life. And so, Lord, I ask that you would bless them, in Jesus’ name, Amen.


            Thank you for your words of encouragement, and for keeping us in your prayers.  Keeping this program on the air continues to be a work of faith. If you can help with that, please make out a cheque payable to Good News Christian Ministries, Box 184, Rideau Ferry, On., K0G 1W0. Or you can give online by going to goodnewsinthemorning.ca.

“If Good News in the Morning has been a factor in your journey of faith, we would love to hear your story. Nothing could encourage us more in this work.  Contact us by e-mail or Twitter via the web site

May you know Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.  May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your heart. And may the heavenly Father surround you with His constant and abiding and accompanying love.

MUSIC –  Petra – The Road to Zion 4:01 


By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/   
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PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, August 24th, 2014:
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