Transcript:
Hello and welcome back to Old Truth Ministries. I am Jeremy Roberts, Pastor here at Old Truth Ministries. Over the past couple of weeks I have been talking to you about what you can and should be doing for God. Well this week I want to talk to you about what God can and will do for you. You know, if dedicated a message about all God has done for me we would be here for quite a while. He has delivered me from sickness, from addiction, He has even delivered me from certain death. Honestly, without God, I don’t think I would be here with you today.
While I may use what He has done for me as examples that is not what I am here to talk to you about today. I want to concentrate on what He can and will do for you in your life. Yes He can heal your sickness and bring you out of addiction and I will talk about that but God can do so so much more in your life. The greatest and most important of which is Salvation and eternal life.
This is where it all starts. When you accept the sacrifice of Jesus dying on the Cross for you and your sins and come to God as a child asking forgiveness He forgives you as only a loving Father could. He will welcome you home with open arms and unconditional love. Then your faithfulness is rewarded with eternal life. No more fear of dying or condemnation. You are assured that when you leave this earth you will awaken in the presence of your loving Father saying welcome home. Your Salvation also opens the line of communication but not like calling someone on a cell phone where you call and hope they answer. God is always on the other end ready and quick to answer.
Isaiah 65:24 ESV
“Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
Now as if this wasn’t already enough God will do so much for you. He is truly a loving and devoted Father ready and willing to do whatever He can for his children. Ask Him a question and He will always answer. You may not always like the answer He gives you but you can rest assured that it is always the answer that is best for you.
If you are going through a rough patch in your life where nothing seems to be going right bring it to God. He knows what is going on in your life before you even tell him but He is waiting for you to bring it to Him. To admit to yourself that you can’t do it alone. He will let you try as long as you want but when you finally decide to give your problems to Him He is right there ready to jump in. I’m 51 years old so I may use some old references for illustration but it’s like the WWE or whatever they are calling it now. Tag team wrestling. Anyway God is just outside the ring with His hand extended while you are getting your tail whipped. He is hollering “tag me in! Tag me in!” But you keep saying “no I got this”. Until you realize you don’t and decide to tag God in. Once you do he hops those ropes and starts going after that problem and wins the fight. So when the world starts beating you up just tag Him in. Pray and surrender your problems to Him.
Isaiah 41:10 ESV
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
God can and will deliver you from addiction. Whether it is drugs, alcohol, gambling, porn, anything at all. Sometimes things can grab us and bring us under. We become addicted to things that are unhealthy physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. We can feel like we are drowning with no way back to the surface. Sometimes it’s like quicksand because it seems like the harder we struggle against is the deeper it pulls us. Sometimes we try solving the problem ourselves and it may work for a little bit but we just fall right back into the pit. If you have read some of my other messages on the website you know that I am speaking from experience. At 16 I was rebellious and fell in with the wrong people. Over the next year I became addicted to cocaine and my life spiraled out of control till one day I almost Oded and prayed for deliverance from God. In a split second He not only delivered me from what was certain death but he also delivered me from my addiction. That has been 35 years and I have never looked back and not once craved drugs since that moment. Folks that is the power of God and nothing else. All I had to do was come to God and give it all to Him. Now I had been saved when I was younger but had strayed far from God and he was still right there waiting there with open arms when I decided to come back home and reach out for Him.
Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
There maybe low times in your life where you may think there is no hope.. Times that feel like it will never get better but I want you to hear me…they will get better. God will never put more on us than we can handle.
1 Corinthians 10:13
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
And sometimes it may seem that God is not around but trust me he is. He is right there with you holding you up and keeping you from hitting rock bottom he just wants you to find the strength to fight and to learn from your situation. That reminds me of one of my favorite poems Footprints in the Sand by Margaret Fishback Powers
One night I dreamed a dream.
I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
There was only one set of footprints.
I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life.
This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.
“Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way.
But I’m aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints.
I just don’t understand why, when I need You most, You leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.”
God will never leave you but someone’s we must go through trials to strengthen our faith in Him and sometimes those trials and hard times are so that we can learn a lesson or so that we can use those experiences to minister to others.
Isaiah 55:8-11 ESV
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Sometimes we may not understand why we go through the things we go through but we must always realize that it is for a purpose. We may not understand that purpose at that time or ever but Gid has a purpose for everything.
But like I said it all starts with salvation and asking God into your life. When you realize that all else has failed God is still there and will never fail. He is waiting with open arms for you to come home. If you are ready to come home I want you to pray this prayer with me. It doesn’t have to be these exact words but now is the time to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and ask God into your heart and life.
“God I come to you now with a humble heart and soul. I know that I have sinned and done wrong in my life but I ask Your forgiveness. I want to change my life and I know that I cannot do it on my own. Only Your love and Grace can bring me through. I graciously accept the sacrifice that Jesus made for me on the cross and accept him unconditionally as my Lord and Savior. God, I ask that you make me a new person as only You can do. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.”
If you just prayed that prayer with me welcome home. I want you to know that new feeling you feel is Gods loving arms wrapped around you. You have now been saved through Grace and are a new person in Christ Jesus. Turn from your sins and troubles and walk with your head held high knowing God is in your corner.
So what do you do now? First find a church that preaches the truth or you can join us here every Saturday. Next immerse yourself in the word of God and learn all you can. Satan may still try to fight to get you back to your old ways and there is nothing evil hates more than the Word of God. Learn all you can so you have ammo to battle evil with. Through it all remember God has your back!
With that being said I want to leave you with the words of Isaiah 52:12
Isaiah 52:12 CJB
You need not leave in haste,
you do not have to flee;
for Adonai will go ahead of you,
and the God of Isra’el will also be behind you
I want to say thank you for joining me this week and make sure you come back next Saturday because we will have a very special message for you. We will be talking to a dear friend of mine Gadi Hyer who is a Messianic Jew and host of the Finding Hyer Ground podcast. The title of the message will be “What’s in a name?” And you just may learn something new. So till next week may God bless you and keep you. Bye bye.