Recently I heard a timely message from Duane Sheriff and these are my notes. It blessed me, so here is what I grasped.
Scripture says, resist the devil and he will flee…, if you don’t resist, he will over run you.
Luke 21:19 In your patience, you must possess your soul (mind, will & emotions). You must deal with thoughts!
Vs 26 Could plagues, weather, earthquakes: men’s heart fails them for fear.
Guard your heart, so that you will not be over charged. Caught unawares.
Three things can overload your heart, according (Luke 21:34):
Surfeiting: Means over indulgence, ie news….find new sources for information, but don’t spend too much time there. Match your time, with the same level in the Word.
You need to know what is happening in your world, but don’t over due it. Feel stressed, turn it off and worship. Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that we were set us free….freedom matters…gospels parallels freedom.
Drunkenness: Your heart can get drunk with poison, even in the church. It takes discipline to look at the world and not get overwhelmed at this time.
Cares: WAIT – Greater is he that is in me. He that is in the world is pretty great right now, how great is he that is in me must be! Focus on this – be kingdom minded. (Isaiah 41:9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth.) Not cast us off, we are on loan for now.
Be excited – people are wakening up, speaking out for things that are right and wrong.
God is working.
God is so good at bringing good out of evil.
Ignorant Christian’s blame God of the evil.
God is so good at turning messes around, that we somehow think he had a plan in the mess. He doesn’t sanction evil!
In scripture we read these words: fear not! That is a command. Fear is dismayed, it’s a symptom.
Discouraged – definition – a sense of dread. ‘I dread what I might say, or what someone might think’. To breakdown either by violence, confusion or fear.
Some people will sanction evil, just to keep the streets from burning.
Stalin said, “It doesn’t matter who votes, it’s the one who counts the votes that matters!”
I Chronicles 22:13 David to Solomon….David had gathered the materials, but he told Solomon dread not or be dismayed…..why, because there is still going to be opposition.
Seems daily our hearts can be tossed into dismay or you feel dread….no matter what comes, we have to guard our heart and be fully assured that God will take care of us.
God has a way of doing suddenly’s, unexpected supply, divine encounters….let’s keep saying this in faith, “God is watching and taking care of business, He will take care of me also.”
By Sandy Vought