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Song: “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” by Mrs. C.D. Martin
Jerry Paladino “Comfort in Crisis”
Song (start at minute 9:17-13:08 on program. Length 3:51 minutes)
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come, why should my heart be lonely and long for Heav’n and home, When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me; His eye is on the sparrow and I know He’s watching me.Chorus: I sing because I’m happy! I sing because I’m free! For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He’s watching me.
Let not your heart be troubled, His tender Word I hear, and resting on His goodness, O lose my doubts and fears. Though by the path He leads me, but one step I may see. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He’s watching me.
Chorus: I sing because I’m happy! I sing because I’m free! For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He’s watching me.
Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise, when songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies, I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free: His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for me; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for me.
Chorus: I sing because I’m happy! I sing because I’m free! For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He’s watching me. I sing because I’m happy! I sing because I’m free! For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He’s watching me.
Reading:
A friend of mine and I have been talking about the uneasiness we feel with all that is taking place in the world right now. Are we entering into the last seven years predicted in Bible prophecy, the years that the prophets called “Jacob’s trouble,” a time of great tribulation and distress upon the world? All the Church Fathers of the past who wrote about Bible prophecy believed a time of anitchrist and persecution would precede Christ’s return. Are we entering into those days?
With all the restrictions on our freedoms under the Covid-19 lockdowns, the talk of Global Reset from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the administration of vaccines that some believe could result in grave secondary reactions, the uncertainty, therefore, over the future, all these things together cause our level of anxiety to rise. Is the end near? Will the prophecies be fulfilled in our life time? Will we soon see Global Government and the actual rise of the Antichrist to power? Am I and my family where God wants us to be when those days arrive? Am I in God’s will? What does God want me to do?
You might be having those types of questions, or fears, or preoccupations running through your heart and mind, and you wonder what should you do? Where should you go? Are you in the right place?
When you start having those types of thoughts, worries, and anxieties, the best thing to do is to stop and seek God. Seek God in His word. Seek God in praise and song. Seek God in desparate prayer. God promises to answer when you seek Him with all your heart. You may even have to commit a day or two or three to prayer and fasting. Daniel prayed and fasted for three weeks.[1][Daniel 10:3] Apostle Peter stopped to pray at noon and got a special revelation from the Lord.[2][Acts 10:9] David in the psalms says,
“My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness.”[3][Psalm 55:4-7]
That may be how you are feeling right now. You wish you could just fly away to some secret place and find peace and quiet from the storm of life that seems like it is roaring all around us. But what did David do in that situation of distress? Did he just stay there worried with anxiety? No, he sought refuge from the storm. He sought refuge in prayer. Here’s what he said,
“As for me, I will cry upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.”[4][Psalm 55:16-17]
David finishes his lament on a positive note and we should, too. He wrote,
“God has delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me…Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”[5][Psalm 55:18ª, 22]
God promises in His word to be that refuge that we seek. In Isaiah we read,
“For Thou has been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat.”[6][Isaiah 25:4]
So we indeed can find the peace of heart and mind we seek, by seeking God and finding Him. We need to keep our minds on Him, like Isaiah wrote from the Lord’s mouth,
“Thou shall keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Me, because he trusts in Me.”[7][Isaiah 26:3]
The trouble is that the enemy of our soul tries to get our minds on the winds and waves of the moment and forget that we have God on our side. The Gospel writer Luke explains Jesus’s words about the last days as these,
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”[8][Luke 21:25-26]
Those words may very well be describing the state of the world today with the great uncertainty of tomorrow. Suicide and domestic violence are said to have increased in these days of anxiety. What are we as Christians suppose to do? How shall we walk? How are we to react?
Well, just two verses on from Jesus’ words above, Luke records Him as saying,
“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.”[9]
But how do we look up? How do we lift up our heads? Again, if we look to God’s word for guidance we can find innumerable passages that offer council and comfort and strength for us. Let us look at a few. The first command that God gave Moses and Joshua as they began the conquest of the Promised Land, a land full of giants and nations stronger than the Israelites was,
“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord Thy God, He it is that does go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”[10] “And the Lord, He it is that does go with thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”[11][Deuteronomy 31: 6,8]
Then when Moses died and Joshua had to continue with the conquest, what did the Lord say to him?
“Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goes.”[Jos 1:9]
The Lord told them not to be discouraged, not to be dismayed, not to have fear, but to be strong and of good courage, in other words, to be brave; because the Lord would be with them whithersoever they went. That reminds me of that verse in Daniel about God’s people during the great tribulation period. They won’t be cowarding,
“But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.”[Daniel 11:32b]
God knows that fear incapacitates us. Fear is the opposite of faith and stops us from obeying and trusting God. Fear stops us from maturing into the loving and obedient followers of Christ that God want us to be.
“Because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.”[12] [1 John 4:18b]“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”[13] [2 Timothy 1:7]“But without faith (or in other words, with fear) it is impossible to please God; for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”[14][Hebrews 11:6]
God wants us to have faith. God wants to direct us. He wants to use us to our capacity, but our job is to seek Him diligently, to seek Him desparately to know exactly what He would have us to do. But sometimes, fear and worry enter in. What shall we do then? David answers that question in another psalm. He writes,
“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”[15][Psalm 56:3-4] “In God will I praise His word: in the Lord will I praise His word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”[16][Psalm 56:10-11]
Let’s listen to the song from “Fear Not.” Scroll down to song 18 and increase the volume. 3:36 minutes)
Remember David’s psalms are in fact songs, so we should use praise and song, just as David did, in times of anxiety and trouble. We should complement praise and song with spending time in God’s word and in God’s presence in prayer. Together, these tools: praise, song, word time, prayer time, will help to bring us through to victory and help to bring the clarity of mind and heart that we seek. God promises He will be our refuge in times of trouble and promises us a place of refuge. God, also, promises to answer when we seek Him with all our hearts. David prays,
“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusts in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”[17] [Psalm 57:1]
We don’t know how long it will be “until these calamities be overpast,” but God has promised to be with us. He has promised to be a shelter in the time of storm. In Isaiah we read,
“When thou passes through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walks through the fire, thou shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”[18][Isaiah 43:2]
Maybe we can sing together the verses from Isaiah 41:13 and 10. Song “Fear Not” nubeat.org (3:51 minutes)
|
Song: Fear Thou Not – Words:Isaiah 41:13,10. Music: Martin M. (click on second song and
increase the volume. 3:51 minutes) |
Intro: (C)-(F)-(C)-(F)
(C)I the Lord thy God will (Dm)hold thy right hand,
(G)Saying unto thee, "Fear (C)not."
I the Lord thy God will (Dm)hold thy right hand,
(G)Saying unto thee, "Fear (C)not." (F)-(G)
Chorus:
(C)Fear thou not; for I am (F)with thee:
(G)Be not dismayed; for (C)I am thy God: (G/B)-(Am)
I will (F)strengthen thee; (G)I will (Dm/C)help (C)thee;
Yea, I will (F)uphold thee (G)with the right hand of My (C)righteousness.
Fear thou not; for I am (F)with thee:
(F/E)-(Dm)Be not dis(G)mayed; for I am thy (C)God.
(F)-(C)-(F)
(C)I the Lord thy God will (Dm)hold thy right hand,
(G)Saying unto thee, "Fear (C)not."
I the Lord thy God will (Dm)hold thy right hand,
(G)Saying unto thee, "Fear (C)not;
I will (F)help (G)thee."
Musical Interlude: (F)-(G)-(Dm/C)-(C)
[Repeat Chorus]
Yea, I will (F)uphold thee (G)with the right hand of My (C)righteousness.
Fear thou not; for I am (F)with thee:
(Dm)Be not dis(G)mayed; for I am thy (C)God. (F)-(C)
One night the disciples travelled with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. A storm broke out and the vessel was about to be overcome with the waves and sea roaring. What did the disciples do? They went and woke up Jesus who was asleep in the rear of the boat. Jesus said to the sea,
“Peace be still.” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto his disciples, (Where is your faith? [Luke 8:25]) Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”[19][Mark 4:39b-40]
Let us not be fearful as the disciples, but let us draw nigh to God in full assurance of faith that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to His power that works in us.[Ephesians 3:20] If God be with us, who can be against us?[Romans 8:31] As David has said, “In God have I put my trust, I will not fear,”[Psalm 56:4] for “He will uphold me with the right hand of His righteousness.”[Isaiah 43:10]
So, whatever the future holds: Covid-19, obligatory vaccines, financial difficulties, sickness, limited travel, greater surveillance, persecution, death; we know Who holds the future, and we know Who holds our hand. We know that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord for we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”[Romans 8:39,37] (Optional Who Can Separate Us Scroll down to song 17 and increase volume. 3:01 minutes)
Song: I Know Who Holds
Tomorrow
Sung by Jerry Paladino: “Comfort in Crisis” Song (push forward to minutes 24:08-29:02. Length 4:54 minutes)
I don’t know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day; I don’t borrow from its sunshine, for its skies may turn to grey. I don’t worry o’er the future, for I know what Jesus said; and today I’ll walk beside Him, for He knows what is ahead.Chorus: Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand, but I know Who holds tomorrow, and I know Who holds my hand.
I don’t know about tomorrow, it may bring me poverty, but the One who feeds the sparrow, is the One who stands by me. And the path that be my portion may be through the flame or flood, but His presence goes before me, and I’m covered with His love.
Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand, but I know Who holds tomorrow, and I know Who holds my hand.
Ev’ry step is getting brighter as the golden stairs I climb; ev’ry burden’s getting lighter, ev’ry cloud is silver-lined. There the sun is always shining, there no tears will dim the eye, at the ending of the rainbow, where the mountains touch the sky.
Chorus: Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand, but I know Who holds tomorrow, and I know Who holds my hand. Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand, but I know Who holds tomorrow, and I know Who holds my hand.
Prayer requests & general prayer
Communion: Listen to the song “Nearer My God to Thee” (2:00)
1.
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
o
Refrain:
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
2.
Though like the wanderer, the sun gone
down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I’d be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
o
Refrain: Nearer,
my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
3.
Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
o
Refrain:
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
[1] Daniel 10:3
[2] Acts 10:9
[3] Psalm 55:4-7
[4] Psalm 55:16-17
[5] Psalm 55:18ª,22
[6] Isaiah 25:4
[7] Isaiah 26:3
[8] Luke 21:25-26
[9] Luke 21:28
[10] Deuteronomy 31:6
[11] Deuteronomy 31:8
[12] 1 John 4:18b
[13] 2 Timothy 1:7
[14] Hebrews 11:6
[15] Psalm 56:3-4
[16] Pslam 56:10-11
[17] Psalm 57:1
[18] Isaiah 43:2,3,5a
[19] Mark 4:39b-40 / Isaiah 41:10c
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