Image from youtube.com
Hear this podcast: https://bit.ly/3zZbWe2 View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Jn5ENZbI7uA
1 I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might, I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens. 2 I found myself in trouble and went looking for my Lord; my life was an open wound that wouldn't heal. When friends said, "Everything will turn out all right," I didn't believe a word they said. 11 Once again I'll go over what God has done, lay out on the table the ancient wonders; 12 I'll ponder all the things you've accomplished, and give a long, loving look at your acts. 13 O God! Your way is holy! No god is great like God! 14 You're the God who makes things happen; you showed everyone what you can do - 15 You pulled your people out of the worst kind of trouble, rescued the children of Jacob and Joseph. 16 Ocean saw you in action, God, saw you and trembled with fear; Deep Ocean was scared to death. 17 Clouds belched buckets of rain, Sky exploded with thunder, your arrows flashing this way and that. 18 From Whirlwind came your thundering voice, Lightning exposed the world, Earth reeled and rocked. 19 You strode right through Ocean, walked straight through roaring Ocean, but nobody saw you come or go. 20 Hidden in the hands of Moses and Aaron, You led your people like a flock of sheep. (Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 The Message Bible)
A blessed and tremendous Thursday to you dear Friend. A praise report on Mrs. Alison Davis, who underwent a successful heart procedure in San Antonio yesterday. Reports are that the procedure was a success, and she's in recovery. Let us thank God and pray that God bless her with a strong healthy heart and continued healing for Alison! Let us continue to pray for one another; for the needs for those who have asked our prayers; for the needs of the world; for rain; for peace; for more to come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
This coming Sunday's gospel text has kept me thinking about that poor man who lived among the dead and had a given name he probably hated, Legion. Worse, he was not free in any sense of the word, and he was tormented all the time! This psalm reminds me of what this man felt inside his spirit as he faced these spirits of evil who were making their home in them. And it's what many of us have prayed from time to time as we faced our own "demons" or challenges or illnesses or setbacks. We yelled in our prayers or in our rooms or just in silence in our thoughts, "God, where are You? Why am I facing this?" The truth is at the last two words of verse 1, "He listens." Bam! God listens. Verse two describes us as well; "I found myself in trouble and went looking for my Lord; my life was an open wound that wouldn't heal. When friends said, 'Everything will turn out all right,' I didn't believe a word they said." I've been there and perhaps you have too. And then the psalmist lists the choruses of nature praising God for what nature knows that God can and does do for them.
His affirmation of his faith in God follows, replaying what God has done for him and how God has saved him from despair and trouble. Our God is a God who helps. Who rescues. Who saves. God is a God who defeats despair and doubt; pulling us out of pits that seem bottomless and lifts us high into life and the fullness of life. If our God can control the universe and all of creation, cannot God help us as well? Above all lthings we ask that God's will be done, not ours. Whatever you are facing or going through, entrust yourself and all of your loved ones to Him, and He will bless you.
PRAYER: Awesome Father, into Thy hands we commit ourselves and our loved ones. We entrust our every step to You so that you may guide me into faithfulness and fruitfulness; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Shine the light of God's hope from your face today!
Receive my blessings of peace and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
