Dear KKIM Family,
WOW!
AWESOME!
Friday was an AWESOME evening as 6,000 people attended the Jubilee Festival! PRAISE GOD!
Thanks to you all who stopped by the KKIM booth, myself and Frank were glad to see you!
Then on Sunday I traveled to Los Lunas to be with the folks from the Los Lunas Church of God. Pastor Jim Montoya asked me to preach.
I got to meet all the wonderful folks….including 89 year old Lena! Lena is a wonderful women of God. We had a wonderful talk. My grandmother’s name is Lena Caraway. Grandma always told me I was going to be a preacher.
This congregation is on FIRE for the LORD! They are praying and working to build a Ministry Center in Los Lunas. This Center would also be a school. A Developer donated land to the Church, prime real estate, valued at over $200,000!!!!
Los Lunas remains a booming city……….growing rapidly, still building!
I so much bathe in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!
One of the subject’s that I spoke on yesterday was suffering……..This came a subject of study for me when my Mom and Dad died. Dad died suddenly of a heart attack and Mom died about a year and half later of cancer, both passed on at 64 years of age.
I remember greatly when we were praying for Mom and after she died a man told me, “While we prayed for my Mom and she lived.”
That hurt………Why God? Why not my Mom?
The best writing I have ever found on suffering is what I shared with you a couple of weeks ago from Chuck Swindoll……..You can read the whole posting on suffering at www.deweysdailycup.com Thanks to Jannetta for saving all the CUPS!!! We can hurt our fellow Christian Brothers and Sisters without knowing it……..when we are praising the healing of a loved one……..we must be aware that sitting in the same room is someone who prayed just as hard and did not see their loved one healed here on earth. I found yesterday after delivering my message a beautiful lady came up to me and thanked me for the message as her young son had just died of cancer.
This is a good time to correct faulty thinking. It is not always God’s will that you be healed. It is not always the Father’s plan to relieve the pressure. Our happiness is not God’s chief aim. He doesn’t have a wonderful (meaning “comfortable”) plan for everybody’s life–not from a human perspective. Often His plan is nowhere near wonderful. As with Saul, His answer is not what we prayed and hoped for. But, remembering that He is forming us more and more into the image of His Son, it helps us understand His answer is based on His long-range plan, not our immediate relief.
Thankfully, in the midst of that suffering, He gently whispers, “My grace is sufficient for you.” As with Saul, His grace supplies more than e need to endure whatever it is that threatens to undo us. Let me amplify that thought. His grace is more sufficient that your strength. His grace is more sufficient than the advice of any trained counselor or close friend (though God uses both). His grace is sufficient to carry you through whatever your own, unique “thorn” may be. His grace–that’s the ticket.
Would you like to know why? “Because power is perfected in weakness.” What an amazing statement from the Lord! And all this time we thought power was perfected in success. We’ve been taught all our lives that it is achievement that makes us strong. No. A thousand times, no! Those things make us proud and self-sufficient and independent. The painful thorns make us weak. But the good news is this: When we are weak, He pours His strength into us, which gives an entirely new perspective on pain and suffering, hardship and pressure. Those stresses and strains drive us to our knees. It’s at that point our God comes through.
And so? Let’s stop looking for someone or something to blame. Let’s cease the incessant building of straw men only to set them on fire so we can say, “Ah ha! That’s the reason my misery is so great.” Don’t go there, my friend. Suffering is not about identifying the cause; it’s about focusing on the response. I plead with you–do not miss that! It’s about willingly accepting God’s plan, no matter what the circumstance. It’s about finding contentment in God’s grace, regardless.
The words of Chuck Swindoll are so wonderful.
Let us give our lives fully to God………….and realize deep inside, that HIS plan, HIS plan……..is the one to follow, and not our’s. We first have to give our heart and soul to God and also listen for the whisper’s of God as we go through our days here on earth. Our you listening today for God?
God is Cheering for You
by Max Lucado
If your God is Mighty enough to ignite the sun, could it be that He is mighty enough to light your path?
God is for you. Not “may be,” not “has been,” not “was,” not “would be,” but “God is!” He is for you. Today. At this hour. At this minute. As you read this sentence. No need to wait in line or come back tomorrow. He is with you. He could not be closer than he is at this second. His loyalty won’t increase if you are better nor lessen if you are worse. He is for you.
God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that’s God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps. Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He’ll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He’s picking you up. God is for you.
God is for you. Had he a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If he drove a car, your name would be on his bumper. If there’s a tree in heaven, he’s carved your name in the bark. We know he has a tattoo, and we know what it says. “I have written your name on my hand,” he declares (Isa. 49:16).
Let us pray………..
Oh Lord, We pray that we turn our lives over to You fully!!! We pray for Your will to be done in our lives. We pray that we will be better listeners of the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus, AMEN!
In the Love of Christ, Dewey Sharon and family
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