Sunday, November 29, 2015 - It's Youth Sunday here at Mission Baptist Cincinnati! Associate Pastor Tim Rains continues his series through the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 7 with a message entitled "Taking Hold Of This Truth". Pastor begins the message with a good joke and then begins the reading of our text. Afterwards, Pastor prays for the Holy Spirit to touch hearts and minds for our learning from Solomon's inherited wealth of wisdom.
• Consider The Work Of God
We usually think of what we could and should do for God, but we need to consider God's providential work of creation. His purpose for creating the universe and also his purpose for us for his glory. Solomon was looking up when he wrote chapter 7.
• His Will Being Put Into Action
In our flesh we struggle with God working independent of us and putting his will into action. We can't change the will of God and we are to accept his will and make our will conform to HIS WILL. Some things we can't change no matter how badly we want our will to come true. God's work is beyond our understanding. Pastor brings an illustration of fishing and our catching worms for our purpose of fishing. The worm is helpless to prevent its own demise. Sometimes, we have to accept bad things, as we perceive it, as being the will of God. God brings storms into our life for his reasons. God knows the beginning and the end of our story!
• God's Work Is God's Work!
We shouldn't assume our ideas are best even though we can surmise reasons God should agree with us. We should remember our status under him, blessed to be alive, blessed to be God's child and blessed to be assigned God's Work he intended for us!
• Consider The Wisdom Of God
God knows me, God knows you, God knows everything there is possible to know. We need to cling to his WISDOM. His ways are higher and better than we can possibly imagine. God allows temptations and trials in our life knowing our response to all of this. The best thing we can possibly do is to admit to God that we are helpless to the pressures of life without him. We need to continually humble ourselves to his perfect will just as we who are saved surrendered at the cross so we could die to ourselves. Surrendering our will to God is completely contrary to our natural flesh! But we MUST DO THIS. There is no wiser decision we could possibly make!
Have you made that decision? God's will is for EVERYONE to come to him for salvation. The question is this...Will you agree with that will? Are you ready to Take Hold Of This Truth? Today is the day of salvation, don't let the day pass without God being made Lord of your life.