Shalom, shalom church.
I always look forward to this time when I can just
share the Word with all of you.
And every week, I want you to know that I seek the Lord
to have the now word.
And it's called the “rhema” word in the Bible.
There's a “logos” word which is the general word,
the one that you find in the Scriptures
when you read the Scriptures.
But it is only when you read the Scriptures generally
and widely that God can speak to you from
His Word that “rhema”.
“Rhema” is like a now word.
It applies to the situation that we have.
So I always seek the Lord for the “rhema” word
and I believe I have the “rhema” word for you this week.
Jeremiah 15:16 says it like this:
“Thy words”— “words” there is plural.
“Thy words were found and I did eat them;”
So it's like you come to the Scriptures and
you read the Word.
You just eat God's Word.
You don't have to worry about the “rhema”.
“Thy words”—plural.
“Thy words were found” Supposing you are reading
the book of Ruth and you read God's words.
It says “Thy words were found and I did eat them;”
Enjoy God's Word.
Amen.
Get into the Spirit of God’s Word.
Get into the story itself.
Let God's Word feed you.
Amen.
“Thy words were found and I did eat them;”
And then he says this: singular—“and thy word”
—that's the “rhema”.
“And thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”
So always spend time in the Word until you have
that joy and rejoicing.
A word that leaps out at you.
A word that seems to have hands reaching out to you,
arresting your attention and saying:
“Read me again! Feed on me!”
That's the word that God has for you.
And if you will memorize that Scripture and you will just
meditate on it and hold it in your heart
throughout the day, it will speak to you.
And that's how I get my messages.
Of course, I'll write in my wide margin Bible,
the words that jump out at me.
At different seasons, I can be reading the
same passage and different words will just
jump out at me.
So we need both.
We need the “logos”.
We need the reading of God's Word, and then
be alert when the Holy Spirit lights up like
the “Urim and Thummim.”
It lights up a Scripture verse.
And then you start to investigate that verse,
study that verse, memorize that verse
and it becomes your verse of meditation for that day
or even for that week.
And it would surely be the joy and rejoicing of your heart.
I'm telling you, the world does not know.
The world really does not know about this kind of joy,
this kind of enjoyment that we have in God's Word.
But I know you do because you are the
children of God and you have taste.
Heavenly taste.
When you are so hungry sometimes,
even food from the garbage looks good.
If you are really desperate and you are in starvation.
But friend, God wants you to have healthy food
that will nourish your faith.
And that's the word that I seek to bring every week.
Praise the Lord.
I remember as a young boy, my parents would bring me
to a circus and I would see these tigers performing.
And the tamer, the lion tamer or
the tiger tamer will have a whip.
And he has a chair and he will point
the chair to the tiger.
Only much later, a few years ago,
I found out the reason why that chair was there.
I understand that maybe the whip,
even then, was not to whip the animal.
It is just to show his power.
But what was the chair there for?
Later on, I found out the chair was to
distract the lion.
If the lion is not distracted, all the power,
all the energy of the lion.
The moment it is focused on its problem,
that's the end of its problem.
But the chair has four legs.
It is the four legs that causes the lion to be confused.
The lion will start looking here and looking there.
And the lion will get distracted as long as the lion sees the chair.
No matter how powerful the lion is, no matter
how fierce or ferocious the lion is, it matters nothing if
the lion is distracted and not know that the
person holding the chair is the real problem.
It’s the person holding the chair that is causing the frustration.
Amen.
Because of the four legs.
He is trying to figure out the four legs.
And as long as he is distracted,
he can be tamed.
That’s exactly what happened to Martha.
“Martha, Martha,” Jesus says.
“You are careful.”
The word “careful” there in the Greek is the word
“merimnao” and that word actually means to be distracted.
If you look at the Greek word for “merimnao”, where Jesus
used the same word in the Sermon on the Mount.
“Take no thought for your life,”
“what you shall eat, what you shall drink.”
“Which of you by worrying (‘merimnao’)”
To take no thought is to take no (‘merimnao’).
“Which of you by worrying (‘merimnao’)”
“can add one cubit to your stature.”
“Look at the lilies of the field."
How they grow, they toil not.”
Amen.
“And Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
And He is telling us to stop worrying!
Stop worrying.
Stop toiling!
“Look at the lilies of the field."
"They are so well clothed and they are better clothed"
"than Solomon in all his wealth and all his glory"
than the richest billionaire.
“But I tell you, the little humble lily”
“is better clothed.”
In what sense?
Better than Solomon in all his glory.
Because Solomon can put clothes on his body.
The richest man can put clothes on his body.
But he can't guarantee health.
Whereas the clothing of the lily is from within.
Amen.
If it's not healthy, it will fade.
It will turn brown.
The leaf will fall off!
But the fact that Jesus says:
“Look at the lilies and how they grow.”
means that it's a healthy lily.
It is clothed from within by God.
Hallelujah.
And He's talking about your health, my friend.
Stop worrying
and health will spring forth speedily.
In the name of Jesus, I speak against all the stress,
the cares, the worries, the anxieties that has beset you.
And in the name of Jesus, I command them to flee
from your life in the name of Jesus.
And I release upon you right now, the aggressive,
supernatural shalom peace of God to garrison
and protect your heart and mind right now, my friend,
in Jesus name.
Hallelujah.
It's a joy to leave all the working and the
doing to the One who loves to do it for you.
Amen.
Who gives everything.
And He only asks that you receive.
Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him
for righteousness.
Abraham did not stand before God
as a doer or as a worker.
Abraham stood before God as a believer,
as a recipient of His blessings, as a depository of
all of God's promises.
That's Abraham's position.
And that's your position and my position today.
I was just sharing with someone about the work of the Lord.
As we do God's work, whether it's cutting hair,
whether it’s studying the Scriptures,
whether it is cooking for the household and
whatever you're doing or taking care or
even in parenting, you've got to believe
right at that moment, as you are doing that,
that God is supplying you
the wisdom.
God is supplying you even the words.
God is supplying you the grace.
God is supplying you the right measure of
what you need to do, in whatever you're doing.
Amen.
You've got to trust that God is always blessing you,
God is always ministering to you the Spirit,
God is always equipping you.
That is to live the life of grace, practically.
Amen.
The other way, you can believe about law and grace
as much as you want, as long as they are
just in theory.
But in actuality, when you are doing these things,
when you're working, when you're parenting
your child, when you are disciplining your child—
if you feel that everything has fallen on your shoulders,
that you are responsible and you have this:
“I must do this. I must get to the bottom of...”
“I must, I must, I must.”
You are doomed to frustration and the result would
not be good and it will not be a prosperous result
because you are under law.
So the devil brings distractions into your life.
By the way, I mentioned about the word “merimnao”
just now?
“Take no thought for your life.”
“Take no (‘merimnao’). Which of you"
"by worrying (‘merimnao’).”
Anxiety, worry in the Greek is “merimnao”.
Jesus says to Martha: “You are careful,"
"you are ('merimnao') about many things.”
The word “merimnao” comes from the root word—
the etymology is to be distracted.
When you are distracted with so many things,
you start to worry.
In fact, the word “merimnao” comes from the word
“apart, as opposed to the whole.”
Amen.
So you are being torn apart.
You are distracted.
You're torn apart by distraction.
That’s worry and fear.
Do one thing at a time.
Jesus says:
“Don't worry about tomorrow. Today has its own problems.”
“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
God's grace comes one day at a time.
So attack your problem one day at a time,
one problem at a time.
Amen.
And trust God that when tomorrow comes,
the grace, the supply will be there.
Amen.
Whether it is the favor you need,
whether it is the wisdom you need,
whether it is the words you need,
God will supply.
But don't worry about tomorrow.
Focus on today.
Give us this day our daily bread.
You don't pray to God to give you monthly bread.
God always only answers daily bread.
Live one day at a time.
Allow yourself to be present.
Even right now, as you hear this sermon,
are you distracted?
All of a sudden, when you're watching,
you thought of:
“Oh, I need to do that. Oh, I need to do that.”
Guess who is bringing all these distractions?
Who is bringing the chair with the four legs
in front of you?
Who does not want you to receive God's Word?
Like Mary, who sat at Jesus' feet.
And Jesus says: “Only one thing is necessary.”
Compared to all these distractions
that Martha is involved in, only one thing is necessary.
“Only one thing is needful.” —in the Old King James.
“Mary chose the good part, which shall not be”
“taken away from her.”
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