{"id":12322,"date":"2016-08-23T14:54:24","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T18:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=12322"},"modified":"2016-10-01T15:21:50","modified_gmt":"2016-10-01T19:21:50","slug":"the-power-thats-behind-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=12322","title":{"rendered":"The Power That’s Behind You"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following message was posted on our signboard on August 20, 2016…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE POWER BEHIND YOU<\/strong><\/p>\n

IS GREATER THAN <\/strong><\/p>\n

THE PROBLEM AHEAD OF YOU<\/strong><\/td>\n

\"Signboard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

In this life, we keep running into problems…<\/p>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe garage door won’t open…\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe car won’t start…\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe Credit Card company lost your last payment…\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tYour child is sick…\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tYou are sick…\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tThat project is due tomorrow! …\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tA loved one died …\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\n

Our minds are constantly occupied with thoughts of how we’re going to over come the next “battle.”\u00a0 How do we get past the next bump in the road.<\/p>\n

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world<\/span>. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 NIV<\/p>\n

1 John 4:4<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Power for the Little Bumps…<\/span><\/h3>\n

John is writing about spiritual battles.\u00a0 The “One who is in the world” is the One who constantly fights against us to draw our attention from what really matters: our relationship with God.\u00a0 Jesus tells us that when we keep our priorities straight, we won’t have to worry about all of the little bumps that we encounter in life…<\/p>\n

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.\u00a0 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. \"Rainbow<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!\u00a0 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?\u00a0\u00a0 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0(Luke 12:22-26) NIV<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Power for the Bigger Issues…<\/span><\/h3>\n

Not only do we not have to worry about the “little bumps,” we don’t have to worry about the big picture problems about life’s meaning.\u00a0 To counter the slew of problems, God has made his own series of promises…<\/p>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t“You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”…<\/p>\n

(John 14:14)\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t

\n\t\t\t“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”…<\/p>\n

(Hebrews 13:5)\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t

\n\t\t\t“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you… Do not let your hearts be troubled.”…<\/p>\n

(John 14:27)\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t

\n\t\t\t“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”…<\/p>\n

(John 16:33)\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t

\n\t\t\t“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink.” …<\/p>\n

(Matthew 6:25)\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t

\n\t\t\t“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” …<\/p>\n

(Matt 11:28-29)\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t

\n\t\t\tThe Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want…<\/p>\n

(Psalm 23:1)\n\t\t<\/div><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\n

 <\/p>\n

Now this isn’t to say that God is some kind of Heavenly Genie or Rabbit’s Foot.\u00a0 “In this world we WILL have trouble.”\u00a0 And yet, if we are in tune with God’s purposes and if we seek to do His will, He will help us overcome the problems.\u00a0 Even if we’re venturing down a wrong path, He’ll yank us back into His will if we let Him (consider the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32).<\/p>\n

As we walk in a life of faith, constantly seeking God’s will instead of our own answers, we’ll discover the assurance that Paul wrote about:<\/p>\n

If God is for us, who can be against us?\u00a0 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all \u2014 how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? <\/span>
\nFor I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(Romans 8:31-33, 38-39)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

If God’s Spirit is in us, He’ll not only get us through the problems we’re facing, He’ll use them to make us stronger.\u00a0 The Power Within<\/span><\/strong> always defeats the Power\u00a0Without<\/span><\/strong> and brings us closer to God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +<\/span><\/p>\n

For more Signboard Messages, click this button:\u00a0 Signboard<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following message was posted on our signboard on August 20, 2016:
\n“THE POWER BEHIND YOU IS GREATER THAN THE PROBLEM AHEAD OF YOU.”
\nGod has given us His Spirit which not only helps us through the problems of life, but it also helps us to a deeper joy that comes with a faithful relationship to God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[158,137,146],"class_list":["post-12322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-signboard","tag-godspower","tag-godsprotection","tag-godsprovision"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12322"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12347,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12322\/revisions\/12347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}