{"id":3027,"date":"2016-04-10T16:45:58","date_gmt":"2016-04-10T22:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3027"},"modified":"2016-04-10T16:46:49","modified_gmt":"2016-04-10T22:46:49","slug":"the-god-who-hears-and-intervenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3027","title":{"rendered":"The God Who Hears and Intervenes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/20160410_151320-1.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3028\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3028 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/20160410_151320-1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"20160410_151320-1\" width=\"255\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/20160410_151320-1-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kensummers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/20160410_151320-1-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kensummers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/20160410_151320-1-1024x681.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 255px) 100vw, 255px\" \/><\/a>This ended being a great Sunday for me. I had an early morning meeting with the Allies Men&#8217;s ministry team to work on logistics for our upcoming retreat. I then enjoyed having Steve Harris help me with a chapel service at Mackenzie Place in the morning and Jerry Pippin play the piano for an afternoon chapel service at Collinwood. Jerry is one of the best pianists that I know. I had fun, leading some old hymns, praying for the people and preaching. If I had Jerry as a pianist when I was a pastor in a rural community over 30 years ago, we could have grown the church to a large number. Jerry and his wife Virginia lead the seniors ministry at Timberlines and were a great support during my hospitalization.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY&#8230;<\/strong> <em>&#8220;<span class=\"text Ps-107-1\">Give thanks to the <span class=\"small-caps divine-name\">Lord<\/span>, for He is good; <\/span><span class=\"text Ps-107-1\">His faithful love endures forever<\/span><span class=\"text Ps-107-1\">.<\/span>&#8230;<\/em><span class=\"text Ps-107-8\"><em><span id=\"en-HCSB-15708\" class=\"text Ps-107-8\">Let them give thanks to the <span class=\"small-caps divine-name\">Lord<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"text Ps-107-8\">for His faithful love<\/span> <span class=\"text Ps-107-8\">and His wonderful works for all humanity.<\/span> <\/em>Psalm 107:1,8 HCSB<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Psalm 107 is a psalm of thanksgiving for the faithfulness of the Lord. In the process, it reveals the faults, troubles and trials that God&#8217;s people brought on themselves. They experienced the hardship of their own choices, they cried to the Lord and the Lord delivered. That seems to be the sequence that we can observe throughout time.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the psalm we find a description of the troubles and trials that came to God&#8217;s people and we read repeatedly, <em>&#8220;<span id=\"en-HCSB-15706\" class=\"text Ps-107-6\">Then they cried out to the <span class=\"small-caps divine-name\">Lord<\/span> in their trouble; <\/span><span class=\"text Ps-107-6\">He rescued them from their distress.&#8221;<\/span><\/em> (Psalm 107:6,13,19,28) I&#8217;m glad for the Lord&#8217;s patience and loving kindness. He relentlessly hears our cry and rescues us from distress, even of our own making.<\/p>\n<p>What is to be the response to a God like this? It is to be one of grateful praise and thanksgiving. <em>&#8220;<span id=\"en-HCSB-15708\" class=\"text Ps-107-8\">Let them give thanks to the <span class=\"small-caps divine-name\">Lord <\/span><\/span><\/em><em><span class=\"text Ps-107-8\">for His faithful love <\/span><\/em><span class=\"text Ps-107-8\"><em>and His wonderful works for all humanity.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em>(Psalm 107:8,15,21,31 HCSB) <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Look at the litany of God&#8217;s wonderful works and interventions available for &#8220;all humanity.&#8221; Remember that He is still doing the same today in our lives and circumstances.<\/p>\n<p><em><span class=\"text Ps-107-6\">&#8220;He rescued them from their distress.<\/span><span id=\"en-HCSB-15707\" class=\"text Ps-107-7\"> He led them by the right path <\/span><\/em><span class=\"text Ps-107-7\"><em>to go to a city where they could live.&#8221;<\/em> (Psa. 107:6,7) Praise God, He can direct us to where we need to be. He Rescues from the curse of sin and darkness and puts on a path to a heavenly home.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"en-HCSB-15709\" class=\"text Ps-107-9\"><em>&#8220;For He has satisfied the thirsty<\/em> <\/span><span class=\"text Ps-107-9\"><em>and filled the hungry with good things.&#8221;<\/em> (Psa. 107:9) Let God be the One who satisfies the true need of your life. The true needs of humanity are met in Him<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span id=\"en-HCSB-15714\" class=\"text Ps-107-14\">&#8220;He brought them out of darkness and gloom <\/span><\/em><span class=\"text Ps-107-14\"><em>and broke their chains apart.&#8221;<\/em> (Psa.<\/span> 107:14) Praise God that He is a deliver. He brings light to darkness and breaks the chains of hopelessness and despair.<\/p>\n<p><em><span id=\"en-HCSB-15720\" class=\"text Ps-107-20\">&#8220;He sent His word and healed them; <\/span><span class=\"text Ps-107-20\">He rescued them from the Pit.&#8221;<\/span> \u00a0<\/em> (Psa. 107:20) Praise God that God&#8217;s Word is powerful to heal and to rescue.<\/p>\n<p><em><span id=\"en-HCSB-15729\" class=\"text Ps-107-29\">&#8220;He stilled the storm to a murmur, <\/span><span class=\"text Ps-107-29\">and the waves of the sea were hushed&#8230;.<\/span><\/em><span class=\"text Ps-107-30\"><em>Then He guided them to the harbor they longed for.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em> (Psa. 107:29-30) For the lost, harried and storm tossed, Jesus speaks &#8220;peace be still&#8221; into our lives and we can arrive at the place we have always sought.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span id=\"en-HCSB-15735\" class=\"text Ps-107-35\">&#8220;He turns a desert into a pool of water, <\/span><span class=\"text Ps-107-35\">dry land into springs of water.<\/span><span id=\"en-HCSB-15736\" class=\"text Ps-107-36\"> He causes the hungry to settle there, <\/span><span class=\"text Ps-107-36\">and they establish a city where they can live.\u00a0<\/span><span id=\"en-HCSB-15737\" class=\"text Ps-107-37\">They sow fields and plant vineyards <\/span><\/em><span class=\"text Ps-107-37\"><em>that yield a fruitful harvest.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n(Psa. 107:35-37) Praise the Lord that He creates fruitfulness where there is desolation. He provides what is needed, where it is needed&#8230;in abundance.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"en-HCSB-15741\" class=\"text Ps-107-41\"><em>&#8220;&#8230;He lifts the needy out of their suffering<\/em> <\/span><em><span class=\"text Ps-107-41\">and makes their families multiply like flocks.&#8221;<\/span> <\/em>(Psa. 107:41) Praise the Lord, He brings comfort to our suffering and cares for those, we care for the most.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, it is imperative that we don&#8217;t treat the Lords provision with contempt. We need to stop, ponder, observe and commit our lives to the One who can intervene in our present and secure our future.<em> &#8220;<span class=\"top-1\"><span id=\"en-HCSB-15743\" class=\"text Ps-107-43\">Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things <\/span><\/span><\/em><span class=\"text Ps-107-43\"><em>and consider the <span class=\"small-caps divine-name\">Lord<\/span>\u2019s acts of faithful love.&#8221;<\/em> (Psa. 107:43 HCSB)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This ended being a great Sunday for me. I had an early morning meeting with the Allies Men&#8217;s ministry team to work on logistics for our upcoming retreat. I then enjoyed having Steve Harris help me with a chapel service at Mackenzie Place in the morning and Jerry Pippin play the piano for an afternoon [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3027"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3030,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions\/3030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}