In fact, an unlikely Book, from which to get any encouragement … Lamentations!

A Book of tears, wailing, mourning for loss, extreme loss in Judah’s case!

Yet it is Lamentations that teaches us God “mercies” are inexhaustibly fresh! And that God is ever Faithful! As in this beautiful King James wording: “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23. Not bad encouragement lines within themselves! (At first Jeremiah here is talking about God, then ends up talking directly to God!)

So now … just a little further into Lamentations chapter 3 we find the “jewel” that is today’s Lesson, today’s Text … “For he (the Lord) doth not afflict willingly ….” Lamentations 3:33

Yes, He does “come down hard” on us at times! (That’s what “anah,” here rendered as “afflict” patently implies.) But not “willingly.” (Translating “leb,” not from His very “Heart!”)

Beautiful!

Yes, God sends us “heavy times, hard experiences” … but only when necessary!

Not simply at His pleasure!

There must be some “greater good” at stake!

That’s how Paul viewed his afflictions, anyway. “For our light AFFLICTION, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of GLORY.” Wow, 2 Corinthians 4:17, another good verse for encouragement, “in the long haul,” as Dad used to say!

I sometimes say God trades our pound of affliction for a ton of glory/eternal reward!

“He doth not afflict willingly!”

So, while you are “in the fire,” my friend … no doubt God has His mighty Hand on the “thermostat!” He KNOWS what He is doing!

He reluctantly, not joyfully or willingly, “afflicts” us.

Always for our “good” and His “glory!”

Now in closing, let me give you the whole “context” in which our “nugget” for today is set: “But though He (God) cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.”

Amazing!

And I pray, helpful to someone today …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

I recently heard a Sermon (in a Jubilee Meeting recently) on Jesus washing the Disciples’ feet. The Lord used that Text (John 13) to warm my heart. In fact, my printer right now is preparing a “Bible Portion Booklet” with John 13 being its main content. Yes, I plan (under the Lord’s direction and timing, I mean) to preach a whole week’s Revival (normally 5 Sermons) using that single 17 Verse Swath of Scripture!

As I perused that great Paragraph of God’s Word … this line came to the forefront. Jesus told these still wet-footed men: “What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.” John 13:7

This sentence exploded with sweetness in my heart!

Oh, God does so much in our lives that we do not understand!

Things “we know not,” for sure!

But (and here may be the key word) “hereafter!”

When we all get to Heaven?

Once in our glorified bodies?

During the Millennium?

Nobody is absolutely sure about the “precise” chronology of “hereafter,” but that still does not dim the brilliant hope of its promise!

“…but thou shalt know hereafter.”

Hallelujah!

Reminds me of Paul’s statement: “For NOW we see through a glass, darkly; but THEN face to face: NOW I know in part; but THEN shall I know ….” 1st Corinthians 13:12

Oh, the importance of these little adverbs!

“NOW” … I do not see clearly.

“THEN” … I will know it all, having been illuminated by our loving, omniscient God!

Friend, what is God DOING in your life right now?

Does it hurt?

Has it brought tears to you eyes?

Does it seem “not to make sense?”

Again, listen to this great God, a direct Quote: “What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.”

But we have this peace, this assurance … God’s great “hereafter” is coming!

Then, taught by Himself … we shall “know!”

And say … “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Romans 11:33-36

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

And be sure and read yesterday’s Lesson (posted late last night) if you have not done so! It is encouraging! I think you will agree!

 

WRITTEN 10:15 PM, THURSDAY NIGHT, MARCH 15, 2018

All day long my heart yearned to write another Lesson on the subject of encouragement. That’s the subject of our current Series.

But our day began early, shortly before sunup in Canton, North Carolina. The sweet Revival Meeting there ended last night. So we promptly drove home and I immediately repacked and headed south to Villa Rica, Georgia. Our exit here is number 24 on Interstate 20, roughly 24 miles from the Alabama State line!

Busy, busy, busy!

Thus … no time to write that encouragement Lesson, all day long I mean!

Then this evening I preached at the Gateway Baptist Church here in town. Verse by verse exposition (or an attempt at it anyway) from our precious New Testament.

Then it happened!

As I gave the invitation a young man raised his hand as lost, needing Jesus!

I encouraged him (from the pulpit) to come to Jesus!

We sang and he walked the aisle!

And the Lord saved him!

He believed on the Lord Jesus Christ!

Then I understood … even though I did not get to write my Lesson about encouragement, the Lord had given me a firsthand view of a miracle!

Of maybe the greatest spring of encouragement ever for a Christian … a sinner being born again!

And all I can say is “Praise the Lord!”

My encouragement Lesson for today!

Pray for Chris now, please. That he will grow in the grace of God! Here he is pictured alongside the Pastor, Brother Josh Agan.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Encouraged!

 

I started to say we have here a “prayer promise” for those hard times.

That’s true insofar as it goes, that statement. But Psalm 50:15 is much MORE than just a promise. It is a command from God! A STARK COMMAND!

Let me show you.

“Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee.” Psalm 50:15, an exhibition of the Power of Almighty God! Short … and certainly sweet!

How simple, this little Verse!

And yet how helpful!

Plus … how very TRUE!

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee.”

The verb “call” is spelled “qara” in Hebrew. It’s the first word in the Hebrew sentence, the verse, by the way. Lending it great importance in the grammatical syntax there. It’s the “power” word of the whole sentence!

If we don’t “call,” God just might not “deliver!”

But as I’ve already indicated, “qara” is further framed as an “imperative” verb. It is expressing a demand, a requirement, a mandate! An “order” from our great God … “call upon me!”

The sentence has a short “cause-and-effect” sequence, too.

IF WE CALL (the cause) … GOD WILL DELIVER (the Effect)!

Wow!

And yes, this is clearly a promise, based on the character of the Lord Himself. (God absolutely cannot lie, Titus 1:2 tells us. And Hebrews 6:18 adds that it is “impossible” for God to lie!)

All that is left is for us humans (who are often in trouble) to practice, exercise the promise!

Oh yes, “trouble” is “tzsrah,” meaning the “distressful, tight, cramping, anguish-filled” places and times of life. (“Tzsrah” is actually from a root verb that hints “everything is squeezing in on you, from all sides, and all at once!) This leaves open the possibility that this “trouble” can be widely varied! Whatever heartache YOU are experiencing this moment!

Then comes the “verb” that is our God’s Responsibility … “will deliver.” It’s spelled “chalatzs” and is only used 44 times in the whole Old Testament! It means “to rescue,” as with an armed guard! At times it can even mean “to arm” the sufferer, so he or she can fight his or her way out of the situation! Plus, the verb is in the “Piel” stem, meaning God energetically handles this mode of delivery! Powerfully so!

Mercy!

Hallelujah!

Oh, one more thing this morning.

God does want to be thanked when He sends such deliverance!

He deserves to be glorified!

The full verse: “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” Psalm 50:15, surely the least we can do … GLORIFY our loving Heavenly Father! (Glorify, “kabad” in Hebrew … letting God know how verey “heavy,” how “weighty,” how “important” He is in your life!)

What a verse, Psalm 50:15!

By the way, it is parallel to another “Call upon Me” promise in Scripture. “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3, and yes … God is still the One talking!

I sincerely pray these Biblical thoughts will HELP someone reading here today!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Most of you are familiar with the story of Job, the great Old testament Patriarch. How he, apparently very wealthy, was visited with calamity and loss, suddenly and unexpectedly. And you remember how well he responded, especially at first, to his distress!

“And (Job) said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1:21

Today’s Text, today’s Lesson, part of it anyway: “THE LORD GAVE.” Then … “THE LORD HATH TAKEN AWAY.”  (Yet Job still worshipped God, not becoming bitter) “BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!”

Now do be aware that most of the Book of Job focuses on the time period after “THE LORD TOOK AWAY” all Job’s dearest possessions (including family, all of his ten children).

So far, there’s not much “encouragement” in these lines!

But in Job chapter 42 … “THE LORD GAVE AGAIN!”

Did you hear me? “THE LORD GAVE AGAIN!”

“So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters.” As I said, Job 42:12-13.

Yes, the Lord Who had taken away … gave again!

There is the encouragement!

Dear friend, struggling over some kind of loss … it well may be in your case too … the Lord will give again!

I am reminded of a line in John 2:10, after a certain wedding party had foolishly depleted their supply of wine … and Jesus created more! “Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.” The BEST was saved until the LAST, because Jesus was present! (Keep Jesus in the middle of your problem!)

Suffering reader here today … God may have something “better” just around the corner!

A quick illustration: Elijah was supported during a long famine by a babbling book and some flying ravens! (Read here: “And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.” 1 Kings 17:6)

But soon came trouble, loss … “It came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.” Yes, Elijah in dire straits (again), his comfort now being taken away!

(The Lord gave. The Lord took away!)

But next … almost immediately … “And the word of the LORD came unto Elijah, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” God brought a widow lady into the Prophet’s life, one that knew how to cook! You can smile, if you’d like!

I’d say … better than the raven-provided food!

So once again, characteristically … The Lord gave. Then the Lord took away (the brook dried up) … then (as usual) the Lord gave again (with the last state being better first)!

Hallelujah!

If this does not encourage us …

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell