-Transcript-
00:36 Amen. Glory to God, Welcome to the program. Welcome to the cafe. Pastor Clark Covington here with another episode of KJV Cafe. I’m so glad But you’re joining us here today.
00:35 Hey, is it your first time listening to KJV Cafe? If it is, you can visit us online at kjavcafe.com and you can learn more about our ministry and you can access past episodes.
J Um, we’ve got some on SoundCloud, we’ve got links to YouTube. We have a newsletter, you can subscribe to that. I’m still kind of working on getting up and running. We’ve been links to our Facebook, their KJV Cafe.com kjv.
01:07 Facebook page is facebook.com forward, slash KJV Cafe. We have messages there, Amen. And then, of course, we have YouTube and it’s youtube.com forward slash at sign the @KjvCafe.
01:24 So there you go. In case you want to visit us online. So many places you can check us out. Uh, and I thank you again for listening and privileged to have you here today.
01:35 Now, what are we going to talk about today? We’re going to talk about God and his great power. Amen. Is God able? That is the title of the message today. This is a multi-part series on.
01:42 Is God able, you know, God is all powerful. I want you to think about that for a minute. Do you believe that God is all-powerful? Do you believe that God can do as he pleases or do you think that God is somehow restrained?
02:01 That the world just doesn’t work that way. That God Is limited in any sense. Now think about that is that not kind of what the world is communicating to us. That man has to take things into their own hand that God is not able to rescue them that we need to worry in Fret and do all these kind of things in our own power.
02:27 You know, I believe, with all my heart that God is able to do miraculous things That God has all power. And that when we see God not move, it’s not because he’s restrained, but rather he is chosen not to move out of his sovereign.
02:44 Wisdom, You have a friend. That’s sick. They have a terminal disease. You pray and pray and pray that God will keep them here. God takes them home. So, how God could you do that?
02:55 Well God has a lot of reasons. Why I think they’re uh, in one of the Old Testament books. God speaks of, I don’t, you know, I took them home to, to prevent them from seeing the evil of the day and there’s so many reasons why God may take them home.
03:09 Now, we don’t understand them. You know, the Bible says that his ways are higher than our ways as high as the heavens are from the earth. So we don’t understand all of God’s ways, but his plan is the best plan and his plan oftentimes is very different than ours. Amen.
03:23 There’s an old saying that we make plans in God laughs, and I really believe that the older I get the more I believe that’s true. That oftentimes, You know, my plan growing up, was try to play professional football.
03:38 Well that didn’t work out after a year in college. I was pretty much done with football, Okay? Then I didn’t know what my plan was but I never thought my plan would be the primarily first and foremost, I’ll be a preacher for the Lord on the radio,
03:49 you know, among other things among the, you know, in terms of vocation doing that and doing, uh, Computer work for a job and being a dad and Pastor a small church and all these other things,
04:01 I never thought, that’s what I would do. But that’s God’s plan. You could look back and say something very similar in your life.
04:09 And what that means is that God is all-powerful, he knew from the beginning, what his plan would be for you and he is willing and able to do great things in your life, if you let him.
04:18 So nothing is too hard for God. But do we really believe that are? We experiencing his power today. Let me give you my text first here. Jeremiah 32:27 Behold. I am the Lord. The god of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?
04:38 Jeremiah 32:27 behold. I am the Lord capital L capital O capital r capital. D. The god of All Flesh. Is there anything too hard for me now in Jeremiah 32 27?
04:49 What is the context of that verse what was happening in the Book of? Jeremiah Jeremiah is known as the weeping Prophet? He’s addressing God’s people the Israelites. Amen. Who are facing?
05:00 What captivity? They’re getting taken away. By the Babylonians In in very uh, Uh, humiliating Fashions in ways that are that are downright. Disgusting and disturbing.
05:14 They’re getting taken away by the Babylonians, their their land is being taken from them. They’re being taken by foreigners. They’re going off into a land that they don’t know.
05:23 Having to serve false gods, that they’re not even familiar with having to do things that they didn’t want to do, right? They’re being taken away from their God. Why? Because just hard times because a tough luck Or was God saying to the prophet of Jeremiah,
05:40 if you read Jeremiah, you’ll clearly be able to tell It’s because of their sin. It’s because they’re rebellion. It’s because they had turned their backs on God, God lists out all the specificity in the Book of Jeremiah prophet.
05:53 Jeremiah prophet Ezekiel, The specificity in these books.
05:58 I mean, it’s so specific with the sin was that they had Idols in their life that they had turned their back on God. You know, I was calling out to the Lord in prayer uh just this morning.
06:09 I think it was saying, Lord. You’re so specific there. How hard has it been for you? God to not be so specific now and we don’t have a modern day profit. We just have the Bible.
06:19 We don’t have a modern. We have a, the Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul, We don’t have someone like Jeremiah that’s telling us that’s telling the priests and telling the rulers of our day.
06:31 What we have done To deserve judgment But they actually had a profit Jeremiah who spoke on behalf of God. You know, you you read the text. The text literally says, son of man.
06:43 Jeremiah say this to the people, thus, saith the Lord, it’s literally recording. God speaking to Jeremiah, to the people about their sin, and, and all of their problems and all of their, um, Things that are happening to them.
06:58 Coming to them, by the way, of their Rebellion by the idols, and by the false gods in their life, by the Abominations by them, not following God’s Commandments, remember the Old Testament Israelites were under the law and they had basically said, we’re not going to follow it.
07:18 We’re not going to reverence God, we’re not going to conform to Godly ways, which were so different than the world’s ways. And think, about at that time, Egypt was the big worldly power and so forth, Babylon.
07:22 These, these these plate nations were ruling, their polytheists right there were ruling. Uh, they were, they were worshiping multiple gods and they were making themselves Gods, and they were, uh, creating all of these crazy sacrifices.
07:36 Uh, ones of a grotesque nature like taking their baby. Their little children, uh, to the god of fire, I think it was molec and sacrificing their children to molec, Amen. They were doing all of these things in the name of their false gods.
07:48 Uh, and yet, God himself is saying, nothing is too hard for me. So think of the context here, what God is saying is, you don’t have to be in this scenario, you’ve put yourself in the scenario and then we see in Isaiah 59:1 behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save.
08:05 Neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. So we see again this reinforcement that God isn’t like not able to help those that have fallen into difficult times but oftentimes we need to reflect on what is going on.
08:18 Jeremiah 32 is as well earlier in the chapter verse 17. Oh Lord God behold that has made the heaven and the Earth by that great power and stretched out arm, there is nothing too hard for thee.
08:32 So Jeremiah is pointing out to the Israelites to God’s people that God made the heaven. So you look up at the sky, look at the complexity, look at the millions of stars. You look at the Earth.
08:46 I mean, goodness. I went to Blue Ridge Georgia the other day. It’s just spectacularly. Beautiful. I think a Tennessee in the Smoky Mountain National Park, it’s just absolutely beautiful.
08:53 Go out west and, you know, see, Colorado, Rockies and other Grand Canyon and, uh, go to the beach, you know, looking at Hawaii and Fiji and all these places I have not been, but they look absolutely stunning.
09:04 God, made those things. God, made that place that God. Amen. You look at animals and the complexity of animals you learn about them. God made those creatures. You look at humans and you see that God made them.
09:13 Amen. Behold the hand of the Lord is not shortened that it cannot save. Neither his ear heavy. That it cannot hear. Not only can God still do a good work, but God can hear your prayers.
09:28 You know, the Bible says that God hears, the prayers of the righteous, But then he’s far from the wicked, think about that. So many people probably pass by a verse like, that and just say, ah, whatever next verse.
09:40 No, no think about that. If you’re living in the world, if you’re living wickedly, don’t expect God to hear your prayers. The Israelites were living in the world, they were living wickedly and they wanted God to hear their prayers.
09:48 But he wouldn’t hear their prayers because they were not repentant before him. They were not Faithful to him On and on Numbers 11:23, and the Lord sent unto Moses is the Lord’s hand wax short, thou shalt. See.
10:06 Now, whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not? You know, we have to remind ourselves sometimes. I mean, Moses had a wonderful relationship with the Lord, amen. No, he wasn’t perfect.
10:14 And he fell short and on and on. But he was humbled beyond humble And he asked God for help and God provided it over and over again. And God showed him.
10:23 You know we ask God for help you know Lord help us make it through the day do we reflect back and say God you helped us, you did that.
10:31 We need to look at God’s power in that light and say, Lord. All of these great things. Today, I want to give you the glory for it, you know, I I mentioned this recently on an episode or two my wife had surgery last week and we were just in awe at how God had set things up for her surgery because it was a pretty serious surgery and we were worried and she had to go under anesthesia and on.
10:55 And on I was out of town on a Ministry trip and all these things And God had lined up all of these pieces perfectly. Um, We, he had a missionary family that’s staying in our house. Come back.
11:08 A little early and pick up our kids from Grandma’s house. Uh, he had, um, me go out there, uh, to work with a radio station in Raleigh, and kept me busy. When I would have been in a waiting room, just melting down.
11:19 And he had me, get back to the hospital within about 30, 40 minutes of, when she was actually placed in a room where I could visit. So, literally all of these little pieces that just seemed like, maybe coincidence, like Serendipity,
11:31 where God’s hand and so we gave him the praise and look what God did the Living God arranged it this way. And praise God, we gave him. The praise in that room. I’m giving you give him him.
11:39 The praise today. And most importantly I’m letting you know that his hand is not whacked short That we see his will done every day in our lives. If we’ll look close enough, Genesis 18:14 is anything too hard for the Lord?
11:53 This is here God’s speak in Abraham. At the time appointed. I will return unto thee, according to the time of life. And Sarah shall have a son. You know what again even today?
12:03 If we thought about someone 95 or 90 years old, or 100 years old, having kids? What would you say say that’s impossible. That’s improbable.
12:11 But it’s not impossible for God, the Living God, the Creator. God, I mean, you want to get into birth and miraculous births. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. Amen. God kind of set the standard there, so we see that.
12:21 Amen. What’s it to God? To have a child? Be born of a woman of old age of 90 years old, or, uh, Abraham being a hundred years old. What is that? That’s nothing to God. He has all power, he is the Creator.
12:32 God And yet we look at God as he’s short-handed somehow, You know, I’m gonna get into in the second episode. Tapping into God’s power unlocking, God’s power. I know that sounds very uh New Ag and prosperity like but it’s a very much rooted in Bible. So tune in for that.
12:50 But before we get to that in this episode, I just want you to think about God’s power And how big it is. You know, what problem? Do you have?
12:58 That’s too big for God. I go to God With problems every day And some of them seem very significant and I worry, you know, I’ll give it to God and I’ll be frank with God. Of course, I offer Thanksgiving in my prayer.
13:09 It’s how we’re supposed to start our prayers And then I’m just very blunt sometimes, you know, not too ritualistic or anything. I just say, outright you know. Lord, I’m worried about this.
13:19 I know I shouldn’t worry and I know I’m the preacher and all these things. God, I’ve got a concern here. God, how we gonna make this bill? How are we gonna get by on this?
13:28 How we’re gonna suit up? This Thing correctly and get this other job done, whatever it is And he answers the prayer Every single time even if it’s not how I imagined it. Even if things are razor thin.
13:42 Amen, I heard a missionary once say on the radio That he stopped asking God for things down the line and just said, okay, God about today today because things in his world were really day to day and each day, he was able to meet that need for that day, and he was speaking of finances and I thought it was so perfect.
13:59 Like, you know, are we okay for today? Did we make it through today? Amen. And that is our God. He is so powerful and I believe, sometimes he does things like that. To help us see him in our lives.
14:11 So clearly, and if everything was so smooth and we were just so abundant and always of life, it might be difficult to understand how good God’s spend and to see his hand at work.
14:22 Wish I had more time. But for today, that’s it. Tune in next time. As we learn more about God’s incredible power.14:28 Take care. God bless, and amen.