Bethel’s Rock Church

God created the world to have relationship with us, and in order to have a relationship with God, we have to understand that God is not holding out on us. Adam and Eve didn't get this though because they were deceived by the serpent into thinking that more knowledge will make them more like God, but the truth is that more knowledge won't save you but full surrender and repentance will. We have to learn from Adam and Eve's mistakes and realize that God is not trying to keep us from something but instead is is trying to free us from something. God loves you and is not waiting to see if you fail. He just wants a relationship with you.

Have you ever had a promise that God has given to you and you feel like nothing is happening? This happened to Sarah in her old age when she had received a promise from God that she would have a child even though she was past her child bearing age. Sarah instead of having patience for God to deliver on his promise, she took God's promise into her own hands and had her servant Hagar sleep with her husband Abraham. Sarah's mistake has lead to generations of conflict between God's chosen people and the Arab nations. We need to have patience and trust that God is not holding out on us, because a moment of patience can save us from a lifetime of regret.

God is a God of second chances. We need to stop letting bad choices define us. Even though Jonah had run away from God's calling and fled to Tarshish, God ended up rescuing him from the belly of a whale and still using him to help minister to the people of Nineveh. God did not give up on him. Don't let you past bad choices disqualify you for what God has for you.

Are you giving your best in life? God rewards those who give their best in obscurity. Do your best in the small things and God will reward you by giving you bigger things. Elisha started off staring at the behind of an ox, to becoming the successor to the great man of God Elijah and receiving a double portion of his blessing.

Have you ever had a God encounter where you don't understand him? Where you don't think God is doing is the right way. Mary would say, "Don't miss your moment with God." This is a bigger opportunity than you think. This is way better than you think. God's ways are not our way.

Trouble doesn't build character it reveals it. What if we started looking at our storms with God's perspective rather than our own.

If you can't find God, worship Him. He'll find you. God encounters will impact the direction of our lives. God wants to be encountered. God is not just a God to be understood. He wants to be experienced.

How can we have a better response to Pain? God never promised that pain wouldn't come. "In the world you are going to have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world." John 16:33. His plan was never to rescue you from all your pain, but to enable you to stand strong in the middle of your pain.

Has your life felt like a wrestling match? You watch other people and it seems like everything comes to them with such ease. God can encounter your life in a manner that will settle all of the wrestling matches you are in.