He Passes Through With Us!

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Transcript

Date Night That Changed The Point

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Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in the Word. I'm Ronnie Cooksie. My wife and I, I've told you before, but we go weekly on a date. And one time a few years ago, we went on such a date and we had three gift cards in our pocket, one to a local restaurant, one to an ice cream store, and one to a coffee shop. Well, we split something at the restaurant, so we spent half our card, and then we spent half of the card at the ice cream store. The coffee shop happened to be next door, and so we asked permission, and they said we could bring the ice cream over there. And I went to buy a cup of coffee with the coffee gift card. But the manager said that it was the coffee had been sitting there for 35 minutes and it was almost closing time, and if I didn't mind that coffee, I could have it for free. Sure, why not? Well, we thought the evening was going to be free, but it turned out to be better than free. We spent half of two of the cards. The third one, I wasn't even allowed to get it out of my pocket

Better Than Free Blessings

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because the coffee was free. And this is the way God deals with us so many times. I often have life better because of God's blessing than I deserve. I've sinned against him, I'm selfish, on and on, and yet I find that

Isaiah 43 And Unearned Favor

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God blesses me in spite of it all. This is what we see in Isaiah chapter 43. Israel has sinned against God. God in chapter 42 expresses his disappointment over how they've rejected him over and over. But then we turn the chapter to verse one of chapter 43. And there's not one thing Israel did to deserve God's favor. It was all a gift based on his character and not theirs. The same is true for us. Listen to this, Isaiah forty three. But now, thus says the Lord your creator, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, do not fear for I have redeemed you. I've called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I'll be with you, and through the rivers they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. Nothing can separate us from God's love. We looked at this yesterday. I have eight children, and there's nothing they could ever do to cause me to stop loving them. And for what basis does God determine to do such? He says it at the end of verse one, because we are his.

When You Walk Through Water

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If you have not, oh please do so today. But then he says in verse two that not if you pass through the water, and if you pass through the fire, but when you do, water and fire, the common destructive elements throughout history, great things used for the right purposes, but they're also very destructive. We live here in Southeast Louisiana, and certainly Southeast Louisiana knows about the destruction that water can cause. So he says, when you pass through, and this brings to mind what God did at the parting of the Red Sea, the parting of the Jordan River, saving Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of the fire, what will he do? He says that he will be with you. Praise the Lord. When times are the most difficult, God is there with you. He says, it won't be too much. It will feel like too much at times, but God says, I'm right there with you. I don't watch you go through the waters. I don't watch you go through the fire. God says, I am with you in the midst

God With Us In The Fire

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of it. How beautiful. I think of times over the years where as a father I've had to see my children undergo different medical procedures that I knew they didn't want, but that it would be better for them. And there are those times where I had to stand there and hold them and sometimes even have to hold them down when they were super young, and knowing how it was painful, but it was good for them. It was painful and terrible for me to watch as they were in my grasp the whole time, but I'd never forgotten them. I

A Father Holding On Through Pain

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was there with them. What are you going through today that you just need God to remind you that He is with you, carrying you through, seeing you through whatever it is that He's allowed into your life today? Take it to God in prayer today and just ask God to give you faith and strength to walk with Him day by day and to trust that even if you don't understand, He's faithful and it will not be too much because God is there with you. Well, God bless you. Thanks for listening. I look forward to seeing you back here next time.