Showing posts with label Discipline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Discipline. Show all posts

Friday, February 8, 2013

The Discipline of Darkness, Part 2


Here's part 2 of that wonderful sermon I heard that Adrian Rogers spoke.  These are the words that spoke to me.....

Sometimes in life we come to a time of darkness when the lights go out and nothing seems to make sense. Job was so perplexed, he demanded, “God, you owe me some answers!” Although God never specifically answered Job’s questions, Job came to learn something critically important: that God alone was enough — even without the answers.

Sometimes God may put us into darkness so we’ll learn that even without the answers, He is enough. We may not be able to say that and mean it until He is all that we have.

#3: Some Things Are Seen in the Dark That Cannot Be Seen in the Light
“And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” Isaiah 45:3

Sometimes the greatest treasures are discovered in the darkness. Darkness is not always the work of the evil one. It’s also one of God’s ways to teach.
Sometimes on the darkest night, the stars seem brightest. In the daylight, we may think the brightest thoughts, but at night we think the deepest thoughts.
#4: It Is Better to Lean on God in Darkness Than to Stand Alone in Man-Made Light
Isaiah 50:11 warns about lighting our own fire.  Man-made enlightenment can be deceptive.

 If we light our own fires and walk in that light, we’ll ultimately lie down in sorrow.
Abraham kindled his own fire after receiving God’s promise of a son. Tired of waiting, he produced Ishmael. Today the children of Abraham are still lying down in sorrow because of their conflict with Ishmael.
Moses received God’s promise but took things into his own hands. He became a murderer and set God’s work back forty years. Moses knew for forty years what it was to lie down in sorrow.
Simon Peter boasted that he would follow Jesus even to death. Then came dark Gethsemane. Peter did not understand and tried to light his own fire, cutting off the high priest’s servant’s ear. What an embarrassment to the cause of Christ! Peterwould lie down in sorrow that terrible night.
In a time of darkness, don’t create you own man-made light.

Adrian Rogers really has shown me how the most learned men of God can so easily fall.  I see that we can be so excited about what the Lord has taught us and shown us that we walk right into our own man-made light.  We must watch out for this and realize that all we have and know is from the Lord....without HIM we have nothing.

#5: If Your Sun Has Set, Be Sure Morning Will Come
Your dark night will come to an end. God will turn every hurt to a hallelujah, every tear into a pearl. Your Calvary will one day be an Easter.

It was a dark night for the disciples when Jesus was nailed to the cross and hung there, three hours of it literal darkness. It all seemed so inky black. His kingdom had shrunk to the narrow dimensions of a grave. But then came that glorious morning.


God sees through the dark.  His eyes are upon you in your darkness.

A little girl’s mother had died. Her first night apart from her mother, she felt alone in the darkness of her bedroom and left it to sleep with her daddy. They tried to sleep, but unable to see her father’s face, the little girl said, “Daddy, it is so dark. Is your face toward me?”

“Yes, darling, my face is toward you.”
“Daddy, you love me through the dark, don’t you?”
“Yes, sweetheart, Daddy loves you through the dark.” The little girl drifted off to sleep.
That strong man slipped out of bed, fell on his knees and prayed, “Heavenly Father, it is so dark. Is Your face toward me?”
The answer came from heaven, “Yes, My child, My face is toward you.” “Father, do You love me through the dark?”
“Yes, My child, I love you through the darkest night.” The father joined his precious daughter in much-needed sleep.
An unknown poet has written:
So I go on, not knowing;
I would not know if I might.
I would rather walk with Christ in the dark
Than to walk alone in the light.


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Friday, February 1, 2013

The Discipline of Darkness, Part 1



Thank you for joining me this wonderful Sunday morning!  I listened to a wonderful sermon...  Adrian Rogers, now with His Lord, gave this awesome sermon which reminded me of the importance of suffering.  I hope you will take the time to check it out Part 1 and Part 2!


Here are some important points that really spoke to me and I hope they will speak to you during your time of need or maybe during someone else in your lives that may be of need.

#1: Those of Greatest Devotion May Know the Deepest Darkness
“Who is among you that fears the LORD, that obeys the voice of His servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.” (Isaiah 50:10)

Darkness is not unusual for God’s choicest saints. No matter how close we walk to God, it’s not always sweetness and light. Who ever came up with the distorted idea that if we give our lives to Jesus, all will be joy and rose petals?

Job was a saint who went through much suffering.  Remember what he said.....
Job, godly man, wrote, “He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and He hath set darkness in my paths” (Job 19:8).

Paul, the great apostle, said, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).


So if you’re in darkness, you’re in good company.
Notice that Isaiah describes the person in darkness as one who “fears Him and obeys the voice of His servant.” Darkness, therefore, does not mean we have sinned or are out the will of God.

# 2: The Faith That Is Born in the Light Often Grows in the Dark
“We should never doubt in the dark what God has shown us in the light.”

I like this...really let this sink in.  I had not stopped to think about this in this manner.  It seems that at times when we are in suffering its hard for us to really grasp what is going on because we are focused on just surviving...when if we would focus on God...there would be no need for us to do anything.  God has done it all for us!

It is in darkness that we have to trust the Lord and “stay” upon Him. Think carefully: when have you grown the most? In sunny days when everything seemed perfect? Or at midnight when you cried out to God? It was in the darkness that you grew, wasn’t it?

 God wants us to develop a faith that goes beyond our understanding and experience. How you act in the dark is the real test of your character

I like what Adrian Rogers concludes in his sermon....  It makes a lot of sense.

What should you do when the lights suddenly go out in your life?
·  First, look to the Lord. Isaiah 50:10 says “trust in Him.” Just because things don’t make sense to you doesn’t mean they don’t make sense. And just because they don’t make sense now, doesn’t mean they won’t make sense some day. If it doesn’t make sense, nonetheless trust the Lord.

·  Not only trust, but also obey. Don’t stop praying for an unsaved spouse, even if they seem to get worse. Don’t stop giving in a financial reverse. Don’t stop witnessing, even if no one seems to respond. Don’t stop praising, even if you don’t feel like praising.

·  Lean upon the Lord. “Stay” comes from the word for “staff.” Just as a shepherd leans on his staff, lean upon the Lord. David said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thouart with me.” (Psalm 23:4) It’s better to be in a dark valley, leaning on Jesus, than on a sunlit mountain without Him.

We may not understand, but relationship is really more important than reason. It may be that we do not know Why in order that we may know Who. In the dark valley, David no longer talks about the Lord (“the Lord is my shepherd”), he now talks to the Lord (“Thou are with me”).

However dark life becomes, you will find Jesus standing somewhere in the shadows.

Awesome!  Jesus is always with us!!!

By Adrian Rogers

Click Below to Read Adrian Rogers' Article:
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/love-worth-finding/read/articles/the-discipline-of-darkness-part-1-11898.html

Click Below to Listen!