MGD: God, Our Ever Present Help

Beloved, God bless you so much for connecting with us

here at Harvest Chapel International Kumasi. This is Pastor and Mrs. Amwasa.

We believe that this morning's glory devotion time will be

a blessing to you. Let's share a word of prayer. Father,

we thank you for this morning. And we praise you

for this opportunity to share in this time of fellowship

in the Word. We pray, O God, that in the

next couple of minutes you will minister your truth unto

us and reveal yourself unto us in a whole new way.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's take our confession from Joshua

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, the verse 8. This book of the law

shall not depart out of my mouth, but I shall

meditate in it day and night. that I may observe

to do according to all that is written in it.

For then I'll make my will prosperous, and then I'll

have good success. Amen. Our topic for this morning is God,

our ever-present help. God, our ever-present help. We'll take our

scripture reading from Psalm 46, the verse 1 to 3.

Psalm 46, the verse 1 to 3. God is our

refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore,

we will not fear, even though the earth be removed,

and though the mountains be carried into the midst of

the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though

the mountains shake with its swelling. Amen. God, our ever-present help.

Though this life is full of many uncertainties, one thing

we can be certain about is the inevitability of times

of peril. 2 Timothy 3, the verse 1 couldn't have

said it any better. But we know this, that in

the last days perilous times will come. Adversity, challenges and

peril are a big part of the world we live in.

Tracing it from the fall of man in the garden,

the Bible is very consistent on its account about sufferings,

pain and troubles. Job's story is the well-known reference story

of suffering, pain and adversity. God through this man tells

the story of one man who by no fault of

his loses everything, his riches, his family, his health. and who,

like many of us, wrestled and battled with the question,

why me? Another story is the story of the life

of Joseph. Born in Rees as a favorite child, the

young boy could have never been able to prepare himself

for the season of peril and difficulty he was thrust into.

Forced out of a place of love and comfort, he

saw himself in a pit. He overheard the plots of

death against his life by his own brothers. The only

possible salvation that was negotiated for him was to be

branded a slave boy and ridden off into a foreign land.

More perils soon followed for this boy. Accusations from his

master's wife, her word against his, and then finally he

ended up in prison. Beloved, another story we can share

is the story of our own Lord and Master Jesus Christ,

the man with the heart of gold. His sole purpose

in this world was to do good, to bring helps

and to sacrifice for others. Yet, the ending of his

life was plagued with sorrow and he was acquainted with grief.

He was despised and he was rejected. Isaiah 53 says,

was fully fulfilled in his life and he ended up

dying a shameful death for the same people who abused him.

The last story is the story of your own life

and you are the best person to share that story. Pain, loss,

suffering all around you. The many sleepless nights full of tears,

unmet expectations and heartbreaks. Some of us have had to

deal with consequences from previous mistakes and some of us

have also suffered losses. Loss of loved ones, loss of property,

businesses and investments. Everywhere we turn, challenges stare at us

in the face. Beloved, the lesson this morning is not

for us to mourn and dwell on the hardships and

difficulties but rather God wants to show us the light

that is at the end of the tunnel God is

very clear on his promises to be with us when

tragedy and calamity strikes. It is very easy for us

to think in times of trouble that God has abandoned us.

But beloved, this is far, far away from the truth.

God never leaves us. Psalm 23 verse 4 as we

Psalms 23:4

always recite says, Yea, though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Even though we may not have all the answers, we

know that God allows us to go through the things

we go through so that we are better equipped to

minister to other believers who may be facing similar challenges.

The trials and sufferings we face teach us compassion. You know,

many of us lack compassion for others. And God has

a way of breaking us through our challenges and helping

and teaching us empathy and to have compassion for others.

Trials in this life also prepare us for the glory

God will reveal in us one day. Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

the verse 18 says, For I consider that the sufferings

of this present time are not worthy to be compared

with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Beloved,

challenges come to strengthen our faith. 1 Peter chapter 1,

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

the verse 6 and 7 compares our faith to pure gold.

So just as gold is purified by fire, so is

our faith purified by difficulties and challenges. The good news, beloved,

is that we can thrive even in the midst of

the greatest challenges in this life. It is not the

darkness in the seasons of peril and challenges that would

dim the light that God has placed in us. We

can weather the storms, tear down the mountains and overcome

every hurdle if only we would trust and hold on

to the promises of God. The stories we highlighted earlier,

Job's story, Joseph's story and that of Jesus are ended

in restoration, elevation, victory and glorification. This period of pain,

adversity and challenges is not in itself an end. It

is only a means to an end. The end is

that God will prove His power and His love for you.

He will give you grace to go through until the

end when He comes to crown you in victory and glory. Beloved,

this morning you want to be encouraged to embrace this

truth and not allow any current storm to sway you

or the devil to deceive you that God has abandoned you. No,

God is your ever-present help. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's

take our memory verse for the morning from Psalm 46,

the verse 1. God is our refuge and strength, a

very present help in trouble. God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble. Amen. God bless you.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the

assurance that you have given us this morning. We thank

you that indeed you are our refuge and we thank

you for the strength to go through this season of peril.

We thank you, Lord, that the end is glorious. The

end is restoration for us. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

God bless you so much, beloved, for connecting and for

believing in the word that God has given us this morning.

Even as you step out there, may you see the

hand of God at work in your life. If there

be any challenges in your life, may God give you

the grace to overcome it all. In Jesus' name. Amen.

continue to stay connected here on Radio HCI today. Remember

as we take our first we invite you to join

in our 1060 hourly watch at the top of the

hour from 8 o'clock. We'll connect here and we'll pray

through our topic for the day. In Jesus' name, Amen.