The Quarantined Life - Part B

How many of us are captivated by our phones captivated by her device captivated two things. Watching the show on television. We have four appointments and he continues and says so many of us need to realize you have always modern life spoke a lot about benefits so today on connect with skip-Skip encourages you to set aside the busy constant noise security of this world to put your trust in God first escape was to let you know how your support and keep faith enriching messages coming to well there's no doubt that these are interesting times that we live in, but they can become unnerving and unsettling, especially as we become more and more isolated from one another more than ever we need the truth, and encouragement of God's word to help give us God's perspective when the temptation can be to embrace fear and anxiety more aggressively here at connect with Isaac. We believe that God has called us to help encourage and equip you in such a time as this. We have messages and resources on our website@connectwith.com and on our mobile app as we continue to send out teaching of God's word around the world gets more important than ever that we don't have to pull back on our ministry because of finances, your gift today will help us continue to deliver God's word to you and others in this new remote environment we find ourselves.

You can call 800-922-1888 or you can visit us@connectblitzgift.com to give your gift today. Thank you for standing with us in these times. Thank you, Skip now you Skip I said with today's teacher you remember when Jesus and his Galilean ministry in his disciples he was going everywhere with them and it says in Mark chapter 6 then because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So when they went away by themselves in a boat they came to a solitary place they were alone. This is to get Restasis physical restoration. You know him I've had to rest lately by force and any of you who have followed my life and ministry the last few months I mentioned in the last couple studies with three surgeries and the doctors are saying now go home and rest. It's very difficult for me to do and in fact there is a verse in Psalm 23 you know the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

You know that you know the chapter it says he makes me lie down in green pastures that verse came alive to me in the hospital.

He makes me lie down on the gutter lying down for for most of my ministry life.

I have maintained a scheduler probably isn't a good schedule life I worked six days and I kind of taken it from the Old Testament model of six days you shall work one day you shall rest. Only thing is I do know is rest on that a Sabbath which is for me on Monday I worked six days a week, sometimes 10, sometimes 12, sometimes 16 hours a day depending on what what what there was, and so the Lord is just showing me know what if you're not going to do it make you do it and were all in that boat. Now the Lord is made us rest and maybe he wants us to get physically renewed for whatever is coming next so Christian dear brother and sister. Please use this time for physical restoration is a second benefit not just physical restoration, spiritual edification, hey, enjoy God's presence during this time in the midst of the chaos. I think this is when Christians really come alive. This when we shine. This is when this shows the difference between being a believer and unbeliever, you know, we have a peace that passes all understanding. We should be enjoying that we should experience the joy of the Lord, who is our strength.

So enjoy spending time in God's presence. You know, for me in this.

Abreast I found myself getting up early at 536. I like to go on prayer walk selective time in the word I go on walks just talking to the Lord a pouring out my heart before him on on a couple mile walk, and I find it very very spiritually edifying massive question. How often in the past have you said man I wish I had more time to read the Bible. Man I wish I had more time to pray. Man I wish my ample time to read that book. Now you got the time, so use it, use it.

Psalm 46 verse 10 you know it. Be still and know that I am God notes it's much easier to be still, when you're alone in solitude. Lamentations chapter 3 is a great verse that speaks to that are sort of buttresses that the Lord is good to those who wait for him to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord, let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid that on him so God is laid this on us all around the world. As Christians we can take this time to meet alone with God.

Regularly Moses did that Moses met with God. The Bible says face-to-face as a man speaks to his friend deepen your friendship with God.

During this time. Not only did Moses do it. Elijah did it. Jacob did it several others in the Bible did a bit, you know, our best example is the Lord Jesus Christ. He did it.

He withdrew himself. The Bible says regularly into the wilderness and there he prayed for example, Mark chapter 1 now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, he went out and departed to a solitary place and there he prayed the words of the great old him by Helen level. Most of us know what turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. As the time to put that into practice. So to good benefits. The quarantine is beneficial physical restoration number two spiritual edification. Here's 1/3 self evaluation. You know when you're alone, you can think about you is or will I do that quite well anyway why I know we all do work were all self-centered by nature. But when you're alone and you are in the presence of God.

So you are letting God evaluate you and then you evaluate yourself in the light of that, that becomes very powerful. This is what David meant in Psalm one 139 when he said search me oh God, and know me, try me and know my anxious thoughts and reveal to me. Show me if there's anything wicked in my life. God already knows you write all things are naked and open before the one to whom we must give an account. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 4, but then as you evaluate yourself in the light of God's presence and let him reveal yourself that self evaluation becomes powerful. You know that even Jesus, though he knew all things before he made a very we would call difficult choice or weighty choice. He spent time alone. So before he chose his 12 disciples, he spent time alone with God. It says in Luke six it came to pass in those days as he went into the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. He's all alone with his father and when it was day he called his disciples to himself and from them he chose 12 whom he also named apostles. So, even Jesus, though he knew all things spent time alone with the father in prayer before making a very weighty choice that was confronting now. All of this being alone self quarantining self-evaluation, helps us to refocus our priorities on what is truly important in the one of the things this crisis does in a good way is let's us know what is important and what's not important right relationships are important work reaching out to be wife. I've heard from so many people who have texted me or emailed me are seen on posts other reconnecting with their family there forgiving past ascends in and a sons and daughters who been alienated or suddenly coming back in and a lot of that stuff is just going away as chaff to the wheat.

That's good news or good things for to happen where reshuffling and reorganizing our priorities back. I was a single one apologetics professors that suffering is beneficial because not only does it make us aware of our own mortality. And God doesn't want us to be secure in this life, but one of the great things it does is helps us fulfill the mandate in first John for his do not love the world nor the things that are in this world of any man love the father of the world love the father is not in God didn't want us to be loving this world and this time of suffering and hopefully self-evaluation helps you realize you I'm in love in the world a little too much.

I need to get away from that God accomplishes that through suffering. So we have three things so far as benefits to a quarantine physical restoration spiritual edification and self evaluation.

Mitchell fourth inner consolation inner consolation when you're alone, you can deal with things like grief at its deepest level, but don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that when you are going to a period of grief. If you are that you should be alone and deal with it by yourself because we do need to share with others and we need to pour out our briefs to those who can give us counsel and give us wisdom, but when you're alone with God. That's when it's most powerful. You know, our Lord Jesus was inform one day of the death of his good friend and his forerunner. John the Baptist it was grieving to the disciples of John the Baptist grieving to the disciples of Jesus and even sad for our Lord Jesus himself.

It says when Jesus heard about it, he departed from there by about to a deserted place by himself.

He could deal with that brief with the father in the presence of God at its deepest level in Luke chapter 22. Jesus was distressed.

Again, this time not because of the death of a friend, but his own suffering. He was facing the cross. It says he withdrew from his disciples about a stones throw, knelt down and he prayed father. If it is your will take this cup from me. He's wrestling with it. He's dealing with it alone before his father.

So, to sum it up, there are certainly physical benefits and medical benefits to being quarantined. There are spiritual benefits and emotional benefits to being quarantined so I see this as it is a time of purification for the church for believers. You know were were dealing with life at a hold different level.

Don Whitney said and I quote one of the costs of technological advancement which is where we are in this day and age is a greater temptation to avoid quietness. How many of us are captivated by our phones captivated by her devices captivated to binge watching the show on television is like. We abhor quietness and he continues and says so many of us need to realize the addiction we have 10 noise modern life tends to rob us of the benefits of solitude, so, so we have we.

We have two things so far to quarantine is biblical and the quarantine is also beneficial me give you 1/3 quarantine is practical, we can turn this into one of our most productive times ever. I'm glad I worship leaders appear around me some to try to challenge in a Minotaur worship, community, and those who are watching online. Think of it this way, Paul the apostle gave to us. Some of the best New Testament letters while he was in jail he was quarantine and in a Roman prison and he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Those four letters in one single bout of being quarantined. There's another one, though not a spiritual source necessarily, but in 1606 when a plague struck England William Shakespeare was quarantine in his home during his quarantine. He wrote these three works see if they ring a bell. McBeth King Lear, and Antony and Cleopatra. That's well he was quarantine during an outbreak of the disease so here's my challenge worship interest. Some of your best work to come from this time is your on downtime and you have time to think you could produce the next set of hymns.

The church so so we have we. We have we have some practical things we can do one of the most practical things is more family time. Get to know your family records manager my kids at home. They can go to school all quarantine together again.

How many times in the past of you long for.

For more deeper, authentic family time. Now you have one father on twitter said at last, I'm practicing more homeschooling for our boys. He went on to explain my wife did all the homeschooling. Now I'm able to participate in that. We've even had one who uses that an act with Skip and Lenny had at the table talk they were doing live on Tuesdays and Thursdays as homeschooling curriculum for his kids and and is group so that's very, very creative. I was on the website this week called crosswalk.com which is a Christian site they gave all sorts of great practical ideas for families were stuck at home when he toss out a few to you boardgames to great way to know somebody a great way to deal with frustration and anger during a board game putting a puzzle together that can be a challenge about projects. As a family cleaning out the garage cleaning out the pantry, both of which my wife says we need to do. Here's another thing journaled this experience. I don't know if you practice that spiritual discipline but it's a good thing to Journal what is happening in the world today, something that I do and and and we're living in an historic times. Teach your children the value of the journal, how about this, see kids, your assignment is to in newspapers or magazines cut out headlines and will paste them in a little family scrapbook. I'll do the writing and we can all contribute together, or you assign one child, a one aspect of a one day, one child another, but learn about this together.

The more you talk about it the better and easier it will be for them. Here's another example on crosswalk.com. Teach your kids a new skill for older kids teach about a change oil in their car. Teach them how to play an instrument. If you're a musician you know you've got time to do the teaching to weed the yard. If you'd like another good practical thing would be is to sit down and look over old photographs with the Arava old photo albums or you have a minor device kind of take your your kids, your family through your own family history and go through those photographs and talk about what life was like as you share those memories and make memories and by the way, be sure to photograph this time of quarantine. You gonna want that later on for for the future for posterity. Another practical thing is make cards to send to people. This is what you actually have to use something called a pen and you pick up the pen and you actually write words with your hand instead of typing or texting.

It you write it out. You even draw pictures might my granddaughter is a beautiful little artists in my grandson and granddaughter when I was sick in the hospital road out by hand.

What they were feeling and what they were, wishing, and what they were praying and drew pictures you could make cards like One-A-Day and send this to loved ones, even people in the neighborhood.

Here's another thing in all end with this practical stuff on on family time have a picnic as a family. Go to the mountains you girly backyard you could camp in your backyard you could camp inside your house.

You can go outside and cloud watch and say what is that shape remind you of let's make animals in the sky all the silly little things that your kids will treasure in years to come. I even say this get a pair of binoculars or a telescope.

I love to do this with my grandson and look up at the stars and the moon talk about God's goodness in God's greatness. So all of those are practical more family time activities.

Then finally, as a practical adventure more ministry time or ministry opportunity. One of the things I have noticed and I been so happy for, and proud of you for is how you all stepped up to the plate to see how you could minister to the community, especially the most vulnerable.

Thank you for getting involved in her kindness campaign were collecting food items, toilet paper, disinfectants bleach cleaner were sending it out to different homes we've been making him a runs all day long. In the last several days. Here's a few highlights from our kindness campaign. There was one man who had COPD has COPD chronic onset pulmonary disorder he's on oxygen so as to have a cannula in his nose he has arthritis. He cannot leave his room. We send somebody out and when he saw our staff member show up on the second story where he lives, apartment with with the bag of food and supplies. He was so elated. It was so excited it made his day. That's one story. Then there was a mom who had her one-year-old baby hospitalized suspecting coronavirus when the baby was cleared to go home.

They said you could only go home. If the house is cleaned and disinfected and so the grandmother who was in the area didn't have cleaning supplies, so we went to the gutter with bleach go out there with a cleaner and give those supplies to disinfect that house to allow that family to go back and such. As a practical and beautiful way and the number three, a disabled man who had no food.

We were able to bring him food and distorted just change his hopeless estate into a more hopeful estate. This what Christians do during times of challenge they step up to the challenge. They meet the challenge. They go above and beyond and I'm so thankful to be able to do church a different way. Yes, we have to come to you this way, but we can go out to the community.

In that way. Delivering these items curbside. Now I want to take you back to the early days of the church. In closing, the scene is the Roman empire first couple of centuries in 165 a plague and an outbreak of smallpox, a pervaded Rome and started spreading to the Roman Empire and here's a from a book that I found in 165 A.D. a plague swept through the mighty Roman Empire, wiping out one in every three people in the population it happened again in 251 when 5000 people per day were dying in the city of Rome alone, those infected were abandoned by their families to die in the streets.

The government was helpless and the Emperor himself succumbed to the plagues of the Emperor died of this outbreak. Pagan priests fled their temples where people had flocked for comfort and explanation people were too weak to help themselves. If the smallpox did not kill you hunger and thirst and loneliness would the effect on the wider society was catastrophic yet following the plagues, the good reputation of Christianity was confirmed and its population grew exponentially. Why is this Christians did not come armed with intellectual answers to the problem of evil. They did not enjoy a supernatural ability to avoid pain-and-suffering.

What they did have was water and food, and their presence in short, if you knew a Christian you are statistically more likely to survive and if you survived it was the church that offered you the most loving, stable and social environment."

That's right out of the pages of history and were able to make history right now. So were making history and coming to you live this way. Through this technology were making history might be able to view all sorts of resources on the Internet and were making history by going out into our community in a whole different way, spread the love of Jesus Christ that Skip the message. The quarantine want to tell you about a resource you learn more about the future. How would you like to predict the future hundred years ago Amanda John Watkins. This facility and try predicted by the day exterminating cockroaches with Hugos and we no longer use the C, Q, or acts still at Xerox's futures because her ability to predict what God's word tells us everything we need to know about what's ahead. Known as the times we want to help you understand with the future holds. I think you can understand the book of Revelation to include helpful illustrations resources argued. Thanks mutilation today of $35 or more to help keep these Bible-based teachings on the kid that skip.com/offer today and get your copy if you can address the book of Revelation or call 800 9218 8892 1880 play a vital part in this ministry. Your generosity makes an eternal impact by helping connect so many others to the truth found in God's word impacted by this radio broadcast one-time gift today for making the commitment to help listeners like you find spiritual nourishment biblical just call 800-9200 90 skip-talk about raising and songs of redemption.

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