COVID 19 ENCOURAGEMENT EPISODE 10

Hi this is Chris Benjamin, the director for the Salvation Army sound. Just take this opportunity to share some additional messages of encouragement from some of our hosts from shows like 24th of life in a heartbeat. We just pray that these are an extra blessing to you. If they are a sham with a friend hello my name is Mike Harris from the financial secretary for the Texas division.

I will just take a few moments to give you some words of encouragement of throat we need encouragement that we in these strange days in Dallas County where I live in the fourth week now, stay at home, order, and we have three children to school-age and then try to figure out how to get to school? Was from figure out how graduation will work through all of this, of course, if you do venture out to the house, which many of chose not to go out to the grocery store.

You see where people for flipping close. We stand distance people down and I was somebody else's dream actually goes far to one side of the island and for fear of getting close to folk and of course you got the economic impact of all of this, you got people of lost hours of work. Others have been full of many still are being laid off as is really starting to hit the economy of this and every of the nation seems around the world in which the bull you got the loss of life, thousands upon thousands upon thousands only the Lord knows how many people eventually will succumb to this awful disease and yet in the midst of all that I want to come and offer you some encouragement for me when I look for encouragement title. First of all God's word and if you go to the book of Isaiah chapter 40 you start to see this. This was of comfort that Isaiah gives to the people of the southern kingdom he's per prophesy about the Babylonians exiling them but they will return.

They will return. So you get to Isaiah chapter 43 see the prophet speaking again is God's words through the prophet's writings about where he starts to talk about the story of the Exodus and the miracle that God performs reminding the people of God's faithfulness, but then he says, however, forget those things you see, God is doing new things God is doing a new thing and he says do not perceive it is asking the people to do in the midst of the will that they living in the scene anything close to to good he saying, but because doing something you can't you see it and so I say to you, God is doing something new. Can you see a seat in the mornings I turn on my television now one of them enjoyed watching breakfast television saw what some of that culture. Watch this is a freedom on this people putting aside prejudices that we talked about just a few weeks ago and now people are searching for something of meaning and Christ in God is talked about on television like I've not seen it for very very long time. I heard that one morning where preacher was able to sing two verses of amazing grace or expressing his faith, Kristin Chenoweth, the actress was able to sing Lord, make me an instrument. She also expressed her faith and so I continue to see on television people having this level of freedom because friends I believe God is doing a new thing early this week I have the privilege of the opportunity to call up ready for what was me was a stranger up and asked for my friend to call her son son was searching he he he had been away from the church for good while, but but now in the midst of all of this and he's kind of on the front lines of these things in the midst of all this. He was starting to wonder how it how does this make sense and the only way it made sense to him was to bring God back into the equation so you just me to call him and to talk to him about about this, of course, I happily did that we have this conversation. I realize in the middle of this conversation that this young man represented so many people, those who used to know Christ coming back. Those who didn't and are bringing him into the equation Y because God is doing a new thing.

We are focused very naturally the awfulness of this yet in the midst of it.

There is a light something's going on when Isaiah took to the people of Judah, the southern kingdom and said when he returned he talked also about what we know as the suffering servant of the Reed would not be bruised the week but could not be present. Basically he was prophesying about the coming of Jesus Christ that God is doing a new thing this Messiah is coming to save us all and print so it is what we get out of our exile when one day we are able to see people again.

We were able to go back to places of business were able to go to church to worship God freely. We will see that he is doing friends of the midst of this craziness be encouraged because God is still in control –