Daily Devotional

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, are you staying healthy? How's your health? How's your health?

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Mentally your mental health Staying healthy is surely on everyone's mind these days.

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Not only with the virus thing, but all of the other little Inconveniences that have come our way

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Minimized some of our opportunities for these things. Well, I got a notice from the

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Regarding our mental health from the Association of Psychiatrists the other day And they are assuring us that it is perfectly healthy mentally to Talk to your pets and to talk to your plants

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But they did say if those plants or pets start talking back, then maybe you'll want to give them a call

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Well, I hope you're staying healthy mentally. How about physically? How about physically?

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You getting enough physical exercise I'm not talking about like getting up from the couch to go to the refrigerator to the table back to the couch a

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Little more exercise than that Although from a statistic I saw the other day Probably the majority of us don't think much about physical exercise.

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Anyway apparently 87 % of those who have gym memberships

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Don't even realize that their gym is closed So that's kind of interesting stat

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How about your marriage? How's your marital health doing these days? This kind of a radically different way of life has created some interesting dynamics in the home, hasn't it?

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I think especially those of you who are not retired where the husband and wife are not in the home together every day all day long

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So I saw that one wife reported yesterday that her husband saw a cockroach in the kitchen and He just freaked out and so he just started went to town.

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He pulled everything out of the cabinets He cleaned out all the cabinets cleaned out all the drawers reorganized everything put everything back

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So, you know for the first time in a long time the wife was amazed, you know, the kitchen was like in wonderful condition

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So she said today she was going to put the cockroach in the bathroom to see what happens well,

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I Hope your family is staying healthy and everyone is getting along wonderfully

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Just a reminder tomorrow evening Thursday evening at 7 o 'clock. We'll be having a

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Maundy Thursday service and Should be a good service to prepare our hearts and minds for this coming

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Lord's Day Easter Sunday So that's tomorrow night 7 o 'clock for those who are members of Faith Baptist Church or part of the church family

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If you've been if you're a believer in Christ and you've been baptized you're welcome to participate in an online

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Lord's Supper communion service very different surely certainly not something we would we would prefer to do

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But an opportunity to do so tomorrow night if you would like to participate in that Let me know by email or text or a phone call.

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I'll let you know what you need to do In terms of answers to prayer. We've been praying for j -h member of the church who

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Was thought might have the kovat 19 virus It turns out that test came back negative just apparently had a very very bad

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Very bad flu bug or something of that nature. So thank the Lord for that answer to prayer

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Well last couple of days. I've been Kind of concentrating our attention on Philippians chapter 4

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Let me read this passage again, and I want to zero in on one little statement in the passage

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Paul writes remember he's writing from that house arrest with the potential of an ultimate execution and He says rejoice in the

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Lord always Again, I will say rejoice let your reasonableness be known to everyone

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The Lord is at hand do not be anxious about anything But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving

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Let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all

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Understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus Finally brothers, whatever is true.

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Whatever is honorable. Whatever is just whatever is pure Whatever is lovely.

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Whatever is commendable if there is any excellence if there is anything worthy of praise

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Think about these things What you have heard what you've learned and received and heard and seen in me

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Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you So in these last several days,

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I talked about the four peace destroying problems that we can develop

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You do notice in this passage. It's There's kind of like a central idea of having peace the peace of God That surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and then at the end of the passage

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He says the God of peace will be with you So there are there are four peace destroying problems in this passage

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That we can develop during a time like this and Paul shares some correctives from this passage. So to kind of review

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The problem of negative obsession the corrective to that is to rejoice in the

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Lord always The peace destroying problem of angry agitation is to let your reasonableness be known to everyone the problem of anxious speculation is is answered with prayerful supplication and Thanksgiving and the peace destroying problem of irrational diversion is corrected by a focused thinking on things that pass through that Filter of verse 8 the things that are true honorable and so forth

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Well today I want to zero in on a truth in this passage that makes all of those other correctives possible and It makes peace possible

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It's the statement at the end of verse 5 Where Paul writes the Lord is at hand

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The Lord is at hand. No, what does that mean? The Lord is at hand

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Well, that could be referring to his return that his return is near so that at hand means

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Close or nearby in time that the Lord's return is near in time

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That's the way the word is used in some other passages. For example in Romans 13 verse 11

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It says our salvation is nearer than when we believed it's closer in time than when we believed in John 11 verse 55

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The verse says that the Jewish Passover was near at hand and in Matthew 26 18 when the

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Lord is looking forward to The the triumphal entry or actually the

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The Last supper that evening. He says in Matthew 26 18. My time is near it is close at hand and It is true that the day of the

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Lord is at hand it is near It has been for 2 ,000 years.

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That statement was originally written a couple thousand years ago that the day of the Lord is At hand and that truth that the day of the

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Lord is at hand It does give us great hope and assurance and confidence for ultimate outcomes

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But I think that in this passage Paul is focusing on something else I don't think he's talking about the return of the

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Lord being close in time Instead I believe the

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Lord is at hand in Philippians chapter 4 is returning is referring to his presence

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That Jesus is close by So that's what Paul meant when he wrote to the

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Gentiles in in the book of Ephesians He says but now in Christ Jesus you who previously were far off Have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

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You've been brought close together by the blood of Christ and This is how the word is used on Good Friday in John 19 verse 20

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It says that the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and in verse 42

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After Jesus had died and they took his body down off of the cross They laid him in a tomb and verse 42

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John 19 says that that tomb that sepulcher was near at hand

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So I think the I think what Paul says the Lord is at hand He's not referring to his second coming is a is close in time

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But instead is referring to the Lord's presence that the Lord's presence is close is nearby

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Remember Jesus's promises. He said in Matthew 28 verse 20. Lo I am with you always even to the end of the age and He said in the book of Hebrews.

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I will never leave you nor forsake you So here is a wonderful and I hope encouraging truth for you today that if you are in Christ Jesus If you're a follower of Jesus, he is nearby he is right with you as you shelter in place as you wait for this crisis to pass as you wade through the the overwhelming sea of Information and you try to navigate the conflicting reports and all of the rest of the stuff that's going on in this kovat crisis the

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Lord is at hand he is nearby so Why can you rejoice always?

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Because no matter what the Lord is at hand How can you be calm and reasonable in this?

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kovat storm Because the Lord is at hand How can you avoid the anxiety that's caused by the speculation?

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That's going on all around you and hopefully and hopefully not but possibly even in your own mind. How can you avoid that anxiety?

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Well, the Lord is right with you. He is at hand and Why focus on those the truth that filters through that grid of verse 8?

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Because the Lord is at hand he is close by he is

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Present with you. Well as we close today,

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I hope that this verse from the book of Proverbs chapter 12 proves true for you

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Anxiety Proverbs 12 verse 25 anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down But a good word

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Makes him glad. I hope this good word that the Lord is at hand

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Makes your heart glad today So father in heaven, we thank you that those of us who are in Christ Jesus who know him as our personal

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Savior Can also know with confidence that he is near at hand.

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He is right with us throughout all of this ordeal of Of this current day

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Thank you for that wonderful promise a glorious truth that soul -calming

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Peace -giving truth of our Lord's presence. We thank you in Jesus name.