- 15 hours ago
Join us as Christina shares a faith filled message titled “Bring Your Pain to God’s Presence.” Learn from Anna’s approach to pain in Luke 2:21–38 and see your worries turn to worship, your pain transform to praise and your loss become a lesson. “When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the Rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2).
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00:00You too can rise above those lies, those restrictive limitations that society has put
00:11on you. And you do not have to be defined by your situation, but you can be who God
00:18has called you to be. Grace and peace to you all in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Wow,
00:33what an amazing privilege and honor it is to be able to share God's word with you today.
00:41My name is Christina, and I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now,
00:50before we start, I want to challenge you today not to come around the word of God, to enter God's
01:00presence, to listen to this message today with a preconceived idea of what you think God's word
01:11wants to say to you today. You know, many times we can come into the presence of God with our
01:19shopping list of wants and desires. We want comfort, not correction. We want a confirmation.
01:32revelation. We want the word of God to tell us that the road that we are going in is the
01:41right
01:41way instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to bring about revelation, to tell us actually what God has
01:53to say. Apostle Peter made it clear in his second epistle that the word of God was never meant to
02:06be read
02:06without the help of the Holy Spirit, because the word of God is no ordinary book. It is divinely inspired.
02:152nd Peter chapter 1 and verse 20. It says, knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any
02:31private interpretation. The prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were
02:44moved by the Holy Spirit. Yes, God's word does not originate in our own interpretation, according to
02:55our wants and desires, but we need to be carried along by the Holy Spirit as we listen and read
03:04God's word.
03:05So with that in mind, people of God, let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for your holy
03:14word.
03:14which is spirit and life. Lord Jesus, we thank you, Father, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by
03:23the word of God. So as we hear your message today, let every doubt turn to faith and let every
03:32unbelief
03:33turn to believing. In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen. So turn with me to Psalm 61 and we are
03:47going to
03:48take it from verse 1. And it says, hear my cry, O God, attend to my prayer. Who is here
03:59today crying out,
04:01not asking God to hear their petition? This is what David did. But let us look at his approach.
04:07He said, from the end of the earth, I will cry to you. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me
04:19to the rock
04:22rock that is higher than I. For you have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
04:33I will abide in your tabernacle in the house of the Lord forever. I will trust in the shelter of
04:44your wings. How beautiful is that? I don't know about you, but when my heart is overwhelmed,
04:56I don't need things that have the habit of disappointing me, like money, position, and possessions.
05:06No, I need something with more stability. I need the rock that is higher than I, that is higher than
05:17any
05:17challenge, higher than any situation I might find myself in. You may have joined today feeling
05:24overwhelmed about your health condition, about your financial situation, or even the state of your nation.
05:34What do you do when your heart is overwhelmed? Do you bring your pain to God's presence?
05:45Or do you try to numb that pain when you succumb to things that cannot really satisfy? Today, many reach
05:57for their phones. I want to tell you that endless scrolling may distract you for a while,
06:04while, but that escapism cannot provide escape from your trouble. Many today reach out to anyone who
06:14would have a listening ear. But disclosing your dilemma to those who cannot discern God's will
06:22may provide a little relief for a while. But that type of discourse is dangerous. And that experience of relief
06:34will be fleeting. Many today look for the next available high, whatever that might be, only to discover
06:46that that that high drags them lower than when they began, trapping them in a cycle of dependence and
06:55addiction. When David wrote this psalm, he had a vast army at his disposal as the king. He had money,
07:06he had position. He had a lot of natural resources. But he realized that he needed something that human
07:19wisdom, power and might could not provide. He needed something, someone that would make money insufficient.
07:27He needed the rock of ages. Yes, Jesus Christ is the rock of ages. He is the rock higher than
07:39your
07:39circumstance, than your situation. It says in Philippians chapter two, from verse nine to 10
07:45of Jesus, that God has also highly exalted him and given him the name, which is above every name,
07:54that at that name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
08:01is Lord. This will bring us to the title of today's message. Bring your pain to God's presence.
08:15Tell your neighbor, or if you're alone at home, tell me here in the studio, bring your pain
08:24to God's presence. And today we have a wonderful opportunity to look in the Bible at one woman who did
08:36exactly that. So turn with me to the book of Luke chapter two, and we are going to read from
08:46verse 21.
08:49And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, that is Jesus Christ,
08:56his name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
09:05Now, when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him
09:12to Jerusalem to present him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law
09:17of the
09:17Lord, every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according
09:25to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And
09:34then in verse 36,
09:35now there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of a
09:47great age
09:48and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of about 84
09:57years
09:58who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming
10:07in that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him, that is Jesus, to all those who
10:16looked
10:17for redemption in Jerusalem. Wow. Anna, a prophetess, who brought her pain to God's presence. Her pain
10:30turned to gain, her sorrow turned to service, her worries turned to worship, and her loss turned to a
10:41lesson. Now, what did it really mean to be a widow in those days? Well, society at the time generated
10:51various levels of power and privilege. Now, widows were at the bottom of the social economic pile
11:02alongside the disabled orphans and lepers. They were both financially challenged and socially
11:13marginalized. Nevertheless, the first thing that we learn about this woman, Anna, is not that she was a
11:25widow, but first and foremost that she was a prophet. She was known for her spiritual maturity, for the
11:36wisdom that came out of her mouth more than the natural circumstance of her situation.
11:47This is a challenge for you and I today. What is your situation?
11:55You may feel defined by your circumstance, maybe by your employment statement, by your financial
12:04situation, by your health condition. Yes, all of these things may seem important to man, but before God,
12:12they are not. It's not the real you. What God looks at and honors is the heart, not the
12:25outward circumstances of life. But the question we need to ask ourselves is, is do we choose to allow the
12:35circumstances of life maybe that we cannot control to define us? Do we allow these circumstances to dictate
12:45our direction, to impact our behavior, to impact our behavior, to impact how we pray? When we are poor, do
12:54we
12:54approach God as a beggar? When we are sick, do we come before God for healing? Or do we rise
13:00above those
13:00circumstances, coming before God into his holy presence, allowing that purifying presence to make us what he wants us to
13:12be?
13:13See, Anna did not allow her natural circumstance of widowhood to define her. But when she came into the
13:21presence of God, that heavy weight of widowhood lifted as she allowed God to purify her in his presence.
13:32And thus she fulfilled her destiny as a prophet. You too can rise above those lies,
13:44those restrictive limitations that society has put on you. And you do not have to be defined by your
13:54situation. But you can be who God has called you to be. Yes, this was in a time, people of
14:02God, when the word of God
14:04was not being declared as often as in the times of the prophets of old. In fact, it appears that
14:13there was
14:13a few hundred years where we did not hear many prophetic messages. But God chose a woman, not only a
14:23woman,
14:24but an elderly woman, not only an elderly woman, but a widow to speak God's word, to be in the
14:35temple,
14:36people praying day and night to reveal who Jesus Christ was when he came into the temple. People of God,
14:46what is your situation today? Don't allow that situation to define you. Anna came into God's temple,
14:57not looking for charity, not looking for security in terms of things on the outside, but she came into God's
15:06presence
15:08to develop her relationship with God, to lay down her worries and concerns, to be a woman of faith who
15:18prayed
15:18and fasted day and night. We read in that psalm earlier about being in the tabernacle forever. David said,
15:28I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's a covenant, people of God. That is a commitment.
15:37Our relationship with God should not be a fading fad or a passing trend.
15:43We should not be a Christian who has irregular patterns of devotion. No, our relationship with God
15:55should be consistent and persistent. I remember this woman, Anna, she was not in the presence of God to see
16:07miracles. She was simply there to be in the presence of God. Today, we try different things. We see society
16:18is wired around the next new thing. Oh, let's try this approach. Or there's some new research that has
16:26come out. Let's try that approach. But we cannot use that approach with our relationship with God.
16:33You see, fads, they will fade. Trends will come to an end. But serving the Lord never grows old.
16:45So don't allow your love for Jesus to grow cold. Many times when we find ourselves in situations like
16:56Anna, where things don't happen according to our expectations, it can impact our relationship with
17:04God if we are not spiritually mature. But Anna's case showed us the value of being consistent and
17:13persistent. And as she waited in faith, she was not waiting passively looking at the temple walls,
17:24but she was actively hoping in the Lord, waiting on the Lord. And as she waited on the Lord,
17:31she waited well. You too will do well to wait on the Lord. And if you wait well, your waiting
17:40will be
17:41turned to God's strength. Anna's example showed us the value and the outcome of waiting on the Lord.
17:53Turn with me in your Bibles now to the book of Isaiah chapter 40. And let us see what the
18:03word of God
18:03has to say about the value of waiting, not just passively waiting, but waiting with a hopeful
18:11expectation upon the Lord. And it says in Isaiah 40 and verse 27,
18:32How many times have we thought that we cannot be seen by God? That maybe God doesn't see our pain,
18:39that God doesn't recognize the circumstance we are going through. That maybe God doesn't realize how
18:44critical our situation is. People of God, our God is the God who sees. There is no pain that is
18:55hidden
18:55from his sight. He knows you and he knows the situation that you're passing through more than
19:03even you do. He knows you better than you know yourself. And it says in verse 28,
19:10Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the
19:20earth,
19:20neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. Yes, we do not have a powerless God.
19:32We do not have a God who does not see. We don't have a God who grows weary and faint.
19:38No. Verse 29,
19:40He gives power to the weak. Imagine that. Are you feeling weak today? He gives power to the weak. And
19:49to
19:49those who have no might, he increases strength. Yes, even the youth shall faint and be weary. And the
19:59young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up
20:06with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not be faint.
20:16People of God, Anna understood the value of waiting on the Lord. If you wait on the Lord,
20:26you will be strengthened in the weight. You know, many times we'd be praying and asking God to change that
20:35unfavorable situation. But we are wasting our weight because we're not waiting well. Remember a message
20:46of brother Chris recently. He explained that when we go through trials and circumstances of life,
20:52we can go through them or we could grow through them. But the choice is yours.
20:59If you wait on the Lord, if you wait on the Lord, he will remove that heavy weight upon your
21:06spirit
21:07so that you can rise up with wings as eagles. You can run and not grow weary. You can walk
21:14and not be faint.
21:19Remember, Anna had a glimpse of the baby Jesus and she gave thanks to God.
21:28She did not wait. She did not wait to see Jesus perform a miracle. She did not encounter him turning
21:34water into wine or healing a leper or raising the dead before she thanked God, before she talked to
21:42people about this Jesus, the Messiah. Simply having a glimpse of the baby Jesus was enough for her.
21:55Right now say, Lord Jesus, that you are with me. That is enough for me.
22:07Because all we need is the presence of God. All we need is the awareness that God is with us.
22:16When we know
22:16that God is with us, we can exchange that heavy weight of our circumstance and we can arise with the
22:23strength that only God can provide. Therefore, we will not simply go through our trials of difficult
22:30times, but we will grow through them. Anna did not just grow old and cynical, but she could have chosen
22:38to. Instead, she grew thankful. She grew up. She became mature. She did not just grow old.
22:48The choice is yours today. Are you aware that God is with you?
22:57God is with you. Are you with him? We need to have a consciousness of Christ's presence,
23:06not just when we see that miracle happen, but we need to know that God is with us in every
23:13circumstance
23:14of life. Can we trust his hand is working even before we see his handwriting?
23:25It's time for us to take a step deeper, closer to God, to come into his presence with our circumstance,
23:36with our situation, knowing that God is with us. So in conclusion, people of God, remember the enemy
23:45would always want to distract us, would always want us to fall into the trap of using things that cannot
23:55satisfy to bring our pain to things that have no lasting solution. But the only lasting solution
24:05is a lasting relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. What is your situation today? There is no pain hidden
24:14from his sight. There is no situation too difficult for the Lord. Right now, make that decision to bring
24:22your pain to God's presence. And as you wait on the Lord, allow him to remove that heavy weight upon
24:31your
24:31spirit, that you can be in his presence and become all that God has called you to be. In Jesus
24:39name. Amen.
25:01Amen.
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