My Only Comfort: Recent Episodes
Sam Powell
Daily, short lessons on how God rescues us from our misery and death. He has not left us to rot but has provided for us a deliverer, if we will only believe on his name. How great is his goodness and beauty! My goal is to show you that beauty and life on every page of scripture.
Why do we still struggle with the same sins?
Does God hear our prayer for wisdom?
We talk about the behaviorism of the modern church and the false definitions of sin that still plague us.
We long together for the day when all tears will be wiped away.
What are you looking for? The mistake most pastors make is to assume that the goal is to fix a marriage, or make our children behave, or change someone's behavior.
These are good things, but they must serve the goal - the goal is knowing God.
Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness
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My thoughts on Luke 14 - where kingdoms collide. The powerful elite sit for the feast while the riffraff watch. Jesus is invited.
What will he do? Whose side is he on?
Will he side with the powerful, righteous, godly church leaders?
Or the poor beggars outside?
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Our natural religion and the moral order of the universe is used by violent and abusive men to exert control. Do more, work harder. Lazy children deserve to be beaten and shame.But shame doesn't cause rest, does it?
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We cannot rest because we are locked into the bondage of sin and misery, making bricks day in and day out, and hoping that will be enough.We need a redeemer, not a better way to make bricks.God calls Israel out of Egypt, and redeems them and gives them their first Sabbath.
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Is this something? How our quest for something solid in the world of vanity leads to restlessness and emptiness.
The first episode of a podcast outlining how Jesus gives us rest.
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When we are desperately seeking to justify our existence and striving to fill on this earth that which can never be filled on this earth, we cannot simply sit and rest.
We don't enjoy the meal, because we are too busy jockeying for position.
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How much of the story from Luke 2 do you know?
Jesus the savior is born, and the angels give the shepherds a sign, that they might believe that he is the Christ, the son of the living God.
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Two questions answered - why did God command Joshua (and others) to completely destroy the Canaanites, and how does that apply today?
Second question - why did God allow David's concubines to be raped by Absalom? Is it right for others to suffer for someone else's sin?
These are difficult questions, but we need to look at them squarely. When we face them, as tough as they are, we will see the beauty of Jesus and the joy of our redemption.
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Listener's questions answered. How can a good God be reconciled with the Old Testament, where God commands genocide?
I attempt to answer, with stammering tongue and finite wisdom. Sodom and Gibeah of Benjamin are both sites of tremendous evil, but they point to a redeemer, a king who will rescue his people from their sins.
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Just as Cyrus delivered Israel from Babylon, so the True Servant of God will redeem and gather his people from out of the world, along with the outcasts of the Gentiles into one people of God.
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Just as God made the earth to be inhabited, so also he will re-create the heavens and the earth and a people to dwell in it.
A new creation and a new exodus by the power of God
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When the enemy oppresses, seemingly with impunity, the soul is easily crushed. Why do the wicked prosper? Does God not see? Does he not care?
Why do certain people escape judgment and do as they please? Why doesn't God put a stop to it?
They use other people for their own lusts and mock at calamity. They oppress and crush the weak just for fun.
God is coming in judgment. His judgment is always perfect. So we can lay aside revenge and leave it in his hands.
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Maybe the Kingdom of God doesn't look like the kingdoms of this world.
Maybe God has something else in mind...
Psalm 72 - a Psalm for the King's Son
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The gods of the world are made in the image of man, protected by man, carried by man.
But the people of God are made in the image of GOD, protected by God, carried by God.
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The question time after the Bible Study on June 25.
What does it mean that God hides himself, and yet speaks openly?
Does the free invitation of the gospel imply free agency?
What does it mean that "Christ is the head"?
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The suffering servant is linked to the calling of the Gentiles. The Anointed one will be lifted up and draw all people to himself.
The scattered and wandering survivors are called to turn away from their idols to the living God, who is re-creating the earth to be inhabited by his people.
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The work of redemption and new creation is something that is not possible except for the omnipotence of God. He alone can re-create and redeem his people.
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God's hand is strong and he is good. He will deliver his people, and even the darkest times are times that are in his hands.
He is working. We can rest and wait for him to fulfill everything that he has promised
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Unless sins are completely removed, mankind will flee from God, too frightened to come out of hiding. They turn to idols that they pretend they can appease, rather than the living God who sees the heart.
But God has taken away the sins of his people and urges them now to return to him.
This is the ministry of reconciliation. Be reconciled to God!
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The God of Jacob formed mankind in his image, to reflect his attributes. Idolatry seeks to form god in the image of man.
God has blotted out our sins. Return to him.
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Israel needs the cleansing flood of the Holy Spirit. God will fill them with his spirit, wash them from their sins and again his presence will dwell with his people; and he will be their God.
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The Lord is the only one who can deliver us from the bondage of sin and misery, for salvation will take the almighty power of the Creator.
But he delights in showing himself strong. He is destroying the power of death and calling us back into his presence.
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Today, on Good Friday, we remember that the creator of heaven and earth was beaten and dragged outside the city gates and crucified. He was mocked and ridiculed and killed by wicked hands.
And the scripture tells us not to be afraid when WE are driven outside the camp. We are outcasts and exiles on this earth, but outside of the city is where we meet Jesus, crucified for us.
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Just as God created his people and redeemed them from Egypt, so also he will continue to redeem them from Babylon, and will continue to redeem them from the bondage of sin and death and misery.
In Christ, mankind is re-created and redeemed to glorify God forever.
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If God can redeem Israel, who was hardened in blindness and deafness, then he can redeem the whole world. So don't be afraid. He knows how to deliver his people!
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The Servant is given as a covenant for the people.
He didn't come to establish a new covenant for us to keep to gain the blessings of the covenant.
Jesus IS the covenant. When we have him, we have all the blessings of the covenant already - light, sight, life, righteousness, peace.
It is a covenant that cannot be broken, for Jesus has already fulfilled it.
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The Anointed One, Messiah, desires to be so united with his people that he takes the form of the Servant, the Chosen One, the Beloved Son.
His love is profound and deep and unlike any of the powers on the earth. He does not crush or smash or argue or demand. But with gentleness and compassion he shepherds his people.
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The future is in the hands of God alone. He alone determines the movements of kings and nations, and he ordains everything that comes to pass for the purpose of bringing about the redemption of creation.
He can be trusted. We can rest, for he has it all in his hands.
When Israel was on the verge of death in the desert, God heard them and provided water. He was the only one who could do it.
So also, only God provides the living water, springing up into everlasting life. Only God can restore this fallen creation.
From Isaiah 41:17-20
Foreshadowing Pentecost, the cloud of God's glorious presence fills the tabernacle in the wilderness. God is with His people, and His people are safe.
Moses is instructed to strike the rock with the Rod of God's judgment. Israel sinned; God himself took the judgment. And that rock was Christ.
Psalm 127 isn't about large families having dominion over society. It is about Christ, the heir to the throne of David, and inheriting the nations through his obedience.
It is about Christ and the church and resting in the promises of God, who alone builds the kingdom.
Babel sought to build a kingdom from the brick and mortar of the world. Abraham, on the other hand, waited for the Lord to fulfill his promise. Babel will always fail. Only Christ can bring his kingdom.
Abel's faith looked to the One who would offer the perfect sacrifice. Cain trusted in his religion and his substance before the Lord.
One had faith and was accepted. The acceptance of Abel by God was unacceptable to Cain. He could not worship a God who accepted that kind of person.
David's defeat of Goliath points forward to our Great King, Jesus, the anointed one, who comes in the Name of the Lord.
What is a life pleasing to God? Is it the relentless and unending application of hundreds and hundreds of rules? Authority and Submission, doing what you are told?
Is it conforming yourself to written or unwritten laws and learning through harsh discipline how to be a more acceptable human?
Or is it resting under your vine and under your fig tree, expressing your redeemed beauty without fear? Learning to live and sing and dance and rejoice in the Lord, and creating the same environment for others to find freedom and peace?
Learn what Jesus has to say about it.
How can the "golden rule" be the sum total of the whole of scripture?
Jesus told us to enter by the narrow gate. What does this mean and why do so many miss it?
The answer is not what you think it is, but goes to the heart of the gospel.
Some quick thoughts on the latest book by John Piper. Do the affections for Jesus as our greatest treasure belong in the definition of saving faith?
What about bad days? What about the prophets who cried out to God in pain and sorrow?
Some thoughts about faith, salvation, justification - and the compassion of Jesus even when our hearts are not where they should be.
Abraham waited patiently for 25 years because he believed God and believed in the power of God.
Jesus died on Friday and didn't rise until Sunday. Waiting for resurrection does not mean that God has forgotten.
Hold on to his promise because he is faithful and has the power to raise the dead.
Who are the Sons of God and the Daughters of Men? Moses is referring us back to the fall - just as Eve saw and took, so also in Genesis 6:2.
Water cleanses - either with the cleansing, gentle water of a quiet pool, or as a flood of destruction.
The gospel is the quiet pool. Come to Christ before the waters destroy again.
As Cain's descendant's spread over the earth, wickedness prevailed.
God remembers his promise, though, and gave Seth to Adam and Eve in the place of Abel, whom Cain slew.
Then mankind began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Then, as now, calling upon the name of the Lord always brings salvation, for God always hears that prayer.
Paul, using that same formula, exhorts us to confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and call upon him.
Continuing on the Story of Grace, episode 4 - How God prepares the world for the coming of Christ and the redemption of all creation.
This episode looks at the consequences of sin and what it means to be driven from God's presence.
Those who understand Jesus' love and how much they have been forgiven will love much.
But we are a generation plagued by men like Simon, sitting in judgment over "inappropriate" displays of love.
Let's become a generation that knows how to love well, for we have been forgiven much!
Why was Abel accepted and Cain rejected? It has to do with faith. One looked forward to the coming Redeemer, the one promised who would crush the head of the serpent. The other put his trust in his own substance. One was named "substance"; the other, "vanity". But Jesus didn't come for the righteous. He came for the sinners. He came to call the wanderers home. He came to seek and save that which was lost.
When mankind fell, enmity and disharmony entered creation. We are restless and at war - with each other, with our spouses, with creation, with the ground, and with God Himself. But Christ has promised rest - He will take that enmity upon himself and bring us rest.
Episode one of the Story of Grace God intends to rescue us from death and misery and restore what we lost.