8-10-What are the ways that you are held up?

8.10-
Hope holds us up. 

Suspenders

About a month ago I decided to try using some suspenders to help hold up my pants.  It worked fairly well.  There is a blessing in things that hold things up.  How many times I have had people to whole me up when I was going through hard times. One thing is they listened to me.

Notice people complimented by Jesus because they blessed him.



Scripture knowledge makes us aware of the power of God.  
Mark 12.
²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^[n]understand the Scriptures or the power of God?

If you have not tried to teach Scripture to other people, then you have missed  great learning opportunity.  In my life I had many opportunities to learn Scripture.  I was blessed to be taken to church and Bible class from the time I was one month old. 

 From then until my first baptism at age 10 I learned quite a few Bible stories, but I still didn't know Scripture.  

The opportunity of going to a Christian college pushed me to take some college level Bible courses taught by professors who had much maturity in their walk as well as a high level of formal education. 

 I still didn't know Scripture or the power of God.  After college I was asked, (told) to teach Bible as a course elective (the only elective available) on the campus of Boles Home School, a public school.  So in the fall and spring of 1968/1969 the midnight oil burned at my house.  I was teaching an overview of the Bible to High School boys who had little interest in most of their subjects and especially the Bible from my perspective.  I was determined to know the material and get them excited about it if at all possible. 

 I came home from school at about 4.30pm and crashed into bed for a nap after six hours of teaching different subjects from Bookkeeping, typing, Biology, 1st and 2nd Grade PE, Junior High Boys and Girls Basketball and Bible.  I crashed for an hour nap at our apartment.  We got up about 5.30pm to go get a hamburger, 2 /$1.  Or Pizza $3.  Eat and watch television and grade papers and study for the next day until about midnight.  Go to bed.  Sleep hard until 6am.  Shower, Shave, Dress, Drive to school by 7.45am.  Do it all day and repeat for the next four days.  Crash on weekends until basketball season. 

In teaching Scripture.  I learned Scripture and I learned that God is awesome and people are awful and that includes me.  I needed help.  I needed God to extend mercy, grace, peace and love to me.  I needed God to give me hope.  I still need God to hold me up like I need my suspenders to hold up my pants.

Luke 10.
³⁸ Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with ^[q]all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; ⁴² but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Mary chose the good part of taking time without worry to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him.  People help us and themselves when they listen.

God gives us people who hold us up and refresh us.

2 Timothy 1.

¹⁵ You are aware of the fact that all who are in ^[k]Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶ The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my ^[l]chains; ¹⁷ but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— ¹⁸ the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.

Some people hold us up by not being ashamed of us in our hard times.  They are refreshing.