Tag: trials

Getting Into Fellowship with Jesus

John 14:4
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Once we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us. The Lord begins using us as vessels that carry the Living Water.

Before the Living Water can flow, we must be free of those things in our lives which would hinder the flow. We must get into fellowship with Jesus Himself. Without His fellowship, we are of no use to God as vessels of salvation.

As we submit to the Lord, we can anticipate that there will be trials in our lives. Jesus Himself told us that it would be so as we followed Him. These trials that create brokenness in our lives will also create the cracks in the living vessel so that the Living Water can flow through unhindered. If but one heart can be saved because of our brokenness, let us thank God for allowing our trials to occur.

Let us rejoice in knowing that the Lord delights in using us as vessels of His Living Water. Let us endure our trials with joy as they prepare us to be worthy vessels.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for using us as Your vessels of Living Water. We rejoice in knowing that through shed blood of Your Son, Jesus, and through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit in our lives that You can use us, the sons of inequity, to be instruments of Your good work. We pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit to build us up in Christ so that we can endure in faith all of our trials. We ask, Father, that we may become free flowing vessels of Your redemptive work in those around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Fount, Jesus Christ.

Our Experiences Provide the Foundation for Us Providing Faith and Hope to Others

2 Corinthians 1:4
He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

God’s Holy Word teaches us that we should rejoice in our trials because they are the building blocks of character in our lives. They certainly do build character and perseverance in our lives if we turn to the Lord to get us through the challenges we face.

But beyond the character building in our trials, there is an entirely different dimension that we benefit from. We not only gain in character, but we gain more – much more. We gain life experiences that we are able to share with others who find themselves going through the same thing. God prepares us to be comforters for others in their time of need.

Our past experiences give us the foundation for offering faith and hope. It is our obligation to make suitable returns for what we received by comforting others. It is our duty to join them in prayer, praise and thanksgiving as we seek a good end to their trials and ours through Jesus Christ.

Let us turn to our model, our suffering King, Jesus Christ as we face the trials of life. Let us grasp our cup of trembling with the same resolve and confident hope that Jesus did as He faced the Cross. Let us learn to rejoice in the face of suffering for we are being prepared to comfort others in their suffering.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the consolations and comfort that we find when we turn to Your Son, Jesus, in our times of need. We bless the name of Jesus for the abundance of all of the fruits of His sufferings that are poured out in a greater amount than our own suffering, providing us relief from our distress and trouble. Lord, we pray that You build our faith and hope through our trials, so that we may be comforters for those in our lives who are going through their own trials. May it all be for the glory of Jesus. We ask all these things in the name of the One who suffered all on our behalf, Jesus Christ.

Following Christ Can Be a Costly Journey

Luke 9:57
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

As pointed out in this passage and other passages, some of the early followers of Jesus were boasting, “I will follow You wherever You go.” But Jesus was quick to point out to them that following Him was more costly that many were willing to pay. It is the same for us.

Once we commit to fully surrender to Our Savior and follow Him, we can be certain that there will be attacks and trials that will surely challenge our resolve. Every consideration that we give to continuing as true disciples of Jesus will lead us down a decision path that is predominantly supported by human logic. Without faith in the Word of God and the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit, we will follow the callings of our flesh which are never ready to be laid down at the feet of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When we examine the costs, we are likely to end up stalling or passing all together on our calling as disciples. Praise God that He knows us so well, loves us still, has mercy on us and provides His Son for our salvation, His Word for our direction and His Holy Spirit for our strengthening.

Let us claim all that He has set aside for us because He sees us, not in the flesh, but in the image of His Son. Let us follow Our Savior King wherever He leads us. Let us stand firm in our commitment.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for accepting us as heirs to Your kingdom. We rejoice in knowing that You see us only in the image of Your Son who has washed away all of our iniquity with His precious blood. We pray, Lord, that You open our minds and hearts to the fullness of Your Holy Word. We ask that You show us how to surrender completely to the direction of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We beseech You, Father, to give us the grace to fall at the feet of the Cross so that we may walk in the way, the truth and the life that is in Your Son, Jesus. We ask all these things in the precious, holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Surrendered to the Will of the Father

Luke 18:31
And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.

Jesus was perfectly attuned to the work that He was called to do. He spent His entire time on earth completely focused on doing the will of His Father. He did not care if He preached to one or to ten thousand. He was not seeking recognition for the good work that He was doing in the sense that we would seek recognition for ourselves. There is so much that we need to learn from Jesus about how we approach our work.

Jesus was only concerned with pleasing the Father. Nothing could discourage Our Lord on His way to Jerusalem to meet His fate at Calvary. No amount of suffering could deter Him. No distraction could lead Him to hurry to the next task. The only task that Jesus was concerned with was the one that the Father put before Him. There is so much that we need to learn from Jesus about persevering through our trials.

It is important that we tune into the voice of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit directs our attention to Our Savior. The Holy Spirit works in our lives so that we can learn to align our personal plans with the plans that God has for our lives. Just as Jesus aligned His plans with the Father’s plans so that He would find His way to Jerusalem, we must align ourselves with God’s plan for our lives so that we can find our way to our Jerusalem, New Jerusalem. We must not let anything or any circumstance take us off our path.

Let us please Our Father in heaven. Let us surrender completely to the One who was completely surrendered to the will of His Father. Let us accomplish all that was set aside for us on the Cross through Him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing for our eternal resting place in New Jerusalem. We praise Our Savior, Jesus, for clearing our path to get there. We ask for the Holy Spirit to direct us to our path and prepare us for the journey. We pray that we may be strengthened so that we may be steadfast in doing only the things that are pleasing to You, Father. May all that we accomplish be for Your glory. We ask all these things in the name of Our Spiritual Rock, Jesus Christ.

Let the World See the Light that Shines Within Us

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

We are mere vessels on this earth. Whatever we receive from the Lord, whether we are in good times or in bad times, needs to be released into the world. We will find that we are particularly effective in glorifying Our Father in heaven when our good works are evident during the times that we are under burdensome trials.

Upon receiving His Living Water, we must share what we have received with the thirsty amongst us. To dam up the outpouring that we receive can actually damage us. The vessel that receives and receives without pouring out will eventually burst or, at the very least, fill to the point of being unable to receive any more. Then upon being filled without flow, the vessel will become stagnant.

Upon receiving His Light, we must let His Light flow through us to the darkness in the world around us. Jesus taught that we are the light of the world and emphasized that no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but places it on a stand so that all can share the light. It is our responsibility to allow others to be exposed to the Light that is within us.

Let us strive to allow our light to shine before men even when we find ourselves in our darkest trials. Let us insure that the light of the Gospel and the knowledge of the mysteries of God’s grace are openly declared and manifested in the world. Let us be known for our zeal and our fervency, our sincerity and our openness and our integrity and our persistence even under trial. Let us endure in our trials so that the Father is glorified in all that we do.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for all the blessings that You pour into our lives. We pray that You will protect us from clinging to our blessings to satisfy ourselves. May we freely take our blessings, whether they be things of this world or portions from Your heavenly treasure, and pour them out before You. May the Holy Spirit guide us so that our sacrifice and our works are suitable and pleasing to You. May the world receive Your Light and Your Living Water through us. May it be for Your glory. We ask all these things in the precious, holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ.

God Draws Us Closer During Times of Trials

Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

The trials of fire and water can be in the context of natural disasters or they can be in the context of figurative calamities which come upon us rapidly and are immediately overwhelming to us personally. Whether our trials are figurative or literal, God promises that we shall not be consumed by any trouble or peril that threatens to distress us greatly. In fact, God assures us that He plans to turn our trials to our advantage. He intends to teach and instruct us through our afflictions as He delivers us out of them.

Suffering will come in our lives. It is not a matter of if, it is only a matter of when. We can be comforted in knowing that through all these trying times that God will be with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He promises to not only guide us and strengthen us through these things that are so troublesome to our flesh, but to use each of these times to nurture us and draw us closer to Himself.

When all is said and done, we will find that it is during the times of suffering that we see the greatest transformation in our lives. With our eyes focused on Our Savior and not our problems, we will see layers of self peeled away and the likeness of Christ rising up in us. Through His grace, we will see the fires of chaos burn away our uneven edges and the overflowing waters carry away our dross.

Let us find Jesus in the storms of our lives. Let us draw closer to Him as we receive the comfort, guidance and strength that He promises. Let us grow spiritually through His nurturing during our times of greatest trial.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the comfort of knowing that You are always with us. We bless Your name for the strength that You provide for us to wade safely through the storm waters of life. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will teach us how to focus on Our Savior Jesus Christ and not on the trials that are trying to overwhelm us. We pray that You will provide refreshing when we are so weary in the battle. We ask all these things in the name of Our Fortress and Our Protector, Jesus Christ.

The Fiery Process of Growing Our Faith

1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

Jesus makes it completely clear in His teaching that we should expect trials if we follow Him. We should not be surprised by any painful trial that we may be going through. Trials are part of the necessary process of growing our faith and our intimacy with Our Lord.

Our faith must be tested. Without trials, we would soon believe that all of our good fortune was of our own making. Through the trials, we build our confidence in Our Savior who faithfully delivers us from each and every challenging period in our lives. His grace is always sufficient if we trust in Him.

Lifelong friendships and close personal relationships are usually the hallmarks of men who have gone to war together. The time that the soldiers spend together in battle relying on one another results in bonds that are unbreakable. So it will be with us in our relationship with Jesus Christ. When we learn to rely on Him to take us through our battles in life, He will become our anchor during the mightiest of storms. He will become our inseparable partner in victory.

Let us face every battle with the confidence that the victory will be ours. Let us learn to trust everything to the One who is always at our side. Let us build intimate relationships with Our Savior King who goes into each of our battles with us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for being our rock and our foundation. We thank You for Your faithfulness in delivering us from the fiery trials in our lives. We pray that we will come to a place where we trust in Our Savior, Jesus Christ, for all things. May our trust become so complete that we actually learn to rejoice in the face of our trials, knowing the victory is ours in all matters even unto death. We ask all these things in the name of Our Refuge from the Storm, Jesus Christ.

Turning Satan’s Tactics Against Him

Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Without question, one of Satan’s greatest skills is his ability to keep us distracted from building our relationship with God by keeping us focused on the busyness of life. One of his greatest lies is planting the seed in our minds that God does not want to hear about everything in our lives. Through the perfect work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can turn both of Satan’s tactics against him.

The first thing that we should do each day in the privacy of the morning is to invite the Holy Spirit to join us throughout the day. Then everything public in our busy lives will be marked by His presence. Everything that comes our way as a challenge or a trial can be handed to Him immediately through brief and constant prayer.

Because through the Holy Spirit, we have already given Jesus the burdens of life throughout the day, in the evening we can shut the door on all the cares of the day. Those cares are no longer there to distract us as we try to pray at night because they are in Jesus’ hands, not ours. Instead of focusing on our cares, we are free to focus on Our God. We can worship Him, we can praise Him and we can soak in His love. We can grow in our relationship with Him according to His good and perfect plan for our lives.

Let us learn to slam the door on the daily trials and distractions that life brings our way. Let us claim the rewards that Our Father in heaven promises us for going to Him in secret. Let us give all of our burdens to Jesus in the morning and thank Him and praise Him in the evening.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Holy Spirit to be the helper that we can call on to make our burdens light. We rejoice in His presence with us throughout the day and night. We pray for the wisdom and the grace to release our cares and concerns to Our Savior throughout the day. With our burdens in Jesus mighty hands, we ask, Lord, that You teach us how to come to You without distraction in the evening. May we learn to spend our private prayer time in the evening growing in our relationship with You and refreshing ourselves for the next day to be spent in the yoke of Our Savior. We ask all these things in the name of the One who lightens our burdens, Jesus Christ.

Humble Surrender to God’s Finishing Work

Hebrews 12:5
My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.

Once we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Lord begins His work in us. He promises that He will complete every good work in us. He also promises that He will discipline us as needed to get us to the way, the truth and the life that is in Him. He will leave no blemish untouched.

As the Lord works on us, we can think of ourselves as a piece of old furniture that needs refinishing. Our old stain is no longer acceptable at the place where we will be displayed. We need a new refined finish. Our new finish cannot be applied until all of the old stain is removed. The first part of our refinishing will be relatively easy as our old stain is stripped away. This first step, however, will reveal the depth of the old stain. This then leads to the tough part of the process. To get rid of the stubborn stain will require sanding, scraping, chipping and maybe even gouging. This tedious process will be repeated over and over until all the old stain is completely gone. Only when all the stain has been removed completely will our final finish be applied.

God has various ways of completing His finishing work in our lives. Sometimes it is by the gentle urgings of the Holy Spirit, sometimes it is by our reading of His Word and sometimes it is by the spoken words of His ministers. Often He allows affliction and trials to bring us to acknowledge and confess our iniquities, to recognize our shortcomings in fulfilling our duties or to convince us of our folly in following our own nature. All of these things are done through His perfect love and forgiveness.

Let us humbly surrender to the finishing work of the Holy Spirit. Let us submit to the work of the Master, who is preparing us for a place in His house.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for preparing us to join You for all eternity. We bless the name of Jesus for His precious blood that He shed so that we may be washed clean of every stain of sin in our lives. We bow before You, Father, in full surrender to Your good work in us. We pray that You take us into Your hands and prepare us to stand before You in the image of Your Son. We rejoice in knowing that we will be in service to You in Your house forever. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

Responding to the Dormant Periods in Our Lives

Psalm 1:3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

The changing of seasons is very easy to observe in nature. The verdant green of summer season is followed by the brilliant colors of the fall season. The dying out and browning in the winter season is always followed by the spectacular new growth in the spring season.

So it is in our growth as Christians. The Lord allows us to go through trials and periods of distance from Him in our relationship with Him. We must take care not to judge our lack of fruitfulness during our dormant seasons of trial and rest. These dormant seasons are necessary for the emergence of our harvest. How we respond during these dormant periods will determine the size and the fragrance of the new bloom in the coming harvest.

The more we let ourselves die to Christ in the dormant seasons of our lives, the greater will be the produce of our harvest times. The more we let ourselves live in the flesh during our times of trial and rest, the lesser will be the produce of our harvest times.

Let us seek the Holy Spirit to help us understand our seasons so that we are preparing properly for the harvest. Let us strive to make ourselves ready for the coming harvest that Our Father in heaven has planned for us here on earth.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us seasons of growth in our relationship with You. We rejoice in knowing that You have planned for us to go through these growing seasons with the Holy Spirit as our helper. We pray, Lord, that when we enter into our dormant periods of darkness that we may learn to respond to the checks of the Holy Spirit as we battle against the attacks of the flesh. May Your strength be perfected in our weakness as we blossom in Your perfect light. We ask all these things in the name of the Bright and Morning Star, Jesus Christ.