Tag: trials

The Eternal Pathways Out of Darkness

Revelation 1:7
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

This passage calls attention to that great day when all will see the wisdom and happiness of the friends of Christ and the madness and misery of His enemies. Great sorrow and suffering will be ahead for those who wound and crucify Him by their non-belief. Those who have not accepted Jesus as the way, the truth and the life will find out that He is the only way to eternity with the Father in heaven.

Isn’t it ironic that Jesus will arrive in the clouds? It is quite natural to associate the idea of clouds with storm clouds. When storm clouds are building we are likely to think that defeat is near. As we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, we come to realize that when storm clouds begin to build in our lives that our victory is near.

Just as God used the clouds to guide the Israelites to the promised land, He can use the storm clouds in our lives to turn our focus to Him for guidance. Through this process, He teaches us dependence on Him for providing the pathway through the storms of our lives. Paradoxically, without the storm clouds, we would never develop the faith that we need to completely surrender to Our Savior. The perfect pathway through the storms of life lies in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The only pathway from this life into eternal life is through Jesus Christ.

Let us look to heaven and not to earth for our support when we find storm clouds building in our lives. Let us turn to the Light of the World for our victory when the clouds become the darkest. Let us share each victory with those still in the darkness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the Light of the World, Your Son Jesus, to save us from the darkness that comes to devour us. We praise You for the faith that You build in us as Jesus carries us and comforts us through our trials. We pray that we may learn from the trials that we pass through so that we may comfort others who pass the same way. Through the light of our living testimony, may we draw others through the darkness to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. We ask all these things in the name of the Judge of the Living and the Dead, Jesus Christ.

The Nurturing Care of the Holy Spirit

Matthew 13:32
It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

The mustard seed germinates from the tiniest of beginnings. Yet it blossoms into one of the largest plants in any garden. It’s utility is quite impressive. As a tree, it provides food and shelter for the birds that it attracts. As an herb it provides its greater value as a savory delight for man. It is noteworthy that the true and highest value of the mustard seed is seen only after it has been crushed by the master of the garden.

The mustard seed parable was taught by Jesus in order to illustrate the growth, development and power of our faith. Our faith starts out as a seed planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It starts out small at first, but when properly nourished grows into something so large that it changes how we live and how we serve God. In the early stages of our development as disciples of Jesus Christ, it is likely that we will draw others to us for peace and comfort. But our greater value to them will come later as we mature in Christ. When we have been pressed by our trials, perhaps even crushed by them, the best that we have to offer to anyone will be released. It will be then that those who have been drawn to us will receive the full power of who we are in Christ.

Let us turn to the nurturing care of the Holy Spirit as we are crushed by the trials of life. Let us surrender to the process of having the old man pressed out of our lives and having the new man in Christ released to the world around us. Let us strive to reach our highest value in the kingdom by our submission to the hand of the Master.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for planting the seed of faith within our hearts. We pray that the Holy Spirit will aid us the continuous growth of our faith. We humbly ask for the grace and the strength that we need to endure the trials in our lives which will press the best from us as we mature in our relationship with Our Savior. May the world be drawn to us to savor the fullness of Christ within us. We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb Slain, Jesus Christ.

Living Under the Divine Care of Almighty God

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

It is very easy to become frustrated, concerned, depressed, or even angry, when things seem to be piling up against us. We must recognize and celebrate that God works in all things. He is not absent during the bad times. He is taking every element of our circumstances and using them to sculpt who we are. As we mature in our relationship with God, we learn to understand that the work that He does in us during the times of trial defines who we are in Jesus Christ. Even more so as we grow in Christ, we learn to find comfort, even joy, in every step that we take under the divine care of Almighty God.

This supernatural joyful comfort that we come to experience in the face of the pressures of the world defies the emotion that our flesh demands. Through our trials, our faith carries us and builds us up where carnal men lose hope and are broken down. We come to learn that God has allowed us to be where we are and even though we cannot see it at times, He is controlling all things in our lives. Ultimately, regardless of what external ministry to which He may call any of us, He calls each of us by His special grace from darkness to light and from bondage to liberty according to the eternal purpose that He has set aside for us.

Let us find peace in the Lord when the world offers none. Let us rejoice in the victory that is ours even though we don’t see it yet. Let us hold firm to our faith which carries us through all trials and ultimately builds us up.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your sovereign rule over our lives. We rejoice in knowing that we can find peace in You no matter what is going on around us. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will will strengthen us when the world tries to weaken us. We pray that the Holy Spirit will turn us back to the light of victory when the world is trying to turn us to the darkness of defeat. We pray that through it all our trust in You will be complete as we are delivered into Your will and plan for our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Mighty in Battle, Jesus Christ.

Be of Good Cheer at All Times

Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Rejoice. Endure. Pray. Now that is a winning combination. Each of these disciplines undergirds the other. The cumulative power gained by exercising these disciplines is even more valuable to followers of Jesus Christ when considering when they will be applied – during the times of trial and tribulation.

So how do these things work together. First of all, Jesus taught that in the world we will have tribulation. This is a given. There is no getting around it and it is becoming obvious in these days that tribulation for Christians is being ramped up in the form of persecution unlike anything that we have ever seen in our lifetime. More significantly, Satan is ramping up his attacks on us because he knows his time is getting shorter.

But knowing that our trials and tribulations are certain helps us to prepare for victory. We can rejoice as we have the hope given to us by the Son of God who has overcome the world. This is so certain that Jesus commands us to be of good cheer. And finally, because of the weakness of our flesh, the Lord God Almighty has provided access to His throne. When we are in the middle of the battle, losing strength and clearly not of good cheer, Our Heavenly Father invites us into His presence to receive an overflowing of His grace which will strengthen us, encourage us and lift us up into the joyful expectancy that belongs to us as children of the living God.

Let us rejoice in our hope, the ever faithful Jesus Christ. Let us persevere in our trials. Let us seek from God the fresh supplies of grace that we need to indeed be of good cheer at all times and under all circumstances. Let us claim the victory that is ours.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the constant flow of Your grace into our lives. Teach us, Father, to come to You throughout the day, not just at certain assigned times. Show us how to come into Your presence without ceasing. May we learn to humble ourselves before You endlessly as we come to You in prayer, bringing You the love, the honor and the praise that You alone deserve. We pray that we will endure all things as we rely on the Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ. We rest on His promises. We ask all these things in the precious, holy and mighty name of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Taking on the Spirit of the One Dwelling Within Us

Luke 21:19
By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Jesus warned His apostles of the hard times to come. He foretold the trials and persecution that they would suffer after He left. He comforted them with His promise that if they persevered in the ways of God and in the truths that He had given them, they would possess peace and joy in their souls. He also told them that the world would not be able to take away their joy if they lived in the fullness of His presence.

So it is with us. We have our own trials to bear in our lives. The Lord teaches us to let nothing disturb or distress us. He instructs us not to submit to the moodiness that might come upon us due to our circumstances. We must take on the Spirit of the One who dwells within us. We must endure, knowing that we have already been given victory over our circumstances. We must allow Jesus to do His work in us, overcoming the moodiness that our flesh would like to lay on us, so that we can press on and do the work that He calls us to do in the world. May we learn to patiently bear all afflictions on our bodies, bear all attacks and indignities tossed our way by our critics and bear all difficulties dealt to us by the world.

Let us be determined to allow nothing to disturb us, distress us or steal our peace. Let us learn to live joyfully in the presence of Jesus Christ under all circumstances.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for granting us victory through Jesus over everything in the world that tries to take our joy away. We rejoice in knowing that we can have joy even when happiness eludes us. We pray that You will teach us how to seek the strength we need when our mood turns us toward our problems instead of our solution, Your Son, Jesus. May the world see our joy in all circumstances so that they may be drawn to the One who provides it. We ask all these things in the name of Our Stronghold, Jesus Christ.

Surrendering to the Yoke of Jesus

2 Corinthians 12:10
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When our family relationships are at the breaking point, when the bill collectors are knocking at our door or when serious afflictions are threatening us, we run to Jesus for a supernatural remedy to our maladies. When we are weak and near defeat, perhaps even near death, we run to Jesus for His grace to strengthen us and comfort us as we go through our trials.

He promises to be our strength in every one of our times of weakness or trial. He promises to lighten our burdens as we surrender to His yoke. It is during these times that we feel His presence so clearly. It is during these times of pain that we experience the fullness of His love. It becomes a blessing to have tribulation in our lives.

Unfortunately without trial, we tend to lean away from God. We tend to move out of His presence. We tend to let the joy of life overshadow the true and perfect joy that is available to us through an ongoing, intimate relationship with Our Savior.

Let us turn to Jesus for our strength in the good times and the bad times. Let us be mindful of the presence and power of Jesus Christ as we enjoy the blessings that we have been provided in our lives. Let us experience the peace and power of being yoked to Him in our times of trial. Let us allow Jesus to be our all-sufficient Lord.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness. We thank You for the comfort of knowing that You are always there. We praise You for providing Your Son, Jesus, so that through Him and in Him we can experience the fullness of Your love. Help us, Father, to find contentment in all things as we seek to live in Your shadow and not under the influence of the world. We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will inspire us to develop an ongoing, intimate relationship with Your Son that is not affected by our circumstances. We ask all these things in the name of Our Rock and Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Seeing the Fruits of Our Faith

Genesis 22:2
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Did anyone, other than Jesus Himself, have to endure a greater test than Abraham? Can you imagine yourself standing over a loved one, especially your child, with knife in hand? Can you picture yourself ready to offer him or her as a living sacrifice? Can you even conceive of the idea that you would have gotten as far as picking up the knife?

To have to end the life of your child by the act of your own hand, who could endure such a test? Only a person of unfathomable faith in the promises of God could stand up to such a trial. When Abraham headed up the mountain with Isaac, he held the promise from God that God would make Abraham a great nation. Abraham believed that the promise could not be fulfilled without Isaac.

Abraham makes two comments that indicate that he faced his trial girded by faith in God’s promises. The first confirmation of his faith came when he saw the place of sacrifice from afar. He told the servants that had joined him and Isaac, “Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” The second confirmation of his faith came when Isaac asked where was the lamb for the sacrifice. Abraham responded, “God will provide the lamb for Himself for the burnt offering, my son.” And so it was that Abraham became a great nation as he stood with his knife ready, waiting in faith for His God to fulfill His promises.

God will allow all of us to be tested. He wants us to build up our faith in Him. He wants us to live with complete confidence that He will provide all that we need to endure that which we may feel is unbearable.

Let us take strength from the story of Abraham and Isaac. Let us rejoice in knowing that God will always provide a way for us to fulfill the plan that He has for our lives and for the lives of those that we serve.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for covering us in the many promises of comfort, provision and strength that You have revealed to us in Your Holy Word. Test us, O Lord, to build our faith in who You are. Strengthen us, O Lord, that we may pass the tests that prepare us for our place in Your eternal kingdom. Comfort us as we endure the trials. Build up in us the faith of Abraham. May we rejoice in seeing the fruits of our faith. We ask all these things in the name of the Author of Our Faith, Jesus Christ.

Our Smallest Concern is Important to God

Psalm 56:11
In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

It is amazing how often we struggle with the issues of the day, wondering how our particular situation is going to get resolved. How little faith we have in Almighty God through whom all things are possible. But what may be even more amazing is how we have no faith that Almighty God is interested in the smallest needs in our lives when His Word proclaims that He knows the count of every hair on our heads. Our smallest concern is as important to Him as our greatest need.

Through the continuous and sometimes onerous trials that we have passed through in life, we should have learned to patiently wait on the Lord to take us from darkness into the light. Yet we seem to become frustrated by the small stuff and lose patience. More importantly we lose confidence in an Almighty God who cares for us so much that He bottles all of our tears and observes them with tender love and concern.

May we all come full circle just as David, the Psalmist, did. May we be in constant recognition of the fact that the Lord is our helper. May we move forward fearing no man, for man has no power but what God has given him. Through our trials, may we all praise God knowing that He is faithful to meet our every need.

Let us make David’s affirmation of Almighty God’s power the foundation for our daily resolve. Let us rejoice and trust in Him to be who He says He is in all things big and small.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your faithful promises to meet our every need. We praise You for giving us sufficient grace to get through every trial. We pray, Lord, that You will grant us the faith to trust in You for everything in our lives. We ask that Your Holy Spirit teach us to come to You boldly with what seems impossible and also come to You confidently with the smallest things that are troubling us. May Your grace and power in our lives never be diminished because of our lack of understanding. We ask all these things in the name of the Son seated at the right hand of power, Jesus Christ.

Everyone’s Faith Will Be Tested

Genesis 22:12
He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

We are going to experience trials in our lives. This is as certain in our lives as death and taxes. Some of the trials will be small and some will be so big that we will nearly faint. In each case, no matter the weightiness, the real test will be the test of our faith.

Who of us could have answered God’s request to sacrifice a child like Abraham did? It was his faith that allowed him to go. Notice what Abraham said to the men who were with him before he headed up the mountain to the place of sacrifice. “I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” Abraham was resting on God’s promise to make him the head of many nations. Abraham knew that this was only possible through his son. Abraham had the faith that in some manner God would provide a way through this test.

Trials and tests are God’s way of drawing us close to Him and teaching us His ways. It is through the trials and tests that our faith is built up so that we can become the person that God has intended for us to be. God may not have created us to be a leader of a nation like Abraham, but He does have a specific plan for our lives. We can only fulfill this plan by putting all of our faith in the One in whose hands we rest.

Let us put all of our faith in the hands of Our Creator. Let us fulfill everything that He has set aside for us through our faithful obedience. Let us rejoice as our bountiful faith releases God’s supernatural plan for our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for each trial that You allow in our lives. We rejoice in knowing that we are resting in Your hands as we go through each of these challenges to our faith. We ask, Lord, that we will have the faith of Abraham. We pray that we will not turn away from any test that you set before us. May our character and our faith be built up in accordance with Your perfect plans for our lives. We ask these things in the name of the One upon Whom our faith is built, the Chief Cornerstone, Jesus Christ.

Immeasurable Grace for Victory

Isaiah 40:29
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

With so much going on around us that we are troubled by, but have no control over, it is easy to become frustrated at our station in life. With so much evil in the world today, it is very easy to become despondent and depressed. But how is this so?

How is it that we do not now trust in that which has been recorded throughout history and is prepared for our understanding in God’s Holy Word? How have we missed being enlightened to the ways in which Almighty God has been forever with us when we have the experiences of good men through their own observation and the God-inspired writings of His apostles and His prophets to instruct us? How have we not learned that the Maker and Former of all things, who upholds, governs and judges all that is under His kingdom, never tires of providing for and protecting the creatures that He created for His own glory? Why do we continue with our foolish frets and fears and not find peace in the storm when the One who vanquishes all that comes against us is always with us?

We should not be surprised at our weakness or lack of understanding. God was perfectly aware that we were not capable on our own to cope with the torments of our own flesh and the attacks of the enemy. Through His immeasurable grace He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us. For those that He knew were weak, He provided all the strength required for victory.

Let us gather up our strength in the Lord when we are challenged by the enemy. Let us seek His might when we are being overwhelmed by the world and tormented by our own flesh. Let us rest on His promises as we claim our victories over our troubles.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing all that we need to overcome this world. We bless the name of Jesus who died on the cross so that we might have victory over all evil. We rejoice in knowing that Your Holy Spirit is always with us to provide peace, comfort and strength through all trials. Father, we pray that our hearts and minds are put to rest with the certainty of Your presence and Your promises. May those around us be comforted by the peace that they see in our lives during times of trouble. We ask all these things in the name of our ever-present Lord, Jesus Christ.