Discouragement

How Can We Turn our Suffering into Joy?

Is it even possible to turn our suffering into joy? I believe it is because I have done it many times. The joy we feel while in the midst of suffering is our connection to God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit within us!

In Romans 5:3 it says that we should be rejoicing in our sufferings. What does that mean? It means that Christians will face difficulties in this life, throughout their lives, and through those difficulties, if they remain faithful to God, they spiritually grow and build Godly Christian character in the Lord.

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The Nature and Basis of Assurance

At the commencement of Matthew 5 we find the Lord Jesus pronouncing blessed a certain class of people. They are not named as “believers” or saints,” but instead are described by their characters; and it is only by comparing ourselves and others with the description that the Lord Jesus there gave, that we are enabled to identify such. First, He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” To be “poor in spirit” is to have a feeling sense that in me, that is, in my flesh, “there dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). It is the realization that 1 am utterly destitute of anything and everything which could commend me favorably to God’s notice. It is to recognize that I am a spiritual bankrupt.

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You Believe in God but Do You Really Trust Him?

2 Corinthians 1:9-10 NRSV
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again.

I’ve always believed in God, believed that He exists, that He gave us His Word, that He desires to be interactively involved with me.

I have not always trusted Him.

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Affliction Prepared For and Improved

“It was good for me to be afflicted–so that I might learn your decrees.” Psalm 119:71

As it is the duty of God’s children to prepare for affliction before it comes; so it is also their duty to improve affliction when it does come.

If we do not prepare for affliction–we shall be surprised by it;
and, if we do not improve it–we are likely to increase it.

He who would prepare for affliction, must beforehand:
(1.) resign all to God,
(2.) strengthen his graces,
(3.) store up divine promises,
(4.) and search out secret sins.

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When We Have to Wait

Tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high. Luke 24:49

He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father. Acts 1:4

These waiting days were necessary to enable the disciples to realize their need, their nothingness, their failure and their dependence upon the Master. They had to get emptied first, before they could get filled.

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Are You “Fully Persuaded?”

And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised,
he was able also to perform. Romans 4:21 KJV

It has been said of Abraham that he was a friend of God and the father of many nations, but what impacts me most about this biblical patriarch is that he was “fully persuaded” that God could and would fulfill His promises, regardless of seemingly impossible circumstances.

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Prayer for Those Who Have Suffered Loss or Need Healing

Abba, You are so amazing. Your love for us in nothing short of incredible. Thank You for touching us and for filling us with Your Spirit. Thank You for considering us worth saving. You could have allowed rebellious mankind to stay separated from You for eternity, but instead, You made a way for us to run into Your throne room. You made a way for us to be cleansed. I praise You and thank You for that.

Abba, You have children who are facing losses…losses of loved ones, losses of homes, losses of jobs. Please comfort them, Abba, and help them to remember that You care for all of Your creation…from the tiniest of creatures we are unable to even see to the crown of Your creation…mankind. Please bring reconciliation where it is needed. Bring forgiveness. Bring Your healing Shalom.

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