Are Your Trials Making You Bitter or Beautiful?

Trials are part of the Christian life.  We were so encouraged as Lisa shared in this week's Real Life With Lisa.  We hope you will be as well.  

http://club31women.com/are-your-trials-making-you-bitter-or-beautiful-encouragement-for-when-youre-in-a-hard-season-real-life-with-lisa/

Encouraging Quotes on Prayer and Trials from the book War Room

Recently I read the book War Room and was so blessed by it!  Many similarities, obviously, to the movie, but the book was so much better!  There were many things that I walked away with from reading it that challenged and encouraged me, so I thought I would share a couple of those with you all to hopefully be equally as encouraging to some of you.  Both quotes are from "Miss Clara".
~Breanna

Sometimes the best gifts God gives us are not the easy times when everything goes our way.  The best gifts are the hard times when your life is reduced to a couple of good questions: What is this all about? Why are we here?  God is not interested in making me comfortable or happy.  His goal is to make me holy, like His Son.  And I've never met a follower of Jesus who hasn't encountered some suffering and pain.  God doesn't tell us to pick up a memory foam cross.  It's rugged and it's heavy.  You can run and try to find some easier way, but eventually He leads you through the thorns and the briars and that valley of the shadow.  But I promise you, if you trust Him, He will lead you to green pastures and peaceful waters.  Not just when you get to heaven, but right now.  Peace and contentment in the middle of the storm.  In the middle of the disappointment and fear and anger.  The bad times are really the good times in disquise.

The goal of prayer is not to change God's mind about what you want.  The goal of prayer is to change your own heart, to want what He wants, to the glory of God.  When we pray, we participate in what God is doing.  He gets the glory, and we get the privilege of walking with Him, and in that process we are changed.  And guess what happens from that change?  He gets the glory. 

Rejoice in the LORD!

A beautiful, precious song shared with me by a 'big sister' in the Lord.  God has a perfect plan.  If we just trust and rest in Him He will bring us His perfect peace and we will be able to rejoice abundantly as we see His plans unfold and the fruit that He brings in our lives!

"Rejoice in the LORD"

by Ron Hamilton

God never moves without purpose or plan
When trying His servant and molding a man.
Give thanks to the LORD though your testing seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.

I could not see through the shadows ahead;
So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.
I bowed to the will of the Master that day;
Then peace came and tears fled away.

Now I can see testing comes from above;
God strengthens His children and purges in love.
My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
Through purging more fruit I will bear.

O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, rejoice."

~ Philippians 4:4 ~

"But He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me,

I shall come forth as gold."

~ Job 23:10 ~

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;

and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

~ Proverbs 3:5-6 ~

"O taste and see that the LORD is good:

blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."

~ Psalm 34:8 ~

"Being confident of this very thing,

that He which hath begun a good work in you

will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

~ Philippians 1:6 ~

May the Lord help us each to trust and rejoice in Him as He directs each little step along our way.  He is doing His perfect work!

~Brittany

Lessons to learn from boiled carrots, eggs and coffee beans (how to handle times of adversity)

 

“A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.  Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.  

Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed  ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. 

Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

 

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. 

 

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. 

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”

Think on this:

~ Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

~ Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

OR

~ Am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you, dear homemaker, handle adversity?

~ Author Unknown—shared with you at The Homemaker’s Society

~Breanna

Overcoming the Little Things, the Hardest Things - Winning Our Spiritual Crown

But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. (Rev 12:11)

The greatest things are always hedged about by the hardest things, and we, too, shall find mountains and forests and chariots of iron. Hardship is the price of coronation. Triumphal arches are not woven out of rose blossoms and silken cords, but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships that you are enduring in your life today are given by the Master for the explicit purpose of enabling you to win your crown.

Do not wait for some ideal situation, some romantic difficulty, some far-away emergency; but rise to meet the actual conditions which the Providence of God has placed around you today. Your crown of glory lies embedded in the very heart of these things—those hardships and trials that are pressing you this very hour, week and month of your life. The hardest things are not those that the world knows of. Down in your secret soul unseen and unknown by any but Jesus, there is a little trial that you would not dare to mention that is harder for you to bear than martyrdom.

There, beloved, lies your crown. God help you to overcome, and sometime wear it.

—Selected, taken from Streams in the Desert, Vol. 1, for Nov. 16th, by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

~Brittany

Seeing Trials as Opportunites, Blessings, and Real Fulfillments

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1). The question often comes, "Why didn't He help me sooner?" It is not His order. He must first adjust you to the trouble and cause you to learn your lesson from it. His promise is, "I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him." He must be with you in the trouble first all day and all night. Then He will take you out of it. This will not come till you have stopped being restless and fretful about it and become calm and quiet. Then He will say, "It is enough."
God uses trouble to teach His children precious lessons. They are intended to educate us. When their good work is done, a glorious recompense will come to us through them. There is a sweet joy and a real value in them. He does not regard them as difficulties but as opportunities.
--Selected.

Not always OUT of our troublous times,
And the struggles fierce and grim,
But IN--deeper IN--to our one sure rest,
The place of our peace, in Him.
--Annie Johnson Flint

We once heard a simple old colored man say something that we have never forgotten: "When God tests you, it is a good time for you to test Him by putting His promises to the proof, and claiming from Him just as much as your trials have rendered necessary."

There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is to simply try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had, and to hail it with delight as an opportunity of obtaining a larger measure of Divine grace. Thus even the adversary becomes an auxiliary, and the things that seem to be against us turn out to be for the furtherance of our way. Surely, this is to be more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
--A. B. Simpson

- Streams in the Deserts, Vol. 1, for September 7th

"Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress" (Ps. 4:1).
This is one of the grandest testimonies ever given by man to the moral government of God. It is not a man's thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering. It is a thanksgiving that he has been set free through suffering: "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress." He declares the sorrows of life to have been themselves the source of life's enlargement.
And have not you and I a thousand times felt this to be true? It is written of Joseph in the dungeon that "the iron entered into his soul." We all feel that what Joseph needed for his soul was just the iron. He had seen only the glitter of the gold. He had been rejoicing in youthful dreams; and dreaming hardens the heart. He who sheds tears over a romance will not be most apt to help reality; real sorrow will be too unpoetic for him. We need the iron to enlarge our nature. The gold is but a vision; the iron is an experience. The chain which unites me to humanity must be an iron chain. That touch of nature which makes the world akin is not joy, but sorrow; gold is partial, but iron is universal.
My soul, if thou wouldst be enlarged into human sympathy, thou must be narrowed into limits of human suffering. Joseph's dungeon is the road to Joseph's throne. Thou canst not lift the iron load of thy brother if the iron hath not entered into thee. It is thy limit that is thine enlargement. It is the shadows of thy life that are the real fulfillment of thy dreams of glory. Murmur not at the shadows; they are better revelations than thy dreams. Say not that the shades of the prison-house have fettered thee; thy fetters are wings -- wings of flight into the bosom of humanity. The door of thy prison-house is a door into the heart of the universe. God has enlarged thee by the binding of sorrow's chain.
--George Matheson
If Joseph had not been Egypt's prisoner, he had never been Egypt's governor. The iron chain about his feet ushered in the golden chain about his neck.
--Selected
-Streams in the Desert, Vol. 1, for September 8th

~Brittany

Faith, Love, and Perfect Gifts

The Lord is so faithful to provide encouragement through His Word for every aspect of His children's lives.  As I have felt very needy of His presence and aid, He has blessed me with precious passages to meditate on, promises to hold on to, and verses to give me strength and courage.  I hope that these passages will be a blessing to some of you as well, in whatever the Lord is placing before you.

~Brittany

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

James 1:2-8,12

“Be not faithless, but believing.”

John 20:27

James 1 with Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary Notes

As the Lord led me to meditate on this chapter recently I have been encouraged not only by the Scripture, but also by reading Matthew Henry's concise commentary notes on it.  A little lengthy, but well worth the time.  I hope this is a blessing to some of you, as it was to me.

~Brittany

James 1:1-11

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.  Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:  But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.  For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.”

Christianity teaches men to be joyful under troubles: such exercises are sent from God's love; and trials in the way of duty will brighten our graces now, and our crown at last. Let us take care, in times of trial, that patience, and not passion, is set to work in us: whatever is said or done, let patience have the saying and doing of it. When the work of patience is complete, it will furnish all that is necessary for our Christian race and warfare. We should not pray so much for the removal of affliction, as for wisdom to make a right use of it. And who does not want wisdom to guide him under trials, both in regulating his own spirit, and in managing his affairs? Here is something in answer to every discouraging turn of the mind, when we go to God under a sense of our own weakness and folly. If, after all, any should say, This may be the case with some, but I fear I shall not succeed, the promise is, To any that asketh, it shall be given. A mind that has single and prevailing regard to its spiritual and eternal interest, and that keeps steady in its purposes for God, will grow wise by afflictions, will continue fervent in devotion, and rise above trials and oppositions. When our faith and spirits rise and fall with second causes, there will be unsteadiness in our words and actions. This may not always expose men to contempt in the world, but such ways cannot please God. No condition of life is such as to hinder rejoicing in God. Those of low degree may rejoice, if they are exalted to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom of God; and the rich may rejoice in humbling providences, that lead to a humble and lowly disposition of mind. Worldly wealth is a withering thing. Then, let him that is rich rejoice in the grace of God, which makes and keeps him humble; and in the trials and exercises which teach him to seek happiness in and from God, not from perishing enjoyments.  - MHCC

James 1:12-18

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.  Do not err, my beloved brethren.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

It is not every man who suffers, that is blessed; but he who with patience and constancy goes through all difficulties in the way of duty. Afflictions cannot make us miserable, if it be not our own fault. The tried Christian shall be a crowned one. The crown of life is promised to all who have the love of God reigning in their hearts. Every soul that truly loves God, shall have its trials in this world fully recompensed in that world above, where love is made perfect. The commands of God, and the dealings of his providence, try men's hearts, and show the dispositions which prevail in them. But nothing sinful in the heart or conduct can be ascribed to God. He is not the author of the dross, though his fiery trial exposes it. Those who lay the blame of sin, either upon their constitution, or upon their condition in the world, or pretend they cannot keep from sinning, wrong God as if he were the author of sin. Afflictions, as sent by God, are designed to draw out our graces, but not our corruptions. The origin of evil and temptation is in our own hearts. Stop the beginnings of sin, or all the evils that follow must be wholly charged upon us. God has no pleasure in the death of men, as he has no hand in their sin; but both sin and misery are owing to themselves. As the sun is the same in nature and influences, though the earth and clouds, often coming between, make it seem to us to vary, so God is unchangeable, and our changes and shadows are not from any changes or alterations in him. What the sun is in nature, God is in grace, providence, and glory; and infinitely more. As every good gift is from God, so particularly our being born again, and all its holy, happy consequences come from him. A true Christian becomes as different a person from what he was before the renewing influences of Divine grace, as if he were formed over again. We should devote all our faculties to God's service, that we may be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.  -MHCC

James 1:19-21

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

Instead of blaming God under our trials, let us open our ears and hearts to learn what he teaches by them. And if men would govern their tongues, they must govern their passions. The worst thing we can bring to any dispute, is anger. Here is an exhortation to lay apart, and to cast off as a filthy garment, all sinful practices. This must reach to sins of thought and affection, as well as of speech and practice; to every thing corrupt and sinful. We must yield ourselves to the word of God, with humble and teachable minds. Being willing to hear of our faults, taking it not only patiently, but thankfully. It is the design of the word of God to make us wise to salvation; and those who propose any mean or low ends in attending upon it, dishonour the gospel, and disappoint their own souls.  -MHCC

James 1:22-25

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

 If we heard a sermon every day of the week, and an angel from heaven were the preacher, yet, if we rested in hearing only, it would never bring us to heaven. Mere hearers are self-deceivers; and self-deceit will be found the worst deceit at last. If we flatter ourselves, it is our own fault; the truth, as it is in Jesus, flatters no man. Let the word of truth be carefully attended to, and it will set before us the corruption of our nature, the disorders of our hearts and lives; and it will tell us plainly what we are. Our sins are the spots the law discovers: Christ's blood is the laver the gospel shows. But in vain do we hear God's word, and look into the gospel glass, if we go away, and forget our spots, instead of washing them off; and forget our remedy, instead of applying to it. This is the case with those who do not hear the word as they ought. In hearing the word, we look into it for counsel and direction, and when we study it, it turns to our spiritual life. Those who keep in the law and word of God, are, and shall be, blessed in all their ways. His gracious recompence hereafter, would be connected with his present peace and comfort. Every part of Divine revelation has its use, in bringing the sinner to Christ for salvation, and in directing and encouraging him to walk at liberty, by the Spirit of adoption, according to the holy commands of God. And mark the distinctness, it is not for his deeds, that any man is blessed, but in his deed. It is not talking, but walking, that will bring us to heaven. Christ will become more precious to the believer's soul, which by his grace will become more fitted for the inheritance of the saints in light.  -MHCC

James 1:26-27

“If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

When men take more pains to seem religious than really to be so, it is a sign their religion is in vain. The not bridling the tongue, readiness to speak of the faults of others, or to lessen their wisdom and piety, are signs of a vain religion. The man who has a slandering tongue, cannot have a truly humble, gracious heart. False religious may be known by their impurity and uncharitableness. True religion teaches us to do every thing as in the presence of God. An unspotted life must go with unfeigned love and charity. Our true religion is equal to the measure in which these things have place in our hearts and conduct. And let us remember, that nothing avails in Christ Jesus, but faith that worketh by love, purifies the heart, subdues carnal lusts, and obeys God's commands.  -MHCC

All Things for Good

“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

- Romans 8:28 -

Upon some points a believer is absolutely sure. He knows, for instance, that God sits in the stern-sheets of the vessel when it rocks most. He believes that an invisible hand is always on the world’s tiller, and that wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it. That re-assuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a voice saying, “It is I, be not afraid.” He knows too that God is always wise, and, knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes; that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, “If I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God so wills: the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if God ordains it.” “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory, but he knows it as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet; the poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure; the sharp cuts of the lancet have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing. Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results; and so, believing that God rules all, that he governs wisely, that he brings good out of evil, the believer’s heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray, “Send me what thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from thee; never came there an ill portion from thy table to any of thy children.”

“Say not my soul, ‘From whence can God relieve my care?’

Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere.

His method is sublime, his heart profoundly kind,

God never is before his time, and never is behind.”

-Charles Spurgeon's Morning Meditation for August 5th

~Brittany 

Old Quotes, Fresh Encouragement :-)

Don't you love going back through old prayer and Bible journals.  I am have very blessed reading through Teri Maxwell's book Sweet Journey as she is seeking to give counsel in beginning a Bible journal, prayer notebook and to memorize scripture on a daily based.  Her encouragement  is helping me to be more purposeful, once again, in my personal quiet time with the Lord.  While seeking to begin afresh with a prayer notebook, I was looking through some of my prayer and Bible journals that I have done in the past and was once again blessed by a few quotes that I found in one of my journals.  I hope they will be an encouragement to you as well.  Also, if you need some fresh encouragement in making your time with the Lord more purposeful and meaningful, I would highly recommend Sweet Journey.  ~Karen

Culture is religion externalized - Henry Van Til

When we feel God's plow going into our hearts, remember that God does not plow without purposing a crop.  - Thomas Watson

This last one is a quote from the book Beloved Bride by Bill Potter
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson wrote in a letter to his sister after the loss of his first wife and child, who was stillborn at birth and also the time in which his wife also died:

"I have been called to pass through the deep waters of affliction, but all has been satisfied.  The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.  It is his will that my dearest wife and child should no longer abide with me, and as it is His holy will, I am perfectly reconciled to the sad bereavement, though I deeply mourn my loss.  Oh! the consolations of religion!  I can willingly submit to anything if God strengthens me.  I have joy in knowing that God withholds no good things from them that love and keep his commandments.  And he will overrule this sad, sad bereavement for good."  

Yielding... to Gain the Only Thing Worth Having

" Man has a claim on God, a divine claim for any pain, want, disappointment, or misery that will help to make him what he ought to be.  He has a claim to be punished, and to be spared not one pang that may urge him toward repentance; yea, he has a claim to be compelled to repent; to be hedged in on every side, to have one after another of the strong, sharp-toothed sheep-dogs of the Great Shepherd sent after him, to thwart him in any desire, foil him in any plan, frustrate him of any hope, until he comes to see at length that nothing will ease his pain, nothing make life a thing worth having, but the presence of the living God within him; that nothing is good but the will of God; nothing noble enough for the desire of the heart of man but oneness with the eternal.  For this God must make him yield his very being, that He himself may enter in and dwell with him"

George MacDonald

As I read quotes like this one and read the Scriptures, I am so thankful that I can see the hand of the Lord in my life - teaching, taking away, growing, stretching, strengthening me, orchestrating everything in my life for me to become more Christ like, to be conformed to His image.  When we have the perspective that everything is for our good and growth spiritually, and is sent from the loving hand of our Father, it really helps to change our outlook on everything that comes up and helps us to have a meek, moldable spirit and allows us to rejoice in the loving working hand of our gracious Lord.

"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."

1 Peter 4:12-13

"Rejoice evermore.  Pray without ceasing.  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering...

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."

James 1:2-6,12

~Brittany

Of trials, storms and hope...

Before the winds that blow do cease,
Teach me to dwell within Thy calm;
Before the pain has passed in peace,
Give me, my God, to sing a psalm;
Let me not lose the chance to prove
The fullness of enabling love.
~Amy Carmichael

Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow,

Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious sea,

What matter beating wind and tossing billow

If only we are in the boat with Thee?

Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute

While Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill:

Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it?

Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?

~Amy Carmichael

Song: He Already Sees

~Breanna

The Christian's Hope ~ An Eternal Perspective

I was very blessed by reading this tonight, and hope that maybe it will encourage some of you as well.

The minor afflictions and major troubles of this life can mount up to seem like a wall of obstruction and discouragement on so many levels but nothing believers are called to deal with, face, endure is to be compared with what our Lord has planned for them who love Him.

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered
the heart of man what the Lord has prepared
for them that love Him.

1 Corinthians 2:9

If this life was all happiness, ease and triumph, we would come to love being here so well that we would forget this world is not our home and what’s more, is passing away. If we never faced hardship, this world would be to us the prison it is to so many . . . a gilded cell we would never want to leave.

But no, the longer we live and the more that challenges mount (physical or relational . . . persecution for some) the more clear the illusion of this world becomes so that we see on the horizon a future far brighter than any passing moment we experience here.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:15

The Christian’s hope is not in this life. I’m reminded just now of a few lines from an old hymn I love . . .

“My God, I Thank Thee” by Adelaide A. Proctor.

I thank Thee more that all our joy
Is touched with pain,
That shadows fall on brightest hours,
That thorns remain;
So that earth’s bliss may be our guide,
And not our chain.

An eternal perspective reminds us not to love the world.

- written by Matthew L. Jacobson, on his website: Matthew L. Jacobson, article entitled: A Question for Dr. Stephen Hawking: What Do You Hope For?

~Brittany

Trust ~ The Heart Word of Faith

Trust in the Lord and do what is right! Settle in the land and maintain your integrity!  - Psalm 37:3

"Trust also in him."  - Psalm 35:5

The word trust is the heart word of faith. It is the Old Testament word, the word given to the early and infant stage of faith. The word faith expresses more the act of the will, the word belief the act of the mind or intellect, but trust is the language of the heart. The other has reference more to a truth believed or a thing expected.

 

Trust implies more than this, it sees and feels, and leans upon a person, a great, true, living heart of love. So let us “trust also in him,” through all the delays, in spite of all the difficulties, in the face of all the denials, notwithstanding all the seemings, even when we cannot understand the way, and know not the issue; still “trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass.” The way will open, the right issue will come, the end will be peace, the cloud will be lifted, and the light of an eternal noonday shall shine at last.

 

“Trust and rest when all around thee

Puts thy faith to sorest test;

Let no fear or foe confound thee,

Wait for God and trust and rest.

 

“Trust and rest with heart abiding,

Like a birdling in its nest,

Underneath His feathers hiding,

Fold thy wings and trust and rest.”

 

- Streams in the Dessert, Vol. 1, December 15th

~Brittany

An encouraging song as you walk through the trials of life

A dear little brother (thanks Andrew!) shared this song tonight and I was so blessed by it's message! Hope you will be too!

Lost and Found 

Mark Robins

When the rain falls, and it some days will,

and the pavement under my feet,

sparkles silver and gold, in reflected light

that I otherwise wouldn't have seen.

And when the storm comes and the strong wind blows

I will bow my head to push through;

And every step that I take, I will watch and pray

and be sure my foothold is true.

Jesus, don't You keep me from that storm

I wanna walk that sacred ground;

For You are Master of it all

And I am but a lost and found.

And in the dry place, in the wilderness

when Your word seems so far away,

Oh I will think of my life, and I will bless Your name;

For Your promises never have failed.

And when the night falls, at the end of days,

I will lift my eyes to the heavens,

and we will shine like the stars, for eternal days;

In Your presence forever and e'er.

So, Jesus, don't You keep me from that storm

I wanna walk that sacred ground;

For You are Master of it all

And I am but a lost and found.

Lost and found, lost and found

I am but a lost and found

For can there be a sweeter sound,

than singing with the lost and found?

Jesus don't You keep me from that storm

I wanna walk that sacred ground;

For You are Master of it all

And I am but a lost and found.

God's Rock Flowers - His Best Soldiers

 Thou hast shewed thy people hard things (Ps. 60:3).
 
I have always been glad that the Psalmist said to God that some things were hard. There is no mistake about it; there are hard things in life.

Some beautiful pink flowers were given me this summer, and as I took them I said, "What are they?" And the answer came, "They are rock flowers; they grow and bloom only on rocks where you can see no soil." Then  I thought of God's flowers growing in hard places; and I feel, somehow, that He may have a peculiar tenderness for His "rock flowers" that He may not have for His lilies and roses. --Margaret Bottome 

The tests of life are to make, not break us. Trouble may demolish a man's business but build up his character. The blow at the outward man may be the greatest blessing to the inner man. If God, then, puts or permits anything hard in our lives, be sure that the real peril, the real trouble, is what we shall lose if we flinch or rebel. --Maltbie D. Babcock

Heroes are forged on anvils hot with pain,
And splendid courage comes but with the test.
Some natures ripen and some natures bloom
Only on blood-wet soil, some souls prove great
Only in moments dark with death or doom.
God gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.

 -- Streams in the Desert, for November 23rd
 
~Brittany

Redeeemed . . . the song and a bit of history

It is often encouraging to look at the history behind hymns that we sing in our churches.  Many of them were born out of trials and difficulties, and others are written records of great truths taught by the Master in Heaven.  They are testimonies of God’s amazing grace.

Fanny Crosby, 1872

One of the most well known hymn writers in American history is Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915).  Blinded by an incompetent doctor at the age of six weeks, she found hope in Jesus Christ.  She wrote over 8,000 hymns, many of which are still sung in churches around the world.  By her songs and her life, she taught many to look unto Jesus; Miss Crosby once said of her blindness, “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all of my life, and I thank him for the dispensation.  If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it.  I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.”

In 1882, Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It! was published.  Its melody was composed by William Kirkpatrick.  The message of the song is filled with Gospel truth, and it has blessed many for well over a century.  The lyrics are:

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am.

Redeemed, and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.

I think of my blessèd Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long:
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

I know I shall see in His beauty
The King in whose law I delight;
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night.

I know there’s a crown that is waiting,
In yonder bright mansion for me,
And soon, with the spirits made perfect,
At home with the Lord I shall be.

Chorus:

Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.

http://clintlewey.com/2011/08/15/redeemed-how-i-love-to-proclaim-it/

"The Lord will be with you."

(2 Chronicles 20:17)

"If the Lord be with me, it matters little who may desert me.

If the Lord be with me, I shall conquer in the battle of life,

and the greater my trials the more glorious will be my victory."

- Charles Spurgeon -

(Faith's Checkbook for September 5th)

~Brittany

The master-strokes of the Divine Artist!

I was so blessed by this when I read it!  What a good reminder!  ~Breanna

(Charles Spurgeon, "Flowers from a Puritan's Garden" 1883)

"We would have speedy riddance of trouble--but God does not think it fit to grant our request. Showers that come by drops and soak into the earth, are better than those which come in a tempest and hurricane!"

The gradualness and long continuance of a trial, which are its sharpness and bitterness--are also, to a large extent, the causes of its usefulness. If the sharp affliction came and departed with a rush--we would be rather swept away by it, than softened and saturated by its influence. To push a crucible among the glowing coals and snatch it out again, would answer no purpose in refining--the metal must tarry in the furnace until the fire has done its work.

Perhaps the reader has long lived in the perpetual grip of affliction, and now feels himself to be quite weary of the endless torture. Let him not faint under the lengthened process--the highest degree of benefit is accruing to him, from the continuance of his adversity!

In the later part of a trial, every stroke brings forth a tenfold result, and operates with a greatly increased efficacy. It would be a pity for the Lord to stay His hand, when it is working with such special and marked result. All the preceding affliction has only worked the heart into a fit condition to receive the master-strokes of the Divine Artist! The foundational colors have hitherto been laid on--but the second and finishing touch is now being given! Therefore, do not ask God's hand to cease, but rather pray that its work may be carried on with power, and the Lord's glory be seen in it all.

It will not cease raining yet--and why should it, so long as the soil is being softened, saturated, and fertilized by the falling drops? Let patience have her perfect work--and how can that be, useless the tribulation runs its full time?

Lord, make me ready to tarry for the vision, however long it may be delayed. Your way of trying me is the best. I would not hurry Your hand, if I could!

How are you doing in the fire?

Excellent exhortation by Brother Chris Pappas, pastor of Collins Road Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, on trials. Lessons from the book of Daniel chapter 3:19.

Daniel 3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

Is your faith being tested in the furnace?? Be encouraged to stand firm as you listen to this message.