Blogger's Note: This month my use of John MacArthur's daily devotional book, Strength for Today leads me into a study of the things in life we'd like to avoid ... trials, troubles, and temptations. Anybody identify? Come along; and let's grow together >>>
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Passage of the Day: Job 5: 7 … Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
My Journal for Today: Trials, tribulations, temptations, testing, troubles … all the big “T”s that we’d like to avoid in life. Yet somehow, intuitively, we know that we’re going to face all of these “Ts.” This month I’ll be looking at these, again with John MacArthur’s help from his devotional book, Strength for Today. And to begin this, we go to the #1 book in the Bible on troubles and trials; and that, of course, is in the study of the life of Job, which, according to scholars much more knowledgeable that I am, is the oldest book in the Bible and the account of God’s exemplary “trouble child,” who was the subject of Satan’s ire and became God’s example for all mankind of handling trials and tests.
It’s very easy for any of us to get down when suffering or trials visit our lives. Right now, as I write this, the area where I live has been wracked with tornadoes and floods. Hundreds have died and are homeless because of the devastation; and as the Mississippi River rises close to us, many more may be forced out of their homes very soon. Trials, troubles, and tribulations! … The truth of today’s verse, along with all that Job faced, reminds us that tribulations are just a part of life. We’re all going to face them at some time and in some fashion in our walk on this earth. And so, knowing this, we must guard against letting the challenges of life get us down.
Jonah (see Jonah, Chapter 4) and Elijah (in 1st Kings 19: 1 – 14), both prophets of God, let their anguish over trials in their respective lives cause them to even pray to die. And I would expect that some of you reading this may have been at that point sometime in your life. But fortunately for these two, and perhaps you, God doesn’t always answer “YES” when we pray for things that we don’t need or shouldn’t have.
But we have to remember the wonderful words of our Savior … (from John 16: 33) …
SCRIPTURE: John 16: 33 … "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
And even though our trials may not be as intense as those of Job or others in the Bible, we can also take heart from the magnificent promises of two passages of scripture that I rely upon almost daily to deal the challenges of my life or of those whom I love. Let me post them here, because I think I’ll be making reference to them more than once during this month as we talk about dealing with the troubles of life. Please note and meditate on 1st Cor. 10: 13 and 2nd Cor. 12: 9 … and I would exhort you to have these two deeply planted in your minds/hearts …
SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor. 10: 13 … No temptation [also translated “test, trial, or tribulation”] has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
SCRIPTURE: 2nd Cor. 12: 9 … But He [Jesus] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore [Paul writes], I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
God’s always there for me, no matter what the trial may be, … no matter how tough it is for me to handle, … God is there, faithfully, to give me the strength so that I may stand up under the challenges I face. And I need not fear because God will always be there to lift me up when I am down [find and meditate on Deut. 31: 8 and Isaiah 41: 10 on your own].
My Prayer Today: Thank you, Lord, for always being there to lift me – in ANY trial. Amen
Showing posts with label suffering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suffering. Show all posts
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Friday, October 30, 2009
2009 – Day 302.Oct 30 – Nothing New
Passage for Study: 2nd Corinthians 12: 1 – 10 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: As a teacher – and that’s one of my Spirit imparted gifts – I often repeat a mantra taught to me by my mentor years ago; and that is, “Redundancy teaches!” In other words, when you hear a message over and over again from a reliable source, we should listen and learn; because that lesson is probably important. How about God? As a source of learning, is HE reliable and important enough to listen and learn? So, I’ve learned – quite often in fact – if we read something from God’s truth, (i.e., the Bible), especially something that comes at us repeatedly, we should listen and learn (and yes, even memorize and internalize).
So, today, Chuck Swindoll hits on one of those repetitive truths; and it is one which our repeated passage today teaches just like the same message that goes back to the oldest recorded book in the Bible, which we just finished studying not too long ago, the Book of Job. The lesson: SUFFERING IS NOT NEW!
When we studied Job, we saw how he hated, by accepted God’s deal with Satan (unknown to Job) which visited horrible suffering upon Job and his family. We read of Job’s poor wife telling her man to curse God and die; and Job retorting that his family had accepted so many blessings from God; so why shouldn’t they accept adversity. But in today’s culture, even from so-called “christian” sources, we hear the teaching of the prosperity teachers, saying that when we find God, we’ll experience good health and great wealth. And the message of Job’s suffering and now Paul’s thorn just doesn’t sit well with a people who try to sell pain reduction at all costs and the pursuit of happiness as our inalienable right.
But my friend, we had better learn the lesson of inevitable suffering sooner, rather than later; because when suffering hits, if we are bowled over by it, we become easy prey for an enemy who would use our suffering to get us questioning the very presence of God, let alone that His love is found in the midst of the suffering.
Dear one, I hope – and will pray today – that we all learn and know the lesson of the OT and NT, … that God will never leave us, nor forsake us (see Deut. 31: 6 and Heb. 13: 5). I pray that we can be witness to the truth that God loves us just as much – if not more – in the hard times as He does in the easy times. I pray that we learn that God’s “blessings” might just include suffering as well as good fortune. Because if we can’t learn that lesson proactively, we’re very likely to have to learn it, as did Job and Paul, retroactively. It’s one of the most highly repeated lessons in all of Scripture; so, my friend, let us learn it and use if for God’s glory!
My Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, help us to learn the lessons You have to teach us in suffering; so that our responses will be as Job or Paul, by giving witness to Your love in the midst of the suffering. Amen
My Journal for Today: As a teacher – and that’s one of my Spirit imparted gifts – I often repeat a mantra taught to me by my mentor years ago; and that is, “Redundancy teaches!” In other words, when you hear a message over and over again from a reliable source, we should listen and learn; because that lesson is probably important. How about God? As a source of learning, is HE reliable and important enough to listen and learn? So, I’ve learned – quite often in fact – if we read something from God’s truth, (i.e., the Bible), especially something that comes at us repeatedly, we should listen and learn (and yes, even memorize and internalize).
So, today, Chuck Swindoll hits on one of those repetitive truths; and it is one which our repeated passage today teaches just like the same message that goes back to the oldest recorded book in the Bible, which we just finished studying not too long ago, the Book of Job. The lesson: SUFFERING IS NOT NEW!
When we studied Job, we saw how he hated, by accepted God’s deal with Satan (unknown to Job) which visited horrible suffering upon Job and his family. We read of Job’s poor wife telling her man to curse God and die; and Job retorting that his family had accepted so many blessings from God; so why shouldn’t they accept adversity. But in today’s culture, even from so-called “christian” sources, we hear the teaching of the prosperity teachers, saying that when we find God, we’ll experience good health and great wealth. And the message of Job’s suffering and now Paul’s thorn just doesn’t sit well with a people who try to sell pain reduction at all costs and the pursuit of happiness as our inalienable right.
But my friend, we had better learn the lesson of inevitable suffering sooner, rather than later; because when suffering hits, if we are bowled over by it, we become easy prey for an enemy who would use our suffering to get us questioning the very presence of God, let alone that His love is found in the midst of the suffering.
Dear one, I hope – and will pray today – that we all learn and know the lesson of the OT and NT, … that God will never leave us, nor forsake us (see Deut. 31: 6 and Heb. 13: 5). I pray that we can be witness to the truth that God loves us just as much – if not more – in the hard times as He does in the easy times. I pray that we learn that God’s “blessings” might just include suffering as well as good fortune. Because if we can’t learn that lesson proactively, we’re very likely to have to learn it, as did Job and Paul, retroactively. It’s one of the most highly repeated lessons in all of Scripture; so, my friend, let us learn it and use if for God’s glory!
My Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, help us to learn the lessons You have to teach us in suffering; so that our responses will be as Job or Paul, by giving witness to Your love in the midst of the suffering. Amen
Monday, October 26, 2009
2009 – Day 298.Oct 26 – From God’s Perspective
Passage for Study: Romans 8: 22 – 23 from the context of Rom. 8: 18 – 25 … Linked for your study …
My Journal for Today: Chuck Swindoll, my devotional author and guide this year, brings up an interesting point (i.e., lesson) today. And besides using this powerful passage from Romans 8, that great theological treatise, he quotes the famous Christian author/teacher John Stott, who wrote, concerning this passage, “Some Christians, …, grin too much and groan too little.”
It’s not that Christians shouldn’t be joyful. Swindoll points out that Christians, certainly much more than the lost, should choose to live joy-filled lives; but we often don’t know how to deal with a fellow Christian who is depressed, down, or has what Paul is picturing as a “groaning spirit” from this text today. And Swindoll cautions us not to try to encourage one of our brothers/sisters in Christ who is obviously down by telling them to “smile more” or to try to shame them for their depression.
Paul certainly knew what being depressed was all about; but he did put our feelings of physical, emotional, or spiritual depression into the perspective of the truth we have, as Christians, … that hope we have in Christ. And that is what is expressed in today’s passage, as wall as so many other truths which come from God’s word, pointing us the eternal truth of what Christ has given us by His suffering on the cross.
But being physically down or emotionally drained is a reality of our human existence; and we shouldn’t try to put a guilt trip on fellow Christians who are in the dumpers viewing a present life filled with pain. Who knows, … your depressed friend may be dealing with a diagnosis of terminal cancer; or maybe they have suddenly lost a loved one in an accident; or quite possibly, like a friend of mine right now, they are dealing with chronic, intractable migraine headaches. Certainly in these scenarios, wouldn’t we expect our pain ridden fellow Christians to “groan” in their suffering? Of course, we would; … so how do we help them?
Well, I think all we can do is share their pain, listen to their feelings, and genuinely share the truths from God’s word which might be a balm of soothing help. We should possibly help our friend[s] in pain see that they are not alone in their depression. There are a number of giants of the faith who were in such pain and/or anguish that they wanted to die or never to have been born. In our studies from Great Days with the Great lives we seen this from Elijah, exhausted under the broom tree, and Moses who needed encouragement from His brother, Aaron, when God’s people grumbled and brought their challenges to him. And we know of situational depression grabbing hold of Job, who voiced – to God – the desire never to have been born rather than bear the suffering Satan had visited upon him (of which he had no knowledge). And even Paul had his “woe is me times,” as we read in Romans 7: 14 – 23 or 2nd Cor. 12: 7 – 10 [each linked here for your study].
And these are passages which, if we can point our depressed friends toward, perhaps they can see that though they are down because of the suffering they have encountered, God still desires for us to live – as much as we can – in the hope which is IN CHRIST. And then, sharing these things, we just need to be there to listen and to empathize as much as we can with anyone dealing with a depressed spiriti, sharing God’s love and helping, as much as we can, to refocus our friends on the glory ahead which is in Christ.
Perhaps, in your life, or the life of a friend, we need to grin less and groan more; and as I do so often, we need to do what is expressed in that priceless and powerful old hymn, which I’m blessed to be listening to on my Ipod even as I write this …
Turn you eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
My Prayer for Today: Lord Jesus, help me … when I’m down or I’m trying to help a depressed friend, to see You and Your ever faithful love as well as the truth of the hope we have - and can only have - in You. Amen
My Journal for Today: Chuck Swindoll, my devotional author and guide this year, brings up an interesting point (i.e., lesson) today. And besides using this powerful passage from Romans 8, that great theological treatise, he quotes the famous Christian author/teacher John Stott, who wrote, concerning this passage, “Some Christians, …, grin too much and groan too little.”
It’s not that Christians shouldn’t be joyful. Swindoll points out that Christians, certainly much more than the lost, should choose to live joy-filled lives; but we often don’t know how to deal with a fellow Christian who is depressed, down, or has what Paul is picturing as a “groaning spirit” from this text today. And Swindoll cautions us not to try to encourage one of our brothers/sisters in Christ who is obviously down by telling them to “smile more” or to try to shame them for their depression.
Paul certainly knew what being depressed was all about; but he did put our feelings of physical, emotional, or spiritual depression into the perspective of the truth we have, as Christians, … that hope we have in Christ. And that is what is expressed in today’s passage, as wall as so many other truths which come from God’s word, pointing us the eternal truth of what Christ has given us by His suffering on the cross.
But being physically down or emotionally drained is a reality of our human existence; and we shouldn’t try to put a guilt trip on fellow Christians who are in the dumpers viewing a present life filled with pain. Who knows, … your depressed friend may be dealing with a diagnosis of terminal cancer; or maybe they have suddenly lost a loved one in an accident; or quite possibly, like a friend of mine right now, they are dealing with chronic, intractable migraine headaches. Certainly in these scenarios, wouldn’t we expect our pain ridden fellow Christians to “groan” in their suffering? Of course, we would; … so how do we help them?
Well, I think all we can do is share their pain, listen to their feelings, and genuinely share the truths from God’s word which might be a balm of soothing help. We should possibly help our friend[s] in pain see that they are not alone in their depression. There are a number of giants of the faith who were in such pain and/or anguish that they wanted to die or never to have been born. In our studies from Great Days with the Great lives we seen this from Elijah, exhausted under the broom tree, and Moses who needed encouragement from His brother, Aaron, when God’s people grumbled and brought their challenges to him. And we know of situational depression grabbing hold of Job, who voiced – to God – the desire never to have been born rather than bear the suffering Satan had visited upon him (of which he had no knowledge). And even Paul had his “woe is me times,” as we read in Romans 7: 14 – 23 or 2nd Cor. 12: 7 – 10 [each linked here for your study].
And these are passages which, if we can point our depressed friends toward, perhaps they can see that though they are down because of the suffering they have encountered, God still desires for us to live – as much as we can – in the hope which is IN CHRIST. And then, sharing these things, we just need to be there to listen and to empathize as much as we can with anyone dealing with a depressed spiriti, sharing God’s love and helping, as much as we can, to refocus our friends on the glory ahead which is in Christ.
Perhaps, in your life, or the life of a friend, we need to grin less and groan more; and as I do so often, we need to do what is expressed in that priceless and powerful old hymn, which I’m blessed to be listening to on my Ipod even as I write this …
Turn you eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
My Prayer for Today: Lord Jesus, help me … when I’m down or I’m trying to help a depressed friend, to see You and Your ever faithful love as well as the truth of the hope we have - and can only have - in You. Amen
Sunday, October 11, 2009
2009 – Day 283.Oct 11 – A Chosen Instrument
Passage of the Day: Acts 9: 10 – 16 … 10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. 19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.
My Journal for Today: Well, here we have poor Ananias being called by God to go to Saul of Tarsus and give him sight so that the one to be called “Paul” could go forth as a “chosen instrument” in God’s Name. And if Paul thought that this anointing by the Holy Spirit had been rough thus far, he was just at the outset of the suffering he would face to bring the message of Christ to the known world of his day.
Have you ever wondered why God’s preparation mode always seems to be suffering? Wow; if you look back at the life of the Apostle Paul you see all of what God took him through so that the Lord could use this chosen instrument of God’s grace. If you haven’t done so, please go back to 2nd Cor. 12: 22 – 33 - linked here - and read Paul’s litany of troubles which he suffered while being God’s agent to the Gentiles of his day. It’s impressive; but often God has to use our trials and tests to shape us into His own image or to convey to others just how serious we are about our faith.
In the past I had wondered why God allowed me – or led me – to go through so many years of darkness to then finally show me the light of Christ. Why didn’t He just save me from all my sinful days of living and let me just get on with my Christians life? But now I recognize that only by being led through the valley of the shadow of death could I really appreciate the eternal life I now have in Christ so that I will be fully motivated to spread that good news and to work for God’s kingdom and His glory. And it’s not hard to see that this was God’s “M.O.” in choosing a Saul of Tarsus to become His ambassador, the Apostle Paul.
I hope we all recognize that we’re each God’s “chosen instrument.” Oh, we may not be called to carry the Gospel to a foreign land or to endure shipwrecks or floggings, as was Paul; but God has given us a commission – a chosen calling – to go and spread His Name with others and to “make disciples,” teaching them the truth of His word. So, in that Great Commission (see Matt. 28: 19-20), like Paul, we are God’s chosen instruments; and we should be surprised if that will involve suffering for Christ’s Name.
My Prayer for Today: Thank You, Lord, for the trials You give me so that I can be Your chosen instrument. Amen
My Journal for Today: Well, here we have poor Ananias being called by God to go to Saul of Tarsus and give him sight so that the one to be called “Paul” could go forth as a “chosen instrument” in God’s Name. And if Paul thought that this anointing by the Holy Spirit had been rough thus far, he was just at the outset of the suffering he would face to bring the message of Christ to the known world of his day.
Have you ever wondered why God’s preparation mode always seems to be suffering? Wow; if you look back at the life of the Apostle Paul you see all of what God took him through so that the Lord could use this chosen instrument of God’s grace. If you haven’t done so, please go back to 2nd Cor. 12: 22 – 33 - linked here - and read Paul’s litany of troubles which he suffered while being God’s agent to the Gentiles of his day. It’s impressive; but often God has to use our trials and tests to shape us into His own image or to convey to others just how serious we are about our faith.
In the past I had wondered why God allowed me – or led me – to go through so many years of darkness to then finally show me the light of Christ. Why didn’t He just save me from all my sinful days of living and let me just get on with my Christians life? But now I recognize that only by being led through the valley of the shadow of death could I really appreciate the eternal life I now have in Christ so that I will be fully motivated to spread that good news and to work for God’s kingdom and His glory. And it’s not hard to see that this was God’s “M.O.” in choosing a Saul of Tarsus to become His ambassador, the Apostle Paul.
I hope we all recognize that we’re each God’s “chosen instrument.” Oh, we may not be called to carry the Gospel to a foreign land or to endure shipwrecks or floggings, as was Paul; but God has given us a commission – a chosen calling – to go and spread His Name with others and to “make disciples,” teaching them the truth of His word. So, in that Great Commission (see Matt. 28: 19-20), like Paul, we are God’s chosen instruments; and we should be surprised if that will involve suffering for Christ’s Name.
My Prayer for Today: Thank You, Lord, for the trials You give me so that I can be Your chosen instrument. Amen
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