Posts from 2022 (Page 13)
Trials within and without #10. “When God speaks.”
When wanting direction in life, some Christians long for a “Still small voice” from heaven to instruct them. I am not about to tell you that I know everything about how God imparts wisdom and knowledge to people, but I can assure you that He has given us a Book full of that wisdom and knowledge. If ever there was a man born for, and according to, the Word of God, it was Samuel. Even before his conception God said…
Trials within and without #9. “Strength which God supplies.”
Heaven rejoices and earth is blessed when someone looks to you in their weakness and finds the strength of the Lord. In fact, when you commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him, He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, and the justice of your cause like the noonday sun (Psalm 37:5-6). They are seeing God in you. Though the devil distracts with sin and weakens with discouragement, “the eyes of the LORD search the whole…
Trials within and without #8. “Ready to share.”
Many parents lament that children have no appreciation for what they have. This stems from their own experience of having little when their parents were struggling to make ends meet. All of us want our children to be financially independent; to have enough to live on and enough to share. If you have seen poverty, you know it is not something to be wished upon a soul. Wealth, on the other hand, is easy to wish for. Where there is…
Trials within and without #7. “It will be yours.”
One thing that I wish that I had believed properly over the years is that God gives you all you need in His time; it sure would have saved a lot of frustration and foolishness along the way. When you pray, “Thy will be done,” you are expecting God to act according to His glorious grace. Which, when viewed from that perspective, motivates you to align your will with His will in all things. As a disciple your life becomes…
Trials within and without #6. “Don’t let go.”
Christianity is aspirational by nature. Our Kingdom work has eternal value because it is empowered by our Eternal God; effort is never wasted. Thus, how can we NOT move forward? For our ambitions are founded upon the very Rock of our Salvation. So why do so many give up the fight? It is because, like Peter on the stormy sea, they take their eyes off the one who upholds them. The sooner we realise that we are all spiritually sunk…
Trials within and without #5. “Hurry up and wait.”
In my youth I fractured my thumb in a minor motorcycle accident. It was a Saturday, and I sat in the hospital waiting room for four hours before I was seen by a medical professional. On the wall was a sign advising patients to contact their family doctor in case of an emergency. First, I thought it strange because no self-respecting doctor could be contacted after 4pm on a Friday in those days. Then I thought it ironic because I…
Trials within and without #4. “Song sung Blue.”
Somebody in a foreign land shared a Live Facebook Feed with me. It appeared to be an all-weekend youth convention. At about 2 o’clock in the morning, their time, a brother in his early twenties began to preach. His lesson was called, “Rejoice Always.” He was loud, direct, and funny, and even told a brother, as the night and his sermon went on, “Don’t fall asleep now!” In his youthful energy and excitement, he told his young audience often, “Rejoicing…
Trials within and without #3. “No place for the Yellow.”
Standing on the day of battle is the goal of every Christian, but many times we fall. But though we fall, we rise in the forgiveness of the Lord to fight on. How long can we do this? For as long as there is grace available to the repentant. If we are expected to have grace enough to forgive each other 70 times 7 times, how much more grace does God have to share? However, we need not fall, because…
Trials within and without #2. “I see red.”
Anger has many faces and all of them are ugly! I once met a man who was ordered by the Court to attend an Anger Management Course. I knew that he had had problems, but he didn’t seem like the “angry” type; obviously this was not apparent until you got to know him. “Was the course helpful?” I asked. He said, “Surprisingly, yes. They instilled in us that anger is a choice, and since it is a choice, we have…
Trials within and without #1. “Beware the green-eyed monster.”
A spirit of jealousy can linger within a church for decades if left unchecked. Envy is one of those sins that is easier to define than to confront properly. One brother who felt justified in accusing another brother of jealousy said that their friendship was never the same again. He had forgotten that there were other witnesses there who felt that he too was afflicted with a spirit of jealousy. Having seen the damage done to one friendship, they didn’t…