James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
I took a day off of writing as I was out of town...
I took a day off of writing as I was out of town...
Tests of faith are not pleasant. Okay, understatement of the year... so far. Right? But without them, we probably wouldn't grow a whole lot in faith. Nobody really like tests... well, there may be a few people, but they'd be questionable ;)
Let's say you have a loved one who is sick and goes to the hospital. You send an email out to all your friends... and maybe a few enemies... to pray, pray, pray. Mostly because the family doctor was really, really concerned about them and called you in.... then the texts, emails went out.
You visit them and the doctor says that they should be dead - not in the hospital. Pulmonary arteries more that 50% blocked with a clot... passed out the day before, difficulty breathing, and he had been in atrial fibrillation (erratic heartbeat) for two days straight. Doctor says the majority end up at the coroners, not at the hospital. The ones that do make it to the hospital have a 95% of making it.
Phew! Talk about the power of prayer. Then there's this place you need to be for a few days and you don't want to leave them. They tell you to go and since they do have a measure of authority over you, you honor them by going.
The Lord blesses you - even though you sneak away the next day to see him then come back... They are in God's hands and so are you.
God always continues the work He started in us (Philippians 1:6).
He smiles as we turn to Him in faith instead of listening to the voice of the enemy whispering or yelling in our minds how bad things are and how bad things could get. We let go of all of the lies (even though they may have a shred of truth) and grab a hold of the Truth of God.
The more we do this, the more we become mature and complete - not lacking anything IN HIM. We persevere through the difficulty knowing that God's grace - that unmerited favor - really IS sufficient to get us through what the issue is.
We come to realize that God is doing for ourselves what could never do alone - He's developing Christ in us... the Hope of Glory.
Christ in You - Hosanna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czz8OkT1z0E
The Lord blesses you - even though you sneak away the next day to see him then come back... They are in God's hands and so are you.
God always continues the work He started in us (Philippians 1:6).
He smiles as we turn to Him in faith instead of listening to the voice of the enemy whispering or yelling in our minds how bad things are and how bad things could get. We let go of all of the lies (even though they may have a shred of truth) and grab a hold of the Truth of God.
The more we do this, the more we become mature and complete - not lacking anything IN HIM. We persevere through the difficulty knowing that God's grace - that unmerited favor - really IS sufficient to get us through what the issue is.
We come to realize that God is doing for ourselves what could never do alone - He's developing Christ in us... the Hope of Glory.
Christ in You - Hosanna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czz8OkT1z0E
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