God is Faithful

Helen Grace Lescheid

Take today’s next step: Feeling harried? Take a deep breath and read.

“Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22 – 23)

King David, who frequently found himself in deep trouble, wrote about God’s faithfulness often–sometimes from a cave. He fled to the wilderness trying to escape the jealous fury of King Saul. I can see him at the end of another harried day, sitting by a dying campfire writing on a tablet. His ragamuffin group of men had found a place to lie down and sleep. But David couldn’t sleep. With his reputation ruined and his life in danger, David poured out his heart to God in another psalm. Often he would conclude his writing with a joyful declaration of God’s faithfulness.

A DIAMOND FOR THE LORD

I had a dream that I would be a diamond for the Lord,
a soldier in His army,
a bearer of His sword.
But I was born a piece of coal ‘fore Jesus came along,
not worth a lot and dirty too,
so many things were wrong.
Then trials and tribulation came that put me on my knees;
there seemed to be no end of pain
and I cried out, “Lord, please
Come heal my broken spirit, and make me what You will,
but do not let me suffer,
Lord, or make me climb that hill!”
But how the pressure grew and grew ‘till I was sure I’d break
into a lot of pieces and
worth nothing for His sake.
I near forgot the promise that out Lord would never leave,
and just as I was going to quit,
He sent faith to believe.
It took a while to see a little sparkle in that coal,
but soon the sparkle grew and grew
until He filled my soul.
And then by grace it came from coal, a diamond for the Lord,
a soldier in His army,
a bearer of His sword.

Ralph E. Johnson
March 10, 1994

The Greater the Affliction, the Greater the Reward

See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! —Galatians 6:11

Some scholars have suggested that Paul's thorn in the flesh was that his eyesight was deteriorating. Whether it was partial blindness or not, we do not know. Perhaps it was a disability.

Whatever our thorn in the flesh is, and regardless of whether we have asked for it to be removed (as we surely have), I urge all of us to realize that it is there because God says it is still right for it to be there. It is true that God will use you all the more and all the better because that disability is still there.

I once asked Joni Eareckson Tada, "Would you like to be healed?" I thought she would have a quick answer, because I thought everyone asked her that. But it was as though she had never even thought about it! Finally she said, "Yes, but," she continued, "the most precious time of my day is when they put me to bed, and I am alone with the Lord. I am so afraid that if I didn't have this paralysis, I wouldn't have that intimacy."

CHRISTMAS DEPORTATION MIRACLE

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know…” Acts 2:22

In late 1992, “Wally” Magdangal, a Filipino Christian who for years had pastored a clandestine house church in Saudi Arabia, was arrested. His secret house church was unexpectedly penetrated by the “mutawwa”, the Saudi Arabian religious police.

Wally remembers reading in an Open Doors magazine about a small group in China that gathered weekly in the back room of a small store to worship together. It was the era of the infamous Cultural Revolution. Since the believers could easily be overheard by anyone entering the store, they “sang” hymns together without words or music. Someone whispered the name of the song and they would silently move their lips and simply think of the words and music.

When the Soul Bleeds

Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth
[Jesus said] "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering" (Mark 5:31-34 NIV).

Friend to Friend

When we read the story of Jesus healing the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, it is hard for us twenty-first century women to imagine such a condition lasting for so long. Medical science has progressed far beyond the rudimentary knowledge of Jesus' day. It is simply unthinkable today.

But I suggest there are still many women with chronic bleeding of a different sort. We bleed from the heart.

From the time Sarah was six-years-old, her father crept into her bedroom in the dark of night and violated her little body. Now, as an adult, her heart bleeds.

Healing Cry

Written by Julie Cosgrove

 Are you facing a period of suffering in your life? Take this interactive online study: Finding Hope When It Hurts

“O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.” (Psalm 30:2)

Recently I was hospitalized for a staph infection that had invaded a simple scrape on my forehead. One side of my temple ballooned into a red, angry mass and the skin around my eye swelled shut. The swelling even spread to my cheek and jaw. The nurses responded by giving me IV antibiotics. However, when the doctor entered the scene he informed me that true healing would not occur unless the wound was lanced and drained.

The moment the wound was lanced I felt excruciating pain. Surprisingly, only a couple days later I was back to normal and the wound healed nicely. Even though I had recovered quite remarkably, the doctor warned me take oral antibiotics for a week to make sure any remnants of the infection were dealt with.

Feedback: Why Won’t God Heal Amputees?

Simple Question: Why, if God is omnipotent, never , ever in all Bible was a case of an amputation healed? Except the ear that Jesus put it back. I m talking about a missing limb that Jesus or someone could have make it to grow back?

I m really curios to see how do you TWIST this one too, cause lots of your answer are twisted and NEVER give answer to the question of the article.

So, can u answer this simple question? Why didn't all mighty god make a limb grow up? Don't tell me they weren’t- after all the sword was the main weapon of that time and there has been a lots of wars. And no, even in that time a man didnt just die if he had an arm cut off..

WHAT IS your answer?I m looking forward to it.
Although i m thinking that you will pass this one.
Thank you.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

PERRY STONE

One of life’s most perplexing mysteries is why bad things happen to good people. We have all heard the stories of how the most dedicated teenager in the church was abruptly killed in an automobile accident, or how the beautiful young mother with three children is stricken with cancer and suddenly passes, leaving her infants to be raised by loving family members. Why the righteous suffer has always been an enigma.

There is no one set reason or explanation as to why bad things happen. However, after years of ministry, I have some observations as to what may, at times, help prevent bad things from occurring:

1. Avoid making wrong choices. A shortcut through a dangerous part of the city is not a wise choice. Leaving your wallet or purse on the seat of your car while you stop at a convenience store for a restroom break is foolish. Mowing the grass on a riding mower on a steep hill can get you killed. The barrel of a gun is not a small telescope to look through. When people make unwise choices, they can open the door to difficulty or tragedy.

How to Get Godly (if You've Got the Guts)

Whitney Hopler, Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer

Editor's Note: The following is a report on the practical applications of Roger Barrier's book, Got Guts? Get Godly! Pray the Prayer God Guarantees to Answer, (Xulon Press, 2011).

God listens carefully to all of your prayers, but you usually can’t predict how He will choose to answer them. There is one prayer that God always answers “yes” to, though: praying for spiritual growth.

Since spiritual growth always reflects God’s will for you, you can count on God helping you when you let Him know that you’re willing to pursue spiritual growth at any price. Your willingness to do whatever it takes to become more spiritually mature invites God to work in your life in powerful ways.

Here’s how you can pray for spiritual growth and work with God to mature in your faith:

Through the Fire

"So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12).

Through his griefs Job came to his heritage. He was tried that his godliness might be confirmed. Are not my troubles intended to deepen my character and to robe me in graces I had little of before? I come to my glory through eclipses, tears, death. My ripest fruit grows against the roughest wall. Job's afflictions left him with higher conceptions of God and lowlier thoughts of himself. "Now," he cried, "mine eye seeth thee.

And if, through pain and loss, I feel God so near in His majesty that I bend low before Him and pray, "Thy will be done," I gain very much. God gave Job glimpses of the future glory. In those wearisome days and nights, he penetrated within the veil, and could say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Surely the latter end of Job was more blessed than the beginning.
--In the Hour of Silence

Healing Cry

Written by Julie Cosgrove

 Are you facing a period of suffering in your life? Take this interactive online study: Finding Hope When It Hurts

“O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.” (Psalm 30:2)

Recently I was hospitalized for a staph infection that had invaded a simple scrape on my forehead. One side of my temple ballooned into a red, angry mass and the skin around my eye swelled shut. The swelling even spread to my cheek and jaw. The nurses responded by giving me IV antibiotics. However, when the doctor entered the scene he informed me that true healing would not occur unless the wound was lanced and drained.

The moment the wound was lanced I felt excruciating pain. Surprisingly, only a couple days later I was back to normal and the wound healed nicely. Even though I had recovered quite remarkably, the doctor warned me take oral antibiotics for a week to make sure any remnants of the infection were dealt with.

You're a Jewel!

The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.     Zechariah 9:16 

The Bible gives us this unusual detail about the construction of the Lord's temple. "In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built." (I Kings 6:7). An unbelievable amount of scraping, hammering, chiseling had to be done on those mighty rocks that were used in the construction. But it was all done out of view and out of earshot of the temple site.

It's a little like the way God "dresses" us, fitting us for heaven. The apostle Peter reminds us that you and I are living stones, and we are being mined in the quarry of earth, a place of noise, chiseling, and clouds of dust. God is using our sufferings and afflictions to hone and shape us so we might fit perfectly into heaven's landscape, where there is "no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool." Where there is no suffering. No tears, pain, sorrow, or death. 

WILL CHRISTIANS WHO COMMIT SUICIDE GO TO HEAVEN?

Serge Roux-Levrat

As the number of suicide increases dramatically in the developed countries, both in the traditional sense, as well as in assisted suicide, many Christians are wondering what happens to believers who take their lives. As always, theologians are divided on this key question. However, if we look at it from the only angle we can – that of love and hope – we will find out that the answer is much more obvious than we think.

VALUE DOUBTS AND MYSTERY

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

This is a scripture passage that many use in discipling new believers. The New International Version of the Bible footnotes this verse with the reminder that in the Greek language the word “temptation” or “tempted” can also mean “trial” or “testing.” It is a characteristic of the human condition that we often have doubts about God and we feel badly about them. But the story of Job in the Old Testament reveals that we should value our doubts because they bring God close.

Compassion in Action

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." (Matthew 9:36)

Compassion. That's the one thing people need more than anything else in this world. They need someone to reach out to them with the compassion of God.

Compassion is a deep yearning that responds to the needs of people. It's much deeper than sympathy. Sympathy can just sit around feeling sorry for people. Compassion has to do something for them.

Crushed with a Purpose

When our life is hit by crushing circumstances, we may feel lost, hopeless, or be troubled by anger and despair. Scripture tells us that God not only allows suffering, but also provides a purpose for our trials.

Oh my, you should see the roses in my backyard!

Hi I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and this June, I have been picking and plucking my Double Delight roses; in fact, take a minute when you have the chance and go to my radio page at joniandfriends.org would you, because I’ve posted a photo of these incredibly beautiful roses. 

Why Do Christians Suffer?

by Joyce Meyer

As Christians, we like the thought of sharing in Christ's glory, but what about sharing in His suffering? Jesus took care of the death penalty once and for all so we don't ever have to worry about that again. But the Bible teaches that we must suffer times of trial if we are to share in the glory. Is it worth it? Read what Paul says in Romans 8:18: ...For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us!

Acting Right When Things Are Wrong

Many of us think we suffer because of our circumstances. We believe that if our circumstances would change, we'd be able to act right. But God wants us to become so mature and stable that we act right even when none of our circumstances are good. There are different levels of faith, and most of the time we want to use our faith to get rid of a problem. But sometimes God's plan is for us to exercise a higher level of faith that will carry us through life's challenges. This requires even greater faith than being delivered from a situation.

Too often we marvel at the delivering power of God and overlook His keeping, strengthening and enabling power. Although there are many reasons why Christians suffer, I would like to address what I believe are eight of the most common reasons why there is suffering in our lives.

Never Give Up

"I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds." — Psalm 77:11—12

The word “hopeless” is one of the saddest words in the world. All other words, no matter how terrible a situation they describe, are not nearly as tragic. Bad situations can always change, but hopeless situations are forever. Sometimes, hope is the thin thread that can pull a person through the toughest of times. When hope dies, a part of the person dies too.

That’s why Psalm 77 urges us to never give up. The word “hopeless” should be erased from the English language. Because no matter how helpless a situation may seem, there is no such thing as a situation that God can’t help.

King David was feeling pretty hopeless when he began this Psalm: “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time?” (Psalm 77:8—9). In other words, is there no hope? Am I stuck in this rut forever?

Seasons of Life

Written by Barbara Alpert

Are you in a hard season today? Come talk to a mentor. 

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Imagine if you had the option to start your life off like a fairy tale, “Once upon a time”, and write your own “and they lived happily ever after”. Most likely, the sweet script you envision entails joy, love, money, and every good thing life offers. Who would include hardship, suffering, and loss into their fairy tale life? However, real life, as we know, includes a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. In Ecclesiastes 3 King Solomon notes all of the seasons of our lives:

I’m Looking for my Missing Piece

“I’m Looking For My Missing Piece”

Sheldon “Shel” Silverstein had one of the more extraordinary literary, music, and art careers you will ever read about, though many people will not recognize his name or his face. He was the eccentric combination of Chicago-born Jewish kid who became a country music legend, a composer, a cartoonist, the author of children’s books, and a columnist for Playboy magazine. Quite the resume.

His two most famous works are on opposite ends of the creative spectrum. One is a country music song made famous by Johnny Cash for which Silverstein won a Grammy in 1970, a song entitled “A Boy Named Sue.” The other work is a children’s picture book he published in the 1960s titled “The Giving Tree.” Check it out at your local library.