Tenacious Trust

Written by Becky Toews

Take today’s next step: We need more devotional writers. If you write, join us! 

“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.”  (Job 13:15a)

I came across a billboard the other day that said, “Everything works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out, it isn’t the end.”  It takes an element of spiritual audacity to trust God no matter what. Job provides one of the most profound examples of spiritual audacity in the Bible.

He loses everything—family, wealth, reputation, health—and he doesn’t understand why. He’s confused. His concept of God’s righteousness and fairness is tested to the last degree. He didn’t have an assurance as to how his situation would turn out, but there was no way he was going to “curse God and die” as his wife suggested. If he was going to die, he would die hoping and trusting.

No Furnace Is Too Hot

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able..." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV

There's a wonderful question about which most of us wonder from time to time. It became the title of Rabbi Harold Kushner best-selling book, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. Although his book painted a much smaller God than we know, it still was helpful to many people.

But, taking into account the scripture verse for today (this would be a good time to read it, if you haven't!), there is also a great Bible story in the book of Daniel, Chapter 3, of three Hebrew boys who refused to worship the idols of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Even though they were threatened with being thrown in a furnace, they held fast in their devotion to God. Their response: "God can spare us from the fiery furnace; He has that power. But, even if He does not, we'll never serve your gods or bow down to your statue." Were they afraid? Yes. Was it a little warm in the furnace? You bet. But, they chose to trust God even when it made no earthly sense to do so. And, much to the amazement of their captors, God repaid their faith and they were not harmed by the fires in that furnace.

Getting Angelic Assistance

PERRY STONE

In Acts 27, the apostle Paul was a prisoner on a ship with 276 passengers onboard. Launching the voyage in the winter, the ship headed into a violent sea storm, called Euroclydon. The ship tossed like a leaf in the wind and was in danger of splitting into pieces. No stars or light from the moon was seen for many days, and because of the dangerous rocks and quicksand, it appeared that Paul and the passengers would drown in the murky waters.

Paul had been on an extended fast and was praying for God’s intervention. God released a heavenly messenger to bring Paul this encouraging Word:

“But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, ‘Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.”’” Acts 27:21-24

Bound to Happen

Written by Julie Cosgrove

When the unexpected comes, it can help to talk about it. But when you don’t have someone to talk with, contact an online mentor, and receive a personal & confidential reply by email.

“When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free; he made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions, to bind his princes at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.” (Psalm 105:17-22)

This is the way the Psalmist describes what happened to Joseph in the Book of Genesis. His jealous brothers left him to die. He was sold into slavery, but lived. God eventually raised Joseph up to be second only to the King, just when his brothers needed him the most. It was in a time of famine and Egypt, because of Joseph’s wise reliance and trust in God, had obediently stored grain away in advance.

Don't Panic! This is Only a Test

by Joyce Meyer

There's a scripture in the Bible that says, "In the world you have tribulation and trials" (John 16:33 AMP). I believe most people would agree with it. If you read the rest of that verse, you get to the encouraging part where Jesus says we can take heart because He has overcome the world. But the truth is, we all go through hard times and have to learn how to overcome them through Christ.

Sometimes God allows or even arranges for us to go through difficulties in this life because it's during those times that we grow in our faith and develop more of the character of Christ. Trials reveal what we really believe and what's really inside our hearts. They test us. And until we're in a situation where we have no choice but to face an issue we need to deal with, we don't really know what we would do.

James 1:2 (AMP) says we should "consider it wholly joyful" when we experience a trial or face a temptation. Verse 3 goes on to say that "the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience." That sounds lovely to have endurance, steadfastness and patience during trials, doesn't it?

When You Face Trials

By Suzie Eller


"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." James 1:2-3 (NIV)

I planted them at the same time. In the same way. With the same tender love and care. Every time I watered one, I watered the other. Everything was the same ... almost.

One red begonia flower was planted between a crepe myrtle tree and a hydrangea bush, tucked under the protection of the sloping roof. The other flower was planted next to the concrete sidewalk and had no shelter from the pounding rain or scorching sun.

At the end of the summer I was surprised by what I saw.

The little flower tucked under the tree and bush, with just the right amount of filtered sunlight and water, had not grown.

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.

If Jesus Couldn’t Sin, Why Was He Tested?

J. Vernon McGee

It was impossible for Jesus to sin. In Luke 1:35, Mary was told “that holy thing” that will be conceived by the Holy Spirit is the Son of God. He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26). 


It is rank heresy to say that Jesus Christ could sin or that He had any sin in Him. He was in all points like we are, except for one: He was not contaminated with sin.

Jesus was not tempted to see if He would fall. He was tempted to show that He could not fall: "The prince of this world comes, and has nothing in me" (John 14:30). 


After He had lived a life down here for thirty-three years, Satan came with this temptation, a temptation that appealed to man's total personality—the physical side, the mental side, and the spiritual side of man.

The Lord Jesus could not fall, and the testing was given to demonstrate that He could not fall. If He could have fallen, then any moment your salvation and mine is in doubt. 

Overcoming Obstacles

"In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" — Job 1:1

Israel’s Moran Samuel made her country proud when she won the gold medal at the international rowing competition in Italy earlier this spring. She made us even prouder when she sang Israel’s national anthem, the Hatikva, on her own.

Apparently, the Italians did not have a copy of the right recording. When Moran realized that there would be no anthem played as she received her award, she asked for the microphone and simply began singing it herself, completely cool and collected.

When Moran was interviewed by the news shortly afterwards, she had this to say: “If you look at an obstacle as an obstacle, there’s a good chance it will knock you down. If you look at an obstacle as a challenge, then you’ll do the maximum to overcome it. There can be small challenges, like the anthem and me taking the mic and singing, and there can be bigger challenges.” She should know. She’s been paralyzed from the chest down since she was 24.

Must Prune to Bloom

Leonard R. Davidson Charisma Channels - Women

A weeping, flowering cherry tree is one of the most beautiful of all of the ornamental trees. We bought my mother-in-law one for Mother’s Day many years ago. She was so excited. Being a certified nurseryman, I planted the tree exactly the way it should be done. The next year it bloomed nicely—and even better the next year. 

However, after about four or five years, my mother-in-law called me right after the tree had bloomed. She expressed concern because the tree barely bloomed at all that spring. In fact, she said it was pitiful. The next time we went for a visit, I took my pruning clippers and small pruning saw. While she watched, I got the ladder and went to work. Several times I heard her say, “O my,” and “O dear.”

Correct, effective pruning is different than just “shearing” the tree to look like a lollipop. There are two basic types of branches that need to be removed. The first is a branch that is growing the wrong direction. These branches rub the other branches and can cause disease. They also block out the sunlight that is needed for flower buds to form. 

Inspired by Joy

Written by Gail Rodgers

Are you feeling ready to walk away from a relationship – are you possibly even considering divorce?  We want to pray for you.  Please tell us how we can pray.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  (James 1:2-4)

A few years ago he lost all he had. Everything. But he found Jesus. He inspires me every time I talk with him. He has embraced God’s word and one of the verses he lives by is this one quoted above from James 1:2-4,

CAN WE LOSE OUR ABUNDANCE DURING A TESTING TIME?

Serge Roux-Levrat

Did you answer yes to the title question? Why? Is your Father in Heaven surrounded by less abundance while you go through a trial? No. Do you lose your adopted son or daughter-ship status when you navigate in rough seas? No. Does God love you less when you face tough challenges? No. So, why did you answer yes to my question then? The simple truth is that the devil can seek to steal everything from you (like he tried to with Job), but if you resist him by flexing your faith muscles, he cannot win.

If you have been born again, you are a child of God. As such you are rich beyond measure and can enjoy the abundant life that Jesus died for you to have. God has already given you a “Promised Land;” a land that lacks nothing and where everything exists in abundance. Yes, God’s plan for your life may require that you appear poor in the eyes of the world. However, do not make the mistakes of seeing yourself as a poor person, because you are wealthy beyond imagination.

→ Don't believe me? Then think about this: was Jesus poor or rich, living in abundance or in scarcity? Before you answer, let me give you a clue. Imagine that the world’s richest person decided to live one year with the poorest tribe on earth. And, in order to experience firsthand what they have to go through each day, he decides to take no money, no credit card, and no mobile phone with him. Put differently, he leaves all his material wealth to a steward to manage it. Now, while our richest man is in the “land” of poverty, is he rich or poor? Well, for the tribe he currently lives with, he is probably poor, as they do not know how wealthy he really is. But for the rest of the world, he is still the richest man on earth.

Becoming God's Voice for Breakthrough

Debbie Przybylski, Intercessors Arise

“As God’s representative on the earth, He has given us the authority to speak for Him. When we speak under the leading of the Holy Spirit, we speak as His voice on the earth. During strategic times, the Lord will prompt us to pray prayers that will bring breakthrough.” --Barbara Wentroble

When we look around us we hear so many voices. There are so many voices we can listen to every day. There are many words we can speak every day, both good and positive or negative and evil. God’s voice can appear small to us when mixed with all the satanic and evil voices all around us. There are false voices in the media, in the school system, in talk show hosts, and even in the church. We must be able to discern truth from error and the true from the false every day. In the end times we must learn to drown out the other voices and know God’s voice and speak it.

We had a car but it wouldn’t start. Doesn’t that sound like a familiar situation to many of us? My husband checked the battery to make sure there was power there. Yes, there was plenty! He then checked the starter and replaced it with a new one but when he turned the key, no power was getting to the starter. He examined the cables. He discovered that the negative cable was not grounded to the frame. It reminds me of many of us. Just as the car had no power to start when the cable wasn’t attached right, we can have lots of good things in our Christian life but if we are not grounded in the Word of God and speaking it out, the power of God can’t flow freely through our lives.

The battery of our life needs the Word of God to empower us to be and do all that God intends.

As His representatives on earth, we must learn to be His voice and speak clearly with His authority. But do we really know how powerful God’s voice is? Do we realize that we can become God’s voice for breakthrough?

God’s Mouthpiece

We are the voice of the Lord on the earth as we positively declare his will through our prayers. God many times is waiting for something to be done on earth, but He needs someone to pray his will. We become God’s voice on the earth for breakthrough by praying His will as we listen and obey. He wants us to be His mouthpiece on the earth. We can accomplish great things as His mouthpiece. Heaven responds to our prayers -- God listens and acts on our behalf -- good things happen in the spirit realm when we learn the secret of positive confession.

The atmosphere changes -- we change -- our life changes.

Think of what Jeremiah accomplished after he became God’s mouthpiece. He was called to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:9-10). That’s a powerful calling. Through our prayers we can do the same. We need the Lord to touch our lips and put His Words in our mouth. So often we can have negative words flowing from our mouths rather than positive words that confess God’s truth. But God’s Spirit wants to flow through us as rivers of living water (John 7:38). We must believe this, and as the days darken we must learn to be His voice and speak His truth!

If ever there was a need for being God’s voice on earth, it is now. God’s voice is powerful and accomplishes great things. Let’s look at some Scriptures to put into perspective how mighty our God is. Psalm 29:3-9 says:

“The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, 'Glory!'"

One of the things that the voice of the Lord does in these verses is to break (shabar). This means “to burst, to break into pieces (like a wild bear); to destroy, to perish (such as kingdoms, a city, or a people); to cause to break forth, to open (the womb)”. The broken places need repairing. Nations are in turmoil, evil is rampant, people are discouraged and frightened. We can stand in the gap and bring healing to the earth as we are God’s voice of hope and life. We can help destroy the works of evil and rebuild, repair, and restore through our prayers. Kingdom people know how to pray in His Kingdom. We read in Isaiah 58:12:

“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Positive Confession

When we pray with positive confession, we pray with expectancy and faith. It’s easy to be negative when you are going through a difficult time in your life. I know that I am tempted to complain during those times. It is so easy to talk about the problems. During testing times like this, we must especially watch our speech. As we go against our feelings and positively confess God’s truth and praise His name, our hearts change. Our mindset changes and confusion, discouragement, and anxiety flee.

But we first must trust God and His character. We must trust His Word and not our feelings. He will carry us through. Faith is expecting what I pray will happen. We do not just believe God can do something, but that he will do something. Positive confession is bold and confident in it’s praying. Once we know Gods heart, we boldly pray it and then we walk in faith that it will be so, even when the answer is not there yet and even when difficulties are all around us.

Positive confession is confidence in God and acting on that confidence. We must pray with confidence that God will answer our prayers according to His wisdom and goodness. We must trust that He knows what is best for us. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” It’s so easy for us to lean on our own understanding instead of boldly leaning on God and His Word. Faith acts on God’s Word, His truth. Look at the example of Abraham in Heb. 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Abraham went by faith. His life was a positive confession of God’s promise.

In declarative prayer that positively confesses God’s truth, we expect God to answer us. We pray with assurance when we know we are asking in His will. When we have the assurance that a promise is from God’s Word for us, we can pray it confidently and claim it authoritatively. We don’t just believe but we say exactly what we believe.
We hold firmly to the faith we profess -- “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess” (Hebrews 4:14).
We confess with confidence -- “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:6)
We confess with our mouth -- “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:10).

For our faith to be effective, we must positively confess it. It will never be mine, until I say so. We may have to pray many times. Elijah had to pray 7 times for rain. Jesus had to pray 3 times in the Garden of Gethsemane. We are encouraged to keep on asking and keep on seeking in Matthew 7:7. We have to keep on until we have the assurance from God and then we begin giving thanks.

What are you facing in your life today where you need to practice positive confession of God’s truth? Are you standing upon His promises and practicing declarative prayer? Are you leaning upon your own understanding or are you boldly leaning upon God’s Word? Are you God’s mouthpiece in a world that desperately needs to hear His voice?

Let’s pray with an attitude of expectant faith. Let’s pray that we will be God’s mouthpiece on earth today in our prayers and actions.

“When we are really praying in faith, our attitude will be one of expectancy rather than wish or desire. Faith means that we’ve moved beyond believing that God can do something to believing that He will do something when we ask.” --Jonathon Graf

Together in the Harvest,

Debbie Przybylski

Intercessors Arise International

deb@intercessorsarise.org

http:www.intercessorsarise.org

http://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/becoming-god-s-voice-for-breakthrough.html