God's Word on That

Author: Myrna L

  • Accept Your Crosses

    God heaps crosses on those He loves. You may ask, “Could He not make us good without making us so miserable?” He has not willed to do so. He is the Master. We can only be silent and adore His infinite wisdom without understanding it

    God hides His work beneath a series of imperceptible events, both in grace and nature; and in this way He subjects us to the mysteries of faith. He opens our eyes by letting us realize our own weakness and evil through countless falls. (Francois Fenelon)

    And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves and punishes everyone He accepts as a son.”  Endure (choose to submit to) hardship as discipline.  God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father?  (Hebrews 12:5-7)

    Let Him turn a severe and displeased countenance upon you as much as He wants – He never loves you more than when He threatens! Whatever crosses may attend the Christian’s life, we need never lose that blessed peace of heart through which we accept every suffering, desiring no happiness that God denies.

    For the commandment is a lamp, and the whole teaching [of the law] is light, and reproofs of discipline are the way of life (Proverbs 6:23).

    Crosses are part of our daily bread.  God regulates the measure of them according to the things we really lack and require.  He knows what we need, even if we are ignorant of it.  The more we are afraid to bear crosses, the more we need them.  We should be fully aware of the magnitude of our disease by seeing the severity of the remedies that our Spiritual Physician sees good to apply!  Accept suffering as therapeutic to building faith and character.

    My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work [in you], that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).

    The best state to be in is the one in which God’s hand holds you. Do not look beyond it and be content to accept His Will from one moment to another, in the spirit of mortification and renunciation.

    Blessed is the man You discipline, O Lord, the man You teach from Your law.  You grant him relief from days of trouble (Psalm 94:12-13).

    No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have indeed been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).

    Though He [Jesus] was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

    The ultimate measure of a friend is where they stand in times of challenge.  In the same way, we will never know (in a personal way) the faithfulness of Jesus apart from adversity and Him sharing it with us.  God is in the process of engineering circumstances through which He can reveal Jesus to each one of us.

    When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the rest of the world (1 Corinthians 11:32).

    No matter what you feel, God is always good.

    Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34).

    Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32).

    Like creating a bonsai masterpiece, discipline makes us beautiful in His eyes.

  • Our Father’s Table

    “Taste and see” the pleasant bread daily spread for us at our Father’s table.

    Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him (Psalm 34:8).

    I delight to sit at His table, and His fruit is sweet to my taste (Song of Songs 2:3).  How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Psalm 119:103).

    You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies (Psalm 23:5).  My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You (Psalm 63:5).

    The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise Him (Psalm 22:26).  They asked, and He brought them quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven (Psalm 105:40). Men ate the bread of angels; He sent them all the food they could eat (Psalm 78:25).  

    And the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish (Mark 6:43).

    He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth; wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart… These all look to You to give them their food at the proper time (Psalm 104:14-15, 27).  He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry (Psalm 146:7).  He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever (Psalm 136:25).

    So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them (Matthew 6:31-32).  When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will go back to my father (Luke 15:17).  Father, give us each day our daily bread (Luke 11:3).

    It is My Father who give you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the whole world (John 6:32-33).  Is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16). Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:8).

    Come, eat My food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding (Proverbs 9:5-6).  So that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom (Luke 22:30). Now you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:3).

    Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God! (Luke 14:15).

    Come, enjoy the Lord’s provisions.

  • Full Resignation

    Since every moment is the beginning of the rest of your life and every moment is the end of the past, then every moment should be governed by the glad accompaniment of both gratitude and faith!

    Love is the crowning grace in Heaven, but faith is the conquering grace on earth. Sorrow looks back. Worry looks around. Faith looks up then ahead.

    Francois Fenelon (1651 – 1715) had much to write on faith and religion.  From his perspective: “religion is primarily that which God Himself wills and does in and upon man.  It is God who is utterly sovereign in history, even over the slightest details.”  Providence is therefore central in most of Fenelon’s writings.  His view about faith was that the soul’s central act is to abandon her life into the hands of God’s wise and loving sovereignty, and one by one stop every inner resistance to God’s redemptive work in her.

    “Give a quiet calm attention to those things assigned to your care by providence. It is not that you cannot do what is required of you. It is [probably] that you do not want to be able to do it… Acquiesce to God’s assignment calmly and in a spirit of faith; for everything will be achieved by degrees.”

    Crosses borne with quiet endurance unite us to Jesus, and work untold good in us and around us.  But crosses we reject, by degrees, dry up the fountain of grace!  “As you learn to worship, praise, and bless God for all things – to see His hand everywhere – you will feel nothing to be an unbearable evil, for everything, even the cruelest sufferings, will turn to good for you…  Let God do as He sees fit with you.”

    The soul that looks where it is going, without losing time arguing over every step or looking back perpetually, possesses true simplicity… The soul [of simplicity] is indifferent as to what others may think.  It is always doing everything as well as possible, cheerfully, heartily, but not worried about success or failure. Full resignation and unfeigned acquiescence is true freedom, and from this arises perfect simplicity.

    Faith breaks the peace between what is and what ought to be. Go forth in faith that He will be in you exactly what you need Him to be.

    Resign yourself into God’s hands; let Him perfect you.

  • O, To Serve

    Dearest Lord God, please bless with courage and strength and wisdom Your priestly people, that we may generously serve the human family. Direct us to deliver the oppressed, pity the insignificant, raise the fallen, show You to the needy, care for the sick, bring back those who have gone astray, feed the hungry, lift up the weak, make bearable the prisoner’s chains and free those who sit in darkness. Fill our minds and hearts with love, that we may be a sign of Jesus to all those living in our midst. (Adapted from a prayer of Saint Clement of Rome)

    The greatness of a Christian is not success but service. Christ Jesus does not demand us to sacrifice anything, but expects us to be willing to sacrifice everything. It is only in turning loose the things that most of us keep as our treasures that we find what is truly treasure.

    God ever deals with His people as accountable creatures – as moral beings, in contrast to stick and stone: He address their responsibility!

    Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17), to enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days (Luke 1:74-75).

    By dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way – the way of the Spirit (Romans 7:6). If we live, we live to the Lord… whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (Romans 14:18).  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1). This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God (2 Corinthians 9:12).

    You, my brothers… serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13). Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men (Ephesians 6:7), for you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Jesus Christ you are serving (Colossians 3:24). Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord (Romans 12:11).

    Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms… If anyone serves he should do it with the strength God provides so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:10-11).

    It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:12).  Those who serve well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 3:13).

    The age old question: If you were brought before a court on the charge of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

    This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us [see John 3:16] – and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (1 John 3:16)!

  • A Simple Child-like Mind

    Be free, happy, simple — a child. But be a sturdy child who fears nothing. For haven’t you noticed?  God gives preference to children and the child-like mind.

    I tell you the truth unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:2-4).  Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (Mark 10:15).  For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these (Luke 18:16).  To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

    No desire comes, no need arises, the person is sure God know what is needed before crying is necessary – a child content. 

    I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me (Psalm 131:2).

    With a heart devoted to God and full of God, no longer seek Him in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the things under the earth; but recognize Him as the great fact of the universe, separate from no place or part, but revealed in all places and in all things and in all events, moment by moment.  And as eternity alone will exhaust this momentary revelation, which has sometimes been called “the Eternal Now”, you shall thus find God ever present and ever new; and your soul shall adore Him and feed upon Him in the things which each moment brings; and you shall never be absent from Him, nor He from you.  (T. C. Upham)

    The practice of Christian simplicity: (1) the elevation of mind and heart toward God, as much as possible and as often as possible; (2) the gentle and peaceful dependence of the soul upon grace, which it recognizes as the only basis of its safety and of its strength; (3) and to let the soul be watchful, to see how to use wisely an opportunity to teach and influence others.

    I have no greater joy than to hear My children are walking in truth (3 John 1:4).

    Never stop saying a hundred times a day: “Lord, what would You have me do?”

    Now, dear children, continue in Him, so that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming (1 John 2: 28).  Dear children, this is the last hour (1 John 2:18).

    Be content to aim at charity!

    Oh, to be a wee-one, content to be dependent upon its Father!

  • Be Very Courageous

    Fear is a self-imposed prison. It paralyzes, robs of vitality, and eats up the decision making ability.  Courage turns nervous edge into winning power. We can let fear enslave us, or put it to use. Let us use it as a means to build God’s kingdom in our own circles of influence!

    Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of [the nations].  For the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

    Courage is not a quality of bravery for those who face insurmountable dangers, but the ability to face unpleasant situations of all kinds. Courage isn’t always a lion’s roar. Sometimes it’s the heart at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow”. Trusting God through Jesus is the key to fearlessness, and promises from God are the keys that lead us away from the dungeon of fear.

    When I realize my worthlessness before the Lord, He lifts me up and encourages and helps me (James 4:10 Phillips). Lord, You lift up those who are bowed down. Therefore I will be of good courage because You, O Lord of Hosts, strengthen my heart (Psalm 146:8). I will be of good courage and You will strengthen my heart for all my hope is in You (Psalm 31:24). God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).

    The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble (Psalm 37:39). The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you.  He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid.  Do not be discouraged (Deuteronomy 31:8).

    Learn the secret of being strengthened – not stopped – by opposition. No matter how discouraging or hopeless or pressing the situation may seem, there is always some truth about God that can encourage me, give me hope, and bring me back triumphant!

    He brought me out into a spacious place.  He rescued me because He delighted in me (Psalm 18:19). Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom!  (Luke 12:32)

    Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. God loves you deeply!

    May my Lord, Jesus Christ Himself, and God, my Father — who loves us and by His grace gives eternal encouragement and good hope — encourage my heart and strengthen me in every good deed and word (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17). In quietness and in confidence I shall find my strength (Isaiah 30:15). Wait on the Lord! Be of good courage and He will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord (Psalm 27:14).

    Because God is with me, I will be strong and very courageous. I will be careful to obey all the law God gave me, and I will not turn from it to the right or to the left, that I may be successful wherever I go… He has commanded me: Be strong and courageous. I will not be terrified, nor will I be discouraged, for the Lord my God will be with me wherever I go (Joshua 1:7, 9). He has promised.

    Be of good courage, for God always devises a way.

  • To Move Beyond Hatred

    Troubled soul, you are not bound to feel, but you are bound to arise. God loves you whether you feel or not. You cannot love when you wish it, but you are bound to fight the hatred in you to the last. (George MacDonald)

    You, God, tell me to love even my enemies, to do good to those who hate me (Luke 6:27-28). I am to pray for those who persecute me (Matthew 5:44). Dearest Lord Jesus, who saves people from their sins, please save me from my sin and change my heart to accomplish this.

    At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3: 3-5).

    Hate is a useless emotion that takes up too much energy. They say, hatred is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Hatred “eats [away at] you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.” (Mitch Albom)

    Hate what is evil; cling to what is good (Romans 12:9).

    A person is not evil. Satan is evil. Satan causes a person to do evil. Hate what Satan can do to people, but don’t hate people. Save yourself from this curse.

    Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse (Romans 12:14). Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:17-18).

    After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church — for we are members of His body (Ephesians 5:29-30).

    Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them (1 John 2:9-11).

    Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen (1 John 4:20-21). Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him (1 John 3:15).

    Our willingness to (1) be generous, and (2) to forgive often reveals the depth, or limitations, of our Christianity. Once you know everything there is to know about someone, it leaves no room for hatred.

    Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:19-21).

    Any hatred keeps our soul away from God’s love. Let His grace and mercy change your heart.

  • Our Current Duty

    Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13).

    Let us not murmur at our losses as though we were singularly and specially tried. We should not disgrace the Bridegroom by murmuring in His presence! Besides, I am told that it will go hard with murmurers – God always chastises His children twice if they do not bear the first stroke patiently.

    The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows (Luke 12:47).

    All sunshine creates a desert. Learning to weep [not running from pain], learning to keep vigil [staying alert through dark times], learning to wait for the dawn [holding out that peace will eventually win] – is what it means to be human (Henri J.M. Nouwen). Adversity is the door to knowing God’s grace.

    So live up to the light you have. What God has told us – not what He has not – is the definer of our duty and our responsibility today. Remember: our daily life is the sphere for glorifying Him. You evolve not by seeking to go elsewhere but by paying attention to and embracing what is in front of you here.

    Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:9).

    They say, if you keep pushing your limits you won’t have any. With proper training, discipline and dedication, anyone can expand their limits until there are no more boundaries – only challenges.

    Do you understand that God installed certain gifts and talents in you so He might find pleasure in His creation of you? Half of our spiritual perplexities would never arise if we started out by being prepared not to understand the things God does.

    If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change. Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one’s bath like a lump of sugar. The universe is an immeasurable wheel, turning forever more… revealing with each pass things unseen before. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

    In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia (Charles Lindbergh). Lord, please grant me a heart to behold heavenly things in the humblest of places.

    Follow the light God give s you for today.

  • Harvesting Thoughts

    Surer than autumn’s harvests are harvests of thought and deed;
    Like those that our hands have planted, the yield will be like the seed.

    Think of your mind as a greenhouse; think of your thoughts as seeds. Some of your thoughts sow flowers; while other thoughts only sow weeds. (Max Lucado)

    The Lord knows the thoughts of man (Psalm 94:11). The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked (Proverbs 15:26). And the Lord knows the thoughts of the ‘wise’ are futile (1 Corinthians 3:20).

    [The cruel person] never thought of doing kindness (Psalm 109:16), while the upright man gives thought to his ways (Proverbs 21:29). [The foolish adulteress] gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked but she knows it not (Proverbs 5:6). Yet the wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their steps (Proverbs 14:15).

    In his marvelous book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote: “Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you – the part of you that chooses – into something a little different from what it was before.”  Every choice for good sets into motion other opportunities for good. Each choice you make in obedience will bring a greater sense of order to your life.

    All of us lived … at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts (Ephesians 2:3). When I was a child, I thought like a child… When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me (1 Corinthians 13:11). We must now take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

    The higher your thoughts of Jesus, the greater His power over your soul.

    For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:12-13). Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess (Hebrews 3:1)

    Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:7-9).

    From the fruit of his mouth man’s stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied (Proverbs 18:20). Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness (James 3:18)

    Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about (Philippians 4:8 TLB).

    May we all cultivate loving thoughts and spread them unsparingly.

  • A Word On Serving

    We have to move beyond the naïve expectation that if we do good, people will treat us right. We cannot control how people respond to us.

    Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (Colossians 3:17). Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward (Colossians 3:23).

    Remember this one fact: Achievement is only determined by who or what we serve.

    We have turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. (1 Thessalonians 1:9). The Lord has come to rescue me from the hand of my enemy, and to enable me to serve my Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all my days (Luke 1:74-75).

    Most of the divisions between us come from fear. People fear what they do not understand, whether or not it poses an immediate threat to them.

    If we are afraid, it is for fear of what He might do to us, and shows that we are not fully convinced that He really loves us (1 John 4:18 TLB).

    We cannot overcome another person’s fear, but we can continue to display love in all that we do to allay their fears about us. Learn to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things.

    Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:9-10). Render service with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord (Ephesians 6:7-8).

    We have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit (Romans 7:6). Serve one another through love (Galatians 5:13).

    Love is the most powerful force in the world. Love, like fire, destroys all its enemies. Never underestimate the gesture of affection; never underestimate the value of any act of kindness.

    When we love each other God lives in us and His love within us grows ever stronger (1 John 4:12). Lord Jesus, as I obey Your commandment – to love one another – the darkness in my life disappears and the new light of Your life in me shines through (John 2:8).

    The Lord has given me the tongue of the learned to know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary (Isaiah 50:4). If I speak, I will do it as one speaking the very words of God. And I will serve with the strength God provides, so in all things God may be praised through Christ Jesus — to Him be glory and power and honor forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:11).

    Let us rise above differences and display the Love of God to those around us.