Remember how both Job and Paul were allowed to suffer at the hands of Satan? (Job 1-2; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). God’s grace was sufficient and soared when Job and Paul were made weak, in self! What an amazing God we serve!
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
The LORD did not remove Paul’s thorn in this season of suffering but rather gave him abundant grace in that trial.
God is circumcising our hearts so that we see that He’s not into our temporal comfort so much as our Christlike character (Romans 8:29).
The LORD promised we’d suffer and He also promised that those who love Him supremely “shall also reign with him … glorified together” (2 Timothy 2:12).
Jesus makes it clear that suffering for His holy name’s sake, only proves we are His and is an inescapable component of our lives in Him while on this earth.
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
“It would seem strange that God, who professes to love the children of Israel, would lead them into a desert without food and water. But love led them there that they might learn the desperate unbelief of their own hearts and the unfailing faithfulness of God’s Heart. Only in a desert could God reveal what He can be to those who trust Him (Exodus 17). Do you trust Him in your desert?” Jeff Thomas
“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Romans 8:17
“IF we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:” 2 Timothy 2:12
In the kingdom of Christ, everything that is good is good and everything that is bad is good – because God is working all things together for his glory and your ultimate good, conforming you to the image of jesus (Romans 8:28-29).
Here’s how we know that to be true:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:28-29
All things are not good and yet all things are working for our good – to conform us to the image of the Son of God.
Here’s why we can “count (consider) it all joy” when we “fall into” various trials:
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:2-4
When you read this verse below, think of it in terms of the LORD being a jealous God (Exodus 34:14).
“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.” Ecclesiastes 7:14
This life will never be without trouble (Job 14:1). God loves us so very much that He wants us to love Him back and He allows the difficulties of this life to help us see that He’s all we have! See John 6:67-69. Isn’t this part of why we are to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations”? (James 1:2-4)
“Be Not Weary in Well Doing”
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9
SATAN tempting you to give up? Who wins if you do? Where shall you turn? Turning away from God means we are without Him in our life and trials, right? The LORD, who is your Potter, has a plan. He will absolutely bring you through the floods of water and fire! See Isaiah 43:1-2; Jeremiah 18:1-6.
After saving us, God has to bring us to an end of ourselves and that happens through “much tribulation” (Acts 14:22; 2 Corinthians 4; 12:7-12, etc.). Read 2 Corinthians 4.
When Jesus had fed the flesh of the multitudes, they turned and walked away from the Savior. But …
“Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” John 6:67-68
What are the 4 things God Blesses His People with as they are Blessed to Suffer?
God brings PSSS through the things we suffer!
Our LORD has a plan to settle us, to mature, to establish, to bring His strength into our lives.
The apostle Peter penned these fabulous words under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit 1 Peter 5:10
It’s a little known divine secret forming the natural acronym PSSS = Perfect, Stablish, Strengthen, Settle you!!
“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1 Peter 5:10
As children of the LORD, as we suffer various trials in this brief life on earth, He is using this to keep His roots in us by:
- Perfecting us,
- Stablishing us,
- Strengthening us,
- Settling us!!
“The pressure in your life right now has a purpose. It’s not crushing you, it’s pushing what’s on the inside of you out. It shows you who you are.” unknown
SUFFERING and TRIBULATION WORK FOR US!
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
Regarding the above passage William MacDonald states in the Believer’s Bible Commentary:
“After reading the terrible afflictions which the Apostle Paul endured, it may seem hard for us to understand how he could speak of them as light affliction. In one sense, they were not at all light. They were bitter and cruel.
But the explanation lies in the comparison which Paul makes. The afflictions viewed by themselves might be ever so heavy, but when compared with the eternal weight of glory that lies ahead, then they are light. Also the light affliction is but for a moment, whereas the glory is eternal. The lessons we learn through afflictions in this world will yield the richest fruit for us in the world to come.”
There is a pyramid in this verse which, as F. E. Marsh has pointed out, does not tire the weary climber but brings unspeakable rest and comfort to his soul.
Glory
Weight of glory
Eternal weight of glory
Exceeding and eternal weight of glory
More exceeding and eternal weight of glory
Far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 and patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Romans 5:3-5
“Adversity is the companion to every Christian on his way to paradise. The more difficult the path, the more joy for him who follows the LORD.” AW Tozer
The Reality of this Present Fallen World – And God’s Love, Comfort and Eternal Plan for His People
“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” Job 14:1
“Full of trouble.” …. Can anyone relate?
According to God’s Word, in this sin-cursed earth, there will be troubles, trials, and tribulations for all – the righteous and the unrighteous (Psalms 37, 73, etc.).
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27
“The afflictions of the gospel”
“The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces in the surfer the super joy of going clean through it. Apply that to our own circumstances, these very things—tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us the super joy; they are not things to fight. We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. The saint never knows the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. “I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.” says Paul.
Undaunted radiance is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can alter. The experiences of life, terrible or monotonous, are impotent to touch the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Oswald Chambers
“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.” 2 Timothy 1:8
Are you a partaker of “the afflictions of the gospel”? Are you suffering for Christ? Are those around you suffering for their testimony of Jesus’ saving grace?
If we aren’t suffering afflictions for being one with Christ in this dark world, should this not be reason for great concern?
“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12
Jesus promised that those who truly knew Him and were enduring to the end, would be hated:
“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 10:22
Paul was in jail several times and wrote at least several of his letters from his jail cell. If you were alive then, would you have persecuted him? Are you disdaining those who suffer the most atrocious of afflictions for the Gospel of Jesus?
The apostle Paul, this apostle of our LORD Jesus, was a convicted felon for Christ. Let us never be ashamed of the brethren of Christ, our brethren, who suffer unjust persecutions, “the afflictions of the gospel” in this world. Didn’t Jesus foretell that some of His people will be put in prison?
“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10
Visions of Heavenly Rest
“They shall rest in their beds”
“He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” Isaiah 57:2
Do you want to be there? Here’s Christ’s promise and conditions:
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Revelation 21:4-8
Are you ready to meet your Maker? Ready to make peace with God? Go here.



Abiding
WHAT’S On Jesus’ Prayer List? [podcast]
What Did Jesus Pray for His People?
John 17 – knowing Him. Being one with Him and the Father and one another.
Jesus prayed the highest priorities of the Father for His people as is recorded in John 17.
Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer – John 17
“Jesus’ prayer in John 17, often called the “High Priestly Prayer,” is a profound discourse to God before His crucifixion, focusing on His own glorification, the protection and unity of His disciples, and the future unity of all believers, emphasizing eternal life through knowing God and Christ, and asking for believers to be set apart in truth and one, just as He and the Father are one.
Having offered His precious, sinless blood to the Father for the redemption of the fallen race, Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for all of His saints.”
“But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;” Hebrews 7:24-26
Due to His perfect sacrifice and redemption of fallen mankind, we who are His, are invited to “come boldly…”
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16
As we “come boldly unto the throne of grace” the LORD is going to fill us with His grace and love.
Those most powerfully used by God to help others, are those who are set apart to Him, crying out to the LORD to be filled with His gracious Holy Spirit and to be made more and more one with Him.
Debbie Lord writes:
“GOD is our sustaining force via prayer:
The Holy Spirit praying for us from within,
Jesus, our risen Savior and High Priest praying for us at the right hand of God, Brothers and Sisters in Christ praying for us on this earth, and us praying for believers everywhere,
even those we’ve never met. Ephesians 6:18
Each member of Christ’s body should be assured of the constant prayer of other believers as well as lifting up in prayer other believers themselves.”
Memory Truth:
“For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” James 1:20
We grow in Christ’s grace to realize that our own misguided, unwarranted, self-righteous attitudes and actions of wrath on sinners, is not of God.
Pray to “grow in grace” (2 Peter 3:18). When we are growing in His grace in that abiding oneness, His ministry of grace will flow through us. It has been wisely stated that “We can never lead someone else to a place we aren’t ourselves walking in.”
“For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace…” Hebrews 13:9
WHEN we see something in God’s Word, such as the verse above, let us pray it – pray He will bring it fully into our lives.
WHO has God Used to Truly Minister to Us?
Did God use vessels of self-righteous wrath?
Or, has the LORD used crucified vessels who were full of His love?
Can we not reflect back on how God used others to minister to us? Who did He use? It wasn’t the harsh self-righteous ones He used but rather the vessels of His love – who when they spoke His truth, did it out of His concern and desire for us to truly come to Him… right?
There is so much evil in this fallen world. We are bombarded with words, attitudes, and images daily with the iniquity of fallen mankind. That will not change till Jesus returns. For now, we must abide in Christ, to seek Him to make us one with Him and the Father who are one in agreement, unison, etc. It’s only in being made one with the Father and Jesus that God’s love will fill and flow from us. May God settle us at His feet, truly.
YOUR PRAYER: Holy Father in Heaven, I come to You in the name of my LORD Jesus Christ. Please teach me Your ways and make me, and Your body, one with You. In Jesus’ holy Name, amen.
Pouring prayerfully over the prayer of our LORD Jesus recorded in John 17 would greatly benefit us saints.
John 17: Jesus’ Prayer, the Real “LORD’s Prayer”
The High Priestly Prayer of Our Savior: Beholding the Highest Divine Priorities in the Prayer of Jesus
“1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
The Gospel key to walking in God’s love is the cross. The Bible teaches us that “God is love” and it’s only the crucified vessel that will be full of God’s love and used effectively by the LORD.
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:16-18
Ministry from Heaven can only come out of a crucified vessel.
“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:10-12
Love is at the top of the divine list of priorities and can only come out of the oneness our Father desires us to have with Him (1 Corinthians 13). Are we asking Him to be made one with Him? (See John 17.)
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8
Sister Debbie Lord offers us the opportunity to pray this Scriptural prayer: “Lord, I pray for your saints world over, that You would draw us closer and closer (increasingly) to Yourself as time grows short. Please help us give up and let go so that You can live in us fully and minister to us, in us and THROUGH us. I ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
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Abiding
5 Loaves, 2 Fishes, and 12 Baskets Left Over [podcast]
“And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.” Galatians 2:9-10
It’s amazing how much God does with so little from us right and how He multiplies it! Remember this? How our unchanging LORD, when He’d multiplied and fed the multitudes with 5 loaves and 2 fishes? Then after He miraculously turned the 5 loaves and 2 fishes into enough food to feed 5,000, there were 12 loaves left over??? See Mark 6:37-44.
So that tells us, that reveals that as we give of ourselves – our energies and substance – that God is going to multiply it, in this life and more notably, in glory!
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
“Alleluia! All glory to our God who made heaven and earth! Praying everyday for the ministry and His fruitfulness to come forth. And will pray for these new believers who the Lord rescued out of the gates of hell. Praise His holy name!” Karen Cochran
Did Jesus come as a celebrity or servant? Read Philippians 2 each morning this week.
“Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” Matthew 5:42
“Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.” Luke 6:30
“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. 11 If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; 12 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?” Proverbs 24:12
FEEDING THE POOR IN SPIRIT AND STOMACH: Because you care, you prayed, you gave….. Cenovio, a homeless man, was treated to the hearing of our LORD’s bless-ed Gospel message, a delicious hot meal, hot coffee, fresh water, and a JESUS tract. It was a super blessed time with this man. Thank God and you!
Would you like to pause and pray for Cenovio? | Mission Mexico
Of Jesus feeding the multitudes, one source notes:
“Jesus fed a large crowd on at least two occasions, most notably feeding 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves and two fish, and later feeding 4,000 men plus women and children with seven loaves and a few fish. The miracles occurred when Jesus had compassion on the hungry crowds who had been following him, and the food multiplied supernaturally, leaving 12 baskets of leftovers in the first instance and seven in the second.”


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Abiding
10 Truths to Behold in Isaiah 41:10 [podcast]
“Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not
cast thee away. 10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee:
be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen
thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Isaiah 41:9-10
There are 10 truths to behold in Isaiah 41:10:
• “Thou art my servant”
• “I have chosen thee”
• “and not cast thee away”
• “Fear thou not”
• “I am with thee”
• “be not dismayed”
• “for I am thy God”
• “I will strengthen thee”
• “I will help thee”
• “I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness”
The soul that prospers is that one who clings to, trusts in and
relies upon Christ alone, day by day, walking ever nearer to
the soon coming Savior. He is with us and promises to “never
leave thee, nor forsake thee”—that is, for those who abide
with Christ (Hebrews 13:5).
1 Peter 1
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Prayer: Dear LORD, thank You for helping me today, and
continuing the good work of salvation You began in me the
moment You saved me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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