"Joy-Suffering"

We are not called to rejoice at suffering in and of itself. Suffering is bad, suffering is hard, and suffering often comes at the hands of wicked people. Therefore, we do not rejoice in suffering because we love the suffering in and of itself. We rejoice in suffering because we look forward to what God is able to do through our suffering. Paul [in Romans 5:1-5] celebrated the fact that through our sufferings and afflictions God is bringing about endurance, proven character, and hope. 

[Heath Lambert]

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Proverbs 3:5-6 ... Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

1 Peter 4:13 ... But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

John 16:33 ... 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.❤

"I Am Cast Down"

And why are you cast down? 

"My heart is burdened with a sense of my shortcomings! Every duty I perform is so imperfect. Every purpose I form is so soon frustrated. Every hope of seeing better days is so soon beclouded. My heart is so fearfully depraved. My life is so unlike the life of Jesus. My temper is so unholy. My prayers are so brief and heartless. My praises are so feeble and fitful. I do so little good. I live to so little purpose. My evidence is so dim. My prospects are so overcast. I am harassed sometimes with the fear of death. I cannot realize the glories of Heaven. I am dissatisfied with the world, and yet glued to it! I hate sin, and yet fall into it! I am a riddle, a mystery, a mass of inconsistency! Is it, then, any wonder that I am cast down?" 

No, if you look at yourself, and pore over the things you have named then it is no wonder that you are cast down! They are enough to cast anyone down! But if you carry them to the throne of grace, if you there confess them before God, if you look to Jesus to save you from them then, in spite of them, you will not long be cast down. I know it is difficult to do this. There is a natural proneness to pore over such things. One feels at times a secret liking to indulge in gloomy thoughts. But we must look away from self; for if we do not, we shall become anxious, doubting and gloomy! 

We must run the race, not looking at our imperfections, short-comings, and failures but looking unto Jesus. He knows what we are. He knew what we would be, before He called us by His grace; yes, before He shed His blood for us! He loved us, as sinners. He died for us, as sinners. He called us, as sinners. He saves us, as sinners. He will have all the glory of saving us, and He will get great glory by doing so, because we are such great sinners; and do not, cannot, do anything to repay Him for His wondrous love! Salvation is by free grace, from first to last!  Believe this, and it will raise up your drooping mind! 

The lifeboat of free grace has put you on board the vessel of salvation and that will convey you safely to the port of glory! Do not look at your spiritual destitution, or feebleness, or incapacity, or imperfections but trust in your Pilot, rely on your Captain, and expect His mercy and merit to land you safe in Heaven at last! 

As imperfect as you now are, and as imperfect you will be your dying prayer will still be, "God be merciful unto me, a sinner!" Hope in God! His mercy is great unto the heavens, His grace is as free as the air, His love is as changeless as His nature, His promise is as immutable as His love. Hope in God, for you shall yet praise Him. He will save you for His own sake, and present you before assembled worlds as a monument of His mercy, and a trophy of His grace! 

[James Smith]

Psalm 43:5 ... Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

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Not Wishful Thinking!

I love that a Christian's "hope" is not wishful thinking (like the world defines it), but a confident expectation that God is who He says He is, that God does and will do what He has said, and that His ways are always best. We can His trust His character, believe His Word, stand on His promises and rest in His love. He is trustworthy; what confidence we have in Him!

[message from the Internet]

Hebrews 11:1 ... Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Romans 15:13 ...  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Psalm 146:5 ... Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: ❤

The Power of God!!

I felt to share what the power of a believer in Jesus Christ is capable of. If you have never seen the power of God before, well take a long hard look at these photos. I can tell you that God is most definitely real and he is a restorer.  

I was an addict for 25 years.  I've done every drug known to man.  I have used needles and I was pretty much slowly killing myself and I was so blinded to the truth of who God was, even though my parents taught me everything I knew about who God was and what he was all about.  I guess you could say I was a prodigal son.  

I wasted most of my life away because of drugs.  I've ruined relationships, friendships, I've even hurt people who loved and cared about me. I loved fulfilling the lust of my own flesh and I didn't care who I hurt.  I isolated myself, become very distant and when God would use people to try and get me to realize how much he loved me, I would say I'm not ready, stop judging me, I live my life how I want and I didn't care about other people's feelings.  

One day, God used a man of God to share his story with me and then I had an encounter with Jesus Christ.  From that day, the scales fell from my eyes and I wasn't blind spiritually anymore.  The truth set me free from the bondage and the anointing destroyed the yoke the enemy had over me.  Someone needs to know there is hope and it's only found in Jesus Christ. 

 [Robert Carroll - a.k.a. certified Jesus freak]

1 Corinthians 6:11 ... And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

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Growing Process

You have been in a season of learning and growing. He has been preparing you for what is to come. Your ability to effectively communicate the message He is sending you to speak comes from His Spirit, but is sanctified, clarified and matured by a growing process. See and understand the process and be encouraged by the beautiful pieces. 

Just like fruit on a tree that forms, it is best picked when the time is ripe and the fruit is ready and mature. Your time is set apart and protected. Your divine design is unique. You have much to be encouraged by. Continue growing in the excellent direction the LORD is calling you in. Stay in the creative pocket of His presence. You are His creative hands, and just as Noah and his family moved in their purpose, continue to move in yours. 

As He has said before, ‘When it’s time, I will send water’. Surround yourself with encouraging thoughts, they make better life companions. Never start your day without your heart being filled with encouragement, vision, Joy and Hope. 

[Troi Nelson Cockayne]

Genesis 1:11 ... And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

John 15:8 ...  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

John 15:15 ... Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. ❤

Be Strong.

Our strength comes only from God. Keep believing and hope in Him and everything will be alright.

Ephesians 6:10 ... Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. ❤

The Religion of Joy

The religion of Christ is the religion of joy. Christ came to take away our sins, to roll off our curse, to unbind our chains, to open our prison house, to cancel our debt; in a word, to give us the" oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Is not this joy? Where can we find a joy so real, so deep, so pure, so lasting? There is every element of joy, deep, ecstatic, satisfying, sanctifying joy in the gospel of Christ. The believer in Jesus is essentially a happy man.

The child of God is, from necessity, a joyful man. His sins are forgiven, his soul is justified, his person is adopted, his trials are blessings, his conflicts are victories, his death is immortality, his future is a heaven of inconceivable, unthought-of, untold, and endless blessedness. With such a God, such a Savior, and such a hope, is he not, ought he not, to be a joyful man?

[Octavius Winslow ]

Psalm 5:11 ... But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. ❤

Rejoicing Hope.

Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in a breath; it is called "The rejoicing of hope."

[William Gurnall]

Romans 15:13 ... Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. ❤

Hope and Peace

We live in a hurting world where people need to know that they can find hope and peace in Jesus Christ.

[Franklin Graham]

Romans 15:13 … Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. 🕊

Hope in God

Fellow-Christian, we live in trying times. Nations are convulsed, thrones are tottering, crowns are falling, confusion reigns, and men’s hearts are failing them for fear! We cannot but feel; but we ought not to fear. There is enough to make us watch and pray but not enough to deject or cast us down The Lord reigns. Our Savior has all power in Heaven and in earth. He directs every event, and will overrule every occurrence for the fulfillment of his word, and the good of his beloved people. “He works all things after the counsel of his own will.” Men may rage, infidels may blaspheme, professors may murmur, and real Christians may be filled with alarm; but He says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” The Lord sits above the water-floods, he remains King forever! Therefore, let no man’s heart fail him. Let us look to the divine word. Let us look out for the Lord’s hand. There is the rainbow of mercy in every cloud; but only the eye of faith can discern it.

Beloved, are you passing through storms, tempests, and trials?  Hope in God, whatever your trial may be.  Are you sick? He will make your bed, and sanctify your pain.  Are you poor? He will answer your prayers, and supply your need.  Are you sorrowful? He will comfort you, and give you joy for your sorrow.  Are you tempted? He will not allow you to be tempted above that you are able to bear. Are you bereaved? He will be better to you than ten children. He will be a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow. He is a friend that loves at all times, and ever lives to manifest his friendship.  Are you in perplexity? He will bring the blind by a way which they knew not, and make your way plain before you.

Do you imagine that your trials are singular? He assures you that no temptation has taken you but such as is common to men, and he bids you not to think it strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try you.  Do you doubt your interest in Jesus, and your title to the promises? Read his sweet invitations, cast yourself afresh into his arms, and still hope in his mercy. Whatever may be your trial, whether inward or outward, personal or relative, spiritual or temporal, still “hope in God.“

[James Smith]

Psalm 42:5 ... Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

Lamentations 3:24 ... The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

1 John 4:4 ... Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.❤

Condition

The Christian faith is ultimately not only a matter of doctrine or understanding or of intellect, it is a condition of the heart.

[Martyn Lloyd-Jones]

Ezekiel 36:26 ... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Matthew 6:21 ... For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Romans 10:9 ... That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.❤

The Shelter of His Wings

Rest for the weary, is found here. 

                    

Peace for the troubled, is found here.

Hope for the hopeless, is found here.

Salvation for the lost is found here.

[James Smith]

Psalm 17:8 ... Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

Psalm 51:1 ... Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

Psalm 91:1 ... He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:4 ... He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psalm 36:7 ... How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

Psalm 91:14 ... Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.❤

Persevere

Even the tired horse, when he comes near home, mends pace: Be good always, without weariness, but best at last; that the nearer thou comest to the end of thy days, the nearer thou mayest be to the end of thy hopes, the salvation of thy soul.

[Thomas Adams]

Proverbs 21:31 ... The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord.



Psalm 31:24 ... Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 9:24 ...  Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.❤

Hope of a Christian

The hope of a Christian is a quiet confidence. It is a supernatural certainty.

And where do we find this hope?  In the pages of Scripture.  Paul reminds us that the Scriptures were written to "give us hope."

So put your hope in God today. He will never disappoint.

[Greg Laurie]

Romans 15:4 ...  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Psalm 31:24 ... Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

1 Timothy 6:17 ... Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

Lamentations 3:24 ... The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.❤

The Source

Do not look to your hope, but to Christ, the source of your hope.

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Psalm 42:11 ... Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Jeremiah 17:7 … Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Romans 5:2 ... By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Colossians 1:27 ... To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:❤

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

[Emily Dickinson]

Psalm 31:24 ... Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. ❤

Hope-Filled Heart

Wouldn’t you love to have a hope-filled heart?  Wouldn’t you love to see the world through the eyes of Jesus?   Where we see unanswered prayer, Jesus saw answered prayer.  Where we see the absence of God, Jesus saw the plan of God.  He can change the way you look at life!   God never promises to remove us from our struggles.   He does promise, however, to change the way we look at them!

[Max Lucado]

Matthew 26:53 ... Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

Psalm 10:17 ...  Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

Romans 12:12 ... Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Romans 15:13 ... Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.❤

The Lord's Mercies

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.  Lamentations 3:21-24 ❤ 

Door of Hope

Of course you’ll encounter trouble. But behold a God of power who can take any evil and turn it into a door of hope.

[Catherine Marshall]

Deuteronomy 4:30-31 ... When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;  (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.



Jeremiah 29:11 ...  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.



Romans 8:28 ...  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.



John 16:33 ... 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.


Psalm 31:24 ... Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.❤

Patience

Patience with others is Love.

Patience with self is Hope.

Patience with God is Faith.

[Author Unknown]

Colossians 3:12 ... Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

Hebrews 6:12 ... That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

1 Timothy 1:16 ... Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. ❤