Two extremes to be avoided
1. That Satan is an equal to God able to frustrate and foil God’s plan.
2. That God is directly blameworthy for the evil that we suffer.
When we ask, “What is going on?!”, we need to know, we have a real enemy, with real power and should not be surprised.
1Pe 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering,
Satan is afforded a degree of limited freedom to carry out his predictable malicious intent which is designed to destroy the work of God, specifically the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
Jesus Prayer is John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
Satan’s prayer is Job 1:11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
God’s response to Satan is Job 1:12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Every human being suffers from this freedom that Satan enjoys, but His time is limited.
Re 12:12 Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."
Job was technically right in his response, but hugely, woefully, inadequate, when he said, Job 1:21 and said: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away…"
God does not hide behind Satan’s skirts, letting Satan take the blame. God claims over-all sovereignty but the rest of the book of Job is necessary to point out the huge hole in Job’s simple view of direct sovereignty. Though Job’s simple answer was technically correct, its insufficiency leads to questioning God’s goodness and justice and blaming God for evil.
It is necessary to understand that God allows his believer to experience the malice of Satan for a time in a limited way in order to produce the saints of heaven. Satan is a hateful bastard whom we are free to abhor with all our hearts, but God is a good loving heavenly father whom we are rightly commanded to love with all our hearts.
God allows Satan a limited degree of sovereignty, letting him to do as he wishes that evil and good may be known. God is perfectly able to predict the results in our lives which are pain and purity.
We may respond this way to Satan Ge 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of [my soul]
Our sanctification is the ongoing work of God saving of our souls and is brought about as we suffer the malice of Satan that God allows for our good.
2Co 12:7 There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
2Co 12: 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Ro 8:28 and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
There is much more to say here concerning the sovereignty of man in all of this; how we fit in, what our freedom is and what we are responsible for. I am tempted to preach on this in 2 weeks. The response to this blog will determine that decision for me.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
What is my life producing this very moment?
Matthew 21:19 and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.
Matthew 13:22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
"unfruitful." Thomas Magister says, Trees, which are "eukarpa of good fruit," are those, the fruit of which is useful to men for food; those akarpa, "without fruit" on the other hand, are those, the fruit of which men do not use for food: but akarpon never means "having no fruit at all," in any ancient writer. Bengel 1.187
Ephesians 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
What our lives are producing can be monitored moment by moment. A meditation on scriptural truth and hope in the life to come produces the fruit of joy in all its various forms which is useful and good. Obsessing about the concerns of this life and putting our hope in money produces only leaves that are useless and worthy of condemnation. What our lives are producing will tell us where our thoughts are focused and this can be adjusted.
Matthew 13:22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
"unfruitful." Thomas Magister says, Trees, which are "eukarpa of good fruit," are those, the fruit of which is useful to men for food; those akarpa, "without fruit" on the other hand, are those, the fruit of which men do not use for food: but akarpon never means "having no fruit at all," in any ancient writer. Bengel 1.187
Ephesians 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
What our lives are producing can be monitored moment by moment. A meditation on scriptural truth and hope in the life to come produces the fruit of joy in all its various forms which is useful and good. Obsessing about the concerns of this life and putting our hope in money produces only leaves that are useless and worthy of condemnation. What our lives are producing will tell us where our thoughts are focused and this can be adjusted.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Plan for Holiness
Proverbs 4
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
The bottom line here is that protecting the heart in order to benefit your life means planning for righteousness and sticking to that plan for the day. During morning devotions we can ask, “What work needs to be addressed? What social engagements are planned? What leisure opportunities are available to me?" and then, "How will I pursue purity in all these things? How will I avoid the temptation towards evil that lies in every good?"
As I plan my work I can imagine it without anger but filled with thanksgiving to the one who has blessed me with ability.
1Th 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Jas 1:20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
As I imagine my social conduct, I can picture myself saying only those things that build others up.
1Th 5:11 therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
2Co 12:20b I fear that there may be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
I can imagine myself patient and attentive while driving, wholesome in my entertainment and loving toward my family and then carry that picture with me all day.
Planning and executing righteousness can imitate the same thinking process that accompanies any project that calls upon our efforts in areas where we are not experts. We imagine the process and refine it in our heads long before we head out to the hardware store to buy materials and tools.
Holiness requires planning an intentional course for the day.
How will you start tomorrow?
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
The bottom line here is that protecting the heart in order to benefit your life means planning for righteousness and sticking to that plan for the day. During morning devotions we can ask, “What work needs to be addressed? What social engagements are planned? What leisure opportunities are available to me?" and then, "How will I pursue purity in all these things? How will I avoid the temptation towards evil that lies in every good?"
As I plan my work I can imagine it without anger but filled with thanksgiving to the one who has blessed me with ability.
1Th 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Jas 1:20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
As I imagine my social conduct, I can picture myself saying only those things that build others up.
1Th 5:11 therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
2Co 12:20b I fear that there may be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
I can imagine myself patient and attentive while driving, wholesome in my entertainment and loving toward my family and then carry that picture with me all day.
Planning and executing righteousness can imitate the same thinking process that accompanies any project that calls upon our efforts in areas where we are not experts. We imagine the process and refine it in our heads long before we head out to the hardware store to buy materials and tools.
Holiness requires planning an intentional course for the day.
How will you start tomorrow?
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Compelling Character
Titus 2:9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive.
Trustworthiness makes the faith attractive. A belief system that produces this universally valued commodity displays the merit of those ideas and proves them worthy of further investigation.
Many things would make a believer seem untrustworthy; immorality, emotional- imbalance, lack of love, misplaced priorities, lack of humility, unwillingness to listen and learn and change, but his character is meant to bring veracity to his claims.
2Ti 3:14 But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.
Trustworthiness makes the faith attractive. A belief system that produces this universally valued commodity displays the merit of those ideas and proves them worthy of further investigation.
Many things would make a believer seem untrustworthy; immorality, emotional- imbalance, lack of love, misplaced priorities, lack of humility, unwillingness to listen and learn and change, but his character is meant to bring veracity to his claims.
2Ti 3:14 But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Difference Between Being Needed and Being Loved
In our language, being needed is almost synonymous with being loved. If someone were to say, I don’t need you.” We would take it as a strong indication that we were not wanted, not loved, that we had lost our place of belonging and that we should consider leaving.
If someone were to say, “I love you, but I do not need you.” it could change the entire dynamic of the relationship. Rather than feeling necessary, but sometimes used, drained and discarded like an empty container, we could feel valued, wanted, even enjoyed, which frees one to love in the same way. The relationship becomes more mutual, more communal and in fact our place of belonging becomes that much more secure.
What if God did not need us but loved us? What if that were the model relationship that was intended to set precedent in the church? What if love were to replace neediness in all of our relationships? Would it convert selfishness to generosity? Would the reciprocity enhance and strengthen relationship and belonging as opposed to eroding it? Could we find security in love as opposed to anxiously making ourselves merely necessary?
Psalm 50:9 But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens.
10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
John 13:34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
1Peter 1:22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
If someone were to say, “I love you, but I do not need you.” it could change the entire dynamic of the relationship. Rather than feeling necessary, but sometimes used, drained and discarded like an empty container, we could feel valued, wanted, even enjoyed, which frees one to love in the same way. The relationship becomes more mutual, more communal and in fact our place of belonging becomes that much more secure.
What if God did not need us but loved us? What if that were the model relationship that was intended to set precedent in the church? What if love were to replace neediness in all of our relationships? Would it convert selfishness to generosity? Would the reciprocity enhance and strengthen relationship and belonging as opposed to eroding it? Could we find security in love as opposed to anxiously making ourselves merely necessary?
Psalm 50:9 But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens.
10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
John 13:34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
1Peter 1:22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Do you love God or just love people?
Do you love God or just love people?
Really Loving Christians is the proof.
1Jo 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar.
The Key point is this: Real love for Christians stems from our love of God, not our love of people.
1Jo 5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
So ask yourself…
1. Do you love the God of the Bible who ordered genocide?
De 20:16 In those towns that the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. 17 You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the LORD your God has commanded you.
2. Do you love the God of the Bible who is sovereign over unspeakable suffering?
2Kings 6:24 Some time later, however, King Ben–hadad of Aram mustered his entire army and besieged Samaria. 25 As a result, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver. 26 One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him, “Please help me, my lord the king!”
27 He answered, “If the LORD doesn’t help you, what can I do? I have neither food from the threshing floor nor wine from the press to give you.”
28 But then the king asked, “What is the matter?” She replied, “This woman said to me: ‘Come on, let's eat your son today, then we will eat my son tomorrow.' 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, ‘Kill your son so we can eat him,' but she has hidden her son.”
30 When the king heard this, he tore his clothes in despair.
3. Do you love the God of the Bible who condemns people to eternal judgment and suffering who have never even heard of Jesus?
Ac 4:12 Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Ro 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
Ro 1:18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities––his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
4. Do you love the God of the Bible who ordained His innocent son to suffer and die to pay for the sins of the world?
Ac 2:23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Acts 4: 27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
5. Do you love the God of the Bible who chooses only a relative few to enjoy the eternal consequences of Christ’s sacrifice.
Mt 22:14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."
6. Do you love the God of the Bible who dispenses his mercy exclusively based on his own pleasure?
Isa 46:10 My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
Ro 9:16 It (Being divinely considered and treated as a child of God) does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
7. Do you love the God of the Bile who sent his son with you in mind to personally redeem you from humanly unstoppable sin and the eternal separation from him that logically follows.
Ro 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Ep 1:4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Jo 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
1Jo 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
8. Do you love the God of the Bible and trust him to manage everything in such a way that he receives recognition as the supreme, righteous, perfect, beautiful One?
Because it is the love we have for God that distinguishes a Christian from a humanist. It is our supreme love for God that distinguishes us from those who have a supreme love for humanity.
The difference between being wonderful, funny, big-hearted, loving, loveable people who view God as a means of comforting others, and actually being in an unbreakable eternal relationship with God… is a supreme love for God - with all heart and soul and mind and strength and yet-unresolved questions. In doubt, we turn to our experience of his love for us in Christ and trust in his love.
1Jo 4:16 And so we KNOW and RELY ON the love God has for us.
Real love for others stems from our love for God, not our love of people.
1Jo 5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
1Jo 5:21 Dear children, keep away from anything (including humanism) that might take God’s place in your hearts.
Can I say at the end of it all, “God what lands in your court, is a lot of stuff I find gross and disturbing and objectionable, but what lands in my court is a bewildering quantity and quality of love, the experience of which so overwhelms any sense of doubt that I cannot help but love you.
1Jo 3: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we (sinners) should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Really Loving Christians is the proof.
1Jo 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar.
The Key point is this: Real love for Christians stems from our love of God, not our love of people.
1Jo 5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
So ask yourself…
1. Do you love the God of the Bible who ordered genocide?
De 20:16 In those towns that the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. 17 You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the LORD your God has commanded you.
2. Do you love the God of the Bible who is sovereign over unspeakable suffering?
2Kings 6:24 Some time later, however, King Ben–hadad of Aram mustered his entire army and besieged Samaria. 25 As a result, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver. 26 One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him, “Please help me, my lord the king!”
27 He answered, “If the LORD doesn’t help you, what can I do? I have neither food from the threshing floor nor wine from the press to give you.”
28 But then the king asked, “What is the matter?” She replied, “This woman said to me: ‘Come on, let's eat your son today, then we will eat my son tomorrow.' 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, ‘Kill your son so we can eat him,' but she has hidden her son.”
30 When the king heard this, he tore his clothes in despair.
3. Do you love the God of the Bible who condemns people to eternal judgment and suffering who have never even heard of Jesus?
Ac 4:12 Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Ro 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
Ro 1:18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities––his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
4. Do you love the God of the Bible who ordained His innocent son to suffer and die to pay for the sins of the world?
Ac 2:23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Acts 4: 27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
5. Do you love the God of the Bible who chooses only a relative few to enjoy the eternal consequences of Christ’s sacrifice.
Mt 22:14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."
6. Do you love the God of the Bible who dispenses his mercy exclusively based on his own pleasure?
Isa 46:10 My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
Ro 9:16 It (Being divinely considered and treated as a child of God) does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
7. Do you love the God of the Bile who sent his son with you in mind to personally redeem you from humanly unstoppable sin and the eternal separation from him that logically follows.
Ro 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Ep 1:4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Jo 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
1Jo 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
8. Do you love the God of the Bible and trust him to manage everything in such a way that he receives recognition as the supreme, righteous, perfect, beautiful One?
Because it is the love we have for God that distinguishes a Christian from a humanist. It is our supreme love for God that distinguishes us from those who have a supreme love for humanity.
The difference between being wonderful, funny, big-hearted, loving, loveable people who view God as a means of comforting others, and actually being in an unbreakable eternal relationship with God… is a supreme love for God - with all heart and soul and mind and strength and yet-unresolved questions. In doubt, we turn to our experience of his love for us in Christ and trust in his love.
1Jo 4:16 And so we KNOW and RELY ON the love God has for us.
Real love for others stems from our love for God, not our love of people.
1Jo 5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
1Jo 5:21 Dear children, keep away from anything (including humanism) that might take God’s place in your hearts.
Can I say at the end of it all, “God what lands in your court, is a lot of stuff I find gross and disturbing and objectionable, but what lands in my court is a bewildering quantity and quality of love, the experience of which so overwhelms any sense of doubt that I cannot help but love you.
1Jo 3: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we (sinners) should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Listening In Loss
Joy in loss is that internal evidence that God is real and aware and in control and good and for us and near and all-pervading.
In uncertainty, joy feels like peace.
Php 4:7 …the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Isa 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
In fearfulness, joy translates into confidence.
Jer 17:7 “But blessed (happily receiving invisible support and sustenance from God) are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
In loss, joy is trust.
Ps 9:10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
1Ch 29:12 You are the ruler of all things.
Ps 145:17 The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.
In waiting, joy becomes patience
Ps 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Ps 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.
In grief, joy remembers our consolation
Heb 6:18 We who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence (consolation KJV) as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
In suffering joy sees what cannot be lost.
2Ti 1:12 I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
Ro 8:39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In weakness joy abides in us as strength
Ne 8:10 the joy of the LORD is your strength."
2Ti 1:8 With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer…
And suffer we will. May God make us ready to face loss and suffer with him and for him. May we hope in him alone and be filled to overflowing with joy.
In uncertainty, joy feels like peace.
Php 4:7 …the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Isa 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
In fearfulness, joy translates into confidence.
Jer 17:7 “But blessed (happily receiving invisible support and sustenance from God) are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
In loss, joy is trust.
Ps 9:10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
1Ch 29:12 You are the ruler of all things.
Ps 145:17 The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.
In waiting, joy becomes patience
Ps 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Ps 40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.
In grief, joy remembers our consolation
Heb 6:18 We who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence (consolation KJV) as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
In suffering joy sees what cannot be lost.
2Ti 1:12 I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
Ro 8:39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In weakness joy abides in us as strength
Ne 8:10 the joy of the LORD is your strength."
2Ti 1:8 With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer…
And suffer we will. May God make us ready to face loss and suffer with him and for him. May we hope in him alone and be filled to overflowing with joy.
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