If you’re going through trials, and would like us to pray with you, please contact an online mentor for prayer.
Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for February 18th, AM.
Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2009.
“Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.” Job 10:2, KJV
If today you are tired, worn down, and acutely feeling the pressures of daily life, perhaps the Lord is doing this to develop your graces. Some of your graces would never be discovered if it we didn’t face trials in our lives.
Do you realize that your faith never looks as grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is too often like a firefly, showing little light except when it is in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star, not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. Afflictions are often the black foils in which God sets the jewels of His children’s graces, to make them shine even greater.
It may have been only a little while ago that, on your knees, you were saying, “Lord, I fear I have no faith: let me know that I have faith.” Were you not really, though perhaps unknowingly, praying for trials? For how can you know that you have faith until your faith is tested? God often sends us trials so that our graces may be discovered, and that we may know for sure of their existence.
It is not merely discovery. Real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials. God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains His children, not in dwellings of ease and luxury, but by using them in hard service. He makes them cross through streams, swim through rivers, climb mountains, and walk many long miles with heavy backpacks of sorrow on their shoulders. Could this sanctification account for the troubles you are facing? Is not the Lord bringing out your graces, and making them grow? Is not this the reason why He is contending with you?
“Trials make the promise sweet; Trials give new life to prayer; Trials bring me to His feet, Lay me low, and keep me there.”
Question: Do you know someone who’s been going through trials who might appreciate hearing this message?
About this Author: Charles Spurgeon
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Have you ever made decisions about your relationships based on your feelings instead of the facts? When it comes to love, feelings rule the day. Emotions guide the ship. Goose bumps call the shots. But should they? Can feelings be trusted? Can a relationship feel right but be wrong?
Feelings can fool you. Yesterday I spoke with a teenage girl who is puzzled by the lack of feelings she has for a guy. Before they started dating, she was wild about him. The minute he showed interest in her, however, she lost interest.
I’m thinking also of a young mom. Being a parent isn’t as romantic as she anticipated. Diapers and midnight feedings aren’t any fun, and she’s feeling guilty because they aren’t. Am I low on love? she wonders.
How do you answer such questions? Ever wish you had a way to assess the quality of your affection? A DNA test for love? Paul offers us one: “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6 NIV). In this verse lies a test for love.
Want to separate the fake from the factual, the counterfeit from the real thing? Want to know if what you feel is genuine love? Ask yourself this:
Do I encourage this person to do what is right? For true love “takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6 JB).
If you find yourself prompting evil in others, heed the alarm. This is not love. And if others prompt evil in you, be alert.
Here’s an example. A classic one. A young couple are on a date. His affection goes beyond her comfort zone. She resists. But he tries to persuade her with the oldest line in the book: “But I love you. I just want to be near you. If you loved me …”
That siren you hear? It’s the phony-love detector. This guy doesn’t love her. He may love having sex with her. He may love her body. He may love boasting to his buddies about his conquest. But he doesn’t love her. True love will never ask the “beloved” to do what he or she thinks is wrong.
Love doesn’t tear down the convictions of others. Quite the contrary.
“Love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1).
“Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light and will not cause anyone to stumble” (1 John 2:10).
“You are sinning against Christ when you sin against other Christians by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong” (1 Cor. 8:12 NLT).
Do you want to know if your love for someone is true? If your friendship is genuine? Ask yourself: Do I influence this person to do what is right?
From A Love Worth Giving
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2002) Max Lucado
Used by permission
Question: Have you been influencing people you know (at home, work, school …) to do what is right?
About this Author: Max Lucado
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“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NKJV)
In choosing to follow Jesus, we have two important decisions to make. The first one is, when we come to the understanding that Jesus died on the cross for us, and that when we receive His sacrifice on our behalf, we receive forgiveness and the promise of eternal life. Wonderful!
The second decision is when we come to see that we have been bought with a price, purchased by His blood. We are not our own, it is Christ who is to live in and through us. We must come to the point of knowing that we need to surrender our lives to Him, and allow Him to be Lord over all the details. When we are willing to make this second decision, He fills us with the power of His Holy Spirit, and we truly do become His hands and His feet to the world around us.
As those filled with the Spirit we begin to know a deep and abiding joy in spending time with Jesus through our prayer and Bible reading. We sense His presence and begin to know and experience His voice in the various ways that He speaks to us and leads us.
The fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control begin to be evident to us and others. Our prayers go from “Lord, this is what I am going to do for you, please bless it” to “Lord, just tell me what you want me to do and I will do it!”
Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Galatians 5:24 & Romans 8:6, NKJV)
Question: How could your spiritual journey be improved if surrender began to play a greater part?
About this Author: Emmie Stanley
Explore the mind of Christ with our series of online interactive studies on Getting to Know Jesus.
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we must have the mind of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2:16, KJV
The first thing I do when I awaken each morning is to kneel before my Lord in humility, meditate upon His attributes, and praise, worship and adore Him.
The last thing I do before I go to bed at night is to kneel in prayer, to praise, worship and give thanks to Him. Thus, my first thoughts are automatically of Him when I awaken, because all night long my subconscious mind has been meditating on Him.
Every morning of every day, I acknowledge His lordship. I gladly surrender control of my life to Him acknowledging my dependence upon Him. Then, by faith, I claim His mind and His wisdom for direction in every detail of my life. I trust Him to influence and control my attitudes, my motives, my desires, my thoughts and my actions.
In different words and ways, I remind Him that I am a suit of clothes for Him and that He can do anything He wants in and through me. I invite Him to walk around in my body. I ask Him to think with my mind, to love with my heart, to speak with my lips, to lead me wherever He wants me to go, to seek and save the lost through me.
We should study the Word of God daily and diligently, determining as an act of the will to pattern our lives according to His commands and His example. We begin to experience the reality and the availability of the mind of Christ when we literally saturate our minds with His thoughts and spend much time meditating upon His Word.
Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:9-15
Today’s Action Point: Consciously and deliberately I will begin each day by inviting Christ to walk around in my body, think with my mind, love with my heart, speak with my lips and continue to “seek and save the lost” through me.
About this Author: Bill Bright
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“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’” Mark 16:15-16
Our Lord commanded that we give attention to the world – to the hurting, the fearful, and the hopeless. Instead, many churches spend a high percentage of their time and resources on their own congregation’s needs. We who make up God’s body must align our thoughts with His and return to the church’s primary mission: proclaiming the truth about the grave danger facing mankind and about Jesus, the only One who can rescue them.
The church has been given the charge to demonstrate before an unbelieving world why the heavenly Father sent His Son to earth: to reveal through Christ’s life who God is, and to accomplish by means of His death the reconciliation of sinful man to God. Everything else we talk about – baptism, discipleship, giving, and righteous living – are extensions of the Gospel but not the heart of it.
No other “word” is needed because the good news about the Savior is sufficient. It relates to every maturity level, need, and season of life. It contains simple truths that the youngest or most uneducated can understand, and it is superior to all other philosophies and religions. Every promise God made is fulfilled through the person of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:20) Finally, the Gospel’s words are absolutely sure. Its eternal truths need no correction, never change, and lead to salvation through faith in Jesus.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you – as a “living stone” of the church – to examine what message your life and words proclaim. Only the Gospel of Christ saves.
Questions: How is your church serving the world? How can you seek to become a part of that gracious work?
About this Author: Charles Stanley
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“From now on if you listen obediently to the commandments that I am commanding you today, love God, your God, and serve him with everything you have within you, he’ll take charge of sending the rain at the right time …” Deuteronomy 11:13-14 (The Message)
Repeatedly, the Bible says to “serve the Lord with all your heart.” God wants you to serve him passionately, not dutifully. People rarely excel at tasks they don’t enjoy doing or feel passionate about. God wants you to use your natural interests to serve him and others.
How do you know when you’re serving God from your heart?
The first telltale sign is enthusiasm. When you’re doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you, or challenge you, or check up on you. You do it for the sheer enjoyment. You don’t need rewards, or applause, or to be paid, because you love serving in this way.
The opposite is also true: When you don’t have a heart for what you’re doing, you’re easily discouraged.
One characteristic of serving God from your heart is effectiveness: whenever you do what God wired you to love to do, you get good at it. Passion drives perfection. If you don’t care about a task, it is unlikely that you’ll excel at it.
On the other hand, the highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit.
We’ve all heard people say, “I took a job I hate in order to make a lot of money, so someday I can quit and do what I love to do.” That’s a big mistake. Don’t waste your life in a job that doesn’t express your heart.
Remember, the greatest things in life are not things. Meaning is far more important than money. The richest man in the world once said, “A simple life in the fear-of-God is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches” (Proverbs 15:16, The Message).
Don’t settle for achieving “the good life,” because the good life is not good enough. Ultimately, it doesn’t satisfy. You can have a lot to live on, and still have nothing to live for. Aim instead for “the better life” – serving God in a way that expresses your heart.
Figure out what you love to do – that which God gave you a heart for – and then do it for his glory!
Question: In today’s tough economy, it may not be possible to always be doing a job we love. How can we nonetheless seek to glorify God regardless of our current occupation?
About this Author: Rick Warren
Whenever you need prayer, you’re welcome to contact an online mentor who will pray with you!
Please open your Bible and read: Psalm 145:1–13
When difficulties arise, what becomes your main focus – the problem, its impact on you, or its effect on others? David’s writings reveal him following God’s plan for meeting troubles: meditating on the Lord’s sufficiency and His good, pleasing, and perfect will. The result was strength and hope for his soul.
Meditation, the focusing of mind and spirit on the Lord, is a critically important discipline in the believer’s life. Through the Psalms, David not only poured out his troubles to the Lord but also continually turned his attention back to the Father. The heart of biblical contemplation is always God.
Our circumstances can be valuable prompts for meditation if we match a character quality of the Lord to our dilemma. Because David had a trusting relationship with God, his instinct was to deal with trials by anticipating divine help and victory. For example, his impending fight with Goliath brought to mind God’s past and present delivering power. (1 Samuel 17:37) Facing a different kind of danger – King Saul’s murderous threats and advances – David chose to dwell on the attribute of protection: he visualized God as his refuge and fortress. (Psalm 91:2) Grieving over the loss of loved ones, he allowed God’s presence and comfort to fill his heart and mind. (1 Samuel 30:3 – 6)
Our main resource for meditation is the Word of God. Throughout its pages, His character, works, and purposes are clearly displayed. When the next difficulty comes, use it as an opportunity to meditate on some aspect of our triune God. From this will come strength and hope to sustain you.
Question: If you were writing a psalm today, what would you say? Which aspect(s) of God’s nature would you concentrate on?
About this Author: Charles Stanley
God is never too busy to hear our prayers. If you would like us to pray with you, please contact an online mentor.
“He will listen to the prayers of the destitute for He is never too busy to heed their requests” Psalm 102:17
As a relatively young Christian businessman, I was deacon of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. I was asked to be the chairman of all of our deputation ministry involving more than 100 college and post college age men and women who dedicated their lives to serving Christ in the hospitals, jails and skid row missions.
On many occasions it was my responsibility and privilege to speak at various mission meetings attended by hundreds of destitute winos, alcoholics, drug addicts and others who had lost their way and were now in desperate need of help, physically and spiritually. God always ministered to me as well as to them for I seldom spoke to such a group without my heart being deeply stirred. Inevitably I found myself reaching out to these men, poor, dejected, discouraged, many of whom had not bathed for months, and yet I found myself embracing them in the name of Jesus, pleading with them to allow Him to turn the tragedy of their lives into His eternal triumph. Many did and with life-changing results.
But unfortunately, there were far more who refused Christ. I am reminded of one with whom I pleaded to surrender his life to Christ and receive the gift of God’s grace. He had, through the ravages of drink, lost his wife, his children, his business and even his health. He had absolutely nothing left, but his response to my insistence that he receive Christ was, “I cannot, I have too much to give up.” I could hardly believe my ears! God was waiting with arms outstretched, eager to embrace him with His love and forgiveness, to transform his life. Let us never forget that this is God’s desire for every person for He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Bible Reading: Psalm 102:18-28
Today’s Action Point: Today I will encourage others, rich and poor, old and young, all who are spiritually destitute, to turn to God, who loves and forgives, that they, too may experience eternal and supernatural life.
About this Author: Bill Bright
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“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8, NKJV)
God gave Joshua three things to do that would assure him that his way would be prosperous and that he would have good success. First, he was to keep God’s Word in his mouth so he would have the truth and the sure knowledge of the difference between right and wrong. This would give him guidance and direction in the decisions he would have to make. This same Word was also a plethora of promises that he could draw upon in his time of need, and a weapon (sword of the Word) that he could use in the face of battle.
Secondly, he was to meditate on the Word day and night. Meditating is like a cow chewing on its cud. As we go about the day the Word of God comes back to mind and we further mull it over (chew on it), breaking down its contents, and consider how it applies to our own circumstances. As we digest the Word, revelation and insights are the result, and our understanding is opened up as the Word starts to become part of us, energize us, and give us strength.
Thirdly, God commanded Joshua to “observe to do” what is written in the Word. It is the action in response to the Word that actually demonstrates that we believe what we read, and brings the whole process to fruition in our lives.
So let the Word of God be richly in your mouth, speak it out, read it out, pray it out, declare it over yourself, your family and your community; think on it, digest it, let it become a part of you; and act on it to see the end result of God making your way prosperous and giving you good success.
“Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life.” (Psalm 119:92, NJKV)
Question: Which of these three “keys” do you find most difficult, and why?
About this Author: Emmie Stanley
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“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” John 9:3
When Jesus’ disciples saw a man who had been blind since he was born, they assumed it was the result of sin. Jesus quickly corrected their misunderstanding with the statement above from John 9:3.
God’s intention to display his glory in this man was planned before the man was born.
You see, no one had ever heard of a person who was born blind being given sight. Thus when Jesus healed him, it would be clear that the miracle was something only God could do.
Though the Pharisees questioned the miracle, the event transformed the man himself. His life became a megaphone proclaiming what God can do.
The man born blind isn’t the only person whose life has been orchestrated in order that it would be a platform for the work of God. God has a purpose for each one of us. Your whole life has been planned and prepared to be a series of opportunities for God’s work to be displayed.
Hardships, trouble, short comings, handicaps are all suitable circumstances for God’s power to be revealed in your life.
Musical talents, academic ability, technical aptitude, creative potential when used for God are also ways God exhibits his glory through your life.
God make me aware of the ways that You desire to display Your works in my life. Teach me to be obedient and humble, allowing Your glory to be revealed.
Question: How have you seen God use hardship in your own life which seems pointless at the time to ultimately display His glory to the world?
About the Author: Suzanne Benner
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