Originally published
on
Saturday, September
18, 2010
God
has given us His Word which is full of promises He has made to us. Get in
there and find your promise. It will help. The following thoughts were brought
to my mind while studying today. Let them be a blessing to you, as I
have.
Have
you ever thought of how much we all need God's mercy and grace?
He bestows (gives) each of us mercy and grace – a gift truly from a
Holy God. He knew we would need it. And then have you thought what
we would be without it? All the things in my life can make my life tough.
Stuff is Tuff, as my husband said this morning during our morning
devotions! Please know that I am writing the following more for myself
than others, but I do pray it will be a help and a blessing to you in your
daily walk with Christ, and if you are not a child of God, my prayer is that you
will be saved.
I
receive many requests for prayer throughout the day. Many are from ladies who
call me on the phone; meet me at a church, or as last week, in a
restaurant! I even had a sweet lady I met here in West Virginia tell
me she “knew I could reach God”
if I would just pray for a friend of hers. I believe He does here my
prayers but, your prayers are just as precious to God as mine. Don’t
leave Him out of the request to have someone else pray. Please, let me
know how I can pray for you and with you. I promise you I will
pray. But make sure you haven’t excluded God from being the first to
go to.
You
pray first then ask others to pray with you, if you think it necessary. I
am no different from you. I struggle with many things in my life.
It doesn’t have to be something anyone even knows about (unspoken), and there
are some things no one knows anything about except my dear husband. Stuff
is Tuff! What are we doing to help ourselves and others around
us? If the first thing we do is to run to another person we know, share
our hearts, and ask them to pray – I believe we started out wrong. Have
you ever been guilty of sharing and not even asking someone else to pray, you
just wanted to “talk”? The very first thing we should do is take it
to God. Then ask Him to direct us to the one that will pray with us
and for us! Believe it or not, when I am done praying like that, I find
that I usually don’t need to “share” with anyone else. I have
already shared it with my dearest friend and Saviour.
“. . . Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in
my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. . . ” 2
Cor. 12:9 God already knows about the “stuff” that makes your life “tuff”!
Believe me. Take this verse to heart – glory in your infirmities no
matter what they are and count it all pleasure to suffer for Him. Tuff
words – but so true if we could only grab that great piece of wisdom.
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. All
things. You don’t mean the “Tuff Stuff”
do you! I most certainly do and obviously God did as well. Most
people look at this verse the same way – but what does it really mean. I
have heard it quoted thousands of times I know, “. . . all things
work together for good . . .”
and that is where they stop! What was God in his great wisdom, trying to
teach us? It will do our souls good to search this truth out. Every
providence from God, leans toward the spiritual good of those that love God; it
will break them off from sin, bring them nearer to God, wean them from the
world, and fit them for heaven. This could be the “stuff” in your
life. God has a way of taking “stuff” from us to draw us closer to
Him. It could be a husband or wife you are complaining about; a child, a
parent, a job, pastor or church, any number of things. Be grateful
you have them. One day they may be gone!
What
is keeping you from serving God as you know how? When the saved act out
of character, corrections may be taken to bring them back to the Lord again.
I pray that God does that to me every day. No one likes to be
chastised or disciplined. But, we should want to have our minds
and hearts to be His; renewed when we wake every morning. I do pray for that! Do you know that worldly
cliché that is quoted all around the globe, “What Would Jesus Do?” – I have
adopted and adapted it a little. Not only what would He do, but what
would He think of what I am doing
right now. Is it Christ honoring, uplifting, loving, caring or all the
negatives to that. God help me to always be aware and to try to be a help
and blessing to all those around me.
As
my husband preached God’s Word this week at a revival in Bomont, WV, I realized
how blessed I am to be married to a called man of God. He has surrendered
his whole life to God, trusting Him who saved us to direct and guide his
every footstep. He loves me and wants to see me grow in the
Lord. His messages on grace
this week were certainly sent from Heaven. How they blessed my heart and
revived my desire to a higher level of service to God. Renewing a deep
desire to live for Him using His free gift of mercy and grace to help
me in my daily walk! Through the Word, I was given a renewed fervor to
pray as never before re-dedicating my life and heart to be totally surrendered
in every area. Prayer, study of God’s Word, in the grace of salvation,
singing, service, standing, and through it all he provides His sufficient
grace. “.
. . My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9 I will trust the
Lord to provide that grace I need in my every day walk for Him.
Every
one of us know people who live daily with hurts. Listen, I am one of
them. In our daily lives we face the issues of life in general, from
marriages, friendships, children, lost loved ones and the list goes on. My
heart aches for folks just like this, but I'm coming to realize that we can be
each other's greatest enemy as we tend to share with each other and sympathize
with each other. Are we really helping each other, or are we fueling the fire
of discontent? Have you listened to someone share a heartache and then couldn’t
wait to put your “two cents worth of wise knowledge in before they have barely
drawn breath” all because you want to help
them, and all said and done before you
even prayed? Guilty! Listening is a wonderful gift, or it could be your
greatest curse. I know what it is to spend hours in tears; wanting to run
away, and on a very rare occasion thought it would be better if I just died,
then I could be out of my misery and stop causing others misery. Yes,
folks, I have been there. I needed a friend to talk with and all the time, He
was waiting. Lean on Him and His understanding. What is God’s will for our
lives? Trust in a Holy God to direct. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but
understanding what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:17.
Philippians
4:13 I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. All things. Ah! But you don’t know about
my problems, you say. They are
greater than any others. My marriage, my finances, my children, my job, my
health, my life in general is a mess.
God surely can’t fix this! Do you claim the blood of Christ for your
salvation? Have you trusted him to save you? Are you saying that God
cannot save? If you have a faith and believe in your salvation - believe He can
clean up your "mess". He said all things in Philippians 4:13 – Then I say I
believe that – but do I?
Honestly,
I don’t claim that verse all the time. I want to, but I confess I am
guilty! I am just like anyone else. I do let myself wonder and fret a
little too much (okay my husband says a lot) over things I personally cannot
control. Maybe it is a heartache that only God can heal. I will be
guilty of trying to understand, wallow it around in my own mind and weep as I
never have before each time I bow my head to pray, begging God to “fix it”, all
the while, wondering what I have to do to fix it. Oh! Yes!
I do that. Have you been there? Oh! If we could only trust in the all things portion of this verse and
allow GOD to take control. Through his mercy and grace God can help us
with the all things in our lives.
Philippians
4:19 But my God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. What are your needs: emotional, physical, material,
financial? Again, I take us back to our salvation. If you believe
you were saved by the precious blood of our savior, why can’t you believe that
He will supply? The experiences of need I could put down on paper are so
many I would never get done writing. And I know there are needs in your
lives; needs that may be desperate needs, ones that need to be met every
day. What is your need? Are you physically ill? Do you have a
disease that only God can heal? He is the great physician and beyond our
physical needs, He wants to heal your heart and soul. Is your heart
broken over some circumstance or situation in your life? He can heal that
as well. Do you know Him as your personal Saviour? If you do
not, then much I say here may not be of help. However, lost sinner, I do
pray it will encourage you to make your decision to accept Jesus Christ as your
personal Saviour, surrender your sin ridden life to Him and be saved. And
Christian I pray you are encouraged and changed.
It
doesn’t matter who you are; a teenager, woman, man, we all need to look at
whatever situation we find ourselves in right now (good or bad) and pray as our
Lord prayed, He went away again
the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away
from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
Matthew 26:42. As we choose to see that God is with
us and wants to bless us even in the worst situations, we can find the peace “.
. . which
passeth all understanding, Philippians 4:7. Get into God's Word and claim His promises -- they
are God's personal gift to you,
believe he loves you so much that he would give us these promises to stand on.
Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust. 2 Peter 1:4.
We
fight battles in our lives every day. If we could grasp the fact that the
battle is not ours, but God’s! 2 Chronicles
20:15, 17 And he said, Hearken ye,
all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus
saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great
multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's...Ye shall not need to fight
in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the
LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go
out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
And
when the battle is over, Joy comes!
Psalms 30:5 For his anger endureth but a
moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh
in the morning. Are you looking for the joy of
the Lord? It is ours to claim.
We
are not walking alone. Many preachers (as mine did last night) say
Christians are either coming into a storm, coming out of a storm, or are in a
storm. But we are going to come
out of the storm, it is a promise, and more than that, during that storm He is
with us. Jesus said it best!
“. . . I will be with thee;. . .”
in Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned;
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Another
great promise, God’s grace is sufficient, whether we think so or not! A promise
many of us forget or may never have known. This is a promise I need
daily. God wants to meet your every need as he tells us in 2 Corinthians
12:9 “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.”
“. . . all things are possible”, why is it so hard for us to claim this verse.
But it is a promise! Why do we count our iniquities greater than
God? I have that tendency – to make my
“tuff stuff” bigger than God. That is ridiculous. The reason we
don’t claim this verse is quoted in the verse. “. . . If thou canst
believe, . . .” Our faith in God is not what it
should be. Let’s just be honest about that. We should always check up on
our faith to make sure we are where we are supposed to be scripturally. “. . . If thou canst
believe. . .” words Jesus himself said in Mark 9:23 “Jesus
said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth.”
Galatians
6:9 And let us not be weary in well
doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Wow – all we have to do is not get
weary and we shall reap! I don’t know about you, but I do get weary of
“well doing” and honestly sometimes I faint or fail. It seems as there
are so many around us who have needs that are made known in so many ways.
Sometimes I “see” the need, someone tells me about someone’s need, and then I
believe God has a way of putting someone on my heart that might have a
need. I just want to be “in place” as my husband says, to help in time of
need. But there is a reverse to that. I have needs. Just keep
your eyes, ears, and heart open to those around you, and don’t grow weary, “. . . for in due
season we shall reap. . .”
I
am almost finished here, but have by no means listed all of God’s
promises. I have enjoyed this study however, and trust you will use it to
help you. And comment back – give me your precious promise and thoughts so that
I might be blessed. I would love to hear from you. God loves you
and I appreciate you all for your prayers and support in our ministries.
How
about this promise? Psalms 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous:
but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
God delivers us from our afflictions. Did you say that right, you
ask? Yes, according to this verse God will
deliver us from our afflictions. That is a positive for sure promise. Your
affliction or mine is never too great
for Him. Claim this verse now, and trust God to deliver you no matter the
circumstance. He Will!
2
Corinthians 4:17 God works for us!
He is working for us as it says in 2 Cor. 4:17 “For our light affliction, which is but
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;”
I am so thankful that our afflictions
are “.
. . but for a moment. . .” God surely wants to meet your needs. Our
afflictions are but for a moment if we call upon Him today. Put your
faith and trust in Him.
I trust these thoughts will be a help and blessing.
Linda K. Milam
Missionary to America
Ps.
48:14
Tom & Linda Milam
Missionaries to America
Phil. 2:16
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