Tuesday, October 2, 2012

My Book Report (Ch.17): Every Day A Friday

Dealing with Unexpected Difficulties



God bless you, keep you and increase you on this day beloved in Christ Jesus. Amen.


Father, I am moved to pray for all who take in these words. Father there is no other amongst the living or the dead that compares to you. None! I praise You for choosing me to preach the Word of Truth and freedom! I confess to You that it is a tall order for me, and I have shrunk back in fear many times, but I also confess You My Holy Father, are faithful and true to Your Word! You do not leave me. You do not abandon me, and in Christ Jesus I have the victory! Therefore, let it be known and let my life be an everlasting thanks to You for Your renewed mercies over my weakness. Your grace and compassion to forgive my sin, and to the glory of Your Son in dying for me, and for all who would believe in Him! I pray, You continue to lift up your servant and child that he may proclaim boldly truth and freedom that comes only by Your Righteous Word! That they may know You, and that I will experience eternal fellowship with You in proclaiming Your Good News in the name above all names, Jesus Christ. It's my prayer that by the end of this, many will have a greater scope and foundation that You Lord are the Great Healer; Precise Physician who brings true healing to the heart, mind, body and soul. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.




Today beloved, I’m reminded of tough times I have gone through and how difficult they can be. Everyone in this world knows tough times to some degree, whether some or numerous. But for the Christian, we must also know that tough times are inevitable yet we can be cheerful through it, because our Savior has overcome such tough times. Jesus said it would be so, and not to be surprised by it.

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distresses and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.”] John 16:33 AMP

I would like to say that with every blindsided attack, struggle, trial in the testing of my faith “I passed with flying colors” because I’m so holy and have such great unwavering faith but I’d be lying. Many times I failed miserably. Many times those blindsided attacks took me down to my knees and it took me quite awhile to get back up, but this I also know, many times those attacks from the enemy, those struggles with past mistakes, past pains, past regrets and tests of my faith did not waver, they did not rock my foundation, but I remained standing strong in my faith in the Lord Jesus and what God’s Word declares as a promise, that “No weapon formed against me shall prosper” and it wasn’t of any physical thing I did, but it was because faith proved greater than the situation and circumstance. Amen!


I experienced in the turbulence of the attack and uncertainty ‘the peace of God that surpasses all things, protecting my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.’ Amen!

This I know! The mind is a battlefield and the heart can be deceiving. This is the revelation God has given me as I type these words. The mind can lose focus on God’s promises and the heart can lose faith in God’s Word. Both can be at work either to destroy you, or cause you to lean on God even more. Here’s a quote that Joel Osteen cites from an outside source he heard. “Trouble is inevitable, but misery is optional.”


The above quote is quite the sobering fact. What is sobering about it, is that many of us actually choose the option to be miserable, and once help has come our way; a different choice is presented, we still choose the option to remain miserable. This is an alarming truth. I have been there and I still see it all around me. But God is faithful, and even in our weakest state, if we desire change and we acknowledge God, He is faithful to lift us out of our mess with His message of faith, hope and love. Amen.


This is that message, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

And again...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8,13)

Amen!


Beloved, I used to believe that the above verses in scripture found in the book of (1 Corinthians) was an outline for those who are in a relationship, or entering marriage to follow, but my eyes have seen, my ears have heard, my heart has received and my mind now believes, that the above words are not merely an incredible outline for us to embrace and follow, but that they truly speak of God's love seen in and through the Lord Jesus Christ; the Risen Son of God. Amen.

Jesus alone honors and upholds and displays the love of God to its utmost, and this is why we praise Him! He alone rivals hate and indifference with PERFECT LOVE. Fear that cripples faith, extinguishes hope and robs us of loving others and being loved, has been overcame, and has been casted out once and for all by the perfect love that only comes from God through Jesus Christ. Amen.


Beloved, difficulties arise. In our homes, in our businesses, in our relationships, finances, health, emotional state, physical state and spiritual state, but God's love is greater than all these difficulties. In difficulties, we desire healing, therefore God is faithful to move me to list just a short list of His loving Truth that speaks to healing, that you may know How great is God's love towards all of us. Beloved, meditate in these promises, and seek God out to heal you. Amen. YOU ARE LOVED.


Come to Me (Jesus), all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] (Matthew 11:28 emphasis added for clarity)


For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. (Titus 2:11)

He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147:3)
Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. (Psalm 55:22)

Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. (Psalm 30:2)
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. (Psalm 107:19)
He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. (Psalm 107:20)
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. (Psalm 107:21)

This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it - the Lord is his name: 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' (Jeremiah 33:2-3)



Beloved, although we fail each other, and more importantly fail God, He is faithful if we call on Him, in that His love and His compassion; His grace! Causes Him to heal and restore us in that He says...


Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. (Jeremiah 33:6)

but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He (Jesus) welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. (Luke 9:11 emphasis added for clarity)

Jesus turned and saw her. "take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed at that moment. (Matthew 9:22)

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. (James 5:15)

"He (Jesus) himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24 emphasis added for clarity)

When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death... "Go," Jesus replied, "your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on his way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.' Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus said to him, "Your son will live." So he and his whole household believed. (John 4: 47,50-53 emphasis added)

If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14) 



Many times beloved, we will be healed by God through our desire to be unselfish in our willingness to help others less fortunate than us, in that the Lord speaks...


"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord be your rear guard. Then you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say; Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. (Isaiah 58: 5-11)



He who is the captain of our Salvation, and sacrificed Himself that we would be healed. God's perfect and holy sacrifice for us, we proclaim!
 Our suffering Servant... Lord Jesus, be glorified!


He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. BUT he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgement he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressor. (Isaiah 53:2-12)

Amen Lord Jesus!



How can we not rejoice! Truly God is good!


Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father, the God from whom all help comes! He helps us in all our troubles, so that we are able to help others who have all kinds of troubles, using the same help that we ourselves have received from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Amen!



Beloved, it is our Great and Loving God who heals all things, strengthen all things, holds all things together blessing us in all things, with His goodness as we love Him and follow Him. So let your confidence and trust build up your faith in Jesus. Amen.

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. (Romans 8:28)



Therefore beloved, let not your hearts and minds be troubled, and...

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God that transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)



As I remain confident in this!

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)


For our Great God, the Lord Himself, declares as His promise to us who believe and receive Him!

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand [who is Jesus]. (Isaiah 41:10 emphasis for clarity added)




As He Jesus, holds the seat of glory; the throne of Grace, at the right hand of the Father, fix your eyes on Jesus and come boldly to Him, that you may be healed...


We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. (Hebrews 12:2)

The Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3)

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4:16)




Beloved, let your confidence be in Jesus. Call on Him, for this is true indeed!

EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)


Knowing all this, stand firm in your faith or your new found faith in the Living Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, as He...

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

Amen!

Come Lord Jesus!
Beloved, as always... YOU ARE LOVED.




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