Rose Above Suffering

 For those struggling in suffering and hard times now, I just wanted to offer this reminder for you to encourage you to hold on. Remember that negative things and hard times and challenges are not indicators of God's love or lack thereof. Ultimately, the cross of Christ and the empty tomb are the indicators of God's love for us all.

(And sometimes, even hard circumstances can be indicators of God's love for us because God uses such things to grow us to who we need to be.)

There's a song that has a line that says, "I beg your pardon- I never promised you a rose garden." God hasn't promised that everything is always going to be rosy for us. He has promised us that the Rose of Sharon will always be with us though. He has suffered too and He knows what it's like. And He holds the future (and the present and past) all in His hands. He has a good plan in mind for us that the suffering will bring in the end- and as Romans 8 tells us, though we may have some scratches from the thorn in the side- in the end as we hold to Him everything will be coming up roses.

Psalms 138:7-8

-I love what Jesus said about how He didn't come to destroy men's lives but to save them. Luke 9:55-56

Also see Lamentations 3:19-41 - especially v. 33 He doesn't afflict from the heart. He will have compassion- He is good to those who wait for Him. It is good that we wait silently for the salvation of The Lord. And we can wait knowing that The Lord's salvation will come in His time and He will never let us go. (Hebrew 13:6-8)

Name It, Claim It - Tame It

 The "Name it and claim it" theology is the hallmark of the prosperity Gospel, which is of course erroneous and heretical. However, the true spiritual prosperity God desires to give us (2 Corinthians 8:9) is the only real "Name it and claim it" promise in the Gospel. He wants us restored in relationship to Him- that's why Christ came, died and rose- to pay for our sins and give us the Way to be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21) As Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13 all say, name it ("Anyone who calls upon the Name of The Lord will be saved.") and claim it- 1 John 2:4-6 (The Message). ("If someone claims, 'I know Him well!' but doesn't keep His commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words. But the one who keeps God's word is the person in whom we see God's mature love. This is the only way to be sure we're in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.")

You Do Truth

 You do Truth. When you do you, you forget that you are the owner of an unholy heart and thus you naturally do evil. All of us have an inherent sin nature; thus, we can't trust our own understanding. There is a way that seems right to us but in the end, it leads to destruction. We need to put our faith in The Way, The Truth and The Life- Lord Jesus Christ. Trust His death and Resurrection to pay for all our sins and confess Him as Lord. And then walk in Truth. Jesus is full of Grace and Truth and the cross is where both qualities meet perfectly like a kiss. Following Jesus means living not by lies but by Truth. Even if the world tells us that you can have your own truth and that you should do whatever makes you happy, we need to remember that there is one Truth and He wants us to be holy like Him. (Leviticus 11:45, Matthew 5:48) We must deny ourselves of all this sinful world tries to sell us on- the sinful lifestyles that lead to death- eternally. Instead, let us take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. (See John 14:6, Proverbs 3:5-6, Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 16:25, John 1:14-17, Ephesians 4:15, and 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 [particularly v. 6], 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 [especially v. 12 and v. 19-20], 1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:1-7 and 3:23-24 [just read the whole chapter, really] and Luke 9:23-25)

"And you will know The Truth and The Truth will set you free." (John 8:32) "I was very glad to find some of your children walking in Truth, just as we have received commandment to do from The Father." (2 John 1:4) "I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in The Truth." (3 John 1:4)

To Everything There Is a Season

 A few observations from my daily Bible readings in 2023. They seemed fitting for the start of a new year.

Ecclesiastes 1

One of my favourite Bible books that reminds so often that everything is meaningless without God. Verse 8 hit home today- "All things are wearisome; man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing." Whatever pleasure we may get apart from The Lord is fleeting- it never fully satisfies and it all gets so tiring.... Key verses in chapter 2 here for me- Ecclesiastes 2:11 - After stating that he refused himself nothing that his eyes desired or any pleasure his heart wanted- Solomon looked at all he had done and worked for- and he saw it was all vanity and striving after the wind. As I like to say- you can complete every bucket list in the world and it's still just a drop in the bucket before you kick the bucket. As Ecc. 2:24-25 say- there's nothing better than to eat, drink and be merry- and those pleasures are from God- for who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? Ecclesiastes 3

....To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under Heaven....

And God has placed eternity in our hearts so that we all long for something more than the temporary pleasures of sin, which is only satisfied in Christ, provided through faith in His death and Resurrection that pays for all sins and gives us escape from the Hell we deserve and entry into the Heaven we don't deserve. What must we do? Turn, turn, turn...