Don't Waste Your Pain

Assurance!

Thursday, October 15, 2015 by Unknown

I am loved with everlasting love,

clothed in eternal righteousness,

my peace flowing like a river,

my comforts many and large,

my joy and triumph unutterable,

my soul lively with a knowledge of salvation,

my sense of justification unclouded.

I have scarce anything to pray for;

Jesus smiles upon my soul as a ray of heaven

and my supplications are swallowed up in praise.

How sweet is the glorious doctrine of election

when based upon thy Word

and wrought inwardly within the soul!

I bless thee that thou wilt keep the sinner

thou hast loved,

and hast engaged that he will not forsake thee,

else I would never get to heaven.

I wrong the work of grace in my heart

if I deny my new nature and my eternal life.

If Jesus were not my righteousness and redemption,

I would sink into nethermost hell

by my misdoings, shortcomings, unbelief, unlove;

If Jesus were not by the power of his Spirit

my sanctification,

there is no sin I should not commit.

O when shall I have his mind!

when shall I be conformed to his image?

All the good things of life are less than nothing

when compared with his love,

and with one glimpse of thy electing favour.

All the treasures of a million worlds could not

make me richer, happier, more contented,

for his unsearchable riches are mine.

One moment of communion with him, one view

of his grace,

is ineffable, inestimable.

But O God, I could not long after thy presence

if I did not know the sweetness of it;

And such I could not know except by thy Spirit

in my heart, nor love thee at all unless thou didst

elect me,

call me,

adopt me,

save me.

I bless thee for the covenant of grace.

Posted in: choosing joy, hope in pain, is God there, it's not fair, joyful suffering, keep focused on God, living by faith | 0 comments | |

I'm super excited my book is back from the publishers. You can now purchase it directly HERE.

Please let me know what you think of my book by leaving a review on Amazon. I pray it blesses you and through your pain you are glorifying the Lord and trusting Him more!
God bless you!

Posted in: choosing joy, depression, do not be afraid, Does God care if I'm suffering, fight the good fight, glory to God, God's medicine, invisible illness | 0 comments | |

Trials as a Blessing

Wednesday, June 3, 2015 by Unknown

We all hear that these trials we are facing are really blessings. We may have even told this to a friend to help ease their suffering, but do we truly believe it and what are we learning from these trials that God ordains?

To better understand these trials in our lives we have to go back to the Cross. We know Jesus died for us, but do we think about all He was doing in His life that would make people hate Him. He was feeding the people, healing them, eating with them, loving them. None of that seems to point to hate-filled men and women seeking to destroy Him. No. He wasn't taken to the cross for what He loves, but for what He hates. He hates SIN.

That yucky words is like water
   It seeps into everything.
     It drips from the ceiling, and floods your feet while            you are walking. It drowns out your happiness and makes you fall.

The people loved their sin, as they do today, and they didn't want to hear about sin.
It made them have to look at what they were doing and they knew in their hearts it was wrong.

   So Jesus died.
He died to save those very sinners who were killing Him.
He died for You and He died for Me.

How does all of this fit into blessings?
When we look at the cross we see death, but we also see life.
We see grief, but we see joy everlasting.

Each trial has two sides. One side is what Satan wants to use it for and the other side is what God is doing in and through us.
But do we work to see what Christ is doing through our trial? Or more often then not, do we complain that this isn't fair? He has a purpose!

The moment you become a Christian expect persecution and trials to come. People will hate you because of Christ. If you are blending in and trying to look like the world it won't hate you.
But is that what you want?
Is it more important to please people or please God?

I feel that in my own life if I'm not seeking to understand why something is happening to me I wallow. I hate that! If I truly seek why God is allowing this suffering I start to see a beautiful picture of how much the Lord loves me. God is preparing us for something. A lot of the time the thing needed to get us to wake up is affliction! It brings us back to seeking the Lord when our world is out of CONTROL.

Sometimes God gives us little trials because He wants to prepare us for a much bigger trial around the corner!

We could look at those small trials and say to ourselves,
   "Wow I must not be on God's good side today. Why do the waves keep coming?" Or
We can thank Him for His hand upon our lives and KNOW HE is working it out for our GOOD and His glory!

                    Everything is for those two reasons!

So today, in your pain, in your agony, in your persecution, remember you are not left

alone.

God is there.

God has perfectly suffered in our place and is there to help us through our suffering.

   CLING TO HIM

If you are not saved, turn to Him now! Repent and Trust in Him for salvation! You cannot save yourself. We are all sinners in need of a perfect, righteous Savior!

For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

1 Peter 3:17-18

Posted in: choosing joy, depression, Does God care if I'm suffering, joyful suffering, keep the faith, trials as blessings, Why did Jesus die on the cross | 0 comments | |

Biblical Encouragement for this Season of Life

Sunday, May 24, 2015 by Unknown

I have been so blessed to read numerous books about mothering, numerous books about being a mom, BUT not very many well written books about the combined effort of walking with the Lord in THIS crazy, wonderful, difficult, draining period of Motherhood. This book, Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood written by Melissa Kruger, is such a great resource for you! Not only is it written well, and is easy to follow, but you can tell quickly she truly understands the worries and long days of being a mom.

This book is an eleven-week study which is broken down into small tid-bits for the very busy mom. The verses that you will go through are right there in the book, which I found so very helpful especially if I'm reading on the go, or at a doctor's office (Where I seem to spend a lot of time) when I don't have my Bible in front of me. This study is theologically sound and Kruger goes over the very needed, but rarely heard topics of:

Understanding your Purpose- Walking by Faith

Knowing God's Word- Walking in Wisdom

Letting go of Harshness and Anger- Walking in Patience and Kindness

Training Hearts through Discipline- Walking in Goodness and Faithfulness

And many more thought-provoking topics...

I love the last two sections. One part is for moms to memorize Scripture and the other is for kids. They are topical verses for kids, like- kindness, truthfulness, compassion, and trust. All the things we want to instill in our children are focused on in this well-thought-out book. If you are a mom struggling with your kids in the day-to-day reality of raising your kids to love the Lord, this book is a great asset to do by yourself or with some friends. It even includes all you need to do it as a study with others at the end! Because this is a"devotional" style book the days are broken down so it is easily manageable for busy moms. Since I have chronic pain, I need that even more! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review!

Posted in: choosing joy, chronic pain, comforts from the cross, devotional, God's medicine, it's not fair, Melissa Kruger, motherhood, Walking with God | 0 comments | |

The Testing of Our Faith

Monday, May 18, 2015 by Unknown

What was the prominent theme of the Puritans?

The testing of their faith...

And it seems to be the same today, doesn't it?

You may ask, "Where is GOD in my suffering?"
or
"Why would GOD allow this and seem so far removed from my pain?'

"Does HE even care?"

Look with me at Luke 8:22-25 for some clarification.

Jesus Calms the Storm

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, He fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” He asked His disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

So imagine with me this great event. These men were feet away from the Lord of Lords! They saw Him do many miraculous things and still they feared and thought He didn't care for them. You and I are tragically in the same place when we question where God is in our circumstance. For some reason, when we are tempted to fear we do what non-Christians do, they panic! But wait...WE are different!
We are saved.
We are redeemed.
We have been given the gift of faith.

Why are we doubting the Lord's love and attention in our lives?
We don't actively use this gift! We hang it on the shelf and hope in our moment of crisis it will actively come alive! It doesn't do that, does it?

Think about what Jesus said to them. "Where is your faith?"
These men allowed their circumstance to dictate their faith...

No, no, no. Let's see this as an example of what not to do!
We are to TRUST. To BELIEVE that God knows what's best and that He is working everything out for His glory!

We are to say, "I may not understand this pain, this situation, but I know my God. He is good. He sent Jesus to die in my place because of His great love for me. So even though this is so PAINFUL, I'm trusting Him! And then you...

STAND FIRM IN YOUR FAITH.

Do not be swayed by ideas that come into your head.
"This is too hard," you say. "I just can't do this anymore." Doesn't God get it?"

He does. AND...He's there. He loves you. Run to Him today and pray, "Lord I believe. Help my unbelief!"
and watch Him work.

Posted in: chronic pain, comforts from the cross, depression, do not be afraid, Does God care if I'm suffering, don't waste your pain, I can't take this pain, testing our faith | 0 comments | |

Changing publishers

Monday, May 11, 2015 by Unknown

My book is going through a change of publishers so it won't be available online for a few weeks, but if you want to order a copy you can contact me directly. My new publisher will be Westbow Press. Thank you for your support.

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Take a number!

Monday, April 27, 2015 by Unknown

Do you ever think about your pain and your prayers as something that isn't as bad as so-and-so's pain or problems so you shouldn't be bothering God...

He has MUCH more important things to think about than Friday afternoon at 3 pm in your household where you are in pain and you think to yourself, "I don't need to pray. I'm bothering the Lord. I mean there was just a huge earthquake in Japan, or my neighbor is dying, or a pastor is in jail for sharing the Lord."

God has sooo much going on.

My prayers are insignificant.

My pain is insignificant.

Although in your mind it is miserable what you are going through, you still feel as if you don't deserve the attention of the Lord God, Creator of the universe, as if He stopped being the lover of your heart!

God most frequent command in the Bible is...

Do. Not. Fear.

This may seem way off in left field but trust me, it ties in completely with our prayer life.
God reminds His people, His children, that they have no need to fear because He is in control.

When I say, "Don't fear." to my child I am trying to reassure them that it's ok.
But completely different is when God says, "Do not be afraid," and then says, "MY peace I give to you." John 14:27

Why? He is sovereign over everything that happens to you!

So we can truly know it will be ok! It's in His hands and He has us.
Because He hears us and knows us soooooo well, He tells us constantly not to fear.

He speaks to the DETAILS of your LIFE. He KNOWS you so WELL and LOVES you so MUCH!

So bring your pain, your frustration, your suffering, your fear before our Almighty Lord and see Him work!

See Him bring you peace that surpasses your understanding.

See Him draw you close to Him during your pain.

See Him give you compassion for others.

He doesn't hear your prayer....compare it to others...and then hand out a number based on which is more important.

He is for you!
His love for you is an everlasting love.
Turn that around and give Him praise! He is worthy of our worship!

Oh and P.S.
Say a prayer for others too who have pain, who have lost someone, who are discouraged, who you don't even know halfway around the world being persecuted for Christ!

Thank you God that you care about our deepest needs!
Help us not to fear, but to bring you our burdens and leave them there at the cross. You are so good to us, your bride. Help us in our unbelief.

Posted in: choosing joy, depression, do not be afraid, Does God care if I'm suffering, glory to God, help in pain, joyful suffering, praying in pain | 0 comments | |