My prayer for my children:

May the only true God bless you and keep you safe in His arms. May you always acknowledge Him in whatever you do. May you always honor Him and praise Him with your thoughts, words and actions. May you never stray from Him but remain within the reach of His protection and love. May you know Him, love Him and serve Him. May He carry you through the hardships of life and guide you through all difficult choices. May He always be your Father and your best Friend.

Merry Christmas!

“And he will be called:

Wonderful Councelor

Mighty God

Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace”

Isaiah 9:6

Do you have hope?

I had the opportunity to teach my boys a hard life reality this morning and then continued to ponder this truth later while having a quiet moment. The book of John tells us:

 John 16:33:
³³ I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

 I told my boys that this is a Biblical promise: in this world we WILL have trouble and pain. BUT, we are not to lose hope or to worry because “our daddy is much stronger then our enemy”.

 Where did we get the notion that as Christians our lives should be easy and protected from really bad stuff? The Bible sure doesn’t promise that, God never said that. On the contrary. Bad things do happen to so-called good people (whoever they are).

 I received Jesus as my Savior at the age of 12 and my relationship with Him has developed ever since. But I have had my share of trials, too, and I know more are to come. Some of these hardships have rocked my faith and almost killed it, while others have made me stronger as I’ve been able to feel God’s comfort through the pain. Either way, all these experiences have in some way shaped me into the person I am today, with all my battle wounds and my rewards.

 Which reminds me of another great verse in 2.Corinthians 1:3

 “Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of Compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in trouble, so that we can comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves have receive from God.”

 To me, this verse clearly states that, again, we will have loss, pain and sickness in this life BUT God can turn the senseless into something good. Isn’t pain so much easier to bear if it has a purpose or if it can be put to good use? Isn’t that why people who have lost kids to disease, parents to Alzheimer’s, siblings in car accidents the ones who fight the hardest to find cures and make the world safer? People who have experienced tragedy can either let the pain eat them up or turn their losses into action for the better. When we have trouble, who is the first ones we seek help and comfort from? God – hopefully. But then we quickly seek out others who have experienced similar trouble as us – thus the creation of support groups and strong, lasting friendships. Haven gone through pain can soften our hearts so we can have greater compassion and understanding for those enduring similar trails.

 God greatest commandment is to love Him and love each other. How can we be compassionate, caring, loving and sensitive to others if we do not have the common bond of life’s difficulties? I would claim that is impossible. If we cannot relate to each other on a heart level, we cannot really comfort each other.

 Paul again says “But these things (hardship) happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead”. It is hard to fathom that a loving God would allow suffering for His creation, but only He sees the big picture and that our pain today will be glory tomorrow. “Everything works for good for those who trust in Him”. God allows difficulties to grow us – closer to Him and closer to each other. How comforting to know that He never meant for us to go through tribulations alone.

 So don’t lose hope, whatever situation you might be in. Let God take your fears and the pain of your past and turn it into new life and opportunities. He will – if you let Him. Pain was never meant to be the end result of any situation, it’s a means for a closer relationship with Him as we let Him heal our wounds and wipe the tears.

Just as manure is stinky, dirty and unwanted, it can be used to make new plants grow strong and healthy. Nobody likes pain or despair, but it too can be put to good, life-giving use.

 Let me end by blessing you with Romans 15:13

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”

 Hopefully, somebody will remind me of all this next time I go through a difficult time.

WHATEVER

The Biblical version of the famous expression 🙂

“whatever is TRUE, whatever is NOBLE, whatever is Right, whatever is PURE, whatever is LOVELY, whatever is ADMIRABLE, if anything is EXCELLENT or PRAISEWORTHY – think about such things”

Philippians 4:8