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Softer Side of Suffering
By: Victoria Harrington
“Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.”
1 Kings 1:19
Elijah too was just a man. He was not super human. He was not beyond what any of us are. He was human and had human emotions and experiences same as you. I am so thankful this small snippet of his life is in the Bible and written as it is.
How many of us have said to God, “Lord I am tired,” “I just can’t take anymore,” “Lord please give me a break.” And what was God’s solution? Elijah fell asleep. Rest. He put that man to sleep twice and even took care to make his food for him. God didn’t just provide some food for Elijah to prepare himself, He sent an angel to prepare his food for him because He know Elijah was overworked, overstressed, and needed grace.
Maybe other people don’t think you have a reason to be overworked. Maybe you get criticized for even showing that mentally you are out of it. Perhaps there is spiritual warfare in your life that is taking the energy out of you for regular everyday stuff and you know if you voice it to anyone they are not going to understand it. They won’t make the connection to what that has to do with you being tired OR do the holier-than-thou thing and quote scripture at you as if that is supposed to prove to you to why you should not feel the way you do. Instead you just walk away feeling guilty and discouraged.
Has anyone else ever experienced this?
I think one of the most discouraging things about being an adult is that we don’t get breaks. Do you remember when you were in school and you looked at the calendar and could see when your breaks were planned out. We don’t give breaks to ourselves, it’s not mandated and it’s not normalized. More than that though, we don’t give breaks to others. It is glorified to be overworked, to be tired, and unhealthy in the mind. The world seems to follow this rule of “my bad day was worse than your bad day.” I hear it all the time, like you get bragging rights if you come into work and say, “I only got two hours of sleep, but I’m still here,” or “Oh man, I haven’t had a vacation in years, but look at all the work I did.” Honestly why? Why do people brag about having to be a caffeine addict in order to be productive? Why has the trend become to be more stressed than your neighbor? Have we don’t this out of selfishness and lack of empathy? I think so. Why is it acceptable to check your emails and do work even after you clocked out, just because your phone is there?
I know people who go on “vacation,” but are still required to do work on vacation because of the quick access that their phones give them. Why is this okay?
Don’t you miss the comfort of seeing Thanksgiving break getting close rand closer? That four day long time of nothing but good food and couch time? Christmas break was a few weeks, and Easter you’d get a week, even the little ones like the three day weekends or smaller holiday breaks were nice. They felt more comforting to know that you could physically look at something like a calendar and know relief was coming. Every day you got closer and could see that break- that time of relaxation was almost to you. Whatever you were struggling with at school was going to be put on hold and for a brief moment you’d get peace. You could even decide to take that time to start over if you wanted to. To resolve yourself to come back renewed and refreshed after the break and begin afresh. Begin with a different attitude or dedication.
Did Jesus truly die for me to work myself to death? I’m not trying to be funny here, but I have met people who truly do not believe in vacations or think recharging for a week is a waste of time. I have a hard time buying into the idea that as Christians the Messiah wants us to be workaholics. Does he not promise relief? Do you ever wonder when your relief is coming? Do you ever take the time to slow down and look at the person beside you and think maybe they are just as tired as I am? Maybe they are just as discouraged in this existence as me?
Wasn’t it a nice feeling when the breaks came in school and everyone knew everyone was exhausted so grace was extended and given across the board because we were all suffering together? Why is that such a hard things to do now? Thank goodness Jesus did not say “come to me all of you who have it all together and earned rest.” Thank you Jesus, that you did not say, “come to me all of you who have X- amount of PTO and I’ll take your burdens.”
No. My Jesus, who knew what it felt like to be tired physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, said to me, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
God Said…
By: Anita Mondragon
I found this among my favorite writings. I don’t even remember from where, or from whom I got it, but it’s OH SO TRUE! Take a look, and let it sink in…
GOD SAID…
If you never felt pain, then how would you know that I’m a Healer?
If you never went through difficulties, how would you know that I’m a Deliverer?
If you never had a trial, how could you call yourself an overcomer?
If you never felt sadness, how would you know that I’m a Comforter?
If you never made a mistake, how would you know that I am Forgiving?
If you knew all, how would you know that I will answer your questions?
If you never were in trouble, how would you know that I will come to your rescue?
If you were never broken, then how would you know that I can make you whole?
If you never had a problem, how would you know that I can solve them?
If you never had any suffering, then how would you know what Jesus went through?
If you never went through the fire, then how would you become pure?
If I gave you all things, how would you appreciate them?
If I never corrected you, how would you know that I love you?
If you had all power, then how would you learn to depend on Me?
If your life was perfect, then what would you need Me for?
THANK YOU GOD!
-Unknown
WOULD’VE, COULD’VE, SHOULD’VE
By: Anita Mondragon
There’s a commercial on TV put on by a Life Insurance company. I’m sure you’ve all heard it at least a hundred times by now. It goes like this:
I would have called today, but… I could have called today, but… I should have called today, but… Would have. Could have. Should have. We hear that all the time…
I believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit hear that all the time as well. I’m sure those words will echo through the corridors of Heaven on Judgement Day! The conversation heard on that day may sound a lot like this:
“Hi. I’m Jesus, the Son of God. I, my Father and the Holy Spirit offered eternal life insurance to all of mankind. Sometimes, the call for this insurance was never made because of life being so busy. There were many excuses given for not making the call; but, before you all realized, much time had passed, and now as you stand before me, regret has set in. Some folks did call while there was still time, and they all say the same thing…”I wish I had called sooner!” They are the blessed one’s that get to inherit this eternal life. But, sadly, the same does not hold true for you. The day of Mercy has passed, and the offer of eternal life cannot be offered to you. The time has passed.”
Every one I know that has called on the name of Jesus for salvation, has been given this eternal life! They live a life of blessing. They are glad, relieved, and very thankful that they called on the Lord. They have permanent protection, and have no regrets.
Would you like to live a blessed life like this? A life undaunted by the worry of what the future holds for you? You don’t have to regret what you didn’t do yesterday! Call now and say YES to the urging of the Holy Spirit! Jesus said, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”-2 Cor. 6:2
For a life insurance that can NEVER be cancelled, call: 1-800-Jesus save me!
The Art of Suffering: Pt1 – Except Me, Right?
By: Victoria Harrington
Suffering is not a message that I expect many of you to read about, but I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t share with you what the Holy Spirit has taught me and hopefully we can learn HOW to suffer together. Welcome to Part 1.
Through the teachings of a popular gospel message that obnoxiously chants about prosperity, we have naively bought the lie that suffering is not something we should have to go through. Prosperity is wonderful and we do have promises made to us and to hope for in God’s Word, but to only focus on the one subject is essentially neutering the American church. Her power and authority is then thought to be found only in her wallet and leads to the thought process of “God must only be happy with me when I am financially stable.”
Nothing could be further from the truth, but there are very few teaching on what the Bible says about suffering. Although it is not a popular message it is not something that we as Christians can escape from and Jesus addresses that bluntly in the scriptures.
“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” John 15:20 NKJV
He does not want us as his followers to be caught off guard or unprepared for when we do suffer. We ought not to run away and cower in the face of trial, but to put on our gospel shoes of peace and believe that “all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” (Romans 8:28). All things. Take a look at the book of Acts. The Christians were scattered due to persecution. Jesus made it clear that he wanted the disciples to go out to all the world and minister the gospel. The enemy was attempting to stop this from happening and what Satan thought was a master plan to eradicate the Gospel actually made it spread faster and into many more nations. Imagine for a moment if Stephen would not have been martyred and the persecution in Acts had not happened? The Good News wouldn’t have traveled far out of Jerusalem or had the impact that it did as quickly as it did.
“At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”
I think a lot of the times we see the men and women in the Bible as larger than life “characters” who had something we don’t. In reality they real people. Human being with feelings, opinions, and needs. They has all the struggles that we go through and fleshly desires they had to makes choices to fight against. The 3,000 converted by the apostles were the same as you and I. In my humble opinion had the persecution not happened the people who heard the gospel in Acts would have converted, stayed home, and expected someone else to travel and spread the news just like we do with mission work today. They would have not been prompted to leave the comfort of their homes, communities, or countries. Instead God used a bad situation to work His will. In this way we can say that persecution is just a scattering of witnesses and the best thing for us to do is to say aloud, “Lord I trust you.”
I LONG FOR YOUR PRESENCE LORD!
By: Bryan Torwalt
Our church just finished a tent revival. My husband was one of the guys that camped outside and kept watch over the tent at night. We’ve been married for almost 29 years, and have rarely slept apart, so I had a very hard time sleeping peacefully. One morning, at 4:11 a.m., I awoke with a start. I distinctly smelled my husband’s cologne! I got up and began going through the house looking for him. He was nowhere to be found! I felt so alone and bewildered! I was missing his presence!
As I began to pray for peace, God reminded me that His presence is what brings peace. We need to long for the presence of Jesus to be in our lives at all times. He should be so close to us that we can smell His fragrance, and the lost and dying world around us will smell His presence too! When they look at us, they should be able to see Jesus! The following words should be our hearts desire and prayer…
There’s nothing worth more that could ever come close
No thing can compare, You’re our living hope
Your presence, Lord…BRING YOOUR PRESENCE, LORD!
No thing can compare, You’re our living hope
Your presence, Lord…BRING YOOUR PRESENCE, LORD!
Make The TURN…
By: Art Herrera
Turn To Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
-Isaiah 45:22
It doesn’t matter who you are what you’ve done, or where you’ve been, no one is too far gone for Jesus. This I know because I was on the way to Hell and Jesus’ name was a swear word in my mouth.
I think that statement’s important enough that it’s worth repeating: No one is too far gone for Jesus. No one! Including you! Your sin is not stronger then Jesus’ blood He shed at the Cross for you. And there’s no better evidence of this than the woman that Jesus met at the well.
When Jesus meets this woman she has been used and abused. She has been divorced five times and was living with her boyfriend or the way we use to say it growing up was, she was shacking up…She was a mess! At least, she was a mess to the people around her. Even so, Christ reached out to her with the living water of eternal life. And her life was transformed instantly and eternally!
This woman…a woman, like us who had been ravaged by regrets and failures and brokenness…this wasted, burned out woman…was made brand new because of the power of Jesus Christ which began to change her! She wasn’t too far gone for the Lord Jesus!
And the application in your life and my life is clear. No one around us…no matter how wasted, burned out, or strung out they may seem…is too far gone for Jesus Christ.
And you know what else? Neither are you!
In John 4:13, Jesus says, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus says whoever drinks of the water that He gives will have eternal life! Like I said before, it doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, or where you’ve been. None of us is ever too far gone for Jesus Christ.
Have you invited Jesus Christ into your heart if not what’s stopping you. You can pray this simple yet sincere prayer inviting Jesus Christ into your heart. Jesus the door of my heart is open and I invite you to come in and wash me clean from all my sins, I accept you as my Lord and Savior in Jesus mighty name.
Of you prayed that prayer I welcome you to the family of God.
If you need help message me and Together We Will Beat Up The Devil.
To God Be The Glory.
Tell Someone!
By: Art Herrera
For those who accepted Jesus Christ By faith, who have asked Him into their hearts and received Him as their savior, you need to take some time and just thank God that you have received this gift of salvation. When is the last time you were so glad to be saved that you couldn’t help but Tell Someone.
– Revelation 12:11
They overcame him ( The Devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony..
If you haven’t already accepted Jesus Christ into your heart, what’s stopping you. You can pray this simple yet sincere prayer inviting Jesus Christ into your heart. Jesus the door of my heart is open and I invite you to come in and wash me clean from all my sins, I know your blood has The Power to make me whole.
If you prayed that prayer I welcome you to the family of God.
If you need help message me and Together We Will Beat Up the Devil.
To God Be the Glory.
Is There Still Mercy Left for Me???
By Anita Mondragon
I have been thinking a lot about God’s mercy lately…how deep, and wide His love and grace reach. Even though I was brought up in a Pastor’s home, and heard about Jesus, I strayed far, far from that truth for a long time. When I finally came to the end of myself, I wondered if there was any mercy left for me…or if I had somehow exhausted the longsuffering of God. The other day, as I sat pondering, and remembering how many times He has rescued me, I wrote this poem. Thank God for His mercy and grace!
Oh! What mercy! …Can it be,
that there’s still mercy left for me?
Me, who spurned God’s love and grace,
and through sin, spit in His face;
I would not listen to His call,
yet, He stood and wept each time I’d fall.
He stands there still…wounded hands outstretched,
Calling out to me… “Just come…repent!”
“My mercy is great! There’s enough for you!
Just trust in me, for my promise is true!”
Oh Lord, I come on bended knee,
and beg you pour Your grace on me!
Forgive my vile and wretched soul…
let me believe and sin no more!
Oh! Hallelujah! I plainly see…
THERE STILL IS MERCY, LEFT FOR ME!
The Rock Of Ages
By Anita Mondragon
“Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 3:11
“When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand…” – Edward Mote, 1834 / William B. Bradbury, 1863
****************
I sometimes tremble so faint of heart,
Though on the solid Rock I stand;
And while the tempest rages wild around me,
I’m held secure in the Father’s hand.
Though on the Rock, I sometimes tremble,
As the storm clouds of life are all I can see,
He says, “Hold fast to the Rock of Ages…”
And He NEVER trembles under me!
He’s always with me,
Come rain, or shine;
In the cleft of the rock,
He comforts me.
He covers me there,
With His mighty hand,
And reminds me,
I’ve been set free!
Though I shudder and shake,
And shiver from fear…
I’m held in the palm of His hand.
I’m ever secure, when within HIS grasp…
As on the Rock of Ages, I stand!
The Sincere Fireman
By Anita Mondragon
By now, the smoke was billowing out of the tenth story window of the apartment building. The fire had been ablaze for some time. The street was crowded with onlookers as the flames leapt higher and higher into the sky.
No one was sure just how the fire had started. Perhaps it had begun in the basement of the building where some old rags had been stored too close to the furnace and ignited. As the crowd in the street looked on in dismay, a man shouted, “Look!” as he pointed to the window full of smoke. A brave young fireman had gone up just moments before on a ladder and crawled through the burning window to look for survivors. Now, here he was, coming back out! As he stepped onto the first rung of the ladder, the crowd cheered with a loud voice. Everyone was relieved that he had made it! But…something was wrong! Why was he just standing there? He should be moving down the ladder; the building was engulfed in flames and could collapse at any time! It looked as though he was arguing with someone inside. All of a sudden, he climbed back into the burning building. The crowd stood silent as they waited for him to reappear. It seemed like an eternity! Wait…was that him in the window? No! It was two people! He had found a survivor! The crowd cheered even louder now as the fireman headed down the ladder with a woman in his arms.
The woman could be heard sobbing above the sound of their cheers. At first, they thought she was crying from fear…or maybe relief; but as she got nearer the street, they could hear her words, as she screamed in desperation. “My baby is still in there! Please…don’t leave her…you MUST go back!” He brought her to the ambulance attendant, as more words passed between them. Someone overheard her telling him where she’d left the baby. She said the baby and her favorite doll were in the crib, just on the left side of the bedroom window. Suddenly, the conversation was over, and to the utter amazement of the crowd, he started up the ladder again.
The crowd began buzzing. “He can’t be going back in there…not even if there is a baby that needs to be saved!” Neither one of them will make it out…he’ll never be able to find the window in all of that smoke!” Someone checked their watch…it seemed like forever since he’d disappeared into the smoke. As fast as the building was burning, there wouldn’t be much time left before it would fall, brick by brick. Everyone on the ground was praying and hoping he would be able to find the baby and get out in time. More time passed. At last…he emerged, carrying a bundle wrapped in what looked like a baby blanket. The crowd went wild with excitement as he descended the ladder.
The worried mother was overjoyed at the sight of him and the blanket! She hurriedly pushed her way through the crowd to meet him. They both reached their destination at the same time. The fireman handed her the bundle with a smile and a look of relief on his smudged, smoky face. When she opened the small bundle, a scream of horror came from her throat. As the scream escaped her lips, the apartment building collapsed into rubble and ashes. She kept crying over and over, “You got the doll! This isn’t the baby! You got the wrong bundle…it’s the wrong bundle!”
The fireman was sincere in his efforts to save the baby…he even risked his life, but he was sincerely wrong. Sometimes, we live our lives the same way. We do nice things for people; maybe we even get baptized and join a church. We always try to do the right things. But, let’s not forget that it’s not our good deeds that save us. The Bible says, “all of our good deeds are like filthy, dirty rags.” It also says, “Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but by HIS mercy he has saved us.”
We can’t get to heaven except by going through Jesus. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the window you must go through. His death on the cross is the ladder to safety.
Think for a moment…what is it that you are trusting in? Are you trusting in your- self? Or are you trusting in Jesus? Listen to his voice. Call on HIM and let him carry you to safety!
What a great prayer! As Believers, this is the kind of stuff we should be seeking God for on a daily basis!
Thanks for the reminder sister Francine!
-anita