Roses Have Thorns

 

In life on this planet, we are often either in a trial, coming out of a trial or about to go into a trial. This is not a sign of spirituality, punishment from God or an attack by Satan. Life just happens! Sometimes, we simply reap what we sowed in life. Possibly they occur because of acts of selfishness perpetuated by some other person. Some of them provide a course-altering experience to get us back into God’s perfect will for us. Life really is a rose garden, but did you notice...roses have thorns (1 Peter 1:6).

The trials in our life provide the fire for our Master Blacksmith to shape and mold us into His divine nature. They strengthen our fortitude, patience and spirituality, as they force us out of our comfort zone and into unfamiliar and often unpleasant circumstances (James 1:2,12; I Peter 1:6). God’s desire is for us to respond to any negative issues we experience with patient expectation and spiritual integrity, knowing full well that His faithfulness will work out everything for our good (Romans 8:28).

Trials strengthen us and make us more resilient, so that problems, which used to devastate us, no longer make any impression on us (John 16:33). Over the years, we see God’s character and fruit replacing the personality traits with which we were born (Galatians 5:22-23). He exchange our human identity for His spiritual character. God always supernaturally sustains us and provides for us in every trial (1 Corinthians 10:13). In fact, we usually end up with more than we started with!

God uses trials to gain our attention and to manifest His Son’s divinity within us (Isaiah 43:7; Genesis 50:20; John 9:3). We may not understand what God is working out in our life, but He is faithful and we can trust Him (Proverbs 20:24; Hosea 14:9). No matter what we experience, even persecution for our faith, Heaven’s glory is worth it all (Romans 8:18). As we hide under the shadow of His wings, we trust in His faithfulness (Romans 8:28). We enter into His rest and live from a positive place of trust (Hebrews 4:10).

The world will constantly attempt to pull us back into its mold. The devil will try to deceive us into compromising our convictions. Even some in our family will fight to dissuade us from following hard after God (Psalm 63:8). The more we obey God’s Will, the more we realize that His ways are perfect. He is a shield for us, if we only have the faith to take refuge in Him (2 Samuel 22:31). Life gives us many options, but living in the center of God’s will is the happiest place on earth.

Prayer:

Father God, Your sovereignty and purposes in our life build Jesus’ character in our soul – our mind, will and emotions. We often try to escape the trials of life, but You will not give us anything that Christ in us cannot bear. We endure persecution and find contentment in all of our circumstances because of Your Son and Spirit dwelling within us (Philippians 4:11). We are victorious over life’s trials through Your joy, as we live a life of praise and prayer.

Thought for the Day:

Secure in Christ we can endure life’s trials with gratitude and hope.

 

 

God Works for Our Good

We tend to condemn God for bad events, which occur in our life; yet, we take the credit when life is successful. God does not cause suffering, people do. They inflict their selfishness and greed on the entire human race. God reveals to us His purpose for our life through His Word, His Spirit and His people. We can live our life as agents for the change and the love we want to receive, as we follow the leading of God’s Spirit each moment of the day.

Joseph in the Old Testament chose to do things God’s way, even in captivity. Therefore, God counteracted the evil intentions of the selfish people in his life, by giving Joseph a place of influence and power. Even though his family and friends let him down time and time again, God always worked everything out for Joseph’s good. Joseph forgave his brother’s evil treatment of him and repeatedly saved his entire family from starvation and extinction (Genesis 37-50).

If we look at the big picture, we always see that what we experience in our lifetime, no matter how horrendous it may be, only lasts for a moment when compared with eternity. Paul calls it all “momentary, light affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:17). God turns things around for us and causes our suffering to provide abundant blessings for us, which are too innumerable to count, and which abundantly exceed anything we could ever fathom. The good fruit produced by our suffering is so vast and plentiful that it lasts for all eternity (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Think of the story of Job. The poor man lost family, wealth and health in the span of one day. He ended up in the ash heap scraping the boils covering his body with a broken piece of pottery. Three friends came to try to help him figure out why he was suffering so much affliction, but actually ended up making false accusations against him and vexing Job’s patience. Yet, in a short period of time, God gave Job much more than he ever lost (Job 42:12).

Every individual who makes up our collective society, falls short of God’s glory, which is our aim in life (Romans 3:23). God’s only requirement for our salvation is repentance. Sin is about cause and effect. If God did not judge perversion and unholiness with His wrath, His justice would not be balanced. Once we repent, then God starts to work out His sanctification process in our soul in order to bring us to a walk of holiness (1 Peter 1:2). Those who continue to walk in the flesh, rather than in the Spirit, deny the sovereignty of God and deludedly believe they can live a dual life of sin and spirituality (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:1-4).

We can only enter the Kingdom of God here on earth. This is our only chance to totally denounce sin and completely embrace the cross of Christ (Isaiah 55:6; John 4:23, 9:4). We cannot save our own life; and if we try, we will lose it (Matthew 10:39, 16:25). It is only as we emulate the holiness, embrace the justice and respect the wrath of God that we realize our sinful state. It is then that we repent and cry out for grace and mercy from the only One who can save us. We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). In His love and mercy He works out everything, even the negative things, for our good (Romans 8:28).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, when a person comes to know You intimately, we are enlightened to see our sin and its consequences. We are raised from spiritual death to life (Romans 6:4). As we spend time reading Your Word, we grow in Biblical knowledge and become better acquainted with You. Our eyes are open to the myriad of blessings You bestow on us all throughout the day. Help us to revere Your nature and to willingly walk away from sin, because sin only serves to break Your heart.

Thought for the Day:

Humanity is not intrinsically good. It takes the Spirit of God to transform our sinful nature one day at a time.