Suffering is universal. It is experienced by all who live and breathe upon our planet Earth. It cannot be avoided or paid off or scammed. It comes and for some it comes often and brutally. There are many ways to suffer be it emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually. I would not dare to choose which is the easiest to deal with, because suffering is very personal. Some of us can handle physical pain better than emotional or vice versa. In my mind, neither the type nor the amount of suffering can be truly weighed by anyone but the person experiencing it. When people apologize for telling me about their troubles in light of my own suffering, I always tell them there’s no need to apologize. Their troubles are troubles to them. They experience whatever sorrow or pain they do in their own being. If they think it’s bad, then I want to be there for them. I don’t minimize any suffering in light of another.
What I do try to do is share what has helped me through my trials with suffering due to chronic pain. [...]
God is beautiful. His beauty is discernible even though we cannot see him. Nothing compares to him nor is anyone like him. He is holy and good, not in the sense that we are – only to our flawed, finite, human limits – but intrinsically, infinitely, and perfectly. That alone is mind-boggling beauty, but there is more. There's always more when it comes to God. [...]
The following post is by blog contributor Judy Bourret
“A merry heart doeth good, like a medicine.” So true! And the opposite is true, too,”but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 (KJV) My heart tends to be merry pretty easily, for which I am thankful. I see blessings and beauty and fun in my daily life most days. There are days, though, when my spirit does feel broken. Life on this planet can be tough, discouraging, and even depressing. I believe 100% that God is in control, [...]
Tomorrow is Father’s Day! It is a joy for me to come to my first Father’s Day after starting this site. That means I have a really good reason for writing about my husband, not that I need one. There is much that I could say about him and probably would if the world could endure it. He is an exemplary husband and father. In him I see the love of Christ poured out daily. [...]
Can you imagine what it was like to be one of the authors of the books of the Bible, sitting there as an instrument of Almighty God, bringing his word to the world, writing about the power of God or about the promise of eternal life or the incarnation? Is it any wonder that they sometimes erupted in praise? As you read through the scriptures you will find verses that seem to be flow out of the author's saturation with the goodness and glory of God. They are known as doxologies. [...]
Easter Sunday is tomorrow! Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus fills my heart with joy. Believing in the resurrection of Jesus is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. The apostle Paul put it this way: “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” (Romans 10:9) Jesus is my Lord, and I believe that God raised him from the dead. I rejoice in this every day of the year. There was a time when I did not believe in the resurrection or in God for that matter. I spent many Easters simply celebrating a holiday. [...]
In my last blog post I wrote about meekness in marriage. I drew from 1 Peter 3: 3-4. In those verses we read that a gentle (meek) and quiet spirit is precious in the side of God. Before and after those verses Peter writes about submission. He directs his comments to Christian wives and instructs them to adorn themselves with godly submission and behavior just as Sarah and the holy women did in the past. Appearing within these verses is a very important phrase. I believe it has a lot to do with why Sarah and the women of old were able to live as they did. [...]
Years ago while heading to church on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning I was mulling over the expression What if. I don’t remember why, but I imagine I was doing so because I had probably just asked it. Those two words can come off my lips all too easily when I anticipate a negative outcome. Thankfully, I have gotten better at not asking that question as often as I used to. God has worked in my heart in many different ways including through something that occurred to me during that ride. [...]
Part Five in a Five post Christmas series (Part One) Jesus was promised and sent. His coming, life, death, and resurrection had great purpose. But let me continue to remain quiet and let the scriptures proclaim his glory…
"'For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'"
(Luke 2:11-14 ESV) [...]
Part Three in a Five post Christmas series (Part One) The Son was sent, but why? Why did he come? Read the reasons He gave ...
"Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'" [...]
Part Two in a Five post Christmas series (Part One) The Son promised was Sent by the Father Keeping with my intention to let the scriptures speak:
"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4-5 NASB)
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 KJV) [...]
This is the first of five Christmas posts. It is my desire to say as little as possible in these posts. Instead, I wish to let the scriptures speak to the wonderful reality that we celebrate at Christmas. I will start simply by sharing verses that foretell the birth of Jesus.
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) [...]
The phrase Sanctify Christ as Lord comes from 1 Peter 3:15. This verse is one of the cornerstone verses of Chapter Three Ministries. I’m sure I will be revisiting it again and again in my writings. From the context we can see that the subject at hand is suffering for the sake of righteousness. Peter encouraged his Christian readers not to fear or be troubled in their suffering. He gave them a different path to take. That path began with sanctifying Christ as Lord. [...]
If you clicked on the image on my homepage to read this post, you may have thought it was an invitation to follow me. It certainly looks that way! The image has “Follow” written all over it, and the name of the post is “Follow Me!” Though I would be truly honored if you followed me, that is not what this post is about. [...]
