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Trial to Triumph – or “Why is this happening to me?” Part 8

Posted on November 10, 2014 ·

picture gold cross13 Moses told the people, Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed) and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today you shall never see again. Exodus 14:13

When Moses spoke those words the Israelites were standing between a huge Egyptian army on chariots and a large body of water – the Red Sea. Apparently, they forgot in that terrifying moment all that the Lord had done for them when he dealt with Egypt with ten plagues and how they had come away with the riches of the Egyptians and how He was still standing as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When Moses told them to stand still it went against every natural inclination. Fight or flight. The Lord said “Fear not, stand firm and see”. They finally did and the Lord made a way that was a miracle – through the Red Sea!

Being a person who constantly has to remind my self to let the Lord be Lord and to not get in His way, it has been a challenge to learn to just stand firm and not fear. But when I have done this the Lord has always acted mightily on my behalf.

When I worked for the County Health Department I had many opportunities to share the Gospel with staff and patients. Only one nurse had a problem with me and she would complain periodically about me. When she did I would get called into the Director’s office and be told to stop talking about religion. What a temptation to “speak my peace”, but the Lord always told me to keep quiet. Nothing bad ever happened to me and later the Director came to me in secret and asked me to pray for her son-in–law who had lost his job.  I am thankful to the Lord for that great lesson in fearing not and standing firm.

We have seen that trials are for our good, purifying our faith and bringing us the characteristics of Jesus: patience, steadfastness and endurance. We have learned that trials are not punishments and that the Lord is with us during the trial. We found that the way to go through a trial is to let the Lord know what our needs are specifically and to fear not, stand firm and see him take care of all our needs and problems.

So the next time a trial comes we can say: “Woo hoo!”

Jesus is Lord!

Filed Under: Obedience, Peace, prayer, Victory ·
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Trial to Triumph – or “Why is this happening to me?” Part 6

Posted on October 27, 2014 ·

 

picture gold being meltedI have called you by your name; you are Mine.2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you. Isaiah 43:1-2

 

As I look back on the trial of losing two jobs and moving to a new state I can see how badly my faith needed to be purified. I can also see how the Lord never left me. He wasn’t mad at me. He is a good Dad. I worked in Emergency Care for eight years.

 

We often don’t understand why things happen to us. But even if we asked the Lord to explain it all to us, we might be incapable of really understanding it. Think about when we were babies and our parents or family members took us to get our immunizations. As far as we could see it was a bad thing. Somebody was holding us while someone else stuck a needle in our leg or arm. Ouch! Even if our mothers told us what the needles did – giving us protection from disease, it would have been nonsense to two month old us. We got our shots at two months, four months, six months, twelve months, eighteen months and age five. Those shots were painful to us, but provided us with precious protection against diseases that used to kill thousands of children. Our moms got us those shots because they loved us. The Lord is the same way.

 

When we go through a trial He is with us. He doesn’t leave us for a second. Trials are for our good.

 

Jesus is Lord!

 

 

Filed Under: Hope, Obedience, Peace, Victory ·
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Trial to Triumph – or “Why is this happening to me?” Part 5

Posted on October 20, 2014 ·

Trial to Triumph Part 5

picture of gold after chemical separation3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Malachi 3:3

I had gotten the very job that terrified me. Emergency Room Nurse Practitioner, but I felt that the Lord wanted me there. Remember He had given me a heads up months before. So I surrendered myself to the Lord. I knew I could not do this on my own. The doctor that hired me told me that I would be given a three month internship with an experienced ER Nurse Practitioner and would not be expected to operate alone until she was satisfied with my skills. She taught me to read x –rays, suture, what labs to order etc. She was literally a God-send. I actually started to like the job. The Lord gave me favor with the doctors and staff. The job paid significantly more than I made up North.

There is a process to purifying gold:

First the gold ore is crushed.

Then it is placed in a furnace in excess of 1900 degrees Fahrenheit to elevate the gold about its melting point. Impurities are burned off in the furnace – but other metals remain.

In order to separate the gold from the other metals, chemicals such as mercury or cyanide solution are introduced. This causes the gold to coagulate and form nuggets and clumps of gold.

After the gold smelting process is complete, the gold is melted once more and poured into molds to form ingots.

Later the gold ingots may be used for various purposes.

When our faith is purified from self reliance, fear, doubt, reliance on money, people or things it is able to be firmly placed in the Lord. We can access the power of the Lord. Then the fruit of endurance, steadfastness and patience emerge, the way purifying gold brings out its clarity, shine, brilliance and usefulness.

Jesus is Lord!

Filed Under: Faith and Trust, Holiness, Hope, Obedience, Peace ·
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Trial to Triumph or “Why is this happening to me?” Part 3

Posted on October 6, 2014 ·

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness Malachi 3:3.

After losing my second job in six months, I was devastated. I had no clue what to do. My mother suggested that I come down to Florida where she and Dad had retired and see if I could get a job there. I agreed to give it a try. I prayed. And I surrendered to the Lord. I knew that I could not do it on my own. I went down to Tampa and got three job interviews lined up. The first one was with the State of Florida Health Services. I had no idea what the position was.

We are the McDonald’s generation. We don’t want trials to be difficult or last long. But consider this: Let’s say that we want to train Marines. So we come up with training and a testing plan. We want to test strength so we tell them to run ten feet, and then jump over a one foot fence, and finish by doing one push up. If we did that we would have one weak bunch of Marines. But in reality Marines do many, many push ups, climb high walls and run many miles and then are severely tested in realistic war games before they are sent out to defend our nation.

 It is the same with us. A short easy trial is not going to build up any faith muscles. We need to trust the Lord to do what needs to be done for our good in His perfect timing and plan.

Gold being melted to remove impurities

Jesus is Lord! picture gold being melted

 

Filed Under: Holiness, Hope, Peace, prayer, Word of God ·
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Trial to Triumph or “Why is this happening to me?” Part 2

Posted on September 29, 2014 ·

 

Gold ore crushed

picture god ore crushed3 Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.

4 But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. James 1:3-4

So after I calmed down from the shock of being told I was going to lose my job, I did begin to pray to the Lord. I applied for another job and two weeks later I started as a Branch Manager for a Home Health Agency. It paid more money but the office was in a bad neighborhood and it was a dull and dingy workplace. The workers were sullen. Five months later I got fired! Yes, me who never gets fired got fired. But several weeks before I got fired, an interesting thing had happened while I was walking down a corridor of St.ElizabethHospital on my way to a meeting. I heard the Lord speak to my heart. “Emergency Room Nurse Practitioner”. “Boy”, I thought to myself “I would never do a job like that! Too much stress, besides I don’t like emergencies”. I kept on walking.

There is a purpose to our trials. The proving of our faith brings out fruit!

Endurance – the ability to do something difficult for a long time

Steadfastness – being firmly fixed, unmovable

Patience – the ability to accept trouble or suffering without getting angry or upset.

This fruit makes us more like the character of Jesus. Think of the last week of Jesus’ life. He needed all three of these qualities to go through all that He did for our sake. If he did not have these characteristics he could have said “No way! I am not going through that!” But He did go through it for us.

Our problem as Americans is that we are used to having things fast. Fast burgers, instant messaging, fast computers, shopping online – so no waiting. We do not like to wait. We want our trials our way and over fast! Unfortunately, in order to grow in patience, endurance and steadfastness we often have to wait, sometimes for a long time.

Somebody told me that in the Middle East they are great at waiting patiently – sometimes as long as eight hours in a line. Try doing that to one of us! Yeah.

So we need to be patient when we are in a trial and let the Lord do what needs to be done in our lives.

Jesus is Lord!

Filed Under: Faith and Trust, Holy Spirit, Peace, prayer ·
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Trial to Triumph – or “Why is this happening to me?” Part 1

Posted on September 22, 2014 ·

Trials to Triumph – or “Why is this Happening to Me?!” Part 1

Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in picture gold oreor encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. James 1:2-8

 I remember the first time I read James’s words. I was shocked! I wondered “Am I supposed to say “Woo hoo!” when I am in a trial!? How am I supposed to be joyful when I am in a trial?” It wasn’t until I had been through several trials that I began to see how joy can come.

But I didn’t always have joy.

One day as I was working as a Director of Patient Services for a New York County Health Department my boss let me know that he was going to give my position to a friend of his in a few weeks and I would be out of a job.  I panicked! Did I pray? Yes, I said a quick prayer and quickly returned to my panicked state. I had three children to support. Over a period of about three hours I called every contact I had in my profession. No openings. I was a mess! I badly needed to learn how to navigate a trial in a godly fashion. The Lord was with me to help me learn how to triumph through a trial.

The first thing I learned is that trials are not punishments.

11 For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Jeremiah 29:11

I know that the Lord has known me and my days from before the earth was created. He has only my good in mind. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Peace, Victory, Word of God ·
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Lemonade from Lemons

Posted on September 15, 2014 ·

picture lemonadeAnd we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28.

“Lori, you look like a manager – but you aren’t one. So we are letting you go.” When I heard those words I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I was a single mom with three teenage children. I had been working hard to provide for my children and give them a happy life. I had just bought a little house for us. How could I lose my job now? What was I going to do? Jobs were scarce in Upstate New York at that time.

Later that night I remembered the words of the Lord – that He would make all things work together for my good. Even losing my job. I decided to trust in Him and told Him that I was expecting some great things to come from this and that something good was going to come from it. It did.

One month later, the Lord provided me with a much higher paying job in Florida. A few years later I met my husband – a wonderful man of God. My children had a better life. The Lord made all things work together for good for me. Praise the Lord!

Jesus can take our lemons and make it into lemonade.

Jesus is Lord!

 

Filed Under: Faith and Trust, Hope, Peace, Uncategorized ·
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Rivers of Living Water

Posted on September 1, 2014 ·

picture spring and riverHe who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of livingwater. John 7:38

  But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, for) eternal life. John 4:14

 My husband and I went canoeing a few years ago. We traveled to the RainbowRiver in Florida. It is a crystal clear spring fed river. We paddled upstream until we came to the end of the river. There bubbling up from the river bed we saw fresh water coming up from the riverbed overflowing to what looks like a very large pond shaped area and then flowing out as a crystal clear river. When we canoed it felt like we were floating in the air because the water was so clear. It made me think of the rivers of living water that flow from our innermost being when we follow Jesus.

 I have noticed how stressed out even seasoned Christians can get. Some go for massages, some over eat, some share their worries with friends, some watch a lot of TV, or read novels. None of these are necessarily bad, but there is a great place to get rid of stress.

It is in the rivers of living water. Not just wet water. Living water. Water that is alive with the Presence of God. Where is it? It is flowing from our innermost beings. We are overflowing with the life of Jesus! Wow!

 I want to float in the living water river! I want to be refreshed in the living water river! The good news is that I can, every day of my life! I can go to the Lord in prayer in my quiet place and soak in the river of His presence. Even if I don’t feel it I can still go there. Why? Because it never goes away. The bubbling living water flows eternally from my innermost being. Not just a little stream but rivers plural. Have you ever seen the Mississippi River? – bigger that that!

 I’m going to have a good soak in the rivers of living water.

 Jesus is Lord!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Holiness, Holy Spirit, Peace, Uncategorized, Word of God ·
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Serious Love

Posted on July 28, 2014 ·

picture people getting along14 If we love our Christian brothers and sisters,[d] it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister[e] is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them. 1 John 3:14-15

I was reading 1 John today and as I read it I noticed how many times John stressed to his readers to love one another. Somebody told me once that the letters were written because churches were struggling with problems. So I suppose that John wrote that because some people in the church were struggling to love each other, and in fact some hated each other!

Now why did that happen? Brother Yun, author of the Heavenly Man said that in China non believers hurt Christians but in the United States Christians hurt Christians. The closer we get to one another, the greater the chance of hurting each other.

We all say and do things without thinking sometimes. Our words or actions can wound. That’s why forgiveness is so critical. So that even if we are hurt by another Christian we can avoid becoming  “hateful” and continue to love each other – yes, even if the person never apologizes to us. Notice that John says that anyone who hates another brother or sister is a murderer at heart! That is serious! 

There was a woman at my church many years ago who went out of her way to wound me several times. I had a real struggle to keep on loving her. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Love, Obedience, Peace, Uncategorized ·
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Texting the Lord

Posted on July 21, 2014 ·

picture of text l love youLet us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. Hebrews 4:16(AMP)

 

I know a young High School couple. They love talking to each other and when they are apart, they text constantly. Even when I was sitting next to the young man at a family gathering the texting went on. Constant communication. It reminded me of the way we keep in constant communication with the Lord.

Little words of love, praise, and thanks sprinkled throughout our day. When I keep the presence of the Lord close to me even when something unexpected happens we are right in tandem. He is right there. His presence calms, directs and helps me throughout my day.

The Lord loves to hear from us. There are people I would never bother with a question or even share a thought with because they have no interest in my life. But the Lord is different. He wants us to come boldly before His throne. Unlike kings of old who never permitted an uninvited person to approach them the Lord is a warm and loving Father who wants us to come on up and sit on His lap and tell Him what we are feeling and thinking ; even when we are frightened or worried or sad or if we have messed up. He wants to hear it all. His love is never ending.

I have met Christians who have told me they only pray for others and don’t want to bother the Lord with their own needs. These Christians don’t realize that they are the Lord’s children. I never worried about asking my parents for food, or a new dress. My mother was available to hear about all the little things going on in my life. The Lord is like that. He loves to hear from you. And when you are quietly listening to Him He will speak to you too.

We are blessed to have a loving Heavenly Father.

Jesus is Lord!

 

Filed Under: Love, Peace, prayer, Uncategorized ·
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