Good day everyone. This is the statement that hit my spirit when I awoke this morning; what a friend we have in Jesus. Let that thought just run around in your spirit for awhile this morning. I hope that the revelation you get is as vivid as mine. Let’s pray.
Today’s Prayer
Dear Lord, in the Year ahead, help us to remember that wherever we go, we’ll be! We can’t escape ourselves! Circumstances won’t govern our life as much as our attitude toward them. Yet, wherever we are, You are! Oh Lord, help us to realize that we can’t deal with ourselves and our problems without You! For You have the answers to all of our needs, if and when we consult You. You are our only real security! Help us to KNOW IT, BELIEVE IT, and LIVE IT! It’s up to us, isn’t it? It’s our move. Help us Lord, for it is hard for us to change our ways. It’s in the wonderful name of Jesus we submit this and all things, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Seeing a Greater Purpose in Adversity
But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” – Acts 16:28
The above scripture is part of a powerful move of God. Paul and Silas had just been thrown into prison. An earthquake erupted and the jail cell was opened. It’s Paul and Silas’ opportunity. “Deliverance, Praise God!” might be the appropriate response. But this is not what Paul and Silas did. In fact, rather than leave, they sat quietly in their cell area. The guard, in fear of his life, knew that it would be automatic death if prisoners escaped. Paul and Silas didn’t leave because they saw a higher purpose for which they were in prison. They were not looking at their circumstance; they were much more concerned about the unsaved guard. The story goes on to explain how Paul and Silas went home with the guard and his family. Not only did the guard get saved, but his entire household as well.
What a lesson this is for us. How often we are so busy looking for deliverance from our circumstance that we miss God completely. God is looking to do miracles in our circumstances if we will only look for them. Sometimes as believers we become so obsessed with our goals we miss the process that God involves us in, which may be where the miracle lies. What if that bill collector who has been hounding you is unsaved and he is there for you to speak to? What if a problem account has arisen due to something God is doing beyond what you might see at this time? Our adverse situations can often be the door of spiritual opportunity for those who need it.
When I take the time to look back at some of the situations I have been through in the last few years, I see this personally when God allowed me to go through a number of adversities. It took some time, but I saw some great miracles as a result of those adversities. When God said that “all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purposes” (see Romans 8:28), He meant all things. It is up to us to find the “work together for good” part by being faithful to the process. In the next adversity you face, tune your spiritual antennae and ask God for discernment to see the real purpose for the adversity.
Quote of the Day
We often think of great faith as something that happens spontaneously so that we can be used for a miracle or healing. However, the greatest faith of all, and the most effective, is to live day by day trusting Him. It’s trusting Him so much that we look at every problem as an opportunity to see His work in our life. It is not worrying, but rather trusting and abiding in the peace of God that will crush anything that Satan tries to do to us. If the Lord created the world out of chaos, He can easily deal with any problem that we have.
Rick Joyner
WITH HOPE AND FAITH; follow us on the foundation community site:
http://facebook.com/therelationshipfactory
REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION – THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY
James H. Taylor Sr. – Kankakee City News has published my Daily meal message for a decade.