Messages From Heaven: Seeing Through the Pain!

Messages From Heaven: Seeing Through the Pain!: Each of us has a clarifying moment in our lives. Joseph’s clarifying moment occurred on the day his ten brothers filed into the throne ro...

Seeing Through the Pain!

Each of us has a clarifying moment in our lives. Joseph’s clarifying moment occurred on the day his ten brothers filed into the throne room, desperate for food, awed by the splendors of Egyptian royalty, and totally oblivious of his secret identity.
The ten men hadn’t changed much. Older now, faces showing wear and tear, hair thinner, stubble grayer, eyes duller because of long-harbored guilt. Genesis 42 says they came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but they did not recognize him.
He could have exacted revenge—or justice—on that day. He could have settled the score and balanced the books. But instead, he wept; and his tears washed away years of confusion, for he was beginning to see God’s end game. There was a purpose to the pain he’d endured.  God has reasons for our struggles, too, though we can’t always see them at the time. I can’t tell you specifically why certain things are happening to you; but through Joseph’s story, I can show you some of the patterns of God’s clarifying grace.
Problems Provide Greater Opportunities
For Joseph, the road to the throne wound through Potiphar’s house and Pharaoh’s prison; but every time a door slammed shut, it jarred another one open.
You may be imprisoned by a set of circumstances that aren’t to your liking, but problems are God’s way of providing us with opportunities that would never otherwise come. In every obstacle there is an opportunity.
Problems Promote Spiritual Maturity
Problems can make us better if we refuse to grow bitter. Few people have experienced worse treatment than Joseph. He was maligned, cheated, abused, and betrayed by one person after another. But there’s not a shred of evidence that Joseph grew angry at God. Instead, the circumstances matured him.
As we look back on Joseph’s life, we have the impression that he had a rather soft childhood. While his brothers were out working, Joseph was walking around in his fancy coat. Though younger, he was the favored son. But the Lord sent experiences to harden him up. Psalm 105:17-18 says that Joseph was laid in irons. The marginal reading says, in effect, that his soul came into iron. An old English translation says that iron entered into his soul.
When Joseph came out of prison, he was an iron-souled man, a man of strength, courage, and wisdom. He was ready at age thirty to carry his adopted nation through prolonged crisis without one sign of revolt. He was prepared for the hardship of famine because he had experienced the pain of prison.
God could spare us from hardship, but how would we learn? How would we grow?
Problems Prove Integrity
Our character, if genuine, is never altered by circumstances. Nothing exemplifies our moral fiber like the way we face difficulties. It’s a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the reality and the integrity of our character before others.
Joseph’s character was a steadfast compass in his soul, but it was put on public display because of the hardships he endured. Whether we realize it or not, the same is true for us.
Problems Produce a Sense of Dependency
Problems also teach us to depend on the Lord. Whenever I read about Joseph in the Bible, I’m impressed with a phrase that’s repeated several times: “But the Lord was with Joseph . . . . The Lord was with Joseph.”
Our sins can separate us from God, but never our circumstances. The secret of Joseph’s power was his consciousness of God’s presence.
Problems Prepare our Hearts for Ministry
Finally, problems prepare us for ministry. We comfort others with the comfort we ourselves receive from the Lord. Joseph was able to comfort his family and nation because he knew firsthand the faithfulness of His God.
Sometimes problems are God’s way of preparing us to help someone else. That’s what happened to Joseph. From his prison experience, he became a servant of the whole world. Joseph went from pasture to pit to prison to palace—and at every step God was with Him, causing all things to work together for good under the omnipotent hand of divine sovereignty.
If we’ll only step back from the distress and see beyond the pain, we’ll understand there’s a purpose to every problem and a reason for every riddle; and when we realize that, it is a glorious clarifying moment.

Creed - My Sacrifice

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Messages From Heaven: Claiming the World!!

Messages From Heaven: Claiming the World!!: The social pundits of our day are under the impression that they developed the concept of globalization; but they don’t seem to realize ...

Claiming the World!!

The social pundits of our day are under the impression that they developed the concept of globalization; but they don’t seem to realize the Bible taught that concept more than 2,000 years ago. The church has always been an international enterprise established by a Savior who died for the entire world.
It is true, though, that the actual word “globalization” wasn’t in our vocabulary until 1930, when it was coined to describe international efforts in education. Today the concept of globalization is the driving force in industry, finance, health policy, language acquisition, and geopolitics.
Doctors tell us that an infection in one remote corner of the globe can literally hop on a plane—undetected by scanning devices or human eyes—and infect the world (as we have seen with the recent Ebola outbreaks).
Scientists tell us that air and water pollution caused by a single city or country affects everyone on earth. Smog, after all, doesn’t respect national boundaries.
Athletes tell us that the best sports are those that capture the interest of fans in every country on earth, which is why soccer’s ultimate championship series is called the World Cup and baseball’s race for the pennant is called the World Series.
Lawyers tell us that an ultimate system of maintaining justice in the world depends on the development of international criminal courts and tribunals and on global administrative law.
Financial experts tell us that what happens to the economy of Greece or Spain can tip over into other countries like a runaway series of falling dominos, potentially plunging the world into global depression.
Diplomats yearn for some kind of one-world government that will regulate the relationships among the nations, fight terrorism, and keep the world’s balance of power in check.
Perhaps the one thing that has increased our sense of globalization more than anything else has been our efforts in outer space. We can see the globe for what it is—a small speck in the heavens. It provided the realization that we share this earth with many other peoples and nations—making our world seem smaller and more connected.^[1]
The Original Global Thinker
            Yes, the pundits of the world think that globalization is their invention. But claiming the world isn’t a new concept, and it wasn’t invented by educators, scientists, or financiers—Jesus Christ was the original global thinker. Though He was born in a small town and never traveled far from His national borders, His intent was to change this planet. Though He was a regional evangelist who met an “untimely” end—or so it seemed—He died for the entire world. And when He rose again He told His disciples to go to all the world and make disciples with the message of His Gospel.
            Our Lord wasn’t a small thinker. Long before communication satellites, fiber optics, digital broadband, mass marketing, social media, and cell phones, He was thinking global communications. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,” He told His followers, “and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
            Evangelism experts tell us there are nearly 16,000 different “people groups” in the world, and about 6,500 of them are still unreached. Efforts are in progress to pierce many of them with the love of Christ, but some are difficult to penetrate due to cultural blockades (especially in areas under Muslim domination). We have the call and the opportunity to reach “into the uttermost parts of the earth and preach the Gospel,” using the technology that is available to us today and through translation of the Bible and teaching materials into language groups that have not heard the Good News proclaimed. If the Lord tarries, just imagine where the Gospel will reach in the coming years! Be a global thinker—pray for the people groups around the world that need to hear the Gospel—and reach out to those in your own neighborhood and your sphere of influence with God’s wonderful plan of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. 

MercyMe - I Can Only Imagine

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God Still Speaks!

Does God still speak to people today?

Is He interested in what happens to us as individuals? Does He really have a master plan for our lives? Or are we merely victims of blind chance?

God is indeed interested in us as individuals. He does in fact have a master plan for our lives, and He does truly want to speak to us. Jesus described Himself as our Good Shepherd (see John 10:11). And as His sheep, we can hear His voice.

But how can we know when God is the one speaking? We need to remember that God speaks to us primarily through His Word. He will never lead us contrary to anything He says there. We don’t have to go any further than the Bible to know the will of God for our lives. Psalm 19:8 says, “The statutes of the Lord are right.” In the original language, this verse means that God’s Word has set out the right path for us to follow. We don’t have to lose our bearings in the fog of human opinion or let our fickle emotions lead us astray. Instead, we have a sure guide: the Word of God.

We are to think about God’s Word, we are to ponder it, and we are to meditate in it day and night. C. H. Spurgeon said, “Nobody ever outgrows Scripture. The Book widens and deepens with our years.” As a result of spending time in God’s Word, you will bring forth spiritual fruit.

So listen to your Shepherd. Read His Word, and let it bear fruit in your life.