Pain is good?

Living as a Christian doesn’t mean your life is perfect it doesn’t mean living free from struggles; instead living a Christian life means you will rely on the Holy Spirit who will help you face these difficulties head-on day after day.

Struggles shape our hearts and our faith humbly submitting to God is the first step in overcoming struggles. Humility pulls us away from self reliance and closer to God. It is not an easy life, but it is a rich life, filled with the presence of God. He teaches us, comforts us, and walks with us as we grow, He reminds us of who we are and who He is in the face of pain and struggle, our faith in Him will give us comfort, guidance, and hope.

When you read the Bible, life often gets worse before it gets better. Salvation, the free gift of God, is sometimes painful.It costs us nothing and Jesus everything.

Pain teaches us: because to understand this pain change and struggle are part of the growing process.

This doesn't mean all pain is good, or necessary it means God knows what it takes to get through to our stubborn hearts, and that He alone is good and does all things for our good and His glory, He loves us enough to work in us and make us like Jesus.

C.S. Lewis said God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”

Is God shouting at you today?

God wants us to see that He is our only hope. If we can control something on our own, we will never come to know the greater power of God. No matter what Is going on God is still in control He acts according to His eternal plan and perfect will.

 Isaiah 30:18 tells us the Lord is a God of justice for those who wait on Him. He will not abandon us in our times of helplessness. We have to trust in Him that He alone is able to change whatever situation we are in, into a time of hope, joy and peace.

Through it all, God will act and show us that He cares for is personally and deeply. Don't surrender to pain, trials or temptations, instead surrender to God our creator and see His power shine in you , on you and through you as you make it with Him through this life.

Mark 10:27: With man [it] is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. — Romans 5:3-5

Now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. — 1 Peter 1:6-9

Timeless Treasures

Most followers of Christ don’t need any more insights into faith, we have enough insights to last us a lifetime. The most urgent need in our lives is to trust what we have already received and know.

We need to reexamine our lives, and the authenticity of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

The challenge is to actually trust God to stop believing in our life's experiences as that is who or what we are, and know that God love us where we were, but He loves us enough not to leave us there. stop clutching what we are so afraid of losing.

We need to renew our minds daily and ask the question "is every word I had ever read or spoken about Jesus Christ what I know or if I really trusted in him. Then shouldn't I be conforming into His image?

The act of trust is a brutal and ruthless act, because it makes us fully accountable by the way we live. Trust is rare and priceless but when we really trust it is a timeless treasure .

Trust God who seeks us, and works in us, who is always working all things out for the good of those who believe in Him. Whether it be in adversity,or joy, or in tribulation trust in God’s Abba Fatherhood, His personal love for us and let Him work in us were we are.

1 Peter 1:3-19 HCSB Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials so that the genuineness of your faith — more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that would come to you searched and carefully investigated. They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the messianic sufferings and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Angels desire to look into these things. Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your temporary residence. For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

Truth revealed

Have you ever driven down a road and seen a building you have never seen before? The irony of life is that we miss the obvious, things just don't appear they are revealed to us.
Mankind has so many distractions we tend to miss what God is saying , through nature, through circumstances, through His word.

If we would but listen we would see all God reveals. The word of God is that way, you can say the bible is written by man, but it was only scribed by man, it was written by the Holy Spirit and is revealed by Him to us and only by Him. So why not ask the Holy Spirit today to reveal God's truths to you so you may understand them and see the mystery of the scriptures.

1Corinthians 2:1-16 HCSB When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. For I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit, so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.

However, we do speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

But as it is written: What eye did not see and ear did not hear, and what never entered the human mind — God prepared this for those who love Him.

Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

What if?

Andrew Murray wrote this many years ago "You are in this straight place by Divine appointment." Second, he said, "You are here in His keeping. He will keep you by His grace and love in this situation." Third, Murray said, "You are here for His training and discipline. God wants to stretch you, to build you up, and He has brought you to this trial to test you by fire." Finally, he said, "You are here in His time. You don't know how long you'll be here, or what your future will hold, but this is where God wants you now."

What if you and I approached every trial we face with these precepts in mind?

What if we viewed every hardship as His perfect plan for us?

Murray also said, "If there were any circumstance better for you than the one in which you find yourself, Divine Love would have placed you there."

That gives our trials a whole new meaning, doesn't it? If you are experiencing a time of difficulty right now, ask God to give you wisdom to see your situation the way He sees it. His aim is that you and I grow up. Trials are our ticket out of complacency and mediocrity. When we struggle, we grow. Like Job, we can be certain that the outcome of our pain will be a stronger, purer faith.

The Apostle Paul wrote this over 2000 years ago, how true these words are still today.

Romans 5:1-5 HCSB

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith,  we have peace  with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.   We have also obtained access through Him  by faith  into this grace in which we stand,  and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that,  but we also rejoice in our afflictions,  because we know that affliction produces endurance,   endurance produces proven character,  and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us,  because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts  through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.