Count It ALL Joy

James 1:1-4 NKJV says this: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

Count it all joy. Count it ALL joy. James is very specific here. In layman's terms he is saying, "Be joyous when you encounter trials." Trials come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A trial for one may be not having enough money to pay the bills. A trial for another may be losing a job. But God says to "count it all joy."

Look at it as an opportunity to praise God. Praise God for the chance to glorify Him. Praise God for allowing you to go through something that will bring you closer to Him. Because when it's all said and done, it's all about Him anyway. He provides for your every need. If He takes care of the sparrows and the lilies of the fields, He will take care of you. He said so in Matthew 10:29-31. (NKJV). 

This word trial, also means temptations. Praise God when you are faced with a temptation. Psalm 22:3 says in the KJV that God inhabits our praise. When you praise God during a trial or temptation, He gives you the strength to resist. James 4:7 (NKJV) says, "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

When you follow God and stand for His statutes and precepts, you will encounter persecution as well. Check out the blog on the end times. But Jesus said in John 16:33, (NKJV), "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

So trust in Jesus. He has overcome the world. He allows us to go through trials so that we can glorify Him and become ever closer to Him. I will leave you with a couple of quotes from a book by E.G. White entitled, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing. 

"Jesus does not present to His followers the hope of attaining earthly glory and riches, and of having a life free from trial, but He presents to them the privilege of walking with their Master in the paths of self-denial and reproach, because the world knows them not.

He who came to redeem the lost world was opposed by the united forces of the adversaries of God and man. In an unpitying confederacy, evil men and evil angels arrayed themselves against the Prince of Peace. Though His every word and act breathed of divine compassion, His unlikeness to the world provoked the bitterest hostility. Because He would give no license for the exercise of the evil passions of our nature, He aroused the fiercest opposition and enmity. So it is with all who will live godly in Christ Jesus. Between righteousness and sin, love and hatred, truth and falsehood, there is an irrepressible conflict. When one presents the love of Christ and the beauty of holiness, he is drawing away the subjects of Satan's kingdom, and the prince of evil is aroused to resist it. Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued with the Spirit of Christ. The character of the persecution changes with the times, but the principle--the spirit that underlies it--is the same that has slain the chosen of the Lord ever since the days of Abel.

As men seek to come into harmony with God, they will find that the offense of the cross has not ceased. Principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places are arrayed against all who yield obedience to the law of heaven. Therefore, so far from causing grief, persecution should bring joy to the disciples of Christ, for it is an evidence that they are following in the steps of their Master.

While the Lord has not promised His people exemption from trials, He has promised that which is far better. He has said, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." "My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Deuteronomy 33:25; 2 Corinthians 12:9. If you are called to go through the fiery furnace for His sake, Jesus will be by your side even as He was with the faithful three in Babylon. Those who love their Redeemer will rejoice at every opportunity of sharing with Him humiliation and reproach. The love they bear their Lord makes suffering for His sake sweet.

In all ages Satan has persecuted the people of God. He has tortured them and put them to death, but in dying they became conquerors. They revealed in their steadfast faith a mightier One than Satan. Satan could torture and kill the body, but he could not touch the life that was hid with Christ in God. He could incarcerate in prison walls, but he could not bind the spirit. They could look beyond the gloom to the glory, saying, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17."  -- Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pg. 29, 30.

"In every age God's chosen messengers have been reviled and persecuted, yet through their affliction the knowledge of God has been spread abroad. Every disciple of Christ is to step into the ranks and carry forward the same work, knowing that its foes can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. God means that truth shall be brought to the front and become the subject of examination and discussion, even through the contempt placed upon it. The minds of the people must be agitated; every controversy, every reproach, every effort to restrict liberty of conscience, is God's means of awakening minds that otherwise might slumber." Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pg. 33.

The End Times

The end times is a topic that is not discussed often enough. We are in the last days of earth's history. Jesus talked about the end times in Matthew 24. In verse 3 to 14 (NKJV) says this:

³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,  and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.
⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus had just prophesied the destruction of the temple in the verses prior to this, verses 1 & 2. His disciples came to Him and wanted to know when it would happen and when the "end of the age" would come. Read the passage from Matthew again.

The first thing Jesus replied with was, "Take heed that no one deceives you." He warned them that many false teachers and false prophets would come in His name, claiming to be Christ Himself. And indeed, many have done so over the years. And unfortunately, many have been deceived. This is why it is extremely important for us to know the Bible backward and forward. But more importantly, this is why it is extremely important for us to know the Author of the Bible better than we know anything else. Jesus said in John 6:37, NKJV, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." Come to Jesus. He will not turn you away.

Check out the "wars and rumors of wars." How many wars have we had in our history as a planet? How many wars have we had in our histories as individual countries. As the beloved hymn, Lift Up The Trumpet says, "Nations are angry, by this we do know, Jesus is coming again!" The United States of America has been at war with Iraq and various terrorists for going on ten years now. Things are heating up in the Middle East region. And things are about to heat up to the explosion point very soon.

Famines are everywhere. Droughts are everywhere, too. Earthquakes are occurring now where they didn't used to occur, and they are happening much more frequently in places where they did happen often. Some people blame this on oil drilling, which, to a certain extent, may not be helping things. But think about it. Texas is getting earth quakes. Oklahoma is getting earthquakes. These are regions that hardly every got them. How many have we had this year in just these two states? I've lost count.

People are also being persecuted for their faith in Jesus and their refusal to give up that faith. In a previous blog post I told you about a Pastor in Iran that was sentenced to death for being a Christian or for converting to Christianity. This is considered apostasy by the Islam faith. As of October 1, 2011, he is still alive.

There are countless other Christians in the world who face persecution and threats of death if they don't repent. Jesus said in John 16:33, NKJV, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus has overcome the world. Take heart. It will get rough in these last days. It certainly won't be easy. But Jesus promised that those who endure to the end will be saved. Take the hand of Jesus and be saved.

Click on the highlighted link to read this piece by Ellen G White called, Perils of This Time. It's about the end times.

While I'm Waiting.

There is a song called, While I'm Waiting. The message is a powerful one. While we are waiting for God, we should serve Him. However painful the situation may be, serving and praising our Heavenly Father is the only way to make it through. Here's the video for the song. It's from the movie Fireproof. It's a powerful song in a powerful movie.

Praise Through the Hard Times

Have you ever fallen on hard times? Whatever the case may be. The wife of Jacob had a problem. Leah could see that Jacob favored his other wife, Rachel over her. Rachel, after all, was who Jacob wanted to begin with. But because of the custom of the day, Leah had to get married first, being the older of the two sisters.

In Genesis 29 we find the story of Leah beginning to have sons by Jacob. She has one son. She named him Reuben. And she says, in verse 32, "It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now." But Jacob still didn't show her the affection she wanted.

She has another son. This time she named him Simeon. She said, in verse 33, "Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." But again, Jacob isn't showing her the affection she wants from him.

She has a third son. She names this one Levi. In verse 33, she says, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." Except he didn't.

She has a fourth son. She named him Judah. But something different happened this time. She stopped feeling sorry for herself. She realized her worth didn't lie in her husband. She realized her worth was in God. God helped her to understand that praising Him is what it's all about. She said in verse 35, "This time I will praise the LORD."

And you know the cool part about this? When she finally decided to praise God instead of throwing a pity party, God blessed the lineage of that son. It was Judah that the promised Messiah would one day come to rescue Israel and the world.

You see? When we praise God, He does great things. Yes, it may take a while to see them. But this is a hard learned lesson sometimes. Trust me. I've had to learn this the hard way.

I've had such troubles over the years with finding a job. But I began to realize that praising God is step one. Focusing on my relationship with Him is the priority. And when I realized this, God began to bless me in ways that still dumbfound me.

And yes, I'm still learning this lesson. It's an every day, often multiple times a day, battle. The devil isn't going make things easy for me. But as long as I keep my eyes on God, the world around me can fall apart. But my God will supply all my needs, according to His glorious riches.

So when you're tempted to feel sorry for yourself, do yourself a favor, and don't. It only hurts you. Trust me. I know from experience. God is all that really matters. Rise, take up your cross, and follow Him.

I Surrender All

I Surrender All

I surrender all.
All of the pain.
All of the sorrow.
All that this world has to offer.

I surrender my life.
All of my wants.
All of my desires.
All that I thought I was.

I surrender my plans.
All that I have done.
All that I am doing.
All that I will do.

I lay it at your feet, my God.
All that You are.
All that You want for me.
All that you want for my family.

I take up my cross,
To follow You.
To learn from You.
To love like you.

By: Gabriel Taylor
On: September 25th, 2011.

Letting Go of the Pain

Pain. No one likes it. No one likes to see a loved one experience it, however great or small. Just like right now. I hate to see how my daughter is not feeling well. She's teething. Teething can sometimes bring with it a fever. And those are no fun.

It pains me to see her hurting. As a father, I want nothing more than to take her pain away. I want to protect her from this pain and I would take the experience upon myself if I could. If you're a parent or guardian, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Nothing pains you more than to see your child in pain.

Our Heavenly Father is the same way. Nothing pains Him more than to see His children in pain. And the crazy thing is, all too often we choose to hang on to our pain. God wants to take it from us. He wants us to lay our burdens down at His feet. Life will be rough at times. But God promised to be there for us. He promised to take care of us.

You see? It's a choice to let go of the pain. A hard choice, mind you, but still a choice. We were never promised that we'd never go through trials. And trials bring pain. But our choice is this: will we praise God through the pain? Or will we mumble and grumble and complain?

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4 NKJV.