for thought and meditation

[Markopolo]

another nice day here..


The Habit of Enjoying Adversity
By Oswald Chambers

…that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. —2 Corinthians 4:10

We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation of “myself” that I would have apart from Him? The only thing that will enable me to enjoy adversity is the acute sense of eagerness of allowing the life of the Son of God to evidence itself in me. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.

You must not debate. The moment you obey the light of God, His Son shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30). You must keep yourself in the proper condition to allow the life of the Son of God to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to “supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19).

Keep your soul properly conditioned to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in you.

make it a blessed day

[USMC87]

A great lesson, Amen!

[Pine Baron]

Agreed, great lesson.

[Blackwater]

Nobody wants to hear it, but adversity CAN be our best friend. Nobody enjoys going through adversities, but they CAN serve to bring our minds more in line with the wisdom, direction and advice that the Lord left for us to follow. We're supposed to be humble in our wants, and thankful for our blessings, and when we fume and complain in the midst of adversities, it's a sign we're not quite fully in touch with Christ's advice, and NEED to rethink our mindset and attitude. We are borne of sin and have no right to expect the joys of Heaven. It's a gift, purchased at unbelievably great price for us, by our Lord and Master. And He freely gives it to anyone who will simply acknowledge and follow Him. Very simple.

So sometimes God gives us trials, so we can learn to fine tune our attitudes, expectations and mindsets. And if we simply pay attention and assume a more reasonable attitude, we profit from it immeasurably. God knows what we NEED, and gives it to us whether it's what we THINK we want, or not. He is so good to us - always looking out for our best interests, even when He needs to allow bad things into our lives to bring us to where we need to be. God is always good, and always loving, maybe especially when he has to let us suffer a little to know Him better.

[Boaz]

We let too many thoughts come between us and GOD . Learning to focus on HIM and what HE puts before us is simply what is right . I'm still working on focusing .