03 November 2013

Ministry of the Word (MOW)

Improving our Spiritual Understanding

True Spirituality (Series 81)

Theme: Be joyful when faced with Challenges

Memory Verse:My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (James 1:2).

Beloved, 

Let me share a major secret of life with  you. No matter the  magnitude of the challenges you are going through in life, never lose your joy in the Lord. Never stop thanking  and praising God in Christ Jesus. The enemy knows that if you lose your joy, then weakness and  discouragement  are imminent because the joy of the Lord is your source of strength (Neh 8:10).   The Word says: Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation ( Isa 12:3).

The Book of Proverbs says joy is like medicine to our body:

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones (Prov 17:22).

Brothers Paul and Silas began to praise God in prison instead of complaining, grumbling or lamenting and God visited them, and the  prison yard was thrown opened. Please, read the whole story:

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled…(Acts 16:25-34).

Hence Bro James says:

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:2-4).

Bro Paul refers to our challenges as ‘light affliction’:  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Cor 4:17).

The Bible tells us that Jesus was able to endure the cross because of the joy ahead of him: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).

Brethren, I do not know what challenges you are going through right now, what I do know is that my Daddy calls them ‘light affliction ‘ . 

Learn to recognize, identify and resist negative emotions like anger, hatred, envy, frustration,  fear,  impatience , sadness etc. Learn to avoid grumbling and murmuring when in the valley. It is difficult to boast of  the presence of God when your are enveloped in sadness  because in His Presence is fullness  of Joy(Psalm 16:11).

The challenges we go through are what God uses to take us to the next level. Life is like being in a school, if one is promoted without passing exams, he or she must have been fraudulent. Learn and  master the habit of praising God in your challenges. Receive the grace of increasing spiritual understanding in Jesus Precious Name.  Amen.

Happy New Month!