LIGHTENING THE LOAD

There comes a time for each of us when we find ourselves bent low with the weight of life's burdens. Remember the childlike expectancy when you were born again and became a newborn babe in Christ? Remember how little you felt when you first saw His greatness? That was a time of unspeakable joy. Now, the enemy would rob you of that joy, but don't lose heart. You can recapture it! Take yourself back to when you first accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior...recall how totally you surrendered yourself into His loving care. Release all your fears, concerns, and anxieties into His arms and be refreshed by the simplicity that is only attained by letting Him take your every care. The Word tells us that it is God's will for you to live with joy in your heart. Romans 14:17 describes the presence of joy in our Christian walk like this: For the kingdom of God is not food and drink; but righteousness and peace and JOY in the Holy Spirit. Now, receive the grace of God which is so freely given, and with it a release from the heaviness that has kept you from the peace and joy which is your inheritance as a child of God.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE

PAIN TO PROMISE

James confidently said, "Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort, or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience" How is it possible to consider joy in the midst of piercing pain, physical or emotional? Often, during a time of pain, we begin to question God. Pain sorely tries our trust in His ability to turn its ugliness into anything worthy of His glory. How then can pain bring the endurance James talks about? How do we find our faith when our vision of God is so blurred by the onslaught of pain? James had the direction of God when he wrote his words. They are not mere expectations, but divine promises. Yes, the pain that you are suffering now can be a cause for joy. It is God's unfailing promise that your trials will produce endurance, strength, and ultimately your perfection. Even Jesus, in the pain of the cross, felt abandoned by His Heavenly Father. Jesus, the sacred Son of God, could have called ten thousand angels for His rescue, yet He committed Himself to His Father's will unto death. His reward was the joy of resurrection. Your promise is that same deliverance. Hold fast and receive joy in the midst of your trial, remembering that joy will turn your pain into the promise of your victory