Tag: troubles

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Joy and Pain

woman in gray dress sitting on bed

Recently, I watched a friend bury her daughter. Her heart was breaking apart with grief. The loss and loneliness are crushing burdens she carries every day. It seems almost sacrilegious to read today’s verse about rejoicing when we face trials with respect to my friend’s circumstances. Does God expect her to rejoice in this devastating sorrow? 

Do you see the joy and pain in this verse? God’s adoption plan was to send His only Son to die in our place. What pain! What sorrow! Pain and Joy. They seem so opposed to one another and yet, their mutual presence is at the core of God’s rescue plan for us! 

Joy comes from knowing God and trusting His way. Joy comes from the deep springs of the soul. It doesn’t happen overnight; it’s developed over time and hardship as we grab hold of God’s hand and put one foot in front of the other pain will become Joy. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

Today, choose joy in the pain of your circumstances. Ask yourself what blessings are there in your pain. Take some time to focus on the good, instead of the bad and list your blessings and see God’s goodness in your life. I implore you to embrace the joy and the pain in your life. 

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment.” Romans 5:3-4 (NLT) 

Let’s Pray 

Yahweh, Omnipotent, all-powerful God, I come to You today, thanking You that You listen when I pray. Father, I come to You asking to be delivered from all my troubles and pain. God, I ask for Your angels to be my guard to surround and defend me. I know that I will have joy because I come to You for refuge, and you will never turn me away. I have tasted and seen that You are good in my past knowing that you never change. In Christ’s name Amen. 

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God Our Safe Place

Don’t ever doubt it. God works on behalf of those who love Him and honour His name. He is so good to us. We may never fully know, this side of heaven, how very much He has sheltered us from in this life. 

We may not always see it, or feel it, we might forget it’s there at times, or even wonder if God has left us to fend for ourselves in the heat of hard situations of life. But His protection is real. He doesn’t, He can’t, forget us or ignore us. If we belong to Him, His love is too great to leave us on our own. In whatever troubles we face today, God is the place of refuge we can run to, He is our safe place. 

Today, Pressure and stress can seem as stifling as a hot afternoon summer sun. Yet God whispers truth, strong and sure, “Walk in my shadow, up close to my side.  It’s in the safe place that brings confidence; for when we are resting in God’s shadow, we will never face the full heat of our difficulties. He shelters from that pain. His shade, His shadow, diminishes what is felt in the intensity of all the heat. Rest, peace, and calm rise strong, right in the struggling mess of life, and we’re assured, He’s in control. 

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1 

Let’s Pray 

Yahweh, thank you for your presence around me, thank you for your Almighty Shadow. Thank you that you go before me and cover me from behind. Thank you that you are in my midst and that my future is secure in the place you’re preparing for me. God your words bring such hope and comfort. Reminding me of your strength, today may I see glimpses of your glory and blessing along the way as I seek after you. For victory and salvation are found in you alone. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Christ Amen. 

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Release What You Cannot Control

So often in life, we hold on too tightly to things we were never meant to control. It’s hard sometimes, to let go. Struggling to change things and striving hard to maintain order, but when problems mount high and pressures feel overwhelming, we begin to understand more fully how little control we have. 

We look in all different places for help forgetting we can move to our Saviour. We forget that He never changes, and He still holds the power to heal and set free. At times we don’t believe that He can, or wants to, work on our behalf we forget, that He’s still the God of miracles, that He can act “immediately,” that He can do in a moment what might take years for us to work out on our own. 

Today set aside your fears and move towards the saviour, with faith. Move-in close, and reach out to the One who is All-powerful, compassionate, loving, and kind. He knows the wounds and troubles you carry; He knows the pain and worries you feel, He knows how much you try to let go, and fix things. Please trust that your situation or circumstance is not too big for His healing and freedom. God is Able. He is always within reach. He is never far away. He is close. He is with us. He cares. He heals. He restores. He redeems. May His huge grace cover you on this day. 

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” – Psalm 55:22 

Let’s Pray 

Yahweh, I confess our need for you today. I need your healing and your grace. Father, forgive me for trying to fix my situation by myself forgetting how much I need you, above everyone and everything else. I come to you and bring my hurt. God, You see where no one else is fully seeing. You know the pain I carry. The burdens. The cares. You know where I need to be set free, cover every broken place. Every wound. Every heartache. Thank you that you can do far more than I could ever imagine. In Christ’s name. Amen 

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Are You Struggling With Worry? 

Are you struggling with worry? Do you wake up with issues on your mind instead of praise to the One who has kept you all night? If so, you’re not alone. When we worry, we allow our minds to dwell on our troubles. So, if we want to get rid of worry in our lives, we begin by giving our minds a new place to dwell. Psalm 94 encourages us in times when worry threatens to take over. “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” 

Thinking about God’s promises will bring wonderful joy. God will always comfort us in our distress, no matter how many worries we carry. His comfort is strong enough to eradicate every anxious thought. By taking a moment to focus on God, we will experience supernatural peace. Enough to help us stop worrying once and for all. 

Today, you may be wondering if it’s even possible to put an end to worry. Training our minds to dwell in God’s goodness isn’t a one-time thing, but a daily commitment to draw close to Him. The closer we get to God the less we will worry. Let’s begin today. 

“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” (Psalm 94:19 ESV) 

Let’s Pray 

Yahweh, I struggle with worry. Father, throughout my day I catch myself focusing on my problems. God, I know that focusing on my troubles isn’t healthy, but I can’t seem to stop worrying no matter how hard I try. Please help me put an end to worry in my life and find peace through in You. In Christ’s name. Amen 

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Trials Are Momentary

Aren’t you glad that Scripture promises that our troubles and trial are only momentary? When compared with eternity, our troubles won’t last long, they are not eternal! The second part of today’s verse tells us, that when we stand strong in faith during times of adversity, we are building faith, which achieves eternal glory, which will always outlast our trials.

When you confess your trust and reliance on God, you are passing the test for eternal glory!

If you are in the middle of tough times today, look to God. The Bible says that Jesus is the author and finisher of your faith. He is the one who writes faith on your heart, and then develops it to completion on the inside of you, as you yield yourself to Him.

Today, your part is to seek Him. Follow His commands. Open your heart and choose to speak His Word which is alive and active. Remember, your trials are only momentary and light, but His eternal glory outweighs it all and last forever, from this world into the next. Hallelujah!

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17, NIV)

Let’s Pray 

Yahweh, thank You for preparing me for Your eternal glory. I cast my cares on You, knowing that my trials and troubles are momentary and light, compared to the wonderful eternity You have for me, according to Your Word. Thank You for Your eternal blessing on my life, which begins today and will last forever, beyond this life and into the next, in Christ’ Name! Amen.

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I Am Your Everything

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14, NIV)

In Scripture God is called the Great I AM – to many – the greatest title for God. Through this title He’s saying, “I am everything you need. I am the Creator of the universe. I am the one who spoke the worlds into existence. I am your strength. I am your wisdom. I am your protection. I am your provider. I am your way-maker. I am your problem solver. I am your dream giver. I am your victory!” Hallelujah! 

In Scripture David says “Though I am surrounded by troubles, You will bring me safely through. Your fist is clenched against my enemies. Your power will save me” (Psalm 138). Do you feel like David today? Are you surrounded by all kinds of difficulties and enemies? Maybe you are tempted to just settle right where you are.  

Today, you need to get your fire back! Instead of focusing on how big your problems are, focus on God the I AM. Your water when you’re thirsty, your food when you’re hungry, your helper when you’re helpless, your hope when you’re hopeless. He is everything you need. He is the Great I AM, and He is the one leading and guiding you into victory! 

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14, NIV) 

Let’s Pray 

Yahweh, thank You for being the I AM – everything that I need to live. Father, I choose to focus on Your greatness today despite my difficulties and enemies. God, I receive Your provision and victory, in Christ’s Name! Amen. 

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Your Troubles Won’t Last Forever

Breaking news – your troubles will come to an end. Hallelujah! In this life, God warns that we will have trials and tribulations. The good news is that He also promises to deliver us from them all! Now, He doesn’t necessarily say that He will deliver us instantly, or the way we expect, or on our schedule.  

When things don’t happen the way you expect, it can be tempting to get discouraged, down and despondent. When you feel like trouble is surrounding you, that’s when you have to dig your heels in as the saying goes, and say “I’m not going to give up, because God promised me victory!” 

Today, if you are going through a dark time, keep moving forward! Remember, it’s always darkest just before dawn. That difficulty didn’t come to stay, it came to pass as the Bible says. Please stay in faith and keep praising and thanking God for delivering you. Set your hope in Him, stir up your faith, and keep believing, because soon you will see the victory God has prepared for you! Hallelujah! 

“Our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:17, NLT) 

Let’s Pray 

Yahweh, thank You for giving me the strength to overcome every trouble I face today through Your Spirit. Father, I set my mind on You. I set my hope on Your love, knowing that You are paving the way for my victory all the days of my life, in Christ’s Name! Amen. 

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What Do You Do When Things Seem Hopeless?

If It Had Not Been For The Lord Where Would You Be?

Are you feeling hopeless today? Habakkuk the prophet knew what to do when things seemed completely hopeless. His world was literally falling apart. He had nothing. Things seemed destitute. What did Habakkuk do? He rejoiced and praised the Lord in spite of everything.  

Habakkuk, knew that his God was bigger than his circumstances, and He already had a way to get Him out of those problems. Habakkuk decided to look beyond his difficulty, hardship and hopelessness, to what his God had done and could do in his life! 

Today, let Habakkuk be your example. When something bad happens to you, try and thank God before complaining and getting negative, not because you’re suffering, but because you know He has the answer to all you’re going through. When things look hopeless, praise Him, because it will bring hope to your circumstances! 

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” 

O(Habakkuk 3:17—18, NIV) 

Let’s Pray

Yahweh, I cry out to You in the midst of my troubles, hopelessness and despair. Praising You because You are my only hope. God, I bless You and magnify You, knowing You have an awesome plan for my future, in Christ’s Name! Amen. 

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I AM

As we come towards the end a year of uncertainty, one person that is certain is God! We serve a great and mighty God who is in control despite the chaos! He is the Creator of the universe, the one who spoke the worlds into existence. Scripture says He is the Great I AM, and He’s saying today, “I am everything you need. I am your strength. I am your wisdom. I am your protection. I am your provider. I am your way maker. I am your problem solver. I am your dream giver. I am your victory!” Hallelujah!  

In the Psalms David says, “Though I am surrounded by troubles, You will bring me safely through. Your fist is clenched against my enemies. Your power will save me.” Maybe you feel like David today.  

Today, you may be surrounded by all kinds of difficulties. You’re tempted to just settle right where you are. No, it’s time to get your fire back! Instead of focusing on how big your problems are, focus on how big your God is! He is everything you need. He is the Great I AM, and He is the one leading and guiding you into victory! 

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14, NIV) 

Let’s Pray

Yahweh, thank You for being my certainty in the midst of all this uncertainty. Father, I declare today that I will focus on Your greatness. God, thank You for the reminder that You are in control – my I AM – my everything that I need to live the life of victory, in Christ’s Name! Amen.  

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My Present Help

Today’s verse is taken from a time in my life when I got arrested and felt all alone, but the thought that God was always with me was comforting. It means He is present at all times – continually, perpetually, throughout all time. In your day of trouble, He promises to be a help to you.

You may ask How is He your help? “Help” means something different to each person. That’s because “help” is specific to your need. If you need money to pay your bills, a chocolate cake isn’t going to be much help! But, we serve a God who is very specific. And because He is always with you, He always knows exactly what you need and is always ready to provide it!

Today, as trouble and adversity come your way, know that God is with you. Trust that He has the answer, and that He is working things out. As you continue to believe Him and follow His direction, He will lead you in the way that you should go. He will comfort you, revive you, restore you and bless you! He will be your ever-present help, because He is forever faithful to His promise!

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

(Psalm 46:1, NIV)

Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for being my ever-present help during some tough times. Father, I trust today that You will comfort me and restore my soul. God, I lift my eyes to You this day. Help me to follow Your commands and honour You, as You direct my steps and lead me out of trouble, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.

A special word from the Lord, from Pastor Ray Patrick

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How to Find Strength in Tough Times: A Biblical Approach for Conquering Life’s Hardships

How to Find Strength in Tough Times: A Biblical Approach for Conquering Life's Hardships

Reading through Job 19, we get a glimpse of the hardship Job went through. The chapter details just how difficult life was for him at that time. People around him had nothing good nor helpful to say. He met no comfort. Instead, all he kept hearing were tormenting and crushing words that sank his spirits even deeper. People were condemning him; suspicious that he was in great sin because of the great trials and sufferings he was going through. People thought themselves better than him and looked on him with contempt without any effort to hide what they felt.

In prayers, Job cried for help and for justice, but God didn’t seem to answer. He felt God had closed all doors and left him in the dark. He was stripped of decency. His friends and relatives forsook him. His workers wouldn’t beckon to his call. Even his very wife was repulsed with him. To top it off, his body was wearing out because of a disease.

In all these, he decides to still set his mind on God. He says, “I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end, he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh, I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Now we must remember that Job was a real person. He was just like us. He wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t supernaturally endowed with resolve or spirituality. He was like us in every way and the book of Job shows how human Job was like we are. The account of Job is to be thanked because it shows us that the child of God can weather the storms and setbacks of life. You and I can respond right even when things are going so wrong. Through the life of Job, we can find encouragement to stay the path even when the flesh wants what Job’s wife wanted in chapter 2 verse 9, “to curse God and just die.”

When the wind is against us and when we can’t make sense of what to do, Scripture points us to how we can respond right.

1. When life is troublesome, keep trusting.

Even impending death should not be a cause for a Christian to forsake God. Job 13:15 says, “Though He slays me, yet will I trust Him”.

2. When life is bad, keep loving God.

We may not understand the situation but God has proven Himself over and again that He is good. Think of Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

3. When nights are sleepless, keep staying your mind on God.

Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You.” Philippians 4:7 says, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” There’s one blessing the child of God can enjoy, to have peace even when everything is in chaos. This cannot be achieved by human methods, not by yoga, not by any potion. But when you’re at your wit’s end, when your back is against the wall and you have nowhere to go, the Spirit of God in you comes to calm you and bring you to stillness. In perfect release, surrender, and trust, you find God. You find peace.

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Instead of Waiting for Better Times You Better Create Them

This morning I awoke as Sal the Grumpy Gal. The world is so demanding. Trying to swim amid raising my children, balancing bills, and busily patching potholes of our life’s path had me in a mega funk when I opened my eyes this morning.

Ever noticed how we are always waiting? Lately, I’ve been checking things off my to-do list waiting for a break to be at home, on my machine resting, and with nothing on the agenda. Guess what? Two or three things pop up that need my attention. I know I’m preaching to the choir. We are all waiting for rest, vacation checks to hit our checking account, children to become self-sufficient, cars and homes to be paid off, retirement, and for our lives to just chill down a little. Endless waiting.
The other day I watched a documentary on an exercise guru who joined the ALS Club Med. My main caregiver, Ben, came through the living room and said, “Sal, what are you thinking? Don’t watch that. You don’t need to see it.” He was right. As I watched a handsome, Greek-God looking man wither, my mind went to the dark place of waiting. Waiting to when I’m frozen and can’t whiz my scoot around, roll my dogs, or check out the garden areas in my yard. Waiting for a cure for ALS. Waiting until I want to just stay in bed and wave the white flag. Waiting for my diaphragm to fail. Waiting for someone to scratch that place on my nose because I can’t. Waiting for God to take me home. This happens every so often. I get overwhelmed of trying to live with my limitations. Believe it or not, my family still looks to Sal the Frail Gal to patch holes and glue our tattered lives so we can stick together and have a smoother ride.

If you’re waiting for the highway of life to be smooth, I have bad news. Even Sal the Hole-filling Gal can’t write everything. I can only do the best I can. All we can do is be the best person we can be in each moment and choice we are given.

When I’m waiting for better times or worrying about a huge hole in the road ahead, I think of birds. I think of heaven. I think of plans God has for me. Birds remind me that God will provide. I know Heaven is not of earth. It’s the time when my soul takes flight. I trust the plans for me because it’s not on my to-do list. It’s time to pull up my sleeves and let my waiting turn into action. Don’t waste your time waiting; live. What are you waiting for?

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10 Motivational Quotes to Get You Through Your Procurement Woes

10 Motivational Quotes to Get You Through Your Procurement Woes

Is your procurement project stuck in a rut?  

A well crafted quote, very much like good storytelling  and  can elucidate fuzzy concepts. For example, creativity” and “innovation” are not the first two words that come to mind when talking about procurement. However, According to Deloitte’s paper Charting the Course, this is where procurement’s destiny lies.

By transforming beyond today’s definition of “procurement as the sourcing of raw materials, and goods and services,” procurement can  reach new heights.

Here are 10  quotes to help you find motivation and inspiration to make a positive change.

  1. All models are wrong but some of them are useful – George Box (Statistician)
  2. People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel – Maya Angelou (Writer)
  3. We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them – Albert Einstein
  4. Opportunity arises for the prepared mind – Louis Pasteur (chemist and microbiologist)
  5. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – Lao Tzu (Philosopher)
  6. What gets measured, gets managed – Peter Drucker
  7. Leonardo da Vinci’s Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication –  Dale Dauten
  8. Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength – Corrie ten Boom
  9. The best way to predict the future is to invent it – Alan Kay
  10. Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value – Albert Einstein

What are some of your favorite inspirational quotes? Share in the comments

 

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