Tag: joy

Grace So Wondrous and Free

Fearless Faith and Awestruck Joy -Grace so Wondrous and Free

“Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.” C.S.Lewis

God had chosen Abraham to be the Father of Faith, to be the lineage through whom Christ would be born, to establish a nation, and to be the one through whom God would bless the world. “6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Galatians 3).

ultimate-inspiration-gods-plan-of-love-ronald-barbaartwork used by permission of the artist Ronald Barba and is protected by copyright—for further information, please go to http://www. barba-art.com

To prepare Abraham for the greatest act of faith that he would ultimately perform in his willingness to take Isaac to place on the altar (as recorded in Genesis 22); God allowed many trials in Abraham’s life. God step by step took Abraham’s hand to lead him forward. Abraham stumbled a lot along that path and even fell down many times; but, each time God intervened.

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In the Midst of the Storm

 

In this lifetime, we will face storms at times, whether they are storms within our own souls, storms within our emotions, relationship storms, or financial storms. When they come we tremble, we wonder where has God gone; doesn’t He know how desperately we are hurting? Doesn’t He care? Why would He allow such tragedies to occur? Some would even say, “I’ve been trying to follow His will? What now? How do I start again?” I am certain Job very much felt that way as He sat in the ashes scraping his wounds-everything gone. Was this God’s punishment? Was it judgment for Job’s sins? Yet, the scripture tells us that “Job was a righteous man.” Job’s faith had been counted for righteousness, much like ours. So, why the storms?

save meUsed by permission of Ronald Barba for information go to http://www.barba-art.com

In Job 37 we are reminded: “12 The lightning bolts are directed by his hand and do whatever he commands throughout the earth.13 He sends the storms[a](TLB) 13 He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.”(KJV)

We see here that though there may be times when God sends storms for correction; yet, other times it is “for the land” and other times it is “for mercy.” So, let us explore these three reasons for storms just a little deeper.

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