For you O God has tried us like silver is tried. You brought us into snares, you laid heavy burdens on our backs, you let enemies ride over our heads, we went through fire and water, but you brought us out into a place of refreshment. Psalm 66
“How shall I repay the Lord for all His goodness and mercy towards me? I will enter into His house with thanksgiving and with burnt offerings, and will pay my vows to the Lord, which I promised with my lips and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.” How many times have we asked God to help us, and when he does, we soon forget and do not even remember to say, ‘Thank You, Lord’? It’s time to give God some praise!
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God and we should strive to make his love known.
You, little children, are from God and have overcome the world, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4
“Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. They do no iniquity; they walk in His way, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
God gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength, but we must wait on the Lord, and He shall renew our strength; we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; so, we must not allow your faith to rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. For, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
My brothers and sisters in Christ, God’s grace is sufficient for us. Scripture reminds us, that, we should take pleasure in infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon us. But who wants to be joyful when they are persecuted, distressed, in need, when sick, or being reproached? None of us. But we need to be mindful of this, that God’s grace is sufficient for us, His grace is enough to sustain us when we are weak because His strength is made perfect in weakness. If you have the faith to believe that this morning, if you do not allow yourself to become faint because of what you are going through, but learn to be joyful, God will give you the victory to triumph over everything you will face; because everyone who is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.
“Through all the changing scenes of life, in trouble and in joy, the praises of my God shall still my heart and tongue employ.”
We are faced with so much each day in this scene of life that we could easily lose our focus, we could so easily forget that God is with us, that our troubles will not last all day, and to not just ask God to bring us out of it. but to take us through it; all the while being joyful, and singing praises to our God. My brothers and sisters in Christ, we have reached a stage of maturity in our walk with God, if, “Through all the changing scenes of life, in trouble and in joy, that the praise of our God shall still our hearts and tongues employ”. Give God the glory!
“In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So, if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If you were given the gift of service, serve; and if it is teaching, teach.”
“There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. Now, to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us; if prophecy, let us prophesy, if it is leading, let us lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let us do it cheerfully; let us use the gifts given to us in proportion to our faith.”
“All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.”
“For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies, Lord our God to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise. For the wonder of each hour, of the day and of the night, hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light, Christ our God to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise. Thank you, Lord! We take so many things for granted. especially the little things. Lord, I am truly thankful.
Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? 1 Corinthians 6:8-9
“Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.” Thank you, Lord, for delivering me!
O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Psalm 104:25
“Yonder is the great and wide sea with its living things to many to number, creatures both great and small. All of them look to you and you give them their food in due season. Lord, you give it to them, they gather it, you open your hand and they are filled with good things. May the glory of the Lord endure forever, and may the Lord rejoice in all his works. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live, I will praise my God while I have my being.”