Enduring Trials And Tribulations By Nanyamka Boyer
Good day to you my beloved brother or sister in our Loving Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, our Strong Tower and Refuge from the storms of life! It is my prayer that this devotion finds you healthy and full of the fire of the Holy Spirit in your heart and life. For remember that it is He who keeps us put in our walk with God and draws us to Jesus, the Sweet Lover of our souls, as the Lord Himself tells us in the Gospel of John in John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." For the Holy Spirit does the will of the Father, of the Son and of His own will, for they are three in One and are always in agreement, and in one accord with each other.
So, as you walk with Jesus, continue to ask Him to keep drawing you to Him, by keeping you hungry and thirsty for Him, for His Word and Holy Ways, so you can continue to seek Him and want Him in your heart and life. For there is no reason for us to remain at bay from the Lord, for He has given us all He could ever give us for us to have Him, especially His Holy Spirit now that He has ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.
But we must ask Him in our lives and what we desire for Him to do for us or we will be poor spiritually and will end up living without Him. And that is not what He came to this earth to accomplish and die for, but for us to be reconciled to Him, be saved from eternal damnation in hell and the Lake of Fire and have a relationship with Him. So, as the Lord says in His Word in James 4:8 "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
For our God is not a God who is far off, but who is close at hand to us, through His Holy Spirit, as He says in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 23:23-24 "Am I God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD." So do not be afraid to approach Him for the relationship that you need to have with Him, for the direction of your life and for the keeping of your soul. For remember that the Lord is not here to condemn us nor destroy us, but to save us, as He says in the Gospel of Luke in Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
On this day let us also remember that as Christians we must endure trials and tribulations, and not run away or fall away when life gets tough, but to cleave onto our God and not leave Him. For this is when our faith is being tested by fire for and before God, and we must remember that we are called to share in His sufferings, for as we do, we glorify Him. For remember that the Lord told us in the Gospel of Matthew that we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him in Matthew 16:24-25-26 "Then Jesus said to His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life (both spiritually and physically) shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life (both spiritually and physically, the Lord means) for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
For we partake of His sufferings, as we are living His life and no longer ours, for remember that we are crucified with Him on the Cross once we are have been born again, and this is why the Apostle Paul wrote and understood that he was crucified with the Lord and he no longer lived his own life, but Jesus' life, as he lived his life in the flesh, as we read in Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."
For if we are not willing to partake in His sufferings we will get offended about the Lord, and fall away when persecutions arise, as He told us in the Parable of the Sower in the Gospel of Matthew in Matthew 13:3-23, but we will read the meaning of this parable from Matthew 13:18-23 "Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by (or right away) he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
For days of great persecution are ahead of us Saints, and we must ask the Lord to prepare us for those days, strengthen our faith in Him and give us the amazing grace that we need and will need to endure unto death those days if needs be. And for those times that are soon to come upon us to not catch us unaware and without us being strong in our faith in Him. For this is why the Lord tells us that the one who endures till the end will be saved, and not the one who quits or falls away, when we read about the great tribulation period that will soon come upon the whole world, in the Gospel of Matthew in Matthew Chapter 24 and we read in verse 13 "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."
It is my prayer that you and I will endure now and those days until the end those persecutions, and our trials and tribulations without falling away and be as the Apostle Paul was and said in Philippians 3:10-11 "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death: If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."
Go with God, have a blessed, joyous and peaceful week, remembering what the Lord through His beloved Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 4:12-16 "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busy body in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf."
And remember that as the Lord's beloved people, we can do all things through Him who strengthens us, as the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." For the Holy Spirit lives in us and He is the Power of God to sustain us and gives us the courage to endure whatsoever the Father wills for us to ever go through. For remember that is not by power nor by might, but by the Lord's Spirit that He accomplishes all things in this world, especially through His Saints, as He says in Zechariah 4:6 "Then He answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."
So, as the Lord would say: "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might," as He says in Ephesians 6:10, though His Apostle Paul: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might."
For more words of encouragement and admonition from the Lord Jesus Christ, and for a worship experience, visit the author's website at: https://tboyer34.wixsite.com/boyer Or to purchase her books on Kindle or Paperback about teachings from the Word of God, visions and encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father, Heaven and of the Spiritual Realm, visit the author's page at: http://amazon.com/author/nanyamkaboyer You can also follow her on Twitter for updates about her books at: http://Twitter.com/Nanyamka_Boyer