Rising Out Of The Ashes
You know, I was thinking. The legend of the Pheonix basically teaches that a great mythical bird rose up out of the ashes of detruction! I think about this and it brings to my mind all of the times that God has brought me "through the wilderness" or has helped me overcome or conquer some great obstacle in my life. All of us go through times of trials and struggles in our lives. It is one trait of humanity that everyone has in common. Most of the time our problem is that we have believed the lie that says "we can overcome it all by ourselves". We believe that with enough faith and enough prayer that God and I alone can do this! Most of the time that is not the case. I am convinced now more than ever that the main reason that we go through times of trial is for the sole purpose of allowing God to raise us from the ashes! He wants us to share these things with one another and show the victory that he has to give. The greatest times of encouragement that I have had in my life have been when somebody shares with me their trials, then allows me to minister to them in prayer. I then have the privialedge of watching God deliver them. It has changed my life.You see one of the greatest powers that the enemy has is that he likes to divide and conquer! He wants us to hold all of our struggles and trials inside. Because if we share them somebody might look at us a less strong or even weak! The opposite is true. The strongest Christians that I have ever known have been transparent! They have allowed me to see them for the REAL people that they are. That is what I strive to be transparent! I want people to learn from my mistakes and weaknesses. I want people to know that real Christians have real struggles and it is only through ministering to and helping one another that we can have victory! Remember that God loves you more than you can ever dream or imagine and that He does not want any of us to be an island but wants to raise us up from the ashes. Be blessed beyond belief today.
posted by Doug E. Pudge @ 8:01 AM
4 Comments:
divide and conquer is the way to defeat anything or anyone. We definitely need to stay united!
February 14
The Discipline of Hearing
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops
—Matthew 10:27
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into "the shadow of His hand" until we learn to hear Him ( Isaiah 49:2 ). "Whatever I tell you in the dark. . ."— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.
After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, "How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!" And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.
Doesn't God speak to us in numerous ways? Maybe He will speak through a book or another person while we are in that dark place. Sometimes He speaks to us through scripture, sometimes through various signs. Sometimes God does speak directly and specifically to us in that small still voice. I don't agree with all that you said, but I do agree with this: MAKE SURE IT IS GOD YOU LISTEN TO! B4T
Leave it to the Hawkman! B4T
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