Oh, God, forgive me when I whine

[sincereheart]

God's Got a Plan
by Susan Graham Mathis

Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it feels like to want to give up. Permanently paralyzed from the neck down from a diving accident at the age of 17, despair led Joni to agonize, “Why, Lord?” Three decades ago she couldn’t have possibly dreamed how God was planning to answer that prayer.
 
Yet after rehabilitation, she found purpose in her physical disabilities, especially after her autobiographical book and subsequent movie Joni jump-started a lifelong ministry. Because of her experiences, Joni and her husband, Ken, believe that hardships should cause us to view our troubles in light of God’s plan.

As founder and president of Joni and Friends (JAF) Ministries, Joni’s vision is to “extend the love and message of Christ to people affected by disability and to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of this group of people in practical ways.” Joni and Ken know that caring accountability and affirmation from other believers is what can make all the difference in the midst of hard times. Daily stresses, strains and pressures can leave the physically challenged—or anyone for that matter—exhausted.

“Providing support, encouragement, consolation and comfort is not only a major aspect of our ministry but a major ministry of the body of Christ,” Joni says. “It’s providing the way out of the miry pit of depression, despair and self-pity. You realize that there is always somebody worse off than you, and from that understanding you find the strength to be victorious and carry on in even the toughest situations.”

Joni loves hymns, and singing hymns provides the background to all she does—difficult or easy. “Even though I’m confined to this chair,” Joni says, “my heart can always sing—always leap for joy.”

~Strength through relationships

Joni and Ken also find strength from their marriage. “Some of the limitations brought on by my disability force us to confess sin, ask for forgiveness, repent and humble ourselves before each other daily,” Joni says. “But why should I think this desperation is just for disabled people? Everyone should work hard to keep their relationships fresh.

“Ken and I are convinced that we desperately need the life, freshness, grace and power of God as individuals and as a couple—every day—or else we’re going to fall apart.” Her wheelchair continually reminds them of that desperation.

“As a couple, we can’t just storm off and go our own separate ways. We have to work things out,” Ken says. “If I’m putting Joni to bed, it’s a little difficult to be angry while I put cold cream on her face.”

~Divine plans

Philippians 3:10 says that followers of Christ are to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death. Christians eagerly want to know Christ, His power and His resurrection, but the rest of the verse is the hardest to grasp. “We’ll follow Him,” Joni says, “to the hillside where He turns a couple of fish and a few loaves of bread into a lunch for thousands. We’ll attend a wedding where He turns water into wine. We’ll follow Him to the beach, hug our knees, sit on the sand and adore His words. But nobody wants to know the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. Yet that is where the power, the intimacy, the sweetness of knowing Him is. That’s where change happens.

“We shouldn’t view life’s struggles as daunting obstacles to our happiness. They can be the very keys to our lasting happiness, true contentment and godly joy.”


http://www.family.org/fofmag/cl/a0026949.cfm

This article appeared in Focus on the Family magazine. Copyright © 2003 Focus on the Family.
All rights reserved. International copyright secured.

[Shylynne]

I was given a tape of Joni when I was just a teenager, her story  left a lasting impression on my life...

“Providing support, encouragement, consolation and comfort is not only a major aspect of our ministry but a major ministry of the body of Christ,” Joni says. “It’s providing the way out of the miry pit of depression, despair and self-pity. You realize that there is always somebody worse off than you, and from that understanding you find the strength to be victorious and carry on in even the toughest situations.”


what a shining example of the  grace of God!

[sincereheart]

The Deeds Undone.....by Bertha A. Lawson

It isn't the thing you do, friend,
it's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you the bitter heartache,
at the setting of the sun:
The tender words unspoken,
to letter you did not write,
The flowers you might have sent,
are your haunting ghosts at night.

The stone you might have lifted,
out of a dear friend's way,
The bit of heartsome counsel you
were hurried too much to say:
The loving touch of a helping hand,
the gentle and winsome tone,
That you had no time or thought for,
with troubles enough of your own.

These little acts of kindness,
so easily out of mind,
These chances to be angels,
which even mortals find.
They come in night and silence,
each chill reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
and a blight has dropped on faith.

For life is all too short, friend,
and sorrow is all to great,
To suffer our slow compassion,
that tarries until too late.
So, it's not the things you do,
it's the deeds you leave undone,
Which gives you a bitter heartache,
at the setting of the sun.

[sincereheart]

They forgot their God, their mighty savior, the one who had given them life.
- Deuteronomy 32:18
God Speaks Bible

Imagine for a moment that someone you love comes to you and asks to borrow a small sum of money. You no doubt would lend it gladly, in part because of the close relationship you share.
Now imagine that this same person continues to come to you, asking for loans, food, clothing, the use of your car, and a place to stay. At the same time, let's imagine that your friend approaches you only when he or she needs something... no time for anything more.

While you do love this person, you would probably begin to feel that something is wrong. It's not the asking but the attitude. No one wants to feel they are significant only as a source of goods and services.

So often we come to God with our request list in hand... "God, please do this...." or "God, I want...." God delights in answering our prayers and providing for our needs, but He wants us to think of Him as more than a big "vending machine" in the sky. His desire is for us to know Him personally and spend time with Him daily, enjoying the wonders of His loving presence.

Have you ever considered approaching God just to be sociable? Now might be a good time to start.
 
Copyright (C) GodSpeaks, (TM) Inc. 2004
All Rights Reserved

[emp821]

thanks for the poem i needed that right now! and if anyone has advice see my problem under "ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP"

[sincereheart]

BIBLE MEDITATION: “But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: In order to refine gold, a goldsmith places gold over a fire until it bubbles and glows. He skims off the impurity from the top and knows that when he can see his reflection, the gold is pure. That is what the Lord is doing when you go through trials. When He can see His likeness reproduced in your life, He’ll know that you have become gold fit for His use and for His glory. But, the fire is hot! Yes, but God controls it. No jeweler is more careful with his gold than a father with his children. He knows what He is doing. But, what about those things He is burning out of my life? You don’t need them. If you needed them, your loving Father would make sure you kept them.

ACTION POINT: Has God taken anything out of your life recently that you thought you couldn’t live without? Thank Him.

[sincereheart]

You can tell the size of your God by looking at the size of your worry list. The longer your list, the smaller your God. ~Author Unknown

[Symphony]

"Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God..."  (2 Peter 3:11)

"Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer by human passions but by the will of God." (1 Peter 4:1)

[sincereheart]

Posted by: Symphony

"Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God..."  (2 Peter 3:11)

"Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer by human passions but by the will of God." (1 Peter 4:1)

 

BIBLE MEDITATION: “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Mark 11:23

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: Did you ever play king of the mountain as a child? When you were on high ground, you could shove the others down, even though they were entrenched and determined to overtake you. In Joshua 14, we read that Caleb faced a city of giants, and yet because he had wholly followed the Lord, he had the strength of the Lord and said, “give me this mountain” (Joshua 14:11-12). All of us face giants every day – giants of doubt, fear, discouragement, financial ruin, sickness, broken relationships. Do you think that the giants that were in the Promised Land took God by surprise? God knew they were there all the time – they were part of His purpose to strengthen their faith. It’s time you got a bulldog grip on the Word of God and believe what He says to be true.

ACTION POINT: What are the giants you are facing today? Ask God for the faith to conquer those giants.

[sincereheart]

Keep us, O God, from pettiness; let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.
Let us be done with faultfinding and leave off self-seeking.
May we put away all pretenses and meet each other, face to face, without self-pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgment and always generous.
Let us take time for all things; make us to grow calm, serene, gentle.
Teach us to put in action our better impulses-straightforward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize it is the little things of life that create difficulties; that in the big things of life we are as one.
Oh, Lord, let us not forget to be kind.
Amen.

~Prayer Of Mary Stewart (Mary, Queen of Scotts)

[sincereheart]

Difficulties to a Christian are only miracles that have not yet happened!

~Anonymous

[sincereheart]

Until I learned to trust,
I never learned to pray.

And I did not learn to trust,
Till sorrows came my way.

Until I felt my weakness,
His strength I never knew.

Nor dreamed till I was stricken,
That He could see me through.

Who deepest thinks of sorrow,
Drink deepest of Grace.

He sends the storm so He Himself,
Can be our hiding place.

~Author Unknown
PulpitHelps.com

[Shylynne]

ACTION POINT: Has God taken anything out of your life recently that you thought you couldn’t live without? Thank Him.

 whew!

[sincereheart]

LEARNING THROUGH DIFFICULTIES
 
If anyone could say that they had learned to love God more through suffering and hardship, it would be the late Corrie Ten Boom, who suffered at the hands of the Nazis in prison camps.  Corrie suffered in the prison but would tell as many people as possible about the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ every day in the camp.   She obtained a small New Testament and smuggled it past guards, and her ministry began.

She said "Before long we were holding clandestine Bible study groups for an evergrowing group of believers, and Barracks 28 became known throughout the camp as 'the crazy place, where they hope.'"

Corrie learned that the concentration camp was a place of hardship that also was a classroom of growth in God. She added, "The school of life offers some difficult courses, but it is in the difficult class that one learns the most especially when your teacher is the Lord Jesus Christ. The hardest lessons for me were in a cell with four walls. The cell in the prison at Scheveningen was six paces in length, two paces in breadth, with a door that could be opened only from the outside . . . After that time in prison, the entire world became my classroom."

[sincereheart]

FACING HARDSHIPS
 
Charles Steinmetz was born with severe limitations - he was a cripple, as people of his day would say.  He was dwarfish in appearance and suffered from a severe hunchback deformity.  His mother died before he was one year old, but his poverty-stricken father decided to give his child the best love and care he could.  

With little money, his father made ends meet and helped his grwoing child learn.  Charles could not run and play but he could read and learn, and he found an interest in science.  Making up his mind to make his discoveries for the benefit of mankind, he studied hard and then immigrated to the U.S.

Talk about more difficulties! He knew not a word of English and has such a deformed appearance that the port authorities were tempted to return him to his native Switzerland. With defective sight and torn clothes, Charles found a job that paid him twelve dollars a week. Working for the small fledgling company General Electric, Charles Steinmetz quickly showed himself to be one of the greatest experts in the world in the field of electricity. His career was a stunning series of ground-breaking research and development. As his death in 1923, Charles Steinmez was honored as one of the founding fathers of the powerful General Electric.

How bad was your day really?