today

The message this morning was so amazingly applicable! Tom, our Sunday School pastor was talking about joy amidst trials and struggles - wow!!! He might as well of said that this is for the Castro family, but why don't the rest of you listen in! I'm sure that there are many others in our group who are going through their own trials, this just happened to hit so close to home for us.

I Peter 1:3-6

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials

Tom was saying that Christians can greatly rejoice because of three things found in this text:
1) God grants us joy

2) God guarantees joy

3) God guards joy

We have seen, first hand, God showing His mercy to us and we have been able to experience true, lasting joy.

I've been thinking much about trials and what God gives to us and was thinking about Job - a precious man from the Bible - he was a wealthy man, he had a wonderful family, had many animals - by the world's standard he "had it all" - in a moment it was all taken from him!! Job 1:20-22 (after finding out all that he had was gone) "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." At the end of chapter 2 (verses 9&10) he says this: "Then his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.' But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips."

The example of Job has been an amazing one! He is right - why should we only expect good from God? God is good, but without trials we wouldn't know what we really believed! We can say that we love God and believe that there is a God, but when you walk through fire that is when you have to "put your money where your mouth is" so to speak!

Do you know what you believe? Why do you believe it? Many people believe in God - do you know that James 2:19 says You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder.

If I have learned anything from the life and death of our son, it is that there is no time like the present to make yourselves right before God Almighty, Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour!

Jude 24-25

Now to him sho is able to keep you from stunbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.