God often sends us trials that our graces may be discovered, and that we may be certified of their existence. Besides, it is not merely discovery, real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials. God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. Charles Spurgeon
So since we stand surrounded by all those who have gone before, an enormous cloud of witnesses, let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us. Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor. Consider the life of the One who endured such personal attacks and hostility from sinners so that you will not grow weary or lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3
Entangled? Weighed Down?
What is weighing us down? Throw it off. In this generation, one of our obvious flaws is we have way too much stuff going on and definitely way too much on our plate. Jesus, help us to calculate the unnecessary in our life and lay it down. The human condition is so hard-headed, willful and independent to a fault. A lot of our suffering is of our own making. What is it that has us so entangled? Is it our own human condition which has run amuck? We must unravel ourselves from all the knotted-up affairs of our life and make the crooked path of our relationships, straight. Begin by cutting out the knots of bitterness and unforgiveness which have twisted up our soul, and continue by fleshing out, working our heart strings into smooth, straight ways. It is a good thing to pick up the trait of patient endurance and weave it into our human condition, so it can be the part of us which navigates our way, so we can be found setting a steady life-pace of active persistence in faith, hope and belief.
“The little troubles and worries of life may be as stumbling blocks in our way, or we may make them stepping-stones to a nobler character and to Heaven. Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things.” — Henry Ward Beecher
What Are You In Followship Of?
It is obvious we will always have a worldly viewpoint, this is part of our human nature we can’t escape it as we live and breathe and make our way in the world. Yet, we can exchange the focus of our viewpoint, it can be centralized in thought and deed through the Kingdom Perspective we get in our vital-vertical relationship with Jesus. It is a narrow path we follow as we chase after the Holy Spirit, pursing Him and letting Him navigate our way and set our life pace by His compass. Followship of God ensures we will win our life-race. It doesn’t really matter what obstacles spring up on our life-path, we will have the wisdom and steady pace of faith to overcome and run our race excellently. To be a winner, you must not be a stranger to followship of God. Know Him.
“A Life In Thankfulness Releases The Glory Of God.”
Quote By — Bengt Sundberg
We do need to develop our Awe of Jesus and restore our reverence in Him. This will happen as we stay wholly-holy aligned with Jesus, and set the pace on our life-path according to the tick-tock of His heart desires. Getting to know God, getting to know His heart and thinking His thoughts, living like Him, will develop our Awe of Him. As this amazing character trait of AWE grows in us, so will gratefulness bloom in our soul and we will have a spirit that blossoms in gratefulness. When you have an attitude of thanks and praise in your soul, there is no trial that can derail your relationship with God. Awe of God is a powerful thing, it never travels alone, it is accompanied by reverence, respect, gratefulness, thanksgiving, and these things are necessary staples for bold courage, active persistence, and patient endurance; all of which impassions runners on their life-path with a gait steady in faith and strong in trust.
Psalm 119:60 The Passion Translation I give my all to follow your revelation-light; I will not delay to obey.
A Perfected Runner
Way-Maker God, in followship of you today, I willessly submit to your lead. I know without a doubt You will lead me on a life path that won’t be without tests and trials along the way. With you being involved in my every moment, my trials will not be more than I can handle, because you equip me and You are so up to the task of perfecting me through my trials. You are so like that, purposefully so, bringing out the good in me through the hard times. I will run steadfastly, with a steady pace of faith, patiently enduring as You navigate and chart my course. I know I will grow through this life race with a learned, active persistence, as I good-naturedly undergo the pace You set, staying wholly-holy aligned with You. Focused on You, Jesus, I will finish this life-race perfected as a runner, because You are the best winner and I am in followship of You.
Hebrews 12:11-13 Now all discipline seems to be more pain than pleasure at the time, yet later it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who yield to it.1 So be made strong even in your weakness by lifting up your tired hands in prayer and worship. And strengthen your weak knees, for as you keep walking forward on God’s paths all your stumbling ways will be divinely healed! The Passion Translation
Got A Crooked Path? Listen Up!
Gods discipline clears a pathway through our human condition plowing, grading, firming, creating smooth, straight paths out of the crooked paths of our human nature. These times of our lives are not easy, but we can grow through them. Though, we should not underestimate the strain our trials can be on our soul, or the unpredictable enemy behind them, the good news is our enemy can’t disrupt things too much in our life without God’s purposeful permission. God is in the midst of our trials and He does not leave us alone in our hard times, He is shaping our character, perfecting our spirit. We are perfected in Christ. God’s purposes are always in play as we are growing through distressful times, where our status quo is disrupted. God’s Presence is likened to that of an Advocate on our behalf, as the enemy schemes in his adversarial way, our Advocate works out justice on our behalf.
We may feel alone, but we aren’t. We are surrounded by an army of witnesses. They have run the race of faith and finished well. It is now our turn. The Voice Commentary
Fully embrace God’s correction as part of your training, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. For who has ever heard of a child who never had to be corrected? 8 We all should welcome God’s discipline as the validation of authentic sonship. For if we have never once endured his correction it only proves we are strangers and not sons. And isn’t it true that we respect our earthly fathers even though they corrected and disciplined us? Then we should demonstrate an even greater respect for God, our spiritual Father, as we submit to his life-giving discipline. 10 Our parents corrected us for the short time of our childhood as it seemed good to them. But God corrects us throughout our lives for our own good, giving us an invitation to share his holiness. Hebrews 12:7-10 The Passion Translation
Always An Afterward
The best position during our suddenly trials, when at the onset are infused with massive confusion, is to cling to God, dig our life roots deeply in Him; knowing that what has begun negatively, He will finish it positively well on our behalf. A beginning always has an afterwards, a later on and we know the endgame of the Lord is good. Our God is good. All that begins with His Authority, ends well, as He always finishes what He starts, there is always an afterward that is better than its beginning. There is no beginning that does not have an afterwards, evening sorrow may come, but joy rises brightly in the morning. As we suffer, we know we will grow through, we are learning one step at a time, knowing that God’s endgame is the growth of righteousness in us, our character stretching that finishes with a holy alignment in God’s Will. God’s perfect purposes in play will yield a God excellence in thought, action and habitual right living. We are perfected by our trials. Heavenly Hindsight is always the sweetest joy after a long night of striving as we grow through a trial perfectly, purposefully allowed.
Since we are receiving our rights to an unshakeable kingdom we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights his heart as we lay down our lives in absolute surrender, filled with awe. 29 For our God is a holy, devouring fire! Hebrews 12:28-29 The Passion Translation
So glad you visited the Miraculous Musing table of The Bridegroom’s Café and hoping you feel soul nourished by this meal: “Perfected”. We can stay in followship of God as we listen up to His Voice. The Bridegroom’s Voice is a book which will help you do just this. It is an amazing Journey with Jesus, learning and growing as you go, hearing His Voice daily. I hope you purchase it today, I know you will enjoy the God Adventure of this amazing book. God bless you, KimberlyMac
