What task has God assigned you? Has He assigned you to
establish a home,
strengthen a marriage,
lead a family,
serve a church,
teach in a classroom,
or comfort in a sick room?
Check your attitude toward the assignment. Do you grumble and complain about it? Do you neglect and ignore it? Do you resent and reject it? Or do you enjoy fulfilling it as your service unto the Lord? God wants you and me to enjoy our service to Him, whatever it may be. And He also wants us to discuss each detail with Him as we do the work. One of His pleasures, as well as ours, is the joy of working together as we complete the task. Often, the more difficult the task, the greater the joy because it enables us to see the power of God and just what He can do in and through and for us.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer. Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not slip. § When you roam, they will lead you; when you sleep, they will keep you; and when you awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light. § Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.
I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. § We have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place. § Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. § They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Ps. 119:105; 17:4–5; Prov. 6:22–23; Isa. 30:21;
John 8:12; 2 Peter 1:19; 1 Cor. 13:12; Rev. 22:5
What do you mean, sleeper? Arise.
This is not your rest … it is defiled, it shall destroy. § Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. § If riches increase, do not set your heart on them. § Set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Therefore arise.
Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. § Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
While the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. § Yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry § Now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. § Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.
Jonah 1:6; Mic. 2:10; Col. 3:2; Ps. 62:10; 1 Chron. 22:19;
Luke 22:46; 21:34; Matt. 25:5; Heb. 10:37; Rom. 13:11; Mark 13:35–36
The principle that suffering leads to glory is illustrated in Scripture by a vivid description of clay on the Potter’s wheel – clay that was once cracked, shattered, and broken, clay that was totally useless and ugly. The Potter took the clay and broke it down even further, grinding it into dust then moistening it with water before He put it on His wheel and began to remake it into a vessel pleasing to Himself. The cracks and chips and broken pieces disappeared as the clay became soft and pliable to the Potter’s touch.
But the clay was still soft and weak, the color dull and drab. So the Potter placed the vessel into the fiery kiln, carefully keeping His eye on it as He submitted it to the raging heat. At a time He alone determined was sufficient, the Potter withdrew the pot from the furnace. The blazing heat had radically transformed into a vessel of strength and glorious, multicolored beauty.
You and I are just little clay pots destined for glory!
You shall also make a plate of pure gold
and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
Pursue … holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. § God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. § But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. § By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.
This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. § Holiness adorns Your house, O Lord, forever.
For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. § Seeing … that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us … come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Ex. 28:36; Heb. 12:14; John 4:24; Isa. 64:6;
Lev. 10:3; Ezek. 43:12; Ps. 93:5; John 17:19; Heb. 4:14, 16
My cup runs over.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. § His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance. § Whether … the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. § Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. § Godliness with contentment is great gain. § My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Ps. 23:5; 34:8–10; Lam. 3:22–23; Ps. 16:5–6; 1 Cor. 3:22;
Eph. 1:3; Phil. 4:11; 1 Tim. 6:6; Phil. 4:19
The apostle Paul went through a period of intense suffering that he described as being impaled with a spike! He testified that three times he pleaded with God to remove the suffering, but his prayer was unanswered. When he must have cried out through clenched teeth, “Why?” God reassured him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s response indicates he caught sight of the big picture when he responded, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9-10, NIV).
What kinds of trials have caused you to suffer? Could it be God has given you a platform of suffering from which you can be a witness of His power and grace to those who are watching?
