REJOICE! Again I say, "Rejoice!"

​I want to write something right now that not everyone is going to get. Sometimes God's ways are hard to understand. I know that many of my Facebook friends love Jesus and are seeking to trust Him, but I also know that many are going through extremely hard circumstances right now. My dear friend, Karen Fisher, posted yesterday that her son has been in and out of ER for the last nine days. After getting worse and worse, the doctors gave him a Bam Infusion, and now his eyesight is worsening. Hard circumstances. I have been praying for this precious family since that post, but I also need to share. It is my prayer that God will give us all eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to understand what the Spirit is saying in this hour.

Hebrews 12:7 tells us to endure every hardship as discipline, for God disciplines those He loves. Discipline and punishment are two different things, although they often feel the same. It is how we respond to the hardships of life that matter. With everything that is happening, God is teaching us to trust Him. James 1:2-4 says, "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
OK. That is easier said than done, right. These circumstances are real. So how do we DO what God is asking us to do? Philippians 4:6 says, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for what He has done. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus." So if worry is in your heart, get it out. Face Jesus with your heart wide open and confess, "I am guilty of worrying, LORD. Please forgive me." When you do that, the spirt - and it is a spirit - will leave. While your heart is open to God, continue to ask Him to search your heart and see if there is anything else in there that needs to leave - anger, frustration, fear, doubt, sorrow, depression, regret, self-condemnation, etc. Once worry is out of your heart, tell God what you need and then begin to thank Him. Spend lots of time thanking Him. Rejoice! Again I say, rejoice!

When we get to the place where we are praising God, there is nothing that can touch us. Peace guards us and protects us, and we are now in a position where God can move mountains on our behalf. Psalm 81 says, "Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to the God of Jacob. Sing! Beat the tambourine. Play the sweet lyre and the harp. Blow the ram's horn at new moon, and again at full moon to call a festival! FOR THIS IS REQUIRED BY THE DECREES OF ISRAEL; IT IS A REGULATION OF THE GOD OF JACOB. HE MADE IT A LAW FOR ISRAEL WHEN HE ATTACKED EGYPT TO SET US FREE." Wow! Then it goes on to say, "I heard an unknown voice say, ' Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. you cried to Me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and TESTED YOUR FAITH when there was no water at Meribah."

Praise God! In EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. And don't you dare give the devil any glory by saying that he did it. No. The LORD disciplines (trains in righteousness - to believe and trust Him) those He loves. The LORD is on His throne (our heart), and He is doing something beautiful. Let Him. We cannot save ourselves. It is not possible. Read Jeremiah 17. Read it! God is doing a new thing! He is training us to trust Him.

So Karen and Victoria and Logan, I am praying for you all. Fix your eyes on Jesus, guard your heart, and give thanks. God is always up to something good. Rejoice. Again I say, "Rejoice." God is going to take care of you all.
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Terri