JUN. 24, 2025

Called to overcome (1)

"He who overcomes shall inherit all things." Rev 21:7 NKJV

A pastor writes: "All of us want every day to be a good day. But if every day was a good day, there would be no 'good' days, because there wouldn't be any bad days to compare the good days to… Sickness helps us appreciate health. Failure helps us appreciate success. Debt helps us appreciate wealth. And the tough times help us appreciate the good times... Adversity is often the seedbed of opportunity [because it has] a way of bringing the best out of us... Adversity is often a blessing in disguise.

We dream of zero gravity. We imagine what life would be like without any problems or issues or challenges.

But from a biological perspective, zero gravity is hazardous to your health. Astronauts who spend any length of time in zero gravity experience serious medical complications.

Without any resistance, they lose muscle mass and bone density, they experience high pulse rates and heart palpitations, and they can barely walk after re-entering the earth's atmosphere.

We may dream of zero gravity, but what we really need is a healthy dose of adversity. The people God uses the most are often the people who have experienced the most adversity. This isn't necessarily...what you want to read, but it's true. Adversity can produce an increased capacity to serve God."

Why? Because adversity causes us to

• turn to God, lean on God, seek God,
• and get to know God in a way we otherwise wouldn't.

Some of God's greatest promises in Scripture begin with the words "to him who overcomes." The Bible says, "People who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits" (Da 11:32 NKJV).

Called to overcome The tough times help us appreciate the good times.

Called to overcome. (2)

"This is the victory that has overcome the world -our faith." 1Jn 5:4 NKJV

A pastor encourages us: "Psychoanalyst

Alfred Adler conducted a fascinating research project that popularized the theory of compensation. He studied art students and discovered that seventy percent of them suffered from optical anomalies. He found degenerative traces in the ears of great composers like Mozart and Beethoven. And he cited numerous examples of other people who eventually became successful in the area of their greatest weakness. Adler believed that birth defects, poverty, illness, and negative circumstances often prove to be the springboard for success...God wants to recycle your adversity and turn it into a ministry. People go through a painful divorce or the death of a child or a destructive addiction, but God helps them climb out of the pit so they can help others in similar circumstances.

One of the most paralyzing mistakes we make is thinking that our problems somehow disqualify us from being used by God... No one rolls out the red carpet and invites tragedy into their life, but our greatest gifts and passions are often the byproduct of our worst tragedies and failures. Trials have a way of helping us rediscover our purpose in life."

The problems God has brought you through become a platform upon which you can stand and minister to others.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God" (2Co 1:3-4 NIV).

Called to overcome God wants to recycle your adversity

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

JUL. 3, 2025

You have come too far to give up now!.

"He persevered." Heb 11:27 NIV

V. Raymond Edman said, "To be torn...by external forces, and still...preserve one's inward integrity, is to know the discipline that endures." So when you're faced with opposition, do you automatically throw in the towel, or like Moses, do you persevere? Chuck Swindoll characterizes Moses as a man "who hung tough, who refused to give in or give up, who decided that no amount of odds against him would cause him to surrender…

• He possessed the disciplines of durability.
• He endured the contempt of Pharaoh...the stubbornness of the Hebrews who grumbled, blamed, complained, and rebelled... the criticism of Miriam and Aaron, his own sister and brother.
• When ten of the twelve spies came back with their nay-sayings, Moses stood fast.
• When Korah and Dathan and Abiram led a conspiracy against him, Moses remained 'resolute.

"When you have fought to a standstill...stand your ground' (Eph 6:13 PHPS)...

• when the wicked appear to be winning...in times of crisis…
• when no one will know if you compromised...
• when big people act contemptibly small…
• when people demand authority they don't deserve. Stand firm...
• keep your head…
• stay true...endure!

You may be getting shaky...[or] begun to listen too closely to your critics. Maybe you've started giving in...in little areas...because you're tired.

Moses endured-even in his eighties. How? By focusing...on 'Him who is invisible.' He fixed his heart and soul on the One who, alone, judges righteously. He continually reminded himself that his sole purpose was to please, obey, and glorify Him and to gain His approval at all cost." Whatever you're facing, stand strong and don't give up!

You have come too far to give up now! Stand your ground.

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

JUL. 2, 2025

Overcoming loneliness.

"Show deep love for each other." 1Pe 4:8 NLT

You don't have to be alone to be lonely. Some of us are married to emotionally unavailable spouses. Some of us put up with verbal and emotional abuse because we prefer anybody's company to our own. Some of the loneliest people you will meet are in crowded bars at "happy" hour.

They mingle, but they don't connect.

What is the answer?

(1) Get involved in a cause greater than self-interest.

After the Prodigal Son had spent his last penny partying with so-called friends, they forsook him, and he ended up alone in a hog pen. On the other hand, when the disciples were persecuted for their faith, the Bible says that "being let go, they went to their own company" (Ac 4:23). They had friends who shared their faith and their vision, who knew how to pray with them, strengthen them, and stand by them. And God has people like that who are waiting to become part of your life; you will find some of them in your local church.

(2) Practice being accepting of others. When you love and accept people as they are, they're drawn to you. "Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins" (1Pe 4:8 NLT).

(3) Reach out. Begin nurturing your relationships by connecting more often with the people you know and value. Don't get sucked into the Facebook/email/text-message-only communication vacuum. The founder of Wired Magazine says that his favorite form of communication is face-to-face, his second is by phone, and his third is via internet. Take a leaf out of his book.

Overcoming loneliness You don't have to be alone to be lonely.

Share This Devotional

Send us a text

Support the show

Changing Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!