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Thou Tellest My Wanderings Have you ever read a familiar passage and suddenly had a word or a phrase in it leap out in such a way that it affects you and catches your attention? That is what happened today with this verse: Psalms 56:8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? I don’t know how many times through the years I have thought of or referenced that verse to others, focussing specifically on the second part of it - put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? And truly, knowing the Lord our God sees every tear we cry, makes a note of them, and puts them in a bottle, storing them up for us is a tremendous comfort. Often we see those same tears being used to comfort and strengthen someone else down the road who finds themselves going through that Vale of Tears, that Valley of Weeping spoken of in Psalm 84. Psalms 84:6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. But today I ...

Job's Lessons In Trust: Times Of Testing Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. Eschew means to "avoid, shun, abstain from, keep away from." Here we see a God-fearing (Proverbs 8:13; 16:6 and Job 28:28), upright (saved, righteous) man that sought to please the Lord in his life. He was perfect (meaning "spiritually mature" ), and kept himself away from evil. He also strove to ensure that his children didn't forsake the Lord. (See verse 5) Yet, as the story goes on to relate, Job undergoes a tremendous time of testing - all because of his steadfast walk with the Lord! Job 1:6-12 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. A...

  The Furnace Of Affliction  - Part Two Come Forth As Gold Isaiah 48:10  Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 1) Man's Outward Trials.  A) Mankind In General:   It is obvious, from the overall testimony of Scripture, from beginning to ending, man’s lot on this earth is full of trials, troubles, afflictions, sufferings. Ever since Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden, the curse of sin has affected all of our lives. The furnace of affliction has affected all of us.  Psalms 90:3, 5-10  Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. For we are consumed by Thine anger, and by Thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in...

The Furnace Of Affliction  - Part One As Silver Is Tried Isaiah 48:10  Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. Do you feel like you are going through fiery trials? Feel like waves are crashing against your soul? Feel like the storm clouds on the horizon are just getting darker and fiercer?  There is a reason for all that the Lord allows into your life, including the troubles and afflictions. If you are a child of God (through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ), then all that happens in your life - whether good or ill - is for the purpose of making you more Christ-like according to Romans 8:28-29,  And we know that  all  things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. If we understand the general...

Running The Race Of The Christian Life The Bible uses different metaphores to describe the Christian, such as a farmer, a workman, a soldier, a wrestler, etc. One of my favourite is that of a believer being pictured as a runner in a race, the race of the Christian life. Note that the race is for believers, and they are running against themselves to determine their rewards - it is not a race to determine whether someone will get to Heaven or not. That is determined on what you do with the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. If there was a time and place when you turned from your sin and turned to Jesus Christ to save you from your sins, believing in your heart that He is the only Saviour and that He paid the complete penalty for your sins when He died on the cross, then at that moment you entered into this race. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temp...

When Life Doesn't Go As You Planned Joseph was born the eleventh son of a family of twelve brothers and one sister. He was the oldest child of his father Jacob's (Israel's) favourite wife, Rachel. His mother died giving birth to the youngest son in the family, Benjamin. Genesis 37:2-4 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. In the book of Genesis, we can see four major disappointments in Joseph's life - things that he did not plan on, but that had a major impact on his life and future plans...

I preached this sometime last week, but didn't write the date on my notes. I wanted to write up this message because I know at least one friend who could use the encouragement because of some trials he is facing for standing for what it right. I encourage you to read Nehemiah chapters four and six first, as that is the background of this devotion. Building Up The Walls In Our Lives Nehemiah 4:1-3 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. Nehemiah travelled back to Jerusalem and saw firsthand the sad state...