Tag Archive: God


It’s Only A Test!

Are you going through the roughest time in your life right now? If so, how are you coping? Are you about to give up? Are you thinking that God has forgotten your struggles? Are you thinking that you will never overcome these tribulations? Have you been spiritually attacked? Are you being deceived by the enemy? Have you lost something or someone precious? Are you dealing with a sickness that has no cure by the doctors? Are you waiting on God to connect you with your partner in marriage? Have you been trying to get pregnant, but has been unfruitful in your effort? Have you been financially depressed? Have you been attacked by the ones who you think should have your back?

God told me to tell you that it’s only a test! How can you be promoted from one grade to the next, without having to undergo any test? Take for example, in the natural world, where you have been in grade 6, and should move to grade 7. Would you just get to grade 7 without enduring a test? NO!

God is getting ready to promote you in your finances, your ministry, your career, your educational status, your singleness, your barrenness, your loveless life, your health, and all that’s on your wish list. But you have to pass your test. It’s only when you have completed this test, you will be rewarded. Bear in mind, that if you fail the test, you will have to retake it. You have got to press! If you do not press, you won’t see the glory of the Lord! The race is not to the swift, but to those who will endure to the end (Ecclesiastes 9:11).

The woman with the issue of blood pressed in to receive her healing. She had faith to continue to endure throughout all that she had been through. Without faith, it’s impossible to please God, and if you can’t please Him, He can’t reward you (Hebrews 11:6).

When God restores, He gives you the biggest, the best, and the greatest! So come on, it’s not time to throw in the towel. Wherever you are right now, it’s time to muster every ounce of strength in your body, so that you can make it to the finish line. It just take a little more of your effort, even though you think all your strength has been exhausted. His grace is sufficient, as His strength is made perfect in weakness ( 2 Corinthians 12:9).

When you think enough is just enough, you have one more test to overcome, in order for God to advance you to the next level. If you are getting overly exhausted, and you believe it’s just too difficult to get past this level, I would personally love to pray for you. Please email me at info@enoughtribulations.com, so I can personally minister and pray for you.

Grace and peace to you.

Minister Gertrude Ferguson

Let God Handle It

Did someone hurt you or someone you love in the past? Did you trusted someone whom you thought would be there with you through whatever situation you were facing in your life, but that person turned their back on you? Did you invested all you have got in a relationship, but no matter how hard you have tried, your spouse became unfaithful, unkind, and uncaring? Did your own family, friends, or business associate deceived and abandoned you? Did your own children became unappreciative and uncaring? Did you invested all your labor in a job, but got nothing in return? Did your employer or boss disregarded your hard work and overlooked you for a possible salary advancement or promotion?

These questions are scenarios that you might have had to deal with at some point in your life. However, even though all may not apply to you, some may apply to you, or others that are not mentioned here. Despite this fact, whatever hurt or pain you have endured, or are enduring in your life, because of a person who has wronged you, you have to come to a place where you can forgive that person, so you can find peace in your soul, and be at peace with God. If you forgive others of whatever wrongs they have done to you, God will in turn forgive you. However, if you keep holding on to the past and do not forgive others, then God will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15).

Even though you might have had to deal with some form of betrayal in your life, do not let this cause you to become bitter and revengeful. If you are not careful, you will want to unleash your own vengeance and become vindictive. In light of this, you should understand that God wants you to leave all vengeance to Him. “Do not avenge others, because it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).

I recently heard a story on TV where two girls were unpopular and became target of bullies in school. These two unpopular girls then became friends with each other. However, one of the girls devised a strategy to become friends with her opponents, and in the process disregarded her unpopular friend. Her friend felt betrayed and hurt, and so decided that she would make her pay for hurting her, and have her feel the way she felt.

Subsequently, to pay back her old friend for hurting her feelings, she created a fake profile of a boy on My Space. She then sent a friend’s request to her old friend, who accepted. Her old friend began to confide in this new boyfriend, by telling him things about all the other girls at school, including her former unpopular friend, as well as other stuff that she was facing in her life.

After five weeks, she got an email from the boy telling her that he was not interested in her anymore, and he was going to tell all the other girls at school what she had said about them. Consequently, this opened the door for cyber bullying. The other girls now turned against her and started harassing her on the internet. Her whole world had fallen apart, and she felt betrayed and hurt. As a result, she committed suicide by hanging herself.

After her death, everything began to unfold; the boy was fictitious and was created by her old unpopular friend. In addition, this plot had not only involved her old unpopular friend, but her mother, and another relative as well. Although they all did it to get back to her, in order for her to feel the pain that her betrayed unpopular friend felt; it went way further than that. It had contributed to her death. As a result, they got in trouble with the law for doing this, and everyone in town turned against them.

This incident teaches the importance of leaving all vengeance to God. No matter how bad someone has hurt you, allow God to fight your battle for you, instead of taking revenge into your own hands.

Letting go is not easy, but it’s a healing process for yourself. The Psalmist David was hurt when his own friend had betrayed him. This person had been his church brethren, and he trusted and confided in this person. At the same token, this person did not share David’s sentiment, but deceived him instead.

David expressed his deepest fears, anxiety, and betrayal in penning Psalms 55. His life was now in jeopardy, as the very person he trusted, was seeking to kill him. If this person was an enemy, then David could be more cautious and protected himself. However, this person whom he trusted, had more personal access to him.

It can be very painful when the person whom you trusted and thought would have been there for you, instead turned against you. Notwithstanding, you can seek the one person – Jesus, who will vindicate and deliver your soul in peace from past hurt and pain.

In light of this, you have a responsibility; you have to let go off past hurt and pain. Although David had been betrayed and hurt by his close friend, he did not become callous and bitter. Neither did he take revenge and matter into his own hands. He instead allowed God to vindicate him. He said, “As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me” (Psalms 55:16-18).

Seeking God’s Hidden Face

Have you ever felt like God has been hiding from you? Have you ever felt broken and alone?

I am sure many of us have felt this way at some points in our lives. You may have tried to come into God’s presence, and it seems He was nowhere to be found. You wondered when your tribulations would end.

Your feelings can be resonated with the Psalmist David when he wrote Psalms 13:1, “How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?”As David pondered, he directed the question: “How long wilt thou forget me O Lord?” He went on to answer the rhetorical question himself before even waiting on God to acknowledge the question. David answered, and said, “Forever?” However, notice that David answered the question with another question to God, still waiting on God’s answer. David had somehow been through some tough and trying times in his life. At the time when he needed God the most, God seemed to be hiding. Or was God really hiding?

In Psalms 51:17, David recognized that God had not given up on him, even after he had committed the ultimate sin of adultery and murder. We know the story in 2 Samuel 11 where David committed the ultimate sin of adultery with Uriah’s wife, and to have her for himself, he sent Uriah to battle and placed him at the forefront of the war, where the enemy could overthrow him.

Uriah died as a result of this. After he was killed, David took unto himself Uriah’s wife. God had been very displeased with him for this act, and threatened to raise up evil against David. After David realized the horrible sin he had committed, and how it displeased the Lord, he penned Psalms 51 asking God to have mercy upon him.

In verse 17, he stated, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” This verse in a sense answered David’s questions to God in Psalms 13, when he asked God how long will He forget him. David realized that God does not despise a broken-hearted person who is seeking His face.

Sometimes your heart is broken and you are so depressed and devastated, that you can’t even pray. There might be something that had happened in your life, something so horrible, that you feel that God did not care enough to prevent it, and you feel angry, broken and bitter.  Nonetheless, God has a way of working out the worst of situations in your life, and that’s why no matter what you go through, you should always have the faith to know that He means you good, and that He won’t harm you, according to Jeremiah 29:11, (NIV) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

If you believe in Him, and you understand His love for you, then you will know that no matter what may have happened in your life, your future will be secured. Therefore, no matter how broken and bitter you may feel, God is always there with open arms to receive you. Knowing this, you can rest assured that your broken heart have a way home, straight into the open arms of God.

When tribulations attack you, you should know that it will all turn out for the better. You might not see it now, but then, that’s where faith comes in. In Romans 8:28, (NIV) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” With this Scripture in mind, you can know that your tribulations will turn out for the better.

When you look back on Psalms 51, you can ask yourself: “What better sacrifice can God get from me than a broken spirit?” When your spirit is broken, God can reach you better. His words can connect with you on a more intimate level. When you are fine and everything is going great, you tend not to spend too much time reading the Bible, praying, fasting, and seeking God’s hidden face.

“Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last” (C.T. Studd).

The above quote depicts the important mission one has in fulfilling their God-given purpose(s), while yet alive on this earth.

God has created you with a purpose in mind, and that purpose should be fulfilled, in order to bring Him glory and advance His Kingdom. Nonetheless, there are people today who are busy trying to obtain fame and fortune, while putting God’s agenda on the back burner.

Although this maybe so, when all is said and done, if your fame and fortune cannot make a difference in the lives of others, in order to bring them to Christ, then it’s a wasted effort. This is so, because you are only advancing your Kingdom, instead of God’s Kingdom, in order to bring attention to yourself, have people praise and hold you in high regard, and receiving all the privileges associated with fame and fortune.

Don’t get this all twisted, God wants you to be successful, however, He wants you to put His agenda first, by seeking Him first and advancing His Kingdom. In so doing, He will reward you, by giving you the desires of your heart (Matthew 6:33). When you advance God’s Kingdom instead of yours, this will bring about a lasting effect. Most importantly, you will bring people to Christ and build up His Kingdom. Furthermore, long after you are gone, people will be inspired by how you have lived your life and the differences you have made in the lives of others.

God and His business should be first priority in your life. In so doing, whatever you do, you will do it unto the glory of God. By and large, He will be pleased with your effort in putting Him first, and you will begin to see how well things start to progress in your life and your affairs.

It shall be well with you this year. No matter how much your enemies try, they will not succeed. You have been destined to make it, and you shall surely achieve all your goals this year. For the remaining months of the year, all your agonies will be diverted, and victory and prosperity will be coming in abundance.

Today God has confirmed the end of your sufferings, sorrows and pains, because HE that sits on the throne has remembered you. He has taken away the hardships, and given you JOY. He will never let you down.

I knocked at Heaven’s door today, and God asked me, “My child, what can I do for you?” And I said, “Father, please protect and bless the person reading this message.”

God smiled and answered, “Request granted!”

Why Worry When You Can Pray?

Jesus-Christ-Praying

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and Supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 (Read all of Philippians 4:6-7)
New King James Version

In John 13:34-35, Jesus instructed us—His followers—to love others: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” As Christians, learning to walk in love should be a very high priority.

Unfortunately, we often love others only superficially—that is, we talk love, but don’t live love. James 2:15-16 addresses this problem: “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?”

If you say that you love someone, but don’t express it by what you do, then that “love” is worthless. Indeed, it isn’t even real love.

Likewise, 1 John 3:17-18 asks, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” Here again, we are instructed to love with actions—not just with our mouth.

Follow the instructions of Jesus: love one another. However, remember that real love must be accompanied by actions, because love unexpressed is not love at all.

Contributed – Christ Notes

Dealing with Disappointment

2012-07-23_Dealing_With_Disappointment

The cartoon above depicts a conversation with a movie patron who wants to buy a ticket to see the movie, “The Dark Knight Rises.” However, when the patron got to the ticket booth, the tickets were sold out! This patron must have been disappointed, as he replied, “But I have to see it now!!!” Everyone should have heard what had happened during the movie, “The Dark Knight Rises,” in Aurora, Colorado on Friday, July 20, 2012. The movie turned into a reality of horror when a gunman invaded the theater, and started shooting the patrons. So, although this patron in the cartoon was disappointed by not being able to get a ticket to see this movie, he must have been so happy that he was disappointed after learning about the horror that took place at the movie theater that same day.

Have you been denied something, or been disappointed by someone? Every disappointment in your life is an appointment with God. People do not determine your destiny, God does. Why some people are a disappointment in your life is because God does not want them to be a part of your destiny.

So if you have been denied something, or been disappointed by someone, rejoice in your disappointment, because that’s not the way God wants you to go. When God closes one door, he opens up another. But sometimes you look too long on the closed-door, that you do not see the one that God is opening up for you.

God’s delay is not God’s denial. That’s where your faith and trust in God plays a vital part in your life. So just trust Him, and be patient to see what next He has in store for you. It might not have been the route that you were taking, or the path that you were pursuing.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

 

 

 

 

It’s very tempting to think that happiness will come to me once I get something: “I would be happy if I just had a bigger house, another car, a better job, more money, a different wife, a nicer family, a new TV….” But such thoughts are very deceptive.

In truth, all those things we want actually make us miserable; we fight and quarrel about what we want, and then we’re upset when we don’t get it (see James 4:1-4). Don’t get caught up in things that you want or need. Instead, you should not worry about getting what you need; rest assured your heavenly Father will take care of what you need (see Matthew 6:30-32).

It’s foolish to make your enjoyment of life hinge upon anything. There will always be one more thing for you to acquire before you can “enjoy life.” The more you have, the more you have to worry about, which makes life that much harder to enjoy.

Instead of expecting possessions or circumstances to give you joy, seek the only source of everlasting joy—Jesus. Jesus says he came to Earth “so that [you] may have the full measure of my joy within [you]” (John 17:13). Similarly, Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

Jesus offers to make our joy complete and to give us the full measure of his joy. Since Jesus is wholly God, His joy is complete and whole joy. That Jesus offers us such joy is astonishing.

Therefore, find your joy in God for in his presence is fullness of joy (see Psalm 16:11). Don’t let your joy depend on getting all the things you want because there will always be more things that you don’t have, and therefore there will always be more things that will prevent you from enjoying life. Let Jesus be your joy, rather than waiting to enjoy life “when….”

Contributed
Christ Notes

It’s not only the type of food that you eat or lack of exercise that can make your heart unhealthy.

Heart

Your heart can be unhealthy, because it abhors or houses hate in it. If you love God, then you should love others as well. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20).

I agree that people, including your own families, friends, or spouse can hurt and hate you in the worst way, but you do not have to return the compliment. You can show them the love of Christ, so that they know there is something different about you. Showing them love does not mean that you have to allow people to walk all over you, or that you have to be in a relationship of any sort with them, if that relationship is negative and toxic. However, you can still maintain peace and love when you see or talk to them.

Hate in one’s heart can cause a lot of different tension and stress.  Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses (Proverbs 10:12). On the other hand, love makes your heart more healthier. Anyone who does not love, does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8).

By and large, try to maintain a healthy heart, by eliminating any hate that may be in there; because hate causes too much hurt in one’s heart.

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