**Prayer Updates!** 
Let's lift up 
Prayers for a safe pregnancy for a mom facing challenges.
**Prayer Updates:** 
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Lift up 
Let's lift up 
MightywarriorforGod
Servant
Is pure joy possible? The answer is YES! Have you ever read the verse in James 1, "consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds"? Pure joy? Really? Trials or tribulations are not my idea of pure joy nor are they anything remotely close to that. However if you continue to read through the rest of that chapter you will see that it tells us that we can develop perseverance so we may become mature and complete, not lacking anything. James says, "blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." Even though the book of James is very short, it is chocked full of wisdom and building up of your faith.
We must not be just hearers of the word, but doers of the word. It is one thing to read and know God's word but we need to put it in action. James says, "he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. You can't say "I am going to trust God through this circumstance yet try to do things on your own to rectify the situation". You need to give it to God and not take it back trying to fix it in your own strength. You can't talk out of one side of your mouth and then turn around and talk out the other side something different. If you are going through a trial, lay it down at the foot of the cross and give it to God. Do not pick it back up again. You can pray something like, "God I know you have my situation under control and I trust that you will help me through this whether it is the outcome I want or not. I want Your will to be done. Help me to be patient while I wait and trust you know what is best in this situation."
We all go trials but you can either be crushed by them or grow from them. Your faith can become deeper and you can start seeing the trials from God's perspective rather than your own. My daily devotional in Oswald Chamber's, Utmost for His Highest said, "the surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces in the surf-rider the super joy of going clean through it. Apply that to our own circumstances, these very things tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us the super joy - they are not the things to fight! We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things - not in spite of them, but in the midst of them.
I am not saying it is going to be easy but each and every day you need to take those steps no matter how big or small towards this goal. I started out trusting God with one thing in my life that was so out of my control and He gave me such peace in the midst of it that other people noticed a change in me. It is the peace that passes all understanding. The more you walk in that peace the more you can surrender to Him. Surrendering it all to God breaks the chains of fear, anxiety, worry, bitterness and whatever else the devil is binding you up with. The cross has already won the war and we have victory with Jesus but we need to walk in it to receive it.
Let Jesus redefine the way you endure trials and let the Word renew your thoughts and mind.
We must not be just hearers of the word, but doers of the word. It is one thing to read and know God's word but we need to put it in action. James says, "he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. You can't say "I am going to trust God through this circumstance yet try to do things on your own to rectify the situation". You need to give it to God and not take it back trying to fix it in your own strength. You can't talk out of one side of your mouth and then turn around and talk out the other side something different. If you are going through a trial, lay it down at the foot of the cross and give it to God. Do not pick it back up again. You can pray something like, "God I know you have my situation under control and I trust that you will help me through this whether it is the outcome I want or not. I want Your will to be done. Help me to be patient while I wait and trust you know what is best in this situation."
We all go trials but you can either be crushed by them or grow from them. Your faith can become deeper and you can start seeing the trials from God's perspective rather than your own. My daily devotional in Oswald Chamber's, Utmost for His Highest said, "the surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces in the surf-rider the super joy of going clean through it. Apply that to our own circumstances, these very things tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us the super joy - they are not the things to fight! We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things - not in spite of them, but in the midst of them.
I am not saying it is going to be easy but each and every day you need to take those steps no matter how big or small towards this goal. I started out trusting God with one thing in my life that was so out of my control and He gave me such peace in the midst of it that other people noticed a change in me. It is the peace that passes all understanding. The more you walk in that peace the more you can surrender to Him. Surrendering it all to God breaks the chains of fear, anxiety, worry, bitterness and whatever else the devil is binding you up with. The cross has already won the war and we have victory with Jesus but we need to walk in it to receive it.
Let Jesus redefine the way you endure trials and let the Word renew your thoughts and mind.
