The Up Side of Suffering

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Click Here To Order This Card

Romans 5:5 NIV 1984
And hope does not disappoint us, 
because God has poured out his love 
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, 
whom he has given us.

I love this verse, God has given us His Holy Spirit and poured out His love to us by the Holy Spirit. Hope does into disappoint us.

I know some of you who are reading this are struggling. Your life is hard and some to the things you are facing seem unfair and impossible. I want to share the rest of this passage with you today.

 ¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope.

I suppose you probably don't want to read about the up side of suffering. Most folks would just assume avoid suffering.  While I don't suggest that anyone go looking for suffering, because we all do suffer at various times throughout our life. While its no picnic it does produce perseverance as we do our best to walk through those difficult times and season. That perseverance produces character.
How exactly does hope fit in. Is it simply a hope for things to get better. Or is it that those things remind us that this world is not our home. We are on a journey and we have not arrived at our final destination. 

I am reminded of how pearls are formed. A bit of sand gets into the oyster shell. That sand produces suffering for the oyster. What does the oyster do? It coats the sand or other irritating foreign substance with the same substance that coats its shell. Over time it forms a pearl. 
I think like the oyster we were designed to be able to deal with the sand like troubles that come into our life.  Why not just take us home as soon as we accept Jesus. Why does God leave us here to wade through the trials and troubles of life.

Trials and trouble help us see what we are made of. I think we often find we are stronger than we think. Even when we fail, hopefully we are learning and adjusting and have given ourselves permission to experiment until we figure out what works for us. Trials either turn us from God or turn us to God. I think God allows them to help us discover where our hope lies. Does it lie in our own strength and ability or does it rest in God? 

Everyday we have opportunities to discover if our foundations are built on shifting sand or if they lie securely on the rock of trust in Jesus.

I like the old hymn that says

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain: On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

If my hope is in anything but Jesus it will be shaken. That hope will likely fail us. Hope in Jesus and resting in the provision of His grace, helps us to view the trials of this life with different eyes. 

Every difficulty we face is an opportunity to not only turn to God but to create a pearl.  

God knew the oyster would encounter sand and foreign substances and He created the oyster to have a way to deal with it in a positive way.  He also created you knowing you would go through hardships and trials and He has equipped you just like the oyster, to turn them in to something of beauty and value. 

Prayer:

Dear Lord, 

You see the things that each of us face. You know how those things are working your perseverance and character into our lives. Help us to turn those things over to you and to trust you in them. Help us each to place our hope in you. Cause that hope to grow and become a testimony of your love and grace working in our lives.   When we put our hope in you, we will not be disappointed.

When My Faith Seems Small

Click Here To Buy This Card

When My Faith Seems Small

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio
 

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see. 

 

I have faith in chairs, that when I sit in them they will hold me up. I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. I have faith that Mt.Rainier is still there on cloudy days when I can't see it looming over the Western Washington landscape.

Do I have faith to believe that God's promises in His word are true? Beyond that do I have faith to believe the things He has spoken to me in my quiet time with Him? Do I really trust him like Abraham even when every circumstance seems to shout the very opposite of what God has said?   I do - I'm not saying I don't have days when doubts creep in and my faith seems very small - I do. We all have those days.  I want to share some of the things that I do on days when my faith seems small. 

 

I Spend Time With Jesus: The first place you will find me is at the feet of Jesus. I lay it all out before the Lord. He already knows the condition of my heart and I ask like the father in Mark 9:24b
 “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

 

I Remember: I remember the mercies and the goodness of the Lord. I make a point to tell others on those days about some time that the Lord has helped me in the past. In Revelation 12:11 "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." The word of your testimony is a powerful weapon by which we overcome the enemy. 

 

I Use My Weapons: I  remember 2 Corinthians 10:4 -5 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." We have already been given powerful weapons for demolishing the strongholds in our lives and in the lives of others. If I know the Word then I will know when an argument is setting itself up against the knowledge of God. The more of the Word I have in me the less likely I am to sin against God. Psalm 119:11 is a good case for Bible memory. It say's "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you". Now I have some friends who really work at Bible memory, they practice in their spare time and they have many passages memorized word for word. I am not very good at memorizing. I may not be able to quote word for word, or give you chapter and verse but the Word is in me. For example just in writing this devotional post I am able to remember key words and concepts so that when I can quickly find the verses that I want to use. I have may not have spent time consciously memorizing, but I have spent lots and lots of time reading the Word. I have spent lots of time singing the Word. God wired me in such a way that allows me to remember things that have been set to music. We all have little tricks that help us remember the things we want to remember. My point is that knowing the Word is a powerful weapon against the enemy. 

 

I Stand on the Word: As I am praying and seeking the Lord often I will come across a verse that jumps out and speaks deeply to me in some way. That becomes a Word that I begin to stand on. It is like it jumped out just for me. We are promised that the Holy Spirit will teach us in John 14:26  "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." Those words I often put on 3x5 cards and carry in my pocket or I post it places where I will see them and be reminded. 

 

I Ponder: There are things that I don't know how or when God will work out - I just know that He will. I remember that He is able.  They are for me like money in the bank. I know it will be there when I need it in the future. I am making faith deposits for the future in the little steps of faith I take today.   I don't generally tell anyone those private things that God has spoken to me. Like Mary I take those things and treasure them or ponder them. Luke 2:19 says "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." I often journal those things so that when they do happen - I have created yet another testimony that will help me with things in the future. 

 

I hope that these little tips are helpful. This is certainly not an exhaustive list but these are some of the ways that I build myself up. 

Oh one last thing...

 

I pray in the Spirit - I don't always know how to pray but I trust that the Holy Spirit knows the mind of the Father and is able to pray through me. I love how the message explains this in Romans 8:26-28 "Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." I have to quote something my friend Mark Kenney posted today "Someone asked if I believed in tongues. I said I'm pretty sure that most everyone I know has one..so I'll say yes." I try not to make that subject a divisive issue. For me praying in the Spirit for me has been a huge blessing. It has added a deeper dimension my prayer life, particularly when I don't know how to pray. Its a gift - not a badge of spirituality.

 

I have found that I have faith for a given trial when I have been spending time at the feet of Jesus. It is a bad idea to wait for a trial and then to beginning cramming trying to work up faith. One must consistently be using faith and practicing faith in small things. Then when bigger things come our way we are able to look to the many small things that helped us to practice and grow in faith. David had practiced on lions and bears before he stood before the giant Goliath. Use what is going on now to build some spiritual muscle.

 

Prayer:  Dear Lord, Help me build some spiritual muscle in this trial I am facing. Help me to remember and to try some of the ideas in this devotional. Help me grow in faith so that I honor you in the situations that I face as I walk through day to day life. I invite you to be present with me as I go through this day.

My Gift For You

Click Here To Buy This Card

A Gift For You
A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Romans 1:11 Romans 1:11-12 (NIV1984)
 11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift
 to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually
encouraged by each other’s faith.


I read this verse this morning and I wondered what spiritual gift I might impart if I were to see you or if you were to see this post. It was pretty simple as I thought about what I would impart. It would be the gift of joy and the gift of peace.  Joy and Peace are funny gifts you might think them unnecessary, but I have noticed that they have nothing to do with the circumstances you are facing and they have seen me through many difficult seasons. They don’t have to be worked up.  Why joy? - it seems so frivilous. If I were to impart a gift that would make you strong it would be the gift of joy. Nehemiah 8:10b Nehemiah said, "for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”  Also Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.  I love the line my heart trust him and I am helped. Joy is a gift of grace, may it flow over you even as you read like oil poured over your head that drips all the way down to your feet. Oh and speaking of feet - don’t forget to put on your spiritual shoes today. What? you may ask, you go from joy to shoes?  Don’t forget your Ephesians 6 armor and be sure to put oun your shoes. Ephesians 6:15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  You stand there thinking but how? - Look at this mess or trial I’m dealing with.  It is pretty simple and you want to make it hard. Peace and joy walk hand in hand look at Romans 5:1-3 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;. I’ll end with James 1 Your desire is to be mature in Christ it is joy and peace that help get you there.  2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Joy and peace are gift of God’s grace and they will help you to walk through the difficult things you face. Lift up your hands before the Lord and recieve them now in Jesus name.
 Prayer: 
Dear Lord,
 By faith I come to you on behalf of those who are reading this and I pray that in this instant you would annoint them with your joy and that you would dress them in your robes of righteousness and put fresh armor for the battle they are facing. Let their feet be fitted with the shoes of peace that comes from believing the good news of what Jesus has done on thier behalf. Since they have been justified through faith let them now recieve your peace and your joy. While you are at it Lord send your Holy Spirit to so saturate them that where ever they go they would splash others with your joy and peace as they grow strong in you.