Life is sure to throw many curve balls at us. We will experience grief, suffering, illnesses, broken hearts, disappointments, uncertainty and many other forms of physical and emotional pain. Can one be joyful in all circumstances? The answer is a resounding YES!! Let us look at one of the many inspirational bible verses that remind us why this is so true.

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love . Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:6-9)

So why do we rejoice? Let us look at some of the truths about our trial.

No trial lasts forever and in the scale of eternity is a fleeting moment. The trial, the difficult season is “for a little while”. While we are in the trial, we may be tempted to groan and ask “How long Lord?” The Apostle Paul describes trouble as “light affliction, which is but for a moment” (2 Corinthians 4:17a).

Our God is good, is sovereign and is love, and He only allows the trials that are necessary for our eternal good. Difficulties are not indiscriminately allowed to hit us. We encounter these challenges “if need be”.

This does not mean that we will zip through the trial clicking our heels. We will experience pain and grief. We will still be “grieved by various trials”.The King James Version describes it as “heaviness”.

These trials prove out and strengthen our faith. Our faith brings us an eternal treasure whereas the trials and all earthly treasures and comforts will pass away. Our momentary light afflictions are “working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17b). Our treasure is Christ and as we go through the trials we keep our eyes on Him, knowing He will see us through, and we look forward to the day of glory when we will see Him face to face. Keeping our focus on Him, on the prize that is ahead, we rejoice with “joy inexpressible”!

This joy is only yours if you have a personal relationship with Christ. A life apart from Christ is meaningless and ends in destruction. You need a relationship with Christ. Discover the wonderful treasures that are to be had when you accept Him as Lord and Savior.

“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever”. Psalm 106:1

Are you thankful? Always? Why are you thankful? To Whom are you thankful?

Thanks giving should be a way of life, something we do 24×7, 365 days a year rather than just during the Thanksgiving holiday. We have so many reasons to be thankful. Some of us may have no problem quickly coming up with a list of things for which we are thankful …a job, family, freedom, good friends, and good health. The question now is… to Whom are we thankful? Inspirational bible verses remind us of the many reasons we can rejoice.

Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17). We may be tempted to argue that our job results from being a “brains” and from hard years of study, or that our friends are the result of our charm, character and thoughtfulness, or that we live in a country where we enjoy freedoms, or we were born in a “good family” or that our family has been shaped from years of love, discipline and “good broughtupsy”. But as is asked in 1 Corinthians 4:7 – “… who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” We have received all these things by the grace of God.

As He has given us these things, these are also His to take away. There may be those of us who are going through that valley right now. How can we be thankful? For those of us with a personal relationship with Christ,we can be thankful despite the circumstances.

• We can rejoice always because our rejoicing are in the things that are eternal and can never be taken away from us.
• We rejoice and are thankful that our names are written in the book of life (Luke 10:20).
• We rejoice that we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Heb12:28).
• We know that nothing compares to the excellence of knowing Christ (Phil3:8).
• We rejoice that He is our exceeding great reward (Gen 15:1).
• We rejoice that this reward is incorruptible, undefiled and does not fade away (1 Peter 1:4).
• We rejoice that His love for us is so great, the Psalmist describes it as reaching to the heavens (Psalm 36:5).
• We rejoice that He is sovereign (Isaiah 46: 9-11) and that He will work out all things that He allows to good for those who love Him and are called for His purpose (Romans 8:28).
• We rejoice that through each trial He is with us, helping and strengthening us (Isaiah 41:10).

If you do not have a personal relationship with Christ, you may be thankful but to whom are you thankful and why are you thankful? Are you thankful to the One who gives you life and gives you each breath? Is your joy placed solely in things that do not last and can be taken away from you tomorrow? God has been and continues to be kind to you. He has not only provided you with earthly blessings, but He offers lasting blessings through Jesus Christ. He has provided the way to heaven and to a treasure that will not degrade, perish or pass away, a treasure that cannot betaken from you. Discover how to receive this lasting gift for which you can be thankful year round.

Let us all give thanks to the Lord for He is good, and His Mercy endures forever!

Are you “good enough” to make it to heaven? How does one get to heaven? Inspirational bible verses reveal our need for salvation and the amazing gift that God provides to meet this need. In 2 Timothy 3:15, God reveals that Scripture is“…able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”.

So, are you good enough to make it to heaven? Scripture reveals that there is “none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10) and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Ray Comfort has an effective way of leading us through just some of the Ten Commandments to show how we have broken God’s law. Select your responses from the questions below:

1. Have you ever told a lie?

a. Yes – you have broken the 9^thcommandment.

b. No – You just broke the 9^thcommandment again! Go to 1a.

2. Have you ever looked at anyone with lust?

a. Yes – you have broken the 7^thcommandment. Jesus said that if we look at another with lust, we have already committed adultery in our heart (Matthew 5:28).

b. No – you obviously selected (or should have selected) ‘a’ to question 1. Go to 2a.

3. Have you always honored your father and mother, always obedient and treating them with respect?

a. Yes – you have broken the 5^thcommandment.

b. No – you obviously selected (or should have selected) ‘a’ to question 1. Go to 3a.

4. Have you ever taken the Lord’s name in vain,using His name to express disgust or as a curse word?

a. Yes – this is called blaspheming. You have broken the 3^rd commandment.

b. No – finally a commandment you have kept, if you say so.

I am sure that we all have broken some of His commandments. Scripture says that if we have broken one, we have broken all (James 2:10). We not only sin by God’s standard, but even if we judge ourselves by our own standards, that is, by the way we judge others, we will find that we have at times been selfish, unloving, irritable….we certainly fall short.

Bible verses indicate that the penalty for sin is death(Romans 6:23a). If we are tempted to think that there are so many other people who have committed worse and God grades on a curve, we are warned to not be deceived as the unrighteous (liars, fornicators, adulterers, blasphemers, etc) will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9). All liars will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). The unrighteous are hell bound.

We may be tempted to think, “Surely my God would not punish people in hell”. Oops…we are now breaking the second commandment as we are creating in our minds a god other than the God of the Bible. God has revealed Himself in Scripture and to conjure up our own image of Him, images that we are more comfortable with is to create an idol. We may also think that God will overlook our sins, but it is His goodness and justice that ensures that rapists, murderers, child-abusers, thieves, etc, receive justice. If He turned a blind eye to all these atrocities, He would be a corrupt judge.

Pretty grim news! But there is good news. God gave us the law to show us our need for Christ (Galatians 3:24). God has provided a gift through Christ Jesus. Jesus came to earth in the form of a man, lived a sinless life and paid the full penalty for all of our sins when He died on the cross. His resurrection was the confirmation that our sins were paid in full. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 2 Corinthians 5:21 states “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”.

How do we get that gift? We need to see our need for forgiveness, agree with God’s that sin is sin, turn away from sin (repent),desiring to have nothing to do with sin and we turn to God. We turn to Him in faith, trusting that Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins and surrendering ourselves to Him. Salvation is a gift that we appropriate through faith in Christ, not something we earn (Ephesians 2:8-9).

This life of surrender involves spending time with Him regularly in prayer and in reading the Bible so that He will transform us from the inside out. As we walk with Him, we will learn to trust and obey Him. He is faithful, and promises to finish the work that He starts in us (Philippians1:6).

These are the inspirational bible verses on salvation. This is what God has had to say on the topic. If you are not sure if you will go to heaven WHEN (not if) you die, I urge you to repent today. Repentance is a gift from God. Call upon the Lord while He is near, and while He can be found (Isaiah 55:6). Tomorrow is promised to no man. Today is the day of salvation.

Job dealt with ALL of these at the same time. Seeing how Job endured has been a real lesson for me and I thought I’d share this as we are all sure to face our share of trials.

Now nothing that I have ever gone through can ever compare to what Job endured. In a quick series of events, all in one day he lost several servants, then his camels, his sheep and the biggest blow of all, his children. As is that was not enough, he then was plagued by painful boils all over his body.

As he went through his suffering, his relatives failed him, his servants started ignoring him, his wife, who told him to curse God and die, found his breath repulsive, he got no respect from anyone, not even children. Three of his friends who came to mourn with him, intending to comfort him, accused him of having brought all of this on himself as he must be harboring some evil, perverted, un-confessed sins. Job, the man that they accused as some vile creature, is the one that God Himself describes as blameless and upright, one who fears God and shuns evil.

Here is a man who has lost his children and grieves alone. His wife is certainly not his helpmate – he will find no comfort in her. His friends, though well intentioned are adding insult to injury. He is financially ruined. He is in constant physical pain and he is ignored and ostracized. It is no wonder that he is deeply depressed. His grief, his despair, his pain leads him to curse the day that he was born. He describes his grief as being heavier than the sand of the sea. He longs for death….but it does not come. He loathes his life. His pain is more than I have experienced…and even if I try to put myself in his place, I am sure my imagination falls short.

He isn’t feeling God in this trial.

“Look, I go forward, but He is not there,

And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;

When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.” Job 23:8-9

That I can relate to. There are some trials where you feel God’s arms carrying you and His presence sweetly soothing your pain. But there are some trials, where you don’t sense the presence of God. You feel as if He is silent and cannot be found.

Yet, in all this, Job’s very next sentence in v 10 is such an inspirational bible verse …

But He knows the way that I take;

When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

Even though Job didn’t feel God’s presence, He knew God was with him. He was also confident, that he would come out of this trial victorious. What made him sure of the victory? I think the verses that immediately follow, give us insight into Job’s confidence.

My foot has held fast to His steps;

I have kept His way and not turned aside.

I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;

I have treasured the words of His mouth

More than my necessary food. Job 23:11-12

Job remained steadfast, remained obedient, and stayed in the Word. He treasured the Word more than his necessary food. I remember at a Third World concert in Jamaica years ago, when the crowd was rocking, a band member said to the crowd, “Boy unnu nicer than cook food!!” (Translation: Boy, you are nicer than cooked food). I am one of those Jamaicans who love my “cook food”. If I craved the Word more, ensuring that I never missed an opportunity for a spiritual meal, in any of my difficulties, which pale in comparison to Job, my actions or words would be more likely to bring honor to God, than dishonor to His name.

For those of us in the trial, may we hold fast to His steps, keep His way, treasure His word so we can say with confidence “ when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold”.

An inspirational bible verse for these times of uncertainty.

Jeremiah  29:11 “For I know the thoughts I have toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.Then you will call upon Me and go pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”