1-28-16 The Need for Thorns

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

2 Corinthians 12:7 KJV

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Thank God for all the troubles you must bear:

Infirmities that keep you from your pride,

The weaknesses that drive you to despair,

That thorn within your flesh that won’t subside.

There’s not much worse within than arrogance,

For it takes your attention off of Christ.

It makes you boast of your great competence,

Some dollar souvenir way overpriced.

And but for your affliction you’d be lost,

Your halo bound so tight to make you dumb.

Be grateful to be saved at any cost,

For weakness makes you strongly overcome.

If Satan buffets you with trials enticed,

God may be telling you His grace sufficed.

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REMEMBER: Thorns humbles the rose.

11-11-14 Forged

Your life is full of hardship,tears and pain;

You feel as if you’ve poverty of soul.

It seems your every effort’s been in vain,

And you are nothing more than lump of coal.

A diamond starts as coal that’s under stress,

Amid great heat and pressure over time,

And you are far more precious in egress,

Refined by life’s hot furnace whence you climb.

Who wants a soup with vegetables too coarse?

You’ll want them cooked until they taste just right.

Affliction turns the raw to the main course,

Delicious morsel of the truth and light.

God needs a mighty sword annealed and keen,

One forged from hard affliction rough and mean.

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Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver;

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Isaiah 48:10 KJV

9-14-14 Be of Good Courage

Adversity, affliction and ordeals

Are common to the mortal life of man;

When suffering we send up our appeals

And pray that God remove the troubled span.

The sorrows and the pains that come to all

Cannot be circumvented all the time;

If you hope in the Lord and bide His call,

Your courage will be known by God sublime.

He’ll touch your heart and strengthen it with care,

Regardless of the trials that you face.

Sometimes you’ll be made whole, sometimes laid bare,

But either way He’ll see you win the race.

Put all your faith in God when times are grim;

He’s just a prayer away so trust in Him.

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Be of good courage,

and he shall strengthen your heart,

all ye that hope in the LORD.

Psalm 31:24 KJV

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7-16-14 Pour Out Your Heart

Surrender all your trust unto the Lord,

And turn to Him with all your needs and tears;

Take your afflictions, all your worries stored,

And lay before His feet your wants and fears.

If you would trust the One who gives you life,

You’ll find a refuge in this world and more.

He gives you peace and comfort in your strife;

Deliver all before Him and implore.

There are no secret corners in your soul

That God is not aware of all the time.

Just trust in Him and He will make you whole;

He is omnipotent and love sublime.

Pour out your heart! Pour out your heart to Him!

He loves you as His child above the brim.

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Trust in Him at all times; ye people,

pour out your heart before Him:

God isa refuge for us.

Psalm 62:8 KJV

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