There is no growth without some pain and difficulty. Have you heard the expression, “No pain, no gain”?

The process:

Through struggles and difficulties, we grow. There is a process we must all go through to grow spiritually — to know God, to trust God, and to believe God enough to do His word. Processis defined as: a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end, a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result, e.g., the processof growth.

The power:

We must willingly submit to God and His word. Then God goes to work to develop us and cause the gifts in us to be cultivated so He can use us to do His will. We must all know God is for us. He has a plan for all of us to help us. We must submit to Him.

The product:

We must all realize that just because we go through difficult times or experience struggles does not mean we have done something wrong. Maybe we have done something right. We can’t really grow unless we learn to believe God, go through some stuff, and toughen up.

So, let’s humble ourselves and watch grace grow and develop us.

Just a thought,

PSS

God is never in a hurry when it comes to developing His followers to do His will. We tend to want things right now. If it doesn’t happen fast, then something is wrong. 

Bad decisions:

God is not in a hurry as we are. People often move too fast through life, rushing headlong into the unknown. What we need to learn is that hasty decisions, decisions made without knowing all there is to know about them, tend to be bad decisions.

Good decisions:

When we take our time, hear both sides, and process the pros and cons, we tend to make better decisions. So, God takes His time in developing us. He knows exactly what we need, what weneed to work on, and what skills or understanding we will need in the future.

His image:

With God, He is the potter, and we are the clay. He is constantly molding us into His image, and that takes time. A person without knowledge is no good. A person in a hurry makes mistakes (Proverbs 19:2 GW). So, there is a process we must all go through when it comes to growing and getting to know God. And no one gets to skip the process.

So, let’s slow down, think through things, and not make hasty decisions, but allow God to grow us. Life can be more enjoyable if we want it to be.

Just a thought,

PSS

Possessing a generous spirit or being a generous person will enlarge your life. The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller(Proverbs 11:24 MSG).

Generosity:

Generous is defined as: being of noble birth and possessing noble character. Such a person is generous in overlooking injury or insult, rising above pettiness or meanness. It also indicates a willingness to give, share, or to bestow favor. When you possess noble character, you have high morals and ideals, and are honest and charitable.

Nobility:

We must all learn to develop generosity and noble qualities. Some of these qualities are courage and selflessness — generous people always put others first — humility, patience, and caring. These are noble qualities we can all learn and develop.

Rebirth:

When we receive Jesus and are born again, we are reborn as a King’s kid. We become of noble birth because Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Thank God He can change everything about us. Then we must learn to be generous, noble. A noble person is admired and respected because they are unselfish and morally good. They are individuals who care for others and want to see them succeed. We may not be born noble, but we can be born-again noble. It’s your choice!

If you choose correctly, your world will get larger and larger. If you choose incorrectly and stay stingy, your world will get smaller and smaller — your choice! The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God live forever(1 John 2:17 GNT).

Just a thought,

PSS

We live in a world that is constantly lying to us — lying about success, gender, Covid, money, relationships, etc.

Know the truth:

Ephesians 5:16 (NIV):making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.V17 (NLT): Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.We must learn and know the truth, and that is found only in God’s word (absolute truth). Why? Because the days we are living in are evil. Evil is doing what God’s word teaches us not to do or not doing what God’s word teaches and instructs us to do.

Honor God:

Most people in the world do not honor God; most politicians do not honor God; most leaders in our world today do not honor God. Our days are filled with difficulty. We must keep our standards high, act wisely, and do good whenever we can. We must make the most of each and every opportunity to do good and to live for Christ.

Take a stand:

We must take a stand against the evil. There is a movement to herd all of us towards communism and socialism, and if the Church doesn’t recognize the evil of it and take a stand, it will overtake us. Remember: communism, socialism, and true Christianity cannot coexist.

Let’s be strong.

Just a thought,

PSS

Whom will you serve?

Serving mammon:

From Matthew 6:24, Jesus said, “You will either serve God or mammon, but you can’t serve both.” Mammon is the god of riches, stuff, and materialism. Mammon speaks to us and is a spirit that is in the world today. It represents a prideful, arrogant spirit of humanity that says, “We don’t need God, we can do it on our own.”

Serving God:

God is our source — He is the one who gives us security, identity, hope, happiness, and a future. These are the things that only God can provide. Jesus never told anyone that the answer to their problems was more money! The decision to serve God or mammon lies directly with us.

Tithing:

One indicator that reveals whom we serve is whether or not we tithe. If we tithe, we are saying God is our source. If we don’t, we are saying mammon is our source. We can’t serve both. So, we either serve God or we don’t.

So, the next time that you get paid, you can choose to serve God or mammon.

Just a thought,

PSS