2013-10-28T06:00:04-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com /feeds/topics/trials/ http://faithgateway.com/making-best-out-of-bad-situation/ 2013-10-28T06:00:04-05:00 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. — John 16:33 Winston Churchill inspired the free world as he defiantly declared, “We shall never surrender!” during England’s darkest days. History has shown that he, more […] http://faithgateway.com/full-harvest-of-victory/ 2013-10-04T14:49:07-05:00 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Scripture Reading— Matthew 13:3-9 Key Verses — Galatians 5:22-23 There is something special about biting into a piece of fresh fruit. While Christians should make a habit of offering thanks for every meal, […] http://faithgateway.com/are-you-under-attack-god-is-with-you/ 2013-10-04T14:43:43-05:00 Editor’s Note: Today’s devotional is excerpted from Anything: the Prayer that Unlocked My God and My Soul by Jennie Allen. Caught in this familiar haze of worldly happiness and empty pursuits, Jennie Allen and her husband Zac prayed a courageous prayer of abandonment that took them on an adventure God had written for them. “God, we will do anything. Anything,” they […] http://gospel.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/20/is-suffering-important-to-faith/ 2009-10-28T11:00:20-05:00 Often in times of trouble we run to God for answers and comfort, and we often emerge from the experience more faithful then we were before; however, I don’t think I’m alone in wondering if pain and suffering are absolutely necessary to our faith in Christ. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%201:2-3&version=NIV 2009-09-25T10:26:51-05:00 Why would anyone ever think to be grateful for trials and suffering? Because God can use the hard times in our lives as tests which cultivate spiritual characteristics like perseverance. When you're going through a personal trial, don't just pray for God to remove the suffering--pray also that he'll use it to make you into a more Christlike person. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%204:12-13&version=NIV 2009-09-25T09:46:03-05:00 In this passage, Christians are told not to be surprised by the suffering they sometimes experience. Following Christ is not a guarantee of freedom from persecution--on the contrary. But Christians can take heart that when we experience trials, we are suffering alongside Christ himself. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hard-times/takes-a-lickin-keeps-on-tickin-2786 2009-09-18T14:15:05-05:00 If you can hang onto Jesus, if you could be like Jesus in this pain, you'll prove your faith is genuine first to yourself. You will have the deepest confidence in Jesus you've ever had because you've experienced what He can do when no one else can help. You'll also prove your faith is genuine to the people who are watching you, whose own relationship with Jesus may depend on how you weather this beating. http://hutchcraft.com/a-life-that-matters/radio-program/dangling-in-the-dark-8294 2009-09-18T14:11:30-05:00 It started out as one of the scarier experiences of my wife’s childhood. Her grandfather had dropped his valuable pen into the well in their yard, and there was only one way it could be retrieved: if someone was lowered down there on a rope…someone small…like a little four-year old girl. Soon my wife found herself with a rope tied securely around her, being lowered into the darkness of that well, sort of dangling in the dark. She got the pen and she shed a lot of the fear as she did it. She told me, “I knew I’d be OK because my father was holding the rope.” If you belong to Jesus Christ, so is yours. http://hutchcraft.com/a-life-that-matters/radio-program/unexplainable-peace-8284 2009-09-18T13:57:44-05:00 It was a competition for young painters, and the theme was “Peace.” First prize was for the painting that best portrayed peace. The favorite: well that was a painting that showed a peaceful pasture under a rich blue sky, sheep grazing by the pond and a farm boy fishing. Well, that painting came in second. At first glance, the winning painting seemed to be like a strange choice: rugged cliffs, a foreboding dark sky, a violent storm and a turbulent ocean. But you needed to look again, because halfway up, a mother bird in her nest was there with her little baby birds nestled under her wings, sleeping peacefully. http://hutchcraft.com/a-life-that-matters/radio-program/vulnerable-times-8267 2009-09-16T12:00:57-05:00 I’ve been in a lot of airports, but only once was I stopped by a TV reporter to comment on something in the news. I was arriving in Cleveland on a flight from New York the morning after the first World Trade Center bombing. The reporter said, “How are people reacting there?” And all I could say was, “We suddenly feel vulnerable.”